Fisherman (Clash Royale)

Main article File:FishermanCard.png

The Fisherman is a Legendary card from Clash Royale that is unlocked from the Miner's Mine (Arena 15) or a Legendary Chest. He is a single-target, melee troop with moderate hitpoints and damage. He can throw a hook which either pulls enemy troops towards him, or pulls himself towards buildings. Hooked units will be slowed in movement and attack speed by 35% for 2.5 seconds. While moving to a building with his hook, he can still be damaged, unlike a dashing Bandit. A Fisherman card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

## Strategy

* The Fisherman's hook has a range of 7 tiles. Players should keep this in mind when deciding where to place him against enemy troops to pull them.
* In 1-on-1 battles, the Fisherman is mediocre against any troop with high damage at close range, so players should avoid using the Fisherman alone to reel in troops that deal high amounts of damage to close targets such as a Hunter, Mini P.E.K.K.A. or a P.E.K.K.A. unless they desperately need to pull it away from their Tower. However, pairing the card with swarm troops like Skeletons  or Guards  to distract the enemy troop can protect the Fisherman and allow it to stay on the board for a counterpush.
* On the contrary, the Fisherman can synergize well with close-range melee troops as the Fisherman can pull enemy troops closer to them so the troop is able to hit more easily. A very powerful version of this synergy is the Fisherman + Hunter combo. The Fisherman's health pool can allow it to tank for the somewhat frail Hunter, and the Hunter will be able to land all of his shots thanks to the Fisherman hooking units towards them.
* The Fisherman is best used as a defensive support card to separate a tank from support troops, primarily building-targeting units. Players should avoid cycling him in the back as opponent may take advantage of his hook and make him pull something unfavourable towards their Tower, like a Giant Skeleton.
	+ He can counter a Hog Rider completely, with or without a King Tower activation. The player should hover the Fisherman on the third tile from the river and on the second tile horizontally in the opposite lane they think the Hog Rider will be deployed in. Once the Hog Rider has been deployed, drop the Fisherman as the Hog Rider's deploy timer is halfway finished. The Hog Rider will just barely be defeated before swinging at the Princess Tower.
	+ If timed correctly, the Fisherman can counter a same-level lone Mega Knight by pulling him towards the King Tower and having both Princess Towers target it. If you don't feel too safe doing this, you can place a Mini P.E.K.K.A to help finish it off.
	+ If the Fisherman is always played close to the river to hook away troops that target buildings, the attacking player can distract its hook with cheap swarms, allowing the building chaser to get to the Tower uninterrupted.
* Fisherman can be used against most building chasers or melee area damage troops to activate the King's Tower by placing him in front of it, slightly into the opposite lane. Most of the time, the Princess Tower will be forced to take a bit of damage before the King's Tower is activated, so the player should only do this if their Tower is still healthy.
	+ Against continuous ranged splashers like the Magic Archer, placing the Fisherman on the fourth tile vertically from the King's Tower and the third tile horizontally from the Princess Tower as the troop walks in his range will force a King activation after hooking them.
	+ The Fisherman can be deployed slightly earlier against building chasers so that he will hook them right as they are about to attack the Princess Tower, resulting in no damage. However, missing this timing will cause the King Tower activation to fail completely.
	+ Note that regardless of timing, all three Crown Towers will be distracted with the troop on the King's Tower for a short amount of time. The opponent may deploy frail, high damage troops on offense to take advantage of this vulnerability. If the player knows they won't have enough Elixir to counter follow up troops, it may be better to defend the building chaser normally. Pulling powerful units like the Giant Skeleton to the King's Tower is not recommended more than twice, as the damage dealt could possibly result in a back door 3 Crown later in the match.
* Players should take advantage of his hook and pull units away from their Tower. This is especially effective against a Giant Skeleton as the bomb won't detonate on top of the Tower and deal massive damage.
* If the player knows the opponent is going to send a Miner to the back of their Princess Tower, they can deploy the Fisherman behind the King's Tower in the same lane of the Miner. If timed correctly, the Miner will retarget to the King Tower and activate it.
* Cards with a continual stun are very good counters to a Fisherman, as he will be permanently stuck charging his hook until he is defeated. Electro Dragon and Electro Wizard are the most reliable due to the former's chain lightning and the latter's split attack making it more likely for the Fisherman to be hit in larger pushes.
* If timed correctly, the Fisherman's hook can reset the Battle Ram, the Ram Rider, the Prince, and the Dark Prince's charges; as well as being able to stop the Mega Knight from getting his jump off. Interestingly, the Fisherman can also stop the Bandit mid-dash with his hook and cancel it, despite the latter usually being invincible during it.
* If the Fisherman is deployed alone with no support, Goblins can counter him. The Fisherman does not deal enough damage to one-shot a Goblin.
* The Fisherman's range allows it to pull away opposing heavy hitters, which can be useful if one is played in response to a push, allowing the push to remain mostly unharmed.
* The Fisherman can counter a Wizard just barely when pulled to your side of the Arena for a positive Elixir trade. Likewise, this tactic works well against most ranged troops.
* Another positive Elixir trade is a Fisherman can counter a Valkyrie if it’s placed near the centre of your side near the King Tower; both of your Princess Towers will be engaged to the Valkyrie along with the Fisherman’s slowing affect and damage.
* Royal Giant synergizes quite well with the Fisherman. The Fisherman will pull any high damage per second troops away from the Royal Giant, which will force the opponent to drop more elixer. However, this can be easily predicted and your opponent may drop a distraction card to distract the Fisherman. You can prevent this by using the log. You can also use the Fisherman to snipe buildings by placing him at the middle of the river to finish of buildings like the Inferno Tower to help your Royal Giant break through.

