Hi guys, I’m here to talk to you about the newest card in Clash Royale – BATS! Below you can find some tips on effectively using Bats, as well as cards that go up or down in value assuming you (or your opponent) will have Bats in your deck. For more tips on how to increase your overall winrate in draft challenges, check out my post Draft Challenges, Luck, and You – How to win more games.

Bats – the Card

Bats are somewhat unique for a new card because we’ve already been seeing bats in the game for a little while now because of the Night Witch (who spawns bats periodically and again on death). These are the stats for tournament standard (level 9) bats – As you might have noticed, they’re also unique as a new card that happens to be very similar to another unit – skeletons. Their DPS and hit points are the same as skeletons, but there’s some key differences –

• 2 Elixir (instead of 1)
• Very Fast Speed (instead of Fast)
• Targets Air & Ground (instead of just Ground)
• Flying (can’t be hit by units that only target ground)
• Spawns 4 (instead of 3)

It means you can expect a higher DPS from the Bats since there’s more, and that they’re generally more evasive and better as a support unit. The downfall there is that they will NOT be able to distract ground troops in spots where skeletons shine (e.g. vs Elite Barbarians, Prince, etc.). You can use your knowledge of how skeletons work to transfer over to bats (e.g. bats will kill an equal level skeleton in one hit, will take 2 hits from an evenly-matched ice wizard, etc.).

Using Bats in Your Deck

If you end up with Bats in your deck in this challenge, you’re going to want to understand how to use them effectively. Bats work great as a fragile but cheap support unit that can put out a surprising amount of damage for low elixir.

Bats are great in your deck WITH…

• Tanks – Bats excel with tanks that can soak up a bunch of damage like Giants, Golems, and Lava Hounds. These cards are expensive and hard to take down, and bats offer a TON of extra DPS and work to support your tank, pecking away at any defense they try to put down against you
• Shock Troops – Bats having Very Fast speeds means they can apply pressure FAST. Dropping bats behind a unit like eBarbs will give them just enough support to quickly bust through the cheap defenses opponents will often use to distract them (like skeletons and goblins). Likewise, if you use Bats to defend a small push, a Miner is an amazing way to pop up a surprise tank on their tower while your Bats destroy it with their high DPS
• Air Swarms – Air decks want to have a critical mass of air troops that tests an opponent’s ability to have many answers for air units. Doubling down with even more air troops lets you overwhelm your opponent’s defense.

Bats are great in your deck AGAINST…

• Slow troops that don’t target air – Tanks and strong ground units that can’t target air will find their health quickly diminish against a small fleet of bats
• Air troops without splash – The Mega Minion is the perfect example of an air troop that will be easily distracted and taken care of by a defensive Bat swarm, for +1 elixir
• Ground swarms – The attack speed of 4 bats will quickly clear swarming ground troops like Skeleton Army

That’s Bats

Bats are like Skeletons in a lot of ways, and the biggest lesson there is – DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THEM. For 2 elixir they are going to do a lot of work. Find ways to take advantage of their evasion and you’ll have a powerful weapon in hand. Try to make sure your deck has some low cost ways to counter them or you’ll find yourself out-elixired again and again. While they ARE strong, you should also be careful not to warp your whole strategy around them. Solid deckbuilding fundamentals are still important, and while knowing Bats are in the draft should shift your priorities a little, it’s not a total game changer. Oh, and if you haven’t already, go check out my post on draft fundamentals – Draft Challenges, Luck, and You – How to win more games.