“Fast melee troop that targets buildings and can jump over the river.

He
followed the echoing call of "Hog Riderrrrr" all the way through the Arena
doors.”

The Hog Rider is a Rare card that is unlocked from the Builder's Workshop (Arena

5). It spawns a fast, single-target, building-targeting, melee, ground troop with high

hitpoints and high damage. He is able to jump over the river. He appears as a

dark-skinned shirtless man with blue eyes, dark brown eyebrows, beard and

mohawk, wearing a golden body piercing in his left ear, a team-colored belt and

wristbands, along with a brown loincloth and sandals. He wields a hammer with two

brass-colored bands and a team-colored ribbon tied at the bottom, and is riding a

hog. A Hog Rider card costs 4 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy
For Battle Decks with this card, click here.

●​ When he is jumping over the river, he cannot be targeted by any ground

attacking units. The Log and Earthquake will fail to damage a Hog Rider
while he is jumping. Air troops can still attack him though, and the Inferno
Tower and Inferno Dragon will continue to ramp up their damage.
●​ Utilizing the jump, you can use the Hog Rider to distract a
Mega Knight. As Mega Knight crosses the river, place a Hog
Rider so that he jumps over the river. The Mega Knight will
jump at the Hog Rider, but as Hog Rider will be midair, he will
be unaffected by the Mega Knight's jump. After, he will
proceed to distract the Mega Knight further for a few
seconds.
●​ When countering the Hog Rider, using buildings would be your best bet.
But be wary, as the offender will usually play around him with cards such
as Earthquake. Air swarms such as Minion Horde, Skeleton Dragons,
and Bats can also help due to the Hog Rider's usual support cards not
countering them.
●​ On the offender's side, a powerful move is to accompany him
with an Earthquake, obliterating almost every building, and
also grounded swarms. To a lesser extent, Lightning could
also be used, retaining the same point of almost destroying
every building while also crippling troops such as the Wizard,
Witch, Mega Minion, Electro Dragon, Night Witch, Bandit,
 Electro Wizard, Archer Queen, Berserker, Fisherman,
Musketeer, Ice Wizard, or the Hunter.
●​ Using The Log to predict a Skeleton Army, Goblin Gang or even a
Tombstone will let your Hog Rider keep most of his hitpoints and your
opponent may not answer in time, letting your Hog Rider connect to the
Crown Tower. In Double Elixir, a Fireball can be used similarly to predict
against bulkier swarms like Barbarians.
●​ The Hog Rider can be paired with the Lumberjack as both a swarm bait
and damage combo. It is a very fast combo with an extremely high
damage output potential, so the defender will likely try to counter it with a
swarm. If this happens, the attacker should use a spell like Arrows to
render the defender poetically defenseless. If they manage to defeat the
Lumberjack, the dropped Rage will make the Hog Rider even more
dangerous than he normally is.
●​ A fast and deadly combination is the Hog Rider and Mini P.E.K.K.A
combo. Both units are fast but the Mini P.E.K.K.A does much more
damage and does not attack only buildings so the Mini P.E.K.K.A can
deal with troops like the Executioner, Wizard, Knight, Valkyrie, Royal
Ghost, Golden Knight, and Musketeer. However, this combo can be
defeated with swarms like Skeleton Army due to the Mini P.E.K.K.A's
single target, or by the opponent kiting the Mini P.E.K.K.A with a small
troop like Skeletons or Goblins to deal with the Hog Rider alone. They
are also unable to target air troops, so the Minion Horde or Evolved
Electro Dragon can stop this easily.
●​ A Hog Rider combined with a Goblin Barrel can be awkward for the
opponent to defend against. Timing it so that the Hog Rider is tanking the
tower shots for the Goblins is the most effective way to deal damage.
●​ A Barbarian Barrel can shut this down with minimal Tower
damage for a positive Elixir trade, as long as the Goblin
Barrel was placed directly on the Tower. Use another card
(such as a Cannon or Tesla) to counter the Hog Rider if
necessary.
●​ His fast movement speed can boost forward mini tanks like an Ice Golem
or a Valkyrie in a push. At the same time, he can also function as a tank
