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How to use the Balloon – The Basic Guide

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Hello everybody! It’s NebulaNoodle again, with my TENTH guide!

I’ve celebrated by making an awesome guide all about my favorite win condition, the Balloon.

Since the early arenas, when I obtained it, I used it in Giant-Loon to push to Arena 7 and been a frequent Balloon Cycle user all my life. I recently upgraded this card to get my FIRST lvl 5 epic! Hope you enjoy!

Clash royale balloon

Basics

Hit Speed Speed Deploy Time Range Target Cost
3 sec Medium 1 sec Melee Buildings 5
Level Hitpoints Damage per Hit Damage per second Death Damage
1 1,050 600 200 205
2 1,155 660 220 225
3 1,270 726 242 248
4 1,396 798 266 272
5 1,533 876 292 299
6 1,680 960 320 328
7 1,848 1,056 352 360
8 2,026 1,158 386 395

The Balloon is a building-targeting flying troop, which deals huge damage with each hit, but has a slow hit speed.

The Death Bomb, when dropped, can kill Goblins, Princesses, Skeletons (obviously), Minions, and bring most glass cannons to half health.
The Balloon is not extremely tanky, and can be taken out by most glass cannons, therefore, the Balloon should be used with a tank, either in a fast paced or slow paced deck.

Strategies

It’s clearly a win condition, and completely useless for defense (except for last-minute kiting for a clutch win, I guess.

As I mentioned before, the Balloon works best with a tank, but you could potentially have a Balloon Rage or Balloon Freeze deck with no tank.

You can use the Balloon as a main win condition, where you should have heavy protection for the Balloon or a fast cycle, or as a secondary win condition or threat card.

Non-damaging spell cards like Clone are extremely deadly if used properly with the Balloon.

Even if the Balloon doesn’t make it to the tower, the two death bombs will deal immense damage!

And if the cloned Balloon and real Balloon both hit the towers, they can take out a tower in a matter of seconds.

When going against Balloon, always be prepared for a pre-placed spell.

Know their cycle and know if you can cycle to your counters. Always have sufficient air defense!

Best Counters to Balloon

Clash Royale Electro WizardClash Royale TornadoClash Royale BatsClash Royale MinionsClash Royale Minion HordeClash Royale ExecutionerClash Royale Inferno Tower

Just watch out for spells, especially if you use Minion Horde as your main Balloon defense.

Always have another reliable air defense in your deck!

Most Effective Two-Card Synergies

Clash Royale Ice GolemClash Royale Balloon

This is a really good punishing combo, often seen in fast-paced Miner Balloon decks by the pros.

The Ice Golem’s frost nova brings Minions’ health down to zap range, which also is extremely helpful.

Clash Royale BalloonClash Royale Ice Spirit

A very effective strategy.

Fire Spirits bring down glass cannons to pretty low health and also deal great damage to the crown towers.

Again, a punishing strategy.

Clash Royale Lava HoundClash Royale Balloon

How could I forget this? The days of LavaLoon dominance are gone but this remains a viable (and nostalgic) combo.

Simple, right? Balloon behind Lava Hound, and get ready with your Arrows/Lightning.

Clash Royale Baby DragonClash Royale Balloon

A simple combo, often seen in the lower arenas because they are both flying units and many people aren’t prepared in terms of air defense.

Try this behind a Lava Hound in the higher arenas for a deadly combo no one can ignore!

Clash Royale MinerClash Royale Balloon

An extremely good combo.

This combo forces your opponent to split up their defenses or suffer lots of damage from either troop.

Here’s an advanced tactic: If your opponent counters your Balloon every time, learn from your mistakes.

Right when the opponent’s air defense is about to go for your Balloon, send in the Miner to distract the troop and allow your Balloon to travel unscathed!

Clash Royale BalloonClash Royale Arrows

Get the Arrows ready for Minions or glass cannons!!

A pre-fired (overleveled) Fireball burns Glass Cannons to the ground before they spawn.

Make sure you know their counters before trying this.

Clash Royale LumberjackClash Royale Balloon

Extremely aggressive, high risk, high reward!

One of the best punishing combs in my opinion- when the Lumberjack dies he drops a rage spell, elevating the Balloon’s threat level.

Best in 2v2 or ladder pushing. Very fun deck to play with.

