Hog Rocket Bomb Tower Deck: A 3.3 Elixir Cycle Plan

Hello Clashers, KairosTime here with a Hog Rocket deck without Legendaries or Epics that you can use starting in arena 5! It has helped me stay competitive in both tournaments and in the Legendary Arena with level 10 commons and 7 rares. This deck was built to counter the most common cards in the meta right now, which is why it works so well! This deck comes with a video guide that you can find it below! Feel free to check out my YouTube Channel for more video guides! I will also include a video on gameplay of a tournament that I placed 1st using this deck, so stay tuned!

Hog Rocket Deck for Arena 5+

Card Breakdown:

Bomb Tower – When I started working on this deck, this was the first card I chose. This is because it does so well at defending against the popular win conditions right now: Giant Poison, Hog Cycle, Royal Giant, Golem, and the P.E.K.K.A. With the exception of the Hog Cycle deck, these decks all utilize a tank backed up by other troops. The Bomb Tower can damage both the tank and the other troops and as far as defensive towers go, the Bomb Tower has the most HP which means that it can clear most tanks by themselves. This card is your primary defense against the majority of popular pushes in the meta right now. It even stops the Hog Rider + Goblins for a 1 elixir advantage, with health to spare. Because the Bomb Tower hasn’t been used very much recently, a lot of decks have a hard time dealing with it which forces your opponent to be creative and that puts you in a good position. This tower is weak to air so you want to be prepared with other cards to keep it from being taken out with Minions or the Minion Horde.

Minions – I chose the Minions to fill multiple roles in this deck. They help cover the weakness of the Bomb Tower and they are also excellent at defending if your opponent doesn’t have a good answer to air. When facing the Hog Trifecta deck, I will frequently use the minions to solo a lone Valkyrie and then mount a counter push with the Hog Rider. When facing a deck with either the Balloon or Lava Hound, you need to be very careful with using the minions because they are your best shot at defending against either, without having to rely on a perfectly timed rocket.

Rocket – The Rocket is one of the hardest cards to learn how to time but I added the Rocket for a lot of reasons. It is a support to your win condition if your opponent’s tower is below 493 health at tournament standards, it 1-shots Sparky, and because it will totally catch your opponent off guard the first time you use it. When you are playing against people that have legendary cards, or stronger cards than you, one of the best advantages you can have is a trick up your sleeve. This is your ace and you don’t want to use it freely! If you reveal your secret, a smart opponent will completely change the way they play and that will lead to your disadvantage. So I recommend using it to finish off towers or defensively when you are desperate. That being said, I make an exception for rocketing Elixir Pumps and here’s why: Elixir Pumps are often used to support a win condition that normally isn’t possible without the extra elixir that comes with investing in a pump. “But, a Pump costs 5 and a Rocket costs 6! Isn’t that a disadvantage?” Not really! Even if your opponent drops a pump nowhere near a tower, this is still advantageous for you to do in a lot of situations because it removes your opponent’s win condition support, and because an Elixir Pump produces 7 elixir which is worth one more elixir than the Rocket. Because of those two reasons, Rocketing your opponent’s pump can turn their balanced deck into an unfunctional one. That being said, really good deck builders will make a deck that is supported by a pump and doesn’t rely on it, so practicing with the Rocket is going to be the best way to learn when this is efficient and when it isn’t.

Hog Rider – The Hog Rider is your primary win condition. You want to cycle the Hog to the point where you can Rocket the enemy tower. Yes, this is a regular Hog Cycle deck with the support of the super defensive Bomb Tower and the super offensive Rocket. The beauty of this deck is the fact that you can cycle back to the Hog Rider using Zap, Goblins, Fire Spirits, and a defensive Mini P.E.K.K.A even with a hand that has the Bomb Tower, Rocket, and Minions. The reason I chose the Hog Rider as the primary win condition is because most of the decks I’m facing right now don’t have a defensive tower in them. This allows the Hog Rider to get at least 1 swing on the enemy tower unless your opponent over-commits to defending. That being said, you are bound to face some people with defensive towers so if you don’t already know how to do a “Hog Push” with both small groups of units (Goblins and Fire Spirits) and single units (Mini P.E.K.K.A), I recommend learning that fast. When playing against other decks that focus on synergy, like the Hog Trifecta deck, you want to break the synergy by playing the Hog Rider on the side of the arena opposite of the side your opponent is trying to beat down.

Mini P.E.K.K.A – The Mini P.E.K.K.A is a fantastic counter to a lot of cards used right now, like the Miner, a lone Giant or Royal Giant, and other Mini P.E.K.K.As. You should try to use the Mini P.E.K.K.A defensively and then pair him with the fire spirits as he’s about to cross the bridge. If you are nearing the end of the match and you need to get damage on the enemy tower fast, I recommend a Mini P.E.K.K.A Hog Push. A lot of decks have a hard time defending this, especially if they aren’t prepared for it (Meaning that you haven’t used it a lot in the match).

Zap – The Zap is a powerful tool in a lot of decks right now. Because a lot of decks have Minions or the Minion Horde, I thought about going with the Arrows instead, but Zap synergies with the Hog Cycle much nicer than the Arrows do. If your opponent has a lot of air troops, you’ll want to be careful with how you use Zap because it can be used with the minions to clear a Minion Horde. Also, a level 7 Rocket won’t take out a level 4 Balloon, so if your opponent has a Giant Balloon deck, you’ll need Zap or Fire Spirits to finish off the Balloon and Goblins to finish off the Giant. Just wait until the Giant and Balloon are on top of each other so they both take damage.

Goblins – These little guys are one of my favorite units to use. They are perfect for pulling off Hog Pushes, they do a lot of damage and can quickly clear the Miner, Princess, Ice Wizard, Musketeer, and even a distracted Wizard. They’re also great distractions of the Minion Horde! If you have a Minion Horde coming down the right lane and your drop the Goblins just barely to the left of the middle of your map, you can pull half of the minions to the left side of the arena so that you can defend the horde with both of your towers. This tricky maneuver has saved me multiple times!

Fire Spirits – The Fire Spirits were the last cards that I picked when constructing this deck. They fill so many roles and should be used differently depending on your opponent’s deck. If your opponent has a lot of air, you should use the Fire Spirits defensively on the Minions, Minion Horde, and on Lava Pups. If your opponent doesn’t have air, these guys are great at pairing with a Mini P.E.K.K.A that has just pulled off a defense, or to cycle back to the Hog Rider. I’ve tried switching this card with Arrows, Baby Dragon, Ice Wizard, and the Princess to try and make this deck stronger against air, but everything else throws off the groove of the deck. Because the Balloon and Lava Hound aren’t a big part of the meta right now, I decided to go with the Fire Spirits for more synergy and have learned to use the Rocket defensively when facing those types of decks.

An important note on playing this deck:

This deck does not rely on overpowered cards to win. Rather, it uses synergy and the element of surprise to win. Because of this, the deck has a high learning curve so you should definitely give the deck a lot of practice. This is to your advantage because as you get better at the deck, you will play in a way that is very uncommon in the meta which will help you beat the meta.

Thanks for taking the time to read this Hog Rocket guide! I hope that you have found it helpful. This is KairosTime ticking by! See you in the Arena!