X-Bow Beatdown Deck (Heavy and Solid)
Hey guys, what’s going on, this is sam8ddd with my first CRA guide!
A little while ago I was dropping in trophies like nobody’s business, and nothing was working for me. Hog, nope. Giant, only level 5? Golem, zilch. Eventually I decided to try some X-Bow. I threw together a deck using some of my favorite cards, got my X-Bow to level 4, and tried to get some wins.
Before long, every deck that I was losing against became wins, those BMers got their butts kicked, and overall I was having a great time. So far it has helped me to gain several hundred trophies.
The X-Bow Beatdown Deck
First things first, what’s in this deck, and why is it there? My card levels are in parentheses.
X – Bow
It’s awfully difficult to play a X – Bow deck without an X – Bow.
This card is your win condition, and can take down a tower from full with a little under 3/4 HP.
Just 1 lock-on can deal massive amounts of damage, so it’s no wonder that people will do nearly anything to defend against this card.
Usually you’ll want to keep this card hidden, almost like a pocket card, until you can properly support it, and thus get a lock-on.
Why this card?
Well, at the time, this was the only win condition that was working for me.
The main reason that I use X – Bow over Mortar is because of its greater DPS and tankiness, greater rewards for a lock-on, and actually a halfway decent defensive building if it comes to that, all for just 2 more elixir. I would say that’s worth it.
Mini P.E.K.K.A
This card is quite viable with its mini-tank-like HP, its formidable DPS, and cost.
It can 1-shot nearly all ground support troops like Witch, Wizard, Musketeer, Archers, etc., then go after the tank!
This card is also your primary Hog counter and when paired with the Ice Spirit, can prevent all shots from that Hog, and effectively give you a 1-elixir Mini-Pekka that must be responded to by your opponent.
This is the last-priority card to defend your X – Bow with.
Why this card?
The original rendition of this deck had tornado in this slot (because of Exenado), but I kinds needed another tank killer and solid ground troop.
Lumberjack could work, but it’s just not as tanky, which is generally what you want when defending an X – Bow. No Infernos here either, because Inferno Towers don’t support your X – Bow very well and Inferno Dragons do nothing against Hogs.
Valkyrie
Even before the buff I used this axe-wielding orange-haired gal.
She does wonders against swarms and support troops in beatdown pushes. She’s your mini-tank #2, and has DPS and HP comparable to that of the Hog.
She’s your go-to X – Bow support card, and can now 1-shot Princesses, dart goblins, etc. in addition to Goblin Gangs and Skeleton Armies.
Why this card?
The closest replacement for this card would be the Knight, as he can actually fight back against that panic Wizard they placed down to kill your X – Bow.
He’s a little slower and more unreliable against Skeleton armies, Barbarians (both kinds), etc.
If you really don’t have either to a sufficient level, then your last resort would be the Ice Golem for a cheap tank and slow effect. But the Ice Golem is even worse at killing Barbarians than the Knight is.
Mega Minion
This card is your air DPS for Dragons, Minions, balloons, and that sort of stuff.
Solid, can’t be Fireballed, and has high DPS for those support troops again for a nice 3 Elixir.
Makes a Hog get off 2-3 shots, depending on the level comparison, and can safely chip down a stray Knight, Valkyrie, Bowler, etc.
It is the third card you you’ll want to support your X – Bow with.
Why this card?
The biggest plus is that no spell costing 4 or less can kill it. It gives this deck the air DPS that it needs. Minions/Bats are a little too fragile for me. Minion Horde would make this deck a bit too heavy too.
Maybe replace with Archers/Musketeer if it’s not at a desirable level?
Executioner
The good ol’ Executioner. This card comprises your air splash, with a little bit of tankiness. This fantastic card is your 2nd priority X – Bow Support.
Minion Horde? AXES! Goblin Gang? AXES! Dirt Barbarians? AXES!!!
Why this card?
The biggest plusses are the tankiness and the splash area.
Wizard is not particularly spell-proof, and his splash radius isn’t as good as the Executioner’s for killing split-up troops or support cards behind an incoming tank. Princess shoots too slow, Archers kill things too slow, Musketeer is single-target. And none of them can also kill the Wizard behind their Giant, so this slot goes to the Executioner.
Ice Spirit
I have grown to love this guy over time.
He’s a very cheap cycle card that can counter a ton or cards on his own. When he can’t counter, pair him with another card like the Mega Minion or Valkyrie for even more value!
Resets Infernos, add to Mini-P.E.K.K.A for a 0-shots Hog, etc. He can even do an extra 100-ish ship damage to a Tower if you so choose, which can win games, believe it or not.
