Updated November 14, 2026 · applies to Clash Royale Season 89 ("King vs. King", November 2 – December 7, 2026). Sources: Supercell's official Season 89 and Shocktober release notes, plus the community Clash Royale Wiki (labelled "wiki" where we use it).
Quick answer: Clash Royale emotes are the animated reactions you send in battle, in spectator mode and in Clan chat. Every account starts with 4 King emotes and 6 text Taunts. You carry an Emote Deck of 8 into battle and can send up to 100 emotes per battle (wiki). There are 8 ways to get more emotes: the Shop's 3 daily emotes at 250 Gems each, the Crystal Market, the Diamond Pass (one exclusive emote per season), 3-Star Magic Lucky Chests from Arena 4, Trophy Road and Ranked milestones, event and challenge rewards, Shop offers, and QR or Store Codes. The Clash Royale Wiki lists 610 numbered emotes, 191 of them Exclusive, meaning they can never be bought in the daily Shop rotation. To mute emotes, tap the crossed-circle icon to the left of your Emote Deck during a battle.
A post asking "What does this emote mean?" hit 219 upvotes and 51 comments on r/ClashRoyale within hours on November 14. Emotes are the only way to talk to your opponent, and most players never learn where the rare ones come from. This guide covers every source that works in November 2026: which ones are free, which cost Gems or real money, and which are gone for good.
Key takeaways
- Free emotes: Trophy Road (3 fixed emotes), Ranked milestones, event and challenge rewards, 3-Star Magic Lucky Chests from Arena 4, QR codes and Store Codes.
- Paid emotes: 250 Gems each from the daily Shop row, the Diamond Pass seasonal emote, and real-money Shop offers.
- Rare emotes are the ones marked Exclusive: Pass, event and tournament emotes that never come back to the Shop. The wiki counts 191 of them.
- No new emotes have entered the daily Shop row since October 2023 (wiki). Every newer emote comes through the Pass, events, offers or codes.
- Crystals from maxed-card overflow buy emotes in the Crystal Market. It's the only emote source that grows just from playing a maxed collection.
How do emotes work in Clash Royale?
Emotes are short animated stickers with a sound effect. In battle you tap the speech-bubble button in the bottom-left corner, and the emote plays next to your King's Tower so your opponent sees and hears it. The in-game emote screen sums it up in one line: "Express yourself during battle with Emotes!" (quoted by the Clash Royale Wiki).
The wiki splits them into three types:
| Type | What it is | How many | Can you buy it in the daily Shop? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular emote | Animated sticker with sound | Most of the 610 | Yes, if it rotates in (250 Gems) |
| Exclusive emote | Same, with a Legendary-style border | 191 (wiki) | No, it was limited-time |
| Taunt | Text bubble, no sound | 6, all free | Not needed, you start with them |
The six Taunts are "Good luck!", "Well played!", "Wow!", "Thanks!", "Good game!" and "Oops." They only appear in battle.
How do you set up your Emote Deck?
Open the Cards tab at the bottom of the main menu, then the tab with three speech bubbles next to Battle Deck. The top row is your Emote Deck of 8, the emotes that pop up first when you tap the bubble in battle. Below it is your full collection, plus the regular emotes you haven't collected yet. You can still reach the rest of your collection mid-battle with the white arrow beside the Emote Deck.
Pick your 8 by job, not by looks:
- 1 to 2 "good game" emotes (Thumbs-Up King, a friendly Pass emote) for the end of a close match.
- 1 "nice play" emote for when the opponent makes a great defence. It keeps things friendly.
- 2 to 3 reaction emotes (Crying King, a shocked face) for your own misplays.
- 1 to 2 "taunt" emotes if you use them. Laughing King is the classic.
Where else can you use emotes?
- Spectating: the bubble moves to the bottom-right. Emotes appear at the side of the battle, smaller and without sound, and you can't send Taunts.
- Clan chat: tap the smiley face next to the text box. Your whole collection appears in pages of 20, oldest first, and clanmates can tap your emote to replay it.
- Training Camp: no emotes. The button turns into a red X for pausing.
How do you mute emotes in Clash Royale?
During a battle, tap the speech bubble and then the crossed-circle (prohibition) icon to the left of your Emote Deck. While mute is on, the icon turns into a green check mark, and you won't see, hear or send emotes. Tap the check mark to turn emotes back on.
One thing to know: muting hides your emotes too. If you mute to stop a Laughing King spammer, you can't send your own "good game" at the end either.
The wiki also reports a hard cap of 100 emotes per battle, so even the worst spammer runs out eventually.
What does this emote mean?
The November 14 thread (r/ClashRoyale) is a good example. The player circled one emote in a 16-emote collection screen and asked what it meant. Supercell gives emotes names, but there's no official "meaning" list, so players read them by context and timing:
- Laughing King after a tower falls: a taunt. It's the reason the mute button exists.
- Thumbs-Up King or a "Well played!" Taunt at the end: sportsmanship. Send one back.
