Miner: The Master Guide
By 
Hey guys this is Sidd back again with a guide on one of my favorite cards: The Miner. In this guide. I will show you how to use this card, where to place him, synergies, decks and much more. In this guide I will be giving you tips as a beginner to pro plays. So sit back and enjoy the guide.
Background
The Miner is a legendary card that can be unlocked in Arena 6 (Builders Workshop). He has 1000 HP in level 1 and 1460 HP in level 5. Because he has good amount of life, he serves as a mini tank in decks and because he is cheap and has life its also a win condition and chip damage. But what makes him so special is that he has an instant reach to anywhere in the Arena.
Strategy
So the Miner can be used in many different ways, here are some of them:
Win Condition:
In most decks, He is used as a win condition because he does decent damage and if not countered, he deals great damage. There are a few kinds of decks he can be used in:
Cycle:
In this kind of deck the first time you place the Miner, he is probably going o get countered. But that’s the point, to figure out your opponent’s counters and outcycle them. These kinds of deck are very cheap and consist of cycling counters as a defense and cycling to the Miner in offense so that you eventually can outcycle their counters so that the Miner can eventually not get interrupted and destroy the tower. These decks you are always on your toes on defense and offense. Cycling Miners is your way too go.
You have to send miners every time you are done defending. So that your opponent runs out of counters and basically lets you kill the tower with Miner.
Control:
These deck are a bit more heavier than Cycle decks so that means they have more expensive but a more of a reliable defense (Ex. P.E.K.K.A). These kinds of decks are more dominating and they dominate your opponent and their cycle. These decks rely on more than just Miner on a source of damage but they are usually your main win condition as well. You have to keep cycling Miner in these decks as well, but these decks put miner as an addition of a already build up push ( Ex. Bandit + Spears + Miner).
More offensive structure but really good on defense as well. Miners are still your main win condition and if not paired with support units, usually paired with Poison to kill swarm counter.
Hybrid:
So im not very sure about these kinds of decks but one kind is the Miner Mortar chip deck. So this is basically a chip deck but with one or more win condition like the Mortar. In this deck the Mortar is used on defense and even sometimes a support building for the Miner to snipe its counters from far away and deal insane damage.
So these are the ways you can use the Miner as a win condition and as a main source of damage which is one of the most used techniques to use him.
Secondary Win Condition / Mini Tank:
In this sorts of deck Miner is used a lot as well but they are mainly used if your main win condition is getting countered a lot, or as a mini tank. A mini tank is when you send your win condition and want to protect it by some thing more tanky, so you send the Miner down to the crown tower to distract your opponents counters so that your win con has a free way to go. here are some instances where is used as both:
Three Musketeer Ram Deck:
Three Musketeer, Pump, Miner, Ram, Ice Golem, Gang, Minion Horde, Zap,
In this popular deck you have two tanks for your Three Musketeers: Ice Golem and the Miner. But im going to give you only the Miner part. This deck is a very offensive deck so you use Miner mainly as a tank like for the Battle Ram and during double elixir, a tank for the Three Musketeers, he is barely send on his own in this kind of decks and always paired with some sort of troop.
Honestly, not the fullest way to use the Miner but quite a famous deck in the meta and the Miner is irreplaceable.
MinerLoon decks:
So many versions of MinerLoon decks but they all use Miner for one reason and that is mainly as your tank for the Balloon. These decks use Miner as an alternate win condition but mainly is paired up with the Balloon so that all the counters that they deploy near the Crown Tower are looking towards the Miner.
The most devastating pushes in these sorts of decks are usually the Minerloon.
Again, Miner isn’t your main source of damage but is very important in these sorts of decks as well.
Counterpushing:
The Miner is well known for being a beast in counterpushing because of its one of the fastest ways to change defense into offense since the Miner can pop up anywhere in the Arena.
Lets say you just defended with a push with Gang and the Spears are surviving, you can put just a Miner tom get a good 100 to 300 damage of Tower or you can get real aggressive and but a Bandit or a Battle ram to make Tower shattering push.
Without putting the Miner the push can be deconstructed and defended really easily.
Distraction:
Now Miners aren’t only used in decks as a distraction but if you want to use a Miner more in your deck than you can use it to pull away troops to the other side or even distract them.
Let me give you an example, Lets say a Witch is walking down lone and you have a Minion Horde coming the same way, If you time it correctly you can send the Miner down to the tower so that the Witch will look at the Miner and the Minion Horde will get to clear the Witch and if your Miner survives, deals devastating damage to the tower or even take it out.
So these are some of he ways you can use the Miner in decks.
If you want to make a deck surrounding the Miner or uses the Miner the most, I Highly recommend using a Cycle decks or a miner Mortar deck but that being said even the other decks use Miner a lot.
