How Mega Minion SAVED Clash Royale
Summary
TLDRThe Mega Minion, introduced to Clash Royale in 2016, quickly became a meta staple due to its unique combination of high damage per cost, spell resistance, and utility in various decks. Over the years, despite numerous balance changes and the introduction of new cards, the Mega Minion remained relevant, though its popularity fluctuated. It faced challenges from cards like the Phoenix and the Monk, which diminished its effectiveness. However, as of March 2024, the Mega Minion still holds a niche place in modern Beatdown decks, paired often with the Golem or Lava Hound.
Takeaways
- ð The Mega Minion was released into Clash Royale on September 19th, 2016, and quickly became a popular and versatile card due to its resistance to spells and relatively high damage output.
- ð¥ Initially, the Mega Minion was able to counter various troops and building-targeting units effectively, making it a staple in many top ladder decks.
- ðªïž Despite its popularity and power, the Mega Minion avoided direct nerfs in the first few balance changes after its release, likely due to its unique role in the game.
- ð¥ The Mega Minion's first nerf came on November 30th, 2016, reducing its damage per hit and slightly increasing its attack speed, aiming to balance its overall damage output.
- ð¡ïž Even after nerfs, the Mega Minion remained a top choice in competitive play, showing its resilience and the demand for a cost-effective air unit that could withstand spells.
- ð Over time, changes in the game's meta, including the introduction of new cards and strategies, led to a decline in the Mega Minion's usage rate as it became less effective against swarm decks and other emerging threats.
- ðŠ The introduction of the Phoenix in October 2022 posed a significant challenge to the Mega Minion, as it offered similar benefits but with faster attack speed, spell resistance, and the ability to revive itself.
- ð« The Mega Minion's role was further diminished by the release of the Monk, a ground troop that could reflect its projectile attacks, causing the Mega Minion to essentially harm itself if it targeted the Monk.
- ð In March 2023, Supercell announced a significant buff to the Mega Minion, reducing its hit speed by 3/10 of a second, which was later adjusted to a 1/10 of a second decrease after community feedback.
- ð¯ Despite its ups and downs, the Mega Minion remains a viable option in certain beatdown decks, particularly those featuring the Golem or Lava Hound, showing its adaptability in the ever-changing game environment.
Q & A
When was the Mega Minion first released in Clash Royale?
-The Mega Minion was officially released into Clash Royale on September 19th, 2016.
What were the three flying cards that could attack troops at the game's launch in 2016?
-At the game's launch in 2016, the three flying cards that could attack troops were Minion, Minion Horde, and Baby Dragon.
How did the Mega Minion's resistance to spells and splash cards make it a strong counter to certain units?
-The Mega Minion was resistant to spells, meaning it could survive spells likeç®éš (Arrows) that would take out regular minions. It was also a strong counter to splash cards like å·«åž (Wizard) and 女巫 (Witch) because the Minion was ineffective against them, while the Mega Minion could deal enough damage to one-shot them.
What were the main reasons for the Mega Minion's popularity in top ladder decks?
-The Mega Minion's popularity in top ladder decks was due to its high damage per Elixir cost, its resistance to spells, and its ability to counter a variety of units effectively, including being a better counter to splash cards compared to regular minions.
How did the introduction of the Mega Minion affect the usage of other flying cards like the Lava Hound and Balloon?
-The introduction of the Mega Minion did not significantly bring the Lava Hound into the meta, as it was still less popular even after the Mega Minion's release. The Mega Minion was a strong air support unit on its own and did not necessarily need the Lava Hound to thrive in the meta.
What was the first balance change the Mega Minion received, and how did it affect its performance?
-The first balance change the Mega Minion received was on November 30th, 2016, which reduced its damage per hit by 6% and increased its hit speed by 0.1 seconds. This reduced its overall damage per second by about 15% but still allowed it to one-shot archers and get two hits on the Princess Tower if left alone.
Why did the Mega Minion's usage rate drop significantly after the introduction of the Phoenix in October 2022?
-The introduction of the Phoenix provided a more efficient and versatile option compared to the Mega Minion. The Phoenix was a spell-resistant single-target unit with faster attack speed, death damage, and the potential to revive itself. This made the Phoenix a strong competitor and counter to the Mega Minion, leading to a decline in the Mega Minion's usage rate.
What was the community's reaction to the Mega Minion's proposed buff in March 2023?
-The community was alarmed by the proposed buff to the Mega Minion in March 2023, which included a significant decrease in its hit speed. Many players were bracing for the return of the 'meta minion' and the potential disruption it could cause to the game's balance.
How did Supercell address the balance concerns with the Mega Minion after the backlash from the community?
-In response to the community's backlash, Supercell revised the proposed buff for the Mega Minion. Instead of the original plan of decreasing the hit speed by 3/10 of a second, they reduced it by only 1/10 of a second, which was a more moderate adjustment to help the card without making it overpowered.
What is the significance of the Mega Minion's range reduction due to the melee range simplification in July 2019?
-The range reduction due to the melee range simplification in July 2019 negatively impacted the Mega Minion's performance. Its range was reduced from 2 to 1.6 tiles, making it harder to lock onto single targets and reducing its damage output against structures. This change also made it more challenging for the Mega Minion to get chip damage on towers and to deal with building-targeting units.
