AI Overview: Bandit, Night Witch and Bats arrived with the Heal Spell in one March reveal. The Bandit dashes, the Night Witch spawns bats and the Bats fly. Today the Bandit and Night Witch are strong, the Bats are only fair, and the Heal Spell is gone. The old reveal is kept below, so you can trust each point and skip the guesswork.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The original says the Bandit was due March 24, with a Bandit Draft Challenge the week before.
- The Bandit’s best 2026 list wins 72.1% over about 1,100 battles, with no change this year.
- The Night Witch’s best list wins 68.7% over about 1,400 battles.
- None of the eight printed Bats lists wins more than 50%.
- The Heal Spell was removed in 2020. The Heal Spirit’s best list wins 72.1%.
The Four Cards, Then and Now
The big idea. The reveal guessed right about two cards and wrong about two. The Bandit and Night Witch are strong. The Bats are only fair, and the Heal Spell is gone.
Next step. For the healer story, see the healer guide.
Matchups. Against the Bandit, drop a cheap troop in her dash path. Against the Night Witch, use a splash spell on the bats.
| Card | At the reveal (original) | Today |
| Bandit | 3 elixir, dash of 4 to 6 tiles, double damage | 3 elixir. Best list 72.1%, no 2026 change. |
| Night Witch | 4 elixir, bats every 5 seconds | 4 elixir. Best list 68.7%, no 2026 change. |
| Bats | 2 elixir, four flying skeletons | 2 elixir. None of eight lists above 50%. |
| Heal Spell | 3 elixir, heals 528 over 3 seconds | Removed in 2020. Heal Spirit best list 72.1%. |
The table sets the reveal beside today. The Bandit and Night Witch have kept their roles for years. The Bats stayed cheap and fragile. The Heal Spell, the one new spell, left the game in 2020.
Zoom out. Reveal videos predict that cheap cards will be overpowered. If that bias holds, the next cheap swarm will be called broken before launch, and the real test will come weeks later.
What Changed Since the Reveal
The short version. None of the three troops changed in 2026 on the site’s card pages. The Heal Spell is long gone, and the Heal Spirit does a small version of its job.
Short on time? Read the table. Two keepers, one fair, one gone.
Final word. Good reveals fade. Good cards stay.
Plain talk. This is a reality check on a reveal. It works as a buying guide.
One more way to see it. The Night Witch is a hive. The Bats are the bees. The Bandit is the one who steals the honey.
In plain English. Two hits, one miss, one retired card.
Claims, rechecked. The write-up says the Bats would be overpowered and that the Heal Spell heals 528 in total. The first did not happen. The second belongs to a removed card. Treat every figure as a starting point, not a rule.
The fine print. The original calls the Bandit 160 damage per second at level 1 and the Bats a replacement for the Minion Horde. Both are old figures. The Night Witch had 85 more hitpoints than the Witch at the time.
Card pages: Bandit, Night Witch, Bats and Heal Spirit.
Zoom in. The original worried that the Heal Spell cost too much at 3 elixir and took up a card slot. The game agreed, and the spell did not last.
How to Use Each Card Today
Run the Bandit with a tank or a cycle. Her dash gives her double damage, so keep her away from a Fireball.
Extra tip. A Night Witch behind a Giant is hard to stop without a spell.
Last tip. Time the Bandit’s dash when the tower is busy.
Quick recap. Bandit dashes, Night Witch spawns, Bats distract.
Reality check. A strong list does not make a strong player. Practice the dash.
Bottom line. The Bandit and Night Witch aged well. The rest did not.
Worth knowing. For the draft side, see Night Witch draft tips and Bats draft tips.
Tips. Keep a Zap or Arrows for the Bats. They die fast, but they distract more than they damage. Open the linked card pages before you queue, since one balance patch can flip a trade.
Pair the Night Witch with a pusher. Miners, Giants and Lava Hounds all fit, as the draft guide shows.
Use the Bats as a cheap distraction. They are flying skeletons that dodge The Log. Do not build around them.
