This Golem Hog Deck is one of the better off-meta decks you’ll find out there!
It’s got a decent winrate and is really fun to play with. I’d recommend this deck to you not for trophy pushing but just to have fun. It combines two very-different win conditions in an interesting way!
Card Breakdown
Night Witch
As with all Golem decks, you need something that’s going to pack a punch on defense and then quickly turn it into the offense.
Night Witch has pushed her way into one of the top ten cards in the game, and is great on defense, shining at taking down air and ground alike.
🔁 Possible Replacements: None. Witch can do the job, but not the same.
Ice Wizard
This Finnish guy is an absolute beast while defending. He adds the solid defence element to your deck. An Ice Wizard combined with the Night Witch is completely capable of shutting down 13 elixir pushes. Protect your Ice Wizard at all costs. It’s okay if he dies after the defense is over (Balloon bomb, Giant Skeleton bomb etc).
Don’t drop him in the back when you’re leaking elixir. Use the other cards, but not him. This guy saves towers.
🔁 Possible Replacements: Firecracker. She’s a whole new level of annoying, and she’s pretty good at defense. However, adding Firecracker might not be advisable as she dies to Arrows.
The Log
Cheap spell, easy to use, and pushback. What else do you want? Useful for killing Goblin Barrel, Skeleton Army, Princess, Goblin Gang and Guards.
🔁 Possible Replacements: Zap, Arrows, or even Tornado. Don’t use Earthquake.
Hog Rider
Some of you might be saying ‘What’s a Hog doing in this deck?’
I did mention pseudo bait.
The Hog plays more of a Bait role here instead of his usual offense. He is used to bait out the opponent’s defensive buildings, and make the way open for the Golem.
However, his role is quite elastic. If the defensive building is an Inferno Tower, you’ll be baiting it out with the Hog. If the defensive building is a Spawner, Cannon, Bomb Tower, or Tesla, you’ll be using the Golem to bait it out.
It really depends on what kind of building your opponent has. If there’s no building, it’s too easy. In this case, you’ll be using the Hog behind the Golem as a much picky-Mini-Pekka. A Hog Golem push is very difficult to counter without buildings.
I chose the Hog Rider because he covers the Golem’s weaknesses (speed and attack rate) and the Golem covers the Hog’s weakness (health and death damage).
These 2 cards synergize extremely well with each other.
🔁 Possible Replacements: None.
Goblin Gang
Cheap swarm. Mainly used to kill off annoying things like Prince, Elite Barbarians, Giant Skeletons, opponent’s Hog, Knight and all other Mini Tanks. Use it with the Night Witch or the Ice Wizard, but not with both. A Fireball + Log by the opponent gives him value.
🔁 Possible Replacements: Skeleton Army, Goblins, Spear Goblins, Guards and even Minions. For a faster cycle Skeletons can be used but there’s less units to defend with.
Skeleton Dragons
These guys have seen a surge in popularity and winrate since their much-critical reviews on Reddit. They’re excellent cards to defend with, and they split up so they can defend either lane. They make short work of Minions and Minion Horde which are the hard counters to your deck.
However, they will die to heavy spells. If you’re playing against a Spell cycle, you’ll want to play them 4 tiles from the river and 3 tiles from the bridge. A 4-3 placement pulls air units well, and provides no spell value from either tower because of their fast movement speed.
🔁 Possible Replacements: Baby Dragon
Ice Spirit
Simple yet effective. One of this deck’s drawbacks is that there’s no stun or reset, so you can use the Ice Spirit. It counters Musketeer, Knight, Electro Wizard, Ice Wizard, Goblin Gang and even a lone Skeleton Army.
However, if the opponent has any one Inferno, your options are:
- Use the Spirit exclusively for their Inferno. This approach is risky because the Spirit can be wasted on a single Skeleton, leaving your Golem vulnerable.
- Use the Spirit on defense and use the Hog Rider to bait out their Inferno. The moment the Hog dies, you ready yourself for a BIG Golem push.
🔁 Possible Replacements: Zap, perhaps. If you’ve substituted the Log with Zap, you can use Bats instead of Ice Spirits.
