What are the 8 cards in Balloon Cycle?

The most-played list in our sample runs Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Goblin Barrel, Wizard, Electro Wizard, Lumberjack, Goblin Gang and Zap. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.

What is Balloon Cycle’s average elixir and 4-card cycle?

4.0 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Goblin Barrel, Goblin Gang and Electro Wizard) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.

What does Balloon Cycle lose to?

In our sample, decks with Balloon won 41.6% (±3.4) against decks with Electro Giant, n 819.

Which decks count as Balloon Cycle?

A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Balloon in the deck. The name is community vocabulary, not an official Supercell category.

How is the win rate measured?

We count ranked 1v1 battles of Clash Royale API battlelogs, top Path of Legends players from the official API — 363 uses of Balloon Cycle here, 56.2% ±5.1 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.

Can I play Balloon Cycle without Wizard?

Another list counted under this archetype runs Musketeer in its place. Same job — air answer (Troop · Air & Ground · ranged). 1161 hitpoints (was 1340, level 16)

Explain simply

English

By GamGem ResearchLast updated 24 Oct 2026

What’s new:Matchup rates, a substitution ladder and a loss checklist were added. The figures count 363 uses, 1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026.

Deck overview

Unofficial guide · Deck · Checked 24 Oct 2026

Balloon Cycle — Clash Royale deck guide

Balloon Cycle is a cycle deck with 4.0 average elixir and a 12-elixir four-card cycle. It won 56.2% (±5.1) of 363 top Path of Legends battles, 1 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026.

Balloon — Clash Royale card art (Supercell Fan Kit)

Giant Skeleton takes towers; Wizard and Electro Wizard anchor the defence; Zap keep the cycle fast.Giant Skeleton — Win condition: pressures the tower and forces a response. (Troop · Ground · melee)

Avg elixir4.0

Cycle12

ArchetypeCycle

Open in Clash Royale

Performance

56%

win rate

363games counted

Cycle12 lists · 0.2% of decks

56%

Wins

Draws

44%

Losses

ModeRanked · Path of Legends

Window1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026

SampleLow sample size · ±5.1 pp

Opening hand decision tree

Balloon in hand?

YesWizard in hand?

Safest: Wait until 10 elixir and react to their first card.Also OK: Balloon at the bridge only after they play a 4+ elixir card.

NoElectro Wizard in hand?

Safest: Wait until 10 elixir and react to their first card.Avoid: Don’t open with Electro Wizard at the bridge — hold it for their air unit.

Defensive anchors

Wizard

Air answer

Win impact—

Usage25.5%

Stops: Air units — Troop · Air & Ground · ranged.

Unavailable if: still cycling back (you played it in your last four plays) or you are under 5 elixir.

Electro Wizard

Air answer

Win impact—

Usage25.5%

Stops: Air units — Troop · Air & Ground · ranged.

Unavailable if: still cycling back (you played it in your last four plays) or you are under 4 elixir.

Role map

Win condition

Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Goblin Barrel

Air answer

Wizard, Electro Wizard

Control

Zap

Support

Lumberjack, Goblin Gang

Three rules to win

Pressure:
Giant Skeleton at the bridge after they spend four or more elixir, or right after their answer to it has been played.
Defend first:
answer with Wizard and Electro Wizard, then send Giant Skeleton down the lane they did not defend.
Draw out:
their cheap answers with Zap first; keep Giant Skeleton for when those are cycling back.

Matchups(win rate)

vs Hog Earthquake / Hog 2.6 Cycle / Hog Cycle54%

vs Bridge Spam / Ram Control52%

vs Log Bait / Spell Bait52%

vs Golem Beatdown51%

vs Royal Hogs51%

View all matchups →

Result breakdown

Wins56% · 204

Draws0% · 0

Losses44% · 159

One-crown and two-crown wins are not counted in this sample.

Substitution ladder

CardOption

WizardMusketeerin this archetype—HP −9%

Electro WizardMusketeerin this archetype—HP −9%

ZapArrowsin this archetype——

Goblin BarrelMega Knightin this archetype—HP −9%

Giant SkeletonMega Knightin this archetype—HP −9%

Check swaps in the Deck Builder →

Loss-to-rule checklist

Tick what happened in your last loss.

