Top 10 BROKEN Cards in Clash Royale History

Clash Royale's meta has had many bumps over the years. This video covers what I believe to be the Top 10 most broken cards in the game's history while giving historical context for each of them.
Want to learn more about a specific card's history in depth? Check out this playlist: • History Of Clash Royal...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Zap
03:03 Elixir Collector
05:03 Royal Ghost
06:46 Royal Giant
08:15 Monk
10:03 Witch
12:45 Archer Queen
14:30 Royal Recruits
17:01 Night Witch
19:17 Honorable Mentions
20:23 Phoenix
22:15 Outro
Music List:
Windows XP Tour Track
Peril - Halo 2
Aria Math - C418
Taswell - C418
Anitra's Dance - Edvard Grieg
Over the Shiverpeaks - Guild Wars
Ruin Tower (Dead Sea) - Chrono Cross
Northern Kremispheres - Donkey Kong Country 3
Greenpath - Hollow Knight
The Coastlands - Octopath Traveler
Melty Monster Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy 2
Dreiton - C418
Staff Roll - Super Mario Galaxy

[@MegaKnight69420]

I'm a balanced card guys chill.

[@nd6672]

Don't worry mega nightt, I believe you 👍.

[@Ke1yBot]

I leveled up to level 14, now I’m not afraid of you

[@michaelforlife1032]

No worries megaknight you been balanced since the beginning!

[@Lotofrot]

I believe in you as mid ladder card :>>

[@user-ky2rk8tp5g]

Lmao

[@Jun-Pr]

The most **broken** card in CR is the credit card.

[@geometryemperor]

Mirrored Credit Card.

[@mobilemontsi2481]

You tried lol💀

[@jakob8363]

What about stolen Credit Card?

[@NotDeinut]

its broken because you end up broke

[@aga7299]

Nice profile picture

[@marceloxaustivo784]

I still remember how I jokingly made a phoenix mirror cycle deck on launch just to follow b-rad teachings, and I quite literally won a Grand Challenge 12-0 first try and was horrified

[@Bubbble_Bear]

fr the meta is sometimes cycle mirror the flavor of the month

[@JOKER-fp5vh]

the moment I saw the fire bird and that Kung fu man, I took out my credit card for the first time

[@sliceofbreadfriedinyolkdro3476]

​@@JOKER-fp5vhsupercell got yo ass bruh😂

[@olgaC283]

Pls reply to my comment

[@justmarc2015]

​@@Bubbble_Bear Mirror Fireball cycle in chess right now

[@user-vn1rp6xv6m]

Phoenix egg that survives the tower is just something else

[@obethovando6332]

Honestly I remember the first few days the Phoenix just released and there was the challenge along side it I played it at the very beginning not knowing that the egg survives the tower and I lost Nearing the end of the challenge I never knew the egg’s health was nerfed and the exact same situation happened but against my opponent and I was fully expecting the Phoenix to respawn to get more damage on their tower. You wouldn’t believe how confused and frustrated I was to see it die

[@leonardocastellanos7344]

I remember getting Phoenix out of a magical chest on day 1 of its release. Let’s just say I’m not proud of the warcrimes I committed, but I am proud of the fun I had

[@jpraise6771]

​@@leonardocastellanos7344telling you man. That shit was peak clash royale for me, then they had to go and fucking nerf the monk to oblivion. The funniest thing is, Monk would be so good in this evolution stacked meta as a decent and healthy counter to it, but in the name of BaLaNcE they just had to make him essentially useless

[@staringgasmask]

@@jpraise6771 Tell me you love cheap wins without telling me you love cheap wins

[@mattpettke3613]

@@jpraise6771that’s what you get for spending money and being bad at the game LMAO

[@joel-k]

One card I absolutely missed here is the Executioner. I can't remember when, but at one point it was basically a mini pekka with splash damadge, could one hit a minion with the first hit and two shot basically every range card in the game

[@zoltankonya9289]

Also, the level 16 mirror was broken af

[@ryanamburgy2791]

Executioner was broken at the same time as the witch, that’s why he didn’t list it

[@vivelespatat2670]

It didn't made it on the list because it was ONLY used with Tornado. All the cards mentionned were simply overpowered regardless of your deck. Executionner desperately needed Tornado as it would never land a single hit otherwise.

