Best Super in Merge Tactics After the Balance Changes

Testing Hog Rider, Prince and Ram Rider After the Nerfs

The balance changes shook up the Super picks in Merge Tactics, and the question is simple: which Super is still worth building around? The Rider tiles were significantly nerfed and the Hog Rider has had quite a fall from grace. Meanwhile, Clan remains a strong synergy even after the nerfs.

In the video, Ricky Royale plays a game with each of three Supers (Hog Rider, Prince and Ram Rider) and judges them on real gameplay instead of theory. This guide covers how he handles a Super in the early game, how each one performed, which Traits carried the boards, and what the footage suggests about the pecking order after the nerfs.

How To Play A Super Correctly

In game one, Ricky Royale lays out his core rule: prioritize your comp over your Super in the early game. Get your main cards settled first, then pick up the Super later in the match.

Sell it early if you have to. In game one he sells the Hog Rider right away to chase a cycle or Goblins, planning to buy it back later.
Merge and sell is fine. If merging and selling your Super gets your comp going, do it.
Ignore it in the shop while you are poor. He deliberately skips Hog Rider copies for several rounds because he is not wealthy enough to commit yet.
Buy back when you are wealthy. Once the majority of the comp is in place and Elixir is flowing, start cycling for the Super and aim for three-star.

Pro tip: Rounds against an eliminated player's board (a "dead guy") are the ideal time to spend on cycling. That is exactly when Ricky Royale finally gets the Hog Rider into rotation in game one.

Placement matters as much as merging. In game one, a 3★ Golden Knight has his health obliterated by a Dark Prince splash, which drops Ricky Royale to 1 HP. In game two, he admits the Skeleton King should have been placed more in the middle to avoid the Dark Prince.

Pro tip: Late in a match, when there is nothing left worth cycling for, stop rolling and put all your attention on placements.

Hog Rider After The Nerfs

Ricky Royale calls the Hog Rider quite a fall from grace after the balance changes, and game one backs that up. He opens Goblins, builds a strong cycle and eventually gets the Hog Rider into rotation. It never reaches three-star, though, and he calls it a pretty lackluster performance before losing the game.

Still brings the Rider trait. The Rider tiles really help your gameplay and your other troops in general.
Better base damage than the Ram Rider. In game three he says he feels the Hog Rider's base damage is way better than the Ram Rider's.
Copies are the bottleneck. The shop was stingy with Hog Rider copies in game one, leaving him broke from recycling.
The board alone was not enough. Even with a 3★ Golden Knight, a 3★ Musketeer and a 3★ Princess, the board fell short without a three-star Hog.
A redemption shot in game three. He hits a 3★ Hog Rider there alongside the Ram Rider, framing it as a redemption round for the Hog.

⚠️ The Rider tiles were significantly nerfed, so the trait is not as good as it used to be. Treat it as a bonus, not a plan.

Strengths

✅ Better base damage than the Ram Rider, in Ricky Royale's view.

✅ Rider tiles still help the rest of your troops.

Weaknesses

❌ Hard to push to three-star when the shop will not hand you copies.

❌ Below three-star it delivered a lackluster game in the footage.

Prince And The Undead Ramp

Game two, played on First Free, starts about as well as a game can: a 3★ Prince before round two, for free. Ricky Royale still says the Prince is, low key, not that strong.

No crazy gimmick. The knock-back to the backline can make or break a fight, but he doubts it compares to the Dark Prince's high-damage splash and stun.
Very high damage. This is the one thing he fully gives the Prince, and it is why Undead suits him.
Undead ramp boosts it further. Running four of six Undead for a round banks a 2% ramp on his units, including the Prince.
Build ramp without losing the round. He fields troops that die more easily, like the Giant Skeleton, to build as much ramp as possible while still winning the round.
Pair him with a bomb. With a 3★ Giant Skeleton, the bomb goes off and then the Prince charges in and picks off everything one by one.

Key insight: The Prince visibly struggles against a 2★ Dark Prince, and in another fight he dies much earlier than the enemy Dark Prince. High damage is not the same as winning the duel.

The Prince is not what wins this game. The turning point is hitting 60 merges for a 4★ Skeleton King, then playing an Archer to activate Clan.

With the 4★ Skeleton King, Clan healing and four Undead all online, the board sweeps for a whopping seven damage. He also puts the Controller's enchantment on the Skeleton King so his splash hits multiple units.

Ram Rider Damage Problem

Game three, played on Jump Tile, opens with another lucky cycle. Ricky Royale goes Goblins, merges a Demolisher and bum rushes Clan. He hits 60 merges by round five with a 3★ Ram Rider and a 3★ Hog Rider on the board.

