AI Overview: This Hog Exenado deck averages 3.6 elixir and pairs a Hog Rider with the Executioner and Tornado crowd-control pair. Hog Rider had no 2026 change and his best list wins 61.2%. The Executioner lost range in August and Fireball lost tower damage twice, so the old plan to hard counter Hog and siege decks still works with a few small changes.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The deck costs 29 elixir, which is 3.6 on average, with two 5-elixir cards, Executioner and Inferno Tower.
- Hog Rider had no 2026 change, and his best list wins 61.2% over about 3,800 battles.
- Executioner’s projectile range fell from 7.5 to 7 tiles on August 4, and his best Evolution list wins 59.9%.
- Fireball lost Crown Tower damage twice (207 to 172 to 159), and Zap lost it once (58 to 48).
- Tornado had no 2026 change, and its best list wins 64.7% over about 1,900 battles.
The Hog Exenado List, Priced Card by Card
He listed the cons plainly: no swarm cards, many high-risk cards, little cheap cycle and a weakness to spell bait.
| Card | Elixir | Job in the deck | 2026 status |
| Hog Rider | 4 | Win condition | No 2026 change; best list 61.2% over about 3,800 |
| Tornado | 3 | Pulls troops into the Executioner | No 2026 change; best list 64.7% over about 1,900 |
| Executioner | 5 | Crowd control, kills any swarm | Projectile range 7.5 to 7 tiles on August 4; best Evo list 59.9% over 504 |
| Ice Golem | 2 | Utility tank and kiter | Hitpoints 1,315 to 1,228 on September 8; best list 58.8% over 14,600 |
| Zap | 2 | Cheap reset spell | Crown Tower damage 58 to 48 on June 1; Evo Zap 77.0% over about 1,000 |
| Fireball | 4 | Medium spell for glass cannons | Crown Tower damage 207 to 172 to 159; best list 60.4% over about 4,700 |
| Mini P.E.K.K.A | 4 | Tank killer and punisher | No 2026 change; best list 60.6% over 1,100, only one of six above 50% |
| Inferno Tower | 5 | Tank killer on defense | No 2026 change; best list 65.8% over about 3,000 (LogBait) |
The table prices the cards and shows the October 2026 status next to each one.
Three high-risk cards make this deck unforgiving. The negative effect: the Executioner, Tornado and Inferno Tower each cost a lot when misplayed, and a patch that trims the Executioner’s range again would make the old ExeNado pull harder to land.
What Changed in 2026
The Hog is steady, and the Executioner reaches half a tile less. Tornado is steady too, with no 2026 patch. Fireball hits towers for 159, down from 207, and Zap for 48, down from 58. Fireball annihilates glass cannons, and that part still holds.
The old pros, rechecked. The deck has multiple tank killers, and the Inferno Tower and Mini P.E.K.K.A still fill that role in 2026. It is strong against Golem. The Inferno Tower is the main reason, and its numbers did not change this year.
The tank killers. The Mini P.E.K.K.A had no 2026 change, and his best list wins 60.6%, with only one of six printed lists above 50%. The Inferno Tower also had no change, and its best list wins 65.8%. About reset cards like Lightning, and Lightning is still strong at a best list of 72.1%.
Card pages: Hog Rider, Executioner and Tornado.
A deck with no swarm cards is exposed to the right pair of cards. The negative effect: if Skeleton Army or Goblin Gang becomes more common, the Executioner has to do all the swarm work, and a single Lightning or Rocket on him can open the door for the opponent.
How to Play It Today
Here’s the thing: many players call the Ice Golem one of the most useful utility cards. He lets you kill a Horde or Gang with Zap, kites deadly troops away from the towers, and can save the Zap by killing Bats or Skeletons. All for 2 elixir.
Matchups. Use the Mini P.E.K.K.A to shred mini tanks, or as an emergency defense against a Golem if the Inferno Tower is compromised. Use Fireball on glass cannons, and pair it with Zap to kill Barbarians. Fireball and Zap together can also take out a Minion Horde.
