Clash Royale August 2026 Balance Changes: Every WIP Card Change

The Spirit Nerf: You Choose Which One

Ice Spirit

Electro Spirit

Fire Spirit

Heal Spirit

This is the single most meta-relevant change in the patch. Supercell says Spirits held a combined 53% use rate in the Top 200 and 31% in Ranked across 2026, and their argument is that a 1 Elixir card should not be replacing real spells and support cards, chipping towers, and enabling constant low-risk pressure all at once.

One outcome is already decided: Spirits will no longer reach a Crown Tower on their own. That part is not up for debate. What the community gets to vote on is how it happens, and the two options have very different consequences.

Our read: Option 1 is the smaller nerf in practice. Losing 13 hitpoints only matters against the specific damage breakpoints listed, and in a lot of matchups the Spirit was trading down anyway. Option 2 is far more punishing, because Spirit value has always come from movement speed. A Fast Spirit gets clipped by Bowler and Magic Archer shots it currently walks straight past, which quietly removes the dodge skill ceiling that makes Ice Spirit and Electro Spirit so reliable at freezing a push mid-lane.

If you want Spirits to stay a skill-expressive cycle card and just lose their chip damage, vote Option 1. If you think Spirits are genuinely overcentralising and deserve a real power cut, Option 2 does that. You can see how heavily the current meta leans on them in our live card usage and win rate data, which updates daily from real ladder battles.

Ability Cooldowns Are Being Removed

Every ability in the game becomes single-use, with one exception: Boss Bandit, whose whole design is built around rapid consecutive activations. Supercell's reasoning is that cooldowns added complexity without adding meaningful decisions. This affects 8 of the 14 Heroes and 7 of the 8 Champions.

It is a nerf, but a mild one for most players. Getting a second ability activation out of a single deployment is rare outside of long defensive stands or a Champion that survives an entire push. Where it will sting is high-level play, where squeezing a second activation out of Mighty Miner or a Champion that outlives a trade was a real skill expression.

Champion buffs

Champions compete with Heroes and Evolutions for the same slot, and most are losing that fight. Only two Champions made the top 10 Heroes and Champions last season, while five sat in the bottom 10. Three are getting help.

Card	What Changed
Little Prince	Keeps charged hit speed for 0.3s while moving (was 0s), Guardian melee damage 217 to 232 (+7%)
Goblinstein	Doctor damage 92 to 135 (+47%)
Mighty Miner	Base damage 40 to 43 (+8%), enough to 2-shot Skeletons

Little Prince

Keeps charged hit speed for 0.3s while moving (was 0s), Guardian melee damage 217 to 232 (+7%)

Goblinstein

Doctor damage 92 to 135 (+47%)

Mighty Miner

Base damage 40 to 43 (+8%), enough to 2-shot Skeletons

Experimental Reworks

This is the section aimed at cards that either fuelled unhealthy play patterns or got nerfed so hard they disappeared. Supercell has explicitly said these may be reverted if they do not land, so treat them as the most volatile part of the patch.

The headline theme is the end of infinite self-healing. Supercell's position is that recurring healing mechanics do not have a healthy place in the game in their current form, which is why Evo Witch and Battle Healer are both being rebuilt.

Card	What Changed
Evo Witch	Heal per Skeleton 53 to 153 (+189%), max hitpoints 1,040 to 1,326 (+27%), overheal ratio 1.24x to 1.58x, but only the initial 4 Skeletons heal her instead of every Skeleton she spawns
Battle Healer	Damage 148 to 204 (+38%), DPS 99 to 128 (+29%), hit speed 1.5s to 1.6s, heal radius 4 to 3 tiles (-25%), and she no longer heals herself or other Battle Healers
Void	Elixir cost 3 to 5 (+67%), single-target damage 340 to 696 (+105%), 2 to 4 target damage 161 to 294 (+83%), 5+ target damage 76 to 153 (+101%), hit speed 1.0s to 1.2s
Goblin Curse	Gains a -15% slowdown effect, matching the mechanic Poison already has
Goblin Machine	Rocket hit speed 3.5s to 5.0s (-30%), rocket DPS 87 to 61 (-30%), rocket projectile speed 250 to 350 (+40%), melee damage 212 to 232 (+9%)
Rune Giant	Hitpoints 2,662 to 2,816 (+6%), enchantment cast delay 1.0s removed entirely, and it no longer enchants kamikaze troops like Wall Breakers or Spirits

Evo Witch

Heal per Skeleton 53 to 153 (+189%), max hitpoints 1,040 to 1,326 (+27%), overheal ratio 1.24x to 1.58x, but only the initial 4 Skeletons heal her instead of every Skeleton she spawns

Battle Healer

Damage 148 to 204 (+38%), DPS 99 to 128 (+29%), hit speed 1.5s to 1.6s, heal radius 4 to 3 tiles (-25%), and she no longer heals herself or other Battle Healers