What factors contributed to the Mega Minion's decline in usage rates throughout 2022?
-The Mega Minion's decline in usage rates throughout 2022 was due to a shift in the game's meta, with the rise of Skeleton King swarm decks and Electro giant cycle decks, which did not require a slow-moving, single-target air unit. Additionally, the absence of classic Beatdown decks like giant Golem and Lava Hound decks also affected the Mega Minion's presence in the meta.
Why did Seth, the community manager, express a desire for the Mega Minion to be a common card instead of a rare card?
-Seth expressed a desire for the Mega Minion to be a common card due to its simplicity and versatility, which made it a staple card in many decks. He believed that a common card would be more fitting for its role and would allow more players to have access to it, though card rarities are generally fixed and cannot be changed once a card is released.
Outlines
ð® Clash Royale's Mega Minion: Origins and Evolution
This paragraph delves into the history of the Mega Minion in Clash Royale, a card that initially filled a unique role due to its high damage per cost and resistance to spells. It discusses the card's inception in 2016, its comparison with other flying units like Minions and Baby Dragon, and its initial popularity due to its versatility. The Mega Minion's ability to counter spells and splash cards made it a meta-defining card, leading to its inclusion in top ladder decks. However, its eventual phasing out from the meta is attributed to the evolving game environment and increased competition.
ð Mega Minion's Impact and Initial Challenges
The second paragraph examines the Mega Minion's impact on the game, highlighting its efficiency in countering various strategies and its relative safety as an air unit. It discusses the card's moniker as the 'meta minion' and its comparison to a flying mini Pekka. The paragraph also touches on the Mega Minion's susceptibility to certain counters like Musketeer and Archers. Despite the introduction of new cards and balance changes, the Mega Minion maintained its popularity, leading to community discussions about its need for a nerf. The paragraph concludes with the Mega Minion's first nerf, which reduced its damage output but didn't significantly impact its usage rate.
ðªïž Shifts in Meta and Mega Minion's Adaptability
This section explores how the Mega Minion adapted to shifts in the game's meta, particularly with the rise of swarm and bait decks. It discusses the Mega Minion's ineffectiveness against swarm cards and the indirect nerfs it received from changes in the game's environment. Despite these challenges, the Mega Minion remained a popular choice in various decks, showcasing its versatility. The paragraph also highlights the introduction of new cards and balance changes that indirectly affected the Mega Minion's performance, leading to a decrease in its usage rate but not rendering it useless. The Mega Minion's ability to thrive in specific archetypes is emphasized, indicating its continued relevance in the game.
ð¡ïž Mega Minion's Resilience and Ongoing Changes
The fourth paragraph focuses on the Mega Minion's resilience in the face of ongoing changes in the game. It details the card's continued popularity and its role in various top ladder decks, despite balance changes that aimed to reduce its effectiveness. The paragraph discusses the Mega Minion's ability to avoid direct nerfs and its classification as a versatile card that filled a unique role. It also touches on the introduction of the Elixir Golem and its impact on the Mega Minion's usage, leading to a decrease in its presence in decks. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on the balance changes in July 2019 and their significant impact on the Mega Minion's performance and usage.
ð Decline and Re-emergence of the Mega Minion
This paragraph outlines the Mega Minion's decline in usage due to changes in the game's meta, particularly the rise of the Witch and Night Witch, which posed significant challenges for the card. It discusses the introduction of the Elixir Golem and its effect on the Mega Minion's role in Beatdown decks. The paragraph also highlights the Mega Minion's continued presence in certain archetypes and its occasional appearances in top ladder decks. It concludes with a discussion on the Mega Minion's performance in 2021, noting its peak usage and win rates, and its eventual decline due to the introduction of the Mother Witch and other factors.
ðïž The Rise of the Phoenix and the Mega Minion's Niche
The sixth paragraph discusses the introduction of the Phoenix and its impact on the Mega Minion's role in the game. It highlights the Phoenix's similarities to the Mega Minion and its advantages, leading to a decline in the Mega Minion's usage and win rates. The paragraph also touches on the Monk, another card that negatively affected the Mega Minion, and the community's reaction to the balance changes. It concludes with a discussion on the Mega Minion's place in the game, noting its transition from a versatile card to a more niche option in specific Beatdown decks.
ð The Mega Minion's Rarity and Community Perception
The final paragraph reflects on the Mega Minion's rarity and community perception. It discusses the community manager's wish for the card to be a common card due to its simplicity and wide applicability. The paragraph also touches on the Mega Minion's lack of an emote and its eventual receipt of one in 2023. It concludes with the narrator's thoughts on the Mega Minion's current state in the game, noting its continued relevance in certain decks and the likelihood that it will not receive further changes from the developers.
Mindmap
Keywords
ð¡Clash Royale
ð¡Mega Minion
ð¡Balance Changes
ð¡Meta
ð¡Air Support Units
ð¡Elixir Cost
ð¡Niche
ð¡Phoenix
ð¡Swarm Cards
ð¡Beatdown Strategy
ð¡Counter
Highlights
Clash Royale's Mega Minion was a highly versatile card that could fit into various decks and strategies.
