Updated November 1, 2026 · win rates checked November 1, at the end of Season 88 (Shocktober), after the October 6 and October 19 balance updates. Season 89 starts November 2, and Supercell says it won't introduce balance changes at the start of the November season, though it may adjust after the World Finals (November 6–8).
Quick answer: The best Royal Giant deck right now is Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Monk, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball and Barbarian Barrel (3.3 Elixir). RoyaleTracker lists it at 62.4% over 1.0K battles. Don't have Monk? The 3.0 swaps him for Royal Ghost and shows 61.3% over 424 battles with The Log. Plain Royal Giant is a different story: he ranks last among 22 win conditions in Ranked at 46.3%, so get the Evolution first.
Supercell nerfed Royal Giant and then his partner Fisherman five weeks apart this year, and he now sits at the bottom of the Ranked win condition table. His best lists still clear 60%.
This guide covers the lists worth copying, which swaps actually matter, how to play the deck, what beats it, and what Season 89 changes.
Is Royal Giant good in Clash Royale right now?
As a plain card, no. With his Evolution in a tuned list, yes. RoyaleTracker's win condition tier list, updated October 31 and built on 12,062,650 Ranked battles from the last three weeks, has Royal Giant at 46.3% with 0.3% usage. That's last of 22 and more than three points under the 49.46% baseline.
The Evolution table looks better. Evo Royal Giant shows 49.3% with 2.0% usage over 238,410 battles, nearly seven times as many battles as the plain card's roughly 35,000. So most Royal Giant games in Ranked are Evo games. The Evo form wins more, though 49.3% is still under the 50.27% baseline in the Evolution table.
Two patches started the fall:
- March 2: hit speed 1.7s to 1.8s. Supercell's note reads: "Royal Giant has been one of the strongest and most consistent win conditions in the game for years. This hit speed nerf will ensure his Evolution form's Knockback can no longer permanently keep melee troops at bay."
- April 6: Fisherman lost his slow. The April balance notes say: "Fisherman has enabled Royal Giant to be a dominant win condition for years on end. We're simplifying the card by removing its slowdown effect."
Players felt it. An August thread titled "Royal giant 3.0 unplayable" blamed Hero Berserker, Hero Valkyrie and Evo Elite Barbarians, and one reply called Royal Giant "probably unique in almost never experiencing that until now." His stats haven't changed since March, and neither the October 6 nor the October 19 update touched him. They did touch his deck: Barbarian Barrel fell from 232 to 215 damage and Royal Ghost from 1,210 to 1,152 HP on October 6, Skeletons' spawn spread changed twice, and Monk's ability got faster.
Current numbers at Level 11, using the Clash Royale wiki:
| Stat | Level 11 |
|---|---|
| Elixir / rarity | 6 / Common |
| Hitpoints | 3,164 |
| Damage | 307 every 1.8s (about 170 per second) |
| Range | 5 tiles |
| Targets | Buildings only |
| Speed | Slow |
| Unlock | Arena 7 (Royal Arena) |
Against a full Level 11 Tower Princess (3,052 HP, per the wiki), that's 10 shots, or about 17 seconds of uninterrupted fire. The March nerf added about a second to that job. He doesn't need to connect for long, but he does need your defense to buy him the time.
What is the best Royal Giant deck right now?
These are the most useful lists from RoyaleTracker's Evo Royal Giant and Royal Giant pages, which track 30 lists each, checked November 1, 2026. RoyaleTracker publishes no date window or player population for these pages, so treat them as a snapshot. All eight of each deck's cards are shown:
| Deck | Cards | Avg Elixir | Win rate | Battles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monk 3.3, Barbarian Barrel | Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Monk, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball, Barbarian Barrel | 3.3 | 62.4% | 1.0K |
| Monk 3.3, The Log | Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Monk, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball, The Log | 3.3 | 60.7% | 1.2K |
| 3.0 cycle | Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Royal Ghost, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball, The Log | 3.0 | 61.3% | 424 |
| 3.0, Hero Barbarian Barrel | Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Hero Barbarian Barrel, Royal Ghost, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball | 3.0 | 58.6% | 1.1K |
| Lightning 3.3 | Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Royal Ghost, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Lightning, The Log | 3.3 | 64.4% | 222 |
| No Evo Royal Giant | Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Evo Royal Ghost, Hero Barbarian Barrel, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball | 3.0 | 62.2% | 315 |
Our pick is the Monk 3.3 with Barbarian Barrel. It has the best mix of win rate and sample size on either page. Smaller lists show higher percentages, such as 66.3% over 163 battles for an Evo Royal Ghost and Hero Barbarian Barrel build, but we wouldn't rate a number that small above 1,000 battles.
Monk is your frontline on defense, and his Pensive Protection costs 1 Elixir and reflects projectiles back at their source. It activates faster since October 6 (0.93s to 0.7s), but like every Champion ability except Boss Bandit's it now fires once per deployment. Save it for the moment you're being shot, not for when he lands.
