P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison Deck: A 3.5 Elixir Bandit Plan

By Lolman · Deck Building · Oct 14, 2026

AI Overview: This P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison deck averages 3.5 elixir and lets the Miner, not the P.E.K.K.A, do the winning. Many players call this version 5.0 and reported 12-2 and 12-0 runs in back-to-back challenges. In 2026 the P.E.K.K.A hits harder and the Miner hits towers for less, though this exact list has no tracker sample. The sections below go card by card.

Last Updated: October 2026

Key Points:

• The deck costs 28 elixir, which is 3.5 on average, and the P.E.K.K.A (7) is the only card above 4.
• P.E.K.K.A damage rose from 816 to 842 on July 6, and her best list wins 65.8% over 754 battles.
• Miner hits towers for 39, not 49 (July 6), and his best list wins 66.0% over 535 battles.
• Bandit had no 2026 change, and her best list wins 72.1% over about 1,100 battles.
• Poison hits towers for 168, not 184, and Zap for 48, not 58.

The P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison List, Priced Card by Card

Here’s the thing: P.E.K.K.A decks need a second win condition, because it is so hard to get the P.E.K.K.A to the tower. The idea is simple. Use the P.E.K.K.A to stop Inferno-style pushes and let Miner Poison do the damage.

All eight cards are priced in the table, with a note on how the October 2026 data treats each.

A deck that wins with chip damage needs time. The negative effect: the Miner and Poison both hit towers for less, so every cycle adds a little less damage, and a patient opponent with a good defense gets more time to find an answer.

What Changed in 2026

The P.E.K.K.A got stronger, 842 damage instead of 816. The Miner hits towers for 39 instead of 49. Poison hits towers for 168 instead of 184, and Zap for 48 instead of 58. The Electro Wizard, Bandit, Goblins and Minions are as they were before.

Claims, rechecked. Poison does more damage than a Fireball. Poison’s tower damage is now 168, so the line should be read as a statement about older versions. The 12-2 and 12-0 runs are personal results and not a win rate.

The weak spots. The Goblins were reworked on August 4, so the old tips for placing them in the center need a test. The Electro Wizard now has a Hero version with small samples. Both the Bandit and the Electro Wizard have a best list of 72.1%, so those slots are safe.

Card pages: P.E.K.K.A, Miner, Bandit and Electro Wizard.

Many players call Poison the number one spell in the game and wanted a small nerf. The negative effect: Poison did get cut on towers, from 184 to 168, and a deck that leans on it for value now needs one more cast to finish the same job.

How to Play It Today

Here’s the thing: cycle the Miner early to get the damage, and that Miner plus Bandit plus Poison is the ideal double-elixir push. Put the Miner behind a defender, not in front of one, or a Knight can tank for the tower and leave you 3 elixir down.

Tips. The Goblins can be a cheap counter to a Hog, and the Minions are a cheap air answer. The Electro Wizard can be replaced by a Skeleton Army if the opponent runs an Inferno Tower. Predict Logs by putting the Goblins in the center so all three aggro onto the target.

Translation: use the Goblins in the center to counter a Hog or Giant, and the Minions to counter air. Keep the Electro Wizard to stun Infernos, and use Zap for Skeleton Army and Goblin Barrel. The P.E.K.K.A is best for P.E.K.K.A-versus-P.E.K.K.A fights and cheap tank kills.

Elixir math: the P.E.K.K.A takes 7 of the 28 elixir. The other seven cost 21, exactly 3 each. A Miner, Bandit and Poison push is 10 elixir, which is why it works as the main double-elixir play.

Try it yourself: P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison Deck is ready to play: the Clash Royale Deck Builder loads it in one click. It costs 3.5 elixir on average, and because no tracker covers this exact list, there is no 2026 win rate.

This deck beats Lavaloon and balloon cycles but loses to 3M. The negative effect: the Three Musketeers gained hitpoints on October 6, from 883 to 906, so the old weak matchup got a little harder, and Poison is the only tool that punishes them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison deck good in 2026?

The P.E.K.K.A’s best list wins 65.8% and the Bandit’s best wins 72.1%, but this exact list has no tracker sample, so test the Goblins slot first.

How much elixir does the deck average?

3.5 elixir per card on average (28 in total).

What is the win condition?

The Miner. The P.E.K.K.A is a defensive threat card.

How should the Miner be placed?

