What are the 8 cards in LavaLoon?

The most-played list in our sample runs Lava Hound, Balloon, Skeleton Dragons, Mega Minion, Tombstone, Barbarians, Zap and Fireball. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.

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

4.1 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Mega Minion, Tombstone and Skeleton Dragons) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.

What does LavaLoon 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 LavaLoon?

A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Lava Hound with Balloon. 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 — 1686 uses of LavaLoon here, 50.2% ±2.4 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.

Can I play LavaLoon without Mega Minion?

Another list counted under this archetype runs Inferno Dragon in its place. Same job — air answer (Troop · Air & Ground · ranged). ranged instead of melee; 2086 hitpoints (was 1348, 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 1,686 uses, 1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026.

Deck overview

Unofficial guide · Deck · Checked 24 Oct 2026

LavaLoon — Clash Royale deck guide

LavaLoon is a beatdown deck with 4.1 average elixir and a 12-elixir four-card cycle. It won 50.2% (±2.4) of 1,686 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; Skeleton Dragons and Mega Minion and Tombstone anchor the defence; Zap 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

50%

win rate

1,686games counted

Beatdown18 lists · 0.8% of decks

50%

Wins

Draws

50%

Losses

ModeRanked · Path of Legends

Window1 Sep – 24 Oct 2026

Sample±2.4 pp

Opening hand decision tree

Lava Hound in hand?

YesSkeleton Dragons 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.

NoMega Minion in hand?

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

Defensive anchors

Skeleton Dragons

Air answer

Win impact—

Usage82.2%

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.

Mega Minion

Air answer

Win impact−5.3 pp

Usage56.4%

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

Unavailable if: still cycling back (you played it in your last four plays) or you are under 3 elixir.

Tombstone

Defense

Win impact−2.9 pp

Usage72.7%

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 3 elixir.

Role map

Win condition

Lava Hound, Balloon

Air answer

Skeleton Dragons, Mega Minion

Defense

Tombstone

Control

Zap, Fireball

Support

Barbarians

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 Skeleton Dragons and Mega Minion 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

Wins50% · 847

Draws0% · 0

Losses50% · 839

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

Substitution ladder

CardOption

Skeleton DragonsBaby Dragonin this archetype+2.0HP −9%

BarbariansValkyriein this archetype+1.6HP −9%

Mega MinionInferno Dragonin this archetype+1.3HP −9%

ZapArrowsin this archetype——

Skeleton DragonsMinionsin 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

Lava HoundWin cond.7100%—

BalloonWin cond.5100%—

Skeleton DragonsAir answer482.2%—

Mega MinionAir answer356.4%−5.3

TombstoneDefense372.7%−2.9

BarbariansSupport563.7%−2.2

ZapSmall spell289.4%—

FireballBig spell478.3%—

Compare all deck styles →

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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, Barbarians, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Skeleton Dragons, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	45.0% ±5.0 pp	378
Balloon, Barbarians, Lava Hound, Miner, Inferno Dragon, Skeleton Dragons, Arrows, Zap	—	283
Balloon, Barbarians, Baby Dragon, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	—	170
Balloon, Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, Skeleton Dragons, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	—	136
Balloon, Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Skeleton Dragons, Tombstone, Fireball, Zap	—	126
Balloon, Valkyrie, Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, Skeleton Dragons, Tombstone, Fireball, Arrows	—	76
Balloon, Valkyrie, Guards, Lava Hound, Inferno Dragon, Skeleton Dragons, Fireball, Zap	—	73
Balloon, Valkyrie, Baby Dragon, Lava Hound, Mega Minion, Tombstone, Fireball, Vines	—	62

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: “LavaLoon” 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

Lava Hound Air · 51.5% ±2.1 · n 2,114
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

LavaLoon — questions

What are the 8 cards in LavaLoon?: The most-played list in our sample runs Lava Hound, Balloon, Skeleton Dragons, Mega Minion, Tombstone, Barbarians, Zap and Fireball. Other lists of this archetype are in the variants table.
What is LavaLoon’s average elixir and 4-card cycle?: 4.1 average elixir; the four cheapest cards (Zap, Mega Minion, Tombstone and Skeleton Dragons) cost 12 elixir together. Costs come from the official card list.
What does LavaLoon 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 LavaLoon?: A deck is filed here by its cards alone: Lava Hound with Balloon. 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 — 1686 uses of LavaLoon here, 50.2% ±2.4 points (95% interval). It is a sample, not official Supercell statistics.
Can I play LavaLoon without Mega Minion?: Another list counted under this archetype runs Inferno Dragon in its place. Same job — air answer (Troop · Air & Ground · ranged). ranged instead of melee; 2086 hitpoints (was 1348, 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