Knight

Knight is a 3-Elixir Common troop that's been part of Clash Royale since its earliest days, and it's usually the very first card a new player ever places, since it sits in the tutorial Training Camp arena. It's a Medium-speed, single-target melee fighter that only engages ground units, making it a cheap, sturdy body for tanking hits, chipping down a tower, or holding the front of a push while other cards do the damage. Two newer versions build on that same troop: the Evolved Knight can shrug off a big share of incoming damage while it closes in, and the Hero Knight can force nearby enemies to attack him instead by taunting them and throwing up a shield — an ability that's been dialed back and reworked several times over the course of 2026.

• Knight is a 3-Elixir Common troop that deploys a single melee unit — cheap enough to fit almost any deck as a small tank, chip-damage threat, or defensive body to block bigger pushes.

• At tournament standard (level 11), Knight has 1,766 hit points, giving it enough bulk to soak several hits from small troops or a spell while it closes in.

• It swings for 202 damage on a 1.2-second cycle — about 168 damage per second — but its very first hit lands after only 0.5 seconds, faster than its normal rhythm, so it often gets the first hit in when it meets a melee troop head-on.

• Knight moves at Medium speed and only targets ground units, so flying troops like Minions or Baby Dragon can fly straight past it untouched — it needs an anti-air card alongside it in a deck.

• Knight dates back to Clash Royale's earliest days: it was part of the limited regional soft-launch on 4 January 2016 (iOS only, in a handful of countries) and remained in the roster through the full worldwide release on 2 March 2016.

• EvolutionThe Evolved Knight takes 60% less damage from any source while it's not attacking, which mainly helps it survive ranged fire and spells on the approach — the shield switches off the moment it lands a hit, and after each use the Evolution needs the regular Knight played 2 more times before it can be used again.

• HeroHero Knight arrived on 1 December 2025 as a 3-Elixir Hero card, one of Clash Royale's first. His Triumphant Taunt ability costs 2 Elixir to trigger and forces nearby enemies, Crown Towers included, to attack him while he gains a shield he does not otherwise have.

• HeroTriumphant Taunt has been scaled back several times through 2026 — its taunt radius was cut from 7.5 to 6.5 tiles and its shield's hit points were reduced twice, from 819 down to 512 in total. As of the August 2026 update it also lost its 25-second cooldown entirely: like every Hero ability (only the Champion Boss Bandit keeps repeat uses), it is now single-use instead of recharging.