Behind a defender, not in front, so a Knight cannot tank for the tower.

What is the worst matchup?

Three Musketeers decks. Poison is the main answer.

Original Guide, Kept in Full

The text below is the original page, kept in full. It was written between 2016 and 2024, so some details are out of date. The tips and numbers above use 2026 sources.

Heya lads Lolman here yet again with another P.E.K.K.A deck guide.

My last deck guide was with Golem Double Witch, which I was able to 12 win in a Grand Challenge out of 3 tries, the other 2 ending 10-3 and 7-3.

With this deck I was very easily able to get 12-2 and 12-0 back to back Challenges!

It is none other than P.E.K.K.A with Miner Poison, the hard counter to my previous deck guide but overall very solid deck! Without further ado onto the deck!

P.E.K.K.A Miner Poison

The Deck

Miner

Typically like most P.E.K.K.A decks, this deck requires an alternate win condition because of just how hard it is to get a P.E.K.K.A to the tower, while once in a while you may be able to get a good match-up and face an ideal cycle getting say value Poisons etc.

It’s typically best to rely on a different win condition.

This deck is a Miner Poison deck with P.E.K.K.A for Inferno Tower. That being said it still is quite strong vs decks like Lavaloon or Balloon cycles with air win conditions etc.

With Miner, early on cycling Miners is key to get the damage. Value Poisons, Miner, Bandit+ Poison is your ideal 2x Elixir push.

If they use say a Knight on Miner in front of tower with Minions behind the Miner. Knight will tank for tower from Miner and Minions putting you 3 Elixir down! So you want a Miner behind the king so he must overspend defending. That sorta idea.

Poison

GET value with this baby.

In my honest opinion it is the #1 spell in the game, hands down.

I still think Poison needs a slight nerf. It gets more damage than a Fireball and works really well vs a whole lot of decks!

Albeit worse vs 3M but this duration can also work for your advantage!

Also great for predictive plays because more times than not they will drop said troop for some part of the spell into it without an option

Example of this paying off. I knew E-wiz will get 1 shot off E-wiz. Also if he let E-wiz tank for Bandit so he wouldn’t have counterpush. This guy was a good competitive player I’ve faced in a few tournaments before so I knew he was aware of it, either Goblins etc will be dropped for the Bandit so I Poisoned the E-wiz and where he’d place troops. He dropped an Ice Golem, allowing for a 4-for-6 Elixir Poison, over 200 damage. 0 counterpush and I was only 1 Elixir behind after this because of an earlier E-wiz on Goblin Gang trade.

Goblins

This is recommended over Skeletons however Skeletons give a quicker cycle.

These guys are great, counter Bandit, somewhat counter Goblin Barrel etc.

Good to use in P.E.K.K.A v P.E.K.K.A situations to tank hits, also cheap counter to like a Hog, Giant etc with insane DPS/Elixir. Zap resistant as well! So it’s all plus’s.

Predict Logs hitting your tower and as a rule of thumb, I always use Goblins in the center, making sure all 3 agro onto the target of course!

Great card to counterpush with, demands a reaction.

Say they use a Hog and you Goblins on it and they Zap? You can just Miner on offence, earning a positive trade because they used 6 while you got a +4 trade. You got paid 1 Elixir to play a Miner. Putting you 1 Elixir ahead and they have to counter on top of that! You can pretty much afford a free Poison afterwards, which means you got yourself a guaranteed 200+ damage on their tower.

Minions

Same deal, but air.

Useful when facing Log decks. Similar to Goblins but not many people run Arrows!

Can DPS down most troops if you keep them from the tower for a few seconds. Like a P.E.K.K.A etc.

Almost always a positive Elixir trade to play unlike a very similar skill (punish) Horde!

They are great to use on Balloons, Mega Knight etc.

Try and keep these guys in cycle for when your opponent might try and rush you something where you need it.

Bandit

She is one of my all-time favorite cards.

While Kairostime mentioned that he and the others might have invented bridge spam a while back, I believe I came up with my own version of bridge spam long before Bandit buff or Night Witch existed when I made the Knight, Bandit Ram deck while back. Here is the link to the guide!!

This I cannot stress enough! Always always always utilize her charge.

There is one instance where I wouldn’t use her charge that is Bandit vs Bandit. I wait for the enemy Bandit to come to range of tower then drop my Bandit on top! This is because I want my Bandit to have more HP  when she crosses the bridge.

