The beginner's method involved these steps:
- Before the attack, scout the opponent's war base to see how many population spots fit in the defending clan castle.
- Before the attack, scout the opponent's war base to see find an opportune spot in the clan castle's detection radius for the next step.
- At the start of the attack, send in a few cheap troops (usually barbarians) to cause the clan castle defenders to emerge.
- Compare the troops that emerged with the total population spots to double-check that the clan castle is totally emptied.
- Drop a cheap troop far away from enemy defensive buildings to lure the clan castle defenders into vulnerable, empty land. (Repeat this step if needed)
- Surround the clan castle defenders with a ring of about a dozen archers.
Now that you are no longer a beginner, let us improve upon these steps. How does an intermediate player lure and defeat clan castle defenders?
Steps 1 and 2 do not change. Scout the opponent's war base as before.
Step 3 changes to involve one or two giants. Their devotion to walk to a defensive building helps them enter the clan castle's detection radius. Their high hit points allow them to survive long enough to cause every clan castle defender to emerge. Just remember to pick an approach that minimizes the number of single-target defenses that can hurt the giant(s).
Step 4 does not change. But it is less stressful because the giants are more reliable.
Step 5 adds some wiggle. Look at how the attacker lures in this video: this link jumps to the 15 minute and 4 second point of interest.
Here are some screenshots from that video. Notice how placing barbarians "broadside" to the line of clan castle defenders causes them to squish up.
first the predictable archer at the farthest corner building
then a barbarian in the very corner to get the defenders far from buildings
now the wiggle starts: broadside from the south
then broadside from the north
not sure why this was not more broadside, but it worked
after the clan castle defenders are bunched, make the ring of attackers
The player in the video used only wizards in his ring of attackers. But knowing how many wizards to place takes some experience. And wizards cost a bit of elixir.
For an intermediate player, the recommendation is to instead use a ring of archers boosted by two wizards at opposite sides of the ring.
A is for archers, and W for two wizards on opposite sides
Tangentially, even if you do not yet have wizards, the bunching is helpful. It increases the chance that a whole group of the clan castle defenders will simultaneously decide to attack the same one of your archers. Splat! The defenders have wasted a bunch of attacks killing only one of your troops. Uhg! All the rest of you archers deal damage.
How many troops do you use to lure? It is better to plan ahead with too many troops devoted to luring. If you were too cautious, the unneeded troops can always be used for building cleanup at the end of the war attack.
If your war opponent is level 5 town hall or below...
- The war base is small, so one giant is probably enough. (5 of your population spots)
- The defensive clan castle holds no more than 15 population space, so a dozen archers and two wizards is enough. If you do not have wizards yet, replace each with four more archers. (20 of your population spots)
If your war opponent is level 6 town hall or above...
- The war base is bigger, so two giants are needed to guarantee the lure. (10 of your population spots)
- The defensive clan castle holds 20 or more population space, so eighteen archers and two wizards is better. (26 of your population spots)
Let's put everything together. The intermediate player's method involves these steps:
- Before the attack, scout the opponent's war base to see how many population spots fit in the defending clan castle.
- Before the attack, scout the opponent's war base to see find an opportune spot in the clan castle's detection radius for the next step.
- At the start of the attack, send in one or two giants to cause the clan castle defenders to emerge.
- Compare the troops that emerged with the total population spots to double-check that the clan castle is totally emptied.
- Repeatedly drop a cheap troop far away from enemy defensive buildings to lure the clan castle defenders into vulnerable, empty land.
- Repeatedly drop a cheap troop "broadside" to the clan castle defenders to make them wiggle and bunch up.
- Surround the clan castle defenders with a ring of archers, augmented by two wizards on opposite sides.
You will, of course, eventually meet exceptions and additions to this general strategy for luring. (Mass dragon attacks usually skip luring the clan castle defenders. GoWiPe and GoWiHo attacks try to lure the defenders to the side planned as best for deploying golems. Etc.) We will save those details for later lessons.
