AI Overview: This Mortar Rocket deck averages 3.0 elixir and wins by cycling siege hits. In 2026 the Rocket hits towers for 342, not 371, and the Mortar’s base lists win 41.9% to 51.9%, though this exact list has no tracker sample. Next comes a card-by-card walk-through with current costs and the 2026 changes for each one.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The deck costs 24 elixir, which is 3.0 on average, and the Rocket is the heaviest card at 6.
- Rocket’s Crown Tower damage fell from 371 to 342 on June 1; the Log fell from 41 to 35 and Arrows from 93 to 75.
- Mortar base-card lists win 41.9% to 51.9%, so only the top of the range is above even.
- Knight’s best list wins 67.1% over 1,000, and Archers’ best list wins 70.6% over 695.
- Ice Spirit lost hitpoints on August 4, 230 to 215, but every printed list wins 56.7% or more.
The Mortar Rocket List, Priced Card by Card
Here’s the thing: never open with the Mortar, and know how much damage each spell does. The idea is simple. Cycle fast, get two or three shells in, then finish with spells.
| Card | Elixir | Job in the deck | 2026 status |
| Mortar | 4 | First win condition, hits from your side | Base-card lists 41.9% to 51.9% |
| Rocket | 6 | Second win condition and tower finisher | Crown Tower damage 371 to 342 on June 1 |
| Ice Spirit | 1 | One-elixir cycle and freeze | Hitpoints 230 to 215 on August 4; every printed list 56.7% or more |
| Knight | 3 | Mini tank and all-round defender | Best list 67.1% over 1,000 (LogBait); Hero shield 768 to 512 |
| Archers | 3 | Main defense and air targeting | Best list 70.6% over 695; Evo Power Shot 168 to 140 |
| Goblins | 2 | Cheap pressure and chip | Rework on August 4; best list 59.9% over 504 |
| Arrows | 3 | Swarm clearing and air cover | Crown Tower damage 93 to 75 on June 1; best list 68.7% |
| The Log | 2 | Swarm control and tower chip | Crown Tower damage 41 to 35 on June 1; best list 65.1% over 3,500 |
All eight cards are priced in the table, with a note on how the October 2026 data treats each.
A siege deck lives on small tower hits adding up. The negative effect: every spell in this list lost tower damage in June, so the old plan of finishing with three spells has less reach, and the tower must be lower before the finish works.
What Changed in 2026
The Rocket hits towers for 342. Arrows hit for 75 and the Log for 35. The Goblins were reworked on August 4. The Knight and Archers had smaller changes.
Claims, rechecked. The Rocket finishes the last 500 to 1,000 tower hitpoints. With 342 damage per Rocket now, a single Rocket finishes less than before, so one Rocket plus the Log and Arrows is the better finish.
The weak spots. The Mortar’s base lists are mostly below 50%, a hint the card needs a good shell. Heavy beatdown is usually a draw. Archers have a better top list than the Mortar, so defense is carrying the offense here.
Card pages: Mortar, Rocket, Knight and Archers.
Stop after three ladder games and take a break. The negative effect: with a deck that wins by tiny edges, tilt costs more than any patch, and the 2026 spell trims make a lost lead harder to win back.
How to Play It Today
Here’s the thing: there is no bad starting hand except three spells plus the Mortar. Goblins at the bridge force a reply or cost 300 tower damage. Splitting the Archers at the back is good, but they are the only air targeting, so keep them for defense.
Matchups. Against X-Bow, save the Rocket. Against Miner and Hog cycle, keep the pressure on and save the Mortar for the Hog. Against Graveyard, use the Archers and tank the support with the Knight. Against spell bait, keep Arrows for the Horde and the Log for the Barrel.
Translation: the Mortar has three placements. A defensive one pulls tanks into the death zone. The usual attacking one sits one tile behind the bridge. The river one is risky against ranged troops. In double elixir, choose between cycling Mortars, cycling Rockets, or playing for a tie.
Elixir math: the Mortar and Rocket cost 10 of the 24 elixir. The other six cost 14, or 2.3 each. The Ice Spirit costs 1, so the cycle can bring the Mortar back in a few plays.
Try it yourself: test Mortar Rocket Deck yourself in the Clash Royale Deck Builder; it opens with every card in place. Average elixir: 3.0. The tracker holds no sample of this exact build, so its 2026 win rate is unknown.