Other than this, I will always place her at a distance where she will charge at the troop dealing a healthy amount of damage to it!

For example, one where I will use Bandit off so she gets the dash on E-wiz while not really taking far too much damage. Vs the Bandit, she won’t get the charge dash onto her, this allows her to take 1 less hit, surviving with roughly ~ 170+ more hp.

Zap

I prefer this over the Log mainly because of Bats plus the reset.

Can come in handy vs Inferno Dragon, which is rather prevalent in this meta!

I love this spell in general but Zap or Log, doesn’t matter a lot. Just stick to what you prefer!

You will get less chip damage on tower though.

P.E.K.K.A

She is an absolute beast.

P.E.K.K.A + any card in this deck can easily shut down almost any push at the moment. Try to not give spell value though!

For example, P.E.K.K.A, E-wiz + Tower Poison = Lightning value.

Remember, Lightning the P.E.K.K.A will do a decent chunk of damage, allowing support troops to DPS her down easier.

Even not vs tanks there are instances I will use her to stop say a ram push, I will add a screenshot below explaining why I did so as well!

Here I knew he had Zap in cycle so Minions won’t do. If I drop the Bandit on the Ram and then Minions so, she would tank for the Minions, the Ram will probably get a charge on the tower which I didn’t want! Plus Barbarian hits!

So I decided rather than risking a bad timing, I might drop the P.E.K.K.A in order to see what he uses to counter her. As she is not my win condition, it is totally fine to let her go and die if I felt like keeping my Elixir advantage.

E-wiz

Okay… if you aren’t playing him and you have him…. Ask yourself what you are doing?

Unless because of low level on ladder, I believe he would fit into literally any deck.

Inferno Dragon is rather common in Grand Challenges, especially in later stages with that Mega Miner Poison deck being so popular, also Giant Mega Knight and other decks without any real DPS melting cards. Plus the rising Mega bait deck as well!

If you don’t have him, Archers or Musketeer can be used.

Keep in that he is fragile! Often you will need to have some other cards tanking for him or just distracting while he takes them down!

Game-play

Early game (3:00-2:00)

Early on you want to ideally start off quite passively. Which means try to avoid say a push like Bandit+ Minions + Miner, which will leave you vulnerable for a positive trade on their part by ignoring the Miner and defending the push and a counter push!

You want to maybe use Miner on the tower, or cycle Goblins/ Miners. Say even a Bandit in the back.

P.E.K.K.A should never be played unless to defend. That is a principle, around this time I most of the time never even play her.

Some games I even never do not play the P.E.K.K.A on the map because I faced a matchup I didn’t need her. Log bait for example.

Mid game (2:00- 1:00)

Around now, try to get the bulk of my damage.

You should have an idea of your opponents rotation and play with that in mind with say Miner + Poison pushes.

Don’t cycle like crazy as well!

You will also counterpush with your small cards. Say Bandit on a Knight who survives, then Miner the tower so he tanks for her and presents a bigger threat!

Similarly to Goblins and Minions etc.

Try to get as much chip damage as you can at this phase of the game! Either it’s Poison chip or Miner hits.

Miner doing 64 tower damage per hit! Which adds up quite a bit especially considering you can cycle very fast, other than E-wiz, P.E.K.K.A and Poison the rest as 3 or less Elixir to cycle!

Late game

Typically, try to cycle Miner Poisons more often than focus on a counterpush.

I would cycle Miner + Poison over and over again.

I don’t want to rely on having to invest a lot.

Usually in this 1 minute period of time, you may have to take down about 1000 HP of the tower.

Poison is invaluable in getting of an easy 240+ damage off of the tower!

Zap what you can assuming though that you will not end up losing because they will punish with say a Giant Horde push for an example because you rushed with your E-wiz, Poison, Zap, Miner. Etc.

So keeping your opponents deck and cycle in mind!

Be careful. Just cycle Miner Poisons, defend and take their tower for the most likely 1-0 victory.

Match-ups

Golem

By far the easiest of the matchups you will face.

This is simply because of two things.

You WILL be able to punish their pumps with say a Bandit+ Minions + Miner push. Only ever Poison if you get their Night Witch with the pump though!

And secondly you will be stopping all pushes with a simple P.E.K.K.A, Poison, Zap, and have a reasonable healthy P.E.K.K.A on the counterpush!

Just try to avoid one thing is letting swarmy troops build on your P.E.K.K.A! This is where Poison comes in handy.