The Mega Minion was resistant to spells and had the ability to survive a poison, unlike regular minions.
At launch, there were only three flying cards that could attack troops, minions, minion horde, and baby dragon.
The Mega Minion was introduced to fill the demand for more air units and quickly became popular in the meta.
Despite its popularity and strength, the Mega Minion avoided nerfs in the initial balance changes post-release.
The Mega Minion's use rate peaked as the number one card in top ladder play in October 2016.
Supercell first nerfed the Mega Minion on November 30th, 2016, reducing its damage per hit by 6%.
Even after nerfs, the Mega Minion remained a popular choice in top ladder decks, used in 54% of them.
The Mega Minion's role in the meta began to diminish with the introduction of new air support units and changes in the game environment.
The Mega Minion's use rate continued to be high, even after multiple nerfs, due to its unique role and low elixir cost.
Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Mega Minion remained a staple in certain decks, like Beatdown and Lava Hound decks.
The introduction of the Phoenix in October 2022 posed a significant challenge to the Mega Minion, as it was a more versatile and powerful air unit.
The Mega Minion's usage rate dropped significantly due to the rise of the Phoenix and other new cards like the Monk.
Supercell eventually buffed the Mega Minion in March 2023, reverting some of the previous hit speed nerfs.
Despite the changes over the years, the Mega Minion never became useless, but rather more niche in the evolving meta.
The Mega Minion's history reflects the dynamic nature of Clash Royale's meta and the importance of balance changes in maintaining diverse and competitive gameplay.
Community manager Seth once expressed a wish for the Mega Minion to be a common card due to its simplicity and wide applicability.
The Mega Minion's emote was added to the game in 2023, highlighting the community's involvement in the game's development.
Transcripts
Clash Royale for a long time has been a
fairly simple game to understand and
back in 2016 there were far fewer cards
than there are today at the game's
launch there were only three cards that
could fly and attack other troops
minions minion horde and baby dragon the
minions were fairly good single Target
damage dealers for their Elixir cost but
very susceptible to spells and splash
cards the baby dragon on the other hand
dealt Splash attacks and was fairly
resistant to spells given its higher
health but dealt very little damage per
second there were two other flying cards
lava hound and balloon which couldn't
attack troops and neither were
incredibly popular Lava Hound with
balloon was a combo that was
occasionally seen together but didn't
thrive in The Meta partially as a result
of not enough Air Support options there
was certainly a high demand for more air
units which eventually led to the
creation of the mega minion a card that
kept the benefits of having a high DPS
for its cost like minions and the
benefits of being resistant to bigger
spells like the baby dragon all for just
three Elixir but like many older cards
it successfully filled a role for its
time but slowly phased out of the meta
due to an everchanging game environment
with increased competition So today
we're going to cover the entire history
of the mega minion when why and where it
worked well and observe how it fell to
where it is today the mega minion was
officially released into Clash Royale on
September 19th 20 16 so where would this
troop fit in what would incentivize a
player to include this card over the
regular minions and baby dragon like I
already explained this card was
resistant to spells being able to
survive a poison whereas the regular
minions couldn't even survive arrows so
even though both minions and mega minion
were able to fully counter a balloon for
example you didn't have to worry about
your mega minion being taken out by a
spell or even a supportive baby dragon
the mega minion was also a better
counter to Splash cards like the wizard
and witch that the minions were
ineffective against the mega minion
dealt enough damage as to where it could
on-shot anything up to and including
archers even though the combined damage
per second of three minions was slightly
higher than Mega minions Mega minion was
much more reliable but on the downside
since it was only one unit and had a
slower attack speed than a regular
minion it was terrible against swarm
cards like skeleton army this unit also
had a movement speed of medium un like
the other flying units which had a
movement speed of fast but despite that
Mega minion did more damage to Towers if
left alone getting two full swings if
not attended to both minions and mega
minion were not very threatening on
offense but Mega minions seemed even
worse than minions in most offensive
situations like if you were trying to
use it to absorb an inferno tower for a
big tank when analyzing the advantages
and disadvantages between Mega minion
and minions at a glance it can seem like
there are fair reasons to use one over
over the other both ways but almost
immediately after release it was clear
that Mega minion was naturally the
stronger Choice almost every single time
besides a few Niche situations because
in only one week this card was already
being seen in 1if of top ladder decks
and had a prominent role in the most
popular deck in the game which was giant
poison or Goen for shorts even though
this new strong air support unit should
have theoretically brought Lava Hound
into the meta the data suggested it was
doing worse after its release Mega
minion was clearly very strong which is
why it was a bit surprising when it
didn't appear in the balance changes
that happened 1 month after its release
you'd think they T it down at least a
little but it appeared supercell was
being hesitant Goen was a very powerful
combo that was getting the most
attention by the community and supercell
themselves so the October balance
changes focused on toning down the power
of that duo it was The Deck Mega minion
was working best in anyway so it was
sort of an indirect nerve but of course
this card didn't need Goen to thrive it
was still very versatile and Powerful on
its own after the October balance
changes Mega minion Rose to being the
third most popular card and second most
used troop card in top ladder appearing
in a whopping 54% of the top ladder
