Best TH18 Attack Strategies for War and CWL in 2026

I pushed to TH18 in February and my first two weeks of war attacks were genuinely rough. Not because the army comps don't exist — they do — but because the defensive buildings at TH18 are a completely different level than TH17. You've got the Monolith at max power, the Eagle Artillery at full range, and the Multi-Gear Tower cycling through modes. Getting tripled at TH18 war bases is hard. Getting a triple yourself takes proper execution, not just spam.

I've tested everything over the past three months: Root Rider Yeti, Lalo variants, Super Witch Slap, Hydra (the triple air combo of Dragons, Balloons, and Lava Hound), and hybrid approaches. I'm going to break down what's actually working in May 2026, not what worked six months ago.

First thing to understand: at TH18, hero equipment is way more critical than army comp selection. You could run the best army in the game and still fail if your heroes are underpowered or deployed wrong. Get your equipment to a functional level first.

Also, before your attacks in CWL, scouting the base is huge. I use Base Drop's Find My Base tool to reverse-lookup bases I've spotted in opponent clans — helps me figure out the exact layout I'm dealing with before I waste an attack.

Root Rider Yeti (or RC Charge Root Riders, depending on how you structure it) is the dominant war attack at TH18 in 2026. It works. Consistently. And it's been working since TH17, which means most experienced players have reps with it.

Here's the army comp I'm running:

- 4 Root Riders - 6 Super Yetis - 2 Giants (for funneling) - 3 Witches - 2 Healers - Spells: 2 Rage, 2 Freeze, 2 Earthquake, 1 Haste, 1 Clone - CC: Ice Golem + Freeze

The attack flow: Royal Champion charges into one side with Ice Golem support, tanking hits while the RC's Electro Boots deal chain damage. Meanwhile, you funnel the Barbarian King and a few Giants on the opposite flank. Once the funnel is open, drop your Super Yetis with a Rage spell and let them push through. Deploy Root Riders after the Yetis — they'll burrow under walls and surface next to key defenses. The Witches behind the Yetis provide skeleton meat shields.

The hardest part is the funnel. A lot of TH18 attacks fail not because the army is wrong but because the funnel wasn't clean. I've lost stars at the top of the base because I deployed my Giants too close to the wall and they started hitting the wrong compartment.

Two Builder Base tips that transfer to this: focus clearing outlier buildings before your main army drops, and don't be afraid to use a Rage spell early if your funnel troops are about to die.

Lalo (Lava Hound Balloons) is still viable at TH18 but it's a harder attack to execute cleanly than Root Rider Yeti. The reason: Air Defenses at TH18 hit hard, and if your Lava Hound pops early without enough Balloons following up, the attack falls apart fast.

That said, Lalo has a massive advantage in one specific situation: bases where the Air Defenses are poorly placed or where the base is spread out and the ground is well defended. Some TH18 war bases are absolute walls for ground attacks — deep compartments, Eagle Artillery centered, tons of spring traps. Against those, Lalo can wrap around the outside and pick up everything without dealing with compartment walls at all.

The army I'd recommend for TH18 Lalo:

- 2 Lava Hounds - 18-20 Balloons - 4 Minions (cleanup) - Minion Prince air support - Spells: 2 Rage, 1 Haste, 2 Freeze, 1 Bat - CC: Lava Hound + 2 Balloons

Hero: Grand Warden in air mode with Eternal Tome is non-negotiable for Lalo. That aura window when your Balloons are clustering on Eagle Artillery is the difference between 2-star and 3-star.

I'm not 100% sure Lalo is the meta at TH18 the way it was at TH15-16. Root Rider feels more consistent in my experience. But if you've got the reps and you're reading the base correctly — Lalo can absolutely triple TH18s.

Genuinely the most underrated part of TH18 attacks. The funnel. I've watched countless attack replays in my clan and the pattern is always the same: someone runs a clean army comp, executes perfectly into the wrong part of the base, and gets 2-stars instead of 3.

At TH18 specifically, the base core tends to be extremely compartmentalized. Multiple ring layers, offset Town Hall, Monolith usually tucked inside 2-3 compartments. If your Super Yetis or Root Riders can't find a path to the center, they'll wrap around the edges and miss the Town Hall.