Translation: the Executioner is a master of crowd control and is deadly with Ice Golem, Hog and Tornado, but he costs 5, so a mistake costs a tower. Use the Inferno Tower on tanks like Lava Hound, Balloon, Giant and Mega Knight, but not on a mini tank like the Battle Ram.
Elixir math: the Executioner and Inferno Tower take 10 of the 29 elixir. The other six cards cost 19, about 3.2 each, with two at 2 elixir to cycle.
Try it yourself: test Hog Exenado Deck yourself in the Clash Royale Deck Builder; it opens with every card in place. Average elixir: 3.6. The tracker holds no sample of this exact build, so its 2026 win rate is unknown.
The deck has very little cheap cycle. The negative effect: that makes tempo mistakes costly, and a player who misses a Tornado pull may find the Hog dying alone while the opponent counter-pushes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hog Exenado good in 2026?
Hog Rider’s best list wins 61.2% and Tornado’s best wins 64.7%, but the Executioner lost range, and this exact list has no tracker sample, so read it as direction.
What is the average cost of the eight cards?
It averages 3.6 elixir, from 29 elixir spread over eight cards.
What is ExeNado?
The Executioner paired with Tornado to pull troops into his splash.
Did the Executioner change?
Yes. His projectile range fell from 7.5 to 7 tiles on August 4.
What is the deck weak to?
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.
Hey guys! Supermarine here, and today I am showing you guys a Hog ExeNado deck that finally got me to 4K trophies!
This deck is solid on both offense and defense, with the capability to create deadly pushes and at the same time have massive push stopping power!
So, without further delay, we now get into the guide!
| Deck | Cards | Avg elixir | Needs |
| Deck in this guide | 3.6 | Arena 15 (Tornado) |
Pros:
- Hard counters Hog Rider
- Strong against Golem
- Hard counters Siege
- Has multiple tank killers
Cons:
- No swarm
- Lots of high risk cards
- Very little cheap cycle
- Weak to Spell Bait
The Hog ExeNado Deck
Ice Golem:
This savage hunk of ice is one of the most useful utility cards one can have, as it opens up opportunities for so many things!
It can allow you to kill Horde or Gang with Zap, and it also allows you to kite deadly troops away from the Arena Towers or win conditions.
He can even help you to preserve Zap by killing Bats or Skellies for you!
And the best part is, he only costs 2 Elixir!
Hog Rider
Isn’t it obvious?
Executioner
This guy is a master of crowd control, and he is deadly when paired with you Ice Golem, Hog, and Tornado.
Capable of taking on any swarm or horde, he can take them all out with one throw!
Be careful though, as he is 5 Elixir.
If used poorly, your Arena Tower will pay for your error!
Tornado: Quite self-explanatory really.
It’s used with Executioner for crowd control, and also moves troops to the King and away from the win conditions.
However, Tornado is also quite a high risk card as well.
If you screw up, you’ll be down 3 Elixir and in big time trouble!
Inferno Tower: Your tank killer.
Melts the likes of every tank, including Lava Hound, Balloon, Giant, Mega Knight, and more!
Don’t use it on mini tanks like Battle Ram though, otherwise you’ll just be wasting valuable Elixir.
Also watch out for reset cards, especially Lightning!
Mini P.E.K.K.A: This is what you should use on deadly threat cards such as Valkyrie, Elite Retards, and Battle Ram.
Even Giant, Mega Knight, and Magic Archer have issues against the Pancake Hero!
His high damage per hit allows you to shred through just about any mini tank, and can also be used as a emergency defense against Golem and other big tanks if the Inferno Tower is compromised.
However, sometimes you can use this guy on the counterpush as well after defending a push, and paired with Ice Golem, Hog, and Zap, you can create a really deadly push!
Zap: Very, very self explanatory.
Kills swarms and resets Infernos.
Also can be used to kill Goblin Gang, Goblins, and Minion Horde when paired with Ice Golem.
Fireball: Annnnnnnnnd… Fireball!
This is a great medium damage spell to have in Hog ExeNado because it absolutely annihilates glass cannons, preventing them from doing anything to pose a threat to your Tower.