Placement
So when it comes to the Miner, placement is very important. In different circumstances, certain Miner placements are the best. In this part of the guide ill be sharing the Pros and Cons of each placement on the Tower and other stuff.
Outer Side:
So this covers the entire outside side of the crown tower so basically if it’s the left crown tower, that means the left side is the outer side.
This placement is the safest placement because it is a Non Tornado spot because it’s far from the King tower. It is also the opposite side of where troops go from when they are deployed at the back of the King Tower, that could be potential counters. Ground swarm units take a bit longer than they usually do to get through the tight spaces, giving you more time to Zap or log or Arrow etc.
The most negative thing about this placement is that it’s the most used and the most predictable move. When ever you send the Miner down, the first thing that will come to your opponent’s mind is that you are going to deploy the Miner in this area of the Crown Tower.
Inner Side:
So this is basically the opposite of the first side so that means if it would be the right side of a left Crown Tower.
This side is the best in use when you are making a double lane push because the opposite Crown Tower cant target the Miner and as I mentioned before, since this is the exact opposite of the most predictable spot, your opponent might put a melee troop thinking that the Miner is going to the Outer Side and it ends up going to the Inner side that means the Melee troop will take the longest time to walk to the Inner Side all the way from the Outer side because the Inner and Outer side are the opposite
So basically this side is the farthest side from the most predictable side.
But this is one of the worst places to deploy the Miner because whichever Crown Tower you put it on the opposite one will shoot at it as well. So if you put it on the inner side of the left Crown Tower, the right Crown Tower will shoot it as well which means if you put it on the inner side of the Crown Tower your Miner will die the fastest. This placement is also pretty vulnerable to troops deployed behind the King Tower as they will pass the Miner while walking up front.
That’s why this Miner placement is the best when there is a double lane push because the opposite Crown Tower will be busy with the other push on its own lane.
That being said you can use the Miner to tank both Crown Tower shots so that you can place a Battle Ram or Bandit to deal insane damage since the Crown Tower isn’t looking at it.
Front:
This is the entire front of the Crown Tower, excluding the corners
So this placement is good because of it not being too predictable. It is also one of the most safest place from activating your King Tower from the Tornado. The best part is that if your opponent puts a ground swarm unit in the back, they will split up when they are passing the tower to get to the front, giving you a lot of time to Zap or Arrow them. If such a case happens where there are split ground swarm units, I would use Log or Arrows as it has a big radius.
This is also one of the safest places from any troop placed behind the King Tower, other than Princess.
This placement isn’t very good when you are trying to make a Miner push and your dealing with a splash unit because the Splash unit can hit the Miner and all your support units at once and the splash unit may even kill the support units if they are cheap utility cards ( Ex. Minions). This placement is vulnerable to Ice Golem because if placed in front of the Miner, it can push away the Miner from the Crown Tower which will make the Miner retarget.
Back:
Now this is the entire back of a Crown tower, excluding the corners.
This placement isn’t very predictable making it an ideal starting move. Some placement in the back are pretty far away from the King Tower so you do not have to worry about him getting Tornadoed, but you have to be careful. It is also a good deployment if you want to get Poison value out of the Tower and an Elixir Collector placed on the bottom corner.
This placement can be a bit risky because if not placed in the correct spot in the back, there is a high risk of getting Tornadoed. The back is also where most people deploy their swarm counters for the Miner.
Outer Front Corner:
So this would be the left front corner on the left Crown Tower:
So this is the farthest spot away from the King Tower so it is the safest place from Tornado. And again if your opponent put his swarm unit in the back, than this is the placement will buy you a lot of o use your spell on the swarm units as they will be split up. Pretty safe from troops placed behind the Crown tower.
Now this placement is very close to the outer side which is the most predictable side. so if your opponent puts their Miner counter on the Outer Side, it wont take long for you’re the counter to get to the Miner.
Inner Front Counter:
So this is the right front corner of the left Crown Tower:
This placement is one of the most unpredictable spots, so it is as well serves as a good starting move. It cannot be tornadoed to the King Tower, but they can use the Tornado to pull the Miner in the middle so that both Arena Towers can target the Miner. Most support units are placed there so you can hit the support unit, and if your lucky even the Crown Tower but this can serve as a disadvantage as well. Good place to Poison get value out of the Crown Tower and a Pump placed in the Non Fireballable spot ( a tile in front of the King Tower in the middle)
This placement needs to be precisely placed, because it barely goes out of the range from the other Crown Tower and if placed 1 or 2 tiles behind, it will be targeted by the opposite Crown Tower. Like I said before, many utility cards are placed around this area making it easy to counter the Miner. Very vulnerable to Three Musketeer deployed in the middle.