## History

2019

* The Fisherman was once available in the Fisherman Draft Challenge, which started on 4/7/2019. In this challenge, gameplay was similar to a regular Draft Challenge, except that one of the players was able to choose who would use the Fisherman. If the player achieved at least 9 wins, they obtained the Fisherman early.
* The Fisherman card was generally released on 5/8/2019. On the same day, a Balance Update, increased the Fisherman's hitpoints by 10% and his hook range to 7 tiles (from 6.5 tiles).
* On 2/9/2019, a Balance Update, decreased the Fisherman's cost to 3 Elixir (from 4 Elixir) and decreased his damage by 11%.
* On 5/9/2019, a maintenance break, decreased the Fisherman's hitpoints by 5%.
* On 7/10/2019, a Balance Update, decreased the Fisherman's hitpoints by 5% and his damage by 6%.
* On 4/11/2019, a Balance Update, decreased the Fisherman's hook range to 6 tiles (from 7 tiles) and increased his hook charge time to 1.1 seconds (from 1 second).
* On 26/11/2019, the End of November 2019 Update, added a card render to the Fisherman's card info screen.

2020

* On 7/1/2020, a Balance Update, increased the Fisherman's hook range to 7 tiles (from 6 tiles) and increased his hook charge time to 1.5 seconds (from 1.1 seconds).
* On 7/7/2020, a Balance Update, decreased the Fisherman's hook charge time to 1.3 seconds (from 1.5 seconds), decreased his attack time interval to 1.3 seconds (from 1.5 seconds), and decreased his first attack time interval to 0.1 seconds (from 0.3 seconds).
* On 9/12/2020, a Balance Update, decreased the Fisherman's hitpoints by 10%.

2021

* On 7/6/2021, the Summer 2021 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Fisherman from Hog Mountain to Legendary Arena. It also fixed some issues with the Fisherman.
* On 27/10/2021, the Champions Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 14 (from 13).

2022

* On 30/3/2022, the Miner Update, fixed an issue where Fisherman would become stuck after his target dies during battle.
* On 26/10/2022, the 2022 Quarter 3 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Fisherman from Legendary Arena to Miner's Mine. It also 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).

## Trivia

* In the French language setting of the game, the species of the fish the Fisherman holds is revealed to be a *Dicentrarchus labrax* (European bass).
* The Fisherman 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, Mega Knight, Electro Wizard, Miner, Royal Ghost, Ice Wizard, Magic Archer, Bandit, Lumberjack, and the Skeleton King.
	+ Along with the Spear Goblins, Battle Healer, Dart Goblin, Electro Wizard, and Magic Archer, the Fisherman has the same Elixir cost in both games.
* In the Korean language setting of the game, the Fisherman's name translates to "Angler".
* The Fisherman have been featured in multiple special game modes outside of the card. More specifically:
	+ The Fisherman 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 Sparky and the Archer Queen.
	+ The Fisherman is 1 of 2 troops that has been featured in the Obstacle Course game mode, the other being Barbarians.
* The Fisherman is 1 of 22 cards that has had its Elixir cost changed, the others being Bomber, Fire Spirit, Royal Recruits, Cannon, Mortar, Musketeer, Three Musketeers, Heal, Bomb Tower, Barbarian Hut, Furnace, Elixir Collector, Skeleton Army, P.E.K.K.A., Wall Breakers, Electro Giant, Bowler, Goblin Barrel, Barbarian Barrel, Rage, and the Monk.
* The Fisherman's name is Maurice as said by his fish in The Flood trailer; however, in the Japanese language setting of the game, his name is Triton.
	+ According to The Flood trailer, the Fisherman has a Scottish accent.
* The Fisherman's "Fish Slap" is likely a reference to The Fish-Slapping Dance, a short comedy sketch performed on Monty Python's Flying Circus in 1972.
	+ Occasionally when attacking, the Fisherman exclaims "*Fish Slap*".
		- The Fisherman is 1 of 22 cards that speak distinct words when on the field, the others being Mini P.E.K.K.A., Wizard, Hog Rider, P.E.K.K.A., Dark Prince, Bowler, Electro Wizard, Princess, Ice Wizard, Magic Archer, Lumberjack, Super Mini P.E.K.K.A., Santa Hog Rider, Super Magic Archer, The Log, Party Rocket, Party Hut, Golden Knight, Skeleton King, Archer Queen, and the Terry.
* The Card Mastery task "Get Over Here!" is a reference to a quote mentioned by Scorpion in Mortal Kombat.
* When a Fisherman is defeated, he drops his fish which flops on the ground for a while before it disappears. The other units that drop items upon death are the Knight, Rascal Boy, Mega Minion, Dark Prince, Executioner, Mega Knight, Sparky, and the Golden Knight.
* The Fisherman, Ram Rider, Phoenix, and the Lumberjack are the only normal spawning Template:Rarity troops that do not fall from the sky when deployed.
* The Fisherman is the subjects of 3 Emotes. His fish is also the subject of 3 Emotes.
* When 2 Fishermen face each other, only 1 of the 2 Fishermen will be able to hook the other one, slowing him down afterwards. This results in 1 of the 2 winning the duel instead of both being defeated at the same time.
* The Fisherman was originally going to appear in late 2017, with a hook and trap mechanic. However, the hook and trap mechanic were dropped, which lead to the creation of the Hunter. Ultimately, the Fisherman was added in one of Clash Royale's updates.