The 3.0 is the better climb if you don't own Monk, because Royal Ghost costs 2 Elixir less and pressures the other lane on his own. Be careful with the small-spell swap there: The Log shows 61.3% over 424 battles and Barbarian Barrel 56.5% over 497 on the same 3.0 shell, while the Monk lists are nearly even. The samples are small, but we'd start with The Log in the 3.0.
Fisherman survived his nerf as a deck staple. He's in nine of the first ten lists on the Evo Royal Giant page, and every list above 60% there runs him. His hook pulls an enemy from 3.5 to 7 tiles away, so a Mini P.E.K.K.A heading for your Royal Giant gets dragged away from him.
Should you use Evo Hunter or Evo Royal Ghost?
Evo Hunter, based on these lists. Compare the same shell with only the Evolution moved between the two cards, again from RoyaleTracker's Evo Royal Giant page:
| Second Evolution | Small spell | Win rate | Battles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evo Hunter (plain Royal Ghost) | The Log | 61.3% | 424 |
| Evo Royal Ghost (plain Hunter) | The Log | 56.2% | 409 |
| Evo Hunter (plain Royal Ghost) | Barbarian Barrel | 56.5% | 497 |
| Evo Royal Ghost (plain Hunter) | Barbarian Barrel | 54.3% | 1.2K |
That's a surprise, because across all Ranked decks Evo Royal Ghost is S tier at 52.4% and Evo Hunter is C tier at 49.0%. Players argue about it too. In an August thread on the 3.0, one player called Evo Ghost the stronger pick and got told that was "a crazy hot take." Another in a September thread prefers Ghost as "far more pressure if unanswered."
Our read: Evo Hunter suits this deck's defense-first plan. Evo Hunter nets the closest troop every 5 seconds, stunning it for 3 seconds and grounding it if it flies, per the wiki, and his 10 pellets deal 840 total at point-blank range. That's a clean answer to the melee troops that reach Royal Giant. Season 89 also fixes Mega Knight's immunity to the net while jumping.
Both Evolutions fit because one uses your Evolution slot and the other uses the Wild slot, which opens at Arena 10. Monk or Hero Barbarian Barrel then takes the Hero slot. Our Evolutions guide explains how the slots work.
Why does Evo Royal Giant matter so much?
Because the Evolution fixes his swarm problem. Plain Royal Giant can't touch troops at all, so a swarm dropped on him gets free hits. Evo Royal Giant adds a recoil to every attack: 81 damage in a 2.5-tile radius, with a 1-tile knockback on ground troops, per the wiki. He has the same 3,164 HP and 307 damage as the base card.
- Cheap ground swarms fail. Skeletons have 81 HP at Level 11, so one recoil clears them. Skeleton Army and Goblin Gang are far weaker answers than they are against the base card. Air swarms are the exception: Minions, Bats and Minion Horde are immune to the recoil.
- Most bigger melee troops get pushed off. The March nerf exists because this used to be close to permanent, and it's now a delay rather than a lock. Knockback-immune cards such as P.E.K.K.A, Prince and Mighty Miner ignore it, which is why they're strong answers to him.
- He comes up often. The Evolution needs just 1 cycle to charge, and it takes 6 Evolution Shards to unlock. Evo Hunter and Evo Royal Ghost each need 2 cycles.
If you can't unlock him yet, the plain card only works well in a very specific shell. Across the 30 lists on the plain Royal Giant page, RoyaleTracker's top-ranked list is the 3.0 in the table above at 62.2%, but the page's most played list, with Mega Knight, Prince and Goblin Barrel, sits at 41.8% over 402 battles. Don't copy a Royal Giant deck on popularity.
How do you play the Royal Giant 3.0 deck?
Defend first, then build your push off whatever survives. A player in the September how-to thread wrote: "In single elixir you want to focus on defense and play RGs at the bridge as a counter push with the surviving hunter/fisherman."
Getting back to Royal Giant costs as little as 7 Elixir: Skeletons 1, Electro Spirit 1, The Log or Barbarian Barrel 2, and Fisherman 3.
- Open cheap. Cycle Skeletons or Electro Spirit in the back, and see what your opponent shows. Avoid opening with Royal Giant unless you already know their deck.
- Defend with Hunter and Fisherman. Hook the attacker into your Crown Tower's range, then let Hunter shoot it at close range. Hunter's damage falls off with distance, so don't place him too far back.
- Counterpush at the bridge. Drop Royal Giant ahead of the survivors. His 5-tile range means he starts hitting the tower shortly after crossing, and the surviving troops arrive with him.
- Keep the other lane honest. Royal Ghost is invisible until he attacks, which makes him a cheap threat when your opponent has spent on the Royal Giant side. The same September thread suggests using him to pressure the opposite lane.
- Change gears in double Elixir. Play Royal Giant in the back so you can cycle to a second one faster, in the same lane or the other, depending on the matchup.
- Spell cycle with care. Fireball deals 159 to towers after the September 8 nerf. Since a Royal Giant shot deals 307, Fireball is usually better spent on support troops. Spirits no longer damage Crown Towers on their own either, so Electro Spirit's job is its stun, not chip damage.
