Clash Royale: Best Counters for Hog Rider

General Strategy: How to Counter Hog Rider

Countering Hog Rider is simply a matter of having one of two things: a building or a troop that can quickly kill him. Buildings are the most efficient way, as they prevent the Hog Rider from getting anywhere close to your towers. The problem here, though, is that Earthquake exists. Since so many Hog Rider decks use Earthquake to quickly destroy buildings, that strategy won’t always work.

If your opponent can get past your buildings (or you don’t have them), there are also plenty of troops that can take him out. You can either use a swarm that will overwhelm him (Skeleton Army, Goblin Gang, Spear Goblins, etc.), or a high-damage troop like Mini P.E.K.K.A. or Hunter which can two-shot him.

Just remember how strong Hog Rider is at quickly taking towers. His fast movement and ability to jump over the river allow him to get to your towers a lot quicker than you might expect, so just don’t get surprised by his speed or power.

#5 Skeleton Army

Skeleton Army is always a good pick for obliterating enemies with a lot of health. Since there are so many of them, they’re able to take out any troop from high-HP tanks to the littlest threats. When it comes to Hog Rider, they’re honestly the perfect answer. The problem here is that Skeleton Army is really easy to counter as well. Anything from a Log to Zap can take out the whole army and leave your tower vulnerable. It’s a risky counter to use, but it’s worth using if your deck isn’t already too weak to swarm counters. Just be very aware of your opponents’ spells so you know how to best utilize the Army.

#4 Inferno Tower

Inferno Tower is the strongest tower for taking out tanks, and even though Hog Rider isn’t technically a tank, it’s still incredible against him. The way Inferno Tower works is by damaging an enemy over time, building up a more powerful stream of damage as it goes. So when Inferno Tower first targets an enemy, it’ll do a low amount of damage. Then, after a second or two, it’ll ramp up to a huge amount of damage that will basically delete its target off the map. For Hog Rider, that means no tower damage–which is exactly what you’ll want.

#3 Cannon

Cannon is often found alongside Hog Rider, but it works really well to counter him as well. Overall, Cannon is one of the simplest cards in Clash Royale. It’s a building which only targets ground troops, but it does solid DPS and can take out Hog Rider most of the time before the Cannon goes down. It’s not at all a flashy card, but it’s certainly one you can get a ton of use out of (especially against Hog Rider).

#2 Tombstone

Tombstone is a really cheap building that works great against specific threats. It only costs 3 Elixir and spawns a stream of Skeletons, which might not sound amazing at first. But it’s a cheap way to distract Hog Rider for a short time, then the Skeletons which spawn after the Tombstone is destroyed will usually be strong enough to finish off Hog Rider before he gets too many hits on a tower. Tombstone won’t hard counter Hog Rider usually, but it will greatly reduce his impact and prevent him from soloing your towers.

#1 Mini P.E.K.K.A.

Mini P.E.K.K.A. is my pick for the best counter for Hog Rider, and I feel like it’s an underrated one. For just four Elixir, the Mini P.E.K.K.A. does high amounts of damage on every hit. It’s more than enough damage to take out Hog Rider in just a couple hits, and it’s also a huge threat to enemy towers if your counterpush is successful. Plus, Mini P.E.K.K.A. has enough HP to survive most spells, with the exception of a Rocket here or there. You won’t have to worry about getting your counter countered with this one, so it’s one of the most consistent ways to deal with threats.