My funneling checklist for TH18:

1. Identify which side of the base has fewer compartments between the edge and the TH 2. Use 2 Giants + 1 Witch from one angle to clear outer buildings and create a path 3. Deploy Barbarian King on the opposite angle to create a second funnel path 4. Wait until both funnels show clear pathing before dropping main army 5. Drop main army at the narrowest point of the funnel opening

Step 4 is where people get impatient. They see the King starting to clear edge buildings and immediately dump everything. Wait an extra 3-4 seconds and let the funnel actually form.

For specific base layouts that resist funneling, the TH18 war base guide shows the design principles that make certain layouts hard to funnel — reading that from a defender's perspective actually makes you a better attacker.

If you want to browse actual TH18 bases and see how the layouts are structured, Base Drop's TH18 library has a solid collection you can study.

I mentioned this earlier but it's worth going through specifically for TH18, because the stakes are higher.

Barbarian King: Spiky Ball + Giant Gauntlet. He needs to tank hits while funneling, so the Gauntlet's HP boost keeps him alive through the outer compartments. Spiky Ball adds solid AOE damage for clearing the funnel.

Archer Queen: Healer Puppet + Giant Gauntlet or Action Figure depending on your attack style. If you're doing a proper queen charge as part of a two-pronged attack, Healer Puppet with her Healers keeps her alive deep into the base. Action Figure for more aggressive damage-forward playstyles.

Royal Champion: Electro Boots is the go-to. The chain lightning jumps to surrounding buildings and makes the RC charge faster and more efficient. Hog Rider Puppet as a secondary if you're doing RC charge as a standalone strategy.

Grand Warden: Eternal Tome + Rage Gem. Already covered in depth in the Grand Warden equipment guide but the summary is: Eternal Tome extends invincibility duration, Rage Gem adds damage — together they make the ability window hit harder.

Minion Prince: Dark Orb for lalo or air attacks. Skip him in ground-heavy army comps unless your attack specifically needs his air support role.

Don't sleep on the Dragon Duke either if you're running split-side attacks. His Royal Rampage makes him a serious threat to isolated defenses on the opposite side from your main army.

This is something I started doing more seriously after losing a few wars that I should've won. Before I attack any TH18 in CWL, I spend at least 2 minutes actually reading the base design — not just glancing at it and picking an army comp.

Here's what I'm looking for:

Town Hall position: Is it in the dead center of a ring? Off to one side behind walls? Near an edge? Center TH with ring design is hardest for Root Rider Yeti because your troops need to penetrate multiple wall layers to reach it. Edge TH is actually easier — your RC charge or a blimp can often snag it directly.

Eagle Artillery and Inferno Tower positions: Are they inside the core or on the perimeter? Inside core means your army needs to push through to deal with them. Perimeter placement means they'll be hitting your troops from the moment you deploy. Adjust your Freeze spell timing accordingly.

Multi-Gear Tower placement: The Multi-Gear Tower cycles between ground-attack mode and air-attack mode. If it's centrally placed, it'll affect both ground and air armies during your attack. If it's off to one side, route your army around it or plan to freeze it early.

Monolith position: As I mentioned earlier, the Monolith does area damage. Find it in the base design and plan which hero or spell will neutralize it. Ignoring the Monolith is how you lose a clean 3-star attack.

CC centralization: Where is the Clan Castle? Centered CCs are harder to lure and eliminate before your main army arrives. Off-center or edge CCs can sometimes be triggered with a Goblin or a small troop before your main deployment.

I started keeping notes on TH18 base design patterns I've faced in CWL — the ring bases, the split-compartment designs, the funnel-resistant anti-everything layouts. After a while you start recognizing patterns and your attack decision tree gets faster.

For pre-scouting, I cross-reference layouts I see in war with the Base Drop base library — it's a fast way to find the exact or similar layout so you can study the design structure and identify the weak angles before the clock starts.

A lot of TH18 attacks fail because of hesitation during the actual 3-minute window. If you know the base before you drop your first troop, you don't hesitate. The attack plan is already set and you're just executing. That mental preparation is underrated and honestly separates casual attackers from consistent CWL performers.

For official updates on TH18 balance changes and new building additions, Supercell's Clash of Clans blog posts patch notes whenever buildings get buffed, nerfed, or reworked — worth checking before each CWL season starts.