AI Overview: Hunter is a 4-elixir Epic troop that deals big damage up close and little from far away. In October 2026, RoyaleTracker’s Hunter page printed six lists, and only one won more than 50%: Evo Royal Giant and Evo Royal Ghost at 56.0% over 983 battles and 3.0 elixir. The other five won 42.5% to 48.5%.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- Hunter lists run from 3.0 to 5.5 elixir.
- Only one of six printed lists won over 50%: 56.0% over 983 battles at 3.0 elixir.
- The five other lists won 42.5% to 48.5%, and three of them run Mega Knight.
- The heaviest list, 5.5 elixir with Evo Executioner and Sparky, won 45.4%.
- SeeMeta lists no Hunter change in 2026, but Executioner, Mega Knight’s Evolution and Royal Ghost all changed.
Table of Contents
What a Hunter Deck Is
Hunter shoots a wide spread of bullets that hurt a lot at close range and almost nothing at far range. He is a tank killer when he is close, so a Hunter deck has to keep him near the fight. Most Hunter lists use a front line that keeps him safe.
The short version: Hunter is a close-range killer. Keep him behind a tank and let the enemy walk into his bullets. The catch: a swarm or a Zap kills him before he fires.
What changed: SeeMeta lists no change for Hunter in 2026. Around him, Executioner‘s projectile range fell from 7.5 to 7 tiles on August 4, Mega Knight‘s Evolution lost knockback on June 1 and its uppercut on August 4, and Royal Ghost lost hitpoints on October 6 (1,210 to 1,152). What it means: the card is the same, and several partners are weaker.
The only list over 50% leans on Evo Royal Ghost, and the ghost was cut on October 6. If it is cut again, the 56.0% list moves toward the pack. The negative effect: a three-card core that loses one card has no replacement ready.
Best Hunter Builds Right Now
The best Hunter list was Evo Royal Giant, Evo Royal Ghost, Skeletons, Hunter, Fisherman, Electro Spirit, Fireball and Barbarian Barrel: 56.0% over 983 battles at 3.0 elixir. The next best, a Hog Rider list with Witch, Prince and Minion Horde, won 48.5% over 761 battles. Every Mega Knight list won 44.6% to 46.8%.
| Build | Cards | Avg elixir | Win rate (sample) |
| Evo Royal Giant, Evo Royal Ghost and Fisherman | 3.0 | 56.0% (983 battles) | |
| Hog Rider, Witch and Prince | 3.9 | 48.5% (761 battles) | |
| Evo Mega Knight, Sparky and Mighty Miner | 4.5 | 46.8% (1.0k battles) | |
| Evo Executioner, Witch and Sparky | 5.5 | 45.4% (657 battles) | |
| Evo Lumberjack, Evo Mega Knight and Hero Wizard | 4.6 | 44.6% (751 battles) | |
| Skeleton Army, Giant Skeleton and Inferno Dragon | 3.6 | 42.5% (777 battles) |
The pattern: the one list that wins is the cheap Royal Giant cycle, and the heavy lists with Mega Knight, Sparky and Witch all lose. What it means: Hunter works in a cheap deck. Still unknown: the winner is 983 battles, and it also appears on the Royal Giant page.
Try it yourself: open the Clash Royale Deck Builder with the Evo Royal Giant, Evo Royal Ghost and Hunter build in the table above already loaded. It averages 3.0 elixir. This exact list is not in the tracker sample, so it has no win rate; it is the 56.0% list with Fireball swapped for Poison.
How to Play a Hunter Deck
- Play Hunter behind a Royal Giant. The giant takes the hits, Hunter does the damage.
- Let them come close. His bullets are weak from far away.
- Use Skeletons in front. They block a charge for 1 elixir.
- Fisherman pulls. Drag their tank into Hunter’s range.
- Fireball the support. Keep it for a Witch or a Wizard.
Barbarian Barrel lost damage on October 6, and the best list depends on it to clear swarms. If it is cut again, the cheap Hunter list loses its swarm answer. The negative effect: a 3.0-elixir deck has little room for a second answer.
How to Counter a Hunter Deck
- Fight from range: Musketeer or Archers hit him where he is weak.
