What are the 8 cards in Lava Hound Air?

The most-played list in our sample runs Lava Hound, Spirit Empress, Skeleton Dragons, Goblin Cage, Dark Prince, Zap, Barbarian Barrel and Fireball. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.

What is Lava Hound Air’s average elixir and 4-card cycle?

4.1 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Skeleton Dragons and Goblin Cage) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.

What does Lava Hound Air lose to?

In our sample, decks with Lava Hound won 39.8% (±4.4) against decks with Electro Giant, n 462, 40.4% (±5.2) against decks with Giant Skeleton, n 332 and 41.1% (±3.6) against decks with Battle Ram, n 727.

Which decks count as Lava Hound Air?

A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Lava Hound without Balloon or Miner. 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 — 2114 uses of Lava Hound Air here, 51.5% ±2.1 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.

Can I play Lava Hound Air without Goblin Cage?

Another list counted under this archetype runs Tombstone in its place. Same job — building (Building). 852 hitpoints (was 1256, 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 2,114 uses, 1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026.

Deck overview

Unofficial guide · Deck · Checked 24 Oct 2026

Lava Hound Air — Clash Royale deck guide

Lava Hound Air is a beatdown deck with 4.1 average elixir and a 12-elixir four-card cycle. It won 51.5% (±2.1) of 2,114 top Path of Legends battles, 1 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026.

Lava Hound — Clash Royale card art (Supercell Fan Kit)

Lava Hound takes towers; Spirit Empress and Skeleton Dragons and Goblin Cage anchor the defence; Zap and Barbarian Barrel keep the cycle fast.Lava Hound — Win condition: pressures the tower and forces a response. (Troop · Buildings · ranged)

Avg elixir4.1

Cycle12

ArchetypeBeatdown

Open in Clash Royale

Performance

52%

win rate

2,114games counted

Beatdown17 lists · 1.0% of decks

52%

Wins

Draws

48%

Losses

ModeRanked · Path of Legends

Window1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026

Sample±2.1 pp

Opening hand decision tree

Lava Hound in hand?

YesSpirit Empress in hand?

Safest: Wait until 10 elixir and react to their first card.Also OK: Lava Hound in the back only once you have the elixir and support ready.

NoSkeleton Dragons in hand?

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

Defensive anchors

Spirit Empress

Air answer

Win impact−4.0 pp

Usage46.6%

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

Unavailable if: still cycling back (you played it in your last four plays) or you are under 6 elixir.

Skeleton Dragons

Air answer

Win impact−0.5 pp

Usage80.6%

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.

Goblin Cage

Defense

Win impact−0.6 pp

Usage45.4%

Stops: Ground pushes that go for buildings; it hits its targets.

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

Role map

Win condition

Lava Hound

Air answer

Spirit Empress, Skeleton Dragons

Defense

Goblin Cage

Control

Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Fireball

Support

Dark Prince

Three rules to win

Pressure:
build an elixir lead first, then play Lava Hound in the back with support ready behind it.
Defend first:
answer with Spirit Empress and Skeleton Dragons on your own side, then push with whatever survives.
Draw out:
their support troops with Zap once Lava Hound is crossing the bridge.

Matchups(win rate)

vs Giant Beatdown / Giant Graveyard55%

vs Log Bait / Spell Bait53%

vs Hog Earthquake / Hog 2.6 Cycle / Hog Cycle52%

vs Golem Beatdown44%

vs Bridge Spam / Ram Control41%

View all matchups →

Result breakdown

Wins52% · 1,089

Draws0% · 0

Losses48% · 1,025

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

Substitution ladder

CardOption

Spirit EmpressMega Minionin this archetype+1.7HP −9%

Goblin CageTombstonein this archetype+1.2HP −9%

Dark PrinceValkyriein this archetype+1.1HP −9%

Dark PrinceBarbariansin this archetype+0.7HP −9%

Skeleton DragonsMega Minionin this archetype−0.9HP −9%

Check swaps in the Deck Builder →

Loss-to-rule checklist

Tick what happened in your last loss.

Compact details

CardRoleElixirUsageWin Δ

Lava HoundWin cond.7100%—

Spirit EmpressAir answer646.6%−4.0

Skeleton DragonsAir answer480.6%−0.5

Goblin CageDefense445.4%−0.6

Dark PrinceSupport433.7%−1.7

ZapSmall spell295.1%—

Barbarian BarrelSmall spell246.6%−4.0

FireballBig spell495.1%—

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
Dark Prince, Lava Hound, Skeleton Dragons, Goblin Cage, Fireball, Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Spirit Empress	50.5% ±4.0 pp	600
Barbarians, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Skeleton Dragons, Minion Giant, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	52.5% ±5.4 pp	324
Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, Skeleton Dragons, Rune Giant, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	51.0% ±5.6 pp	304
Barbarians, Baby Dragon, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Minion Giant, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	—	168
Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Skeleton Dragons, Goblin Cage, Fireball, Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Spirit Empress	—	121
Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Spirit Empress	—	110
Valkyrie, Guards, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Skeleton Dragons, Goblin Cage, Arrows, Lightning	—	88
Barbarians, Baby Dragon, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Flying Machine, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	—	68

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: “Lava Hound Air” is community vocabulary — here a deck is filed by its cards alone, so another site may group the same lists differently.
Thin matchups: 7 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

LavaLoon · 50.2% ±2.4 · n 1,686
Lava Miner · 55.4% ±2.7 · n 1,276
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

Lava Hound Air — questions

What are the 8 cards in Lava Hound Air?: The most-played list in our sample runs Lava Hound, Spirit Empress, Skeleton Dragons, Goblin Cage, Dark Prince, Zap, Barbarian Barrel and Fireball. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.
What is Lava Hound Air’s average elixir and 4-card cycle?: 4.1 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Barbarian Barrel, Skeleton Dragons and Goblin Cage) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.
What does Lava Hound Air lose to?: In our sample, decks with Lava Hound won 39.8% (±4.4) against decks with Electro Giant, n 462, 40.4% (±5.2) against decks with Giant Skeleton, n 332 and 41.1% (±3.6) against decks with Battle Ram, n 727.
Which decks count as Lava Hound Air?: A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Lava Hound without Balloon or Miner. 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 — 2114 uses of Lava Hound Air here, 51.5% ±2.1 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.
Can I play Lava Hound Air without Goblin Cage?: Another list counted under this archetype runs Tombstone in its place. Same job — building (Building). 852 hitpoints (was 1256, 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