AI Overview: This Hog Mortar deck averages 3.1 elixir, the cheapest cycle of the ten decks in this series. Hog Rider had no 2026 change and its best list wins 61.2%, while Mortar lists range from 41.9% to 51.9%. All figures come from the October 2026 card data. Costs come straight from the official card list.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The deck costs 25 elixir, which is 3.1 on average, and it cycles back to its defenses very fast.
- Hog Rider had no 2026 change, and its best list wins 61.2% over about 3,800 battles.
- Mortar is the weak card: base-card lists range from 41.9% to 51.9%.
- Princess (65.1% over 3,500) and Goblin Gang (62.9% over about 3,100) are steady bait and chip cards.
- The Log lost Crown Tower damage (41 to 35) and Zap lost it too (58 to 48), both on June 1.
The Hog Mortar List, Priced Card by Card
The plan was to cycle defense quickly, bait the opponent’s spells, and win with Hog Rider and the occasional Mortar.
| Card | Elixir | Job in the deck | 2026 status |
| Hog Rider | 4 | Main win condition | No 2026 change; best list 61.2% over about 3,800 |
| Mortar | 4 | Second win condition and defense | Base-card lists 41.9% to 51.9% |
| Knight | 3 | Cheap ground tank | Best list 67.1% over 1,000 (LogBait); Hero shield 768 to 512 |
| Goblin Gang | 3 | Bait and chip troops | No 2026 change; best list 62.9% over about 3,100 |
| Princess | 3 | Bait for the opponent’s spells | Best list 65.1% over 3,500 (LogBait); Evo buff on August 4 |
| The Log | 2 | Swarm clearing spell | Crown Tower damage 41 to 35 on June 1; best list 65.1% over 3,500 |
| Inferno Dragon | 4 | Tank killer on defense | Evo charge time 9 to 7 seconds on June 1; best Evo list 72.3% over 792 |
| Zap | 2 | Cheap reset spell | Crown Tower damage 58 to 48 on June 1; Evo Zap 77.0% over about 1,000 |
The table keeps the old roles and shows the October 2026 status of each card.
The deck has no big spell, so the Hog Rider carries nearly all the damage. The negative effect: if a buff or a new counter makes Hog Rider easier to stop, the Mortar is too weak in 2026 lists to take over.
What Changed in 2026
The Hog Rider is fine and the Mortar is not. Hog Rider had no 2026 change, and his best list wins 61.2%. Mortar’s base-card lists win 41.9% to 51.9%, the weakest of the siege group.
Since The Log lost Crown Tower damage on June 1, a player who does not own it can use Arrows or Zap.
The defense cards moved. The Log and Zap both deal less to towers (35 and 48 instead of 41 and 58), which makes the bait less costly for the opponent. Inferno Dragon is strong when it has the Evolution, with a best list of 72.3% over 792 battles after the charge time fell from 9 to 7 seconds.
Card pages: Hog Rider, Mortar and Princess.
The negative effect: a player who relies on Mortar for tower damage may find it too slow, and a swap to a cheap spell or a second cycle card may beat the old list by a few points.
How to Play It Today
Use him on a counter-push with the Knight and the Goblin Gang, and play the Gang on offense only after the spell cards are out of the opponent’s cycle.
Matchups. The deck beats other bait decks and fares badly against Graveyard. Against Miner Poison, the Mortar often stays in the cycle unused. Against Golem, the Mortar punishes the tank in the back, then the cycle comes back to a defensive card.
Elixir math: no card costs more than 4, and the two spells cost 2 each. That is how a 25 elixir deck cycles through all eight cards so quickly, and why players call the cheap cycle the deck’s best feature.
Translation: against beatdown, use Mortar only to punish a Golem in the back. Against fast cycle, use it defensively and keep the Princess for the bait. The deck beats other bait decks and loses to Graveyard, and the 2026 data does not argue with that.
Try it yourself: want to see how it feels? Open the Clash Royale Deck Builder, where Hog Mortar Deck is waiting. At 3.1 elixir on average it is a clear example of its style; just remember it has no 2026 win rate behind it.
The negative effect: if Graveyard stays strong with a top deck near 71.6%, this list may meet it often, and a player without a plan for that card may lose long games on the last tower.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Hog Mortar deck good in 2026?
Hog Rider’s best list wins 61.2%, but Mortar’s lists range from 41.9% to 51.9%, so the deck is playable but not top tier, and a swap for the Mortar slot is worth testing.
How much elixir does the deck average?
3.1 elixir per card on average (25 in total).