Golem, Royal Giant and heavy Giant decks are a draw at best, and Hog cycle and spell bait are the best matchups. The negative effect: Royal Giant Evolution lists win 56.9% to 79.8%, so more heavy decks could push this deck toward the draw plan more often.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Mortar Rocket deck good in 2026?
The Knight’s best list wins 67.1% and the Archers’ best list wins 70.6%, but the Mortar’s base lists win 41.9% to 51.9%, and this exact list has no tracker sample, so test the Mortar slot first.
How heavy is this deck in elixir?
The eight cards add up to 24 elixir, so the average is 3.0.
Why is this deck easy to level?
It has one legendary, the Log, and one rare, the Rocket, with commons for the rest.
What can replace the Log?
Zap works the same way, and Tornado is better against many Hogs.
When should the Mortar come out?
Never as the opening play, since a tank behind it leaves you far behind.
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.
Hey guys this is MrJelly from EN Octans and I would like to share a deck that I have been playing for a long time now. I got a PB of 4617 with this deck and hoping to reach 4.9k by the end of this season.
This deck has been consistent for me from time I started using it so it has really done well in all the metas I have played it in.
This deck contains one legendary and one rare and the rest are commons. Therefore it is extremely easy to level up and compete with those over leveled players.
If you are looking for an f2p deck, I strongly advise you to check this deck out.
Ok without further to do let’s get into the guide!
The best Mortar Deck for the Ladder!
Mortar
One of the two win conditions in the deck.
Just like the X-Bow, this card can attack towers from your side of the map.
When placing the Mortar, never overprotect it! You will die to their counterpush.
Each shell does the same damage to a Tower as a Fireball, so getting 2-3 shots from the Mortar is gold.
Rocket
Your second win condition.
This card is usually used to finish off the last 500 to 1000 HP to on the opponent’s Tower.
If you can get value out of this card, don’t be afraid to use it.
Ice Spirit
Being 1 Elixir, this card brings an insane value to your deck.
It helps you cycle, and with that small Freeze, it just spells value all over.
Knight
For 3 Elixir, the amount of HP and DPS he has is crazy.
Have you heard of those annoying 6 Elixir cards that look like Barbarians? Well, Knight with the help of the Tower and Ice Spirit can easily shut them down. BOOM!
Archers
These twins are the pretty much the heart of your defense.
With the help of your other cards, they will whittle down anything coming toward the Tower.
Goblins
After the nerf of the 1 Elixir Skeleton, these guys have taken the spotlight.
If you are going to use them, just makes sure they don’t get one hit by Zap. If they do, go with Skeletons.
Arrows+Log
Use them on swarms and try to hit the opponent’s Tower for chip damage.
Other than that it’s pretty self-explanatory.
Substitutions
Zap also has similar mechanics as Log; both do well
If you are facing a lot of Hogs, I would suggest you use Tornado. If not, I would stick to Arrows; they do a much better job with all the Minions and Goblin Gang. Just go with what you’re comfortable with but I personally like Arrows.
General Gameplan
Before you go into a battle, you need to know how much damage each of your spells does. Especially Rocket.
Lvl 9 Rocket does 594 damage to crown towers. Lvl 2 Log does 116 and lvl 12 Arrows does 130. All of them combined do 830.
Know the placements of the Mortar
There are 3: One defensive and two offensive.
- Your defensive Mortar is used to pull Giants and Golem into the “death zone” (where both towers hit the tank).
- Your tradition offensive placement is one tile behind the bridge; this placement will allow you to protect the Mortar from ranged and melee troops.
- Your second offensive placement is right nex to the river. I don’t recommend this placement as you cannot protect the Mortar from ranged troops. The only time you should be using this placement is when the opponent only has melee troops or when defending a small Hog push (Hog+Ice Spirit). I will expand on this later.
Know when to battle
A simple mistake can cost you a game while using this deck so if you are on a losing streak or feeling tired, stop playing.
Play 3 ladder games and take a break, no matter if you lose all of them or win all of them.
Starting a game
There isn’t really a bad starting hand in this deck, but the worst would be your 3 spells and Mortar.
If you happen to have this hand, wait for your opponent to make the first move or risk it and throw a Log at their Tower to cycle and get some chip damage.
A big mistake people make when first picking up this deck is to play Mortar as the starting play.
