Mega Knight

Main article
 
The Mega Knight is a Legendary card from Clash Royale that is unlocked from the Electro Valley (Arena 11) or a Legendary Chest. He is a melee-ranged splash damage troop with very high health and moderate splash damage. When deployed, he will deal damage around enemy units around him in a 360º area around him, which deals 160% the amount of damage as his regular attack. If there are ground units between 3.5 and 5 tiles of him, he will stop moving and begin charging a jump attack which takes about a second, which deals double the damage than his regular attack. However, he's still vulnerable mid-air while jumping, and unlike a mid-air Hog Rider, cards like X-Bow will remain locked on to him. He appears with black spiked fists and huge armor, along with grey chainmail and a team-colored belt. A Mega Knight card costs 7 Elixir to deploy. 
== Strategy==
*His spawn damage is slightly less than a Royal Delivery, which makes him useful for quickly defeating cards with similar health to a Musketeer or Wizard. He will then only require two more regular attacks to defeat them fully.
*The Mega Knight's high spawn damage and very high hitpoints make him a bit hard to defeat on the opposing side. He can get enormous value against massive pushes because of this. However, he can be countered relatively easily if alone.
*Mega Knight has great defensive potential, but despite everything, he is not effective at taking out tanks such as the Golem. His main defensive potential comes from his very high health and his spawn and jump damage obliterating support troops and glass cannons.
*He is very good at countering equally-leveled Elite Barbarians, thanks to his high spawn damage and knockback. Make sure that the Mega Knight is placed in such the way that both Elite Barbarians are knocked towards the same direction such that he would be able to damage down both at the same time, and spare enough health for a counterattack.
**However, if the Elite Barbarians are at a higher Level, do not attempt to use a Mega Knight on them. The Mega Knight would only chip at most 4/5 of their HP off before being completely overwhelmed. A swarm card or P.E.K.K.A. would be better to fully defeat them.
*When a Mega Knight is finished countering defensively, pair him with support or offense, as he appears less strong alone.
*The Mega Knight works especially well with the Inferno Dragon, as they compliment each other's weakness. Mega Knight can take out ranged glass cannons and swarms that counter the Inferno Dragon. The Inferno Dragon in turn can sear tanks Mega Knight would struggle to deal enough damage to. However, it can be somewhat countered by air swarms so be sure to bring spells to deal with them.
**Despite this combo being able to counter P.E.K.K.A., she can survive and start a counterpush as long as helped by an Electro Wizard for a neutral Elixir trade, but it requires some alignment. You should place your P.E.K.K.A. some tiles away from them, forcing the Mega Knight to jump and the Inferno Dragon to reach her position slowly due to its short range, then deploying the Electro Wizard to zap it down. Remember to take caution as the Mega Knight could retarget onto him and leave your P.E.K.K.A. helpless.
** A similar strategy is to combine Mega Knight & P.E.K.K.A. in a push, as they also counter each other’s weaknesses. While it can be more threatening, it is extremely expensive at 14 Elixir, often requiring that 1 of them be used on defense beforehand, which can whittle down their hitpoints. It is also even weaker to air units. You also shouldn't put two of them in the same deck for they are very expensive and you are left vulnerable to a punishment for your lack of Elixir. Instead, consider a Mini P.E.K.K.A., as it is obviously cheaper.
*The Mega Knight is helpless against air troops such as Minions and Bats, so it is best to pair him with other troops that can attack air, by using such as the Archers, the Mega Minion, or the Executioner.
*Since the Mega Knight's damage per second without his initial jump is somewhat low, other highly damaging units like the Prince can synergise with him well, helping him take out tanks while the Mega Knight helps deal with swarms. Air units like the Minions and the Bats also work well, but are usually vulnerable to spells.
*A powerful but odd combo is pairing him with the Ram Rider, as he will stomp on cards that will stop the Ram Rider such as stuns like Zappies or buildings like Tesla. You also cannot distract both simultaneously with troops, which is important as the Ram Rider will most likely get damage.
*When using him to counter a reactive pack of Royal Recruits, be careful for the other side of the Recruits approaching. Alternatively, you can use an Ice Golem to bring them all together, so that the Mega Knight can spawn right on top of all of them.
*The Mega Knight can be a potential counter to the Sparky. If the Sparky has low enough health and is about to cross the bridge, the spawn damage from the Mega Knight might be able to knock it out. If you time it correctly, the Mega Knight will absorb the Sparky's shot and with the help of a Tower, be able to destroy the Sparky. This will leave you with a relatively high health Mega Knight to do a counter-attack with. However, if the Sparky somehow manages to defeat the Mega Knight, then it is a negative trade of 1 Elixir for you.
