Giant

“Slow but durable, only attacks buildings. A real one-man wrecking crew!”

Summary

The Giant is unlocked from the Training Camp (Tutorial).
He is a building-targeting, melee troop with high hitpoints and moderate damage.
The Giant costs 5 Elixir to deploy.
He wears a large, brown, cloth coat and has ginger sideburns and bushy eyebrows with blue eyes.

Strategy

The Giant is effectively used as a shield for other troops. He can soak the damage of enemy troops while other supporting units deal damage.
- Dealing with an opposing Giant that is paired with another troop can be difficult. The player must wait for the troop(s) to cross the river, then take them out with an appropriate counter. They must not forget to deal with the Giant right after, or distract him with a building to give their Crown Towers more time to take him out.
- Keep in mind that "waiting" at 10 Elixir can give the enemy a strong elixir advantage.
A good way to eliminate the Giant is by using high damage troops like the Mini P.E.K.K.A. and Prince, or using swarms of troops like the Skeleton Army or Minion Horde. If the enemy has low hitpoints troops behind the Giant, the player can use Arrows to eliminate them, and then deploy any of the above-mentioned cards.
- The Witch is also a good way to eliminate the Giant. While her damage is very low, she continuously spawns Skeletons that can build up to enormous strength. The Skeletons can then produce a counter-push, especially if paired with other troops.
One of the most effective counters is the Inferno Tower, which can eliminate a Giant in seconds.
- When using the Inferno Tower, the player must first destroy small troops surrounding the Giant, as they will distract the Inferno Tower. Also, they must be careful of Zap, Ice Spirit, and Freeze as they can reset the Inferno Tower's damage. They can also make it re-target something else.
- The Cannon can be an alternative to the Inferno Tower due to its lower cost, just plant it 4 tiles from the river and 3 tiles from the Arena Tower.
  - If your opponent has placed an Inferno Tower in a location where your Giant cannot reach it without being incinerated, a Dart Goblin is best used to take it out, as its range is slightly longer than the Inferno Tower's range, meaning the Dart Goblin will be able to attack it safely.
A very strong strategy is a Giant-Balloon combo. Although it costs a heavy 10 Elixir, it is hard to defend and can catch the opponent off-guard, especially if they start a push in the other lane.
- It is most effective to play the Balloon in the corners of the bridge to let the Balloon ignore some defences.
- An Inferno Tower + Zap combo is enough to defeat this attack.
- The Minions, Minion Horde, and Mega Minion cards can decimate this push. However, if doing so, be careful about the enemy using cards like Arrows or Fireball to counter cards mentioned above.
- Also, the Balloon's death damage may eliminate your Minions so be prepared with another card.
An overlooked Giant attacking a Crown Tower can easily take it down by his own, so never ignore an offensive Giant.
If you have a Giant or any other tank unit in your deck and the match is about to end, you can place the Giant to defend their tower and stall for time.
The Giant can be easily distracted by placing a building in the centre, such as the Tombstone, as it allows both Arena Towers to attack the Giant. Using a Tombstone is very useful, since once it's destroyed, the Skeletons spawned will aid in eliminating the Giant.
A Giant can be used to protect troops from spawners, like Spear Goblins from the Goblin Hut, allowing them to build up into a powerful force.
When a Crown Tower starts targeting a Giant, it will not switch targets until the Giant is dead or stunned.
- This means using a Goblin Barrel when the Crown Tower is focused on a Giant can be very effective, as the Giant's large number of hitpoints will allow the Goblins to deal immense damage.
Placing a Prince behind a Giant is a good idea since the Prince's charge speed will speed up the Giant.
- Remember to support them with a troop or spell that does splash damage, as both the Prince and the Giant are weak against swarms of troops and air troops.
Countering a spawner with a Giant is not a very good idea, as he will let the troops build up to a strong push.
- So instead, support the Giant with area damage troops, such as a Valkyrie, Wizard or Princess to eliminate these spawned troops.
The Giant has the second best health-to-cost ratio out of any units, second only to the Golem plus its Golemites, but the Giant costs only 5 Elixir, making it more disposable and giving the player more Elixir to build up a strong push.
If the player has nothing else to defend with, a Giant can counter a Giant Skeleton that has reached the tower since it has high health, a large hit-box, and a preference for buildings. Deploying the Giant in front of the Crown Tower re-aggros the Giant Skeleton, and since it is slow, it will "drag" the Giant Skeleton away from the tower, easily avoiding the enormous death damage that the Giant Skeleton can deal.
If the player only has fragile cards to counter splashers, they can use the Giant to tank and distract the splasher and then quick-drop the card directly onto the splasher, but must make sure that he is far enough that the splasher can't splash their defending troops.
Whenever a Giant is deployed in the very back, a player must prepare for a very big push like Sparky accompanied with a splasher such as a Wizard. You can split the opponent's elixir by pushing on the other lane. However much elixir your opponent uses to counter your push is how much elixir denied to from his Giant push. This allows you to counter the lone Giant very easily.

History

The Giant was added with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards & Card Balance Update increased the Giant's hitpoints by 5%.
On 23/3/16, a Balance Update increased the Giant's damage by 5%.
On 19/9/16, a Balance Update decreased the Giant's damage by 5%.
On 20/10/16, a Balance Update decreased the Giant's hitpoints by 5%.

Trivia

The Giant and his targeting system are similar to those of his counterpart in Clash of Clans.
- The Giant's patch on his right shoulder is the same as the Level 1 Giant in Clash of Clans.
- However, he attacks all buildings, not just defences. For example, he will willingly attack a spawner like the Goblin Hut over a defence like a Cannon if it's closer.
The Clash Royale player Jason won the Helsinki tournament undefeated, using a deck based on the Giant.
The Giant has the same damage per hit and damage per second as a Valkyrie of equal level.