decks including the top three which were
all different archetypes there would be
another set of balance changes on
November 1st but the mega minion would
manage to avoid the Nerf Hammer yet
again players were frustrated stating
the mega minion needed a nerve and yet
it wasn't getting one in the top 50
winning battle decks in the King's Cup
held at the end of October 2016 Mega
minion was in 43 or 86% of them and in
that same month it officially Rose to
being the number one card not true card
but card period in top ladder being used
by 84% of top ladder players it was
literally being used in everything from
giant to hog rider to Golem to Royal
giant to minor control to Expo and even
Lava Hound was finally starting to gain
some traction with the Goen Duo faded
out this card was frequently now
referred to as the meta minion some
people even commented on it as being a
flying mini Pekka this card was so
efficient at countering everything even
a giant there weren't that many cards
that could even attack air so the mega
minion being in the air kept it
relatively safe the only real reliable
cost reasonable counters there seemed to
be were the musketeer and archers even
something like spear goblins were not
reliable enough of a counter due to the
popularity of the zap that could
instantly take them out you might assume
that because Mega minion was so good at
what it did that other flying cards like
minions would be boxed out but they were
actually still performing decently in
fact that Lava Hound deck I just showed
you which was used on top ladder by
multiple players had all three minion
cards in it I couldn't EXA ly find a
reason as to why supercell was refusing
to Nerf this card it had been out for
over 2 months by this point and was only
growing in popularity by the week and
was now sitting at the very top but the
mega minion made one critical mistake in
November and that was surpassing the use
rate of the log something I've noticed
about overpowered cards throughout all
eras of clash Royale history is that no
matter how lenient they may be towards a
broken card once it surpasses the
almighty log it must be toned down I'm
kidding here but the log historically
has been kept in too strong of a state
for most of its history meaning its
rates have typically been a good example
of stats to represent an overpowered
card so now it was clear that it would
not be able to avoid the Nerf Hammer
much
longer finally on November 30th 2016 the
metam minion would be receiving a long
overdue nerve its damage per hit would
be reduced by 6% as well as receiving a
10th of a second hit speed increase
there weren't any major interaction
differences from these changes it would
still be able to One-Shot archers and
get two hits on the princess Tower if
left alone but overall its damage per
second was reduced by about 15% which is
a lot but Justified for such a powerful
card looking at the top ladder stats
about one week after this Nerf it was
still the most used card in top ladder
remaining in 83% of the decks the Nerf
hadn't made a dent in its popularity the
metam minion was Unstoppable and and
just for some further perspective the
second most popular card in top ladder
at the same time was The Archers at 68%
usage a whopping 15% behind and they
were primarily being used because they
were one of the if not the best counter
to the metam minion later in December
archers were performing worse though
because a new card the elite barbarians
got buffed in the balance changes and
not only were they very strong in The
Meta but they could one-hot archers
Paving a path for The Meta minion to
thrive
it was a bit shocking that the metam
minion was absent from the December
balance changes given that the previous
Nerf didn't seem to accomplish what it
was supposed to there still wasn't great
counterplay to this Beast some argued
its Health should have been decreased
why shouldn't a three Elixir card at
least die to a four Elixir Fireball even
if the mega minion did die to Fireball
the mega minion player would be up want
Elixir a major interaction change like
this seemed necessary but supercell was
stubborn on keeping its Health the same
as in the next set of balance changes in
January 2017 they nerfed the mega
minions damage Again by 4% and slowed
down its hit speed by another tenth of a
second they emphasized in the
explanation that they wanted to keep it
feeling armored and resistant these
changes now meant it required five shots
to take out a baby dragon or a mini
Pekka instead of four and its damage per
second overall was nerfed by about
10.5% I think this was actually a good
approach because the mega Minion's main
purpose was to be a more resistant
flying Defender nerfing the health would
have only made it more similar to
minions the mega minion was special
because it couldn't just instantly be
wiped away with a spell for an equal or
minus one Elixir trade and then not have
to be thought about but for such a cheap
cost having that Advantage Plus the
advantage of not being a ground unit
required a lower DPS to be balanced
supercell had clearly underestimated all
the factors originally I do agree the
mega minion should have been kept at
three Elixir to better compete with
minions but it made me wonder how a
version of Mega minion that kept all of
these benefits at four Elixir would have
influenced the game this latest balance
change may not have seemed like a big
deal since it was similar to the first
set of changes and those changes barely
hurt it but that wouldn't be the case
here the use rate took a pretty big hit
after the balance changes and continued
to dwindle in the following weeks
minions had surpassed the mega minion by
this point becoming the most used troop
card in top ladder this was in part
thanks to the major zap Nerf in January
zap was much less popular now and even
though zap couldn't take out minions
unless it was two levels higher it left
them incredibly Fragile the zap Nerf
along with the new Goblin gang saw in a
new era of swarm and bait decks and as
we already discussed the mega minion was
ineffective against swarm cards so on
top of the Nerfs there simply wasn't as
much of a demand for Mega minion right
now plus new cards like the dark Goblin
and execution that could attack air were
added so although the direct Nerfs seem
fairly small there were certainly a lot
of indirect Nerfs that contributed to
the mega minions downfall but I wouldn't
