AI Overview: Bats draft tips start with two rules. Always pick a win condition, and think about what you hand your opponent, not only what you keep. The Bats are a cheap swarm, so they cycle and distract rather than win. The original tips are rechecked with 2026 data below, so you can trust each number and skip the guesswork.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- Always pick at least one win condition, says the original, and Hog Rider and Giant are the safest.
- Sometimes the better pick is the one that makes your opponent’s deck worse.
- Cards that need exact counters, such as Sparky, can be nearly impossible for a draft opponent to stop.
- None of the eight printed Bats lists wins more than 50% in 2026, so treat them as a support card.
- Take one direct spell, such as Rocket, Lightning, Fireball or Poison, in case your win condition is countered.
How to Draft With the Bats
The big idea. A draft is a trade of picks. Take the card that helps you, or take the card that hurts you more in their hands.
Worth knowing. For the card on its own, see the Bats card guide. For general draft rules, see draft challenge tips.
Matchups. Against Bats, a Wizard, Arrows or Fireball clears them. The rule: keep one splash answer in the pool before you give the Bats away.
| Pick | Cards | 2026 note |
| Win conditions | Giant, Hog Rider, Graveyard, Goblin Barrel | Giant best 71.6%. Hog Rider 61.2%. Graveyard top 71.6%. Goblin Barrel 65.4%. |
| Hard-to-answer cards | Sparky, Graveyard, Goblin Barrel | Sparky best list 56.2% over about 2,600 battles. |
| Direct spells | Rocket, Lightning, Fireball, Poison | On a tower: Rocket 342, Lightning 265, Fireball 159, Poison 168. |
| The Bats | Bats | None of eight printed lists above 50%. No 2026 change. |
| Cards to hide from the other side | Rage, Sparky | Rage tower damage 54 to 45. |
The table lists what to look for. Win conditions come first. Hard-to-answer cards punish a pool with no counter. Spells give you a backup plan, and the Bats are a cheap cycle piece, not a plan on their own.
Zoom out. Draft events reward players who read the pool. If more cards need exact counters, a lucky pick will beat a good plan, and drafts will feel more like a coin flip.
What Changed in 2026
The short version. The Bats did not change in 2026. None of eight printed lists wins more than 50%. Spells lost tower damage, and Rage dropped from 54 to 45 on a tower.
Short on time? Read the table, take a win condition, and give away Rage.
Final word. In a draft, what you give is a pick too.
Plain talk. This is a short checklist. It works when you read it before the draft.
One more way to see it. A draft is a card trade at the playground. Take what you need, and do not hand over the best marble.
In plain English. The Bats are a role player. They have not changed, and they have not won much either.
Claims, rechecked. The write-up says the Bats have 67 damage per second at tournament level and that 500 Bats came from 12 wins. Those numbers belong to an old event and are not repeated. Treat every figure as a starting point, not a rule.
The fine print. The Giant’s best list wins 71.6% over 587 battles, and the Hog Rider’s wins 61.2% over about 3,800. Sparky’s best wins 56.2% over about 2,600. The Graveyard’s top deck wins 71.6%.
Card pages: Bats, Giant, Hog Rider, Sparky and Rocket.
Zoom in. The original says a Witch is stronger in a draft than on the ladder, because the meta counters may not be in the pool. The idea still holds for any card that needs a specific answer.
Picks and Give-Aways That Win
Take the counter. When the choice is between a card and its answer, take the answer. For example, take Arrows over Minion Horde.
Extra tip. The Graveyard needs a way past the Baby Dragon and Wizard. Pick the counter to those first.
Last tip. With Sparky in your hand, check if your opponent holds a Zap effect. If not, the Sparky wins the lane.
Quick recap. Win condition, counter, spell, cheap cycle. Give away the weakest card.
Reality check. A hard-to-answer card only wins if the other side lacks the answer. Check the pool before you count on it.
Bottom line. Pick the win condition, take the counter, hide the tools, and keep a spell.
Cycle plan. The Bats cost 2 elixir, and they fly. Use them to cycle back to your win condition and to distract a ground tank.
Tips. If your first pick is a win condition, take a counter next. Your third pick is the spell, and the fourth is something cheap. Open the linked card pages before you queue, since one balance patch can flip a trade.
Hide the tools. If the choice is Spear Goblins or Rage, hand over the Goblins. The original calls Rage one of the weakest cards in a draft.
Make sure the deck makes sense. A Graveyard needs a counter to its counters. Take the Baby Dragon over a Musketeer, since it stops the Graveyard’s blockers.
Zoom out again. If drafts keep favoring niche cards, the best players will study the pool more than their deck. The risk is a mode where reading the draft matters more than playing the match.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best pick in a Bats draft?
A win condition, such as the Giant or Hog Rider. The original says they are always viable. Use it as a guide, and check the linked card pages for the current numbers.
Should you pick the Bats?
Pick them as a cheap cycle and distraction card. Their 2026 lists are weak, so do not build around them.
Why give away a bad card?
Handing your opponent a weak card such as Rage makes their deck worse, which can matter more than improving yours.
Which spells should you draft?
One of Rocket, Lightning, Fireball or Poison, so you still have a way to damage a tower.
Why can a bad meta card be strong in a draft?
Because the counters may not appear in the pool. The original uses the Witch as an example.