[@Hi-oj3pp]

@@vivelespatat2670i literally got legendary arena back because of exe and i didnt usr tornado

[@joel-k]

@@vivelespatat2670 At the time I am talking about, exe was absolutely viable without tornado. You could literally play it in front of a mini pekka and it would win

[@sirwabaloo7930]

Phoenix was so broken it’s comical lmao. If you do the math, at an 80% use rate (64% of matches would be phoenix users vs phoenix users, 4% non-phoenix vs non-phoenix, and only 32% phoenix vs non-phoenix) that means that from the perspective of the phoenix user, 64/80 (80%) of your matches would be against other phoenix users and only 20% against non users. Since average win rate against other phoenix users is mathematically locked at 50%, this gives your win rate (x) against non-phoenix users as .54 = .2x + .8(.5). So x=.7 So by literally JUST putting phoenix in your deck, your win rate against non phoenix users was SEVENTY PERCENT The most skillful meta to ever exist

[@ahlixemus8903]

Absurd to think that was barely 11 months ago

[@tobias7143]

The doomest thing in this meta is that remieli finish number one with no phénix and no monk

[@tiltmaster69]

The guys who lost probably lagged out. Also I think the win rate went up after it was nerfed a bit and the use went down.

[@mattpettke3613]

I remember quitting until they nerfed them to the ground lol

[@erratas8909]

Phoenix also killed the mega minion in that era like there is no reason to use it anymore when there is something that do the exact same purpose but more health, damage, attack speed and the ability to revive with the same stats and the egg doesnt die to the freaking log/zap just for 1 more elixir.

[@Colinjefferymosesshippclark]

E-giant on release was absolutely insane.Reflecting ALL of the incoming damage was so wild

[@tacky47]

what if supercell had an April fools update where they made every card the strongest its ever been

[@kungfubrandon6886]

Thats too fun for them to add

[@redbrows_755]

Yeah it'd just be an egiant meta

[@eldankdoge]

And April fools supercell will add that to pass royale 💀

[@kungfubrandon6886]

@@eldankdoge 😂

[@quinny-bn4jw]

Phoenix NW Egiant cycle

[@LightPink]

It'd be fun to have a game mode where all the cards where reverted to their most powerful versions.

[@youraveragerobloxkid]

E golem double witch beat down with evolved royal recruits/firecracker with little prince/monk.

[@Interiorcrocodilealigator10838]

3m would go crazy -battle ram would lightning sponge again -prime pump, I never got to see it, but a prime 6 ELIXIR recruits? That’d actually break it. Cuz it’d be as bulky as it was, and still have evo which also would get buffed. When recruits first dropped, it was to counter 3m, 3m just added recruits. -prime fisherman. -prime miner and spells would not do reduced damage.

[@YTInnerAgntAuto]

I actually miss the Champion Meta. That meta felt so fresh and fun, even if it was all champion focused. Outisde of level 14, it was an awesome time for Clash Royale.

[@jpraise6771]

Back when the pass royale was realistic😂

[@DueIou]

back when evolutions didnt exist

[@foxypirate9666]

"98 percent of top 100 people were using zap" that remaining 2 mf: -my goals are beyond your understanding

[@thepredman9lol266]

I love that this video mentions the month each card was at their broken peak. I remember some of these!! The royal recruit debacle, when the goblin drill was OP, and the E-Barbs still strike fear into my heart to this day! Man... feels good to be back into clash royale

[@terskataneli6457]

I remember the day elite barbarians were released. They had the speed of a dart goblin 😂😂

[@BladeMK]

@@terskataneli6457I remember when RG was at it's peak, you had to time the inferno tower to when it was in range, but without hitting the tower. My phone went through a lot during that time 😂

[@asleepydude5941]

Can I just say that I love how you talk about card history. As someone whos been playing for a very long time, it’s absolutely cool remembering these cards again and moments with these cards

[@HeisenbergFam]

Clash is truly a perfectly balanced game with no exploits

[@shadowlord4649]

Totally...

[@Raijin8380]

Pov the little prince ☠

[@Rupture.Rawstyle]

It should decrown Phoenix right? Peak usage rate was at 83% of the Little Prince, and that silly card is still everywhere to this date.

[@viltautasYT]

as a person whose deck involved NONE OF THESE CARDS EVER (i olayed the same deck for 4years now) this video makes me proud of myself

[@3snoW_]

youve never used zap??

[@dinosore_rs]

@@3snoW_ It's possible! My Zap is underleveled.