Void

Elixir cost 3 to 5 (+67%), single-target damage 340 to 696 (+105%), 2 to 4 target damage 161 to 294 (+83%), 5+ target damage 76 to 153 (+101%), hit speed 1.0s to 1.2s

Goblin Curse

Gains a -15% slowdown effect, matching the mechanic Poison already has

Goblin Machine

Rocket hit speed 3.5s to 5.0s (-30%), rocket DPS 87 to 61 (-30%), rocket projectile speed 250 to 350 (+40%), melee damage 212 to 232 (+9%)

Rune Giant

Hitpoints 2,662 to 2,816 (+6%), enchantment cast delay 1.0s removed entirely, and it no longer enchants kamikaze troops like Wall Breakers or Spirits

Void is the one to watch. Going from 3 to 5 Elixir sounds brutal until you notice the damage roughly doubles while the cost rises 67%, so raw damage per Elixir actually improves. The goal is a dedicated 5 Elixir answer to tanky ranged units like Bowler, Executioner and Hunter, which currently need 6 Elixir of spell to remove. If it works, it opens a spell slot that has not existed before.

Hut players, Supercell addressed you directly: Barbarian Hut did not make this batch, but they say it is high on the list.

Bug Fixes

These target inconsistent interactions rather than power level, though both effectively change how the cards play. Ronin, the newest card in the game after arriving with the July 2026 update, gets his first correction.

Card	What Changed
Ronin	First hit time 0.3s to 0.4s (+33%). Fixes parry and melee damage landing on the same tick against a charging Dark Prince, and his parry no longer cancels the Golden Knight dash
X-Bow	Hit speed 0.3s to 0.4s, damage 43 to 58 (+35%), projectile speed 1,400 to 1,600 (+14%). Net DPS 143 to 145 (+1%), so it stops wasting a shot on an already dead target at max range

Ronin

First hit time 0.3s to 0.4s (+33%). Fixes parry and melee damage landing on the same tick against a charging Dark Prince, and his parry no longer cancels the Golden Knight dash

X-Bow

Hit speed 0.3s to 0.4s, damage 43 to 58 (+35%), projectile speed 1,400 to 1,600 (+14%). Net DPS 143 to 145 (+1%), so it stops wasting a shot on an already dead target at max range

The Rest of the WIP Balance List

The traditional part of the patch. A recurring theme here is rebalancing cards that exist in multiple forms: where an Evolution has been overshadowing its base card, the base gets a buff and the Evolution gets a matching nerf, usually until both forms share a stat.

Cards are shown at Level 11. The Goblin damage buff appears in several rows because Goblins appear in 9 cards beyond the base Goblins card, and they all inherit it.

Card	Change Type	What Changed
Goblins	Buff	Damage 120 to 125 (+4%). Applies to Goblins across all 9 cards they appear in
Hero Goblins	Rework	Damage 120 to 125 (+4%), deploy time 1.3s to 1.0s, ability spawns 3 to 2 Goblin Brigades (-33%)
Evo Goblin Barrel	Rework	Normal Goblin damage 120 to 125 (+4%), decoy Goblin damage 89 to 66 (-26%)
Mortar	Buff	Hit speed 5.0s to 4.7s (+6%)
Evo Mortar	Nerf	Hit speed 4.0s to 4.7s (-15%), Goblin damage 120 to 125 (+4%). Both Mortar forms now share a hit speed
Barbarians	Buff	Hitpoints 691 to 716 (+4%)
Evo Barbarians	Rework	Hitpoints 691 to 716 (+4%) but HP multiplier 1.10x to 1.00x (-9%), a net -6%. Ability duration 3.0s to 5.0s (+67%)
Hero Ice Golem	Rework	Third blast changes from a full freeze to a -30% slow, third blast damage 38 to 69 (+82%)
Hero Mega Minion	Rework	Tower damage multiplier 0.50x to 0.25x (-50%) but it now lasts permanently instead of 5 seconds. Warp damage 373 to 399 (+7%)
Evo Mega Knight	Nerf	Special hit every 2 attacks instead of every attack (-50%), so he alternates uppercut and normal hits. Heavy troop knockback 2,500 to 4,000 (+60%)
Evo Archers	Nerf	Power shot damage 168 to 140 (-17%)
Evo Goblin Cage	Nerf	Card cycles required 1 to 2 (+100%)
Evo Valkyrie	Nerf	Tornado damage 84 to 42 (-50%), tornado tower damage 25 to 12 (-52%)
Bowler	Nerf	Projectile range 7.5 to 7.0 tiles (-7%)
Executioner	Nerf	Projectile range 7.5 to 7.0 tiles (-7%)
Wall Breakers	Nerf	Death damage 350 to 281 (-20%)
Evo Giant Snowball	Nerf	Projectile range 4.5 to 4.0 tiles (-11%)
Hero Tombstone	Buff	Tomb Queen damage 320 to 422 (+32%)
Evo Minion Horde	Buff	Invisible hit speed multiplier 0.50x to 0.67x (+34%), so invisible Minions are slowed less
Evo Princess	Buff	Ice Arrows every 2 attacks instead of every 3 (+50%), slowdown duration 7.0s to 5.5s (-21%)
Spear Goblins	Buff	Hit speed 1.7s to 1.6s (+6%)
Suspicious Bush	Buff	Bush Goblin hitpoints 304 to 337 (+11%)