- Crying King after their own misplay: self-deprecating, not aimed at you.
- Spam of any emote while losing: usually tilt, sometimes a bait to make you misplay. Mute and play on.
Some emotes are deliberate references, and the wiki lists them. The Goblin "This is Fine" emote is the This is Fine meme, the "Deal With It" Goblin is the sunglasses meme, the Hog Rider Think emote is the Roll Safe meme, and the Inferno Tower Blink emote is the Eye of Sauron. Knowing the reference usually explains the joke.
How do you get emotes in Clash Royale? (all 8 ways)
| Source | Cost | Emote type | Notes (November 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop daily emote row | 250 Gems each | Regular | 3 emotes a day, different for each player |
| Crystal Market | Crystals | Selected Crystal emotes | Crystals come from maxed-card overflow |
| Diamond Pass Royale | Paid pass | Exclusive seasonal | 1 per season |
| 3-Star Magic Lucky Chests | Free | Random | Emotes unlock at Arena 4 |
| Trophy Road and Ranked | Free | Fixed milestone emotes | 3 Trophy Road emotes + Ranked rewards |
| Events and challenges | Free | Often Exclusive | 20-Win Challenge, Album events, community events |
| Shop offers | Real money | Regular or Exclusive | Bundled with Gold, chests or Evolutions |
| QR codes and Store Codes | Free | Cosmetic | No Gems in any code we've verified |
1. The Shop's daily emote row (250 Gems)
Below the Daily Deals, the Shop shows 3 random regular emotes a day, different for each player, at 250 Gems each (wiki, Shop page). It's the only place you can choose a specific regular emote. If it isn't in today's three, check back tomorrow. The rotation has been frozen at the older emote pool since October 2023 (wiki), so new seasonal emotes never show up here. The wiki also lists 1 emote a week for 500,000 Gold in the Shop, so check for it before you spend Gems.
2. The Crystal Market
Crystals are the overflow currency for maxed cards. Once a card hits the level cap, extra copies turn into Crystals: 1 per Common, 6 per Rare, 60 per Epic, 600 per Legendary and 1,200 per Champion. The Shop's Crystal Market sells emotes for them. The wiki's own pages disagree on the price (20,000 on the Emotes page, 40,000 on the Shop page), so trust the in-game price tag. This is the one free source that keeps paying out as long as you play with a maxed deck. Our card levels explainer covers how overflow works.
3. Diamond Pass Royale (1 exclusive emote per season)
Each season's Diamond (paid) Pass includes 1 exclusive emote, alongside a Tower Skin and other rewards (wiki, Pass Royale page). Since the Pass rework, the seasonal emote and Tower Skin sit on the Diamond side, while the Battle Banner moved to the free side. Season 89's emote is the Evo Giant Belt emote, per the wiki's Pass table and the pass preview screens shared at launch.
These are a big part of the "rare" emote pool, because once a season ends its Pass emote is gone. The 2026 line-up so far, according to the wiki's Pass table: Hero Wizard Fire (Season 79), Hero Goblin Knife (80), Hero Barbarian Barrel Popup (81), Hero Balloon Mind Blown (82), Hero Dark Prince Rhino Flirt (83), Princess Evolution Nail File (84), Ronin Chill Tea (85), Hero Valkyrie Super Warrior (86), Hero Ice Wizard Salt Snow (87), Hero Electro Wizard Unlimited Power (88) and Evo Giant Belt (89).
Is the pass worth it just for the emote? Not on its own. Our Pass Royale value breakdown does the full math.
4. 3-Star Magic Lucky Chests (free, from Arena 4)
Magic Lucky Chests can roll cosmetics: emotes and Battle Banners. Emotes unlock at Spell Valley (Arena 4), per Supercell's official Lucky Chest info page. They only drop when a chest finishes at the 3-Star rarity. On Supercell's odds table for Chest Level 13 and up (Arena 19+), the 3-Star chest has a 3.85% emote chance. Standard Lucky Chests pay out cards and Gold, not emotes. Seasonal Lucky Chests roll emotes from the current season's theme. It's slow and random, but it costs nothing.
5. Trophy Road and Ranked milestones (free)
Three emotes can only be earned on Trophy Road: the Cheer Knight, Happy Royal Ghost and Firecracker Heart. They don't appear in the daily Shop row. In Ranked, the wiki lists the King Emperor and King Belt emotes for reaching Ultimate Champion for the first time, plus a season-specific emote for reaching Champion I. See our Ranked unlock guide for the full picture.
6. Events and challenges (free, often exclusive)
This is the biggest free source of exclusive emotes, and Supercell keeps using it:
- 20-Win Challenge (October 26 – November 2, 2026): the top reward was an emote. Supercell's Shocktober notes teased it: "And the emote reward for reaching 20 wins? Don't worry, it's as awesome as ever!" Our 20-Win Challenge deck guide covers how to get through it next time.
- Album events: Shocktober's movie album paid out "Electro Giant Evolution, plus an emote and tower skin" for completing it (official notes).
