Clash Royale: Best Decks for Arena 1 - Starter Decks (2024) (2024)

As soon as you download Clash Royale, you’ll be presented with the basics of the game. You play cards from your deck, which you make yourself, to try and destroy your opponents’ towers. However, that’s easier said than done. This article focuses on helping newer players find a deck that’s right for them in Arena 1, so we’ll also be including a brief section on overall deckbuilding. We’ll start with that, but if you’re just interested in our recommendations for the best arena 1 decks themselves feel free to scroll past the first two parts!

If you’re new to Clash Royale, feel free to check out our beginner’s guide! It includes more information on how the game works in general, and a bunch of tips and recommendations. It’s a fun free game (even though it does have microtransactions), so it’s worth giving a shot.

How to Make a Clash Royale Deck

If you’re new to Clash Royale, putting a deck together can seem intimidating. In general, most decks (especially at lower arenas) have one or two cards they’re based around, then a bunch of support and defense for it. For example, the Giant is a tank that only targets towers (and is available from the start). For a Giant deck, you’d want to use the Giant as your main threat, then put support cards like Archers or Musketeer behind it as backup. You also want spells (cards that have an immediate impact, unlike most troops) like Arrows or Fireball to quickly take out threats to your Giant or towers.

One major threat, three or four support/defense troops, a spell, and a building are standard deck components most of the time. (However, buildings can be removed a lot of the time.) From there, you can add the last few cards however you want them. Just make sure and try out lots of new cards as you get them so you can figure out what works best for you.

All Cards Available in Arena 1

Since Arena 1 is the first arena, there aren’t a ton of cards for you to choose from yet. You’ll have to make your deck with a limited amount of cards, all of which are fairly basic and intended to teach you the core parts of the game. Here are all the cards you’ll be able to use in Arena 1 (excluding higher arena cards that you can buy or find in the store).

Note: Cards marked with an asterisk (*) below are new to Arena 1. The others are available from the start as a part of the training arena.

➡️ Troops: Minions, Archers, Knight, Mini P.E.K.K.A., Musketeer, Giant, Spear Goblins*, Goblins*

➡️ Spells: Arrows, Fireball

➡️ Buildings: Goblin Cage*, Goblin Hut*

The Best Decks for Arena 1, Ranked In No Particular Order

Now that we’ve covered the basics of deckbuilding and what cards you can use, let’s get to the best decks for Arena 1! Before we get into it, we will say that due to the low amount of cards available, we’ll only be doing 4 decks instead of the 5 we usually do. There simply aren’t enough distinct deck options to have 5 that warrant a full summary. Most other changes you could make would just be one or two cards, so feel free to experiment by switching out any cards you don’t like! (Other than the main cards. That could cause some issues.)

And yes, every one of these decks includes the Giant except for one. He’s by far the strongest card in Arena 1, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.

1. Giant Support

Cards in this deck:

The Giant is the one of the best pure tanks in Clash Royale, especially in Arena 1. At this point, the Giant is the only major win-con you can use (without buying other cards). That’s why he’s so present in this list, but that’s not a bad thing! Giant is very basic, but he’s not weak. In fact, he remains relevant all the way to higher arenas. There are two main ways we’d recommend using the Giant in this deck. The first is to put him near your own tower when you have full Elixir, that way you can support him by the time he’s in danger. He’ll walk very slowly toward an an enemy tower/building, so you have time to build up the Elixir to support him. Otherwise, you can use him as a tank to soak up damage when your enemy makes a big push toward your tower.

For the rest of this deck, we’re just recommending the generally most well-rounded cards available. Archers and Minions are great for supporting your Giant, and they both do a good job of countering other troops. Spear Goblins are cheap, so they’re great for a desperate distraction or some light support. Knight is a smaller tank than Giant, but he’s much cheaper. Mini P.E.K.K.A. is the strongest counter card you can use, as it does so much damage it can easily cut through other Giants or tanks. Then you have two spells: Fireball and Arrows. Arrows is better for taking out large swarms, while Fireball does more damage.

2. Giant Counter Push

Cards in this deck:

This is similar to the last deck, but focuses more on counter pushing. In Clash Royale, counter pushing happens when you use troops to stop a push by your opponent, then your remaining ones form their own push. The support troops for Giant in this deck are better at making an effective counter push than the ones in the last one were. Musketeer and Goblin Cage, in particular, are the two new cards that work great for this strategy. However, Mini P.E.K.K.A. is actually the strongest counter pusher in this deck. These strong cards give you more ways to hit towers than just the Giant, at the cost of a slightly less efficient Giant push.

At the end of the day, this deck is very similar to the last Giant deck, so you don’t have to play it much differently. You can make great counter pushes with either, but the cards in this deck are just slightly more geared toward it. Since counter pushing is such an important part of Clash Royale, it’s a good idea to start thinking about how to do it well from the start. This deck should help you get a good grasp of that concept as well as other ones like using buildings (Goblin Hut and Goblin Cage) and rationing Elixir.

3. No Giant Counter Push

Cards in this deck:

Not including Giant might be a big risk in Arena 1, but it’s one that can be worthwhile! This deck has a lower Elixir cost, so you get to play more troops more often. The Knight is much more important in this deck than in other ones, as it’s the only tank. It’s much cheaper than the Giant, but it has much less HP as well. On the plus side, though, Knight can fight back against troops. It doesn’t just target towers, so you’ll have to use it differently. You can’t just play Knight with a support unit and hope it takes out a tower. Instead, you’ll need to take advantage of all the cards in the deck. Mini P.E.K.K.A. and the Knight go great together in making a good counter push, but you’ll need more support for them as well.

When you get the chance to make a good push with either Knight or Mini P.E.K.K.A., use Minions or Archers to get them some air defense. Spear Goblins are also great distractions that provide air defense, so they’re great in most decks in this arena due to their cheap cost. In terms of just defending against pushes, it’s hard to pass up Goblin Cage in Arena 1. Once the building itself is destroyed, a fairly strong Goblin comes out that’ll beat up anything near it. It’s also great for counter pushing, obviously, as the Goblin is fast and does pretty good damage. Fireball is also here as the last card in the deck, filling the spell card role. It does high damage anywhere in the arena, so it’ll never be bad.

4. Giants & Goblins

Cards in this deck:

This is another Giant deck, but it has a different goal from the rest (slightly). Instead of trying to just make a strong push with Giant and some support, this deck uses the Goblin cards to make a powerful army to backup the Giant. Goblin Hut is one of the best cards in this deck, because it spawns a steady stream of Goblins. These Goblins are great for backing up a Giant, defending, and doing poke damage at unguarded towers. We’ve discussed Goblin Cage a bit so far, but it’s worth mentioning again how good it is at making a counter push. The Goblin that comes out of the cage is worth building a push around, especially if you can time it right with a Giant or some support. Just don’t forget to utilize Spear Goblins and Minions for air defense.

Getting used to playing with multiple buildings isn’t easy, but it’s fairly common. Buildings are an excellent way to divert attention from your towers, and they all have specific purposes. Goblin Cage and Hut are the first two you get access to for a reason. They, along with other simple but powerful cards, make learning the game much easier than some of the more complicated cards could ever do.

Join the High Ground

We hope you enjoyed this guide on the best decks for arena 1 in Clash Royale. Clash Royale can be a very fun game to play, whether you want to play competitively or just for fun during breaks or whatnot. The first arena is where you should focus on learning how the game works and which deck types work best for you. Be sure to try out all the cards you get, and as always, make sure and keep the high ground!