Goblins

Buff

Damage 120 to 125 (+4%). Applies to Goblins across all 9 cards they appear in

Hero Goblins

Rework

Damage 120 to 125 (+4%), deploy time 1.3s to 1.0s, ability spawns 3 to 2 Goblin Brigades (-33%)

Evo Goblin Barrel

Rework

Normal Goblin damage 120 to 125 (+4%), decoy Goblin damage 89 to 66 (-26%)

Mortar

Buff

Hit speed 5.0s to 4.7s (+6%)

Evo Mortar

Nerf

Hit speed 4.0s to 4.7s (-15%), Goblin damage 120 to 125 (+4%). Both Mortar forms now share a hit speed

Barbarians

Buff

Hitpoints 691 to 716 (+4%)

Evo Barbarians

Rework

Hitpoints 691 to 716 (+4%) but HP multiplier 1.10x to 1.00x (-9%), a net -6%. Ability duration 3.0s to 5.0s (+67%)

Hero Ice Golem

Rework

Third blast changes from a full freeze to a -30% slow, third blast damage 38 to 69 (+82%)

Hero Mega Minion

Rework

Tower damage multiplier 0.50x to 0.25x (-50%) but it now lasts permanently instead of 5 seconds. Warp damage 373 to 399 (+7%)

Evo Mega Knight

Nerf

Special hit every 2 attacks instead of every attack (-50%), so he alternates uppercut and normal hits. Heavy troop knockback 2,500 to 4,000 (+60%)

Evo Archers

Nerf

Power shot damage 168 to 140 (-17%)

Evo Goblin Cage

Nerf

Card cycles required 1 to 2 (+100%)

Evo Valkyrie

Nerf

Tornado damage 84 to 42 (-50%), tornado tower damage 25 to 12 (-52%)

Bowler

Nerf

Projectile range 7.5 to 7.0 tiles (-7%)

Executioner

Nerf

Projectile range 7.5 to 7.0 tiles (-7%)

Wall Breakers

Nerf

Death damage 350 to 281 (-20%)

Evo Giant Snowball

Nerf

Projectile range 4.5 to 4.0 tiles (-11%)

Hero Tombstone

Buff

Tomb Queen damage 320 to 422 (+32%)

Evo Minion Horde

Buff

Invisible hit speed multiplier 0.50x to 0.67x (+34%), so invisible Minions are slowed less

Evo Princess

Buff

Ice Arrows every 2 attacks instead of every 3 (+50%), slowdown duration 7.0s to 5.5s (-21%)

Spear Goblins

Buff

Hit speed 1.7s to 1.6s (+6%)

Suspicious Bush

Buff

Bush Goblin hitpoints 304 to 337 (+11%)

What These Changes Mean for the Meta

The Spirit nerf is the change that reshapes deckbuilding. Roughly a third to a half of competitive decks run at least one Spirit, and they are almost always the cheapest slot in the list. Take away the chip damage and force the card to justify itself purely as a distraction or reset tool, and a lot of lists suddenly have a free slot to argue about. Expect the biggest churn in cycle decks, where a 1 Elixir card that no longer touches the tower competes directly with actual cycle cards.

Evo Mega Knight taking a special hit every second attack instead of every attack is the largest single nerf in the list by impact. The uppercut is the entire reason the Evolution is feared on defence, and halving its frequency turns him from a wall into a heavy troop that occasionally launches something. The knockback buff does not come close to compensating.

The Bowler and Executioner range cuts look tiny at -7%, but 7.5 to 7.0 tiles is exactly the sort of change that flips specific matchups, particularly against buildings and units they could previously out-range from safety. Pair that with the Void rework explicitly targeting both cards and it is clear Supercell wants tanky ranged units to be answerable again.

Watch Hero Goblins closely. His deploy time goes back from 1.3s to 1.0s, undoing exactly the nerf he received last season, while losing a Goblin Brigade from his ability. That is a real buff to how quickly he can be dropped defensively, traded against a weaker ability payoff, and it may quietly put him back into bait decks.

Nothing here is locked in yet, and the WIP list historically loses a few changes before release. Once the final patch lands on August 3 we will have real ladder data within days. Our meta decks hub and card win rates both update daily from live battles, so they are the fastest way to see which of these changes actually mattered rather than which ones sounded scary.