Clash Royale GiantClash Royale Balloon

Effective in the lower arenas but also in the higher arenas!

A simple tank strategy.

Clash Royale Mega KnightClash Royale Balloon

The Mega Knight just wrecks everything which is killing the Balloon, and has a retargeting ability.

Giant+Mega Knight+Balloon is just way too OP when combined with spells.

Best Decks with Balloon

Classic LavaLoon (by Ash)

Clash Royale Lava HoundClash Royale BalloonClash Royale Goblin GangClash Royale Tombstone
Clash Royale MinionsClash Royale Mega MinionClash Royale ZapClash Royale fireball

The original and best LavaLoon!

There’s Fireball to eliminate Minions and Glass Cannons, Minions to distract, and Goblin Gang as arrow bait so the Pups can deal damage.

Only use the Zap to reset the Inferno Dragon/Tower onto another target.

Mega Knight Balloon Miner (by Surgical Goblin)

Clash Royale Mega KnightClash Royale Electro WizardClash Royale MinerClash Royale Balloon
Clash Royale Goblin GangClash Royale ZapClash Royale Ice GolemClash Royale Bats

This is a very counterpushing orientated deck, containing the Zap and Gang to complement the Miner, and three tanks for the Balloon: Ice Golem, Miner, and Mega Knight!

An extremely good deck with solid defense and attack. A classic fast paced deck.

Miner Balloon (by CLASHwithSHANE)

Clash Royale KnightClash Royale BatsClash Royale MinerClash Royale Balloon
Clash Royale PrincessClash Royale ZapClash Royale TornadoClash Royale Ice Spirit

A 2.8 Balloon Deck, fast paced! Minimal air defense so tower trading is advised against air-based decks.

Keep the Balloon as a surprise card!

PEKKA Balloon (by Chief Pat)

Clash Royale P.E.K.K.AClash Royale BalloonClash Royale Ice GolemClash Royale fireball
Clash Royale Electro WizardClash Royale Mega MinionClash Royale The LogClash Royale Zap

A deck that has the ability to ‘Rocket’ you to the top! (Get it)?

An interesting off-meta deck that I tried, and ended up getting three crown after three crown in 2v2’s!

Do give it a shot.

GiantLoon (by WhiteLlama67)

Clash Royale GiantClash Royale BalloonClash Royale FurnaceClash Royale Electro Wizard
Clash Royale Night WitchClash Royale Mini P.E.K.K.AClash Royale BatsClash Royale Zap

A revamped GiantLoon deck, with Furnace for pressure and solid counterpushing ability.

A very pressuring deck! Go check out his guide!

2.5 Loon (by me!)

Clash Royale Ice GolemClash Royale BalloonClash Royale Fire SpiritsClash Royale Ice Spirit
Clash Royale TeslaClash Royale SkeletonClash Royale ZapClash Royale Minions

My deck! Extremely quick cycle, great in 2v2s.

More of a fun deck, but certainly viable.

Try replacing Miner with Fire Spirits, the defense ability becomes stronger.

Miner Balloon Skeleton Barrel (by Regeneration)

Clash Royale KnightClash Royale ZapClash Royale MinerClash Royale Balloon
Clash Royale Skeleton BalloonClash Royale Inferno TowerClash Royale PrincessClash Royale Poison

Another quick cycle Balloon deck, with the rookie Skeleton Barrel!

It has incredible synergies and your opponent needs to react fast, and it punishes opponents very well for spending lots of elixir.

This one rocks! Check out the guide too!

Best/Worst Matchup for Balloon Decks

Best

Clash Royale GolemGolem decks.

Decks such as Miner Balloon and MK Loon punish extremely well against Golem, and have a fast enough cycle to defend very effectively.

Should be easy wins!

Worst:

Clash Royale X-BowSiege decks.

Decks like LavaLoon have very little ground distraction and often the Balloon will get shot down before it reaches the siege weapon.

Facing Mortar is also tricky, they have a fast cycle and usually a strong tank, and rocket to take out your Balloon.

Some Tips for you!

When facing Balloon, a well placed Tombstone or Cannon can shut down the Balloon completely.

Another tip when facing Balloon with a building is to know its sight range.

