Skeleton Army

“Summons an army of skeletons. Meet Larry and his friends Harry, Gerry, Terry, Mary, etc.”

Summary

The Skeleton Army is unlocked from the Training Camp (Tutorial).
It spawns 14 single-target, melee Skeletons with very low hitpoints and damage.
A Skeleton Army card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy

Due to their high numbers, the Skeleton Army is effective against slowly attacking, single target, and high hitpoint enemy troops such as the P.E.K.K.A. or Giant.
- Another benefit is the Skeleton Army's cost of 3 Elixir, making it a very versatile card that can give you an Elixir advantage in almost any case. (Most tanks will be killed for a 1-5 Elixir advantage, mini-tanks are Elixir neutral.)
- They are also useful for countering building targeting troops such as Giants and Hog Riders if they are by themselves.
- Despite being incredibly susceptible to area damage, the Skeleton Army is capable of countering Wizard, Witch, Bowler, Princess, Ice Wizard and sometimes Bomber at tournament standards. The Skeleton Army must be placed directly on top of the unit, however.
While being powerful in numbers, they are very weak against splash damage. This means that Bombers, Valkyries, Arrows, Fireballs, Poisons, Fire Spirits, The Log, Zap, and Tornado are extremely effective against them and will most likely wipe them out instantly.
- However, Skeleton Army can counter directional splashers for a positive elixir trade if placed directly on top of the splasher. This means it can take out Wizard, sometimes Witch, and Bowler. However, your skeleton army must be one level higher than the Witch to take her out.
- Other swarm troops such as Barbarians and Minion Horde may be more favorable, as they have higher hitpoints compared to the Skeleton Army.
- The Skeleton Army can force the enemy to use their splash spell, allowing you to deploy other swarms of low hitpoint troops to deal high damage. However, this may not be wise because it generally costs less Elixir to destroy the Skeleton Army than deploying it.
- Zap, The Log and Fire Spirits are the best as they give an Elixir advantage. Arrows and Bombers give an even Elixir trade. Using Poison or Fireball will incur a 1 Elixir loss against yourself. Using a Valkyrie, Witch or Wizard, while being themselves 1-2 Elixir higher than the Skeleton Army, they will generally be at full health after eliminating the Skeleton army, so may not be a negative trade. Spear Goblins can also be used against a "lone" Skeleton Army that is on your side of the arena. However, at tournament levels, Spear Goblins can not be used to eliminate the skeletons. A level 10 Spear Goblin is needed to one-shot the skeletons from a level 1 Skeleton Army.
The Skeleton Army is not recommended to use offensively, as they can be easily wiped out with spells such as Arrows, and are most effective as a distraction.
- Keep in mind that, if by some chance the Skeleton Army manages to get on a tower, it will deal extremely high damage or even destroy it.
- If the opponent has left the game, a Skeleton Army can do immense damage to Crown Towers, without being countered by other opponent troops.
The Skeleton Army is best paired with troops like Witch, Prince, or any other troop with high damage. It can also be used to protect a P.E.K.K.A., Royal Giant, or another heavy troop when attacking.
If you use Mirror with a Skeleton Army, Clone it, then Rage it, and if your opponent has no area damage cards that are available, they will be instantly routed.
3 Skeletons cost 1 Elixir, while 14 cost 3. Playing the Skeleton Army profits 5 more Skeletons at the Skeletons card's Elixir rate. However, splash units and spells can still easily end them.
It can be used as a lure for the opponent's Zap or Arrows before you throw a Goblin Barrel. This won't work, however, if the opponent has a way to take out your Skeleton Army and/or Goblin Barrel (such as a mirrored Zap or Arrows). Also, in either case, you'll be losing plenty of Elixir, meaning it may not be a very good strategy.
During Double Elixir time, the Skeleton Army can be used to great effectiveness if the opponent is forced into wasting their area damage cards. You can play the Skeleton Army along with Rage as this increases the Skeletons' attack as well as travel speed, leaving little room for the opponent to counter.
In general, the Skeleton Army should not be used to counter cards that deal Death Damage, as the death of the latter card will often result in only 3-4 skeletons surviving, although this will usually give you a positive Elixir trade (a large 5 Elixir profit if used to counter a Golem, 3 Elixir extra for Giant Skeleton).
- Skeleton Armies are not a good counter against themselves unless one is 1 level higher. However using a Skeleton Army on your side to counter an invading one can help clear it, with no elixir loss.
- Using a Rage on the Skeleton Army makes it a huge threat since they are already fast movers and hitters; this now makes them more deadly, and also Mirroring the Skeleton Army gives a huge numbers advantage. However, Raging and Mirroring the Skeleton Army is very risky if the opponent has area damage cards, and can result in a significant Elixir loss.
- An Ice Golem would be able to eliminate the entire Skeleton Army with its death damage at tournament levels. Hence it can be used as an expendable counter to the Skeleton Army for a 1 Elixir advantage.
The Skeleton Army can be an excellent card to play on the opponent's side if the player has knocked down one of their towers. If they play a tank or mini tank in the corner nearest their King and remaining Arena Tower and the Skeleton Army there immediately after, the Skeleton Army will split three ways with one portion going toward the Arena Tower and two sets taking different paths to the King Tower. If the opponent does not respond with a centrally placed ground unit or building, the Skeleton Army will do great damage to all targets, and will not be as susceptible to area spells as it normally is because of the split.
Another strategy is to split the Skeleton Army between both lanes by placing it behind the King's Tower, and putting a tank/mini tank such as a Knight or Valkyrie in front of it to push both lanes, as having the high damage per second skeletons on both sides means that they are not as weak to splash damage. This can be countered by cards such as the Valkyrie, Baby Dragon or Bomber placed in the center, as the skeletons are usually close to the tank due to their high speed.