even call this a downfall because a
downfall implies the card was useless
and that wasn't true by any stretch in
fact by the end of February the use rate
Rose a bit again to a whopping 38% in
top ladder making Mega minion the second
most used troop card in the game only
behind surprisingly the minions even
though these cards were sort of in
competition with each other they weren't
really stepping on each other's toes in
fact the most used deck in top ladder at
this time contained all three minion
cards I know I discussed how the
environment was changing for the worst
when it came to Mega minion but that was
a bit misleading because the climate was
changing in ways that favored it as well
as we kind of discussed earlier the log
was the single most popular card in the
game at the moment and being able to
completely avoid any Potential Threat
from it was a huge benefit to Flying
cards the log's popularity naturally
contributed to the zap's fall which
benefited Mega minion because zap could
prevent all chip damage from a
standalone Mega minion whereas the log
didn't prevent anything and with arrows
not being too prominent at the moment it
gave some more room for other minion
cards to breathe having air defense was
so crucial in this environment eight of
the top 10 decks and five of the top
five had one of these cards in it Mega
minion was still an extremely versatile
card thriving in a variety of archetypes
it could be argued that it still needed
some more toning down but it wouldn't
have been a great time for it since
these flying cards were helping to keep
overpowered ground cards like log in
check without their presence powerful
groundbased cards would be even more of
a pain keep in mind the minions
popularity was way higher than it was a
few months prior without receiving any
balance changes so there was clearly a
huge Factor of environment here the
arrows got a speed buff in March which
helped Mega minions surpass them in
terms of popularity throughout the rest
of 2017 Mega minion stood its ground
remaining in the top 10 most popular
cards no matter the environment the only
time the mega minion barely slipped out
of the top 10 was during the night
witch's Reign the night witch in its
early days was a bat spawning machine
quickly filling the arena with these
little pests after being placed this was
pretty overwhelming for a slow attacking
single Target unit as you could imagine
even at its worst though it was still
objectively one of the best cards in
Clash Royale and the only balance change
it received throughout the entire year
was in January Mega minion seemed like
it was just getting away with being too
strong how could this card's Reign
possibly be quelled in the early months
of 2018 it was only doing better other
cards that Rose to prominence in 2017
like Inferno dragon an's flying machine
didn't seem to be competing with the
mega minion whatsoever those cards if
anything only increased the demand for
Mega minion to help deal with them but
these card additions along with some
other changes could suggest that
supercell was trying to indirectly
diminish the mega minions versatility
rather than directly nerfing it think
about it you saw new cards released that
were effective cheap counters to the
mega minion as well as the release and
Rise of more troop targeting flying
units and even some balance changes such
as nerfing the crown Tower damage of all
spells making them overall less
prominent in The Meta giving more room
to competitors that were susceptible to
spells being implemented now do I
believe that supercell was releasing new
cards and implementing balance changes
specifically to indirectly Nerf the mega
minion no but I think because this card
filled such a unique role that it wasn't
seen as having two good stats for a
three Elixir card but rather lacked
proper competition for the spot it
filled being a spell resistant three
Elixir flying unit was a niche no other
card could fill I think the mega minion
was comparable to The Miner The Miner
was a three Elixir Troop that could be
placed anywhere on the arena it was the
only Troop that had that ability and it
often had an exceptionally High use rate
yet there was no rush or even pressure
from the community to Nerf this card
because it was widely seen as just being
versatile and filling a very unique role
instead of having two good stats for
three Elixir but even if the mega
Minion's lack of true competition was
allowing it to thrive arguably its stats
were still too good for its low cost in
the February and April ail 2018 Seasons
it once again was the most used troop
finishing a top ladder being used in
nearly or even more than half of the top
2 200 decks it wouldn't be until July
2018 a year and a half since its
previous balance change for it to appear
in the balance changes yet again
supercell was still refusing to touch
its Health once again they opted to slow
down its hit speed by one10 of a second
making it deal 7% less damage per second
one major interaction difference to this
caused was now in a one-on-one
interaction with no interference bats
would win against the mega minion this
was the third consecutive nerve the mega
minion now hit 3/10 of a second slower
than it did upon release I'll say now
though a card that is used in half of
all decks one season does not simply
disappear from The Meta overnight from a
tenth of a second hit speed Nerf that
small of a Nerf is one of the smallest
Nerfs a card can get it's usually a safe
balancing option if a card is too strong
and it's not certain what the best way
to balance it out is due to it rarely
causing major interaction differences so
even with this third Nerf the card was
doing just fine in fact it was still
quite popular but it was finally
starting to phase out of some archetypes
like graveyard and hog rider control it
was still pretty versatile so it
definitely wasn't completely gone from
those but it was now most commonly seen
in Beatdown with either the giant Lava
Hound or Golem after this balance change
it definitely felt much fair to go
against it still had above average
average rates but I think most players
were content with that at this point and
I think the higher rates can at least be
partially attributed to the lack of
competition like we already discussed
minions and mega minion kind of remind
me of the zap and log situation the only
two cards that really fit their Niche
and were both exceptionally popular and
nobody was crying for Nerfs for either
