Introduction
Hey guys, my name is Gmasher! Please don't get mad at me once you read this article as everyone loves to make up unique troop combinations but these ones I believe are overused and overrated but I'll also go over the underrated and underused. Keep in mind, these are my thoughts on what is overrated and underrated so please don't take this too seriously. That said, let's get started!
Overrated Troop Compositions
Overrated means more attention for something than what it deserves. I'm gonna be looking at the ones that people think are good but in the long run are just bad. Okay, back in the game!
HZR (Heavy-Zooka-Rifleman)
I see a lot of players use this combination, usually the early game players use it. The reason why this troop composition is overrated is because you simply add more threats to take out. The biggest threats to heavies are cannons generally and grapplers. One by one, the heavies are picked off. With the rifleman, it doesn't even matter because there are so many riflemen that the cannons and grapplers can't finish them off (this rule applies to all cannons except the doom cannons). The riflemen's biggest threats are mortars and flamethrowers. Why not rocket launchers? Because those can simply be stopped by a medkit bringing up the riflemen's health bar from red to green. Mortar shells can't be stopped by a medkit because its one projectile doing as much damage as a rocket launcher salvo. Heavies and riflemen are both shields, but you add more threats than what you should worry about. When using hzr, please switch to either rooka or hooka because that's too many defenses for you to worry about.
Grank (Grenadier-Tank)
Grenadiers have so much range, they can out-range cannons. There is no need for tanks to cover the grenadiers when they can out-range cannons while the tanks cannot. Tanks suck against cannons because cannons have good damage and a good fire rate. They can't out-range machine guns (both do well against machine guns anyways so what gives?) while the grenadiers can. They also don't have enough endurance to make it past most of the defenses thus making you rely on medkits more than with grank-med. The grenadiers also run in front of the tanks if deployed early leaving them vulnerable to boom cannons, rocket launchers, shock launchers and the prototypes. If using grank, please swap out the tanks for medics or scorchers, both keep the grenadiers alive much longer than the tanks.
Grank-med (Grenadier-Tank-Medic)
HAH! DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING, DID YA?! But in all seriousness, grank-med is so overrated. As I said in the Grank section of this blog, grenadiers out-range the cannons while the tanks cannot. Sure grank stays alive longer now that its been converted to grank-med but even the medics don't make too big of a difference. So many people use this for both normal gameplay and against boosted health and/or damage bases, but do they realize that grenadiers have more power than tanks in terms of range? Both the grenadier and the tanks work well with medics, but both don't go well with each other. You either choose damage and health (tanks) over range (grenadiers) or vise versa. You can't choose both and expect it to work well. You either go with g-med or t-med, pick a side and roll with it.
Now the underrated ones.
Underrated Troop Compositions
Its like overrated except the exact opposite. Overrated means more attention than what it deserves, underrated means less attention than what it deserves. That said, lets get back into the game!
Scooka (Scorcher-Zooka)
Scorchers are pretty much heavies with more quality but less quantity. Although Supercell didn't intend for these monsters to be shields, they are anyways. You should be getting less casualties with scooka than hooka because the scorchers can take more hits than the heavies. The zookas can pretty much stay back without getting hit just like hooka. Scooka is pretty much like hooka except less casualties, but I still like both of these equivalently. If you complain about the zookas getting hit by the mines the scorchers didn't sweep, you're probably running 3-4 or 4-4. Try 4-3 or 5-3 (depending on what you're hq level is), they should sweep up more mines than before. Just make sure there are at least 3 boats of zookas, because those times it will work well. If you prefer hooka over scooka, use hooka.
Hank (Heavy-Tank)
I know some players who are a low level and want to use scanks but can't because their hq level is lower than 18. Remember how I stated that scorchers are just like the heavies with less quantity but more quality? The heavies have more quantity but less quality than the scorchers, but can also be unlocked really early. Hank requires hq level 11 to unlock the tanks (which is mid-game, but use zookas if you are in the early-game part), so it might be a bit of a grind until you finally get the hq level 11. The heavies do exactly what the scorchers do: get in front of the tanks. The tanks are safe from the cannons and the sniper towers (make sure you prioritize the boom cannons though) and can get you a long way surprisingly.
Rank (Rifleman-Tank)
Did anyone in the leaderboards notice people using trm (especially macs 2015)? That's how good of a composition it is! With the riflemen in front, the snipers and cannons and boom cannons don't stand a chance but that's only if the splash damage defenses are prioritized. Even the splash damage defenses are a lower level (except the rocket launchers) which means rank is easier to use compared to hank, considering the fact that people upgrade their single target defenses more than their splash damage ones. Whether used with medics or not, rank is a great combination to use. I recommend using this for the leaderboards or for leveling up.
Rifle-med (Rifleman-Medic)
If anyone read my rifle-med strategy blog, I love you. This combination is really good. Riflemen rush suck without medics supporting them and considering the fact that it takes less skill than rzm (a lot less skill in fact), this could actually be better than rzm if your a casual gamer. For leaderboards, swap some landing crafts of riflemen for zookas because they add the damage to the enemy bases. More information on this composition in my rifle-med guide.
Conclusion
Again, please don't get mad at me because your favorite is overrated or your least favorite is underrated because these are simply my opinions on these troop compositions. If you feel like I missed any overrated and/or underrated troop combinations, post those in the comment section below. If you have any compliments regarding this blog, post those in the comment section as well. If you have any questions generally, those go in my message wall. Thank you for reading this blog if you have!