Best Clash Royale Champion Cards

Champions are referred to as the highest rarity cards in Clash Royale, all of which come with an active ability aside from their passive skills. Since the introduction of Champions, Supercell has added at least a few cards of this rarity to the game per year, but only a handful of Champions truly live up to their potential.

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Some of the Champions were released in a significantly overpowered state but then nerfed harshly, which made them almost useless. Nowadays, Clash Royale players can put Champions aside from the decks completely and still achieve victory, but the addition of Champions gives more flexibility in the variety of strategies that can be executed.

Updated on December 15, 2025, by Mark Sammut: Recently, Supercell introduced the Heroes update, which has given Clash Royale players another thing to consider when they are putting together their decks. Champions were indirectly impacted by this change, and to help streamline their basics, we have added a section that explains what Champion Cards are.

All Champion Cards In Clash Royale

Clash Royale has been around since March 2016, with the real-time strategy game garnering almost immediate success. At launch, the game did not have any Champion cards, but the concept was introduced a few years into Clash Royale‘s existence. Nowadays, Champions are the most important cards in the game, and they can be used starting from Arena 16. You are limited to one Champion per deck.

Initially, players could only have one Champion active at a time, but Clash Royale changed this rule in October 2025. Rather than the 3-card cycle and a one-active card at a time system, players can now have multiple Champions in the Arena, and they will cycle through them like any other card. However, only the most recent Champion’s ability will be usable.

What Are Champion Cards?

Clash Royale has a lot of moving pieces, and there are (naturally) a couple of cards that are considered to be the most powerful in the current meta game. Epic and Legendary cards are typically among the best in-game options that can really turn the tide during a run, especially cards like Mirror and Poison. However, on the whole, Champion Cards are designed to be the strongest in Clash Royale, and there would be pretty much no reason to use them if they weren’t considerably better than their normal variants. Out of all the categories, there are far fewer Champions than even Legendary cards, and they take the longest to become available.

Therefore, let’s just go over a few of the basics that are important to keep in mind.

• Without fail, Champion Cards always begin at level 11, and they can be improved all the way to level 16.
• 2 Champions per deck.
• Leveling up Champions involves getting copies of their card and then using Gold to upgrade them. Frankly, it is a pain to upgrade Champions, especially if you are trying to avoid spending money.
• Unlike all other card types, Champions have abilities that are used by consuming Elixirs. They all have designated cast and cooldown times, so they have to be used strategically and not just spammed.
• Heroes and Champions are not the same thing, and the former is a relatively new mechanic that was introduced on December 1, 2025. While Heroes power up ordinary troops, Champions are unique cards that have no “normal” versions.
• Heroes and Champions share deck slots, so you have to decide whether to focus on just one type or incorporate a Hero and a Champion.

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8

Mighty Miner

Strong Against Tanky Units

• Hero Elixir Cost: 4
• Ability Elixir Cost: 1
• Ability: Explosive Escape (Drops Bomb Into His Original Tile, Causing Damage To Nearby Enemies)
• Unlock Arena: Royal Crypt (17)

When Mighty Miner was announced, most Clash Royale fans believed it would be the new meta, considering how powerful Miner is. That being said, Mighty Miner was never considered a must-have card in the game, considering how easily it can be countered.

Mighty Miner works almost like an Inferno Dragon. His damage to the opponent increases exponentially as it is sustained. When the ability is activated, Mighty Miner changes his lane and goes to the opposite side of the battlefield almost instantly, leaving a bomb where it was before.

While the ability is good for confusing enemies, the time that it takes Mighty Miner to ramp up the damage is usually long enough to allow the opponent to spawn some spams and get rid of the Champion. Consequently, it is difficult to maximize the card’s potential, usually resulting in a disappointing outcome.

7

Monk

Powerful Against Ranged Damage Dealers

• Hero Elixir Cost: 5
• Ability Elixir Cost: 1
• Ability: Pensive Protection (Reduces Damage By 80% And Repels Ranged Attacks)
• Unlock Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18)

Released along with Phoenix, Monk is a relatively tanky Champion in Clash Royale, and his ability makes him even more difficult to deal with for a limited duration.

When Monk activates his ability, he gains an extra shield that allows only 20% of melee damage to be dealt to him. However, the important part of the ability is that Monk throws back every projectile aimed at him, whether it’s the Crown Tower or a troop. While the ability is active, Monk will not move and will not deal any damage, which is its biggest weakness.

While the ability is unique and creative, it is usually effective when the opponent has already spawned a ranged damage dealer. And even if they do it once, they will learn the pattern and avoid deploying ranged troops when Monk is on the battlefield. As such, Monk’s viability is situational and unreliable.

6

Skeleton King

Best For Countering Spam Units

• Hero Elixir Cost: 4
• Ability Elixir Cost: 2
• Ability: Soul Summoning (Summons Skeleton Around Him, With His Army’s Size Being Determined By The Number Of Units Killed During The Ability’s Usage Period)
• Unlock Arena: Executioner’s Kitchen (16)

Skeleton King is one of the three original Champions in Clash Royale, and he has been fairly balanced since launch, especially after receiving small nerfs and buffs multiple times. Skeleton King can easily deal with spam troops on the ground, and any unit killed by him turns into a ghost to fulfill his ability bar.

His ability can be activated at any time, but when the bar is full, it will work much better. Once activated, the ability spawns up to 16 Skeletons around Skeleton King, with the army’s size being determined by the number of units killed. Consequently, patience is a virtue when using Skeleton King.