for lower-hitpoint troops such as Goblins, Skeletons, Spear Goblins,
Archers, and Guards, as he still has a fair amount of health. However,
the Hog Rider struggles with swarms, as they can damage him down and
defeat him quickly while obstructing his path, due to his inability to target
troops. Barbarians in particular can fully counter him without very strict
timing on the defender's part, though they are vulnerable to spells.
Swarm cards like Skeleton Army, Goblin Gang, and Minion Horde can
also very easily counter him, although with the same weakness.
●​ Use this to your advantage by placing a bulky anti-swarm
card in front of the Hog Rider (eg. Ice Golem, Valkyrie) so
 that the Hog Rider can transport the troop to the Tower faster
and also get protection from swarms in return.
●​ Most cheap swarms complement the Hog Rider well, as they are nearly
as fast as him and usually force more than one card out of the
opponent's hand.
●​ The Hog Rider in conjunction with the Freeze can surprise the opponent
and allow the Hog Rider to deal much more damage than anticipated,
especially if the opponent's go-to counter is a swarm, or swarms are their
only effective counter to him. Skeletons and Bats will immediately be
defeated by the spell, while Spear Goblins, Goblins, and Minions will be
at low enough health to be defeated by a follow up small spell.
●​ Against non-swarm troops, it can deal a lot of damage during
the freeze time, but this can allow the opponent to set up a
massive counterpush. For this reason, players should either
only go for a Hog Rider + Freeze when they have other units
backing it up from a counterattack, or if the match is about to
end and they need to deal as much damage as possible. The
exception to this is an Elixir Collector placed in front of the
King's Tower. If a Hog Rider placed at the bridge, he can
destroy the Elixir Collector for a positive Elixir trade, though
the damage from both Crown Towers will usually mean he
does not survive to deal any damage to them. However, if
the opponent sends in defending troops, it can be an
opportunity to gain spell damage value.
●​ It is obviously not a good idea to send in a Hog Rider simply to destroy a
building, especially if he is the only building targeting unit available, as
defeating Crown Towers becomes substantially more difficult. Spells,
long-range troops, or simply waiting out the lifetime of the building are
more effective.
●​ In a deck with several low-cost cards, it might be worth it to
simply send the Hog Rider against one building. These
decks, called "cycle decks", shuffle their card rotation quick
enough, that they will arrive to their next Hog Rider before
the next Hog Rider counter arrives in the opponent's card
rotation.
●​ When there are buildings placed in the middle to counter the Hog Rider,
understanding the placement of the Hog Rider and the type of building
placed can help the Hog Rider to bypass certain buildings.
●​ Passive buildings such as spawners have a larger hitbox
than defensive buildings; which means that if a passive
building was placed 3 tiles away from the river in the middle
of the opponent's side, then it is impossible for the Hog Rider
to bypass that placement. He'll just be pulled.
 ●​ Defensive buildings have a smaller hitbox than a passive
building, which means if that if a defensive building was
placed three tiles away from the river in the middle of the
opponent's side, a Hog Rider placed at the very left or right
side of the Arena may be able to bypass it due to its smaller
hitbox.
●​ If the player has a building already placed down in the center
of the arena, and the opponent tries to bypass it with a Hog
Rider at the edge of the Arena, they can use certain air
troops to push the Hog Rider towards the building as he
jumps over the river, effectively denying the bypass attempt.
They must be already hovering over the correct placement,
as very quick reflexes are required to correctly perform this
technique.
●​ For Bats, Skeleton Dragons, and Minion Horde,
they should be placed right in front of the Hog
Rider as soon as it is deployed.
●​ For Minions, Skeleton Barrel, Mega Minion,
Flying Machine, Electro Dragon, Baby Dragon,
Inferno Dragon, Balloon, and Lava Hound,
stagger the above placement one tile to the right
