Merge Tactics October Update: Season 11 Boss Unit Meta

Season 11 Boss Units And Shared Supers

The Merge Tactics October update (Season 11) is live, and it rewrites the rules that defined the last patch. Supers, the big boss units, are no longer handed to you as a starting Troop: they now sit in the shared pool where every player in the lobby can find and fight over them. On top of that you once again open with a random 2 Elixir Troop, the card pool has grown to roughly 29 cards, and the old 5 Elixir per-round payout is gone.

This guide is built entirely on Ricky Royale's video on the new season, where he plays three live games to stress-test the changes. It covers the patch notes that matter, the boss units worth contesting, how the deeper card pool changes your Merge math, a round-by-round plan, and an honest read on the strengths and weaknesses of the new meta.

What The October Update Changes

Ricky Royale skims the Season 11 patch notes first, and the headline is the rework of how you get Supers. The developers' own framing is that Supers brought a refreshing new mechanic but the way you obtained them was far too restrictive, so they have been pulled out of your starting slot.

Supers are now shared: they are no longer assigned to you as a starting Troop. Instead they live in the shared pool, where all players can find and compete for any or all of them.
Random 2 Elixir start: you once again begin the game with a random 2 Elixir Troop rather than a guaranteed Super.
Balance pass on cost scaling: Supers and regular Troops got a round of balance changes aimed at reducing the power gap between high-cost and low-cost Troops at the same star level, so every Troop has a chance to shine.
Less Elixir per round: Ricky Royale points out you no longer get the old 5 Elixir payout each round, which slows every opening down.
Bigger card pool: he believes the pool is now around 29 cards, which thins your odds of hitting the specific Merges you want.

Note on Empress: Ricky Royale initially thought the second quest orb for Empress had been changed to 20, then corrected himself on stream: that change was not in the patch. Treat her quest line as unchanged.

The knock-on effect he flags immediately: with less Elixir and a deeper pool, Empress may struggle more than she used to, because her whole identity is built on tempo and consistency.

The Boss Units Worth Contesting

Because Supers now sit in the shared pool, the first strategic question of every game is which boss unit you commit to. In Ricky Royale's lobbies the strong ones get bought out fast, and whatever is left over decides your game.

Mini P.E.K.K.A

Mini P.E.K.K.A is the one Ricky Royale ends up calling the best of the bunch. He believes her kit can level up your other units, which is why he pivots to her in game one, partly because she was the boss unit nobody else was fighting over.
She no longer plays like the old Mini P.E.K.K.A that died every two seconds, so she survives long enough to actually pay off.
In game two she pushes a Queen to four stars out of nowhere: exactly the swing you are paying for.

Monk

Monk looks like a top-tier boss unit: in game two Ricky Royale watches two opponents openly fight over him in the shop.
Importantly, Monk no longer reflects damage, so he is less of a hard counter wall and more of a straight value unit. Ricky Royale sells his free opening Monk in game one and later regrets how contested the card turns out to be.

Boss Bandit

Boss Bandit brings the fear mechanic with what the card lists as 2x fear radius. Feared Troops stop attacking and run away, which Ricky Royale repeatedly calls the most broken thing in the patch.
Positioning matters a lot: he openly admits his Boss Bandit placement was garbage in game one, and in game two he gets run over by an enemy four-star Boss Bandit.

P.E.K.K.A

P.E.K.K.A's card text reads that every few hits her swing strikes all enemies in a line, and that her stage two gains life steal and movement speed.
In practice Ricky Royale is unimpressed: he watches a two-star P.E.K.K.A struggle to kill a one-star Musketeer, flags how oddly fast she moves, and flat out calls her weak next to the other Supers.

Pro tip: the boss card Ricky Royale reads also gains bonus HP and immunity to scare tactics, and transforms into stage two below 50% HP, scaring off nearby units. Expect boss units to be sticky and expect fear shockwaves to retarget mid-fight.

Playing The Bigger Card Pool

The deeper card pool is the quiet change that reshapes every game. Ricky Royale says hitting an early cycle is now pretty much uncommon, and he feels the pool size across all three games: in game two he reaches the mid-game with no Merges while an opponent sits on 11 and counting.

Buy what nobody else is buying: he explicitly looks for Troops other players do not have, because contested cards are now the fastest route to never Merging.
Selling is safer: with a bigger pool he reckons getting a card back after selling it is much easier, so recycling a spare Musketeer is a lower-risk play than it used to be.
Goblins are near-mandatory early: Goblin was always worth running, but Ricky Royale now calls skipping it close to detrimental. If you are not on Goblin by round one or two, good luck.
Minimise early damage: with a slower start you want to bleed as little as possible per loss. He is visibly relieved to take 2 instead of 3 in an early round.
Chase your Merge milestones anyway: he grinds toward 50 and 60 Merges even in losing games, treating them as the consolation prize of a bad board.

The upside: Ricky Royale admits he used to dislike big card pools and has come around. A deeper pool softens last season's snowball, where missing a Merge on round one or two meant facing an unbeatable board with virtually nothing you could do about it.

Round By Round Game Plan

Across three games Ricky Royale converges on a simple plan: stop playing the old tempo game and go hunting for Supers immediately.

Early Rounds

Keep your random 2 Elixir Troop only if it fits your line. In game one he sells the opening Monk to chase a cycle, and that call ages badly.
Get Goblin online fast and take any free Spear Goblin Merge that appears.
Decide early which boss unit you are committing to, ideally one the lobby is not already scrapping over. In game one he secures Mini P.E.K.K.A for exactly that reason.

