If you’ve spent hours grinding Clash Royale ladder matches, you’ve definitely run into an Ultimate Champion card that wiped your entire push in 10 seconds flat. These rare, high-powered cards are some of the most sought-after in the game, and new players constantly ask how many ultimate champions are there in clash royale as they build out their deck rosters. I’ve been playing Clash Royale on and off for 7 years, hit Master 3 three separate times, and have unlocked every champion released to date, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know about these elite cards, from their count to how to unlock and use them effectively.
How Many Ultimate Champions Are There in Clash Royale Right Now?
As of the latest game update, there are 7 official Ultimate Champion cards available to unlock for eligible players. Supercell adds a new champion roughly every 6 to 8 months, so this number will continue to grow as the game gets new content drops. Each champion has a unique active ability you can trigger mid-match, which sets them apart from regular, epic, and even legendary cards that don’t have customizable activated effects.
You can only include one Ultimate Champion per deck, a rule Supercell added shortly after champions launched to prevent overpowered stacked decks. You also won’t have access to all champions right when you start playing, since each unlocks at a specific King Level threshold. You won’t be able to collect the full set until you hit King Level 14, which takes most free-to-play players at least 6 to 12 months of regular play to reach.
It’s worth noting that some limited-time event game modes let you test champions you haven’t unlocked yet, but you won’t be able to add them to your permanent ladder deck until you meet the unlock requirements. These event modes are a great way to test out different champions before you spend gold or gems to unlock them for your collection.
How to Unlock Every Ultimate Champion Card
If you’re working your way through the list of how many ultimate champions are there in Clash Royale, you’ll want to prioritize unlocking the ones that fit your playstyle first, to avoid wasting resources on cards you’ll never use. You need to reach King Level 11 to unlock your first champion, which is the minimum threshold for any champion to appear in your chests or shop rotations.
There are a few consistent ways to unlock champions, regardless of whether you’re a free-to-play or paying player. You can get them randomly from chests, though drop rates are very low: only 0.2% for gold chests, and around 2% for legendary chests. You can also buy them directly from the daily shop for 40,000 gold when they rotate in, or 600 gems if you don’t want to wait for a random drop. The most reliable free way to unlock champions is the free track of Pass Royale, which always includes a champion as a reward at tier 30 every season.
Here’s the full list of current champions, their unlock requirements, and core abilities:
- Golden Knight: Unlocks at King Level 11, 4 elixir cost, area damage melee unit with a dash ability that knocks back up to 6 enemy units
- Archer Queen: Unlocks at King Level 12, 5 elixir cost, long-range ranged attacker with a cloaking ability that makes her invisible and boosts her attack speed for 3 seconds
- Skeleton King: Unlocks at King Level 12, 4 elixir cost, melee tank that absorbs kill energy to summon a horde of up to 15 skeletons when his ability triggers
- Monk: Unlocks at King Level 13, 4 elixir cost, melee support that reflects all incoming projectiles (including spells) back at enemies when his ability is active
- Mighty Miner: Unlocks at King Level 13, 3 elixir cost, melee burrower that can dig under the arena to target enemy towers or units, ignoring all ground defenses in his path
- Little Prince: Unlocks at King Level 14, 3 elixir cost, long-range support that fires exploding darts, his ability boosts his attack range and speed by 50% for 4 seconds
- Void Warden: Unlocks at King Level 14, 4 elixir cost, ranged healer that applies a spell shield to all friendly units in a 3-tile radius when his ability is used
If you’re a free-to-play player, don’t waste your gold on upgrading champions until you find one that fits your main deck. Upgrading a champion from level 11 to level 15 costs over 250,000 gold and 20,000 wild cards, so it’s a massive investment that will set back your other card upgrades if you pick the wrong champion to level first.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Ultimate Champions
Even if you have all 7 Ultimate Champions unlocked, you won’t win more matches if you use them incorrectly. I’ve seen so many players waste their champion ability too early, or drop them in the wrong position, turning a winning game into a loss in seconds. I’ve made plenty of these mistakes myself, so I know exactly what to watch out for.
The first and most common mistake is dropping your champion at the very start of the match to get early tower damage. Champions cost 3 to 5 elixir, which is a huge investment in the first minute of the game when elixir generation is slower. If your opponent counters it easily with a cheap spell or swarm unit, you’ll be left with an elixir deficit that can be impossible to recover from for the rest of the match.
Another big mistake is wasting your champion ability on small, low-value units. For example, using the Archer Queen’s cloak to take out a few goblins instead of saving it to avoid a fireball that would one-shot her. You should always save your champion ability for high-impact plays that can turn the tide of a match, not for trivial small pushes that you can counter with cheaper cards. I used to make this mistake all the time with the Skeleton King, wasting his summon ability on a single minion horde instead of saving it for a big counter push that could take out an enemy tower.
The last common mistake is not building your deck around your chosen champion. If you pick the Skeleton King, you need to run swarm units to pair with his skeleton summon ability, otherwise his ability is pretty useless. Don’t just throw a champion into your existing deck without adjusting other cards to support it. I made this exact mistake when the Monk first came out: I put him in my hog rider deck without removing any spell cards, and he never got enough value to justify his 4 elixir cost, so I dropped 200 trophies in a week before I fixed the deck.
Which Ultimate Champion Is Best for Your Playstyle?
Now that you know how many ultimate champions are there in Clash Royale, you’re probably wondering which one you should unlock first, or focus on upgrading. The answer depends entirely on how you prefer to play the game, there’s no universal “best” champion that works for every player.
If you’re an aggressive player who likes to push early and often, the Golden Knight or Mighty Miner are your best bets. Golden Knight’s dash ability can clear out defensive swarms to make way for your hog rider or balloon pushes, while Mighty Miner can sneak past enemy defenses to chip away at tower health even if your opponent is playing very defensively. Both have low elixir costs, so they fit easily into most fast-paced beatdown decks.
If you’re a defensive player who likes to counter-push, the Monk or Skeleton King are perfect. Monk can reflect almost all projectile spells and units, turning your opponent’s big pushes against them, while Skeleton King can tank damage and summon a huge army of skeletons after absorbing enough damage, which you can use for a deadly counter push. Both are great for players who prefer to wait for their opponent to make the first move.
If you like a control playstyle that focuses on steady chip damage and efficient trades, the Archer Queen or Little Prince are ideal, since they have long range and can deal consistent damage from the back of your side of the arena, without putting themselves at too much risk. The Void Warden is a great pick for players who run heavy beatdown decks with lots of high-cost units, since his spell shield can protect your entire push from a devastating fireball or rocket.
You don't need to unlock every ultimate champion to be good at Clash Royale: many top 100 ladder players only main one champion and stick with it for years, because they know exactly how to get maximum value out of it. If you’re free-to-play, pick one champion that fits your playstyle, upgrade it first, and only unlock others once you have extra gold and wild cards to spare.
At the end of the day, the number of ultimate champions in Clash Royale will keep growing as Supercell rolls out new updates and content, so don’t stress if you haven’t collected all of them yet. What matters more than how many ultimate champions are there in clash royale is how well you can use the ones you have to win matches and climb the ladder. Take the time to test each champion you unlock, figure out which one fits your playstyle best, and build your deck around it to get the most value out of every match. If you’re still struggling to unlock your first champion, focus on completing your daily quests and climbing the Pass Royale tiers, that’s the fastest way to get your hands on one without spending real money.
