Clash Royale has one of the deepest card systems on mobile, and it changed more in the last year than in the five before it. If you are trying to work out what "rarity" actually does, why your Legendary is somehow weaker than a friend's Common, or how much Gold it really takes to max a card in Season 87 (September 2026), this is the guide.
Everything below is verified against Supercell's official Clash Royale release notes and support articles as of September 2026. Card systems in this game move on a monthly patch cadence, so the date stamp matters — treat undated card guides with suspicion.
Quick answer: how Clash Royale cards work
Clash Royale has five card rarities — Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Champion — plus two special "forms" that sit on top of existing cards: Evolutions and Heroes. Rarity does not mean "more powerful." It controls how rare the card is to collect and how many copies you need to level it up. A maxed Common (Level 16) can beat a Level 11 Legendary every time. The real power number is card level, which now caps at 16 (raised from 15 in the 2025-11-24 Level 16 update), and levelling costs regular card copies plus Gold at every step.
Here are the three things most players get wrong:
- Rarity ≠ strength. It is a collection/upgrade tier, not a power tier.
- Elite Wild Cards are gone. The old "Level 15 costs 50,000 Elite Wild Cards and no Gold" system was removed on 2025-11-24. Every level now costs copies + Gold.
- Star Levels do nothing to stats. They are a purely cosmetic gold skin.
The five card rarities
Every card in your collection belongs to exactly one of these five rarities. Rarity determines drop rate, how many copies you need per level, and how quickly a card climbs to max.
Common — the most plentiful cards (Knight, Archers, Skeletons, Musketeer, Minions). You collect them in huge volumes, so they need the most copies per level, but they are the cheapest and fastest cards to actually max for a free-to-play player.
Rare — a step up in scarcity (Giant, Hog Rider, Wizard, Fireball, Mini P.E.K.K.A). Fewer copies needed per level than Commons, still very accessible. The new Minion Giant (added with Season 87) is a Rare.
Epic — noticeably rarer (P.E.K.K.A, Balloon, Golem, Freeze, Witch). You need far fewer copies to level an Epic, but they show up much less often in chests and the shop.
Legendary — the marquee cards (Mega Knight, Sparky, The Log, Electro Wizard, Miner). They need only a handful of copies per level, but those copies are hard to come by, which is why Legendaries are usually the last cards a free player maxes.
Champion — the top rarity, introduced in 2022. Champions (Golden Knight, Archer Queen, Skeleton King, Monk, Little Prince, Boss Bandit and others) each have an activatable ability and occupy a dedicated Champion slot — you can only run one Champion in a deck. Since the 2026-08-26 patch, Champion (and Hero) abilities are single-use per deployment — with the sole exception of Boss Bandit. If a guide tells you to "use the ability again after the cooldown," it is out of date.
Here is roughly what each rarity feels like to collect and upgrade:
| Rarity | Copies needed to level (relative) | Drop frequency | Typical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Highest | Very frequent | Cheap, easy to max early |
| Rare | High | Frequent | Backbone win conditions/spells |
| Epic | Low | Uncommon | High-impact, slower to collect |
| Legendary | Very low | Rare | Strong, hardest to max f2p |
| Champion | Very low | Rare | One per deck, has an ability |
The two special card forms: Evolutions and Heroes
These are not rarities. They are extra forms layered on top of cards you already own, and they sit in their own deck slots.
Evolutions are evolved variants of a base card that activate from an Evolution slot (or the Wild slot) after your card cycles through the deck a set number of times. An evolved Knight, Firecracker, or Skeletons behaves differently from the base — extra shields, extra range, extra spawns. Roughly 42+ Evolutions exist as of September 2026, and Supercell adds about one every month, so any "complete list" you see is stale within weeks. The September 8 balance patch nerfed Evo Elite Barbarians and Evo Battle Ram, if you were counting on them.
Heroes are officially a "feature rarity": a specific card placed in a Champion slot gains an ability the base card doesn't have. Heroes and the first Champion slot both unlock at Arena 5. You buy a Hero for 200 Hero Coins, and — importantly — you choose which Hero you want. Random Hero summons were removed in the mid-March 2026 update. Confirmed Heroes in 2026 include Hero Balloon, Hero Valkyrie, Hero Berserker, Hero Wizard, Hero Mega Minion, and the newest, Hero Ice Wizard (released with Season 87).
Since the March 2026 update, your deck has three special slots — one Evolution, one Hero, and one Wild (down from four). The Wild slot accepts either an Evolution or a Hero, so you get flexibility, but you cannot run two Evolutions and a Hero at the same time.
Card levels: the number that actually decides power
This is the part rarity gets confused with. A card's Level (1–16) is what changes its hitpoints and damage. Rarity only changes how you get there.
- The level cap is 16, raised from 15 in the 2025-11-24 Level 16 update across both Trophy Road and Clan Wars.
- Level 15 was branded "Elite" at launch back in 2023 — that branding is where a lot of old "Elite level" confusion comes from.
- As of September 2026, Ranked and Trophy Road share the same Level 16 ceiling. (Ranked was temporarily capped at Level 15 for the first six months after the Level 16 update, then moved to the full cap — that restriction is over.)
