Clash Royale: Best Decks for Arena 13 Rascal's Hideout (2024) (2024)

Each arena in Clash Royale is a chance to face higher-level opponents and unlock new cards. The most important part of each new arena is learning the new cards and how to play against them (even though you’ll probably have already seen them since you can just purchase higher-tier cards in the shop). But whether you’ve gotten the chance to try/experience these cards yet or not, this is a great time to either do so for the first time or attempt to polish your skills with them. In this article we’ll look at all the new cards in Arena 13, then we’ll look at 5 great decks for the arena as well!

All New Cards Available in Arena 13

Once again, we have an arena with only troops. Since it’s called “Rascal’s Hideout”, obviously you can find the Rascals here for the first time. Rascals are great for tanking and fighting air troops, and their versatility means they could show up in any deck type. We also get two of the more powerful tanks in the game in this arena (Electro Giant and Lava Hound), along with one of the best support troops (Magic Archer). Bandit and Bowler are also fun ground troops, as both have unique abilities which make them worth trying in unique decks. Then there’s Heal Spirit, which sort of just exists.

➡️Troops: Rascals, Heal Spirit, Electro Giant, Bowler, Magic Archer, Bandit, Lava Hound

➡️Spells: n/a

➡️Buildings: n/a

The 5 Best Decks for Arena 13, Ranked in No Particular Order

Now that we’ve covered everything else, let’s move on to decks. Here are our picks for the 5 best decks in Arena 13!

Electro Giant Push

All cards in this deck:

• Electro Giant
• Magic Archer
• Inferno Dragon
• Bandit
• Bomb Tower
• Guards
• Snowball
• Skeletons

Electro Giant is one of the new cards available in Arena 13, and it’s also one of the hardest to counter. In addition to being a tank with very high HP, Electro Giant defends itself by shocking every troop and building that damages it. That means that swarms will quickly blow themselves up, and even higher-HP troops will eventually take themselves out by attacking Electro Giant. Its Elixir cost is quite high at 7, but the dual defensive/offensive capabilities here make it more than worth it.

Overall, the strategy for this deck is centered around defending until you’re able to find a window to play an Electro Giant. You’ll want to play them toward the back of the arena so you can defend them, unless you need to defend against a push. Electro Giant alone is enough to stop some swarm-based pushes, but you’ll need the other troops like Magic Archer and Bomb Tower if you don’t have enough Elixir for that. Inferno Dragon is incredible for destroying tanks, but can be easily countered. Cards like Bandit and Guards are both great for stopping ground threats, and they’re also helpful for backing up your Electro Giant pushes afterward.

This is a slower-paced deck, but during Double Elixir you can spam Electro Giants easier. If your opponent lets you have time to play one, then save up for another before they take it out, you should have plenty of pressure to take their King Tower!

Hog Cycle w/ Barbarians

All cards in this deck:

• Hog Rider
• Barbarians
• Firecracker
• Ice Golem
• Bats
• Cannon
• Log
• Skeletons

The Hog Rider deck for Arena 13 is not too much different from most, but we are going to venture away from the hyper-cycle strategy. Instead, this version of the deck adds in Barbarians as a more expensive defensive troop which you can also split-push or counter-push with. Hog Rider is the obvious star of this deck, as it is with most it’s in. Just throw it near the middle of the arena and it’ll speed toward the nearest building, dealing better damage than most win cons are able to do in a fraction of the time.

Barbarians are the perfect card to use as defense along with Hog Rider, if you’re willing to commit to the higher Elixir cost. They can counter everything from tanks to swarms, assuming they’re on the ground. However, for air-based troops we have Firecracker and Bats to take care of them. Also, don’t forget to use Ice Golems or even Hog Riders to distract air troops long enough for the air defense here to take them out. It’s a simple interaction, but this deck archetype really is just about learning how to distract troops optimally. Once you do that, there’s no deck you can’t beat with just Hog Rider and a few support troops.

The last major card in this deck that you need to think about is Cannon. A well-placed Cannon counters a ton of ground troops, so it’s a great advantage to have. Just make sure not to place them too close to the river, otherwise long-ranged troops will have an easy time with them. Especially be careful if you’re against a Princess, since she has such absurd range.

