Sparky

Main article 
The Sparky is a Legendary card from Clash Royale that is unlocked from the Electro Valley (Arena 11) or a Legendary Chest. She is a slow, area damage, medium-ranged troop with moderately high hitpoints and extremely high area damage. Sparky will charge up over time, releasing her attack when it is full and when an enemy is within its range. However, this charge can be reset by a stun effect. A common example is the Zap card which can reset Sparky's charge. She takes the appearance a front-facing tesla coil with an attached steel ram and a base with 4 wooden wheels. A Sparky card costs 6 Elixir to deploy.
==Strategy==
*Due to her massive damage, Sparky is capable of taking out high hitpoint troops such as Giant, Royal Giant, and Elite Barbarians in just a few hits.
*Electro Wizard, Electro Dragon, and Zappies are very reliable counters to the Sparky, being able to permanently stun her until she's destroyed for a positive Elixir trade.
*The Sparky is most effectively used in counterattacking, being able to decimate entire pushes for large Elixir trades thanks to her attack's high area damage and radius. Her slow attacking and movement speed leaves her vulnerable on offense when she is alone, and her high 6 Elixir cost will leave the player at a deficit for some time.
*Players can also use Sparky to counter the P.E.K.K.A. However, if the P.E.K.K.A is at least two levels higher than Sparky, it could be risky as the P.E.K.K.A will survive 2 blasts from her and eventually destroy Sparky due to her very high damage and hitpoints.
*Because Sparky deals immense damage but can be easily countered, she is best used as a support troop, ideally behind a high hitpoint tank that targets buildings like the Golem or Giant. Having the tank target buildings means that it will separate itself from the Sparky when units are deployed to defend, making it more difficult for the opponent to hit them both with area damage cards. Additionally, her massive damage may cause the opponent to overcommit and focus too many cards onto the Sparky, allowing the tank to sneak by and deal a significant amount of damage to the Princess Tower.
*Sparky pairs well with the Goblin Giant, due to the fact that the Goblin Giant tanks for her, while the Spear Goblins on his back take out air troops that would normally give Sparky trouble. However, the Goblin Giant's hitpoints are rather low, so the Sparky is still somewhat vulnerable.
*Regular tanks can also be effective, but they may be less consistent in getting to a Tower. For example, a P.E.K.K.A. is helpful for when the opponent has high-health units that Sparky cannot defeat in one shot, allowing both of them to finish them off, but the combo is very costly and is weak to air units and swarms. The Mega Knight is also helpful when Sparky is surrounded by swarms, also allowing both of them to clean them up at once, but may take longer to defeat tanks while still being costly and helpless against air units. However, if they are supported by the right units, the tank's ability to take down units can allow the push to take down a tower in a single swoop.
* A Rage spell can throw off the opponent's expectation of when exactly she will fire, possibly allowing her to land a deadly shot on a Crown Tower. This is more effective later as an offense when the opponent has already exhausted several distraction units.
*Sparky's massive damage can be wasted on weak, low cost troops like Ice Spirit or Goblins, or on shielded troops such as Guards. With that being said, make sure to play splash units such as the Bomber, Executioner, or the Fire Spirit along with the Sparky to kill low hitpoint troops to clear the way for Sparky.
*Sparky cannot attack air troops. This means that air troops like Minions and Bats can quickly defeat a Sparky, remaining unharmed.
* A Tornado pairs extremely well with Sparky and any other splash support troops since it drags them together, allowing them to be easily defeated. Dragging them onto the Crown Tower is even more effective since they will hit the tower and the opposing troops at the same time.
*Zap, Freeze, and Lightning are spells that can reset Sparky's charge attack. While they cannot defeat her alone, they can be paired with troops that would be otherwise one-shot by the Sparky, allowing them to be saved for a counterattack.
*Keep in mind that Sparky is not the best tank killer, despite her massive damage. A Mini P.E.K.K.A or a pair of Elite Barbarians actually does a lot more damage per second than her. Therefore, if one needs to quickly defeat a threat with a lot of hitpoints such as a Royal Giant, using a Mini P.E.K.K.A. or Elite Barbarians can destroy it quicker.
* A lone Sparky may be countered with a Tombstone along with the help of a Tower. Due to the Sparky's slow attack speed, the spawned Skeletons will distract her indefinitely. If placed correctly, the Skeletons can distract Sparky while the Arena Tower will destroy her. Even if the Sparky gets a hit on the Tombstone, the 4 spawned Skeletons will cause more distractions.