Golem
You’ll be using him only during double elixir. Keep cycling the Hog and Night Witch, and defend well. In this deck, you need to have a strong offence while losing minimum health on your towers. Use the Hog to get whatever damage you can and defend with Ice Wiz + Night Witch/Skeleton Dragons.
If they put down an Inferno RIGHT at the beginning of a battle, you’ve got one tower. Wait it out by dropping NW and splitting Skeleton Dragons. When the Inferno dies, you’re all set to launch Golem-Hog and Goblin Gang.
Deck Gameplay
2.59 to 1.30
Focus on losing minimum health on your towers. A loss of up to ~1000 health can easily be covered, so don’t worry.
If you lose a tower, you’ll want to start your push from the opposite side, so that your NW will be able to defend with the help of the King Tower. Feel free to use the Hog to get damage, but do not show Golem – yet.
1.30 to 1.00
Start getting ready for a BIG push. By 1.10, you should have these four cards ready – Night Witch, Golem, Hog and Goblin Gang.
The second 2x hits, plant the Golem in the back.
0.59 to Overtime
Go all in. Plant the Night Witch behind the Golem, support with SD.
If they Fireball your push, use Hog at the bridge, but behind the Golem and keep the Log/Zap ready.
It’s very rare that you’ll not be able to take a tower with this sort of push. Difficult to defend against, it’s fast, has good health and high Damage.
Overtime to Tiebreaker
If you’ve reached this stage of the game, you’re having trouble or you’re facing a really skilled player.
Do not go for the other tower.
Defend, defend and defend.
There’s no heavy spell in this deck, and you’ll need to spam Hog whenever possible to get that sweet 300 damage.
Again, you don’t overcommit on attack here.
Cons of the Deck
There are two major drawbacks of this deck.
There is no heavy spell.
Believe me; it’s going to trouble you in Overtime. Try to end games before that, Go-Ho is a very strong push.
There is no building.
I can’t stress the importance of a building, but this deck works better without one. If you’re a defense-oriented player, you’d do better to carry the Tesla instead of the Ice Spirit.
In overtime, a useful combo is to drop the Golem in the pocket where both towers can attack it (King and Princess). Then Pig-Push the princess tower with Hog + Ice Spirit.
Deck Matchups
Bait Decks
You won’t struggle countering their weaker troops, but the Goblin Barrel is going to be a problem for you. Save the Log for the Barrel and the Goblin Gang for the Knight/Prince(?)/Rascals.
Beatdown
It depends on who makes the first mistake. If it’s you, you’re pretty much screwed. Beatdown decks are known for having a VERY good defence after being a tower up and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to make a comeback. If your opponent makes the first mistake (like completely ignoring Hog/Goblin Gang/NW), you’re set. Ice Wiz + Skelly Dragons = golden.
Control
Pretty even matchup, you’ll have a slight advantage as they can’t control all your cards. They’ll most probably Fireball your Ice Wizard, but then you can drop Skeleton Dragons. You’re good to go here.
Splashyard
Possibly the easiest matchup. You have NW to counter splash, SD for Graveyard/Valkyrie(?)/Bowler and Goblin Gang to clean up. Drop a Hog in front of you tower and watch their tower die.
Bridgespam
A fair matchup. Save your Ice Wiz for defence, use NW to soak up Bandit and Ghost, use SD + Goblin Gang on PEKKA. Works like a charm, just don’t let the Magic Archer connect from beyond the bridge.
Spawner
Ah yes, enslaved troops.
Probably the toughest matchup you could get. You don’t have a heavy spell, so use Hog + Log/Zap to get value on the 4-2 or 4-3 buildings. For Furnaces and Barbarian Huts placed behind the tower, you’ll want to defend with SD + Ice Wiz and Pig Push the other side with Ice Spirit.
Don’t overcommit on offence, you’ll need NW, Ice Wiz and SD for defence. In a pinch, Log also helps.
When they see your Golem, they’ll most likely put down Barb Hut in the middle. Pig Push the same side with the Hog to get free hits in.
So that’s it guys, this guide tells you how to play a very interesting deck. Have fun and see you in the Arena!
