Gaming

Clash Royale tier list – best cards for September 2025

byTitas Khan
Cover for Clash Royale tier listSupercell

With a roster of over 120 cards in Clash Royale, creating optimal deck setups can seem daunting at first, but staying up to date about which cards are top-tier in the meta can give you a major advantage in those competitive matches.

To help you stay ahead of the curve, we’ve got a rundown of the cards you’ll want to be using right now, split up from best to worst in our Clash Royale tier list.

Best cards in Clash Royale

Tier
Cards
S
Arrows, Executioner, Fireball, Guards, Ice Spirit, Skeletons, The Log, Zap
A
Spirit Empress, Archer Queen, Baby Dragon, Balloon, Bandit, Barbarian Launcher, Barbarians, Bats, Bomber, Dagger Duchess, Dark Prince, Earthquake, Electro Wizard, Furnace, Giant, Giant Snowball, Goblins, Golem, Hog Rider, Ice Wizard, Inferno Dragon, Knight, Lava Hound, Lumberjack, Magic Archer, Might Miner, Miner, Minion Horde, Monk, Mortar, Musketer, Night Witch, Party Hat, Party Hut, Party Rocket, Phoenix, Poison, Little Prince, Royal Delivery, Royal Giant, Royal Hogs, Skeleton Army, Sparky, Super Ice Golem, Super Lava Hound, Tornado, Valkyrie, Witch

Our tiers explained

  • S Tier: These cards are simply the best of the best due to how powerful they are.
  • A Tier: Cards in this tier are undoubtedly useful to use in Clash Fest.
  • B Tier: Although not the most robust character cards, they can still be devastating in multiple scenarios to help change the course of a match.
  • C Tier: While these cards can be overlooked in most situations, they can still do a decent job in specific scenarios.
  • D Tier: These cards should be avoided as much as you can. On top of being reasonably impactless cards, they also waste a notable amount of elixir during battles.

The way these cards are ranked in the list are based on how impactful they are when deployed as well as the cost of the Elixir needed for them. Some of the best Clash Royale character cards in the current meta belong to the offensive category.

Meta analysis

With devs introducing the September balance changes in Season 75, we’ve updated our tier lists below to reflect the current meta. Due to these changes, several cards have fallen in power, with the most notable one being the late Legendary card in the roster, Spirit Empress.

Falling into A-tier from S-tier, the 10% nerf to her HP means that her survivability has been toned down, so it’ll be trickier for her to tank damage. She’s still viable when you utilize her air form to dominate the sky, just less oppressive than before.

Minions, one of the most popular picks in low-level Arenas, have also been nerfed. Now sitting in B-tier, the damage reduction will slow their DPS despite them previously getting a ranged buff. The Cannoneer was also met with a similar fate, dropping to C-tier from B due to getting its hit speed slowed.

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On the other hand, Dark Prince just got both its base damage and charge damage buffed, making him an A-tier as he’s now more competitive against Valkyrie, a popular go-to when it comes to 4-elixir splash units.

Little Prince also made its way to A-tier, thanks to the card getting decent damage and a knockback buff.

S Tier

A screenshot featuring Zap and Arrows in Clash Royale.Supercell
Zap and arrows are useful in a lot of situations.

A lot of cards in the S Tier have low Elixir Cost, yet they provide a lot of value. Zap, for example, is a really versatile one since it stuns enemies, making it a great option to use for defense. It also works well with a plethora of different decks. Up until now, it is still a popular and solid choice due to how versatile it is.

Name
Rarity
Elixir Cost
Arrows
Common
3
Executioner
Epic
5
Fireball
Rare
4
Guards
Epic
3
Ice Spirit
Common
1
Skeletons
Common
3
The Log
Legendary
2
Zap
Common
2

A Tier

A custom image of the Royal Chef, Skeleton Army, and Bomber card icons in Clash Royale.Dexerto / Supercell
The Bomber and Skeleton Army are some of the best cards in the current meta.

A-tier cards may not be as powerful or impactful as the ones in S-tier, but they’re still above average and can perform well if you play them right and use decks that complement them.

Name
Rarity
Elixir Cost
Archer Queen
Champion
5
Baby Dragon
Epic
3

B Tier

A screenshot featuring Boss Bandit in Clash Royale.supercell
The Boss Bandit as seen in the Champion trailer.
Name
Rarity
Elixir Cost
Barbarian Barrel
Epic
2
Boss Bandit
Champion
6

C Tier

A custom image of 3 top tier Clash Royale cards together, the Hog Rider, Wizard, and Earthquake.Dexerto / Supercell
Hog Rider, Wizard, and Earthquake are some of the most popular cards in the game.
Name
Rarity
Elixir Cost
Archers
Common
2
Barbarian Hut
Rare
7

D Tier

Name
Rarity
Elixir Cost
Battle Healer
Rare
4
Berserker
Common
2

Overall, regardless of the cards you choose, having a good balance between offense and defense in your decks is crucial. After all, you can never know your opponent’s equipped character cards before the match begins. Therefore, here are a few of the best decks in Clash Royale that you can try out for your subsequent battles:

  • Va-Ho-Witch: Fireball, Furnace, Hog Rider, Ice Spirit, Inferno Dragon, Valkyrie, Witch, and Zap.
  • Royal Giant Ghost deck: Electro Spirit, Fisherman, Hunter, Lightning Spell, Royal Ghost, Royal Giant, Skeletons, The Log.
  • Hog Cycle: Canon, Fireball, Ice Golem, Ice Spirit, Musketeer, Skeletons, The Log, Hog Rider.

For more deck recommendations split up by Arena, check out the best decks for Arena 2, Arena 3, Arena 4, Arena 5, Arena 6, and Arena 7.

Make sure to check out our chest cycle guide, how to add friends, and a rundown of what Star Levels and Star Points are in Clash Royale.