The rhythm is close to 2.6 Hog Cycle, except your win condition is slower and hits from range. If you like a building-based version of the same patience, try the 3.0 X-Bow deck.
What beats Royal Giant, and how do you handle it?
High-damage melee and air are your problem matchups.
| Threat | Why it hurts | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Hero Berserker, Evo Elite Barbarians | Fast melee damage that leaves a counterpush behind, per the August 11 thread. Both have been nerfed since: Hero Berserker's ability on August 26, Evo Elite Barbarians on August 26 and September 8 | Hunter on top of them, with the Evo net if it's ready |
| Evo Valkyrie, Hero Valkyrie | Clears your support behind Royal Giant | One player's tip: hook Hero Valkyrie toward your Crown Tower with Fisherman |
| P.E.K.K.A | 842 damage a hit, and placing her on his path pushes him back and costs him a shot | Hook her away with Fisherman, or send Royal Giant to the other lane |
| Inferno Tower, Inferno Dragon | Damage ramps up the longer they stay on him | Electro Spirit's stun resets the beam on both. Fisherman can pull himself to an Inferno Tower and hit it, but that doesn't reset the beam, and his hook can't reach Inferno Dragon |
| Air win conditions | Hunter is your main air damage. Monk, Royal Ghost, Fisherman and Skeletons can't hit air unless Evo Hunter's net has grounded the target | Keep Hunter for air pushes, and don't spend him early |
The air point is the deck's real weakness. Just before Minion Giant arrived, one player in that August 31 thread warned that "hunter is the only troop in the deck that actually kills air troops." It's not a lost cause: Electro Spirit, Fireball and your towers all help, and Minion Giant has been nerfed three times since then. But if your Hunter has gone and a Balloon crosses, you're in trouble.
Also avoid Fireball on buildings unless you're ahead. The September thread's advice is to use it there only with a big Elixir lead, since it's the deck's only big spell.
What does Season 89 change for Royal Giant decks?
Nothing on the card itself so far. Supercell has no balance pass planned for the start of the King vs. King season, though adjustments are possible after the World Finals on November 6–8. Three things are worth watching:
- Royal Giant gets his turn in Week 3. In the official King of Cards schedule, he's boosted in Week 3 with Balloon, Royal Hogs, Three Musketeers, Ram Rider and Wall Breakers. The event runs November 9 to December 7, starting at Week 2, so by our count Week 3 begins November 16. The notes don't say how big the boost is.
- The Quick Wit Challenge runs November 16–23. It's the same week by our count, but Supercell hasn't published its rules, so we don't know which decks it allows.
- Expect more Giant. Evo Giant arrives this season, and Supercell says Giant and Mirror stay boosted all season. Plain Giant already sits at 51.4% against Royal Giant's 46.3%, so expect to see more of him.
Can you use Royal Giant on Trophy Road?
Yes, from Arena 7, but the lists above lean on later cards. Hunter unlocks at Arena 10, The Log at Arena 11, Royal Ghost at Arena 12, Fisherman at Arena 15 and Monk at Arena 18, according to the wiki.
Before that, use a list built from early cards. RoyaleTracker's Witch Valkyrie deck runs Royal Giant, Witch, Valkyrie, Guards, Mega Minion, Cannon, Skeletons and Zap (3.4 Elixir), with no Evolution or Hero. Every card is available by Arena 7, and it shows 53.6% over 153 battles, a small sample but a sensible shape. See our Arena 7 deck guide for how Royal Giant fits at that level, and our best decks hub if you'd rather climb with something else.
FAQ
What is the best Royal Giant deck in Clash Royale? Evo Royal Giant, Evo Hunter, Monk, Fisherman, Skeletons, Electro Spirit, Fireball and Barbarian Barrel. RoyaleTracker shows 62.4% over 1.0K battles as of November 1, 2026.
Is Royal Giant bad now? The plain card is. He ranks last of 22 win conditions in Ranked at 46.3%, with 0.3% usage. Evo Royal Giant does better at 49.3%, and its best lists are above 60%, so the Evolution is close to essential.
Was Royal Giant nerfed in 2026? Yes. His hit speed went from 1.7s to 1.8s on March 2, and Fisherman, his long-time partner, lost his slow on April 6. His stats haven't changed since March.
Why is it called Royal Giant 3.0? The name comes from the deck's average Elixir cost. The eight cards total 24 Elixir, and 24 divided by 8 is 3.0.
Does Royal Giant have a Hero form? No. As of November 1, 2026, he has an Evolution but no Hero. Your Hero slot goes to Monk or Hero Barbarian Barrel in these lists.
Is Royal Giant or Giant better right now? Giant, on the numbers: 51.4% against 46.3% in the same Ranked table, and Evo Giant arrives in Season 89. Royal Giant is the better pick if you enjoy a cycle deck that shoots from range.
Want more Clash Royale guides? Start here for the rest of our deck coverage.
