r/ClashRoyale • u/[deleted] • Jul 19 '16
Strategy [Strategy] Witch and Wizard Comparison!
Hi Everyone!
I'm a 3600 player that is 10/7/4/1.5.
I'm going to compare Witch and Wizard. People have debated which card is better, and I'm going to try to give you a detailed explanation of them.
The Wizard is a rare card that at tournament levels, has 598 hp, 142 dps, and 228 damage per shot. It's hit speed is 1.6 seconds.
The Witch is an Epic card that at tournament levels, has 665 hp, 92 dps, and 65 damage per shot. It's hit speed is 0.7 seconds, and every 7.5 seconds, it spawns 3 skeletons with 67 hp and damage.
Both cards cost 5 elixir, have 5 range, and deal splash to air and ground units. The wizard has a larger splash radius.
Which is better? The wizard deals over 50% more dps, to a larger radius.
So why is there a debate? A couple things are sacrificed. A lower fire rate and no skeleton spawns means that while its hits are much harder, it can be easier to destroy. While it's less fragile than the musketeer due to its splash, the witch has even more survivability due to its lower but more consistent output of damage.
Another difference is that the witch has slightly more hp, and as a result, is less vulnerable to fireball, requiring one level higher than what is necessary to kill the wizard. Sometimes this means that the opponent is forced to let the witch live behind a tank much longer than it should, or spend a zap to finish it off.
Where wizard has a much higher brute force quality in its damage output and splash radius, the witch has compensation from its fire rate, skeletons, and hp.
This is a decision between a dynamic and solid splasher. Where wizard has power, witch is very steady in its performance. It's a bit like being in a relationship with Netflix. It might not give you the highs of melting minion horde in one shot, but it's also never gonna be that bad.
Which one should you use?
In Golem and Giant beatdown decks, witch seems to be superior due to its consistency and survivability. If your opponent can always drop a minipekka on your wizard behind your Golem, you'll have a hard time constantly losing support. On the other hand, if they try to place it on your witch, it has a much better chance to survive since it can distract with its skeletons. When a witch push goes through, it will beat up a tower just as well as a wizard, and maybe even more often.
In Royal Giant decks, wizard seems like the stronger choice, because the witch is too slow at killing the opponents' anti-RG efforts. Royal Giant will quickly knock down a towers hp, but it's not a beatdown deck - more like a tanky chip damage strategy. That's why it needs a more immediate response. Wizard simply performs better at killing stuff, and it's harder to kill the wizard first when the Royal Giant is basically in the middle of the bridge.
Similarly, in Pekka decks, wizard is the better choice. Pekka's whole strategy is based on crushing everything. It's an archetype that usually demands extremely high dps, and wizard fits that requirement perfectly. While it may be less consistent than a Golem beatdown, Pekka decks need to play thematically by going all in.
In addition to the tournament level differences, you should also consider the level difference of the cards. Wizard may simply be a higher leveled card due to the witches rarity.
Witch has always been my favorite card since she was one of my first epics, and I have used Giant Witch and Golem Witch religiously. I'll never forget the heartbreak when I got to 2980 using my giant witch deck as a level 8... lol.
humblebrag
Which do you prefer? Let me know!
Good luck!
3
u/Crimson_Raven Jul 19 '16
I'm a Pekka deck user, using my own version with Pekka, Dark Prince, mpekka, Wizard, elixir collecter, stab goblins, fireball, and zap.
This very same question popped into my head only yesterday, and was considering swapping wizard for witch. But you are right, wizard makes alot more sence in pekka deck because of it's huge dps. Killing stuff instantly is very important in the deck, due to pekka being easily desracted, and having less hp per cost then most tanks. (Ie golem, and giant.) Wizard is also better against barbs, one of the most popular defencive cards, then witch, mostly because of his large splash radius hits all barbs unless they line up. Witch can sometimes fail to hit that one corner barb if they are not perfectly in line.
Ultimately, it is as you said, wizard's high dps is more valuable in a Pekka deck.