Mid Rounds

Build around whatever Trait is uncontested. In game one he leans into Undead with Witch and a three-star Giant; in game three he eyes Undead again because nobody is taking those units, then drops the idea once he realises he has to contest boss units instead.
Pick up Noble when you need the Elixir income from the Trait breakpoint.
Swap filler like Giant Skeleton out for a Forest unit if it switches on another Trait, and sell spares when you need every scrap of Elixir.

Late Rounds

Push star levels on your best units. He tries to four-star a Giant or Skeleton King to stay competitive, and uses Mini P.E.K.K.A to drag his Queen up a level.
Protect your carry's position. His Queen gets knocked to the back even after he centres her, and his Goblin Machine gets blocked out of the lane by a sharper opponent.
Use the lobby modifier. In game one Orb Galore hands out extra orbs, and in game two he throws his Queen onto the Wormhole Tile as a last-ditch play.

Key insight: by the end of the video his conclusion is blunt. Running all the boss units, four out of four boss, looks like the play at high ladder, and he says his old-fashioned Queen-centric style is definitely costing him games.

Strengths And Weaknesses

Strengths

✅ Supers are no longer luck-gated. Moving them into the shared pool means anyone can contest any boss unit instead of being locked into a random starting assignment.

✅ Less snowballing. The bigger card pool blunts the brutal round-one Merge lottery that defined the previous season.

✅ Cheap Troops matter again. The balance pass on the power gap between high and low-cost Troops at the same star level gives budget boards a real path.

✅ Mini P.E.K.K.A is genuinely fun. Her level-up effect can turn a mediocre board into a four-star threat, and she no longer folds instantly.

Weaknesses

❌ Fear feels broken. Ricky Royale's biggest complaint is fear: troops that stop attacking and run away are, in his words, way too strong.

❌ The meta looks narrow. His honest read after three games is that if you do not play the boss units, you simply lose, which is the opposite of the balance he hoped for.

❌ Slower, messier games. With no 5 Elixir rounds and a deeper pool, cycles arrive late, Merges are rare, and the battles themselves now run noticeably long.

⚠️ Empress may be worse off. A bigger pool and less Elixir cut against her consistency, even though the lobbies Ricky Royale enters are still stacked with Empress players, including one all-Empress lobby.

⚠️ Forcing the shop is risky. He forces a roll once hunting for Goblin in game three and spends the rest of the game wondering whether that single force wrecked his economy.

How Strong Is The New Meta

Ricky Royale's three games tell a consistent story. In game one he scrapes second place with a patchwork board of three active Traits plus a two-star Mini P.E.K.K.A, losing out to an opponent with a four-star Mega Knight. In game two he builds a maxed Queen and a Goblin Machine line and still gets outscaled by a maxed P.E.K.K.A and a four-star Boss Bandit. In game three he loses the boss unit scramble completely and gets cooked, salvaging only the fact that he avoided fourth.

The pattern: at high ladder, players are now ignoring old Queen builds and racing for Supers.
The verdict on his own play: he describes himself as playing too old-fashioned and says it is definitely costing him.
The open question: he reserves final judgement on shared Supers, leaning positive but wanting more games before committing.

Where to read the full notes: Ricky Royale points viewers to mergetactics.gg for the in-depth Season 11 change list if you want every number yourself.

Key Units & Traits

Mini P.E.K.K.A: The standout boss unit: Ricky Royale believes she levels up your other troops, and she finally survives long enough to matter.
Monk: Top-tier Super that opponents openly fight over, and he no longer reflects damage.
Boss Bandit: Brings 2x fear radius: feared troops stop attacking and run, which Ricky Royale calls the most broken effect in the patch.
P.E.K.K.A: Line-hitting swing with a life steal and speed stage two, but underwhelming in practice at low star levels.
Queen: Still a strong carry and the old comfort pick, but Ricky Royale finds she is outclassed by racing for boss units.
Goblin: Near-mandatory early Trait: skip it in round one or two and your start falls apart.
Undead: Useful fallback Trait with Witch and Giant when the lobby is busy fighting over Supers.
Empress: Still everywhere in high ladder lobbies, but the bigger card pool and lower Elixir make her job harder.

TL;DR

✅ Supers are now in the shared pool: nobody starts with one, so the whole lobby competes for the same boss units.
✅ You once again start with a random 2 Elixir Troop, and power gaps between high and low-cost Troops at the same star level were reduced.
✅ Mini P.E.K.K.A looks like the best boss unit, with a level-up effect that can push a Queen to four stars.
✅ Buy cards your opponents are not buying: with a pool of roughly 29 cards, contested units never Merge.
✅ Run Goblin by round one or two. Ricky Royale says skipping it now is close to a death sentence.
⚠️ No more 5 Elixir rounds means slower cycles, rarer early Merges and noticeably longer battles.
⚠️ Fear feels overtuned, and his early read is that a 4/4 boss board is the only truly viable line.

The October update is a genuine shake-up rather than a tweak: moving Supers into the shared pool fixes the restrictive old system, and the larger card pool kills the worst of last season's round-one snowballing. The problem is what replaced it. After three games, Ricky Royale's honest read is that the lobby simply races for boss units and whoever loses that race loses the game, with fear doing far too much work. If you are climbing right now, secure a Super as early as possible, lean on Mini P.E.K.K.A or Monk if you can get them, and treat Queen-first tempo boards as the old-fashioned play they have become. Empress loyalists can still make it work, but expect to fight harder for every Merge than you did last season.