X-Bow Siege (Deck Guide)
Hey guys, today I’m bringing you a guide on X-Bow Siege, one of the best Clash Royale decks that never seems to fall off the metagame. This is a siege deck, so if you like fighting on your side of the battlefield, knowing your opponent’s deck in and out, and countering their counters while your win con melts their defenseless towers, this one is for you.
On the right, you can also see the middle placement, which gives you better defense against melee ground troops (who will have to walk a long distance to get to the X-Bow), but leaves you more vulnerable to air and ranged assaults. Only use this placement if you know your opponent has no good air/ranged counters up, or if you can counter them perfectly. For example, if your opponent’s only good counter to this placement is Minion Horde, but you have a fireball up and you know you can take it down before any real damage is dealt, it’s worth considering.
Control is almost always going to be a better matchup than beatdown, since control wants to defend on their side, which you don’t care about, and you have the answers you need to deal with their threats. Beatdown is tougher because their main game plan means they’ll usually have some big tanky ground units which counter the X-Bow well.
Against control decks, you can play a little more aggressively. If you know what deck they’re on and have the cards up to counter, a small elixir advantage against control (either in the tank or on the field) can turn into a tower-wrecking siege. For example, against Log Bait, if they’ve aggressively thrown a mini-tank and a goblin gang at the river and you can log them all and finish the mini-tank with archers, you’re now up 1 elixir and can throw down an X-Bow which will immediately be supported by your archers.
Against beatdown, you have to play more conservatively. If they elixir collector early, you’ll want to fireball it if you can. Another option is to apply pressure with a quick X-Bow, but if they’re able to counter it you’re probably at a huge elixir deficit and have lost the game. Counter their pushes with as little elixir as possible. You need to understand their deck while building up an elixir advantage. Make sure to counter their pushes well though, if you lose a tower without taking one in the same lane against beatdown you’ll basically be forced to go for a draw.
As seen above, don’t be afraid to spend a little more elixir and use the defensive power of the X-Bow to break an opponent’s push. You can’t afford to lose a tower or two like some decks that are looking to 2 or 3 crown. You can place the X-Bow wherever you think it will work best. In some cases, you want it to draw a push, but for slower pushes you may want to place it further to the side to maximize damage dealt.
You’ll usually also have figured out whether you want to win by full siege or by chip. Mortar decks are more likely to chip, whereas X-Bow decks are more likely to have one or two massive sieges that can take the tower.
Always keep in mind when you’re defending how you may be able to re-purpose your defense to support your next siege. If you don’t have enough elixir to properly siege, it can be right to just let your troops and buildings waste away while you build up an elixir advantage. If you’ve got enough to support it, though, re-using defensive elixir you’ve spent is a great way to win a game.
In the screenshot above, there’s an ice golem with a little health left, which will buy us some time to react to any counters they place, and we’ve set up a tesla already to protect our siege. Our opponent is going to have a tough time preventing this X-Bow from dealing massive damage to their left princess tower.
Sometimes you’ll want to put everything into defense (stack teslas and defensive X-Bows along with your troops). Other times you’ll need to keep applying pressure to prevent your opponent from building a big push. You’ll be able to quickly cycle X-Bows, so you have the resources you need, but how to proceed depends on the matchup and how you’ve done so far in the match, which will come with experience.
One of the huge advantages to the X-Bow Siege deck is its defensive power. When a deck just straight up counters yours, don’t be afraid to lean on the defensive power of the deck by forcing a draw. Although drawing may seem frustrating for some, you really have to learn to love it (or at least accept it) with this deck. Think of it this way – if you could win all your good matchups, and draw all your bad matchups, you’d be #1 in the world.
(Click to Copy)
Deck Strategy
The X-Bow deck is a siege deck, which means your main win condition is to place a building (in this case, the X-Bow) on your side of the battlefield that deal damage to the opponent’s princess tower without ever having to cross the river. Because of how vulnerable the X-Bow is when your opponent can drop troops directly on top of it, you’re really trying to win 1-0 or sometimes 2-0. The deck tries to counter an enemy’s pushes with cheap defensive units, learn their entire deck, and then build an unstoppable siege on their tower when the time is right.Sieging – Placement and Support
When sieging, you want your X-Bow to be as protected as possible while still being able to reach the tower. Your most used placement will be the one seen on the left, below. It is back a bit from the bridge and off to the edge of the map, giving you the best chance to defend it and the best chance for it to lock on the tower. Any lower or further to the side and it won’t be able to lock on.
