Battles in Craft Royale are all about strategy. Build a deck of cards, deploy troops, cast spells and place buildings to destroy your opponent's towers while defending your own.

Start a battle from /matches. There are two types:

• Ranked Battle: Earn trophies with each victory, but risk losing them if you’re defeated.
• Practice Battle: Battle with all troops set to the same level and no trophies at stake. It’s a great way to test new decks and sharpen your skills.

The Objective

Each player has three towers: two Archer Towers on the sides and a Crown Tower in the center.

• Destroying an Archer Tower opens up space to deploy your troops closer to the Crown Tower.
• Destroying the Crown Tower wins the battle instantly, even if the Archer Towers are still standing.
• If neither Crown Tower is destroyed before time runs out, the player who destroyed more Archer Towers wins. If tied, the battle enters overtime, where the next tower destroyed decides the winner. If overtime ends without a tower being destroyed, the player with the lowest-health tower loses.

The bar at the top of your screen shows both sides' towers, their health and the time left in the battle.

Your Deck

You take 8 cards into every battle, with 4 in your hand at a time. Playing a card brings your next card into your hand. Set up your deck in /decks. See the Decks guide.

There are three types of cards:

• Troops: units that move around the arena and attack enemies or buildings.
• Spells: effects cast on an area, like damage, freezing or support.
• Buildings: structures that defend, distract enemies or support your plan.

Build a deck that can handle different situations. You need ways to damage towers, take out groups of enemies, stop strong single troops and deal with flying units.

Every deck needs a win condition: a card you can rely on to threaten enemy towers. Troops that target buildings, like the Hoglin Rider, are a common choice.

Elixir and Your Hotbar

Elixir is what you spend to play cards. Every card has an elixir cost, and you need enough before you can play it.

Your elixir is shown on your experience bar: the purple bar fills up as elixir regenerates, and the number above it is how much elixir you have right now. Your hotbar shows your cards:

• Slots 1 to 4: the cards in your hand that you can play right now.
• Offhand slot: the next card that will come into your hand.

Elixir regenerates on its own up to a maximum of 10, and it speeds up later in the battle so both players can play cards more often.

Don't spend everything on one attack. If your opponent stops it, you'll have nothing left to defend with. But don't sit at 10 elixir for long either, since any elixir you would have gained is wasted.

Deploying Cards

Select a card in your hand and choose a spot in the arena to play it. Once deployed, troops move and attack on their own, so where and when you place them matters.

The area outlined in red is where you can't place cards. It changes when you destroy one of your opponent's Archer Towers, letting you deploy further forward on that side.

Before playing a troop, check what it can target. Some only attack ground enemies, some can hit flying enemies, and some ignore troops and head straight for buildings.

Defend, Then Counterattack

When enemy troops come at you, use your cards together with your towers to stop them.

Try to defend with less elixir than your opponent spent attacking. Stopping a 5-elixir push with 3 elixir leaves you ahead for your next move. This is called a positive elixir trade.

If your defending troops survive, support them as they move toward the enemy side. This turns your defense into a counterattack, so you can threaten a tower without building a whole new push.

Build Attacks With Support

Cards are stronger together. A troop with lots of health can take hits while a ranged troop behind it deals damage.

Don't bunch all your troops together, where one spell could hit them all, and keep enough elixir to respond if your opponent attacks the other lane.

Good Habits

• Watch both lanes. An attack on one side can distract you from danger on the other.
• Check what enemies can target. Ground-only troops can't protect you from flying enemies.
• Use spells carefully. Look for chances to hit several enemies at once.
• Learn your deck. Practice with the same cards so you know their strengths and weaknesses.
• Review your battles. Rewatch your matches to spot what caused trouble and what you could have placed differently. See the Match Replays guide.