[@pizza5658]

2.6 hog moment

[@kungfubrandon6886]

​@@pizza5658😂 fr

[@NotBedTundy30]

I'd be proud too, only if it's Lavaloon and not the Hog cycle or Hog quake

[@awesome-dp1oo]

t I think one more honorable mention should be the electro wizard on launch. His attack used to stun troops for way longer than it does now and it also reset Every cards attack animation, so cards like megaknight were locked in place because they couldnt attack. The stun was so long that 2 electrowizards could completely freeze other cards and the princess tower. The electro wizard could also stun 3 cards at once, so he was basically an ice wizard on steroids.

[@sakatahajime]

Only bad about him when these times is he can be one shotted by fireball

[@LeanXTriforcer]

Even though I don't play CR anymore, these videos are always fun to watch. You do a fantastic job on them.

[@simonandersson1444]

Love the great videos. Created a playlist with all of them in it so far and listening on repeat every day while I'm sleeping. Keep up the great work and keep em coming 🙏🏼👍🏼

[@AraujoOluapWaiting]

I find it crazy that the most popular cards in 2016 is no where to be seen nowadays, it also shows you how much clash royale has developed over the years. Proud to be a 2016 player 💪🏻🗿❤

[@notkeness]

Except hog 😭

[@pigstep9697]

That PFP….. explain yourself!

[@SpecsJigglypuff]

@@pigstep9697he got hacked

[@Arethusa01]

Also, I want to see a history of any cards that existed back in the day like The Prince. I remember how annoying the card is when I was a newb back in 2016, but I can't stress enough just how I like the jingle when he charges.

[@Kewins_]

Hey Gratz just wanted to say that I really enjoy the different types of videos you are releasing, keep up the good work dude!

[@ivanho2787]

Keep up the good work bro, I like this type of content!

[@red13lade11]

I love and watch all of your videos. You really fit the missing spot in the informative category of CR history.

[@Tapood74]

I get my cr information from them and havoc

[@Mikyee]

Executioner should've been top 3 I think. It used to "stun" units when released. Then got like a 300% damage increase, which broke the meta. I remember how annoying it was because the meta became super defense.

[@nithraliabrawlstars6541]

Executioner was op when he killed any skeletons arround him.

[@Step.Emanuele]

It oneshotted every medium-low hp card and the axe was fast af😂

[@manofthehouse6333]

should've definitely mentioned electro giant at least. Everyone remembers when its stun time was so long that at 1 hp it would be able to deal 5-6 hundred damage on the tower. Especially when paired with the mirror.

[@Bot-td1tp]

I've been waiting for this video, and you delivered perfectly.

[@Skuttleskull]

another great video Gratz. keep up the quality work. like the change of topic :)

[@kartoffelsalat9923]

Bro you cant make a video like that without even losing a single word about the old executioner. It was so insane back then, definitely in the top 5 here.

[@anthre4366]

With royal giant's 6,5 attack range you also could hit the enemy tower (with 1 down) without being hit by king and normal tower

[@user-kg2cl1mm6u]

An another banger video from this masterpiece channel. Keep it up!

[@squeezysp790]

was thinking about your channel this morning. best clash royale channel despite the game blowing ass rn

[@shreerangkulkarni2455]

Reworked witch is included in the list but you forgot executioner reworked in honourable mentions too

[@EinsNiemand]

I remember trying to get Nightwitch when she released. I was so happy when I unlocked her after some time and just ran her with mirror clone in 2v2. It was so much fun to just get 13901834973289 Bats on the arena

[@lucavogel4705]

There was a moment when the rocket did 1000 DMG to the tower and was really broken, I think it was at the same time as the elixir pump that you mentioned

[@damionsaintclaire2365]

Never seen one of your videos before. This was absolutely well done.

[@averydistinctusername1635]

No videos this month? Ur my favourite creator pls

[@Bicycle5835]

Why why is it I watch you when I do homework because your voice is so soothing and just learning with Minecraft music is awesome

[@superdavid4645]

I know what you mean

[@ninjarebangbang]

Such high quality always, man

[@rafaelkenji5180]

I watch every single one of this guys vids and i havent played clash royale in 5 years, the content is great keep up!

[@StriiderEclipse]

Tbh I feel like zap could’ve gone higher, considering it was THE quintessential card that everyone was using. It was a launch accessible, cheap common that could be upgraded easily, meaning people at all levels of play had access to it. I don’t think there will ever be a card that was truly as ubiquitous as old zap was.

[@zandger1649]

It was at a time when getting to new arenas was a big deal so no one knew it was op unless you were top tier

[@TheJeffMan01]

Back when the game first came out, I played a Golem, Nightwitch deck with Zap and Mega Minion as support. I didnt understand how strong the cards were, I just really enjoyed the deck

[@georgear_rd7494]

Night Witch nor Mega Minion weren’t on Clash Royale’s release though?

