With the start of Clash Royale League (CRL), we've seen the implementation of bans in a competitive team environment. Bans have been a hot topic in the Clash Royale community, being split with some thinking bans do not belong in this style of game and others who think it adds to the competitive format. I think that bans are beneficial, maybe even necessary for competitive play. The ability to ban a card adds another layer of depth and strategy to the game, especially with the team format. It rewards teams for pre-match preparation and planning and the possibility to gain an advantage before the match begins.

One argument I have heard supporting bans that I disagree with is the comparison to other popular esports titles. There is often a comparison to massively popular and successful games such as League of Legends and the argument is that, because we see bans in other competitive games, bans should be included in Clash Royale (CR). This is a poor argument and is not a good reason to implement bans and it is also difficult to compare CR to other very different games.

A game that CR could be compared to would be Hearthstone. In Hearthstone, there are nine classes that have unique cards and in a tournament setting, players can ban their opponent from using one class. In CR, we do not have different classes so everyone has access to the same cards so each player banning one card would function similarly as you can ban a card that can potentially remove an archetype. Below are reasons I believe support the utilization of a ban system.

A team can use bans to gain an advantage in several different ways and it allows for some control on the match outside of the game itself, putting an emphasis on research and analysis. Card bans can help a team predict what deck an opponent may use and respond accordingly. They can also help to eliminate an opponent’s strongest deck or a card that causes problems for one of their own players or the team as a whole. By removing a card or two from play, it reduces the element of Rock, Paper, Scissors that can be found in card games.

Beyond the strategic element of banning, the factor of balance is what makes me consider bans as a necessity for competitive play. When new cards are added to the game that may not be balanced or may not have had enough time to figure out how to answer appropriately, bans can remove that card from play (think cards like Executioner, Nightwitch, and Royal Recruits upon release) to prevent seeing an overpowered card dominate play and be used in every deck. Monthly balance changes can create a similar scenario if a card gets overbuffed, so once again bans can be used to maintain the competitive integrity and balance at the professional level. You will often see in other competitive games that a new card/unit/champion/etc will be banned from a tournament by the organizers or, if balance changes are made prior to a large event, they may use the previous version.

A common argument against bans has been that, if a player is the best in the world at a specific deck, viewers will want to watch them play said deck. I disagree, I think this can be showcased on streams and in Youtube videos if bans limit it. I think viewers would also get tired of seeing somebody play the same deck over and over and would prefer some variety. From a competitive point of view, a professional player should be able to play multiple decks at a high level so if a player is a one trick pony, they probably won’t be able to compete at the highest level anyways because other pros can simply counter them. The format of CRL can also combat this with the King of the Hill format. Each team only has one ban, so you could only ban one card for three different players.

Now that we have briefly discussed bans in CRL we can dip into potential banning strategies for teams, what they may be considering, and why they make certain decision. Here are several basic banning approaches a team may take for a match.

Banning Strategies

Ban for your team
Ban for your opponents
Umbrella ban
Mind games
Throw away ban

Banning for your team - Straightforward approach that ignores what your opponent may be doing. In essence, it is banning a card that your team (or player) is weak against or that may counter the deck they plan on using. An example would be banning Inferno Dragon if you plan on using a beatdown deck.

Banning for your opponent - Pretty self-explanatory, you ban a card that is an integral part of your opponent’s best or most used deck in order to force them to use something they may be less comfortable with. Many times, this results in the banning of a win condition like Royal Hogs or Balloon.

An umbrella ban - Removes a card that generally considered really powerful and/or used in a variety of decks. Examples of this would include cards such as Ice Wizard, Zappies, and Poison. This can force your opponent to either make a suboptimal card substitution or change their deck entirely, if you have practiced with this ban in mind, you should have an advantage.

Mind Games - Bans can also be used to get into your opponent’s head and make them think you are going to use a certain strategy but use another strategy instead. If you ban Valkyrie, your opponent will most likely think you will play a Royal Hogs deck but then you bring out a Golem deck to render their counter void.

Throw Away Ban - Sometimes teams may not use their ban or opt to ban an irrelevant card, like Rage, Bomber or Barbarians. While this may appear to be a waste of a ban, it can actually serve a purpose. It can be used as an intimidation factor, saying that you are so confident you will win that you do not even need a ban. Another reason to do this is to keep more options open for your team. Maybe your team is performing really well in the current meta and you are not looking to make significant changes. Often your ban can be used to interpret the decks you may choose to play. By throwing your ban out the window you do not give your opponent’s any information and leave them guessing.

I hope this article has been informative and demonstrates why bans are beneficial for a competitive environment and also some factors that are considered when banning and can help you understand the choices made by teams.

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