The Clan Wars feature is the cornerstone of cooperative play in Clash Royale, but its competitive integrity has often been undermined by frustratingly unbalanced matchmaking. It was a common occurrence for mid-tier clans to be pitted against veteran groups with overwhelmingly maxed-out card levels, turning the war into a predictable loss before it even began.
Supercell has responded to these long-standing issues by deploying a crucial update to the matchmaking algorithm, aiming for fair fights and truly competitive, skill-based wars.
The Problem Solved: Weighting Card Levels
The primary fix targets how the system assesses the strength of a clan. Previously, the algorithm focused too heavily on a clan’s previous war trophies and not enough on the actual power of the decks their members could deploy.
- Active Card Level Weighting: The new algorithm places a much heavier weight on the average level of the cards used by the clan’s top 50 active war participants. This ensures that clans with a deep roster of max-level cards will be matched against similarly powerful opponents, regardless of minor trophy differences.
- Accounting for Active Players: The system now better factors in the number of active, participating members. Clans that consistently field 50 members will no longer be unfairly matched against smaller, more elite clans that have a low participation rate but high average card levels.
This ensures that the “War Weight” is a much more accurate reflection of the clan’s true fighting capability.
Impact on Clan Strategy
The changes demand immediate adjustments to how clans approach their weekly wars:
- Reduced Smurfing Effectiveness: The update makes it harder for high-skill players to artificially lower their clan’s War Weight by temporarily moving to a lower-level clan. Since the algorithm focuses on the overall potential of the participating roster, manipulating trophies is less effective.
- Focus on Roster Depth: Clans can no longer rely on 10 or 15 maxed-out members to carry 35 low-level participants. To succeed, clans must now prioritize raising the card levels of all their active members, fostering a healthier, more collaborative environment.
- More Rewarding Wins: For the average clan, winning a war now genuinely feels earned. Knowing that the opponent has a similar competitive profile makes the victory significantly more satisfying and validates the effort put into card upgrades and attack strategy.
The improvements to the Clan Wars matchmaking system are a massive win for the competitive community. The era of predictable, one-sided wars is ending, replaced by a system that promotes competitive integrity and rewards consistent, collective effort.