Why does the deck have no big spell?
Which card is the weakest?
Mortar. Its base-card lists range from 41.9% to 51.9%.
What does the deck lose 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, it’s NebulaNoodle back at it again with a brand new guide, an amazing, solid, and consistent deck which grinded me up to 4k Club!
It contains some bait elements and there are two easily swappable win conditions, Hog Rider and Mortar, both really good on ladder and both relatively easy to level up.
I discovered this deck on TV Royale a few weeks ago but never really played with it. A week ago I changed up some cards for my liking and I never stopped using it since!
This is definitely an amazing ladder deck and best of all, it counters the meta due to quick cycling with very strong defensive cards!
Sorry for not posting a while, I was really busy with school and often had to work till late so didn’t have much time. But here’s my return!
| Deck | Cards | Avg elixir | Needs |
| Deck in this guide | 3.1 | Arena 11 (The Log) |
Pros:
- Cheap cycle (3.1)
- Can cycle defenses very quickly
- Can easily beat other bait decks
- Slow annoying chip damage
- Counters the new meta
Cons:
- Easy to play, but hard to master (I haven’t fully mastered it yet!)
- Contains 3 legendaries (but not too hard to replace!)
- Often hard to get lots of damage (results in many 0-0 draws), due to no spell cycling ability
- Weak to Graveyard (especially Giantyard/Golemyard)
Hog Rider Mortar Hybrid Deck
Hog Rider: Your main win condition and primary source of damage.
Use him on the counter-push with remaining troops (Knight, GGang) but you really only want to be playing the Goblin Gang on offense once you have baited the spells out.
You will want to be getting the most value out of him as if you don’t get much damage out of Hog it will be quite hard to rely on the Mortar for tower damage as there is no big spell in this deck.
Mortar: Secondary win condition/solid defense.
If playing against beatdown, don’t use Mortar on offense unless punishing Golem in the back (you can cycle back to a defensive one quite quickly.)
Usually you want to rely on Hog for damage.
Sometimes I don’t even use the Mortar once during the whole game! That’s usually against Miner Poison decks.
If you are using it on offense (usually if playing quick control decks), try to really level up the mortar.
Minimum I would say is lvl 11 if you want to push well past league 1. My mortar is lvl 11, but it still does decent damage per hit and if you are using it on defense vs Beatdown you could easily turtle up and the Mortar will splash onto the support troops as well.
Top Tip: When playing against Giant/Golem, place the mortar once the Golem has just crossed the Arena tower (if Golem placed in back.) This way, it gives the Mortar adequate time to load and start shooting the Golem.
Knight: Really your strong defensive man.
Even with his nerf he is still really good, taking out Royal Ghost, Wizard, Executioner, Witch, and more for juicy positive elixir trades!
If playing beatdown, use him to distract and kill the support while Mortar is doing its thing.
Try to cycle him quickly on defense/offense as he is the powerhouse in the deck, there are only 4 non-building targeting troops in this deck and all the others die to small spells!
If you can, level him up nicely to lvl 11+. But lvl 10 knight works well too (I made it to 4K with level 10 knight!)
Princess:This lady is really good on defense as well, but squishy.
Place her in the other lane from the opponent’s troops to really get the most value out of her.
She can snipe glass cannons really well combined with the Knight.
Her huge splash radius acts like Arrows, but she lasts infinitely if not dealt with!
You can use her on the bridge for instant chip damage (usually 300+ damage) but if they log/arrows, punish with Hog/Knight+GGang!
But just be mindful about not overcommiting and leaving yourself out of cycle and with no elixir to defend.
Goblin Gang: These fabulous five are a staple in any bait deck.
They do incredible damage if left ignored on an arena tower and offer so much value defending Hog, glass cannons, Miner, and more!
Bait out Zap/Arrows/Log and use them on offense with Hog, Knight, or Mortar.
They can easily distract and kill any card for a positive trade!
Inferno Dragon: Your tank killer.
He is my favorite legendary due to him offering so much value killing PEKKAs, Golems, and MKs. Knight+Princess+Inferno Dragon is the ultimate 10 elixir defense!
Knight to kill glass cannons, Princess to kill swarmy distractions, and Inferno Dragon for the tank.
Even post nerf, he is such a good card, only costing 4 elixir. Give him a shot!
Plus, even at level 1 he can do extremely well as a defensive troop.
He is also great for counterpushes with Hog+another troop.
Once the opponent uses Zap on Goblin Gang you are free to use this Dragon on defense!
