AI Overview: This Giant Hog Rider deck averages 3.9 elixir and pushes with two win conditions. It was built for 2v2 and has one legendary. In 2026 the Giant’s best list wins 71.6%, though only over 587 battles, and this exact list has no tracker sample. Below, each card gets a fresh price and a 2026 check, so read on for the card-by-card check.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The deck costs 31 elixir, which is 3.9 on average, and the Giant and Inferno Tower cost 5 each.
- Giant had no 2026 change, and his best list wins 71.6% over 587 battles.
- Hog Rider had no change either, and his best list wins 61.2% over about 3,800.
- Dart Goblin’s Evolution poison was buffed on June 1; his best list wins 65.1% over about 3,500.
- Flying Machine has two of eight lists above 50%, with a best of 57.8% over 1,200.
The Giant Hog Rider List, Priced Card by Card
Here’s the thing: this is a Giant beatdown deck with a Hog for punishment. The idea is simple. Defend with the Inferno Tower, then push with the Giant or the Hog when the opponent is out of answers.
| Card | Elixir | Job in the deck | 2026 status |
| Giant | 5 | Main win condition and tank | No 2026 change; best list 71.6% over 587 |
| Hog Rider | 4 | Second win condition | No 2026 change; best list 61.2% over about 3,800 |
| Dart Goblin | 3 | Defense, chip and log bait | Evo poison buffed on June 1; best list 65.1% over about 3,500 |
| Flying Machine | 4 | Double pressure and chip | No 2026 change; best list 57.8% over 1,200, two of eight lists above 50% |
| Electro Wizard | 4 | Answer to Inferno and Sparky | Best list 72.1% over about 1,100; Hero added in October 2026 (small samples) |
| Inferno Tower | 5 | Tank killer building | No 2026 change; best list 65.8% over about 3,000 (LogBait) |
| Zap | 2 | Reset and swarm clearing | Crown Tower damage 58 to 48 on June 1; Evo Zap 77.0% over about 1,000 |
| Fireball | 4 | Value spell | Crown Tower damage 207 to 172 to 159; best list 60.4% over about 4,700 |
The table lists all eight cards, their elixir costs and where each stands after the 2026 patches.
A beatdown deck with two tanks is easy to read. The negative effect: it dies to most P.E.K.K.A decks, and with the P.E.K.K.A hitting harder since July, that matchup may get worse.
What Changed in 2026
The Giant and Hog Rider are unchanged. Zap hits towers for 48, not 58. Fireball hits for 159, down from 207. The Electro Wizard has a Hero version from October. The Inferno Tower had no 2026 change. The Flying Machine is also unchanged.
Claims, rechecked. The 3.9 average adds up from 31 elixir over eight cards. The deck has one legendary. The Electro Wizard is the only legendary in the list, so that holds. The note about a max-level Zap is a card-level claim and cannot be checked in the tracker. Treat every number as a starting point, not a rule.
The weak spots. With only two spells, spell bait decks have an edge. The Flying Machine wins above 50% in only two of eight printed lists. The Inferno Tower can only hit one target at a time.
Card pages: Giant, Hog Rider, Flying Machine and Electro Wizard.
A Tornado player can pull troops toward the King and activate it. The negative effect: Tornado’s best list wins 64.7%, so more Tornado decks mean more King activations, and the Giant plan gets harder to run. Pick a second answer to Tornado before the next patch lands.
How to Play It Today
Here’s the thing: from 3:00 to 1:00, stop the opponent from taking a tower. Use the Inferno Tower to melt Hogs and tanks. If the opponent has both a tank and a Hog, split the answers: Flying Machine plus Electro Wizard on the Hog, Inferno Tower on the tank.
Tips. Learn the opponent’s deck and adapt. Protect the Inferno Tower from Electro Wizard and Zappies, which stun it. Do not lose a tower early, and use the Giant to tank for your own tower when needed. Check the linked card pages first; balance patches change trades faster than any guide.
Translation: the Electro Wizard protects the Giant from Inferno cards and Sparky. Use his spawn damage on swarms or to reset targeting. Zap and Fireball together cost 6 and stop whole pushes. Be careful with the Fireball on a Pump in a 3M list.
Elixir math: the Giant and Inferno Tower cost 10 of the 31 elixir. The Hog, Flying Machine, Electro Wizard and Fireball cost 4 each. The Dart Goblin and Zap cost 5 together.
Try it yourself: want to see how it feels? Open the Clash Royale Deck Builder, where Giant Hog Rider Deck is waiting. At 3.9 elixir on average it is a clear example of its style; just remember it has no 2026 win rate behind it.
The deck destroys Lavaloon and has multiple ways to reset cards. The negative effect: the Balloon Hero was nerfed three times in 2026, so Lavaloon lists win only about 47.5%, and one of this deck’s best matchups is fading from the ladder. That could leave the Inferno Tower with fewer targets worth the five elixir.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Giant Hog Rider deck good in 2026?
