Clash Royale: All Champion Cards Ranked Worst to Best

Image Credit: Supercell

Author XP

Human Made

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first Xbox 360.

Clash Royale is all about making the most powerful deck of cards you can. To do that, you’ll undoubtedly want some of the highest-tier cards in the game–Champions. Ever since their release a few years back, Champions have been common all across the Clash Royale meta, and even with evolutions out now, they’re still amongst the best cards you can use. In this article we’ll rank all 8 Champion cards from worst to best, and we’ll also cover what they are and how to get them as well!

What are Champions in Clash Royale?

Champions are technically the newest tier of Clash Royale card (evolutions are more powerful, but they’re not their own specific tier of card, so they don’t count). Champions were the first new tier added to the game since Legendaries way back in 2016, so there were a lot of expectations regarding what they would be. In the end, Champions have proven a worthy addition to Clash Royale, towing the line between being incredibly powerful and broken fairly well now that a couple years have passed. Where they started out horribly broken and sometimes unfair, now it doesn’t feel like any of them are truly oppressive (evolutions took over that trend, it seems).

What makes Champions so unique is the abilities they have. When in play, Champions have an ability which you can activate by clicking the blue circle button on the bottom right of your screen. These abilities give Champions short-term bonuses or effects, but cost a bit of extra Elixir to cast.

How to Get Champions?

Clash Royale Reward Chest — Image Credit: Supercell

You can start unlocking Champions at Arena 16. However, they’re fairly hard to get. Here are a few ways you can get Champions, starting from Arena 16:

Champion Chests – these chests are very rare, but guarantee a Champion as long as you’re at the appropriate level to unlock them.
Random Chests – sometimes you can get Champions as rewards from the normal post-game rewards chests. This is super rare, but possible.
Check the Shop – sometimes Champions can appear in the shop for gold or gems. Or, more commonly, real money.

All Champions in Clash Royale Ranked Worst to Best

Now that we’ve gotten all the FAQ and other stuff out of the way, let’s get right into it. Here are all 8 Champions in Clash Royale ranked!

#8 Monk

Monk Clash Royale — Image Credit: Supercell

Elixir Cost: 5 | Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18) | Release Date: October 26, 2022 | Ability: Positive Protection (1 Elixir Cost)

The Monk both benefits and suffers from its uniqueness and high skill cap. The ability, Positive Protection, allows Monk to deflect damage back to sender, allowing him to defend himself completely and also clear out enemies and even do damage to towers. His strengths work in both defensive and offensive strategies, and he can be a great tank for certain decks. However, since this ability is so hard to time correctly, it can become an issue. You have to time it perfectly to get max value, and it’s not hard to get it wrong and get no use out of the entire ability. He also doesn’t bring much to the table outside of his ability, which makes him lackluster when used normally. If you’re good at timing the ability and find use out of his normal, tanky form, then he can be great. He just fails to impress in many situations.

When using the Monk, you’ll need heavy backup and some strong strong win cons. Since Monk is a tank troop, you can use any of the standard support troops (Archers, Ice Wizard, Baby Dragon, etc.) along with it. You could also go for offensive cards like Goblin Barrel, Miner, or Balloon to take advantage of how long Monk can tank the tower.

#7 Goblinstein

Elixir Cost: 5 | Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18) | Release Date: October 7, 2024 | Ability: Lightning Link (2 Elixir)

Goblinstein is, in my opinion, the most fun Champion card. This pair of troops is the perfect way to lead a big push, especially with the champion ability in play. The ability, Lightning Link, allows the doctor to activate his remote, beginning a period of chain lightning between the doctor and the monster. This clears out any swarms near them and does really good damage to other troops as well. When you combine this with either support cards for the Goblinstein or win cons behind it like Hog Rider, it’s a fantastic team player.

I love playing Goblinstein since it’s honestly really fun to shred through troops with the ability. As a tank, Goblinstein is pretty reliable. He doesn’t have as much HP as most tanks do, but the champion ability makes up for the lower HP. The pushes you make with him leading will need to be faster than others because of this. I wouldn’t say you have to play aggressively all the time with Goblinstein, but he’s definitely more aggressive than the majority of tanks.

#6 Mighty Miner

Elixir Cost: 4 | Arena: Royal Crypt (17) | Release Date: March 30, 2022 | Ability: Explosive Escape (1 Elixir Cost)

Mighty Miner’s strength lies almost entirely in how annoying he is to deal with. His ability, Explosive Escape, allows him the unique ability to switch lanes. Whenever you activate the ability, he mines underground and comes back up in the other lane, leaving a bomb behind where he left from. This allows him to either escape a dangerous situation when used offensively, or quickly do a bit of damage before escaping and using the bomb damage to defend. The bomb’s damage can be enough to take out low-HP troops, especially swarms like Skeletons or Goblins. Then the Miner himself can make for a great counter push, since he can do so much damage. Usually, your opponents are always going to need at least two answers to Mighty Miner, and maybe even more if they let him charge up his ability a second time.

Mighty Miner falls into a weird zone when it comes to placing him in a deck. He isn’t a win con, but he’s also not the strongest for pure defense. He’s somewhere in the middle, where he’s best used as a hard counter pushing troop. Don’t forget that Mighty Miner is similar to Inferno Dragon in that his damage increases the longer he’s locked onto a target. That means he’s perfect for defeating massive tanks or towers alike, as long as he has time to do so.