*The Mega Knight can be used to counter a Goblin Barrel but it requires precise timing. His spawn damage can defeat all three Goblins if timed correctly — ideally, he should be deployed at the back of the Tower when the Goblin Barrel’s shadow crosses the river. This is, again, 7 Elixir for 3, but the counterpush potential is huge. Be cautious.
**If you find this too hard to execute, you can deploy the Mega Knight between two Goblins which will prevent most of the damage dealt to your Tower. This is done by placing the Mega Knight in between the top Goblin and the one at the bottom. Be aware of tricky barrels however.
*The Mega Knight is a simple card to use on your side, but be wary as it is more defense-orientated than offense. When you see a bunch of squishy troops, put him in, and you'll be left with a counterpushing one, which may gain some offensive value when the opponent can't counter.
*One of the keys to defeating the Mega Knight is timing. To counter the Mega Knight properly, the counter unit should generally be placed no more than three tiles away from him, so that he doesn't initiate his jump attack and deal massive damage. Without it, his damage per second is somewhat low for his Elixir cost. In fact, he won't be able to one hit weak cards like the Bomber, even if he is up to 2 levels higher.
**Using the above strategy, ground tanks like the Knight and the Valkyrie (obviously save for the Ice Golem, as a kite wouldn't be enough.) or high-damage glass cannons like the Mini P.E.K.K.A. or the Goblin Brawler are the most Elixir-efficient counters to a lone Mega Knight coming onto the defender's side of the arena. With the help of the Princess Tower, the Mega Knight will not be able to take them before they are defeated.
*Similar to the Bandit, the Mega Knight will re-target onto any troop placed nearby him if his original target ends up being farther away than the newly spawned troop. If the defender is in a situation where they know they cannot prevent his jump from occurring, they can still place a cheap troop like Skeletons in front of him right before he is about to jump to soak up the damage. 
**However, the Mega Knight's jump mechanic is not purely identical to the Bandit's dash ability. His charge time is 0.1 seconds higher but does not make him invincible. He will still take damage while he is airborne and can be defeated mid-air. Interestingly, while in mid-air, The Log, Earthquake and Bowler will not be able to damage him, but an X-Bow or Mortar will stay locked onto an airborne Mega Knight. As a result, he counters these siege buildings well as his jump is difficult to react to at the bridge and will take out a majority of their health. He can also take care of the weaker support troops backing up the building after taking it out. Sparky and Bomber will also hit the Mega Knight even when he jumps.
**Like the Bandit, a Mega Knight will retain his jumping ability, and cloning him, will not interrupt the original troop's actions. However, the cloned unit will not inherit the current status of the troop. Additionally, a jumping Mega Knight will not produce another clone that is already jumping, and it still needs to charge up its ability.
***Cloned Mega Knights do not inflict spawn damage,
**A Bandit can fully counter a lone Mega Knight. By deploying her 4 tiles from the river and 3 tiles from the Princess Tower when the Mega Knight is 2 or 3 tiles from the river, she will dash at just the right time to nullify the jump damage of the Mega Knight as well as lure him into range of both Princess Towers.
*The P.E.K.K.A. is a very effective, and arguably it's a hard-counter to the Mega Knight, as her high damage per second and high hitpoints allow her to defeat the Mega Knight 1-on-1 even without a Princess Tower helping. It can also wreck the Mega Knight's support cards, save for air troops. After defending, she will have a fair amount of hitpoints remaining in case the player would like to counterpush. In the case that your opponent reveals that they have P.E.K.K.A. first, it is best to drop the Mega Knight in the other lane as it is unlikely that they will have much Elixir to counter your Mega Knight. Additionally, the Mega Knight moves much faster than the P.E.K.K.A., and is harder to distract with swarms, making the P.E.K.K.A. approaching your Tower fairly easy to deal with.
*An Inferno Tower, Inferno Dragon, or Mighty Miner can take out the Mega Knight as long as their ramp-up attack is uninterrupted. If they do get interrupted once, spending a bit more Elixir to deploy a distraction unit, such as an Ice Golem, will keep the Mega Knight in place and can allow either Inferno to defeat the Mega Knight, keeping a positive Elixir trade (if you use Inferno Dragon + Ice Golem).
*Bats and Cannon (or any other defensive tower), can counter Mega Knight pretty well if he gets distracted by a defensive tower. When he is distracted, Bats can be placed to swarm the Mega Knight and eventually take him out. This strategy is only recommended when the Mega Knight has taken prior damage since Bats isn't the best damage dealer and can't usually take out a tank by itself.
**Conversely, Bats also synergise rather well with the Mega Knight. The Bats provide DPS and air coverage for the Mega Knight, while the Mega Knight takes out swarms, mini-tanks and tanks tower shots for the Bats. This combination can be both defensively effective and offensively deadly if played correctly.
