Clash Royale: Best Decks for Arena 12 Spooky Town (2024)

(Image: Supercell via HGG)

Human Made

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Arena 12 (Spooky Town) begins at 3800 Trophies, and brings with it a fun “spooky” vibe, some new skeleton cards, and even a ghost! In this article we’ll check out all the new cards you’ll have access to in Arena 12, as well as the 5 best decks for Spooky Town! Let’s hop right into it with the cards you can get in this arena.

All New Cards Available in Arena 12

The new cards introduced in Arena 12 (Spooky Town) are mostly troops, with one particularly powerful new spell as well. The “spooky” theme is done well in the form of the arena’s new cards, and we get some of the best cards in the late game here. Firecracker (especially her evolution) has been a menace for months, Ice Wizard is always around in some form as a high-tier support troop, and Graveyard has entire decks based around it. Here’s all the new cards you’ll have access to in Arena 12!

➡️ Troops: Firecracker, Electro Dragon, Wall Breakers, Phoenix, Royal Ghost, Ice Wizard

➡️ Spells: Earthquake, Graveyard

➡️ Buildings: none

Evolutions in Arena 12

While evolutions aren’t in every game in Arena 12, they are fairly common. Since the price of evolutions has gone down a bit recently, it seems more people have been willing to spend the money. If you have access to them, they’re a great asset to add to your decks. You can either build your entire deck around a particularly powerful evolution card, or you can just add them to your other decks. We are going to make recommendations for where to use them in this article, but none of our Arena 12 picks will be based entirely around any of them.

Here are all the Evolution cards you can get and use in Arena 12:

Firecracker
Barbarians
Knight
Mortar
Royal Giant
Skeletons

The 5 Best Decks for Arena 12, Ranked in No Particular Order

Now that we’ve recapped all the cards you can use in Arena 12, let’s get right into the top 5 best decks for Arena 12 in no particular order (only including cards that can be acquired naturally by this arena).

1. Graveyard Assault

Graveyard Assault Deck for Arena 12 — *(Image: Supercell / Brett Moss)*

All cards in this deck:

Graveyard – offensive spell
Poison – defense against low-HP units / support for Graveyard
Knight (has an evolution) – cheap tank
Mega Minion – air defense
Archers – support / air defense
Furnace or Goblin Hut – troop-spawning building
Log – defensive spell
Skeleton Army – tank destruction

Since Graveyard is new to Arena 12, we knew we had to start off with a classic Graveyard deck. The featured card here, Graveyard, is a Legendary spell which can be cast anywhere in the arena. Once you cast it, a circle appears on the ground and skeletons climb up from depths. Over several seconds, a full army of skeletons will make their way through the Graveyard. This is best used on a tower, since the Skeletons quickly overwhelm towers. However, do make sure not to get the circle close enough to the King Tower to activate it. Early King Tower activations can be devastating against Graveyard decks, so be careful!

Poison is the second most important card for this deck. It’s a defensive spell that does damage over time to any enemies who pass through its deadly, poisonous airs. In addition to using it on swarms or low-HP enemies, you can also place it right on top of your Graveyard to protect it from any swarms. The rest of this deck is based mostly around defending and making solid counterpushes. Knight (which has a solid evolution) is the strongest all-round cheap tank right now, and Mega Minion is effectively his counterpart in the air. We also have to defend against the occasional tank that makes it across the bridge, so for that we have both Skeleton Army and Furnace or Goblin Hut. Skeleton Army is incredibly efficient when destroying tanks, and the buildings are always a good distraction.

To round out this deck, we have Archers and the Log. Archers defend well against air troops, and the Log is sure to clear out anything trying to cross the bridge. With all of this together, you’ll be able to figure out exactly how and why to use the Graveyard!

2. Golem Push

Golem Push Deck for Arena 12 — *(Image: Supercell / Brett Moss)*

All cards in this deck:

Golem – major tank and threat
Barbarians (has an evolution) – support / tank destruction
Ice Wizard – support
Witch – support / swarm defense
Tombstone – defensive building
Goblins – support / cheap defense
Arrows – defensive spell
Electro Spirit – cycle card with shock ability

A good Golem deck is all you need to climb the ranks. Golem is one of the strongest, highest-HP tanks in Clash Royale, so it’s perfect to center a deck around. The best thing about Golem is that not only does it have an insane amount of health, it also splits in two upon death. The mini-golems aren’t quite as strong, but they carry on the push and can tank a decent amount of damage. Also, don’t forget about all the explosions. When a Golem dies (including the mini ones), they create a small explosion. It’s not a ton of damage, but it clears out skeletons and goblins with ease.

To support the Golem as it moves across the battlefield at a snail’s pace, we have a few key support troops. Ice Wizard clears out swarms and slows more powerful enemies, making them easier to deal with. Witch is similar to Ice Wizard in the units they can help clear out, but her skeleton-spawning ability makes her worth the extra bit of Elixir. Then, of course, there are the Barbarians. Whether you have their Evolution or not, they’re one of the best mid-Elixir swarms right now. They’re perfect for taking out tanks, offensive threats like Hog Rider, or even making strong split pushes.