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This Champion is quite useful against tanky units or overwhelming the Crown Towers, but knowing that Skeletons can be destroyed with a spell as simple as Zap or The Log, it takes only a Mini Pekka, Knight, or Valkyrie to deal with Skeleton King himself without getting out-Elixired.

5

Archer Queen

Best Support Champion

• Hero Elixir Cost: 5
• Ability Elixir Cost: 1
• Ability: Cloaking Cape (Goes Invisible, Increasing Attack Speed While Decreasing Movement Speed)
• Unlock Arena: Royal Crypt (17)

The best way to benefit from Archer Queen is to hide her behind a series of troops running forward. In other words, she is a great support unit, but she comes with a small amount of hitpoints.

The main ability of Archer Queen is invisibility, along with powered shots. When activated, she becomes invisible for 3.5 seconds, and each shot deals 180% more damage. This is an excessive amount of damage that can melt a big chunk of a Crown Tower’s health, but it is only active during the ability’s relatively short spell. After that, you will need to wait 17 seconds to reuse Archer Queen’s invisibility.

While a great ability, Archer Queen can be distracted by low-cost units, which absorb her powerful shots and take the risk away from the Crown Tower.

4

Golden Knight

Great Crowd-Control Capability

• Hero Elixir Cost: 4
• Ability Elixir Cost: 1
• Ability: Dashing Dash (Depends On How Close He Is To Enemy Troop. If Within 5.5 Tiles, He Will Attach Them; If Not, His Movement Speed Increases)
• Unlock Arena: Executioner’s Kitchen (16)

While he is not frequently used now compared to his launch days. Golden Knight is still a fairly balanced Champion in Clash Royale. His ability is remarkable for crowd-controlling, especially when it is activated in the opponent’s half of the battlefield.

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Using Golden Knight’s ability activates an automatic chained attack. Golden Knight will run towards the closest enemy or structure and hit it, but if he finds another enemy presence within proximity, he will hit that too. This chained move can consist of up to 10 attacks on 10 targets. During the chained move, Golden Knight is immune to damage.

While this is a good move to deal damage to the Crown Tower while hitting troops with low or medium-level hitpoints, Golden Knight is quite weak against tanky units, and the damage he deals to them is minimal.

3

Little Prince

Powerful Against Aerial And Ground Threats

• Hero Elixir Cost: 3
• Ability Elixir Cost: 3
• Ability: Royal Rescue (Guardienne Does A Charge Attack And Becomes A Troop Unit)
• Unlock Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18)

Even after all the nerfs applied, Little Prince is still one of the best Champions in Clash Royale, as it can target both aerial and ground units. As shown by his card image, Little Prince’s ability involves summoning an aid on the battlefield, with the Guardian helping to protect his lord while also dealing considerable damage.

Once activated, Guardian rushes in front of Little Prince, knocking back enemies and instantly killing spam units. This makes the Little Prince a support unit for the Guardian, keeping the aerial units away from him. All these capabilities for 6 Elixir are great, making this card one of the most versatile among all the Champions.

Currently, the best counter for Little Prince is Fireball, along with another spell or a Fire Spirit. Still, this will out-Elixir the player who wants to counter it if Guardian has not been deployed. Valkyrie is also an ideal option counter both units, but only if they are close enough to each other.

2

Goblinstein

Best For Targeting Crown Towers

• Hero Elixir Cost: 5
• Ability Elixir Cost: 2
• Ability: Lightning Link (Goblinstein Creates An Electric Link With His Monster, Which Deals Damage To Enemies)
• Unlock Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18)

This Champion comes with a creative ability that enables a lot of interesting decks around him. Goblinstein might be slightly overpowered at the moment, but he delivers a good combination of capabilities all around to deal with spam units while targeting the Crown Tower.

Deploying this card spawns Goblinstein and Doctor at the same time. Goblinstein only targets structures, while Doctor will respond to any units. There is an antenna attached to Goblinstein, and when the ability is activated, a surge of electricity lights up between the antenna and the Doctor, damaging anyone around it and almost instantly killing aerial or ground spam units. Even if Goblinstein dies, the antenna will drop onto the ground, which still allows the surge to be activated.

Goblinstein can be used as a tanky distraction unit while other troops try to deal damage to the Crown Tower. Or it can be the main rusher while gaining support from cards like Firecracker, Mini Pekka, or Prince.

1

Boss Bandit

A Quick Damage Dealer To Counter Semi-Tanky Units

• Hero Elixir Cost: 6
• Ability Elixir Cost: 1
• Ability: Getaway Grenade (Teleports 6 Tiles Away)
• Unlock Arena: Royal Crypt (17)

When it comes to dealing with mid-size tanky units, Boss Bandit is the best option. Her attack type is almost identical to that of Bandit, but she deals more damage with her regular and dash hits. Aside from that, Boss Bandit has an ability that literally lets her repeat the dash hit.

When the ability is used, Boss Bandit goes invisible and quickly retraces back by 6 tiles. When Boss Bandit reappears, she is distant enough from the target to perform another dash hit, which helps a lot with wiping out any units like Valkyrie, Prince, Knight, or Mini Pekka.

As such, Boss Bandit is a one-person army against the low-cost tanky units. But this is only her defensive use case. If she manages to make her way to the crown tower, she can use the ability on the tower for two consecutive devastating hits.

Clash Royale

Systems

Released

March 2, 2016

Engine

Unity

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer