X-bow has been a strong archetype in the game for years! So mastering this deck will not only help you improve your skill but you won’t have to worry about meta changes as much as you would with other archetypes. Today we have Karnage, who is one of the best x-bow players in the world on my channel teaching us how to us this deck and also discussing some common mistakes. When playing x-bow you should aim to use defensive x-bows, this can bait out a spell from your opponent, if they don’t use a spell you’ll have enough time to cycle back to a second x-bow to punish your opponent. Particularly against bridge spam and beat down decks you will rely heavily on using those defensive x-bows where they’re placed next to your princess tower in the opposite lane. Stacking x-bows is the key to victory in a lot of matches. You’re cycle units, the ice golem, ice spirit and skeletons can be used to help protect your offensive x-bows. They can also be used to make positive elixir trades on defence, the skeletons can be used to kite units like minions into the opposite lane. Ice spirit also has a reset ability which makes it great against inferno dragons and also charging/dashing units like prince, ram rider, battle ram or bandit. Skeletons can also be important at catching miners if the opponent plays one onto your tower.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when playing this deck is using this card way to offensively. The only time you should cycle this card on the opponents tower is in double elixir when their towers is in range of two rockets. Other than that you should only play it on their tower when you can take out a unit that costs four elixir or more while also getting some tower damage.
Ice wizard and tornado is probably the best defensive duo’s in the game right now. You will rely heavily on this card against air decks but pair him with the tornado will allow you to also chip away at the support troops.
Early game never start out with your ice wizard or mega minion, if the opponent has a heavy air deck they can easily punish you for cycling these two cards. The best starting plays are cycling a log at the bridge or cycling skeletons or ice golem in the back. Always try to work out what deck the opponent is playing before going aggressive with your x-bow. Try to activate your king tower by using the tornado if you get the opportunity. You can do this against hog rider, balloon, ghost, bandit, miner and goblin barrel. Remember to play patiently when using this deck more so in single elixir!
In double elixir you can start to play those x-bows then cycle your three cheapest cards and place an offensive x-bow. You should be aware of what the opponent is playing so make sure their heavy units are out of cycle before placing any offensive x-bow. You can use log to help chip away at their tower to slowly bring it into the two rocket cycle range. Tornados can be used to help protect your x-bow too. Check out the video to see how Karnage handles different archetypes in the meta right now.