Top Tip: If you are facing someone with tornado, place the Inferno Dragon at the edge of the map to defend so the opponent can’t tornado the Dragon to the other lane.
Log:
Super great value card for 2 elixir.
Takes out any squishy units, and again isn’t very level dependent, being able to kill Goblins, Princesses, Dart Gobs, and more!
Pre-fire Log with the Hog (only if you know their counters though) or use it to defend swarms attacking your Mortar.
When logging, always try to hit the arena tower for some extra chip damage.
Every bit of damage counts in this deck.
Zap:
Extremely important card in this deck to level up!
Mine is level 12 which is really OP at 4K due to not many people having level 7+ Goblin Barrels.
Having the advantage of killing Goblins or possibly even Minions in this deck is really value, which basically means you counter Bait decks together with the Log!
Replacements
Gameplay
Best starting moves: Goblin Gang split in back → Princess in back → Knight in back → Hog
1x Elixir:
Obviously you don’t want to be playing too aggressively at the beginning of the match but try to get as much damage as possible because you can’t really spell cycle.
Cycle cards in the back to feel out your opponent’s deck.
If they are playing a meta deck, you can easily tell their deck by a few cards (Pump+Mega Minion=Golem deck, Pump+Miner=3M deck, Skeletons+Guards=Hog Cycle/X-Bow).
But around 4K there is such a mishmash of different archetypes, and a lot of overleveled EBarbs, so it might be hard to tell their deck.
Some games you might not even need to play your Mortar, if you are playing a Miner deck.
Get the most value out of Logs, and know whether to play Mortar or Hog offensively, depending on their counters.
Rule of thumb for most is that if there are two or more hard counters to your win condition, don’t play it too much and focus on spell cycling instead.
But as there is no med/hi dmg spell in this deck you will need to use your other win condition!
That’s the beauty of hybrid decks!
The key to playing this deck well is knowing if their counters are in rotation, so force their counter out another card.
This is a bait deck, so try to force their Log/Zap/Arrows out and then punish.
For example, opponent Logs Princess. Now you can punish with a quick push, like Hog+Gang.
2x Elixir:
Keep the pressure up and chip away. If needed, play for a draw.
In fact, in the last 5 ladder matches I played 3 of them were 0-0 draws. DO NOT OVERCOMMIT because then you will just have no elixir left to defend or punish, which is the worst situation one could be in.
Once you have gotten the tower down to 600 or lower, turtle up with your mortar and chip with Princess on the bridge and Log.
Set up a solid defense and even get 2 or more mortars down on defense!
Most games will end up either 0-0, 1-0, or 1-1 so be patient and wait for the right moment to strike.
Matchups
I’ll go through the some of most popular decks in this meta on ladder only, as they are the most important. Here’s how to counter them.
Golem Double Prince:
Oh dear, the new cancer trio.
Both Princes are buffed and ready to roll. This matchup might seem intimidating but don’t be scared.
If they put their pump in front of the king, place your Mortar to counter the pump to force out a card.
If they place pump behind Princess tower, punish with Hog on the other lane.
On defense against the snowball push, turtle up with Mortar. Place GGang to kite the Princes to the other lane while you use Inferno Dragon to counter the Golem.
Now the Golem is dead, so don’t worry about the Golemites.
Use Knight to clean up the rest of the two Princes while hopefully both Princess towers are shooting at the Princes.
Of course that’s the optimal situation but that’s how you should defend this deck.
3M Ram:
Very consistent deck which has been around for a long time.
There’s no big spell in this deck, so use Knight to defend the 2M and other troops to defend the one.
You will need to log the Battle Ram and the Goblin Gang. Get the most value out of spells, and place princess on opposite lane to defend all the swarmy troops.
Again, punish pump and use Mortar in defensive position. May need to play for a draw.
Lavaloon:
Yes, lavaloon is making a comeback and is quite strong now!
Use Mortar to distract the Lava and Loon and cycle Inferno Dragons as fast as you can while not spamming mindlessly.
You can cycle quickly to either defensive mortars or offensive mortars (to punish) and Pre-log or Zap the Skeletons from the Tombstone when using your Hog.
Shouldn’t be too hard, seeing as you have a quick cycle deck and two great counters to LavaLoon (Inferno Dragon and even Princess, for the swarms).
Conclusion
This is a really solid deck guys, do give it a shot if you love bait decks!
I used to hate bait but now I love it, now that I found this deck. It has really really good defensive units and there is not one hard counter deck other than Graveyard, but other than that you can do just fine against any other deck as long as you play smart and don’t overcommit.
Until next time, peace!
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