If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling through your collection tab mid-battle break, wondering if you’re missing a hidden meta card that could push you to the next arena, you’ve probably asked the question: how many cards are there in Clash Royale? As of the latest game update, there are 119 permanent playable cards available to unlock, though that number grows every few months as Supercell rolls out new additions to shake up the meta. This guide breaks down exactly what those cards are, how to unlock them, and what to do once you’ve collected every last one. We’ll also debunk common myths about card counts that trip up new and veteran players alike.
How Many Cards Are There in Clash Royale, By Rarity Tier?
All permanent Clash Royale cards are sorted into 5 rarity tiers, each with different unlock odds, average elixir costs, and use cases. Higher rarity cards don’t always mean more power, but they do tend to have more unique abilities that can change the flow of a battle if used correctly. The current count per rarity is as follows:
- Common cards: 41 total. These are the most abundant cards, with low elixir costs and straightforward abilities. They make up the backbone of almost every deck, from tanks like the Giant to support units like the Archers.
- Rare cards: 33 total. Slightly less common than Commons, Rare cards often have specialized roles, like the anti-air Minion Horde or the building-targeting Hog Rider that’s a staple of many meta decks.
- Epic cards: 27 total. Epic cards have unique, high-impact abilities, like the Poison spell that wipes out entire swarms of low-health units over time, or the hard-hitting P.E.K.K.A. that can take down almost any tank one-on-one.
- Legendary cards: 15 total. The rarest non-champion cards, Legendaries have one-of-a-kind abilities that no other cards share, like the Log that knocks back all ground units in its path, or the Electro Wizard that stuns enemy units with every attack.
- Champion cards: 3 total. The highest rarity in the game, Champions are only unlockable once you reach Arena 16, and you can only include one per deck. They have special activated abilities you can trigger mid-battle for a small elixir cost, like the Skeleton King’s soul summon that raises dead units as temporary skeletons.
That adds up to 119 total permanent cards, but it’s important to note that temporary event-only cards don’t count towards this total. These cards are only playable for 1-2 week special challenges, and you can’t unlock them for your permanent collection, so you don’t have to worry about missing them if you take a break from the game for a few weeks. Supercell always announces when an event card will be added to the permanent pool, so you’ll have plenty of warning if a new card is coming to your collection tab.
How to Unlock Every Clash Royale Card Faster
The first rule of unlocking Clash Royale cards is that you can’t get a card until you reach its assigned home arena. No matter how many premium chests you buy, you won’t pull a Champion until you hit Arena 16, and you won’t get a Hog Rider until you reach Arena 5. So your first priority if you’re trying to expand your collection is to climb to the highest arena you can as quickly as possible. You don’t have to push to the top of the trophy leaderboard, just hit the minimum trophy requirement for each arena to unlock its full card pool.
Once you’ve unlocked the arena for the cards you want, there are a few proven ways to speed up your collection grind. Magical and Legendary King’s Chests have far higher odds of dropping rare, epic, and legendary cards than standard silver or gold chests, so save your gems to buy these from the shop when they’re available, instead of wasting gems on speeding up chest unlocks. Trade tokens are another underrated tool: you can earn them from challenges and clan wars, and use them to trade duplicate cards with clan members for the specific cards you’re missing. This is especially useful for epic and legendary cards, which have very low drop rates from regular chests.
You don’t need to spend real money to unlock every card, either. I’ve played with multiple free-to-play clan members who have collected every available card in 18 to 24 months of casual play, just by doing their daily challenges and participating in clan wars every week. The only real difference between free and paid players is how fast they collect cards, not whether they can collect all of them eventually. If you’re patient and consistent, you can build a full collection without spending a single dollar.
Common Misconceptions About Clash Royale Card Counts
There are a lot of wrong ideas floating around about Clash Royale’s card pool, especially among new players who are just learning the ropes. One of the most common is that more cards automatically equal a higher win rate. That’s just not true. Win rate depends far more on your skill with a small set of 10 to 15 cards than the total size of your collection. Most top pro players only use 2 or 3 main decks for competitive play, and they barely touch the rest of their collection. Collecting all cards is a fun personal goal, but it’s not required to climb to the highest trophy ranks.
Another common misconception is that temporary event cards get added to the permanent pool. Most event-only cards are just for fun, and they’re never added to the regular collection, so you don’t have to stress if you miss a challenge that features a silly temporary card. The only exception is when Supercell teases a new permanent card in an event first, but they always announce that ahead of time so players know to look out for it. You won’t accidentally miss a permanent card because you skipped one challenge.
A lot of new players also think that once you reach a higher arena, you’ll only get cards from that arena in chests. That’s not true either. Once you pass an arena, all cards from lower arenas stay in your drop pool forever, so you can still unlock missing common and rare cards from early arenas even when you’re playing in the highest trophy ranges. If you’re missing a low-rarity card from an early arena, you can also usually pick it up for just a few gold in the daily shop, so it’s worth checking the shop every day to pick up those cheap missing cards instead of waiting for them to drop randomly from a chest.
What to Do Once You Collect All Available Clash Royale Cards
Collecting every permanent Clash Royale card is a huge milestone, but that doesn’t mean you’re done progressing in the game. First, you’ll want to max out all your card levels to the current cap of 15. Unlocking a card is just the first step, and leveling it up gives it significant stat boosts that make it much more effective in high-trophy battles. Maxing all your card levels can take an extra 6 to 12 months even after you unlock every card, so there’s still plenty of grind left once your collection is complete. You’ll get lots of duplicate cards from chests during this phase, which you can convert to gold or star points.
Once all your cards are maxed, you can start working on collecting star points to unlock cosmetic skins for your cards. Star points are earned from converting excess duplicate cards once a card is maxed, and they let you add gold, silver, or rainbow skins to your favorite cards to show off in battle. A lot of endgame players treat collecting all star skins as their next big goal after maxing their collection, since it’s a visible way to show how much time you’ve put into the game.
You can also experiment with weird off-meta decks that most players can’t build, since you have every card available. I’ve had a ton of fun testing silly decks like all-spell decks, or full-swarm decks that use every low-cost minion card in the game, just to surprise opponents in casual matches. You can also help out newer clan members by trading away your excess duplicate cards, since you’ll have way more than you need once your collection is maxed. It’s a great way to give back to the community and help new players progress faster.
At the end of the day, the answer to how many cards are there in Clash Royale will keep changing as Supercell adds new cards to keep the meta fresh, but 119 is the current count as of the latest update. Whether you’re a new player just starting your collection or a veteran who’s already unlocked every card, there’s always something new to work towards in the game. Don’t stress too much about collecting every card right away, focus on unlocking the cards that fit your preferred playstyle first, and you’ll have way more fun as you climb the trophy ranks.