This card is your 4th priority card to add to a X – Bow push.
Why this card?
For the way it makes your deck cheaper, and can counter so many more cards when used with something else.
For example, a Balloon will likely get a shot off if you counter it with a lone Mega Minion. But when paired with an Ice Spirit, it will get none, for a +1 Elixir trade. The closest replacement would probably be Spear Goblins for their added air DPS, cycle power, and distract power.
The Log
The Log is, in my opinion, the best legendary in the game.
For only 2 Elixir it can get about 100 chip damage, has a large area, and can create a pseudo-stun.
It’s fantastic against spell-bait, and can give you that little bit more damage to kill an annoying Electro Wizard.
Some games you will find yourself cycling it to take off that final 200-300 Tower HP.
Why this card?
Mainly for Spell-Bait, as it gives you +1 Elixir each and every time you Log a Princess or (preferably) Goblin Barrel.
The next closest replacement would be Arrows, as they can cancel everything The Log can in spell bait.
It also has similar chip-damage power. Zap is NOT Recommended, and neither is any other spell for that matter for this slot.
Elixir Pump (7)
The first version of this deck used the Tombstone in this slot, because of Hogs, Giants, Golems, Sparkys, Pekkas, Battle Ram, and Bandit.
The reason why that changed is because I discovered that when using this deck, it matters more than in most decks to have an Elixir advantage. When you have that, all the rest and so much more comes.
You can also use it to bait heavy spells, but more on that later. I would recommend looking at any guide featuring how to efficiently use Elixir.
Why this card?
Because Elixir Advantage, that’s why!
As CWA once said, ordinary players like us need a card that passively generates Elixir to cover that Log we didn’t need to play (he didn’t say anything about the Log, but you get the idea).
To the untrained Clasher this card only seems to give +2 Elixir for its risks, but in reality it is an oasis of extra Elixir production flowing into the arena to wash away your foes (whoa, that was really vivid).
The only replacements would be a defensive building, but this is for SURE not recommended.
General Gameplan
The beginning
As Elixir advantage is so important to this deck, you really want a Pump in your hand.
Cycle a Mega Minion and/or Ice Spirit if you have to
It’s understandable that someone would be afraid to Pump early on, but consider the costs of your support cards (3, 4, or 5). These costs allow you to play one even after pumping to stop a push.
For example, Mini P.E.K.K.A for a punish Hog + Ice Spirit. It’ll get off 2 shots, but now you know they have a Hog (so you’ll want a Mega Minion/Mini P.E.K.K.A in your X – Bow pushes), and you know that their deck is a little on the cheaper side, so prepare to use Mega Minion/Mini P.E.K.K.A for future pushes.
If all you got is Log, X – Bow, Executioner, and Mini P.E.K.K.A, wait a little bit at 10 Elixir, then cycle an Executioner in the back or something.
x1 Elixir
Get the Elixir Advantage! Identify potential trouble cards for your X – Bow, so you can customize your push and defend against it.
Here is where you’ll really want to use the “Example Situations and Matchups” section. Make +1 Elixir every 30 seconds, and get 1 good Pump, and you have +6 Elixir. Not so hard, is it?
Remember that you can start to place troops at the back at around 1:20, and it’ll be Double Elixir by the time they get to the bridge. If you get 2 good custom pushes in a game, that’s usually a Tower (most of the time you only need 1!)
x2 Elixir
Get those customized pushes going! I try to get off 2, maybe 3 and take the Tower.
Take note that enemies often play that pocket Mega Knight/P.E.K.K.A/whatever when you have a strong push going.
You may need to abandon that push and reset for another one, so be prepared for that.
Make the most out of your Elixir advantage (I’m starting to sound like OJ now), and play smart.
Know when to abandon an X – Bow, be wary of heavy spells.
Overtime
Sometimes you can win in overtime, but most of the time when you get to this point, it means that your pushes aren’t cutting it.
Try to make one last, really GG push to get that Tower down, if in 1-minute overtime.
If you’re in a challenge, then you have enough time to recuperate and get some more advantage before making that GG push.
Matchups
Hog Cycle
Mini P.E.K.K.A is fantastic against the Hog.
Something to prepare for is their playing of Hogs against your X – Bow, so get that Mini P.E.K.K.A ready in your customized push!
Miner Chip
Really any of your troops aside from the Executioner is worth to counter the Miner.
Yes, you’ll want to protect the Pump against the Miner. Many decks use Miner as an alternate win condition (sometimes Giant, Hog, or Lava Hound), so be ready.