The damage is not there. The 3★ Ram Rider struggles to kill a 2★ Knight, which he calls kind of embarrassing. That opponent was running six of six Noble, which he says to keep in mind.
DPS on paper, weak in practice. He concedes she has a lot of DPS, but doubts she is that great.
A lengthy tile trail. Her one clear upside is the pretty lengthy trail of Rider tiles she leaves behind, which your troops really benefit from.

⚠️ Because the Rider tiles themselves were significantly nerfed, her standout feature is worth less than it used to be.

The support around her is solid:

The Archer Queen carrying the Princess Lance enchantment
A maxed-out Baby Dragon
A 3★ Barbarian

Even so, the run turns into a struggle, and the transcript cuts off while he is still trying to pull out a win.

The Comps That Actually Carry

In the games shown, the Super never wins on its own. The rounds that go well come from the Trait package and the big merges underneath it.

Undead Plus Clan

Undead at four of six banks a 2% ramp on your units.
The 4★ Skeleton King from 60 merges is the real carry in game two, and Clan healing keeps him alive.
Adding an Archer to activate Clan is what turns the run into a sweep.

Goblin Into Clan

Ricky Royale opens Goblins in both game one and game three.
In game three he bum rushes Clan, calling it such a good synergy even after the nerfs.
He buys the Queen early in games two and three, hoping to push the Archer Queen to three-star as early as possible.

Pro tip: When you get a strong start, rush every really good card as fast as you can. Ricky Royale says speed-running merges like this is how Merge Tactics has been played at the highest level for the longest time.

Which Super Is Best

The transcript ends before Ricky Royale gives a final verdict, so any ranking here comes from the gameplay itself. In the footage, no Super carried a game by itself: the one clean win came from Clan, Undead and a 4★ Skeleton King.

Hog Rider: better base damage than the Ram Rider and still brings Rider tiles, but it fell from grace and was lackluster without three-star.
Prince: very high damage that Undead ramps further, but no standout gimmick, and he lost duels to the Dark Prince.
Ram Rider: a lengthy Rider tile trail, but a 3★ copy struggled against a 2★ Knight.

Two other notes from the same games:

Ronin: Ricky Royale flags him as underrated and decently strong this season.
Warden: it is still hanging in during game two, and he asks viewers whether he should play Warden in the next video.

Key Units & Traits

Hog Rider: Fell from grace after the nerfs but still brings Rider tiles and better base damage than the Ram Rider. Commit once you are wealthy enough to push him to three-star.
Prince: Very high damage with a backline knock-back. Pair him with Undead so the 2% ramp boosts him further.
Ram Rider: Weak damage even at three-star, but leaves a lengthy trail of Rider tiles for your other troops.
Skeleton King: The 4★ reward from 60 merges that won game two, boosted by Clan healing and the Controller's enchantment for splash.
Archer: The unit Ricky Royale slots in to activate Clan alongside the 4★ Skeleton King.
Archer Queen: Early buy in games two and three: push her toward three-star and give her the Princess Lance.
Giant Skeleton: 3★ bomb in the Undead board: the bomb goes off, then the Prince charges in to pick off survivors.
Dark Prince: The threat to plan around: high-damage splash with a stun that beat the Prince in duels and obliterated a 3★ Golden Knight.

TL;DR

✅ Comp before Super: sell or merge-and-sell your Super early if needed, then buy it back once you are wealthy.
✅ Hog Rider fell from grace but still has better base damage than the Ram Rider in Ricky Royale's view.
✅ Prince has very high damage, and four of six Undead adds a 2% ramp on top.
✅ Ram Rider leaves a lengthy Rider tile trail, but a 3★ copy struggled to kill a 2★ Knight.
✅ 60 merges for a 4★ Skeleton King plus Clan is what swept boards, not the Super itself.
⚠️ Rider tiles were significantly nerfed, so do not build a plan around the trait alone.
⚠️ Place carefully against Dark Prince: its splash obliterated a 3★ Golden Knight and dropped Ricky Royale to 1 HP.

Going by the footage, no Super in Merge Tactics carries you on its own after the balance changes. The Hog Rider has fallen from grace and looked lackluster short of three-star. The Prince hits very hard and gets a 2% Undead ramp, but still loses duels to the Dark Prince. The Ram Rider showed the weakest damage, with only her lengthy Rider tile trail as a real upside. The winning formula was comp first: build your Trait package (Undead plus Clan was the standout), chase 60 merges for a big carry like the 4★ Skeleton King, and add your Super once you are wealthy enough to push it to three-star.