Merge Tactics: The 3 Best Comps for the New Season

Three Best Comps This Season

The new Merge Tactics season brings back some of the swingiest Modifiers in the game and puts even more weight on your merge count and team size. Three comps stand out right now: Clan plus Undead, Undead plus Noble, and Forest plus Noble. All three share the same skeleton: a tanky frontline, a ramping carry, and a super troop slotted in once your board finally opens up.

This guide follows Ricky Royale's three showcase games of the new season. It covers the two bench Modifiers he played around, each comp's core Troops and Trait counts, the 60 merge milestone that unlocks your last board slot, and the honest strengths and weaknesses he ran into on ladder.

The New Bench Modifiers

Two Modifiers shaped all three games, and both of them turn your bench into a tool rather than storage.

Pandora's Bench: each round, the Troop in your rightmost bench slot becomes a random Troop of the same cost. Ricky Royale uses it to fish at a specific cost, for example angling for a Hog Rider or converting a spare Valkyrie copy.
Echo Bench: the returning favorite, and the one he says he has missed the most. With it running, having your Troops blocked in the shop matters far less, so you can commit to a single carry much earlier.

Pro tip: with Pandora's Bench, think twice before benching your super troop. Ricky Royale tried it and concluded the converted super does not come back around in his shop rotation: treat that slot as a one way trade.

One more warning from the video: the card pool feels dry deep into games this season. Ricky Royale was getting roughly one merge every three shops late on, so start your merge chains early instead of assuming the shop will bail you out.

Comp 1: Clan And Undead

The first build pairs Clan with Undead, and it works because both Traits scale into a long fight instead of fighting for the same job.

Clan provides extra HP and healing, which keeps your frontline standing far longer than the raw stats suggest.
Undead ramps your board up over the round, stacking extra damage and HP as the fight drags on.
Put together, you get a comp that opens fine and closes dominant: the Clan sustain buys the time the Undead ramp needs.

Build Order

Start on the Undead core. Ricky Royale goes for the Giant Skeleton as the tank and upgrades the Queen in the background while hunting for the Skeleton King as his champion.
Bomber is a perfectly fine Undead body to hold the slot until better copies show up.
Valkyrie is the Clan pick he lands on over adding a second big tank: with the Giant Skeleton already holding the front, more tankiness is wasted.
Ram Rider completes the Clan count and enjoys the ramp payoff.

The finished board in the video is four Undead, two Clan and one super troop once the extra slot opens. If you are on a Ruler that cannot reach maximum team size, Ricky Royale says cutting one Undead for the super is a fine trade: he recommends always fielding your super troop.

Comp 2: Undead And Noble

The second comp keeps the Undead ramp and pairs it with Noble. Ricky Royale calls it very well rounded, and it is the one to spam if you only learn one build.

Run four Undead and two Noble. The Noble buff lands on the board while the Undead ramp supercharges everything, including your Nobles.
Golden Knight and Musketeer are the Noble pair he wants. He rates the new Musketeer as genuinely interesting, and notes the Golden Knight should sit behind the Giant Skeleton to benefit from the juggernaut effect.
The Witch is the priority carry. Get her down early, take the tile placement, and keep pushing her star level: her constant skeleton spawns feed straight into the Undead ramp.
Skeleton King is the champion, and is the next unit worth star levels once the Witch is online.
Ram Rider rounds the board out and is where he puts the fisherman hook. Position her so she is boosting the Witch.

Ricky Royale hit a four-star Witch and a four-star Ram Rider here and still lost narrowly to an opponent running a four-star Dark Prince, finishing second. His verdict stands: this is a very solid comp, and second into a stronger board is a result he takes.

Comp 3: Forest And Noble

The third build flips the ratio to four Noble and two Forest. Ricky Royale calls it very OP, and the main reason is the Baby Dragon.

Baby Dragon is the standout Forest unit and is worth pushing to three-star as soon as your shop allows.
For the second Forest slot, either Boss Bandit or the regular Bandit does the job. If a rival has already taken the Boss Bandit, grab the regular Bandit rather than fighting over contested copies.
Fill the Noble side with pieces like Princess, Knight and Musketeer to reach the four Noble count.
Items matter: the fisherman hook goes on the Knight, and the mage wand is the other pickup he is happy to see.