NEVER DO THIS.
If your opponent has a tank (RG, Giant, Golem), you are gonna be down by a lot.
I usually like to play Goblins right at the bridge as it forces your opponent to respond to it or they take 300 damage to their Tower.
Splitting Archers at the back is also a great move but I would much rather play my cycle troops as Archers are essential on defense and are your only air targeting troops.
First 30s
This is when you try to feel out your opponent’s deck.
After you have an idea of what their deck is, decide how you are going to play yours.
If they are playing Golem then you should play defensive and counterpush! If they are playing Miner, play offensive and keep up the pressure.
Next 1m30s
This is when you try to cycle as many Mortars as you can and try to get hits off.
This depends on what your opponent is playing, but that is basically what you want to do.
2x Elixir
This is when you decide if you still want to cycle Mortars, play for tie or Rocket cycle them till death.
- Cycle Mortar – If you Mortar is getting a hit or two every time you place it, then keep cycling Mortar until the Tower is within your “3 spell range”. So that’s 830HP for me. This usually applies to light Giant decks or medium Hog decks (g. Hog trifecta).
- Cycle Rockets – If you know you can easily defend their pushes then place defensive Mortars and Rocket their Tower to 0. This usually applies to Hog cycle and spell bait.
- Play for tie – This applies if your Mortar just can’t get hits on the Tower and you can’t Rocket cycle Usually verses Golem, Royal Giant, and heavy Giant decks.
Matchups
Beatdown
In 1x Elixir, if they play their tank at the back I don’t recommend playing Mortar opposite lane. As you might not get back to the Mortar in time to pull the tank, feel free to do this in 2x Elixir though.
The key to defending a big beatdown is by stacking your troops, especially Archers.
If they play their big tank at the back, play your Archer first (so you can get back to them fast) at the back corner on the lane the tank is coming.
Then play a defensive Mortar for the Golem. The Mortar and the two towers should take care of the Golem while you Archers, Knight, spells and cycle troop taking care of the supports.
After defending, use counter-pushing troops to support an offensive Mortar. This is usually the only way your Mortar will connect so this matchup is usually a draw.
Cycle
Against Miner cycle, you need to keep up the pressure and cycle as many Mortars as you can. Use Goblins to defend Miner and Knight for support and use them as a counterpush.
If you are playing Hog cycle, SAVE YOUR MORTAR FOR HOG. If the opponent plays a Hog, use the second offensive Mortar placement (right at the bridge towards the middle).
What this does is it distracts the Hog while the Mortar shoots over it, thanks to its sweet dead zone! Use Gobs to finish off the Hog.
In 2x Elixir, you should be able to Rocket cycle these decks as their pushes aren’t that threatening.
Spell bait
You have Log and Arrows! Save Arrows for Minion Horde and Log for Barrel.
Goblin Gang can be killed with your Goblins if they are on your side of the map.
You should be able Rocket cycle their Tower if Mortar isn’t connecting.
X-Bow
You have the hard counter to X-Bow, the Rocket. Make sure you save it for the X-Bow!
Usually, you want to play Knight to tank the X-Bow and almost always they will protect it with something.
Rocket the X-Bow and whatever they used to protect it and play offensive Mortar while using the Knight to support it.
Royal Giant
Treat RG like a beatdown deck.
Defend and use counterattacking troops to support a Mortar. Usually verse beatdown you, want to take draw.
If they place a LONE Royal Giant at the bridge, place a normal offensive Mortar but time it so the RG shoots the Mortar while the Mortar shoots over the RG and the tower shoots the RG. Use Knight to finish off the RG.
Graveyard
Use Archers for the Graveyard and tank the support with Knight.
Or distract support with Mortar and Knight+Log will do the trick.
Use the survived troops a support for the Mortar. If it is a GY cycle deck u should be able to Rocket cycle them.
Conclusion
Remember:
- This a cycle deck. You can get back to a card you need really fast, especially in 2x Elixir.
- How much damage your spells do?
- Know when to play for a draw (thrust me, it is better than losing)
- Make sure you practice, don’t expect to be winning as soon as you pick up the deck
Alright thanks guys for reading my guide, I had great fun writing it and hope you enjoyed reading it. Peace!
PS If are looking for a solid X-Bow deck go check out Trainer Rain’s X-Bow 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