of those and they weren't even strict
competitors since you could find lots of
metad decks that included both of them
it's certainly not the same thing
because spells are more reactive to The
Meta than troops are but I think it's a
pretty good analogy nonetheless
personally I've always had a belief that
a cards versatility and lack of
competition shouldn't be ignored when it
comes to balancing after all if a card
Fades out of the meta because a better
alternative takes over that has been
used as a premise to buff that phased
card but on the other hand if a card
isn't disrupting The Meta or making it
significantly less fun then it may be
best for the sake of the player base to
leave that card statistically a little
too good as we go into 2019 well into 6
months after the previous Mega minion
Nerf the use rate was settling between
20 and 25% it was steadily growing until
around April where it officially once
again became the most used troop card in
competitive play at around 34% usage and
maybe I should have mentioned this
earlier but the goal for a healthy card
around 2018 to 2019 was 7 to 9% usage
but at this point I think it was pretty
clear that supercell wasn't wasn't
really trying to get the mega minion to
be around that range in most situations
when a card has a use rate in the 30s
people would be screaming for nerves but
this card didn't really make the game
less enjoyable by being in around
one-third of decks at this rate though
it seems like Mega minion would
inevitably get another 10th of a second
hit speed Nerf eventually because they
were so adamant on not messing with the
troops Health there wasn't really much
else to go after besides hit speed its
next change wouldn't come until July
2019 one year since its last this was
the infamous month in Clash royale's
history where they were simplifying all
melee ranges there were now three
categories of range melee short melee
medium and melee long the categories
were relatively close so most cards were
able to fit into a category without any
major change to their range the only two
troops that were drastically affected by
this were minions and mega minion whose
range was reduced by 4/10 of a tile from
two to
1.6 it was now classified under the
melee long category but even this new
melee long category was much shorter
than what the mega minion had had just
to give some more perspective 4/10 of a
tile is the difference between melee
medium and melee long so it was
basically a full categorical downgrade
for the minions this was the change that
really put some pressure on the card now
it was much harder to keep it locked
onto a single Target this was an
especially bad environment for this to
happen happening because the giant
snowball was very popular and this spell
could easily knock the mega minion out
of range from whatever it was attacking
and since the mega minion moved at the
same speed as a balloon if you knocked
it out of range and you didn't have
anything else to stop it then it
couldn't catch up to the balloon until
it made it to the Tower and perhaps the
biggest interaction change this caused
was now if left alone the mega minion
would only get one hit on the tower
instead of two this might not sound like
a lot but it's pretty big when you think
about it one hit less meant there was
258 damage lost at level 9 tournament
standard which is about what a Lightning
Deals to Crown Towers today this meant
there was far less punishment for
ignoring the three Elixir unit and
saving that Elixir for something else
you definitely felt this if you were a
mega minion player of course its primary
purpose wasn't to get chip damage it was
more of a bonus so where it really hurt
was when it was going against building
targeting units since they would now
enter its range later and exit it
earlier so naturally after the balance
changes went live the raids went down
this balance change definitely had more
of an effect than a simple hit speed
nerve but even after a few weeks of the
balance changes settling in you still
saw Mega minion in about a quarter of
Grand Challenge decks I found it kind of
interesting because in the months
following July every stat I could find
had the mega minions usage at exactly
22% so it seemed like it had settled
there until we got to the dreaded
October 2019 season I feel like in
almost every video I have to cover this
season specifically because it was such
a meta changer most cards this season
had a rapid change in usage for Better
or For Worse and in the mega minions
case it was definitely worse the card
had been holding steady at 22% usage for
about 3 months by this point but as the
meta quickly changed in October 2019 the
mega minion found itself only being
played onethird as often as it used to
be part of this can be attributed to the
rise of witch and night witch as we
already saw in 2017 the mega minion had
a noticeable dip in popularity when the
night witch was all over the place and
now the night witch was once again all
over the place and when there's night
witch a lot of bats are right there with
it the regular witch was also incredibly
frequent this season not only did it
deal a hefty amount of damage but those
skeletons overwhelmed the mega minion
more than the bats did Mega minions
simply struggled to get value in this
meta since nearly every person was using
one of these two cards especially with
the slower hit speed it had since the
last time night witch was really
prominent in The Meta it in no way could
take out the storms fast enough to be
useful but perhaps an even more
prominent reason why the mega minion
wasn't useful was due to the release of
The Elixir Golem The Elixir Golem was a
new Beatdown wind condition released
this month and despite the mega minion
working well with multiple other beat
down wind conditions most of the popular
e Golem decks didn't instead favoring
more expensive air support units at
first you may assume it's simply because
there was a higher demand for them due
to all the bats and skeletons in the
arena and although that may be at least
partially true that can't be the only
explanation because plenty of
traditional Beatdown decks were still
opting to use the mega minion in this
environment and if we're skipping ahead
a bit there really has never been a top
Elixir Golem deck that included it this
is because the Elixir Golem is a very
unique card in the sense that it gives
you six to seven Elixir worth of stats