History

The Skeleton Army was released with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
On 19/2/16, a Balance Update increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 11%.
On 18/5/16, a Balance Update increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 5%.
On 4/7/16, the Tournaments Update increased the number of Skeletons spawned to 21 (from 20).
- Clash Royale said that the fourth Skeleton from the Skeletons (the Skeletons card now only deploys three Skeletons) card joined the Skeleton Army, making it from 20 to 21.
- This newly joined Skeleton was named "Ledoot", according to the updated description.
  - This was a nod to a popular meme, the Skull Trumpet.
  - This was a bit of an odd name, as all of the other skeletons' names ended with the letters "-ry".
- The spawning pattern also got compressed when the card is deployed by the river. Previously skeletons would spawn on top of the river, even in enemy territory.
On 20/10/16, a Balance Update decreased the Skeleton Army's Elixir cost to 3 (from 4), increased the Skeletons' levels by 5 and reduced the number of Skeletons spawned to 16 (from 21).
On 1/11/16, the November 2016 Update removed the word "Ledoot" from its description.
On 23/1/17, a Balance Update reduced the number of Skeletons spawned to 15 (from 16).
On 19/4/17, a Balance Update reduced the number of Skeletons spawned to 14 (from 15).

Trivia

The Skeleton Army is one of the 11 cards associated with Skeletons, including the Skeletons, Bomber, Witch, Tombstone, Bomb Tower, Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Skeleton Barrel, Guards, and Graveyard.
The Skeleton 'Larry' in the Skeleton Army's description is a reference to the Clash of Clans commercial, Larry.
It is the only Epic swarm card, with the Minion Horde and other swarm cards being Common. However, the Battle Ram spawns two Barbarians upon impact or death, and it is a Rare.
When deployed, the Skeleton Army takes up the most space out of any card.
- However, Arrows, Poison, and Tornado have enough radius to cover the entire swarm.
- It also contains the most number of troops.
Each Skeleton has a diagonal scar over their left eye if the player looks closely.
It has the highest overall damage per second (DPS) in the game. When all of the level 8 Skeleton Army's skeletons are damaging one target, it does a staggering 1372 (14×98=1372) DPS, about two and a half times that of the P.E.K.K.A. at max level (546 DPS), almost twice as much as the Minion Horde at max level (738 DPS), and higher than the max DPS of a level 5 Inferno Dragon (1,277 DPS).
The Skeletons and Skeleton Army have an interesting relationship in which when Skeletons were nerfed to have only 3 Skeletons from 4, the Skeleton Army received 1 Skeleton; when this change was reverted, The Skeleton Army lost 1 Skeleton, and the Skeletons gained 1 unit. According to Supercell, this is called the "Skeleton equilibrium".