Outer Back Corner:
This is the left back corner on a left Crown Tower
The most unpredictable spot for the Miner to be placed. Very good spot to get value out of Poison on the Tower and Pump if its placed in the bottom hand corner. This is very far away from the middle so you are safe from any split Three Musketeers or a Tesla etc. Very safe from the Tornado
This placement is very close to where spawners are usually placed so there is a high chance s going to get countered quickly. If not placed right, the Miner may go to the Pump instead of the Tower. Very vulnerable to swarm units placed in the back. Also pretty vulnerable to troops placed behind the Crown Tower
Inner Back Corner:
So this is the right back corner on the right Crown Tower
Again very unpredictable spot to put your Miner in, Good spot to get Poison value out of the Crown Tower and a Pump placed next to the King Tower. Pretty far away from the middle of the Arena.
Very risky placement as it has a very high vulnerability against the Tornado as this is the closest to the King Tower, Very vulnerable against swarm units placed in the back, very vulnerable against troops deployed behind the King Tower. So this is basically one of the worst spots to deploy the Miner on the Crown Tower.
Note: The Miner does 60 percent more damage to troops and buildings than to the Crown Tower.
Pump:
0Advantages: Helps you get a huge elixir advantage on your opponent
Beside King Tower:
You have to be very careful on where you put the Miner or it may end up activating the King Tower. So you basically want to put him on the Outer Bottom Corner of the Pump, so if your opponent has placed it on the right, you place it on the right front corner of the Pump so that the Miner ends up going to the Crown Tower and not the King Tower.
Needs precise placement or ends up activating the King Tower, Very vulnerable to Tornado, vulnerable to swarm units and troops deployed behind the King Tower. Sacrificing Crown Tower Damage over Pump damage.
Front, Middle of King Tower:
Again very close placement to the King Tower so you have to deploy the Miner on the Front Left / Right side of the Pump so that it doesn’t look at the King Tower after, putting him in the dead front of the Pump.
vulnerable to Tornado and very vulnerable t troops deployed in the middle, Ex. Pump.
Corner behind Crown Tower:
I usually send my Miner down to the Crown Tower and put Poison down to get value out of the Pump and the Crown Tower. I usually don’t send my Miner down to the Crown Tower ad I just use my heavy spell to get value out of it, still can be used on the Crown Tower if you want. Safe from Tornado.
Very vulnerable to swarm units deployed in the back.
Spawners:
Advantages: Eliminates possible support, defensive and offensive units.
Putting the Miner on spawners is a good choice, you want to deploy the Miner right after the Spawners spawn their troops so that you can get the most value out of the Miner. Since the all the troops come out from the front, deploying the Miner on the back of the spawner would be the best placement since it would take melee troops like Barbarians and Skeletons the longest of time to cover that distance but make sure you don’t do so when the spanner is deployed right in front of the King Tower because the Miner will end up activating the King Tower after.
Disadvantages are Miner is likely going to die before it can kill the spawner putting you on a somewhat elixir disadvantage. Some spots are very vulnerable to tornado.
King Tower:
Not the most recommended spot to put the Miner because the miners damage will barely do anything to the King tower and it is more advisable to attack the second Crown Tower. If you do decide to put the Miner down on the King Tower here is the most advisable spot:
Opposite side of surviving Crown Tower:
So basically, early on in the game you take the left Crown Tower and you want to send the Miner down to the King Tower without getting noticed by the other Crown tower. So the right one is still alive, send the Miner down to the extreme left to the King tower, almost at the edge so that you cannot be targeted by the surviving Crown Tower, giving the most value for your Miner.
This placement is often not considered by Miner users because the Miner doesn’t do lot of damage and usually when it goes to OT, it is recommended to go for the other Crown Tower.
Changing and mixing up your placements during the game makes you a better and unpredictable Miner user which can prove to be very beneficial during the game
Synergies
Since Miner can appear anywhere in the Arena it is mostly send on offense and paired with something as the Miner isn’t very good on taking the tower alone unless a cycle / chip deck. Here are some offensive synergies to use.
Miner Poison (a.k.a The Burning Miner)
We all know this one, the Miner best pairs with the Poison as the Miner is a single target unit so it isn’t very good at dealing with swarms, pairing it up with the Poison makes a certain dead zone around your Miner forcing your opponent to put a more expensive unit to defend with. This combo is also known for giving insane chip damage and deals a ton of damage if ignored. Since this is a 7 elixir combo, this pairing is usually made in Double elixir when your opponent’s Tower may be down to 1000 to 1400 HP and to finish it of. Great way to get the Crown Tower down to low health.