Finally, I’ve seen people put their Miner to the side of your X – Bow to chip, distract, but most importantly, divert the attention of your Executioner’s Axe. Predict where they’ll put the Miner (generally where troops aren’t around the X – Bow) with an Ice Spirit to kill it fast.
If they go Miner + Ice Spirit + Bats, then Ice Spirit most of if not all of the Bats, then Mega Minion and anything else. You will get +2 Elixir in exchange for 200-300 damage on your Tower.
Siege
Usually you want to set an Executioner straight in mine with the Mortar to tank, deal damage, and pierce through support troops. You get -1 Elixir through this, but you also deal with any support troops that place down.
Beware of Hybrid Mortar Decks, and that Rocket will hurt too!
Against X – Bow, Executioner and/or Valkyrie will do the job. This matchup isn’t difficult most of the time, as many meta X – Bow decks are fairly cheap, Executioner-pierable troops.
Don’t let it lock-on, as a 100% HP X – Bow will deal a whopping 4,160 damage at tournament standard!
Bait
First and foremost, most bait decks use Rocket. Bait and punish.
Save the Log for the Goblin Barrel exclusively (unless you are 3 or less Logs away from a win), as Mega Minion or Valkyrie will 1 – shot a Princess. Executioner and Valkyrie can melt the Goblin Gang.
When you have a custom push going, have troops ready to tank and kill the Inferno Tower, or Ice Spirit to prevent significant damage to your X – Bow.
Beatdown
Identifying their win condition early on is vital, even if you need to trade Elixir or Tower HP for that knowledge.
If you X – Bow and they Golem/Giant, then unless you have the Elixir advantage (at least +4/+5 against Golem), then reset and be prepared to DPS that tank down next time.
Note that if they’re playing Golem, you can play your X – Bow even when you don’t want to in order to force their Golem play, which will be likely unsupported and easy to punish because their play was forced at bad time. This technique can easily create Elixir disadvantage, so be ready and be smart about it!
As for the push coming in, placing the Executioner in a straight line can deal some damage to the tank as well as damaging the support troops, while a Valkyrie or Mini P.E.K.K.A (preferably Mini P.E.K.K.A) can finish off the support troops, then go after the tank.
Keep up in pumps, otherwise you will be forced to take that L.
Although only the Mega Minion will die to Lightning, it will still weaken your troops to feeble levels, as well as reset and severely damage your X – Bow, so be sure to watch out for that, and bait it out.
3 Musketeers
Again, keep up in pumps, otherwise they’ll take you down faster than you can hit the cry emote.
Remember that a Mini P.E.K.K.A can 1-shot a Musketeer, and that a Mega Minion can take down a lone Musketeer (with the help of the Tower, of course). Valkyrie can take down 2 Musketeers (with the Tower), and Executioner can help against the Battle Ram. Ice Spirit is a general support.
eople will usually not use 3 Musketeers on defense against your X – Bow, so you’re pretty safe with that.
If they split, deal with one side as cheaply as possible (Ice Spirit, Mega Minion, or Mini P.E.K.K.A), then deal with the heavier side with Valkyrie/Executioner/Ice Spirit/Log.
P.E.K.K.A and/or Mega Knight Beatdown
Your worst enemy, but not GG. Play smart, very smart.
A Valkyrie/Mini P.E.K.K.A can slay a Mega Knight with their Tower, for a cool +3 Elixir trade, and don’t be afraid to use the Ice Spirit to pseudo-kite/stall the Mega Minion until you have the hand/Elixir to properly defend.
As for the P.E.K.K.A, kill the support first, and keep in mind that Executioner, Valkyrie, and Mini P.E.K.K.A can each tank 1 shot. You’ll just have to DPS it down, and try to do it efficiently.
When you have your customized pushes going, these troops are especially annoying.
Make sure that the Valkyrie is far enough ahead of the X – Bow that the Mega Knight’s splash won’t damage your X – Bow.
Regardless, try to get Mega Minion and/or Mini P.E.K.K.A in your push for maximum DPS. And don’t forget the Ice Spirit!
Lavaloon
This deck type isn’t as prominent anymore, but it will absolutely destroy you if you’re unprepared.
The best strategy against this deck is to use Executioner to damage the Balloon too, then Ice Spirit + Mega Minion from behind. Valkyrie for the Miner/Pups, and go for the counter push.
Executioner DOES NOT kill the Balloon very well at all!
Graveyard
Valkyrie. Just Valkyrie.