*The Graveyard is an effective counter for a lone Sparky since it will distract her for a maximum of 7 seconds and has a high chance of destroying her. The random nature of the spawned Skeletons hinders the efficiency of any supporting splash units, as they will have trouble hitting multiple units at once, leaving plenty of time for the defender to deal with the push.
*Surrounding her with land swarms such as Skeleton Army, Guards, Skeletons, Goblins, or Goblin Gang will cause her to eliminate only a fraction of the whole unit, allowing surviving ones and Crown Towers to attack her. However, this should not be done when a splash troop such as the Magic Archer or Wizard are around.
*High damage cards like the P.E.K.K.A, Giant Skeleton, Rocket, and Lightning can cripple if not destroy Sparky. However, Sparky does deal area damage within a large radius so poorly placed Barbarians and Goblin Gangs will be wiped out immediately due to their lower count. However, placing them in a circle formation around the Sparky would combat this. Another thing to remember is that Sparky hardly ever comes in alone, so the defender's air units may be vulnerable to support cards.
*The Rocket hard counters Sparky due to its high damage, capable of destroying an equivalent-leveled Sparky in one hit. If you suspect that your opponent has a Rocket, try placing your Sparky in the middle and not on the behind your Princess Tower since the opponent may use the Rocket to kill Sparky and damage your Princess tower. If your opponent has one, you can continue placing it in the middle to force them to use Rocket on her solely (preventing them from using it on a Crown Tower or other troops) or try baiting their Rocket by deploying other expensive troops (like Elite Barbarians).
*A Mini P.E.K.K.A. can be effective at supporting a Sparky when faced with units that do not die to her blast in one shot. The Mini P.E.K.K.A. can quickly finish them off and allow her to keep advancing. The Mini P.E.K.K.A will also deny the opponent from deploying an Electro Wizard on top of her if they have one, as he will immediately be defeated by the Mini P.E.K.K.A. in one shot and only stun the Sparky once.
*On the contrary, a Mini P.E.K.K.A. is effective against an enemy Sparky. He will be able to survive just barely one blast from her and defeat her in 2 hits in return. Beware of troops that might be assisting the Sparky however. Also, try not to place the Mini P.E.K.K.A. too far away, otherwise the Sparky will kill him while not taking enough damage in return. A Mini P.E.K.K.A. that is 1 Level lower than the Sparky will be killed in one blast by a Sparky.
*Sparky hardly ever comes alone. The defender can use this to their advantage and pressure the other lane to force the Sparky user to defend, and prevent them from creating a Sparky combo, allowing them to then defend the lone Sparky with ease. However, the player should be sure not to overcommit as even a single Sparky shot on a Crown Tower is deadly.
*Sparky's slow movement speed often results in all of its support clumping up around her. This means it is very easy to gain large positive Elixir trades with a Rocket or a Giant Skeleton. Rocket can destroy an equal level Sparky, and a Giant Skeleton can cripple a Sparky and everything around her.
*When Sparky fires off her shot, she will recoil back 1.5 tiles. When using her to defend a push, try not to put her in the middle. She could easily push herself into the other lane after firing. The recoil is also helpful in defense, as she will stay away from slower troops and possibly survive for longer.
*The Sparky pairs excellently with the Fisherman, due to the fact that if the opponent tries to punish the Sparky's deployment with an attack in the opposite lane, the Fisherman can pull it into the range of the Sparky, which would blast it. This, however, is ineffective against swarms or air units.
*Against an Electro Giant, Sparky does not have much trouble as opposed to other cards that can stun her, because he will only stun her after she hits him. However, it is still advisable to place Sparky at a distance from the Electro Giant, so that she does not take unnecessary damage from his counterattacking capabilities and the stuns that he could do to her might allow him to get extra damage to the Princess Tower.
==History==
2016
*The Sparky card was added to the game on 3/5/2016, in the May 2016 Update.
*On 4/7/2016, the Tournaments Update, changed her description. It used to read "Sparky has a heavy-handed approach in life: Obliterate everything in sight."
*On 19/9/2016, the September 2016 Update, changed her description. It used to read "With coils of iron and wheels of wood, the Sparky unloads massive damage to opponents. Overkill isn't in her dictionary."
*On 1/11/2016, the November 2016 Update, changed her description slightly. It used to read "Sparky slowly charges up, then unloads MASSIVE area damage. Overkill isn't in her dictionary".
2017
*On 9/10/2017, the Epic Quests Update, decreased the Sparky's damage by 15% and decreased her attack time interval to 4 seconds (from 5 seconds).