for just three Elixir giving the
opponent some Elixir to compensate so
the E goem player saved a lot of Elixir
when placing it which allowed the luxury
to play more expensive cards when
supporting it and you really had to do
that if you wanted to utilize the value
of Elixir Golem October 2019 was the
lowest point for the Mega minion so far
and it still had just below average
rates in the next few months as Elixir
Golem night witch and witch were toned
down you saw the mega I rates rise and
hold at around 11 to 16% usage until a
new air support unit was added in June
the skeleton dragons this Duo of dragons
was taking over the game diminishing the
demand for Mega minion once again
throughout this period its use rate
dropped to about 6 to 8% not seeing
another rise back up to its 11 to 16%
usage range until October where the
skeleton dragons would finally get a
proper nerve in 2020 you mostly saw the
mega minion appearing in Golem or lava
Hound decks but you still sometimes saw
it appearing in giant Royal Giant and
even the occasional graveyard deck it
was pretty much just new variations of
the same archetypes it's already been
appearing in in previous years so I
don't feel the need to go in depth going
over the specifics for each one 2021 was
mostly the same the elite barbarians
mother witch and bomber became Mena
warping come March 20121 which
ultimately benefited the archetypes that
Mega minion worked best in in fact in
June the mega Minion's use rate peaked
at 18% with an impressive 57% win rate
these were the highest rates it's had
since 2019 I think this was mostly
thanks to the mother witch she was
keeping a lot of swarm decks in check
which gave the mega minion some good
room to breathe later in the year the
rates would fall again when Champions
were released likely thanks to the
overpowered Archer Queen but as the game
somewhat balanced out by the end of the
year the card's usage rate settled
around 11% in check challenges the one
Mega minion deck that was consistently
appearing on the leaderboards throughout
the last few years was giant double
Prince even though Mega minion had been
consistently appearing in multiple
different archetypes this exact variant
of giant double Prince was really the
one consistent deck that included the
mega minion it was certainly no log bait
or hog 2.6 but few decks lasted in the
metaphor as long as this one so overall
throughout the entire Mega Minion's
history up through the end of 2021
there's never really been a period up to
this point where it was considered
useless it's had some brief downfalls
for sure but at no point would anybody's
seriously argue it needed a buff it had
been well over 2 years and counting
since the mega Minion's last balance
change by now and if it wasn't on
anybody's radar for a balance change
before then it certainly wasn't now the
goal for a balanced card by now was
about 6 to 8% usage with a 45 to 55% win
rate if we look at the last available
stat from 2021 it did technically exceed
those boundaries but it would have been
extremely nitpicky to Nerf a card with
those kinds of stats ESP especially one
the community wasn't upset about but
when even a balanced card doesn't
receive any sort of balance change for
years on end it's very likely that that
card will eventually become too strong
or slowly phase out of the meta over
time with a never changing environment
it's nearly impossible for any card to
maintain the same rates forever Mega
minion had generally always had a place
in the game up until this point even
though plenty of other air support units
have been added since its release it
still had a place thanks to being the
only one that was under four Elixir and
resistant to Big spells but going into
2022 you started to see the mega minion
phasing out of the meta by February its
use rate fell to the 7 to 9% range right
around what a perfectly balanced card
would have and this wasn't temporary as
we go through the year The Raid stayed
in that range and even fell to as low as
5 5% by October the 2022 environment was
just not as suited for this type of card
you had Skeleton King swarm decks Rising
into prominence as well as Electro giant
cycle decks which just weren't
strategies that needed a slow moving
melee single Target troop classic
Beatdown giant Golem and Lava Hound
decks just weren't as present throughout
2022 and this took a toll on the mega
minion but again I will emphasized that
the card wasn't useless it was just more
Niche it still worked fine with the
strategies it had been working well in
you were just starting to see different
strategies arise but virtually none of
this would matter when one major event
in October 2022 would change everything
we have seen new air support cards being
released left and right since the mega
minions inclusion and although sometimes
it could cause a brief fall it would
always bounce back and even occasionally
those new air support cards would
ultimately strengthen the mega minion
October 2022 would see the addition of
the last air support unit the game would
ever see the Phoenix the Phoenix was
more similar to Mega minion than any
existing card in Clash Royale because
even though it cost one more Elixir it
was a spell resistant single Target unit
and didn't need to build up a charge
like Inferno Dragon Phoenix was some
pretty serious competition this was
certainly not a card you were ever going
to see in the same deck as Mega minion
both units had the same movement speed
and range and although the mega minion
did slightly more damage per hit the
Phoenix still dealt enough to One-Shot
troops like minions moving on to the
advantages the Phoenix had it for one
attacked 7/10 of a second faster while
having enough Health to survive a
lightning had death damage and the
potential to revive itself as you could
imagine the Phoenix was far more
appealing than this old rust bucket and
thus the use and win rates immediately
fell to being the worst theyve ever been
having the second lowest win rate in the
game right in between its minions
brethren Not only was the Phoenix a
solid replacement to this card it was an
amazing counter in fact it countered all
of the other flying cards really well
there was just no place in the game for
Mega minion anymore the Phoenix had
completely taken over the game and if
all that wasn't bad enough there was an
overpowered Champion the monk released
at the same time which was also seen in
over half of Grand Challenge decks upon
