Clash Royale Hog Rider guide: How to unlock, best hog cycle decks & strategies

The Hog Rider is one of the strongest tower-sieging troops in Clash Royale, so if you’re looking for the best hog cycle decks at elixir costs as low as 2.6, we’ve got you covered.

As one of the few characters to make it into Clash Royale from Clash of Clans, the Hog Rider is one of the best troops when it comes to sieging towers. However, you should note that it will take you a while to reach the specific Arena where you can unlock the troop and add them to your deck.

Our Hog Rider guide features some of the most effective hog cycle decks and strategies that you can use while not spending too much on those all-important elixirs. Strategies and decks like these can be used to bamboozle your opponents with rapid troop rotations in the game.

Without further ado, let’s dive in and check out everything that you need to know to utilize the Hog Rider to its full potential.

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Contents

• How to unlock and upgrade the Hog Rider in Clash Royale
• Best low-cost elixir hog cycle decks
• Hog Rider troop strategies in Clash Royale

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How to unlock the Hog Rider in Clash Royale

The Hog Rider is a rare-rated troop, which means you can find its cards in Silver and higher-rated chests. On top of that, you can also purchase Hog Rider cards from the store in exchange for coins or gems.

• Read More: Clash Royale tier list (Season 37)

Having said that, you should note that you can only unlock specific troops in Clash Royale after reaching their respective Arenas.

• In order to progress through each Arena in Clash Royale, you’ll have to participate in multiplayer matches and collect trophies by winning.

The Hog Rider can be obtained after you reach the Spell Valley Arena, which can be unlocked by collecting 1,300 trophies. That’s not all, though, because you’ll be able to receive multiple copies of the card to ensure you can upgrade the troop to increase its overall power.

How to upgrade the Hog Rider

Upgrading the Hog Rider card after unlocking it makes the most of its capabilities, which, as mentioned above is done by collecting multiple cards of the same character. Once you have enough cards required for a specific level, you can upgrade the Hog Rider from your inventory in exchange for coins.

• Read More: Clash Royale summer update patch notes

Additionally, upgrading the Star Levels of your troops is also crucial, and our detailed Star Levels guide has everything you’ll need to know about how to go about it.

Best low-cost elixir hog cycle decks

Below, you’ll find some of the most effective decks for using the Hog Rider in Clash Royale. Make sure to give these a try if you’re unsure about what combinations to use for your deck.

These hog-cycle decks are very efficient in defeating opponents who have a deck featuring a fairly high average elixir cost. The low elixir cost of troops in each of these decks allows you to overrun the enemy’s towers using the Hog Rider’s siege abilities with ease.

• Hog Rider, Musketeer, Ice Golem, Skeletons, Ice Spirit, Canon, The Log, Fireball – Given that the Hog Rider will always ignore enemy troops and head straight for buildings, it is important that you lay down a distraction for the enemy troops. The Ice Golem, as well as the Ice Spirit, can be efficient in distracting enemies. Additionally, The Log, Fireball, and Musketeer provide additional firepower to take down the enemy troops. The average-elixir cost of this hog cycle deck is 2.6.
• Bats, Hog Rider, Earthquake, Firecracker, Ice Golem, Snowball, Skeletons, Mini P.E.K.K.A. – The Ice Golem and Mini P.E.K.K.A. make for extremely good defensive cover for the Hog Rider. Additionally, this deck also makes use of the additional support provided by Skeletons and Bats. To top all of this, this deck also features two spells that deal direct damage to buildings to further amplify the Hog Rider’s performance. Given how versatile this deck can be and the average elixir cost of 2.6, it can be your ultimate choice to push through the Arenas in Clash Royale.

Given that the Hog Rider will always race ahead to attack the closest building, it often becomes difficult to keep the troop alive until it serves its purpose. Therefore it is important for you to keep defensive troops in your deck that can not only protect the Hog Rider but can also distract enemy troops.

As long as you ensure these points to protect the Hog Rider and allow it to attack buildings, you can try out various strategies and hog cycle decks to create your own builds.

Hog Rider troop strategies in Clash Royale

The best method to effectively utilize the Hog Rider in Clash Royale is to spawn the troop close to the building you want it to attack. At the same time, you should also deploy other troops that will distract the enemy’s troops while the Hog Rider makes its way over to the building and takes it down.

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Costing 4 elixirs to deploy during battle, the Hog Rider can swing the entire course of a match on its head when used optimally. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you to understand just what makes the troop so highly effective in Clash Royale:

• The Hog Rider only deals damage to buildings while avoiding all the enemy troops that attack them.
• Make sure to place either tanky or high-damage dealing troops in front of the Hog Rider to keep them protected against enemy units.
• Sending the Hog Rider first into battle should be avoided, as the enemy can easily counter the four-elixir card with one that costs a lot lower.
• Some of the basic counters against the Hog Rider are building cards as they distract the troop from attacking the towers first.

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So, there you have it – that’s everything for our guide on the Hog Rider troop in Clash Royale.

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