2018
*On 25/4/2018, the Clan Wars Update, fixed a bug where Sparky's hit would reset if she was knocked out of range while charging.
*On 20/6/2018, the Summer 2018 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Sparky from Builder's Workshop (Arena 6) to Electro Valley (Arena 11).
*On 5/9/2018, the September 2018 Update, changed it so that cards start at Level 9 and end at Level 13 (from 1 to 5).
*On 5/12/2018, the December 2018 Update, increased the Sparky's range to 5 tiles (from 4.5 tiles). This change was not mentioned in any change notes and was later said to be unintentional by Supercell, and as such it got reverted in 7/12/2018, in a maintenance break.
2019
*On 7/1/2019, a Balance Update, reverted the Sparky to her state on 5/12/2018. More specifically, the Sparky's range was increased to 5 tiles (from 4.5 tiles).
2020
*On 7/1/2020, a Balance Update, removed the Sparky from all Draft selections. However, she remained in Triple Draft.
*On 3/11/2020, a Balance Update, increased the Sparky's first attack time interval to 1 second (from 0.5 seconds).
2021 
*On 2/9/2021, a maintenance break, added a card render to the Sparky's card info screen.
*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, fixed a bug where Sparky was not reset when hit by Electro Spirit at the same time she was being hooked by Fisherman.
2023
*On 19/6/2023, the Card Evolution Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 15 (from 14). It also fixed an issue with Sparky's charge sound effects.
== Trivia ==
*The name "Sparky" is a masculine name of Middle English and Old Norse origins from the surname "Spark", meaning “lively”, “high-spirited”, “sprightly”, and “vivacious”. Despite it being a masculine name, Sparky has been confirmed to be female, according to her card description.
**In the French, German, and Chinese language settings of the game, the Sparky's name translates to "Zappy", "Funki", and "Electromagnetic Gun" respectively.
*The Sparky is 1 of 9 cards associated with electricity, with the others being Electro Spirit, Zap, Tesla, Zappies, Electro Dragon, Electro Giant, Lightning, and Electro Wizard.
**The Tesla and the Sparky are the only cards associated with electricity that don't stun.
*The Sparky has the highest damage of all troops in the game, with 1,760 damage at Level 14.
*The Sparky has the lowest attack speed of all troops in the game, with an attack speed of 4 seconds.
*The Sparky is 1 of 3 troops to recoil when attacking, the others being Firecracker and Super Archers.
*The Sparky has been featured in multiple special game modes outside of the card. More specifically: 
**The Sparky is 1 of 22 troops that has been featured in the Troop Rush game mode, the others being Skeletons, Skeleton Dragons, Fire Spirit, Bats, Elite Barbarians, Firecracker, Rascal Girls, Royal Hogs, Heal Spirit, Elixir Golem, Guards, Prince, Balloon, Golem, Wall Breakers, Ram Rider, Phoenix, Royal Ghost, Bandit, Lumberjack, and the Monk.
**The Sparky is 1 of 3 troops that has been featured in the Capture the Troop sub-mode of the Treasure Hunt game mode, the others being Fisherman and the Archer Queen.
*The Sparky is 1 of 14 troops which bring an excited reaction from the audience upon spawning and brings a collective groan from the audience when defeated, as well as a concerning gasp when the opponent plays her, the others include Royal Giant, Giant, P.E.K.K.A., Giant Skeleton, Goblin Giant, Golem, Bowler, Electro Wizard, Inferno Dragon, Lava Hound, Night Witch, Super Lava Hound, and the Monk.
*The three notes Sparky makes when charging up are C, E♭, and G♭, making a diminished c-minor chord if put together.
*There is a Loading Screen Hint that directly refers to a nickname for her. It says: "Calling Sparky a trash can on wheels hurts her feelings." This may suggest that Sparky is a sentient being.
*The second part of the card description is also used as a Loading Screen Hint.
*When an enemy Sparky is defeated, her wheels fall to the ground. However, if a friendly Sparky is defeated, nothing is dropped. The other units that drop items upon defeat are the Knight, Rascal Boy, Mega Minion, Dark Prince, Executioner, Mega Knight, Fisherman, and the Golden Knight.
*The Sparky is the subject of 4 Emotes.
*A cloned Sparky does not fall from the sky when deployed.
*The initial balance change for Sparky on the 7/1/2019 balance changes was a range increase to 4.75 tiles (from 4.5 tiles), but it was raised to 5 tiles last minute.
Category:Clash Royale