Verified upgrade costs (copies to reach each level, and Gold)
Gold cost is identical across all rarities at a given level — only the number of copies differs. These are the current official numbers after the 2025-11-24 overhaul (which actually made mid-levels 12–14 cheaper than before):
| Level | Common | Rare | Epic | Legendary | Champion | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1,000 | 300 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 15,000 |
| 12 | 1,500 | 400 | 50 | 6 | 2 | 25,000 |
| 13 | 2,500 | 550 | 70 | 9 | 5 | 40,000 |
| 14 | 3,500 | 750 | 100 | 12 | 8 | 60,000 |
| 15 | 5,500 | 1,000 | 130 | 14 | 11 | 90,000 |
| 16 | 7,500 | 1,400 | 180 | 20 | 15 | 120,000 |
What it costs to take one card from unlock to Level 16: about 365,625 Gold for any card, regardless of rarity. The copies differ wildly, though — roughly 23,086 copies for a Common, 4,787 for a Rare, 597 for an Epic, 68 for a Legendary, and 42 for a Champion. That gap is exactly why a free-to-play player mains cheap Commons and Rares: the Gold wall is the same, but the copy wall is far lower.
What replaced Elite Wild Cards (don't use old math)
If you read a levelling guide written before late 2025, throw the currency section out. The 2025-11-24 update removed Elite Wild Cards entirely. Supercell's own wording: "we've decided to say goodbye to Elite Wild Cards. Any remaining Elite Wild Cards in your inventory will automatically convert into Gems."
Here is what changed and what those old currencies became:
- Elite Wild Cards → Gems (auto-converted). The "Level 15 costs 50,000 EWC and zero Gold" mechanic is dead. Level 15 now costs copies + Gold like every other level.
- Books → Wild Cards, Book of Books → Gems, Magic Coins → Gold (each conversion scaled to your King Tower Level).
- Crystals are the new post-Level-16 currency: overflow copies of a maxed card convert into Crystals, which you spend on Shop cosmetics (exclusive emotes). They do nothing for card power.
Star Levels and Star Points: cosmetic only
A common beginner mistake is thinking a card with a gold, sparkly skin is "upgraded." It is not.
Star Levels are purely cosmetic — a gold, animated skin applied to a maxed card, up to 3 star levels. They change zero stats. You buy them with Star Points, which are the overflow you receive from collecting copies of an already-maxed card. A Star Level 3 Wizard and a Star Level 0 Wizard at the same card Level hit for exactly the same damage.
Which cards should you upgrade first?
Because Gold is the shared bottleneck, spend it where it compounds:
- Level your main win condition and its support first, not your whole collection. Eight maxed cards beats forty half-levelled ones.
- Prioritise cheap-to-max Commons and Rares early — you will hit higher effective levels faster for the same Gold.
- Save Legendary and Champion copies for the cards you actually run; their copy walls are brutal, so scattering copies across cards you never play is wasted progression.
- Don't chase max Champions early — one Champion per deck, and the copies are scarce.
FAQ
How many card rarities are there in Clash Royale? Five: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Champion. On top of those, two special forms — Evolutions and Heroes — can be applied to existing cards, but they are not separate rarities.
Does a higher rarity mean a stronger card? No. Rarity only controls how rare the card is to collect and how many copies each level costs. A maxed Level 16 Common will beat an under-levelled Legendary. The stat that decides power is the card's Level (1–16).
What is the max card level in Clash Royale? Level 16, raised from 15 in the 2025-11-24 Level 16 update. It applies to both Trophy Road and Ranked as of September 2026.
How much Gold does it cost to max a card? About 365,625 Gold to take any card from unlock to Level 16 — the Gold cost is the same for every rarity. What differs is the number of copies: roughly 23,086 for a Common down to about 42 for a Champion.
Are Elite Wild Cards still in the game? No. They were removed on 2025-11-24 and any you had were converted to Gems. Every level now costs regular copies plus Gold, including Level 15 and 16. Ignore any guide that still lists the old 50,000-Elite-Wild-Card cost for Level 15.
Do Star Levels make my card stronger? No. Star Levels are a purely cosmetic gold skin (up to 3 levels) on a maxed card and change no stats. They are bought with Star Points from overflow copies.
What is the difference between an Evolution and a Hero? An Evolution is an evolved version of a base card that charges up over deck cycles and sits in the Evolution or Wild slot. A Hero is a base card placed in a Champion slot that gains a single-use ability; Heroes unlock at Arena 5 and cost 200 Hero Coins each, and you choose which one you get.
More Clash Royale guides
Ready to put your cards to work? These guides go deeper on the systems above:
Want to build around your best cards? Start with the current meta and the newest systems.
- Best Clash Royale decks (September 2026) — the post-balance meta, reasoning-led.
- Clash Royale Evolutions explained — how Evolution slots and charges work, and the best ones now.
- Clash Royale Heroes explained — Hero Coins, single-use abilities, and which Hero to pick first.
- Clash Royale card levels explained — the full Elite level and maxing-cost breakdown.
- Best free-to-play Clash Royale deck — the cheapest cards to max and win with.
For everything else gaming, check out timesaver.gg.
Verified against Supercell's official Clash Royale release notes and support articles, September 2026 (Season 87 "Minion Academy"). Card systems change monthly — we refresh this guide each season.
