Hog 2.6 has stood the test of time, it has been viable in all levels of ladder for a long time. Jack is probably the best 2.6 player in the world and is almost always in the top 200 using this very deck. In my video you can see how Jack handles some of the most difficult matchups you could face while using this deck. Because of the low elixir cost of this deck you can cycle very quickly back to the cards you need to help defend against almost any push. This is also a free to play friendly deck which is one of the reasons it has stuck around for so long. You should pressure with the hog at the appropriate times, for example when you have an elixir lead and they don’t have a solid counter in cycle. You can support the hog rider with ice spirit or even play him behind an ice golem so that he has a tank for tower damage. Lava loon in most people’s opinions is the most difficult matchup you can face while using this deck. However if you follow these steps from Jack in today’s video you’ll be able to win the match up easily. So what you need to do is pull the balloon to activate your king tower, you will take a lot of damage onto your king tower but it means it will be able to help you defend throughout the rest of the match. The correct canon placement is four tiles from the river and two tiles from the tower in the lane where your opponent is pushing. As soon as they play their lava hound in the back you should pressure the same lane with you hog rider. You should save your fireball to hit the lava pups when they explode and try to hit any support units that are closing in on your tower. You should distract the support units using your cycle cards then fireball once the hound has exploded. In the second or third push from the opponent you can apply pressure opposite lane with the hog once they play their hound, you should play musketeer in the back to allow you to cycle back to a second one to use to hit the balloon. The canon and ice spirit will still be important to use to kite and slow down the balloon allowing your units to take down their push. In the majority of match ups you need to pressure with the hog when the opponent plays their heavy tank or a win condition. This forces your opponent to spend elixir on defence rather than offence. Check out my video to see the placements that Jack uses to get the maximum value from your units on defence.
The log can offer you a lot of value whether you use it to support your hog rider or you use it to defend against a bait deck
The ice golem is your mini tank in this deck. You can use him to tank damage from units or their tower while your support units help shut down their push. You can also use this card to kite cards like pekka, Royal Ghost, princes and elite barbarians. He is a good card to cycle at the bridge and then apply pressure with the hog rider behind him.
This guy is your win condition. Ideally when you play him you want to get one or two swings off on their tower. However as you can see in my video this isn’t always possible but if you’re forcing your opponent to spend more elixir defending the hog then it means the have less elixir to use on offence and eventually you will win the game because your deck cycles so quickly.
I would say the canon is the most important defensive card in this deck. You can use it to kite units like golems, giants, golems, lava hounds, balloons and hogs. It is also a good counter to the graveyard as long as you stop their tank crossing the bridge with another card. You can also use it more aggressively against seige decks if you play an ice golem in front to tank the damage while the canon tanks out their xbow or mortar.
Early game if you like to make the first move you can cycle skeletons or play your hog at the river. I would always wait 15-20 seconds to see if your opponent makes the first move. I wouldn’t recommend playing ice golem, canon or musketeer as your first card because you can be easily punished early game if you need these cards to defend against a push. As with all matches you need to figure out what your opponent is playing to allow you to know what cards you need to save for defence and also it’ll help you know when to pressure with the hog rider.
Later game you need to keep the pressure on with the hog rider even if you have already taken a tower. Try to always get value with your spells by chipping away at their tower while also damaging or taking out their units. If you have their tower around 800HP you can start to spell cycle the opponents but you need to ensure you don’t leave yourself with less elixir than the opponent otherwise they will likely take your tower. Goodluck running this deck everyone I hope you enjoyed today’s video as much as I did making it! Let me know how you get on using this deck!