[@scarecrow8978]

I really thought the old royal delivery with knock back and more damage would’ve been on list. Also an honorable mention would definitely be when the heal spirit was basically the best card in the game.

[@owengreaves9997]

Sometime between 2017 and 2019 can’t remember when freeze had its damage buff it was insanely OP

[@rbityello]

when a overpowered card released in the past: the new night witch, a strong evolution released todey: its strong like the pheoinx when it came out

[@prestonforyt1404]

Executioner not being here is criminal.

[@Imaorange87]

to be fair he wasn't good just buggy af

[@zaipollizamabdulmalek5822]

​@@Imaorange87a lot of card are like that since release though.

[@GooberGuhher]

The way he said x-bow at 5:03 is truly amazing.

[@sugar242]

Watching these vids just puts a smile on my face...good old days

[@CilantroSandro]

I am surprised the summer 2022 Electro giant and the Launch Executioner was not on the list.

[@Someone-hi1nt]

egiant was great but it arguably wasnt even a top 2 card in its most used deck at that point, it was mainly overpowered because of its synergy with egiant nado and the +2 level mirror

[@dvdv4270]

I remember getting my first legendary in 2016, all hyped up (back when legendarios where actually hard to unlock) and it turned out to be sparky… not a bad card right now (8-9% usage on challenges is average) but back then it was just a “hah I got a legendary” trophy which I wouldn’t actually ever use due to everyone having a zap prepared for it

[@isaacshutler6563]

love the vids man could u do a history of freeze video love how it was when it didn't deal damage

[@joseoliva9609]

Wow bro you're a very impresive youtuber 100k subs and still manage to get more veiws than how much subs you have keep up the good work

[@michaelwang3439]

Bruh…

[@Rhuaridhheats]

I genuinely was shocked the ebarbs were in honourable mention’s because I thought they would be in first place

[@aldenstromberg7273]

Actually the night witch is on the strong side right now. The most meta card that counters the night witch is firecracker, but night witch is usually seen in arrows fireball decks, so firecracker stops working. The night witch got a melee dps buff a long time ago which makes her very dangerous if she connects to a tank, not to mention her bats are still annoying. The most popular night witch deck is egolem night witch, where the night witch actually replaces the dragons since shes so good when the opponents dont have both air and ground splash that doesnt die to fireball arrows

[@moamalak8719]

Great video like always ❤

[@h2kwolfz572]

wasnt executioner overpowered af at one point?

[@muslimlobster3062]

Yes, not as overpower as these

[@Gumbaz]

@@muslimlobster3062yes way more I could do 2000 to a tower easily and couldn’t die to fireball which was it’s only counter

[@n1hukarletsgo428]

In 2016 he was too op

[@jimpatterson3536]

Evolution Firecracker

[@fdr.amirsinarhm82]

Great list Great work Gratz keep it up bro ❤ but I think E-giant must have included in the list

[@YTInnerAgntAuto]

Imo Egiant wasn't as OP as the others on this list, but close. He peaked when Mirror was OP so that's more on Mirror over Egiant

[@ottokarmitr7142]

I just wanted to say that since I first saw a video of yours I've been following you, it's simply because this combination of Clash Royale gameplay, Minecraft music and your epic voice is fantastic, that's everything I ever wanted high quality clash royale content 🔛🔝

[@venkatprayujananthaneni7805]

History of pekka in clash Royale plz

[@tri4cejawn365]

I knew phoenix was going to be #1, but I was expected night witch and 2016 ebarbs to be 2/3. Surprised that ebarbs were only honorable mention

[@mccoolfriend6818]

Every time I remember the Witch and Night Witch, I cry a bit for what they have done to her. Yet, I still have her counterpart in CoC so it's fine.

[@chrisaguilar6674]

I love the quality increase of these videos 😁

[@2jackndglimmt274]

Love the Hollow Knight Ost❤

[@kkstories007]

Instead of nightwitch they should have named nightmare 😢

[@JonathanSmolka-ow8wm]

You put so much effort in your Videos. Best KZbinr

[@nightowl5332]

Hey Gratz, when you feel like it, can you touch on the Lumberjack? I feel like he never was op or downright garbage and im curious to see your take on him. Great vids ma man and keep up the great work!

[@jraff2735]

Have you seen his pfp?

[@garretttoepp4399]

No miner?

[@goncalomaia6260]

Someday we’re going to talk about the firecracker in a new list

[@dynamitoriel9056]

Honestly compared to other meta, at best I think it would be in honorable mention and nothing more than that

[@historyhub9211]

I'd love a video regarding the history of Clash Royale's production. I know next to nothing about it.