- Zap or Log: a quick stun stops the burst.
- Swarms: Skeleton Army kills him for 3 elixir.
- Do not walk into him: his damage is at close range.
The catch: if you kill the front line and leave Hunter alone, he is the easiest troop to kill.
Is a Hunter Deck Worth Using Now?
Is it worth it? Only in the cheap Royal Giant cycle. One list won 56.0%; five lost. The catch: the Royal Giant and the ghost are the core of that list, and Hunter is one of several cheap support cards.
SeeMeta lists no Hunter change in 2026. If Supercell touches him, the cheap Royal Giant list is the one that notices. The negative effect: a card that has stayed the same for a year can change the list that depends on it.
Go deeper: For the Royal Giant plan, read our Royal Giant deck guide. For the heavy side, see our Mega Knight decks guide and our Sparky deck guide. To test swaps, load the cards into the Clash Royale Deck Builder and read the average cost it reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Hunter deck?
In October 2026, RoyaleTracker’s best printed list was Evo Royal Giant (6), Evo Royal Ghost (3), Skeletons (1), Hunter (4), Fisherman (3), Electro Spirit (1), Fireball (4) and Barbarian Barrel (2) at 56.0% over 983 battles.
Is Hunter good in 2026?
In one cheap list, yes. Five of six printed lists won under 50%.
What counters Hunter?
Ranged troops, Zap or Log, and a Skeleton Army.
Did Hunter get nerfed?
SeeMeta lists no Hunter change in 2026.
How much elixir does Hunter cost?
4 elixir. He is an Epic troop.
What cards go with Hunter?
Royal Giant, Royal Ghost, Fisherman and Skeletons.
Original Guide, Kept in Full
The text below is the original guide, kept in full. Its stats and win rates are older than the 2026 data above.
New Cards Overview
Hunter
The Hunter is a 4 elixir Epic Troop card unlocked from Arena 9: Jungle Arena.
Hunter is basically a new glass cannon in the game.
He has a special type of weapon which hits both ground and air has unique attacking feature never seen before in the game.
The weapon fires 10 bullets. Each bullet does individual damage. Thus, the closer the enemy is, the more damage Hunter can deal.
Hunter can deal a high amount of damage (690 at lvl4) to an enemy right next to him as all 10 bullets hit it. This makes Hunter a very powerful card on defence against a lot of variety of troops.
On offense, he also helps but not much since he is a ranged troop. But, Hunter is rather a Pseudo Splash Damager and can defend himself pretty well up close, making your push a lot stronger.
Hunter can survive Fireball and Poison but dies to Lightning and Rocket.
Lightning and Rocket are a good counter to him but for -2 elixir trade so make sure you hit something else so that you don’t get the elixir disadvantage.
Range troops and swarms are the best counters to Hunter. Also, Zappies can also counter him for a neutral trade!
Don’t try to counter Hunter with melee troops as he can damage them critically.
Zappies
Zappies is a 4 elixir Rare card unlocked from the new Arena 11: Electro Valley (3400+ trophies).
This cards spawns 3 Zappies on the map.
They move with the same speed as a Sparky however they attack a lot quicker without any need of charge (like a Tesla). That makes me think of them as ‘Moving Tesla’ with the ability to stun.
Each Zappy fires a zap of electricity from its coil (similar to Tesla’s attack) which deals low damage but stuns the target for 0.5 seconds. Together, they can stun for 1.5 seconds giving them great value on defence.
Individually, they lack in damage, only being able to one shot Skeletons and Bats. However, the three of them together can take care of many troops.
Zappies spawn in a triangular manner, exactly similar to 3M, so you can split them 2:1 in same manner as 3M.
Splitting them gives you a wide variety of options to play making them very versatile on offense as well as well as defence.
They can help to kill tanks like Giant with a medium damage card like Knight or Minions.
They can even help against RG and deny him many hits and take care of him easily with another troop with medium damage.
Zappies are fragile troops. They can be killed by Poison and Fireball for a neutral trade. They can be killed by Valkyrie or Knight like troops easily, especially on your side of the map.
However, using an Ice spirit is recommended if you wanna do the job quickly without letting your troop being damaged a lot.