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.
As we are going to have a Bats Draft Challenge, I really want to share with you guys some of the best tips for getting 12 wins in this Draft Challenges!
Unlock the Bats and give your deck a fresh change!
Bats Draft Challenge
- The Bats Draft Challenge starts from June 23rd to June 26th.
- The first entry is free.
- Pick 4 cards for yourself and 4 cards for your opponent.
- Only one of you will have to choose to play with or against the Bats.
- The first one-time rewards unlocked at 3 wins.
- Bats are unlocked at 8 wins.
Rewards
| Number of Wins | Total Prize | One-time Rewards | |
| Gold | Cards | ||
| 0 | 700 | 10 | |
| 1 | 950 | 15 | |
| 2 | 1,250 | 25 | |
| 3 | 1,600 | 43 | 2,500 Gold |
| 4 | 2,000 | 65 | |
| 5 | 2,500 | 93 | |
| 6 | 3,100 | 125 | 5,000 Gold |
| 7 | 3,800 | 165 | |
| 8 | 4,650 | 210 | 50 Bats |
| 9 | 5,750 | 265 | |
| 10 | 7,100 | 335 | Giant Chest based on your Arena |
| 11 | 8,750 | 430 | |
| 12 | 11,000 | 550 | 500 Bats |
Thus, by winning the Tournament once, you will be able to upgrade the Bats to level 8.
Best Tips for Draft Challenges
Pick a Win Condition: This is very simply!
Always pick at least one win condition If you have the chance (Giant, Miner, Hog Rider, Graveyard, Goblin Barren, Lava Hound, Golem, 3 Musketeers etc).
The best win conditions in Draft Challenge:
Hog Rider and Giant are always the best viable win conditions. Goblin Barrel and Graveyard require specific cards to be countered.
Pick card that counter the other: Another straight-forward tip!
For example, If you have the Minion Horde & Arrows Draft, go for Arrows.
Pay attention to what you are giving away: A bit more advanced tip!
Sometimes, the better choice is about making your opponent’s deck worse, not making your deck better.
For example, If you get the choice between Spear Goblins and Rage, go with Spear Goblins. Spear Goblins can’t make your deck better but Rage is definitely one of the worst cards in Draft Challenge.
Cards which are bad in the meta could be OP in the Draft Challenge:
For example, the Witch.
In the normal meta games, people can easily counter Witch with meta cards such as Bowler, Executioner, Knight, Lightning, Baby Dragon etc. However, in Draft Challenges, having those cards is not guaranteed.
Try to pick cards which require specific counters:
Here are some of those cards:
For example, Sparky!
If you have Sparky in your hand while the opponent doesn’t have any Zap effect or swarm card, he will find it extremely hard to deal with the Sparky. This is even worse If you have a good Sparky combo such as Giant Sparky.
Don’t forget spell!
Always pick one of these: Rocket, Lightning, Fireball and Poison.
In case you don’t have any win condition, or your win condition gets countered, you still have something to deal damage.
Last but not least, getting positive Elixir trade with spells is not hard!
Ensure your deck makes scene
Example:
- First pick: Graveyard vs Mega Minion
- Second pick: Baby Dragon vs Musketeer
Although Musketeer can solo kill Baby Dragon, pick Baby Dragon because it is a hard counter to your Graveyard. Also, If you are lucky, you can combo it with Tornado later on.
Best Tips for The Bats
This card cost 2 elixir and spawns 4 Bats. Each bats at tournament levels has 67 DPS and HP which makes them flying Skeletons.
However, when you consider the use, they seem more like a cross between Skeletons and Minions. They can be used as a cycling card like skeletons as well as a versatile response cards.
Their ability to fly can be considered as a pro as well as a cons, as it disable their ability to distract ground troops.
For e.g. if a Mini P.E.K.K.A. comes towards the tower, Bats can kill it while all 4 survive for counter push. On the other had if the big P.E.K.K.A. is coming towards the tower, you have to use a range troop along with the bats. But the range troop will die and only bats will survive, though you won’t receive damage. On the other hand, if you had Skeletons, the range troop would have survived allowing a strong counter push.
They have a higher DPS than Skeletons which makes up somewhat for their inability to distract.
Since, they are fragile, its recommended to use a mini tank like Knight or Ice Golem to distract troops and then use bats to kill them.
They are not good alone against splash troop like the Skeletons because they won’t be able to surround them. However, they can surround air troops if placed right on top of them.
1 on 1, bats can counter following cards with/without the help of crown towers:
Best Uses of Bats:
- Cycling cards
- Versatile Response
- Miner, Hog, Mortar cycle
- Fast paced decks
- Good in Spell bait
- Good in Lava Hound decks
- Good in Beat down in order to cycle, gain elixir advantage as well support
- Counter to Inferno
My Opinions:
Bats aren’t that kind of card that can change the meta. But they can replace many cards in the current meta decks. This will eventually result in a new variety of meta deck based around the same old meta combo/core. They have ability to end the reign of skeletons in many decks as well as bring back Zap back into the meta.
Thats all folks! Hope you guys like the guide and get 12 wins in the Bats Draft Challenge!
By Blaze Stone and EBarbsFTW
Want to try these ideas with your own cards? Open the Deck Builder, load your profile and see how each change affects cycle, counters and balance risk.
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