Miner + Minion / Horde or cheap units
This is a cheap way to guarantee you a ton of damage if ignored especially if you are using the Minions. This combo is great at counter pushing if they are used on defense and they survive. It is very important to time your Miner right so that the Miner tanks for your Minions and the Tower doesn’t lock onto your Miner. Wait for their Splash units to deploy for their Minions so then you can deploy the Miner so that the splash unit looks towards the Miner (Remember about what I said about not putting Miner in the front). The Horde is obviously a more expansive approach and only recommended during Double Elixir or OT. The Horde combo is very hard to defend without taking mounds of damage so a good move to consider.
Miner + Giant
Giant pairs fairly well with Miner to deal tons of damage. You can use any of them to tank for each other since they both have good amount of life but obviously Gian tis the better one. 8 elixir combo so should usually be used in double elixir but can be used in single elixir if you are running a good cycle. Very good punishing move if they leak elixir or they put Pump down. Vulnerable to Flying Units and swarm units.
Miner + Goblin Barrel
Again super aggressive move to get mounds of damage. Usually used together in Miner bait decks where you bait the Log or Zap with so that you ca send this devastating combo. This combo succeeds because there is more than one condition and since they both have an instant reach to the Tower it is guaranteed Crown Tower damage. Again you want the Miner to tank the Crown Tower shots as the GB does way more damage. This combo is obviously very vulnerable to Flying Units and swarm units. This combo can still shred the Tower.
Miner + Balloon, Battle Ram etc.
Miners pair up excellently with Building Targeting units because they drag easily to the Tower 0than other troops and when your opponent deploys their counters, put Miner to distract the counters giving the building targeting units a free way to create havoc. The best units to pair the Miner with the building targeting units are the Balloon, Battle Ram and Hog Rider.
Other cards miner are usually paired with:
Mortar, Gob Gang, Ice Golem, Zap and Log
Replacements
Secondary / Win Condition: Goblin Barrel
Pros:
More damage can be dealt
Triangle formation is hard to counter without spell
Faster hitspeed
Cons:
Very vulnerable to spells
Not tanky
More predictable of where its going to be deployed
No multiuse
Mini Tank : Knight
Pros:
More defensive contribution
More hitpoints on tournament standards
Cons:
No instant reach to the Tower
No fast counterpush change
Miner is a better distraction
Miner is a better mini tank
Mini Tank: Ice Golem
Pros:
Better distraction / kiting
Cheaper cost
Has more hitpoints on tournament standards
Cons:
No instant reach to the arena
Dosnt have multiple offensive qualities
Changes the deck mechanics.
Decks
These are a few best decks in certain categories, choose wisely (;
Top 3 best current meta decks:
- P.E.K.K.A, Ewiz, Minions, Miner, Royal Ghost, Bandit, Poison and Zap
- Miner, Mortar, Goblin Gang, Ice Golem, Spear Goblins, Zap, Bats, Horde
- Miner, Battle Ram, Three Musketeers, Ice Golem, Goblin Gag, Minion Horde,
Pump and Zap
Top 3 best ladder decks:
- Miner, Pump, Battle Ram, Three Musketeers, Ice Golem, Goblin Gang, Minion Horde, Zap
- Miner, Mortar, Goblin Gang, Knight, The Log, Zap, Bats, Horde
- Miner, Inferno Dragon, Mega Knight, Skeleton Barrel, Goblin Gang, Spear Goblins, Zap
Top 3 best tournament decks:
- Miner, Pump, Battle Ram, Three Musketeers, Ice Golem, Goblin Gang, Minion Horde, Zap
- P.E.K.K.A, Miner, Royal Ghost, Goblin Hut, Zappies, Flying Machine, Zap, Poison
- Minion Horde, Miner, Three Musketeers, DP, Pump, Ice Golem, Bandit, Zap
Best Chip Deck:
Miner, Skeletons, Ice Spirit, Ice Golem, Poison, The Log, Hunter, Bandit
Best control Deck:
P.E.K.K.A, Miner, Royal Ghost, Goblin Hut, Zappies, Flying Machine, Zap, Poison
Best Hybrid Deck:
Miner, Mortar, Goblin Gang, Ice Golem, Spear Goblins, Zap, Bats, Horde
Tips & Tricks
- You can pull troops on the other lane by putting him 4 tiles away from where they are.
- By putting the Miner in the inner side you can tank two tower shots to make a good double lane push
- Its best to never send the Miner down alone or as your only source of damage unless your running a Miner cycle
- Miner is best suited as a mini tank or paired with something else
So that’s the end of this mega guide hopefully you’re still awake at this point and you hopefully you enjoyed it and ill see you next time, CYA.