- Community events: in Keep the Lights On (October 21–28) the emote depended on your choices: givers got King's Treasure, takers got Goblin's Precious.
- Season 89's Royal Market: Supercell describes it as a market where "items and cosmetics of all kinds will be available for you in exchange for Crown Tokens." Launch-day screenshots showed an emote tile among its rewards. Crown Tokens come from King of Cards missions.
Event emotes are usually Exclusive. If you skip the event, the emote doesn't come back to the Shop.
7. Shop offers (real money)
Special offers sometimes include an emote, either regular or exclusive. This season's Mirror Evolution offer bundled 6 Evolution Shards with a free emote, and players reported different prices for it ($4.79, $9.99 and $11.99 were all screenshotted between November 9 and 10). It runs until about November 19. Details are in our Evo Mirror guide. Only buy an emote offer if you want the rest of the bundle anyway, because the emote alone is cheaper in Gems when it rotates in.
8. QR codes and Store Codes (free cosmetics)
Clash Royale has two real code systems, and both mostly hand out cosmetics:
- QR codes shown on Supercell streams and esports broadcasts. Scanning one can grant emotes, Lucky Chests or Gold.
- Store Codes, redeemed on the Supercell Store website with the same Supercell ID you play on, not inside the game. They pay out emotes and banner cosmetics.
None of the Store or QR codes we've verified gave Gems, so treat any site promising "free Gem codes" with suspicion. We don't list code strings in this guide because they expire fast and we only print codes we've re-tested. Our Supercell Store guide explains how the Store side works. Linking a Supercell ID once also granted the exclusive Hay Day Chicken emote (wiki).
What are the rarest emotes in Clash Royale?
"Rare" in Clash Royale means limited-time, not a rarity tier. The rarest emotes are the ones only a small group of players could ever earn:
- Global Tournament emotes. The wiki notes the exclusive Champion Tournament King emote went to the top 100 of a Global Tournament.
- Ultimate Champion emotes (King Emperor, King Belt). You have to climb to the top of Ranked.
- Removed-mode emotes, such as the Goblin Queen's Journey and old 2v2 League rewards. These modes are gone, so the emotes can never be earned again.
- 20-Win Challenge emotes. Each year's design is new, and only players who finish 20 wins before 3 losses get it.
- Old Pass Royale emotes, such as the 2026 set above. Common in their season, then never sold again.
You can't trade or buy any of these after the fact. Trade Tokens were removed from the game, and emotes were never tradable anyway.
Is it worth spending Gems on emotes?
For most players, no. 250 Gems is a lot of progression to spend on one cosmetic. A cheaper plan:
- Free-to-play: play the events. The 20-Win Challenge, Album events and community events each hand out an emote, and 3-Star Magic Lucky Chests from Arena 4 add random ones for nothing.
- Maxed players: spend Crystals first. They have no other use besides cosmetics, so the Crystal Market costs you nothing you'd miss.
- Pass buyers: the seasonal exclusive emote comes with the Diamond Pass, so don't also buy it in a bundle.
- Gems: only for one specific regular emote you'll actually put in your Emote Deck of 8.
More Clash Royale guides: emotes are the fun part. These guides cover where your Gems and Crowns should actually go this season.
- Season 89 "King vs. King" guide
- Is Pass Royale worth it?
- How to get gems fast in Clash Royale
- Crown Series guide
FAQ
How do you get free emotes in Clash Royale? Play events and challenges (the 20-Win Challenge, Album events and community events all award emotes), open Magic Lucky Chests from Arena 4 onward (emotes drop at the 3-Star rarity), reach the Trophy Road and Ranked emote milestones, and watch Supercell streams for QR codes. Maxed players can also spend Crystals in the Crystal Market.
How much do emotes cost in Clash Royale? Emotes in the Shop's daily row cost 250 Gems each, with 3 different ones each day. Exclusive emotes can't be bought there at all. They come from the Diamond Pass, events or limited Shop offers.
How do you mute emotes in Clash Royale? In battle, tap the speech-bubble button, then the crossed-circle icon to the left of your Emote Deck. It turns into a green check mark while muted. Muting also stops you from seeing and sending emotes.
How many emotes are there in Clash Royale? The Clash Royale Wiki lists 610 numbered emotes as of its October 2026 update, 191 of them Exclusive. On top of those, everyone has the 6 text Taunts.
How many emotes can you use in a battle? Your Emote Deck holds 8 for quick access, and you can reach the rest of your collection from the arrow beside it. The wiki reports a cap of 100 emotes per battle.
Do Clash Royale codes give free emotes? Some do. Store Codes, redeemed on the Supercell Store website, and QR codes from Supercell broadcasts mainly give cosmetics like emotes and banners, and QR codes sometimes add chests or Gold. None of the codes we've verified gave Gems.
Can you get old Pass Royale emotes back? No. Each season's Diamond Pass emote is Exclusive and doesn't return to the daily Shop row once the season ends.