You hard counter this deck!

Log bait

Despite not having Log, I’ve never lost to Log bait with this deck.

Lot bait in my opinion is a high skill curve deck that really… doesn’t have a lot of good match-ups.

One misplay can mean the death of you.

Get rid of the Knight if you can before he crosses the bridge. Save Goblins/ E-wiz for Goblin Barrel.

Always Miner when Knight is out of cycle so you can drop a good Poison on gang, while switching Miner placements so he locks onto tower, adding on 64 more damage per shovel swing!

P.E.K.K.A doesn’t have much use here.

I always try to offensively Zap a Goblin Gang so my Bandit can reach the tower.

Minions, Goblins and E-wiz do good work at stopping a Goblin Barrel.

Bandit on Princess is also a good counter! As the timing they need to block her is quite precise!

Get value Poisons as well!

Princess same lane and you Bandit back? They are bound to Knight or gang in front so Poison, Princess, tower and around her to get some great value!

Hog

Vs Hog, P.E.K.K.A on Hog isn’t an ideal play!

I say this because most of the time Hog decks are running P.E.K.K.A now! You want the P.E.K.K.A fight on your side! That’s totally fine, just as long as you don’t play into predictions you can use E-wiz, Goblins, Bandit with charge, and Minions to kill Hog + tank.

Ice Golem should be ignored if you use Goblins or Minions as if they have Zap, the frost nova will be what brings them to Zap range allowing them to clear off your potential Miner counter push!

You need to be counterpushing with this deck!

Try to get that extra bit of chip that might be the make or break for you!

Overall not a tough match up, keep your P.E.K.K.A alive in the P.E.K.K.A battles. Get their E-wiz with maybe a Bandit and your E-wiz should be resetting his/ her P.E.K.K.A.

Giant beatdown

Not much to say, honestly just P.E.K.K.A wrecks this.

If they run Giant Mega Knight, I don’t P.E.K.K.A on Giant. I P.E.K.K.A Mega Knight while Goblins, E-wiz, Minions, Bandit etc will be DPSing down the Giant.

While Giant has more HP and only hits buildings, I cannot use the other cards solely to defend the Mega Knight.

Albeit a Bandit + Goblins behind defense will be perfect but they can simply Arrows etc the defense, leaving me vulnerable for massive Mega Knight damage!

E-wiz must be used behind P.E.K.K.A if they have Inferno Dragon!

Miner

Mirror matchup – Win the P.E.K.K.A battles, defend cost efficiently. Don’t give Poison value! That’s it! The typical mirror match has Bats, not Minions and Log so you will have the advantage! Zap bats and no easy way for them to get rid of your Minions other than a -1 trade.

Loon Cycles– This deck is really common. With Mega Knight, my 9, 11 and 12th win in the first Grand Challenge I ran this in I faced variants of that deck. Only real difference were spells, ie- Zap, Arrows etc. You have Minions, E-wiz etc. You shouldn’t have difficulty here! P.E.K.K.A on Mega Knight and you are solid, easy win.

Miner Mega Knight with Bats and Inferno Dragon – Easy win, enough said. Don’t let them spell out your E-wiz, save him for I-drag, P.E.K.K.A for Mega Knight, Goblins and Bandit will kill the Miner. Minions, Goblins are good at tanking for P.E.K.K.A from I drag if your E-wiz is out of cycle, allowing you to cycle back to him! Get value Poisons yourself and switch up Miner placements to try and maximize damage!

Lavaloon

This can be a tad tough.

E-wiz early and cycle back to another!

Poison on defense is fine! Then counter push, it’s pretty straight forward.

The fact that they have Arrows and Lightning or Fireball can leave you gasping for air, but do your best!

This deck is kinda dead right now anyway.

Conclusion

I know this deck is quite legendary heavy but all the same there really aren’t many replacements I’d reccomend.

It’s an easy deck to play but can be a bit tough to master all the same it should bring you quite a bit of success, best of luck with this deck!

Cheers, Lolman out!

Sources

Researched from the following (no links, listed for transparency):

• CryptoAIMeta card guides for these cards, built from RoyaleTracker October 2026 samples and SeeMeta 2026 balance changes
• SeeMeta, Clash Royale balance changes 2026 (page updated October 2026), read through search summaries
• Supercell official Clash Royale API, card list (elixir cost, rarity, unlock arena)
• The original clash.world page (2016 to 2024), kept in full below