How to counter Sparky

Sparky is a new card that was introduced with the May 2016 update for Clash Royale. It is a legendary card that can easily make you lose the game if you don’t know how to counter it properly. I have played around 100 matches or so after the update in the 2700 – 3100 trophy range and I’d say about 10% of the players I faced were using Sparky, so it’s quite popular.

I this article I will go over what is in my opinion the best ways to counter Sparky and stop it from taking out your towers. It is possible to make positive elixir trades with Sparky for sure, but it can be quite hard to do if you don’t know how. Most of these strategies I have tried myself and some I have watched other players use. If you got other ways to counter Sparky, please let me know by leaving a comment.

1. Distract and kill.

This is my favorite way to counter Sparky and how I counter the card with the deck I am currently using. What you need is a low elixir cost troop that can take the first hit from sparky, and then high DPS troops to then take it out. The best option would be skeletons at only 1 elixir, but other troops like spear goblins or regular goblins at 2 elixir would work as well.

It would be even better if the skeletons were dropped on top of sparky so that only half of them will die in the first hit.

Anyways, here you can see sparky wasting his attack on killing the skeletons.

Once your low elixir troops have taken the first hit from sparky you drop high dps troops like barbarians, goblins or mini pekka to take it out. I really like using barbarians as they have high hp and can take hits from the enemy troops that are surrounding Sparky without dying too fast. In the image above they survived long enough to kill sparky even with the enemy ice wizard hitting them.

2. Use flying troops.

Sparky can not shoot air so using flying troops to counter it works great. The problem with this is that a wizard, ice wizard or witch will often join the sparky and your flying troops won’t be able to kill it then. However, if none of these troops follow sparky I suggest you use minion horde or minions to take it out.

Be aware that it takes a while to kill it however, so if your opponent has arrows ready the sparky might survive.

3. Zap it.

Zap is cheap at only 2 elixir and it will actually reset the charge on the sparky, meaning it will need 5 seconds to attack after you zap it. Spend these 5 seconds to kill it with your other troops. You should use high dps troops to take it out in these 5 seconds, but the exact troops you will use depends on what you have available and what other troops surround it.

4. Freeze it.

Freezing it works well also, but it costs 2 more elixir than the zap option. If there are other troops surrounding it, freezing it is definitely better though. Freezing it and then taking it out with minions or goblins is a great option.

5. Surround it.

If you drop barbarians on top of sparky they will surround it and only 2 of the troops will be kill in the sparky attack. The reason I don’t like this option that much is that you might miss and loose all your 4 barbarians, and if not it is still better to let sparky kill 1 elixir skeletons and then drop your barbarians after. The 1 elixir skeletons you should drop on top of sparky however and save half of them.

6. Use shield troops.

Using guards or the dark prince is a good way to deal with sparky. Their shield will absorb the first it and they will then have 5 seconds to take out sparky before it can attack again. The reason I don’t like this option as good as the others is that other troops will often take out the weakened guards or dark prince before they can successfully kill sparky.

7. Rocket or fireball.

If your rocket is high enough level to take out sparky in one hit, it’s a pretty good option, but if not I don’t really like it. You need a level 7 rocket to kill a level 1 sparky. My rocket is level 6, so I am not able to kill sparky with it. Fireball is ok as long as you can kill other troops with it as well.