launch but wait how would this card
negatively affect the mega minion it was
a grounds targeting Troop that could
reflect projectiles well you see even
though technically the mega minion is a
melee troop it attacks by throwing its
spit at its opponent and since it's
technically throwing it that's a
projectile thus the monk reflects it
meaning if a mega minion attacked the
monk when its ability was active it
would just end up killing itself this
was a weakness the Phoenix did not have
so you can see why the minion cards were
losing more often than every other card
it's like supercell designed the perfect
environment for them to be in the worst
possible State I mean these rates even
made the wizard look all right I want to
just take a second to question why
minions were ever considered melee they
exceeded the range of every melee troop
before the simplification and have all
the qualifiers of a ranged card there's
no other melee card in Clash Royale that
can have their attack reflected by a
monk because the minions are the only
melee troops with a projectile attack
also before the range simplification
every melee card just had melee in their
stats not showing the exact number
except the minions which did show their
exact tile range implying they used to
be considered ranged troops it really
just makes them stand out in a weird way
the Phoenix obviously needed some major
nerves and when that happened the mega
minions rates were sure to increase once
again but over the next few months
supercell would give the Phoenix super
light nerve
so it would continuously box out the
mega minion it's actually pretty
reminiscent of how supercell treated the
mega minion in 2016 and
2017 and now that I think about it
that's sort of what happened with the
skeleton dragons too so I guess this is
just the procedure for flying support
cards going into 2023 Phoenix was still
one of the most popular cards in the
game and thus Mega minions rates
continued to be poor but apparently
supercell wasn't going to wait until the
Phoenix was balanced out before deciding
what to do with the mega minion because
on March 28th 2023 supercell announced
what would be the first buff the mega
minion would ever receive a hit speed
decrease of not one not two but 3/10 of
a second that's right they were
reverting it back to the hit speed it
had when it was first released in
September
2016 now obviously it wouldn't have the
same damage or range it did back then
but 3/10 of a second was huge especially
for a card that was considered to be
relatively balanced just a few months
prior it was essentially a rollback of
three consecutive nerves over a period
of 3 years what makes this balancing
decision even stupider was that they had
just buffed the archers hit speed who
were also underused by 2/10 of a second
in the previous set of balance changes
and that made them super broken with
this hit speed reduction it would now be
able to get two swings on the princess
Tower if unanswered once again Community
was freaking out at this announcement
bracing for the return of the meta
minion a few days later supercell would
come to their senses and realized that
this was about to be one of the worst
balance changes they ever implemented so
they walked back part of this hitsp
speeed decrease to only one tenth of a
second part of me wishes they just went
through with the original plan though
because if they did this video would
have been way more interesting but from
a game balancing point of view this
change definitely made sense the rates
were all already falling throughout 2022
and the Phoenix just made it much worse
even if the Phoenix was in a balanced
State Mega minion still likely would
have had subpar raids but when that's
the case you don't want to give it an
insane buff after this balance change
went live the rates went back up to
about what they were in October 2022 pre
Phoenix it was a little underused but
still useful in the right deck and
that's where it hovered for a while
until around the time evolved bats got
buffed ol solved archers were released
and Little Prince was released we also
saw a new tower troop the caner added
and when a player was using it the mega
minion got no hits on the tower in a
one-on-one interaction after all these
developments the mega minion was only
seen in about 2 to 3% of Grand Challenge
decks which is a bit surprising
considering the mega minion when used
correctly is a solid counter to the
popular little brat I mean prince in a
surprising turn of events though the
rates of Mega minion at the end of March
2024 have been surprisingly all right
and if you see him today he will almost
certainly be paired with Golem or lava
hound the mega minion was once an
incredibly versatile thread considered
to be a staple card in a variety of
popular decks but with a never-changing
environment it has diminished to being a
niche but still sometimes useful tool in
modern Beatdown decks it's certainly
nowhere near as popular as it was during
its prime but I don't think it needs any
more changes I feel like it's unlikely
to get a to change anyway though it's
never gotten much attention from the
developers and I say that because
supercell basically forgot to give it an
emote every existing troop in the game
got one before the mega minion did until
2023 and even then they didn't bother to
create one themselves they let the
community do it one more interesting
thing I wanted to mention about the mega
minion is that even though it's a rare
card Seth who was the community manager
stated in an interview in 2019 that he
wished it was a common card there are
definitely some cards that I wish we
could go back and change the Rarity of
like I wish Mega minion could be a
common I can't think of a card that
would be better suited just to be a
common I feel like by 2019 there were
already a lot of cards that didn't quite
fit into their Rarity but Mega minion
was never really one I felt was
misplaced however given its Simplicity I
wouldn't disagree with the notion that
it should be a common but card Rarities
do not change so no matter how much it
deserves it it will likely remain rare
forever it's not like a card's Rarity
matters that much anyway but as always
let me know what you think about the
mega minion and what cards history you
would like to see next thank you all so
much for listening and I'll see you all
next
[Music]
time but
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