Hero cards and champions now make up a big slice of the Clash Royale card pool, and the gap between the strongest and weakest of them is wider than it looks. A single elixir on an ability, a lost respawn unit, or a shorter freeze window is enough to move a card several rungs. Below is the full 25-card ranking, followed by the reasoning behind the placements that matter most.
Quick answer: Goblinstein is the strongest champion and Hero Ice Wizard is the strongest hero card overall. Hero Goblins is the weakest hero and Little Prince is the weakest champion.
Full heroes and champions tier list
Cards inside each tier are listed roughly weakest to strongest, so the last name in a row is the closest to the tier above it.
| Tier | Cards |
|---|---|
| S | Goblinstein, Hero Ice Wizard |
| A | Hero Mega Minion, Mighty Miner, Hero Knight, Hero Tombstone, Golden Knight, Hero Valkyrie |
| B | Skeleton King, Hero Berserker, Hero Bowler, Archer Queen, Hero Barbarian Barrel |
| C | Hero Giant, Hero Wizard, Hero Balloon, Boss Bandit, Hero Ice Golem |
| D | Hero Dark Prince, Hero Musketeer, Hero Mini P.E.K.K.A, Hero Magic Archer, Monk |
| F | Hero Goblins, Little Prince |
Ranking criteria: how much value the ability returns for its elixir cost, how many archetypes the card fits into, and how easily an opponent can shut it down. The list reflects the September 2026 balance state.
Why Goblinstein and Hero Ice Wizard sit in S tier
Goblinstein is the best champion in the game right now, largely because it answers Minion Giant cleanly. That single matchup matters enormously in a meta where Minion Giant pushes show up constantly, and Goblinstein does the job without needing a specific deck built around it.
Hero Ice Wizard edges out every other hero card on raw ability value. A seven-second freeze for two elixir is one of the cheapest game-swinging effects available, and it works on both halves of the board. It stalls a committed push long enough to reset the trade, or it locks down defenders while your own win condition connects.
A tier: the reliable picks
A tier is where the safe deck-building choices live. None of these need a favorable matchup to earn their elixir back.
| Card | What earns the placement |
|---|---|
| Hero Mega Minion | The rework lets it teleport back, so it rejoins a push at full health instead of trading down. |
| Mighty Miner | High damage per second plus lane flexibility, at home in Hog and Goblin Drill decks. |
| Hero Knight | Taunt and shield nerfs brought it back in line, but it is still a well-rounded defensive body. |
| Hero Tombstone | A very large health pool makes it disproportionately hard to remove for its cost. |
| Golden Knight | The dash is still excellent; it simply has more competition than it used to. |
| Hero Valkyrie | Covers much of the same ground as Golden Knight while adding splash damage. |
B and C tier: usable, but conditional
The middle of the list is mostly cards that lost a little too much in balance changes, or that only shine inside one or two archetypes.
Archer Queen is the notable riser here. A damage buff pulled her out of the doldrums and back into playable territory, though she has not returned to being a default pick. Hero Barbarian Barrel remains strong in Graveyard and bridge spam shells, just no longer dominant enough to warp deck choices. Skeleton King is the definition of average, which is not an insult in a card pool this deep; it does a bit of everything and nothing exceptionally. Hero Berserker holds up after mid-season nerfs, and Hero Bowler is now mostly confined to giant-based decks after losing its fourth boulder throw.
C tier is more about ceilings than floors. Hero Giant works, but it is a win condition that swings hard on the matchup. Hero Wizard took a nerf to its air-time duration and lost some of its punch. Hero Balloon has absorbed several nerfs and now competes directly with Minion Giant for the same slot. Boss Bandit is genuinely irritating to play against and still not difficult to defend once you know the pattern. Hero Ice Golem is balanced and playable, but the loss of a permanent freeze took away its best trick.
D and F tier: what to avoid right now
D tier is the niche shelf. Hero Dark Prince lost the versatility that justified the slot after its nerf. Hero Musketeer is realistically only worth running in 2.6 cycle decks, and even there the three-elixir ability is a heavy tax. Hero Mini P.E.K.K.A survives as a beatdown-only option. Hero Magic Archer was hit on both damage and ability elixir cost, which cut into the chip value that made it appealing. Monk barely appears outside Royal Giant and Three Musketeers lists.
F tier has two occupants. Hero Goblins fell here after a nerf cut one goblin from its respawn, gutting the pressure it used to apply for the cost. Little Prince is the weakest champion despite receiving multiple buffs, because those buffs never addressed the underlying problem of an expensive, limited-use ability.
How much these placements move between patches
These rankings are unusually volatile. Cards currently sitting in A and B tier, including Golden Knight, Hero Berserker and Hero Knight, have all held S-tier spots in earlier balance states, and Hero Goblins has swung from the top of the list to the bottom on the strength of a single respawn change. Goblinstein has gone the other direction, climbing out of the lower tiers as its damage improved.
Note: Treat tier placement as a shortcut, not a rule. A C-tier card that fits your deck’s elixir curve and covers your worst matchup will win you more games than an A-tier card jammed into a shell that does not support it.
If you are building from scratch this month, Goblinstein and Hero Ice Wizard are the two cards worth leveling first, with Hero Valkyrie and Mighty Miner as the flexible follow-ups. Everything below B tier is best treated as a specialist pick until the next balance pass reshuffles the order again.