Can also kill Minion Horde for a positive trade and Barbarians if paired with Zap.
Be careful, though! Like Executioner and Tornado, this card’s a risky one to play in some situations, and one misfire could cost you, on offense or on defense!
Substitutions
General Gameplay
3:00-1:00
Make sure you get some cheap Hog pushes in so that way your opponent won’t have the time or Elixir to attack properly.
If the opponent does manage to get in an attack, you have Tornado, Mini P.E.K.K.A, and Inferno Tower to help in defense.
Executioner also helps, and it is always recommended to start a counterpush with him during this time unless he is at low health.
1:00-End
This is when the Hog pushes go from normal to crazy.
Most should contain Executioner and Tornado to maximize the safety of the Hog.
Also be sure to save Mini P.E.K.K.A for defense, then make an Executioner+Hog Rider counterpush.
Use Zap and Fireball, or ExeNado on any swarms that need clearing.
Matchups:
Giant: Easy matchup.
Just use Inferno Tower or Mini P.E.K.K.A. Use Zap to help divert support units away, then counterpush with the Hog.
Golem: Easy matchup.
You have Fireball for their Pump, along with two tank killers.
If one is compromised (for example, Inferno Tower gets hit by Lightning), then use the other.
If you have a Hog in hand and they place Golem in the back, use this opportunity to take their Tower while they are depleted of Elixir.
P.E.K.K.A: Moderate matchup.
Unlike Giant and Golem, P.E.K.K.A Decks render your Mini P.E.K.K.A as useless against her.
This is why you should use Inferno Tower on the P.E.K.K.A, then use MP on the support or secondary win condition.
Use Tornado if necessary to move P.E.K.K.A away.
If they place her in the back and you have a Hog in hand, punish hard, similar to how you would punish a Golem user.
Lava Hound: Easy matchup.
Just use your Inferno Tower and Executioner.
If they place anything behind the Hound, then use Tornado to pull it in to the Executioner axe.
Also, if they have Lightning, Executioner won’t die to it!
Royal Giant: Easy matchup.
Just use Inferno Tower.
Against Minion Horde, use Fireball or Executioner, and versus Ebarbs, use Mini P.E.K.K.A.
Hog Rider: Easy matchup.
You have three hard counters to him in the form of Inferno Tower, MP, and Tornado, which is the best option versus Hog Lightning and other light pushes.
What could go wrong?
3M: Easy matchup.
Use Fireball on the side with two.
Then use Ice Golem to distract the one, and use MP on any mini tanks.
Graveyard: Moderate matchup.
Use Ice Golem to distract all of the Skeletons, or use Executioner to kill them all.
Also, don’t worry about a Poison, your troops will survive.
If they use Freeze, be careful and don’t overcommit by Fireballing. Instead, use Zap+Ice Golem so you can save your Fireball for tougher troops.
Siege: Easy matchup.
Use Inferno Tower, Mini P.E.K.K.A or Hog (doing that is not advised).
Use Fireball or Ice Golem if necessary.
Miner Poison: Moderate/hard matchup.
When Poison isn’t used, you don’t have any good Counters to Miner you can use without getting an Elixir disadvantage.
Miner+Poison pushes can easily be countered by Mini P.E.K.K.A, however.
Also be careful of any big tanks paired with Miner. In this case, do NOT use MP on the tank (use him on Miner) as this will allow Miner to get massive damage if you don’t counter the tank fast enough.
Spell Bait: Hard matchup.
Use Tornado or Zap on the Barrels, and Fireball everything else.
However, your main problem will be the Princess, as you can’t counter her without attaining an Elixir disadvantage, unless you use Tornado.
Also, if they fire their Rocket and you can’t properly punish, you’re in big trouble!
Mega Knight: Easy matchup.
You should be able to treat the MK like a Giant and get away with it.
This means that you can use Inferno Tower on it without penalty, then use Ice Golem to distract support.
Use Mini P.E.K.K.A if the Inferno gets reset.
So that’s all for this amazing deck guide!
Leave a comment op if you guys enjoyed, or have some feedback you want to give me!
My new deck series (possibly a collab) is COMING SOON!
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