Lavaloon

All cards in this deck:

• Lava Hound
• Balloon
• Barbarians
• Skeleton Dragons
• Mega Minion
• Minions
• Tombstone
• Zap

Lavaloon is another popular deck archetype that’s been around for years. This is the first arena where you can use this combo (without buying cards from the shop), so we had to feature it. The entire deck revolves around using the Lava Hound troop as a tank for Balloon and the other air troops. Lava Hound has an insane amount of HP, and when it dies it splits into mini-troops that target both air and ground troops. This makes Lava Hound the perfect card to tank for air troops, and Balloon is the best air win con due to its crazy high damage.

In addition to Lava Hound and Balloon, most of the rest of this deck is also air-based. Skeleton Dragons, Mega Minion, and Minions are all strong support air troops that go great behind your Hound and Balloon. Many versions of this deck go for an all-air approach or only have one ground troop, but those versions do struggle to fight off more aggressive ground pushes. So we also have Barbarians to go with our Tombstone to defend the ground.

Once you get the hang of them, Lavaloon decks have insane potential. They can quickly score a three-crown victory, or they can lose immediately due to lacking ground defenses. It can go either way, but the best Lavaloon players are able to navigate the worst situations successfully.

Royal Giant Lightning

All cards in this deck:

• Royal Giant
• Valkyrie
• Electro Wizard
• Phoenix
• Lightning
• Tombstone
• Barbarian Barrel
• Electro Spirit

Royal Giant is a mainstay on these lists, as he does massive damage and he’s easy to play. Whether you have the Evolution or not, Royal Giant is one of the best win cons in Clash Royale. Since he’s tanky, you might expect his damage to be lower to compensate. But nope. Royal Giant does massive chunks of tower damage, and he only takes a few seconds to get within range to do so. It’s crazy how good Royal Giant is, but you can’t rely solely on him since he isn’t cheap. And if your opponent has the right building or a card like Mini P.E.K.K.A. or Skeleton Army, they can counter him in an instant.

To protect your Royal Giants, this deck uses Valkyrie to fight off ground swarms and Electro Wizard to stop air threats or Inferno cards. Valkyrie is a very strong, fairly cheap tank that counters any ground swarm that gets near her, so she’s perfect. Then Electro Wizard stops air threats and most notably Inferno Tower/Dragon, which are huge problems for all tanks in general. We also have Lightning included in this deck as an expensive spell for the Double Elixir period. Lightning can destroy counter troops and does good damage to towers and buildings, and it’s the most reliable spell for clearing the way for your Royal Giants. Just don’t try to use it constantly before Double Elixir.

Rounding off this deck, we have the cheaper defensive cards and Phoenix. Phoenix is a generally strong air support/defense troop, and it works really well in big pushes where it can regenerate more easily. Don’t underestimate how much work Phoenix can do in the right situation, especially with a Royal Giant to tank for it.

Rascals Log Bait

All cards in this deck:

• Mega Knight
• Rascals
• Firecracker
• Goblin Barrel
• Princess
• Goblin Gang
• Spear Goblins
• Log

This version of the Log Bait deck has the same objective as every version. Just bait (trick) your opponent into wasting their Log (or other spell that destroys low-HP troops), then use a card like Goblin Barrel that it could have countered. Goblin Barrel’s damage potential is amongst the best considering the low cost, but it’s also very easy to counter. So this deck helps get around that and make the most out of each Goblin Barrel.

Mega Knight is in this deck as a reliable tank that also takes out ground swarms. The drop-in damage from Mega Knight is great against swarms like Barbarians or Royal Recruits that require more damage to take out. And Mega Knight’s splash damage attacks and big AOE jump make him good for counterpushing and tanking for Goblins. Then we have the “bait” cards, which also function as either defense or support. These include Rascals, Firecracker, Princess, Goblin Gang, and Spear Goblins. All of these cards have uses in-game other than being bait, but they’re all great at that too. Most opponents will waste a Log on one of those without a second thought, leaving them open to a deadly Goblin Barrel attack. It’s a great, fun strategy that’s certainly worth trying out at least some.