Compact details

CardRoleElixirUsageWin Δ

Giant SkeletonWin cond.625.5%—

BalloonWin cond.5100%—

Goblin BarrelWin cond.313.2%—

WizardAir answer525.5%—

Electro WizardAir answer425.5%—

LumberjackSupport437.9%—

Goblin GangSupport313.2%—

ZapSmall spell237.9%—

Compare all deck styles →

Screenshot mode

Clean deck view ready for sharing.

Export to text

Export this page as plain text.

Sources and dates

Deck battle rows · measured24 Oct 2026

Card costs & rarity · official24 Oct 2026

Card kind, targets, level rows · wiki24 Oct 2026

Plans & substitution notes · editorial24 Oct 2026

Battles counted1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026

View all sources →

Variants in the sample

Eight cards	Win rate	Uses
Balloon, Wizard, Giant Skeleton, Lumberjack, Goblin Gang, Electro Wizard, Goblin Barrel, Zap	—	32
Balloon, Skeletons, Musketeer, Ice Spirit, Ice Golem, Cannon, Arrows, The Log	—	31
Knight, Balloon, Skeleton Army, Bomber, Inferno Dragon, Tesla, Arrows, Lightning	—	30
Balloon, Musketeer, Lumberjack, Ice Golem, Bats, Tesla, Zap, Barbarian Barrel	—	30
Balloon, Witch, Valkyrie, Prince, Giant Skeleton, Mega Knight, Firecracker, Clone	—	30
Balloon, Witch, Lumberjack, Bats, Mega Knight, Archer Queen, Furnace, Arrows	—	30
Balloon, Guards, Bowler, Inferno Dragon, Tesla, Arrows, Lightning, Zap	—	30
Balloon, Skeleton Army, Prince, Wizard, Electro Wizard, Mega Knight, Arrows, Lightning	—	30

Contradiction radar

3 things to know before you compare this page with another tracker.

Population: our rates count ranked 1v1 battles of top Path of Legends players only; Trophy Road, challenges and other modes are not measured.
Archetype names: “Balloon Cycle” is community vocabulary — here a deck is filed by its cards alone, so another site may group the same lists differently.
Thin matchups: 3 matchup rows are under 300 decided games, so no win rate is shown.

Notes

Counted by GamGem 1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026 · builds change with balance updates and the meta.Checked 24 Oct 2026

Keep reading

Balloon Freeze · 52.3% ±1.8 · n 2,972
LoonMiner · 54.3% ±2.2 · n 1,949
Log Bait · 50.9% ±0.9 · n 11,840
Golem Beatdown · 52.5% ±1.0 · n 10,258
Electro Giant · 51.8% ±1.0 · n 9,309
Mortar Siege · 52.8% ±1.0 · n 8,965

Balloon Cycle — questions

What are the 8 cards in Balloon Cycle?: The most-played list in our sample runs Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Goblin Barrel, Wizard, Electro Wizard, Lumberjack, Goblin Gang and Zap. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.
What is Balloon Cycle’s average elixir and 4-card cycle?: 4.0 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Goblin Barrel, Goblin Gang and Electro Wizard) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.
What does Balloon Cycle lose to?: In our sample, decks with Balloon won 41.6% (±3.4) against decks with Electro Giant, n 819.
Which decks count as Balloon Cycle?: A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Balloon in the deck. The name is community vocabulary, not an official Supercell category.
How is the win rate measured?: We count ranked 1v1 battles of Clash Royale API battlelogs, top Path of Legends players from the official API — 363 uses of Balloon Cycle here, 56.2% ±5.1 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.
Can I play Balloon Cycle without Wizard?: Another list counted under this archetype runs Musketeer in its place. Same job — air answer (Troop · Air & Ground · ranged). 1161 hitpoints (was 1340, level 16)

Card statistics and mechanics: Clash Royale Wiki, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Figures reformatted, wording ours.

Card, arena and character art: Supercell Fan Kit (fankit.supercell.com), shown unchanged. Fan Kit · Fan Content Policy