Night Witch Draft Tips: Best Partners and Counters

By Clash World · Guides · Oct 16, 2026

AI Overview: Night Witch draft tips begin with the pick itself. She is a support card that spawns bats every few seconds and leaves more when she dies, so an opponent needs a spell or a specific card to answer her. Pair her with a Miner, Giant or Lava Hound. The original tips are rechecked with 2026 data below, so you can trust each number and skip the guesswork.

Last Updated: October 2026

Key Points:

• The Night Witch’s best 2026 list wins 68.7% over about 1,400 battles, with no change this year.
• She spawns bats on a timer and four more when she dies, so a cheap answer is hard to find in a draft.
• Miner, Lava Hound and Giant are the partners the original names.
• Lightning is a fair counter, and it can hit her with two other cards for a positive trade.
• The Lava Hound hits harder in 2026, from 53 to 71 damage on October 6.

How to Draft the Night Witch

The big idea. Night Witch is a support piece. Pick her next to something that pulls attention, then let the bats do the work.

Worth knowing. For her role in a full deck, see the Night Witch guide. For general draft rules, see draft challenge tips.

Matchups. Against a Lava Hound, drop her where she can hit ground troops that threaten the Hound. The rule: use her to cover the weak spot.

The table lists the partners the original suggests. A Miner turns her defense into a counter-push. A Lava Hound and Giant give her cover. Spell-bait cards like the Goblin Barrel push the opponent to spend a spell early.

Zoom out. Support cards that make more units get better as games get longer. If more cards leave units behind when they die, answering them will cost more each year, and decks without a splash spell will slip.

What Changed in 2026

The short version. The Night Witch had no 2026 change. The Lava Hound gained damage, from 53 to 71. The Miner lost tower damage, from 49 to 39. The Giant and Golem held steady.

Short on time? Read the table, pick a partner, and keep one splash spell.

Final word. Support wins long games.

Plain talk. This is a pairing guide. It works when you draft with a plan.

One more way to see it. The Night Witch is a hive. Hit the hive and the bees scatter, but ignore her and they swarm.

In plain English. She is steady, the Lava Hound hits harder, and the Miner hits towers softer.

Claims, rechecked. The write-up says she was unlocked at 12 wins in a past event and lists her old stats table. Neither applies now. Treat every figure as a starting point, not a rule.

The fine print. The Giant’s best list wins 71.6% over 587 battles and the Golem’s wins 68.7% over about 1,400. The Lava Hound’s best list wins 78.8% over 241 battles, a small sample. The Graveyard’s top deck wins 71.6%.

Card pages: Night Witch, Miner, Lava Hound, Giant and Golem.

Zoom in. The original calls her new and hard to answer in a draft. She is no longer new, but the same pressure applies. A draft pool without a splash card has a hard time against her bats.

How to Beat the Night Witch in a Draft

Pick the splash spell. Arrows, Fireball or Lightning clear the bats and hurt her. Take one if you can.

Extra tip. Spell bait with a Goblin Barrel first. Then land her when the opponent’s Arrows are gone.

Last tip. With the Lava Hound, her bats hide behind it. A splash spell breaks the plan.

Quick recap. Pair, protect, punish.

Reality check. A Lightning on her costs 6 elixir. Make sure it hits two other cards too.

Bottom line. Pair her, protect her, and keep a spell for her bats.

Counter-push. With a Miner, defend with her first, then send the Miner on the other lane.

Tips. Place the Night Witch behind a tank, not in front. If she dies early, the bats arrive without support. Open the linked card pages before you queue, since one balance patch can flip a trade.

Do not trade cheap troops for bats. Countering bats with a single troop usually costs elixir. Use a spell or a splash troop.

Keep a win condition of your own. A strong defense is not enough. Take a Giant or Hog Rider so you can punish when she is spent.

Zoom out again. If supports keep gaining value from time, the first defender will matter less than the last. The risk is a mode where patient players always win and fast decks fade out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you pick the Night Witch in a draft?

Yes, if you can pair her with a Miner, Giant or Lava Hound. Use it as a guide, and check the linked card pages for the current numbers.

What counters the Night Witch?

A spell such as Lightning or Arrows, or a splash troop. The original says Lightning with two other cards makes a positive trade.

Which cards work with her?

The original names the Miner, Lava Hound and Giant. The Golem fits the same plan.