[@aarong3201]

great vids man!

[@therapgame1091]

Most broken card right now is little prince

[@louctendo1321]

Yes

[@elouan6014]

Bro Forgot the 1 elexir skeletons

[@eternallife8898]

Are they 2 elixir now

[@Meet_Your_Death]

Are they 2 elxir now

[@PrimePlas]

u rly trolled the first 2 ppl in the replies

[@guesswhothis]

Can you do a video on the Helsinki tournament? Man that was nostalgic

[@ElDroggoSuperior]

been waiting for this one

[@FriedSausag3]

Stopping kids from saying first

[@joksasp8743]

No miners?

[@jaredtan890]

nerf miner

[@milicabojic9434]

Great vid as always

[@nuorkousa4137]

Yes another Gratz video what a lovely day🎉

[@Cr0w1997]

*heheheha*

[@GratzClash]

Thanks!

[@___..____.]

nerf miner

[@markcampollo2707]

I don’t play Clash Royale anymore (for obvious reasons) but your videos are very entertaining to watch

[@gbhernandes]

I miss the flying machine in 2018 It was so op Nice video bro

[@_cinimod_830]

I still don’t understand why a PIG rider has the very fast stat, when people complained about ebarbs they immediately backpedaled. “NERF THE HOG RIDER” “It’s easy to counter” -my response^ > I don’t wanna have to have .3-.7 seconds to defend against this stupid card THATS SCREAMS ITS STUPID FUCKING NAME, GOD JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT CARD MAKES ME WANNA JUMP OFF A BUILDING

[@_cinimod_830]

I have now realized after rereading this comment, that I have a severe hate problem for that card

[@pwrsocket]

@@_cinimod_830 If you hate hog so much just use bomb tower/tesla

[@zaipollizamabdulmalek5822]

​@@pwrsocketdoesn't fit into a lot of deck

[@Plexplay]

​@@zaipollizamabdulmalek5822Tornado

[@dynamitoriel9056]

@@Plexplay assuming those hog player didn't run 2.6 which would just let them cycle hog faster and get chip damage still or didn't run some soft of cancerous deck that can counter tornado on king tower and somehow deactivate king tower

[@Kn1rek]

Bro talking so slow I have to watch 1.5x speed

[@Gelunix]

I love your music selection.

[@JustAViewer44]

Great video as always ❤❤❤❤

[@HowCouldYouu]

I liked my own comment

[@yrahcaz5934]

I liked your own comment

[@DaesoTheOne]

Pre-Global spawners. Higher HP, they didn’t die naturally, spawned faster AND poison wasn’t in the game yet. Usage rates for spawner decks were upwards of 80%. It was a goddamn nightmare

[@meluky2253]

Could you rank reworks? Or top 5 best reworks? It could be based on how different or creative the rework was

[@Arethusa01]

Making Dart Goblin shoot Rocket sounds like something that could happen for April Fools trailer back in the day.

[@gazywaked3748]

I still can’t comprehend how supercell didn’t think it was a good idea to release the phoenix the way they did

[@elitedragoon6484]

i never got to abused the Night witch back then as when she first came out, surprisingly, she was the first ever challenge i won and unlocked her in that challenge but i never played her. I was giant skeleton user and i was very new, had no idea what i was doing. Night Witch is still my favorite card in the game. She is way stronger than phoenix, not by statics but if you look in the past. Phoenix was only used in like two decks, beatdown and Grave yard. Royal Recruits and Night witched splashed into every archetype, regardless of if the card didn't fit the design. like royal recuits in lava hound or golem, or night witch with xbow. i think cards are more broken if they fit in all archetypes than if they are broken in a few decks they work in. I think today, Night witch and Royal recruits would have usage of literally 90 to 95 usage easily if they were in their strongest states today.

[@luigimarguglio8398]

nice video. I would like a pekka bridge spam one!!

[@milkman1816]

I want to see a lava hound vid to see if it got a buff or a nerf because that's one of my fav cards to this day

[@HylianGamr1]

Gratz, can you PLEASE make a video on the electro giant?

[@RagingCatfish]

Speedy mighty miner and fire spirit that countered goblin barrel were my fav over powered cards

[@AlejandroLomelin]

I had a good idea for a vid maybe where you talk about the world record history of clash(most troops, speedruns etc) could be an interesting vid

[@DraftyDaftyHubertOHare]

Can’t wait for the Royal Giant video