You can also stall with Ice Spirit. Place the Executioner TO THE SIDE of the Graveyard so that his axe passes through the midst of the spell, killing 2-3 Skeletons in 1 swing.
They usually don’t have any annoying X – Bow defense cards besides the Bowler, so you should be all set!
Royal Giant/Elite Barbarians
This is a deck that you’ll want to counterpush against, as a defensive lvl 13 Royal Giant is very strong.
Mini P.E.K.K.A + Ice Spirit to DPS that thing down (and Executioner for support troops), and go for an X – Bow while their Royal Giant is out of cycle.
Valkyrie, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Mega Minion and Ice Spirit for Elite Barbarians. EZ.
What about a nado with your exe? Definitely don’t ever see this working in challenges or 4k+ trophies
It’s a matter of preference. Mini Pekka adds DPS, Exenado adds CC.
isnt cc crowd control? so like stuns and snares? im pretty sure exenado doesnt do that. exenado is more like area control
THIS
CANNOT BE
BEATDOWN!!!!!
BEATDOWN DECKS ARE DESIGNED TO BUILD A HUGE USTOPOBLE PUSH
SIEGE DECKS ARE DSIGNED TO DEFEND ALL THE TIME AND DAMAGE ENEMY TOWER WITH X-BOWS AND MORTARS
THIS IS SIEGE DECK!!!!!!!!
I have a solution: it’s a beatdown-siege hybrid deck
Like my MK Mortar deck
yea that was hybrid and it worked great!
no it’s just siege
“Hint of Beatdown”. You still build unstoppable pushes, just with a X – Bow dealing the damage.
Umm… too many spelling errors.
lol calm down why u gettin so triggered
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!?!?!?I IDENTIFY AS A GODDAMN SHOTGUN!!!!!!
I agree, beatdown involves a tank and this doesn’t. cool xbow deck tho!
its just seige beatdown had a heavy tank with 2-3 support troops and high damage spell
i am noticing someone being triggered above. THANKS FOR YOUR OPINION WE ALL KNOW ALL CAPS ARE NEEDED!
THANK YOU VERY fukin, MUCH!!!!!
Watch ur language plz
Sorry
ive just been sitting here prolly woulda been first oops
This is a great guide! Well explained and extremely thorough!
2nd lol, nice guide tho
3rd yay!
nice deck and great guide…
4th
I am still waiting for Your Fan fiction new episode …
5th
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Btw great guide! Reaplace Log for Nado tho!
Then there’s no direct damage, and the bait matchup suffers
The fact that there will be no direct damage is true. However, you can use Tornado to deal with Barreled Goblins (King Activation), and Valk along with Ice Spirit can deal with everything else. Mega Minion kills Princess too!
Nado synergyzes well with exe (duh) and valk
Sub nado for something else. Log is necessary.
@lightningmaster823 did!
Below @Hog Rider FTW’s comment.
First reply lol XD
You’re the first reply guy
first reply to the first reply
first reply to the first reply to first reply… lol I’m joking. gonna cut the chain
First reply to the person who cut the chain gg
da heck
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/edd32f0ec7a7f6861fdb5de3dc64a09a1184908d61adda842bce5c007a973329.png
Why?
i dont like heavy siege decks. feels….akward. but then again ive only played aggressive, light seige
Finally a deck with valkyrie featured
How about posting a comment that deserves upvotes instead of just asking for them?
True, and yours deserves an uvpote
Yea, like when ice wiz wasn’t able to 1-shot skeletons and then I said ice wiz should and then I got a lot of upvotes from that
And thankfully that change came in august
Now it can. Illuminati Confirmed???
XD
Still it’s a good point
How come there’s barely any comments on here???
yeah that i also dont know lol!
Great deck and guide, tho I probably would swap out exe for ice wiz cuz cheaper cost and slowdown effect is good in x-bow decks, also exe doesn’t really work well without nado whereas ice wiz doesn’t always need it
Adding Ice wiz in every deck *sigh*
Damnit. F2P friendlies is on X-Bow. Anyways, great guide but I’d sub Mini PEKKA for goblins since having two heavy melee units is a little bit redundant and the goblins still provide a boatload of DPS still as well as being able to be sacrificed or cycled. Also, you need a tornado in there. Executioner is pretty weak without it. I think the only replaceable ones are Ice Spirit or Collector so take your pick. If you did put tornado in, I’d sub mega minion for bats simply because you can have a faster cycle if so and you can afford to use bats due to the fact you have tornado, another good air defense.
Don’t worry Ultimate. My clanmate Huncho Houndini tested a REALLY good F2P deck!