On the right, you can also see the middle placement, which gives you better defense against melee ground troops (who will have to walk a long distance to get to the X-Bow), but leaves you more vulnerable to air and ranged assaults. Only use this placement if you know your opponent has no good air/ranged counters up, or if you can counter them perfectly. For example, if your opponent’s only good counter to this placement is Minion Horde, but you have a fireball up and you know you can take it down before any real damage is dealt, it’s worth considering.
Early Game
Early in the match, you want to figure out what deck your opponent is on as quickly as possible. Hopefully you can narrow it down a bunch on their first play. Depending on your hand, you can start by getting to your impactful cards by splitting archers at the back, running out ice golem, or cycling ice spirit or skeletons.Control is almost always going to be a better matchup than beatdown, since control wants to defend on their side, which you don’t care about, and you have the answers you need to deal with their threats. Beatdown is tougher because their main game plan means they’ll usually have some big tanky ground units which counter the X-Bow well.
Against control decks, you can play a little more aggressively. If you know what deck they’re on and have the cards up to counter, a small elixir advantage against control (either in the tank or on the field) can turn into a tower-wrecking siege. For example, against Log Bait, if they’ve aggressively thrown a mini-tank and a goblin gang at the river and you can log them all and finish the mini-tank with archers, you’re now up 1 elixir and can throw down an X-Bow which will immediately be supported by your archers.
Against beatdown, you have to play more conservatively. If they elixir collector early, you’ll want to fireball it if you can. Another option is to apply pressure with a quick X-Bow, but if they’re able to counter it you’re probably at a huge elixir deficit and have lost the game. Counter their pushes with as little elixir as possible. You need to understand their deck while building up an elixir advantage. Make sure to counter their pushes well though, if you lose a tower without taking one in the same lane against beatdown you’ll basically be forced to go for a draw.
As seen above, don’t be afraid to spend a little more elixir and use the defensive power of the X-Bow to break an opponent’s push. You can’t afford to lose a tower or two like some decks that are looking to 2 or 3 crown. You can place the X-Bow wherever you think it will work best. In some cases, you want it to draw a push, but for slower pushes you may want to place it further to the side to maximize damage dealt.
Mid Game
Now that you understand your opponents deck and have hopefully built up some elixir advantage, you want to be sieging their towers when you have enough breathing room and your defensive counters are up. Don’t get greedy and place an X-Bow you can’t defend unless you KNOW they have nothing that can even weakly counter it (hint: this almost never happens).You’ll usually also have figured out whether you want to win by full siege or by chip. Mortar decks are more likely to chip, whereas X-Bow decks are more likely to have one or two massive sieges that can take the tower.
Always keep in mind when you’re defending how you may be able to re-purpose your defense to support your next siege. If you don’t have enough elixir to properly siege, it can be right to just let your troops and buildings waste away while you build up an elixir advantage. If you’ve got enough to support it, though, re-using defensive elixir you’ve spent is a great way to win a game.
In the screenshot above, there’s an ice golem with a little health left, which will buy us some time to react to any counters they place, and we’ve set up a tesla already to protect our siege. Our opponent is going to have a tough time preventing this X-Bow from dealing massive damage to their left princess tower.
Late Game
Hopefully you’ve got a big chunk of your opponent’s tower down, or taken one entirely. Now you need to defend like crazy, finish off their tower (if you haven’t yet), and win 1-0. Beatdown decks will get desperate and with double elixir, they’ll be throwing big pushes at you, so your defenses are crucial.Sometimes you’ll want to put everything into defense (stack teslas and defensive X-Bows along with your troops). Other times you’ll need to keep applying pressure to prevent your opponent from building a big push. You’ll be able to quickly cycle X-Bows, so you have the resources you need, but how to proceed depends on the matchup and how you’ve done so far in the match, which will come with experience.
One of the huge advantages to the X-Bow Siege deck is its defensive power. When a deck just straight up counters yours, don’t be afraid to lean on the defensive power of the deck by forcing a draw. Although drawing may seem frustrating for some, you really have to learn to love it (or at least accept it) with this deck. Think of it this way – if you could win all your good matchups, and draw all your bad matchups, you’d be #1 in the world.