How many bats does she make?

The original says two every five seconds and four more when she dies. The numbers are old.

Do you need a win condition?

Yes. The original says it is very hard to win a draft without one.

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.

Guys, the Night Witch Draft Challenge is coming to Clash Royale from May 26th to 29th! Get started with our best tips on getting 12 wins in this challenge, give yourself a chance to unlock this new Legendary card before everyone else!

Night Witch Draft Challenge

Basic Information:

• The first entry is free.
• As this is the Draft Challenge, pick 4 cards for you and 4 cards for your opponent at the starting.
• Only one of you will have to choose to play with or against the Night Witch.
• The first one-time rewards unlocked at 2 wins.
• Night Witch is unlocked at 12 wins.

Rewards

*Chests are based on your current Arena.
** Once you unlocked the Night Witch, you will have the chance unlocking her from any chest even before the official release.

Basic Stats

Best Tips on Getting 12 Wins in Night Witch Draft Challenge

Pick the Night Witch If possible! No worries If you haven’t played her yet. Nor does your opponent.

Just a heads-up, she is a great support card, she spawns 2 Bats every 5 secs and upon death she spawns 4 more Bats. As she is brand new in the Arena, it is not easy to deal with her at all and getting the positive Elixir trade against her is extremely hard in draft challenge.

You should take a look at here for more details about her.

Pair up your Night Witch with these cards (If possible): Miner, Lava Hound and Giant are probably the best cards to play with the Night Witch I can think of at the moment.

When paired up with Miner, you can use her on defense to deal with ground troops and then transform it into a counterpush with the Miner. If she dies, you will have 6+ Bats, forcing your opponent to use spell or a ‘specific card‘ to deal with them. Countering Bats usually leads to a negative Elixir trade (find out why at here).

With Lava Hound, she helps deal with Electro Wizard/Musketeer on the ground meanwhile her Bats can support the Lava very well. If your opponent doesn’t have a specific card to deal with the Bats hiding behind the Lava, it would be GG.

Don’t forget to pick at least 1 win condition! Sounds obvious but so many players forget doing this during the draft challenges. It will be very  hard to win the game If you do not get yourself a win condition. Using win condition + support cards is a lot easier to take out the tower than using glass cannons.

Pick one of these cards (If possible). All of these cards work extremely well in draft challenge as it’s hard to stop them with the specific counters. For example, it’s hard to stop Goblin Barrel without Zap/Log/Arrows/Electro Wizard/Skeleton Army etc. If you can draft out some spell bait cards, your opponent is done!

Pick a direct damage spell (If possible). What If you can’t get any win condition? Or what If your opponent has a hard-counter to your win condition? Use spell then! Also, using Spells is an easy way to get positive Elixir trades. Using them during the x2 Elixir time to finish off the Tower is also so delicious.

In addition, Lightning is a viable counter to Night Witch. Pick her out with two other cards for positive Elixir trade!

Keep your deck cheap. Better safe than sorry. If you keep picking 4-5 Elixir cards for yourself and your opponent also gives you some heavy cards, you are very done!

Choose the card which can counter multiple cards! For example, Fire Spirits vs Goblins? Fire Spirits! Fire Spirits are great against swarms and Goblin Barrel. Also, at least Fire Spirits can counter Goblins...

Pick a pocket card! Pocket card is the surprising card which your opponent would never think of. This card gives you the opportunity to get massive value at the right moment. For example, Freeze, Three Musketeers, Graveyard etc are the great pocket cards!

Some other tips:

• Do not ignore the Night Witch. She can solo kill your Tower!
• Archers and Ice Golem are probably the best counters to Night Witch at the moment.
• Zap one-shots Bats.
• Heavier tank = better. In draft challenge, there are 2 sometimes or even more buildings on the opponent’s side. Using Golem, Lava Hound etc is easier to get to the Tower. Not only that, If somehow you get the Night Witch, he doesn’t work really well with fast card like Hog Rider on offense.
• Get Executioner, Baby Dragon, Bowler If you have a chance because of their durability of being ranged and surviving heavy spells.
• Try to avoid cards you don’t like.
• Always pray before the battles.
• Updating…

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Good luck guys! See you in the Night Witch Draft Challenge!

Test any deck from this guide in the Clash Royale Deck Builder: it shows elixir cost, cycle speed and patch risk before you spend a single card level.

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