Hold down your building until you see the red exclamation mark. A properly placed Inferno Tower can take out a Balloon without the Balloon hitting the IT. This applies with all building targeting troops.

A tip when using Balloon, especially for new players: NEVER SEND IT ALONE!

It is pretty squishy and can be easily taken out with the proper units. Make sure to send in a tank. The Balloon is a very versatile card, being able to fit in slow beatdown decks (LavaLoon) or fast-paced, aggressive ones (Miner Balloon).

The Balloon is also a very good surprise card to use in double elixir!

Where is Balloon’s place in this meta?

I don’t see Balloon decks too much in the ladder, if I do, it’s mostly LumberLoon or some weird insanely heavy GolemLoon deck.

On TV Royale, you don’t see much Balloon either with the pros. But in challenges I’ve kept on facing Balloon decks.

The LavaLoon usage rate has waned, the glory days are over, I say!

Miner MK Balloon is still a prevalent and deadly combo, and Balloon Cycle is one of my favorite combos.

I don’t feel like Balloon should be getting a major buff or nerf, but I feel like the bomb timer at 3s is too long; at 2s it would be able to damage slightly faster troops.

I haven’t heard complaints about it.

What do you guys think about it? Is Balloon a balanced card? Yes or No?

Videos:

What do you guys think about the Balloon’s future? Leave a comment below!

That’s it guys, hope you enjoyed this Balloon guide, and I hope if you hated Balloon before and thought it was a no-skill free damage card, you have converted!

I put lots of effort into this so please drop a line in the comments about how you thought.

Thank you guys for everything! PCE <3

154 Comments

  1. I wanted to share my recent decks that I have made:
    Hog Ice Wizard Mega Minion Cycle: http://www.deckshop.pro/check/?deck=Hog-Fireball-Zap-MM-Knight-IceSpirit-IceWiz-Tornado
    Exe Valk Splashyard (my version) (this deck has not been tested yet): http://www.deckshop.pro/check/?deck=Graveyard-Fireball-Exe-Tornado-Valk-Knight-MM-IceSpirit
    X-Bow Pump Fireball Bait (edit of Kairos’ X-Bow deck) http://www.deckshop.pro/check/?deck=XBow-Pump-Zap-IceGolem-Barbs-MM-GobGang-FireSpirits
    Cancerous Ebarbs cycle (also this one hasn’t been tested yet): http://www.deckshop.pro/check/?deck=eBarbs-Zap-Fireball-IceGolem-MM-Tombstone-Gobs-Bats
    X-Bow Pump Fireball Bait (edit of Kairos’ X-Bow deck) (yep.. still an un-tested deck) http://www.deckshop.pro/check/?deck=XBow-Pump-Zap-IceGolem-Barbs-MM-GobGang-FireSpirits
    “The Punishment” Control (Cancer deck, could replace mega minion for goblin gang [this replacement hasn’t been tested yet] for a better overall deck but you can just surround the Wizard and the Witch with the Goblin Gang and surround the Exe with Barbarians, but you lose to Beatdown decks that use a splash support troop, unless you can catch them having only zap for your minion horde or something like that)

  2. Siege isn’t a problem for LavaLoon; LavaLoon uses the Tombstone, either of Skarmy and Goblin Gang and either of Mega Minions and Inferno Dragon.. so Siege isn’t that much of a problem unless it’s a good siege that isn’t cycle (as in hybrid siege with a different second win condition than a mortar or a fireball bait siege which in particular uses the minions, because KT’s fireball bait is mostly the only fire ball bait siege deck that people still use)

  3. This is the 1st episode(I guess you could call it) of my sequel of Scarlet’s fanfiction, It is called The Fall of the Cannon, Hope you enjoy. Please like it if you enjoyed. (Will I would love it If you posted this).

    50 HEALTH LEFT

    King James was throwing out all he had to stop the enemy forces from taking down the tower. Suddenly the king rushes with a giant, and James counters with a cannon. Danny steps onto the arena floor and runs forward to meet the giant.

    30 SECONDS LEFT

    The giant reaches down and delivers a crushing blow to the cannon, and another, and another, the major defensive building in King James’s team is failing for the first time. The giant slams Danny and throws him out of the arena.

    10 SECONDS LEFT

    The giant heavy steps resonate throughout the arena.

    7 SECONDS LEFT

    The giant is simply feet from King James’s tower.