Don’t forget to defend while your other units are busy helping out Golem, though. Use Tombstones to distract units and lead them to the other side of the map, so your Golem support units can take them out. Arrows are essential for quickly dealing with swarms, especially to defend your Golem. And Electro Spirit, as always, can shock units for a useful effect.

3. Hogs!

Hogs! Deck for Arena 12 — *(Image: Supercell / Brett Moss)*

All the cards in this deck:

Hog Rider – offensive threat
Royal Hogs – offensive threat
Firecracker (has an evolution) – support
Cannon – defensive building
Ice Golem – cheap tank
Earthquake – building destruction
Skeletons (has an evolution) – cycle card / distraction
Archers – air defense

This deck is pretty straight-forward. It’s all about Hogs and quick plays. Hog Rider and Royal Hogs are both S-tier offensive troops, and they can both be used in different situations. Hog Rider does more damage, but he’s easier to target. The Royal Hogs, however, can be split into two groups if necessary. While you might get less overall damage out of them, you’ll be able to chip away at towers more consistently with them.

Firecracker (and her evolution, if you have it) is a great support card for this deck. She can stay far away from any threats while unleashing a hail of flaming arrows across the arena. She works especially well if you put her behind an Ice Golem for extra protection. Sending Ice Golem ahead of any of your more valuable units (including the Hogs) is a great way to protect them. But the Ice Golem is also a great way to distract slower units and lead them on a wild chase across the arena. We also have Skeletons for distraction here, and Archers to help keep the skies clear.

The last cards here are Earthquake and Cannon. Earthquake is a spell which quickly takes out buildings, which are counters you’ll have to expect when playing Hog decks. Cannon is one of the best ways to defend your side of the arena, so it’s great for when all your other units are on the other side taking out towers.

4. Royal Giant with Backup

Royal Giant with Backup Deck for Arena 12 — *(Image: Supercell / Brett Moss)*

All cards in this deck:

Royal Giant (has an evolution) – main threat
Ice Wizard – support
Phoenix – support / counterpushing
Barbarian Barrel – defensive spell / crowd control
Goblin Gang – defensive swarm / support
Tombstone – defensive building
Fireball – damaging spell
Archers – support / air defense

Royal Giant has always been a strong unit for destroying towers quickly, and his evolution has only cemented that status even further. You don’t need the evolution to make good use of Royal Giant in Arena 12, though, as he works with or without it. All you have to do to succeed with Royal Giant is drop him on the bridge and let him fire cannon balls at the enemy towers. It’s as easy as that, assuming you can keep him alive.

If you don’t have the evolution and need some extra swarm protection, Ice Wizard should be your go-to. Even if you do have the evolution, though, Ice Wizard is perfect for slowing down enemies and taking out any that get near Royal Giant. Phoenix is another great multi-purpose troop, but it’s better at 1-on-1 fights and can revive itself if it dies away from enemy fire. Against any enemies that cross the river, Phoenix is going to be able to hold them off and probably take them out, and revive itself if it doesn’t finish the job. On the cheaper end, Goblin Gang and Archers are both cheap troops that can target both air and ground troops, so they’re always welcome on any support crew.

For spells here, we have both Barbarian Barrel and Fireball. Fireball takes out the more powerful counters to Royal Giant that the support troops might struggle with, and Barbarian Barrel backs up our ground units and leaves a helpful Barbarian behind. Tombstone is the only building we have, but it does its job perfectly. It distracts anything that gets near it, which is all we need it to do.

5. Graveyard Mining

Graveyard Mining Deck for Arena 12 — *(Image: Supercell / Brett Moss)*

All cards in this deck:

Graveyard – main threat
Miner – distraction / offensive troop
Firecracker (has an evolution) – support / air defense
Poison – defensive spell / support for Graveyard and Miner
Dark Prince – defense / counterpushing
Baby Dragon – air defense / counterpushing
Inferno Tower – defensive building / tank destruction
Goblins – cheap defense

One last Graveyard deck before we finish things up. This time, we’re going to commit to being as much of a nuisance for our enemies as possible. Graveyard’s ability to spawn a flood of skeletons anywhere on the map is great for taking bits out of towers and requiring a response, so it gives you plenty of opportunities to react. You can wait to see how your opponents react to Graveyard, then send Miner and some support on the other side to counter push. Or you can use Miner first to distract the tower while the Graveyard skeletons do their thing.

Firecracker and Baby Dragon are both capable of defending the skies from anything that crosses the river, so you won’t have to worry about anything while your threats are on enemy towers. We also have Dark Prince and Goblins to defend the grounds, and even Inferno Tower to destroy any annoying tanks that the rest can’t deal with. There’s a lot of defense built into this deck, since Graveyard and Miner are more than capable of taking out towers, especially with Poison to protect them wherever they are.