if the Hog Rider is placed on the left side of the
Arena, and vice versa.
●​ They can also use ground troops to achieve the same result.
Something like an Ice Golem deployed at the Hog Rider’s
landing spot will obstruct his path and force him to go around
the unit, which causes him to be closer to the building
instead of the Crown Tower.
●​ The Hog Rider can kite Very Fast non-building targeting troops due to his
own Very Fast speed and building only targeting if he is placed on the
fourth tile from the bridge, slightly into the opposite lane. He can also
stall grounded units when placed right at the bridge. He will pull them
towards him while deploying, and then be untargetable by them when he
jumps over the bridge. After landing, he will pull them back. This can be
useful when the player needs to deal damage in the same lane they are
defending. It will also help separate troops behind a tank in a large push.
●​ A very powerful combo is the Hog Rider, the Musketeer, and the Valkyrie,
typically referred to as the Trifecta. The Musketeer will defend against
most troops, while the Valkyrie can protect her and the Hog Rider from
swarms or high damage units. The Hog Rider is used to deal damage to
the tower. However, this is for a whopping 12 Elixir.
●​ This can be effectively countered by Lightning, one-shotting
the Musketeer and severely damaging both the Valkyrie and
Hog Rider. The Minion Horde is also effective, but the enemy
 can Zap them and the Musketeer will one-shot them all.
Even if the Musketeer is defeated, the Hog Rider and
Valkyrie will have enough time to severely damage the
Tower. The P.E.K.K.A can hard counter this strategy allowing
relatively low damage and being able to start a counterpush
for a 5 Elixir advantage.
●​ The Hog Rider should be placed behind the Valkyrie to give
her a boost so that she stays in front of the Hog Rider,
protecting him.
●​ Pairing the Hog Rider with the Balloon can deal devastating damage. If
executed properly, the Hog Rider will act as a tank while the Balloon
threatens to deal massive damage. The Hog Rider can also destroy any
buildings attempting to slow down the combo. However, this combo is
very vulnerable to swarms and anti-air cards as they only target
buildings. Additionally, they are easy to separate, due to the disparity in
move speeds. Alternatively, the Hog Rider and the Balloon can be played
in different lanes to spread the opponent's defenses thin. However, a
building or Tornado can bring them back together for an easier defense.
●​ A solid play is to deploy the Hog Rider at the bridge as soon as the
match starts or when you reach 10 Elixir which is safer. If the opponent
does not react fast enough or has a bad starting hand, the Hog Rider will
deal a significant amount of damage to the Crown Tower. This can also
allow the player to quickly scout the opponent's deck if they happen to
react to him fast enough.
●​ A Hunter can kill the Hog Rider in 2 hits if placed right on top of him.
However, if the opponent places something in front of the Hog Rider, the
Hunter's shot will transfer overkill damage to said card.
●​ A good placement and timing with Guards and The Log will fully counter
the Hog Rider, canceling all Hog hits. This works with Goblins as well.
●​ A Tornado placed on the second tile front of the player's King's Tower
and staggered two tiles towards the Crown Tower will activate it without
any damage dealt to the Crown Tower, helping them in defending future
pushes. This can also be a method of mitigating all damage dealt to a
Crown Tower, but doing this more than three times may result in the
King's Tower's health being low enough to be targeted directly, opening
up the possible threat of a back door three crown. Make sure to avoid
this by stopping the tornado's if your king tower is at low enough health.
●​ A Fisherman timed perfectly can pull a Hog Rider without him dealing
damage, activating the King's Tower. When it has already been
activated, put the Fisherman closer to the river rather than the King's
Tower so the Hog Rider will be pulled to a safer location for you.
●​ Using a Rocket on a Hog Rider is sometimes a good play, especially if
you do not have a good response in hand or if you can clip something
else along with the Hog Rider.
Statistics