The Giant’s best list wins 71.6% over a small sample and the Hog Rider’s best list wins 61.2%, but this exact list has no tracker sample, so test the Flying Machine slot first.
How heavy is this deck in elixir?
The eight cards add up to 31 elixir, so the average is 3.9.
Why use the Flying Machine?
It can defend one lane and then attack the other for chip damage.
Is this a 2v2 deck only?
It was built for 2v2, where a partner’s log bait deck pairs well with the Dart Goblin.
What counters this deck?
Most P.E.K.K.A decks, plus Tornado that activates the King.
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.
Yes, it’s me, HiPeople MC back at it again, trying to make a new Giant Beatdown deck.
Pros
- One Legendary
- Easy to use
- Multiple ways to reset cards
- Destroys LavaLoon
Cons
- Dies to most P.E.K.K.A decks
- Many cards can activate opponent’s King if Tornado is well played
The Cards:
Giant
How could you build a Giant deck without Giant? You don’t.
Anyways, Giant is your primary win condition and can also be used on defense.
Hog Rider
The most fun punishment, that, for four elixir, can almost demolish a crown tower.
Hog is your secondary win condition and synergizes with most spells, including two in this deck (well, one works better than the other)
Dart Goblin: Once I started using this thing, I realized how powerful it is.
Dart Goblin can deal easy chip damage, getting two shots off at a tower if it has 1 HP left!
Anyways, Dart Goblin is supposed to be a defensive card here, and can also be a logbait.
For example, even though using this deck, logbait is useless, in 2v2 your teammate might have that logbait deck we all know about, and if both your opponents have log, well, you’re your team’s only hope…
Flying Machine: Yes, put some wings on a Musketeer and you got the next card in this deck! (well, the Master Builder isn’t stupid, if he was, he wouldn’t be a master builder)
Flying Machine is a card that is underestimated, because you can do the double pressure with it, where you place it in the perfect spot to defend one lane and then attack the other for chip damage.
art Goblin is also good at this.
Electro Wizard: The hardest counter to Sparky and Inferno Dragon, EWiz is a troop that can stun and retarget enemy troops and buildings.
It fits into this deck as a protection for your Giant from Inferno cards and Sparky.
It also can slow down the Crown Tower (the Ice Wizard does better at slowing the tower, but it can’t be a hard counter to Sparky, Inferno Tower, or Inferno Dragon) and retarget troops, if they’re close enough, to the Giant instead of itself.
Remember to utilize the spawn damage to its maximum, perhaps to kill swarms or to reset targeting.
Inferno Tower
The building of this deck, and probably the best defensive tower in the game.
Inferno Tower can melt opposing tanks down to nothing, but make sure to protect it from EWiz or Zappies, because those electrocute Inferno Tower.
Zap: My favorite spell (well, my only max level card is fun to use to trigger owners of level 12 Goblin Gangs).
It can stun enemy troops or buildings and it can make most swarm cards instantly die or so that the Crown Tower can shoot it down easily (Crown Towers are a powerful defense you get for free!).
It is a versatile card that can fit into any deck from Golem 3M Beatdown to X-Bow to my Mega Hog deck.
Fireball: My 2nd favorite spell.
It, for 4 elixir, can stop entire pushes, along with Zap (a 6 elixir combo), can kill Three Musketeers (tournament level), and is a more expensive alternative to stopping swarm cards!
But keep in mind, you only having two spells mean spell bait decks have an advantage on you.
General Gameplan:
3:00 → 1:00
Try to stop your opponent from taking any towers.
Use Inferno Tower to melt away Hogs and tanks.
Watch out for decks with tanks and Hog (aka… well u know my mega hog deck already) because that’s two things you need Inferno for and it can only target one thing at once.
So perhaps use Flying Machine + EWiz on Hogs and Inferno Tower on the tank.
Try to learn their deck and how they play it, so you can adapt to their playstyle.
Keep in mind that if they are using 3M Pump, and you Fireball the Pump, you might be in for a bad surprise.
Try to not lose a tower or use Giant to tank for your tower against troops like Miner, Mega Knight, or Zappies (if your opponent likes off-meta) to minimize tower damage.
If you can keep a tower during *1 elixir time, *2 elixir time is the time to…
1:00-0:00 → Overtime
If you have a tower, all you should care about is defending.
If you have two towers, you might as well go for a third.
Keep in mind that your opponent, if both of you have 1 tower, is probably going for tower #2 instead of the King’s Tower
If they have an advantage of 1-2 at 1:00, go for the second tower to try to force it into overtime.
