Basic Gameplay Tips

1) Wait for the opponent to make a move so you can act accordingly. If he drops a Knight, chuck aSkeleton Army. If he throws the Goblin Barrel at you, use Arrows before it lands to minimize damage (timing is essential). All minions have a weakness and you just need to use these to your advantage. eg. Pekkas/Princes are super strong, but both will die to a Skeleton Army (be careful of Arrows though)!

2) Don’t waste your elixir. Chucking down 2 Archers will do literally no damage to the enemy tower and you’ve just wasted 3 elixir. Similarly, you don’t need to deal with every minion. If they chuck down some weak minion with nothing to back it, just let your towers deal with them and take that 20 damage. Also, don’t just use all your elixir in one go. If you use all your elixir to trade for an enemy tower, they might just use this chance to blowout your entire other side.

3) Have minions in your deck that you can use when stalling. There will be times when you’re both waiting to see what happens, and you need to have troops you can chuck down if you start approaching 10 elixir; you never want to be maxed out. These are troops like Giant Skeletons, Barbarians or the camps that spawn dudes. Ideally you want to spend as little as possible though, just in case you need to deal with enemy troops.

4) Versatility is the key. This should probably be up the top in terms of importance, but have a good mix of troops. You need to be able to deal with different threats but also be able to go on the offensive if need be. You don’t want all melee troops, as you’ll get destroyed by air troops or Valkyries. With the way the game is currently set, this will be the hardest part as chests take too long to open. Join a clan to get those common troops upgraded by asking for donations.

5) Don’t just upgrade troops when you can for the sake of it. If you don’t plan on using it, don’t waste thegold yet. The cards aren’t going anywhere and you’re wasting gold for when you might actually need it to upgrade something good. You can also donate cards you don’t need for good donation karma and goldand experience!

6) Be patient. Right now, the game is only a few days old and most people who are playing can afford to chuck some money into the game. That means if you’re free-to-playing, you’ll eventually hit a spot where it’s really hard to level up with the troops you have just because everybody has all the rares/epics.

6a) But maybe you’re also doing something wrong with your troop composition. Experiment and see where you’re going wrong. Have a look at the replays of the higher players. Some of the highest ranked players at the moment are using just commons and select rares. Copy them if you have to, and see how they’re using those troops.

7) Don’t get disheartened if you go on a losing spree. Like every game, it’s going to happen every now and then. Gaining trophies in this is the same as any ranked game (ie. Hearthstone); it’s a grind and you’ll need to be patient and gain slowly. But again, if you feel like you’re doing something wrong, maybe change your strategy and composition until you find something you like using.