*A Zap spell will not stop the Mega Knight from jumping once his charge initiates, neither does any stun effect. The jump can only be stopped if he is defeated mid-air, by using The Log, or if the player uses other cards to pull him out of his jumping range like a Tornado. When he is already mid-jump, only the Fisherman's dragging ability can cancel its effect.
**If the Mega Knight is stunned while in the air, he will still land normally, however, he will remain stunned after landing down. Because of this, Freeze can be used to save some time for the defender to deploy a troop in such a way that the Mega Knight does not jump a second time. However, this is situational and not practical during single Elixir time.
*A Skeleton Army is typically not effective against the Mega Knight. In most cases, the Mega Knight will destroy the Skeleton Army even when he's surrounded due to his large splash radius. However, if he has around half of his hitpoints left, it can be effective to use the Skeleton Army on him.
**However, a Skeleton Army can be useful in taking him out if you have a tank soaking up the damage for them. You can place a tank in front of Mega Knight and place a Skeleton Army behind the Mega Knight.
**Skeleton Army can fully counter the Mega Knight if placed correctly, if you put the Skeleton Army right at the middle of the tower slightly veering to the opposite side of the Mega Knight right as the Mega Knight jumps, a few Skeletons will distract the Mega Knight as the other Skeletons will come to their aid. The Mega Knight will die with one or two Skeletons surviving with no damage done on the Princess Tower.
*The defender can use the Mega Knight's jump mechanic against him and activate their King's Tower with an Ice Spirit and Skeletons. The player should wait for the Mega Knight to approach their Princess Tower, and when he is about to jump, deploy the Ice Spirit four tiles from the King's Tower and one tile into his lane to redirect his jump. Afterwards, they should place Skeletons one tile from the King's Tower and one tile away from his lane, right before he jumps a second time. If done correctly, he will head towards the King's Tower after jumping onto the Skeletons, activating it. This will deal significant damage to the player's King's Tower however, so it is not recommended to perform this more than once.
*Likewise, Tombstone can also lure the Mega Knight into activating King's Tower, given the Tombstone is deployed right in front of the King's Tower to the Mega Knight side (7-2 placement). The Mega Knight will jump closer to the Tombstone and eventually destroy it, targeting the King's Tower afterward. For a slightly more expensive, but more consistent King activation, the Tombstone can be placed higher up, such as with a placement 5 tiles from the river and 2 tiles from the Princess Tower. After its destruction, the player can place a troop that is one shot by the Mega Knight's jump close to the King's Tower.
*Heavy swarm cards such as the Barbarians and Royal Recruits are an effective counter to the Mega Knight when played reactively, provided his jump is negated. They will counter him for a +2 Elixir trade. 3 of the Barbarians will survive, demanding further response, while for the Royal Recruits, some of them are spawned in the other lane, which also demand response.
*When you suspect that your opponent is running a Mega Knight, it is not advised to clump up troops together in a small area proactively, as he will reap massive value. To play around him when proactively playing an offensive card like Royal Hogs, splitting them in the middle of the Arena is always an option.
*A very common mistake among players is to defend against him with glass cannons such as the Musketeer or the Wizard without support. It is highly advised to distract him with a tank such as the Knight when you want to defend him using this route.
==Trivia== 
*The word "Knight" comes from the German "Knecht", meaning servant or vassal. Originally, knights were associated with mounted warriors, later being considered a class of lower nobility, until eventually, knighthood had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings.
*The Mega Knight is 1 of 19 troops that originated from Clash Royale and reappear in Clash Mini, the others being Knight, Spear Goblins, Mini P.E.K.K.A., Musketeer, Battle Healer, Dart Goblin, Guards, Prince, Giant Skeleton, Electro Wizard, Miner, Royal Ghost, Ice Wizard, Magic Archer, Bandit, Lumberjack, Fisherman, and the Skeleton King.
*The Mega Knight, the Electro Wizard, and the Ice Wizard are the only troops that deal spawn damage. Unlike the other two, the Mega Knight's spawn damage does not affect air troops.
*The Mega Knight and Lava Hound are the most expensive permanent cards, costing 7 Elixir.
*The Mega Knight has the highest hitpoints of every card.
*The Mega Knight is 1 of 4 troops that has been featured as a raged troop in the Built deck game mode, the others being Giant, Giant Skeleton, and Ram Rider.
*Since the description implies it lands with the force of "1,000 mustaches", it is implied that the force of 1 mustache deals approximately 0.429 damage at Tournament Standard.
*When the Mega Knight is defeated, his spiked fists fall to the ground. The other units that drop items upon death are the Knight, Rascal Boy, Mega Minion, Dark Prince, Executioner, Sparky, Fisherman, and the Golden Knight.
*The Mega Knight is the subject of 3 Emotes.
*A cloned Mega Knight does not fall from the sky when deployed.
Category:Clash Royale