They can’t hit air troops. So, air troops can quickly take care of them. Ground swarms also can take care of them very well. Ranged troops are generally not recommended as first priority as a counter as these troops can’t take a hit.
Challenge Tips
Pick a Win-Condition:
Hunter and Zappies are not Win-conditions so always pick a win-condition, the one you have practice with if possible.
You need a reliable source of damage to destroy the Crown Towers.
Best Win-conditions for this challenge are: Golem, Hog Rider, Giant, Lava Hound, Balloon, Battle Ram.
Choose at least two spells
You might not lucky enough to have a win-condition in your deck and thus you will have to depend on spell cycle to win.
Spell Cycle is a weaker after today’s balance changes nerfing their tower damage by 5%. However, with the duration of 6 minutes in a battle, you can still win by Spell-cycling.
Choose cards which counter your opponent’s cards
This is a very important thing to remember. This tip can actually decide the outcome of the battle!
Doing this can give you a slight edge against your opponent.
However, if you already have a dependable counter, look for cards to balance out your deck as much as you can.
Pick cards which require specific counters:
Your opponent may not always get a card which can counter your cards.
So, try to use cards which require specific counters.
For e.g. Goblin barrel needs a specific counter to absolutely deny any damage.
However, don’t chose Sparky in this challenge as Zappies wreck her and you never be sure to have them with you if you don’t get the option to choose them.
Choose a pocket card
A pocket card is basically a surprise card which can change the outcome of the game.
Keep such cards in your hand and use them only when your sure that your opponent doesn’t expect them.
A well-time pocket card may easily secure your win and make your opponents wondering where the heck did that come from.
Pick Dart Goblin!
Dart Goblin is one of the most over-powered cards in the Draft Mode.
While being under-powered in normal battles, this card rocks in this game mode.
The reason is that it can wreck towers with its chip damage. In draft, you may not always get a win-condition, not even a dependable damage spell.
Here, Dart Goblin is your solution, due to his insane movement speed and attack speed, he can lock on the tower before your opponent can react and deal a good amount of chip damage.
Many times, when you have a tank in front of the Dart Goblin, he can kill opponent’s defenses and lock on the tower while opponent is late to drop another card. The opponent will 100% of time go on to defend the tank but the locked-on Dart Goblin just wrecks the tower while opponent is unable to do anything.
Some Other Crucial Tips
Shared by XxxThe_Demon_KanexxX
- Always try to pick Hunter, he is excellent at tank killing. If well placed and well timed, he can 5 shot the hound and end the pups. Make sure to give the opponent the Hound if you have him.
- Try to have Fireball and Lightning. In case you don’t get the hunter, you can destroy him with these spells and fireball Zappies.
- Choose E-wiz if your opponent may have Zappies. Just like with the sparky, E-wiz can shutdown Zappies and prevent them from attacking.
- Choose splash cards. Executioner and wiz are must haves. Bowler is also good but can die to the hunter.
- Choose the counter. If you have to choose between horde and arrows, choose arrows! Same with other cards and their counters.
- Zap can also reset the Zappies but take the log over zap. Log can severely damage the Zappies! Log is is general a great card to have to kill barrels and princesses.
- Improve. Adapt. Overcome. Adapt to your deck and make sure to get them positive trades, sometimes the only way is to spell cycle so do so with caution and with positive trades.
- Don’t plant anything next to the hunter! The hunter will do massive damage!
- Golem, and Giant are great to have! Make sure to prepare for an enemy Hunter!
- If you think you can’t handle a certain card on the enemy team then choose it! Since i have trouble with 3M i choose them over other cards if given the choice.
Sources
Researched from the following (no links, listed for transparency):
- RoyaleTracker, best decks with Hunter (October 2026 tracker samples)
- RoyaleTracker, best decks right now, normal battles (data from October 9, 2026)
- SeeMeta, Clash Royale balance changes 2026 (page updated October 8, 2026)
- Supercell, Clash Royale October balance changes 2026 (October 6, 2026)
- Clash Royale card data used by the Deck Builder (elixir costs and card types)
- Supercell official Clash Royale API, card list (elixir cost, rarity, Evolution and Hero flags)