#5 Boss Bandit

Elixir Cost: 6 | Arena: Royal Crypt (17) | Release Date: April 7, 2025 | Ability: Getaway Grenade (1 Elixir)

Boss Bandit is a very aggressive champion. In fact, I’d say she’s the most aggressive of them all. She functions very similarly to the normal Bandit, dashes and all. However, her differences are all improvements. With more HP and damage, she’s basically a much more dangerous version of the Bandit. Her champion ability allows her to dash backwards from wherever she is so she can then do her dash damage again. This allows her to do more damage to everything from enemy troops to towers. It’s also a great way to get her out of a dangerous situation, albeit she’ll go right back into danger without a second thought.

Boss Bandit is best used as a brawler that can defend if needed, but mostly exists to deal damage to whatever is near her. The downside to this is that it does make her hard to fit into a lot of decks. She isn’t really a full win con (even though she could be used as one), and she isn’t a tank or support troop either. You have to build the deck around her, not the other way around. She’s still great, though, even if she is hard to use in many cases.

#4 Little Prince

Elixir Cost: 3 | Arena: Silent Sanctuary (18) | Release Date: November 6, 2023 | Ability: Royal Rescue (3 Elixir)

Little Prince and his defender are a difficult duo to beat. The Little Prince himself is fairly weak (although not useless). He does ranged damage to grounded and flying troops, with his attack speed increasing the longer he spends attacking a single target. This part of Little Prince is solid, as he’s a pretty good troop on his own. However, with his champion ability he gains a large knight to defend him. This turns a single decent unit into a deadly pair, all for the cost of 6 elixir. The elixir cost here is pretty steep to be honest, but overall I’d say it’s usually worth it.

The Little Prince shines since his two purposes are both reliable. As a ranged troop he’s a solid support or defense troop, but nothing remarkable. Once he has his guardian to help him, though, he’s much more deadly. His high DPS makes sure he’s able to defend himself against most troops, as long as the guardian takes most of the damage.

#3 Skeleton King

Elixir Cost: 4 | Arena: Executioner’s Kitchen (16) | Release Date: October 27, 2021 | Ability: Soul Summoning (2 Elixir Cost)

As with all Champions, the ability is a major point of focus here. Skeleton King, luckily, has one of the best Champion abilities. Soul Summoning allows the King to summon an army of skeletons which spawn steadily in the area around him. This turns him from a generic tank into a tank that provides its own backup. And to make it even better, it discourages your enemies from using swarms. Each enemy that dies helps charge up the Skeleton King’s ability, and the more charged it is when he uses his ability, the more skeletons that spawn.

Skeleton King fits nicely into decks that need a tank that can also clear out ground troops like Barbarians, Skeletons, or Goblins. It’s also a great counter for other tanks, especially if you can fully charge his ability before casting it. His versatility makes the him one of the strongest Champions by far, as even though he isn’t the best one, he has a strong ability that makes him a viable card to base a deck around.

#2 Golden Knight

Golden Knight Clash Royale — Image Credit: Supercell

Elixir Cost: 4 | Arena: Executioner’s Kitchen (16) | Release Date: October 27, 2021 | Ability: Dashing Dash (1 Elixir)

All the Champions are expected to have multiple uses, and Golden Knight is a perfect example of that. The Golden Knight is essentially a normal Knight with far superior athleticism. It’s like if the normal Knight starting training for American Ninja Warrior. Thanks to his ability, Dashing Dash, he’s far more mobile than the other Knight we’re familiar with. The ability allows him to charge forward similar to the Princes and Ram Rider, and when he reaches an enemy he dashes at them and then to every other nearby enemy or targetable unit. It’s a good way to clear out some low-HP troops and quickly land on a tower, so he’s far more than just a generic tank. (No hate to the normal Knight though. He’s a reliable tank and he’s cheaper than Golden Knight, so he still has his place.)

Golden Knight is great for aggressive decks looking for a mid-range troop, controlling decks that need a reliable way to deal with large groups, or almost any other kind of deck. His versatility and low elixir cost keep him a viable option for almost any deck.

#1 Archer Queen

Archer Queen Clash Royale — Image Credit: Supercell

Elixir Cost: 4 | Arena: Royal Crypt (17) | Release Date: October 27, 2021 | Ability: Cloaking Cape (1 Elixir Cost)

Archer Queen was the strongest Champion when the first three released, and she still is. Archer Queen is the best Champion for a reason–her ability. Cloaking Cape turns the Queen invisible (meaning she can’t be targeted by troops or buildings) and gives her a massive damage boost. During the 3 second duration of this ability, the Archer Queen is easily the strongest troop in the game. She can obliterate any low- or mid-HP troop instantly, and she can even chip through an entire tank before this ability ends. She’s unbelievably strong, and if you manage to get her locked on to a tower with the ability active, it’s game over for your opponents.

Despite her high damage potential, Archer Queen is still mostly a support troop. You can’t forget that the ability won’t always be active, and you’ll probably end up using it more for defense than anything else. Sure, every now and then you’ll get to shred through a tower with her ability, but usually you’ll be fighting off Golems or Balloons until your opponent wastes all their spells to take her out. She fits into any deck that can benefit from high-damage support troops, or you could base your whole deck around her as long as she isn’t your main source of damage. She’s strong enough to carry a deck, but she’ll need other win cons to help her out.

Join the High Ground

Thanks for checking out this article ranking all the Champions in Clash Royale! Hopefully this guide helps you figure out which are the best champions to spend your time collecting, and as always, make sure to keep the high ground!