    5 SECONDS LEFT

    James desperately sends a lumberjack with his remaining 4 elixir.

    3 SECONDS LEFT

    The giant is hit hard relentlessly but continues forward. The heavy arm reaches forward.

    1 SECOND LEFT…

    Boom…

    King James falls from the crumbling tower and hits the ground hard, trophies spilling out.

    Another 35 trophies gone.

    Another loss… the whole castle was depressed, King James had gone from 2892 to 2000 since the update that nerfed the cannon, me. I went down to King James’s (my dad’s) quarters. I tried the door and it was unlocked so I walked in and saw King James lost in thought.

    “ Well um, hey dad” I said. My dad gave me an uneasy look.

    “Well Danny, I was thinking”… “that after battling for so long you must be tired, and you might want to leave the battle team for a little while so you have time to relax and have fun”. He tried for his most optimistic look.

    “Well I mean I am not that tired from battling, and I kind of want to stay” I said slowly. “Is there another reason why you do not want me in the battle team”? I continued,

    “Oh Danny have you not heard” He said sadly, he then showed me today edition of News Royale.

    “ Introducing our new member of clash royale, the Cannon Cart. Better than the regular cannon in every way, the cannon cart has a fast movement speed, and when it loses all it’s health, it goes from a cannon on wheels to a cannon not on wheels”. “This much better substitute for the cannon will be coming out in 2 days and will be unlockable from builders workshop”.

    Thank You
    — SuperCell

    I was lost for words…

    “The Night Witch has struck again I fear” James said.

    Scared and confused for the state of my role in the battle team I slowly backed away from King James and left the room. I stay in my room for the rest of the day, “What if I am kicked out of the battle team” I think to myself.

    Those are the last thoughts I had before I fall down on my bed fast asleep.

    The next day…

    “Hey Mavey” I greeted my lumberjack friend.

    “Did you hear, King James’s sister Cadey here today and King James wants to do a friendly battle with her”.

    Just then Danny and Mavey disappear from sight, and find themselves sitting on benches.

    “Oh the friendly battle just started” Mavey realizes.

    They see Cadey flash a smirky grin at King James from the opposing tower.

    King James simply responds by saying good luck

    Suddenly the crowd cheers. Cadey had just placed down a giant and executioner.

    King James counters by running a hog rider(Joe) on the other side and zaps the skeletons that pop up while stunning Cadey’s tower at the same time. He then places Scarlett in the middle of the executioner and the giant which in turn kills the executioner.

    After taking down the executioner Scarlett steps forward and swings her axe trying to take down the giant.

    Undaunted Cadey laughs out loud surprising everyone in the arena. She pulls a lever.

    An eerie noise fills the air…

    Bats appear and demolish Scarlett,

    The eerie noise continues…

    and then out of the horde steps out Raven,

    Thoughts of fear race down Danny’s mind like ice

    Cadey had got the Night Witch, and the Night Witch was coming, coming for King James, and one cannon, one cannon different from the rest.

    The fall of the cannon had only begun…

  4. Congrats on the 10th guide! Well written too!
    On a side note the dart goblin can somewhat counter the balloon as well(with tower help and it will give up the death damage).

  5. im at 3900 trophies now! just faced a LEVEL 13, GEEZ, but i surprisingly won, despite his level TEN rares, level SEVEN epics, and level FOUR legendaries that he was using. you see, guys, i am NOT strong for my trophy range AT ALL. just some high win cons to help me win.

  6. guys, I don’t know if anybody cares, but I’m working on my iceyard guide right now! after that, for my 5th guide, I have a special ‘Ultimate’ guide I am going to write… I promise it will be good. also, GG!

  7. Yo guys! I got to 3951 as a level 9! I need help on stuff to do with my deck to get to 4k! Exclamations! Current deck is: Ice Golem, Archers, Mini Pekka, Ice Spirit, Log, Fireball, X-Bow, Mega Minion! Is there stuff I should do to change my deck?! I really want to get to 4k as a level 9!

    • dang nice man im lvl 10 with 3300, trophies, i run a seige to, i would guess just keep your card lvls standard to that rang. and keep the good work.

  8. WHOOHOO, LumberLoon for the win! Too bad it’s not as good in the meta now with so many air counters…

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