The way we approach card balance in Clash Royale is a combination of playtesting and looking at the stats - in particular, card use rates and win rates. You can expect monthly balance changes to keep gameplay fine tuned and as fun as possible.

In this round of balance changes we're making Elite Barbarians really elite, Tornado suck harder - in a good way - and more!

Elite Barbarians: Hitpoints +19%, Damage +14%, Hit Speed to 1.4sec (from 1.5sec)

• We undershot their power at launch and want to do some pretty big changes to make them 

  really

   elite! With these changes they'll hit harder and faster, while being tougher to take down.

Tornado: Radius +10%, stronger pulling power

• Tornado can create some really fun and interesting interactions, but it's currently hard to use consistently. A bigger radius and increased pulling power opens up more opportunities for successful Tornado-ing!

Inferno Dragon: Hitpoints +5%, re-targets 0.4sec quicker

• Inferno Dragon's use rate is very low at the top, so we think there's room for a few more Hitpoints - 

  he's wearing a mean-looking helmet after all!

   Quicker re-targeting will make him less vulnerable to distraction.

Balloon: Death Damage +105%, Death Damage explosion radius +50%

• When your Balloon reaches the opponent's tower it's huge, but when it doesn't it's a bit of a flop. Increasing the Death Damage, so that it kills Goblins and even Archers, will allow the Balloon to have a more consistent impact in the Arena.

Wizard: Hit Speed to 1.4sec (from 1.6sec), initial attack comes 0.2sec slower

• As a 5 Elixir card that can be killed by Lightning (in a relatively Lightning heavy meta), the Wizard needs some more power to be worth the risk.

Giant Skeleton: Damage +8%

• Everyone's favorite oversized skelly with a bomb is back! Hopefully. His use rates are on the lower end of the spectrum, and we're still thinking about interesting ways to make him more appealing; but in the meantime, a small damage increase to help him punch his way through a pack of Goblins will be a nice addition.

Lumberjack: Hitpoints +6%

• More Hitpoints will allow him to survive longer and give your supporting troops enough time to get in range of his Rage!

Bomber: Damage +4%

• This change will allow the Bomber to one-shot Archers, which should make room for him in some decks.

Mortar: Boulder explosion radius +11

• The Mortar's boulders will land with a bigger splash, damaging a larger area. We're aiming to make Mortar gameplay more reliable, without increasing its power levels too much.

Mirror: Level 8 Mirror will create max level +1 cards (again)

• We're reverting 

  this temporary fix

  .

Please leave your thoughts and feedback on the forums or reddit!

See you in the Arena,
The Clash Royale Team