C Hit First Spe Dep Ran Tar C Tran T R

o Sp Hit ed loy ge get o spor y ar
s ee Spe Tim u t p it
t d ed e nt e y

4 1.6 0.6 Very 1 Mele Buil x1 Grou T R

sec sec Fast sec e: ding nd r ar
(120 Short s o e
) (0.8) o
p

Level Hitpoints Damage Damage per second

3 802 150 93

4 881 164 102

5 967 181 113

6 1,060 198 123

7 1,166 218 136

8 1,279 239 149

9 1,405 262 163

10 1,544 288 180

 11 1,697 317 198

12 1,863 348 217

13 2,048 383 239

14 2,247 420 262

15 2,466 461 288

16 2,711 507 316

Card Mastery

Type Leve Objective Rewards

l/Tier
Damage Dealer 1 Deal a total of 85,000 100 Hog Rider
Damage to enemy Troops or cards
buildings

50

2 Deal a total of 250,000

4,000
Damage to enemy Troops or
buildings

50

3 Deal a total of 420,000

100
Damage to enemy Troops or
buildings

50

Tower Tapper 1 Hit enemy Crown Towers a

6,000
total of 560 times

125

2 Hit enemy Crown Towers a 100

total of 1,600 times
 125

3 Hit enemy Crown Towers a

9,000
total of 2,800 times

125

Siege Weapon 1 Hit towers at least 10 times

6,000
within a single battle a total of
80 times

175

2 Hit towers at least 10 times

8,000
within a single battle a total of
240 times

175

3 Hit towers at least 10 times

10,000
within a single battle a total of
480 times

175

Sound Effects
 Sound Effect Action Description Line

Deploymen Plays when the Hog

t Rider is deployed.

Deploy End Occasionally plays after "HOG

the Hog Rider is RIDER!"
deployed.

Walk Plays when the Hog is

moving.

Attack Plays when the Hog

Rider attacks
something.

Hit Plays when the Hog

Rider hits his target.

History
2016

●​ The Hog Rider card was added with Clash Royale's game launch on
4/1/2016.
●​ On 29/2/2016, the March 2016 Update, decreased the Hog Rider's sight
range to 9.5 tiles (from 10 tiles). It also changed the Hog Rider's sound
effects. Previously, his sound effects were identical to those of the
Barbarians.
●​ On 3/5/2016, the May 2016 Update, increased the Rare card Level cap
to 11 (from 10). The update also fixed the “range bug”, which decreased
the Hog Rider's range to 0.8 tiles (from 1.4 tiles), but his effective range
was unchanged.
●​ On 21/6/2016, a Balance Update, decreased the Hog Rider's damage by
6%.
2017

●​ On 22/11/2017, a maintenance break, temporarily removed the Hog

Rider from the Touchdown mode.
●​ On 12/12/2017, the Electrifying Update, increased the Hog Rider’s attack
time interval to 1.6 seconds (from 1.5 seconds) and his first attack time
interval to 0.6 seconds (from 0.5 seconds).

2018

●​ On 20/6/2018, the Summer 2018 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the
Hog Rider from P.E.K.K.A's Playhouse to Goblin Stadium.
●​ On 5/9/2018, the September 2018 Update, changed it so that Rare cards
start at Level 3 and end at Level 13 (from 1 to 11).

2019

●​ On 26/11/2019, the End of November 2019 Update, removed the Hog

Rider from Mega Deck Touchdown. It also added a card render to the
Hog Rider's card info screen.

2021

●​ On 7/6/2021, the Summer 2021 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the
Hog Rider from Goblin Stadium to Spell Valley.
●​ On 2/9/2021, a maintenance break, changed the Hog Rider's card
render.
●​ On 27/10/2021, the Champions Update, increased the Level cap of all
cards to 14 (from 13).

2022

●​ On 26/10/2022, the 2022 Quarter 3 Update, moved the Arena to unlock

the Hog Rider from Spell Valley to Builder's Workshop. It also added the
Siege Weapon Card Mastery task for the Hog Rider.

2023

●​ On 19/6/2023, the Card Evolution Update, increased the Level cap of all
cards to 15 (from 14).

2025

●​ On 31/3/2025, the 2025 Quarter 1 Update, increased the Hog Rider's

hitpoints by 0.05% and decreased his damage by 0.31%.