Where The Hog Rider Fits

The Hog Rider super troop goes in last, once the extra team size is unlocked, not first.
Ricky Royale deliberately does not rush a four-star Hog Rider because he wants the comp itself to do the work rather than leaning on one unit. When he finally plays it, he calls the damage disgusting.
Cycling is fair game: in this Echo Bench game he sold a Hog Rider early for a clean cycle, then bought it back later when he needed it.

Merge Count And Game Plan

All three comps run on the same progression track: merges unlock team size, and team size unlocks your super troop.

Early Rounds

Commit to your Trait pair immediately and start a merge chain on your intended carry. Do not spread copies across five different units.
Sell dead openers for cycle Elixir. In game three, an instant Hog Rider sale funded exactly the cycle he wanted.

Mid Rounds

Push toward the merge milestones that open extra board slots. By this point you want your tank, your carry and both Trait counts already online.
Keep the Undead or Forest core stable and use flex slots to chase star levels.

Late Rounds

The final target is 60 merges for maximum team size, which is when your super troop comes in. Ricky Royale is blunt: super troops are busted and should basically always be played.
⚠️ The pool is dry late this season. A merge every three shops is realistic, so budget your Elixir and do not go broke chasing one last copy.

Strengths And Weaknesses

Strengths

✅ Trait ramp: Undead scaling means these boards only get stronger the longer a round runs.
✅ Flexible cores: Clan, Noble and Forest all pair cleanly, so you can pivot with whatever the shop offers.
✅ Modifier friendly: both Pandora's Bench and Echo Bench actively help you assemble these boards.
✅ Super troop payoff: every build has a natural late slot for a super troop instead of an awkward forced cut.

Weaknesses

❌ Dry shops: merge chains stall late, and falling short of 60 merges means squeezing your super troop in by cutting an Undead instead of playing the full board.
❌ Four-star losses: an opponent who lands a four-star Dark Prince can still beat a well built board, as happened in game two.
⚠️ Positioning matters: forgetting to place the Golden Knight behind the Giant Skeleton, or misplacing the Ram Rider so she is not boosting the Witch, costs real damage.

Key Units & Traits

Witch: The priority carry in the Undead Noble comp: constant skeleton spawns plus Undead ramp.
Skeleton King: Champion of the Undead builds and the next target for extra star levels.
Giant Skeleton: The Undead frontline tank; place the Golden Knight behind it for the juggernaut benefit.
Ram Rider: Completes the Clan count and boosts the Witch when positioned correctly; good fisherman hook holder.
Valkyrie: Preferred second Clan unit over a redundant tank when the Giant Skeleton already holds the front.
Golden Knight: Core Noble unit that gets supercharged by the Undead ramp.
Musketeer: The other half of the Noble pair; Ricky Royale rates the reworked version highly.
Baby Dragon: The reason Forest Noble works; push it to three-star early.
Hog Rider: Super troop finisher in the Forest Noble comp: deploy it once max team size is unlocked.

TL;DR

✅ Run one of three comps this season: Clan Undead, Undead Noble or Forest Noble.
✅ Undead ramp is the common thread: it turns long rounds into free damage and HP for the whole board.
✅ In Undead Noble, prioritise the Witch first and support her with Golden Knight and Musketeer.
✅ In Forest Noble, build around the Baby Dragon and take Bandit or Boss Bandit for the second Forest slot.
✅ Chase 60 merges for maximum team size, then slot your super troop: Ricky Royale says always run it.
⚠️ Be careful benching your super troop under Pandora's Bench: Ricky Royale found it did not come back in his shop rotation.
⚠️ The card pool is dry late this season, so start merge chains early instead of relying on the shop.

All three comps are legitimate top options in the new Merge Tactics season, and they share a build path that makes them easy to learn together: tank up front, a ramping carry behind, two Trait counts online, and a super troop at maximum team size. Undead Noble is the most well rounded and the best pick if you want one comp to spam, Clan Undead is the most durable thanks to the HP and healing stack, and Forest Noble hits the highest ceiling with Baby Dragon and a late Hog Rider. The honest caveat from Ricky Royale's games is that a dry shop or an opponent's early four-star unit can still take you down, so lock in your merges early rather than gambling on late rerolls.