Hog Spirits Deck – A Cycle/Chip/Control Deck For Arena 8+

Sup guys! It’s Scarlett here, and I’ll be sharing with you guys a F2P Hog deck I made for Arenas 8 and 9. It consists of only commons and rares, so everyone will have the cards to make it. I won’t consider this a meta deck, and it does require some skill to use. It has a fairly cheap cycle, so most likely, you will be able to outcycle your opponent and catch them off guard with your Hog Rider.

Hog Spirits Deck for Arena 8+

Cards Breakdown

Ice Spirit: The Ice Spirit provides a lot of value for just 1 elixir, and even though it is in slightly less use than Skeletons, it still finds a good place in this deck. Killing anything has become much easier, thanks to the Ice Spirit. Your Hog Rider can get more hits off, thanks to the Ice Spirit. Cycling is as quick as ever, thanks to the Ice Spirit. This deck has been made complete, thanks to the Ice Spirit.

Fire Spirits: The Fire Spirits are basically the cheaper but riskier version of the Fireball. On offense, they can protect the Hog Rider from swarms. On defense, they can either severely weaken medium-health troops or take down hordes for an elixir advantage. Fire Spirits are not the most reliable on defense however, because of how they die after hitting a target, but their low cost makes up for it.

Zap: The Zap nerf hurts a lot, but the quickness and the stun effect still keeps it unique. There isn’t too much to say about this card, as I’m pretty sure you all already know how to use the Zap and what cards it’s effective against. The Log makes a good replacement, but it will be harder to play against units that charge up and air troops.

Archers: Okay meta lovers, I know that the Electro Wizard is the primary choice, but for those who don’t have the Electro Wizard, the Archers are a great replacement. In this deck, the Archers are used as defense, bait, and investment. For baiting, accompany the Hog Rider with Minions and the Spirits after they use their spell on the Archers. Starting the game with Archers in the back is a good way to save up elixir. The Musketeer can replace Archers for a more stable air defense, but you could lose more elixir to a Lightning.

Minions:  The Minions can do incredible amounts damage and work well in defense against tanks or any other lone card. In offense, they make great support troops in clearing out small swarms and buildings that may take out your Hog Rider. Pair them with Inferno Tower on defense and Hog Rider on offense.

Fireball: The Fireball has always been one of my favorite spells. It’s effective against Minion Horde, Witch, Wizard, Musketeer, Three Musketeers, Mini P.E.K.K.A., Electro Wizard, and the list goes on. Not only does the Fireball work great on defense, it also finds a place in this deck for offense. Because the Hog Rider usually gets stuck on buildings, the Fireball does a great job clearing it up for him and also does chip damage on the tower.

Hog Rider: For all of you who’ve been on CRA for long enough will have seen enough Hog Rider guides to know how to properly use him. Well, I’ll give a basic breakdown anyways. The Hog Rider is a great troop on offense and is one of the most popular win conditions in the game. It’s great at rushing your opponent when they have low elixir and getting massive amounts of damage in. It’s a great threat card in general and for more info on Hog Rider, check out some of the thousands of Hog Rider guides on CRA and YouTube.

Inferno Tower: There are two main defense buildings that people use: Inferno Tower and Cannon. They both play the role of killing building-targeting units. While the Cannon is more for only dragging tanks and countering Hog Riders, the Inferno Tower is more fore the heavy-duty tank slaughter. See a Golem? PLACE DAT ‘FERNO! Beware: Many beatdown decks run Lightning but if they do Lightning it, you can always cycle back to another one 🙂

General Gameplay

The main strategy in this deck is to make cheap pushes and win off of chipping down their tower. Sounds easy, right?

Start the game with either Archers in the back or a Hog Rider at the bridge in order to feel out your opponent’s counters. It’s up to you whether or not you want to make the first move. Keep a steady defense and try to uncover your opponent’s strategy and their counters to your Hog Rider. Never overcommit on offense, as you will have no elixir and also be helping your opponent form a counter push.

Throughout the battle, just keep cycling your Hog Rider and make the most out of your Fireballs by letting them hit the tower along with other troops. The Fireball will help you get rid of the Cannon, the Zap will take out the Tombstone, and against Inferno Towers, try to outcycle your opponent. Protect your Hog Rider from swarms with the Spirits and the spells!

Once you hit Double Elixir Time, the cycle will get a lot faster. Just chip, defend, cycle, and repeat. There will come a time when your opponent’s tower has only 700 or less health left. This is when you focus hard on defense and cycle your Fireball to finish the tower. If your battle goes smoothly like this, you are sure to win the game.

However, you will not have control over every match. If you are down by one tower, it may be hard to make a comeback. Your opponent may have hard counters to your Hog Rider. Instead of cycling your Hog Rider, cycle your Fireball instead (and be sure to hit at least one troop each time). Try to take out your opponent’s tower by counter pushing and forming bigger pushes instead of chipping.

Matchups:

• Beatdown: This deck should play well against Beatdown. (The only problem is dealing with the pump, as Fireball does not kill it entirely.) On offense, you can easily outcycle your opponent and catch them off guard with your Hog Rider. On defense, you can drag the tank towards the middle with the Inferno Tower, get rid of the support with the Fireball, and clean it up with the Spirits and Archers. If they Lightning your Inferno Tower, either cycle back to another one or get rid of the tank with the Ice Spirit and Minions instead.
• Chip/Cycle: There’s not really too much to say against Chip/Cycle decks. Just keep up with the opponent’s cycle and you’ll be fine.
• Lava Hound: The Lava Hound might be a problem for this deck if not played correctly. The offense is the usual: Just keep chipping. On defense, try to make the most out of your Inferno Tower. Save the Fireball for the Lava Pups and see if you can hit any other support troops. The Archers and Minions can pretty much take down the rest.
• Royal Giant: After the Royal Giant nerf, it has become a lot easier to counter, but still difficult at times. Obviously, your primary defense is the Inferno Tower, but there’s a high chance that your opponent may have an Electro Wizard or Lightning. (DO NOT PRE-PLACE THE INFERNO TOWER, or it will be outranged.) Defend and attack the same way you do against Beatdown. (One great Inferno Tower placement for Royal Giants is as close as your arena tower as and as close to the edge of the arena as possible right as it crosses the bridge)
• Elite Barbarians: The cancer is real. Offense is played the same way as usual. Inferno Tower + Ice Spirit can take down the Elite Barbarians. Don’t forget about the other defense cards, as they are useful too.
• Decks with Fireball: This is an odd type of deck to put in the Matchups, but our Hog Spirits deck is slightly weak to Fireball. The support troops – Ice Spirit, Fire Spirits, Archers, and Minions – can all be wiped out in a single Fireball. To solve that problem, bait out the Fireball first with either Archers + Minions, or Minions + Fire Spirits, etc. before adding any other support troops to your Hog Rider.

Additional Tips and Links:

• Do not spam too many cards behind your Hog Rider as a single Fireball can kill it all.
• After sending a push down one lane, try sending troops down the opposite lane to distract your opponent’s Inferno Tower or to just get chip damage.
• Do not ignore your opponent’s Elixir Pump, as you are also trying to outcycle them.
• If your opponent constantly uses the same cards to counter your Hog Rider, throw down a prediction spell to take it out quicker although this does not work against Inferno Towers because of their high HP. (This is risky as the opponent might begin to randomize their building placements once they see that you are doing this, and there’s a chance you will miss the spell.)
• Learn to manage elixir

Thanks for taking your time in reading this guide! If you have any concerns, recommendations, or questions, feel free to comment below and be sure to tell me how you do. Hope you have success with this deck! Scarlett out.