Don’t worry because I have no idea why I should be worrying!
Here’s the deck Huncho Houndini tested:
Giant
Hog
Musketeer
Lightning
Zap
Bats
Goblins
Tesla
Hope you test it and it works!
how many trophies do u have as a free to play?
imo replace e collector with fireball, valk with bats, and exe with ewiz(my opinion).
remove rocket bait and free elixir, your best tank/ground splash, and air splash?
every man to their own I guess.
or maybe ice wiz instead of ewiz… the truth is exe and valk doesn’t really fit in a xbow deck due to their cost.
i would highly recommend replacing elixir collector with fireball bcoz this deck doesnt need elixir collector tho!
Again, you want to get elixir advantage EZ and bait out Rocket. Pump does both.
Such an expensive deck,elixir pump is no use -_-
Bait out opponent’s rocket I guess?
YES
Expensive deck, pump no use…
Dude srsly…
Lol
Lightning master did
new poll (sorry for late) : what common card do you think is the most useful? I think, drumroll, fire spirits. Big surprise.
Fire spirits
SKELETONS
ice spirit or zap
Bats
My Max Zap! muahahaha
Ice Spirit
agreed
my fav is my overleveled minion horde
And here is a meme for celebration!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ae3635d1d24b06b6b8aaf5e7f78e69eec010bf5b745bcdd72ffbe6a3d53d9163.jpg
finally a x-bow deck that isnt half bad xDD
the deck does not really need elixir collector! just sub it out for a high damaging spell or another building like inferno tower (that would change this deck alot) but it could work, its like my deck i made
Only sub out pump for something to get a lot of elixir value, and that baits out rocket most of the time. Pump does both.
anyone else ever get really frustrated with the meta?
yea. i get annoyed of the over lvl leggys and lvl 9 hogs i go up against, my cards cant defeat all the over lvling
Not to mention the maxed royal elite cancer
my friend hates the meta
he uses off meta
its giant skelly
dp
knight
valk
muskie
baby dragon
log
and arrows
and it works well
Finally a deck I can use!
Last no one claimed. XD
I claimed last place.
Anyone else think the deck of the week is a regular log bait deck?
Yes
EVERYONE GET PEOPLE TO COMMENT!!! COMMENT NOW BOIS!!!
I see only Pumps lvl in parenthesis. Also, Executioner doesn’t kill Lava Hound cuz u don’t have tornado..I mean who uses executioner without tornado
through editing, the levels got removed for some reason.
everything is tourney standard but Log, Valk, and Ice spirit, each of which is 1 lvl above.
Exe still kills Lava Hound, you just get 100-200 damage from the pups now.
When I had tornado instead of Mini Pekka, Hogs and Mega Knighs and Pekka were too tenacious.
OK Guys I would like to clarify, I am not Scarlet, I did not write a Cannon’s dream, I don’t know when Scarlet will post the next Fan Fiction story so please don’t ask! I don’t mind you guys asking, I just wanted to clarify.
are you scarlett?
That’s a hard one. . . Give me some time to think about that one.
Let´s say the true, what´s the exe deck without tornado? 😀
An X – Bow deck that needed DPS
XDDDDDDDDDD
ima memelord
https://imgflip.com/i/1yrz9o
is this deck a hybrid?
P.E.K.K.A.
golem
giant skeleton
barbarians
witch
ice wizard
spear goblins
goblin barrel
Just looking at it I would call it a bad deck, but yeah, you have Pekka and Golem.
I got 7 wins & 0 losses with this deck bwo
Well, it has 5 epics, 1 leggie, no spells, and is heavy as all heck w/o pump.
can’t blame u… just don’t know how play but thanks for your opinion
what tournament were you in? a classic lol
no ladder
well youre in arena 7 thats not hard
i WAS in A6
really? good I get lessons?!!!
well daily tip #1 try your best*eyeroll*
no>:(.. jk
this deck got me to A7
exactly not hard
post a screenshot and write a guide
too bad i can’t. i need my phone and…
whatever device youre using can write guides:)
i know but i can’t post a screen shot right now
you dont have too.
OK gotcha
this deck is GARBAGE
and…
M8 what is the elixir average of this deck
Why do you have golem, giant skeleton, and Pekka in the same deck
WAIT THERE IS ALSO WITCH AND BARBS WTF no pump m8
bro chill i only did this because of a stupid quest called play expensive
I vonder iv tisssss is spam?
I have pushed 400+ trophies in hog should I write a guide on tips?
Click this link to add as friend in Clash Royale!
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