If you are doing a tournament and overtime lasts ages, go for a “one tower above your opponent” win instead of mindlessly trying to three crown them (unless their King is at 600 HP, then who cares? You do have Fireball…) while killing your defensive abilities, and your elixir.
Remember, you have a Giant that can function as a meatshield (using my real life friend’s in game name ftw) for your tower, and this strategy is especially good if they have zero towers.
Overall, try not to lose a tower during *2 elixir time.
Matchups:
Mega Knight/Mega Hog:
You have Inferno Tower, you have EWiz spawn damage for skarmy, you have Fireball for the Minion Horde.
You have Flying Machine chip damage and Dart Goblin double-pressure (placing a Dart Goblin on the perfect tile so that it defends a troop on one side then runs to the other side to get chip damage) strategy.
But please, don’t kill me on ladder with this deck.
Mirror Matchup
One will win, one will lose
It’s up to mainly three things:
- Your starting hand
- How skilled each player is
- Card levels
But skill is better than high leveled cards (this shows up in my ladder fights a lot; my only maxed card is Zap, but I still find a way to halfway up League I) as high level cards don’t determine how good a player is, it determines how rich Supercell got from their credit card (or their mom’s).
Your starting hand could be just spells, Inferno Tower, and Hog Rider, while theirs could be Giant, Tower, Zap, and EWiz.
P.E.K.K.A:
Fireball the EWiz, Inferno the P.E.K.K.A.
If they use a 3M deck, defend with your life, then cycle back to Fireball.
For Double Prince, Giant can also be used for defense, along with Flying Machine and Dart Goblin.
Bridge Spam:
Inferno Tower on the Ram, Dart Gob on the Bandit, EWiz spawn on the Gob Gang, and Giant+Overleveled Zap to kill their tower.
Not much else to say.
Spell Bait:
You have two spells, a Giant, EWiz spawn damage, Inferno Tower, and Flying Machine to counter this.
Hog Rider and Dart Goblin can chip damage their towers.
Just hope their Goblin Gang is 1 or more levels under your Zap.
Also, Hog+Fireball is surprisingly powerful, getting some Fireball chip+defense for the offense.
LavaLoon:
Inferno Tower + Spells + well-placed Flying Machine + well-placed Dart Goblin + dual win conditions + EWiz for Tombstone = GG
Hog Cycle:
Inferno Tower, Giant to tank the Ice Spirit/Fire Spirits, Flying Machine (or Dart Goblin if you don’t have Flying Machine) if they cycle before you have Inferno Tower.
Other than that, Hog on one side, Giant on the other when you have 9 elixir, they will hog punish you and you have Dart Goblin or Flying Machine to defend.
During *2 elixir, you will have the upper hand, so not much worrying.
Golem Beatdown:
Fireball the support (add Zap is it’s Golem 3M beatdown) and Inferno the Golem.
If they play Golem in the back, Hog or Giant will work as a punishment, or you could chip with Flying Machine or Dart Goblin.
Try to be offensive for a while after they play Golem so that they don’t have elixir to play support for the Golem so you can Inferno it.
3M Heal (Must… cover… all… matchups…):
Fireball+Zap, must be well-timed, and… Giant+Hog at the bridge with Dart Gob.
Make sure to keep Flying Machine handy for killing their pump so you still have Fireball.
If they play their pump behind a tower, don’t go for it. It’s just there for baiting out your Fireball.
Giant Sparky:
EWiz+Inferno Tower=their offense is dead.
Giant+Hog Rider=their towers are dead.
If they use Inferno Tower/Dragon, Zap will keep your offense alive a bit longer.
Fireball can be used as a utility card, defense against mini-pushes, or as chip cycle when their tower is below 1000 HP.
Giant Skeleton Clone:
Zap is the answer, but since they probably will clone their GS when it’s at the tower, try to place Giant to distract the clone to go away from the tower, then Zap it.
For the original GS, you have Inferno Tower, Dart Goblin, and Flying Machine, along with an EWiz to distract and stun it.
Spawner Decks
Giant on defense. Hog to kill towers. Flying Machine kills spawners easy, and can then provide chip damage. Dart Goblin can kill Tombstone or Goblin Hut (he hates his own kind if they did not have years of didgeridoo lessons like him) pretty well.
EWiz takes down Tombstone if he’s defensive (Knight+Tombstone is surprisingly scary; it’s like a slow Graveyard). But either way, not too hard.
Miner Poison/Miner Graveyard:
Zap+Dart Gob/Flying Machine for Graveyard, Giant for Miner distraction.
Flying Machine and Dart Goblin counter Graveyard better than Zap because it doesn’t let it do much damage since it kills the Skeletons as they spawn, unlike Zap where it isn’t like Poison where it takes time to work and keeps Skeletons from spawning.
Conclusion:
After covering all these matchups, I think you should be able to use this Giant deck with ease against almost any deck.
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