Zoom out again. If new healing cards return, the same worry will come back: a card that does little alone, but wins a push. The risk is a spell slot spent on a gimmick, and a deck that cannot recover when the gimmick fails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which cards came with the Bandit?
The Night Witch, Bats and Heal Spell, says the original. Use it as a guide, and check the linked pages for the current details.
Is the Heal Spell still in the game?
No. It was removed in 2020. The Heal Spirit is the closest card now.
Is the Bandit good in 2026?
Yes. Her best list wins 72.1%, and she had no change this year.
What does the Night Witch do?
She spawns bats every few seconds and leaves more when she dies, so she is a strong support card.
Are the Bats worth playing?
As a cheap distraction. None of the eight printed lists wins more than 50%.
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.
We are going to have 4 new cards in the upcoming Clash Royale March Update! This is the very big anniversary update with a lot of new stuffs.
This is Ash (YouTube) and today I’ll be sharing a special sneak peek preview of the upcoming Clash Royale update. Featuring four amazing new cards! Let’s go over them and analyze them and then I’ll show you guys some gameplay of the Bandit in action!
4 New Clash Royale Cards – Bandit, Night Witch, Bats and Heal
The Bandit will be released on March 24th, but we’re also getting a Bandi Draft Challenge which will start next week, Friday the 17th. This is the same as a normal Draft Challenge, but either you or your opponent will be given the Bandit to use. As you progress, you can obtain one time rewards.
At 2 wins, you’ll obtain 100 gems, 4 wins you’ll get 8000 gold, 6 wins a Magical Chest, 9 wins 25,000 gold, and at 12 wins you’ll obtain the Legendary Bandit.
Also, the Crowns you get from this Challenge will be added to your Clan Chest and your own Crown Chest!
So let’s look over these four new cards!
Bandit
First, the Bandit is a 3 Elixir card. She’s a melee attacker, meaning she will only target one unit at a time. She has a decent 160 damage per second at Level 1, but also has an awesome special ability.
She can dash, with a range of 4 to 6 tiles. What this means is that if there’s an unit 4 to 6 tiles away, then she will immediately pick up speed and charge right onto it, dealing double the damage.
Bats
Next we have the 2 Elixir Bats. And I feel like this is going to be an overpowered card!
For the cost of only 2 Elixir, you can summon 4 of these. They’re a much cheaper alternative to the Minion Horde. I like to think of them as flying Skeletons. They have the same HP and damage as Skeletons, but can fly.
Their flying ability gives them a big advantage, as they would make for an excellent cheap distraction to the Inferno Tower. Not only that, they are impervious to The Log as they can fly, which also makes them an excellent Zap bait for only 2 Elixir.
Night Witch
Next we have the Night Witch. She’s another very interesting troop, only costs 4 Elixir, and has 85 more HP than a normal Witch.
She summons Bats, while the Witch summons Skeletons. While she’s a melee attacker, but the Witch is a splash attacker. Not only that, her Spawn Speed is 5 seconds, while the Witch’s spawn speed is 7.5 seconds. And of course Bats are better than Skeletons as they can fly and distract better.
The Night Witch not only looks like a better version of the normal Witch, but also seems pretty overpowered, costing 4 Elixir.
Heal Spell
Lastly, we have the Heal Spell!
If you played Clash of Clans, then you would know how great the Heal Spell is.
At Level 7, the Heal Spell can heal 176 HP per second for 3 seconds. So in total, it can heal 528 Hit Points.
It has a very large 3 tile radius.
It’s hard to say how good this card will be, considering that this is the first time we’re getting a card that can heal troops.
Looking at it, I feel like its 3 Elixir cost a little expensive. The Rage Spell once used to cost 3 Elixir, but very few people used it because it was too risky for that much Elixir, especially since it takes up one of your card slots, and especially since it’s a spell card. You can’t have too many spell cards in a deck.
Update!
A screenshot of the 4 new cards got leaked!
Screenshots and GIF shared by Yarn from OJ!
Updating…
The Clash Royale Deck Builder turns the advice above into a deck you can copy straight into the game, with meters for elixir, win conditions and recent balance changes.
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