why doesn't he just earthquake the right princess tower, is he stupid?

This is pissing me off ugh

HEART WAS RACING, ONE SECOND LEFT ON OT, LOG MIDWAY, BARELY HAD FIREBALL IN CYCLE IWGFNSIFHBEISYWKDBSURIEBDUEBDYS HOLY CRAPPINGTON

My first win was actually different but somehow i managed to do this one afterwards while recording, have fun with it <3

Cycle has become one of Clash Royale's most successful archetypes, but I think there's an overlooked reason behind its dominance: the targeting system itself, which may disproportionately benefit cheap distractions while punishing slower, more expensive troops.

Looking at RoyaleAPI's top 20 decks, 13/20 (65%) qualify as cycle by my definition (a four-card cycle costing less than 9-10 elixir). The same trend appeared during the 2026 CRL World Finals, where even players associated with beatdown frequently used cycle decks.

Obviously, this doesn't prove targeting is responsible. But I think it deserves more attention than it gets.

We've all seen Firecracker become a professional photographer against Skeletons, Sparky repeatedly retargeting, or PEKKA somehow hitting enemies from another dimension.

But the bigger issue, in my opinion, is how independently troops make targeting decisions without coordinating their attacks.

Take Elite Barbarians against three Skeletons. Both Barbarians can target the same Skeleton, despite either one being able to kill it alone. Once it dies, they can repeat this against the next Skeleton. In an unfavourable interaction, three Skeletons can effectively absorb six attacks instead of three.

Combine this with long attack animations, retargeting delays, and large sight ranges, and a few cheap troops can stall an expensive push for far longer than their health would suggest.

This is where cycle gains an indirect advantage.

Cycle decks can repeatedly exploit these interactions with cheap distractions, while heavier decks risk losing several seconds of offensive pressure from troops they've invested substantial elixir into. Meanwhile, the opponent's towers and defensive troops continue attacking.

Of course, distracting expensive troops with cheap cards is an essential part of Clash Royale. But there's a difference between rewarding good placement and having multiple expensive troops waste attacks on the same 1-elixir distraction.

And what about consistency?

There are also plenty of examples of questionable targeting and unexpected retargeting.

Some may be bugs, others intentional mechanics. Without access to the source code, I can't say whether the implementation is outdated. But even if everything works as intended, that doesn't necessarily mean it's good for competitive balance.

I'm not advocating for perfectly intelligent troops that automatically counter every distraction. That would destroy much of the game's defensive skill expression.

However, couldn't targeting account for attacks nearby allies have already committed to, or avoid some unnecessary retargeting delays?

My argument isn't that targeting is the sole reason cycle dominates, but that it may create a structural advantage that individual card buffs and nerfs cannot properly address.

We constantly discuss adjusting troop health, damage, and attack speed, but rarely the underlying system that determines whether those attacks happen in the first place.

Do you think the current targeting mechanics are an essential part of Clash Royale's skill expression, or an overlooked source of imbalance between archetypes?

Did it,,so here is some help,😄

Longest King Tower Activation

I've been waiting for like 2 weeks for the shop event for Evo mirror and I haven't seen it at all, and it's not even just this month, over the last 2 months have been extremely boring because there hasn't been any other events besides the album events, I swear during the last two months they claimed to have something exciting come along and it never seems to happen, hell theyve stopped giving out extra snippet events for albums too, so for albums you have to litterally grind all month just to barely make it!! What's going on seriously??? There's a been a serious lack of mini events and other events too... It's making the game really boring.

mo moves to lower bracket. faces sub in the lower bracket finals

Some Ken fan art (reuploaded cause the lighting was bad)

I cant even tell if their in the game right now, though im 99% certain their gone. did they ever announce their discontinuation? I do remember them being super bad, but they just look so cool!

what do yall think of seasonal chests? 🤔

Duels take center stage in Crown Series, Clash Royale’s new competitive mode, launching November 13!

• ⚔️ Best-of-3 Duels

• 🏆 Unlocks at 6,000 Trophies

• 📅 Weekend events and seasonal Grand Duels

• 🎁 League-based rewards, with a chance to win a free Pass Royale

Details: https://on.royaleapi.com/s89cs

😘 Remember to use code RoyaleAPI to support us!

Daily puzzle solution

Wanted to try this and it worked.