Clan Wars is one of the best features in Clash of Clans, pitting two clans against each other for bragging rights and spoils. During these battles, your main goal is to destroy the enemy’s headquarters, which will earn you stars.
The excellent thing about Clan Wars is that your team requires a lot of strategic planning to be successful. For example, before you can attack enemies, there is a preparation phase during which you scout your enemies. To make things even better, you can play this mode with 50-person teams!
In this post, we’ll explain what the gamemode is, how to play it, and the best strategies.
What Is a Clan War in CoC?
Clan War is an epic, two-day showdown between two clans, with the primary goal of earning more stars than the opposing clan, which yields incredible rewards.
To execute these attacks, your team requires excellent coordination, great troops, and perfect layouts.
The entire event is neatly divided into two distinct phases, each demanding a different strategy.
Preparation Day vs. Battle Day
Every Clan War unfolds over a 48-hour period, demanding both meticulous planning and flawless execution. Because of this, understanding the rhythm of these two days is fundamental to winning!
Preparation Day
The first 24 hours are the calm before the storm, named Preparation Day, a period dedicated entirely to planning, fortifying, and strategizing.
● Designing the War Base: Your standard village layout is safe. For war, you design a specific war base layout. You’ll want to protect your Town Hall and key defenses, creating a puzzle that your opponent must solve.
● Donating Troops: The Clan Castle in each war base must be filled with defensive troops, as a well-placed Dragon or a swarm of Archers can single-handedly stop tricky enemy attacks.
● Scouting the Enemy: This is your time for reconnaissance. You can study every enemy war base, analyze their weaknesses, and discuss attack plans with your clanmates in the clan chat.
Battle Day
When the Preparation Day timer hits zero, the horns of war sound. For the next 24 hours, the Battle Day commences, with each participant in the war getting two war attacks to use against any enemy base.
The goal is to score stars:
● One Star: Achieve 50% destruction on an enemy base.
● Two Stars: Destroy the enemy Town Hall and achieve 50% destruction.
● Three Stars: Annihilate the base with 100% destruction.
The stars from each clan member’s best attack on each base are tallied, and the winning clan is the one with the most war stars when the clock runs out.
In the event of a tie, the clan with the higher total destruction percentage wins the war, making every building and every hit point crucial.
How Clan Wars Matchmaking Works
Starting a Clan War is a privilege reserved for the clan leader or co-leader. To get started, they select the participants and initiate the search for the clan war, while Supercell’s matchmaking system finds an opposing clan.
The system then checks the offensive and defensive strengths of all participating members to determine a worthy opponent. It considers troop levels, hero levels, defensive building levels, and more to ensure a balanced fight.
The war size can vary, from minor 5v5 skirmishes to massive 50v50 brawls, allowing clans of all sizes to compete.
Why Victory Is Everything in Clan Wars
Winning a Clan War gives every participant a massive war win bonus of Gold, Elixir, and Dark Elixir. This war loot is stored safely in your Clan Castle treasury and can be incredibly important for funding major upgrades. Even in a loss, players keep a small portion of the loot they earned from their attacks, so every star counts.
Furthermore, wars grant Clan XP, with earning enough XP allowing you to level up your clan and unlock clan perks, such as improved troop donations and increased treasury storage.
Regular Clan Wars vs. Clan War Leagues
While Regular Clan Wars are the bread and butter of clan competition, the Clan War League (CWL) is a level above. Here’s a quick breakdown of how they differ.
Feature | Regular Clan War | Clan War League (CWL) |
Frequency | On-demand; can be started anytime | Once per month, a week-long season |
Matchmaking | Based on the weight of participating bases | Based on the clan’s current League |
Format | One clan versus another clan per war | A group of eight clans battles in a round-robin format |
Player Attacks | Two attacks per player during each Battle Day | One attack per player per war for seven days |
Primary Rewards | War Loot (Gold, Elixir, Dark Elixir) and Clan XP | League Medals for exclusive items and bonus resources |
CWL is a test of strategy and roster depth, pitting your clan against seven others over the course of a week. Performance determines promotion or demotion through the leagues, offering an actual ladder for competitive players to climb.
Your Role on the War Map
Success in Clan Wars is a collective effort. Every single member, from the strongest to the newest, has a part to play.
● Communication is Key: The clan chat is where you’ll communicate, discuss targets, request specific troops, and share replays of successful (or failed) attacks to help others learn.
● Attack Smart: Take the time to plan an effective attack. A common strategy is for lower-level players to attack their counterparts first, securing easier stars, while allowing the heavy hitters to focus on cleaning up the toughest enemy bases later.
● Use Both Attacks: Leaving a war attack on the table is like forfeiting a move; instead, always use both of your attacks on Battle Day, even if it’s to scout a trapped base for a clanmate or to pick up a single star on a damaged target.
Pro-Tips for Winning Clan Wars
If you wish to improve your Clan Wars prowess, you should keep these tricks in mind:
Perfect Your War Base: Your war base should be an original creation, not a copy from the internet that everyone knows how to beat. Protect your Clan Castle and Town Hall, and use traps to guide enemy troops into kill zones.
The Art of the Scout: If you’re facing a max-level base, you know you can’t three-star, consider using your first attack as a scout. Your goal is to reveal trap locations and lure out the defensive Clan Castle troops, paving the way for a stronger clanmate to finish the job.
Master Multiple Armies: The same army won’t work on every base. Intelligent attackers have several powerful strategies in their arsenal and know when to employ a ground assault versus an air raid.
Listen to Leadership: Your clan leader or co-leader has a view of the entire war. They often coordinate the grand strategy, assigning targets to ensure stars are maximized.
Clan Wars are a big part of what keeps Clash of Clans exciting and relevant even today, and these tips will help you dominate even more games.
But there’s one more factor that can really tip the scales in your favor: having a well-upgraded, resource-rich account. The easiest way to get there? Picking up a premium Clash of Clans account from igitems.
Frequently Asked Clan Wars Questions
Q: How many attacks do you have during a Clan War?
A: In a regular Clan War, each participant is granted two attacks during Battle Day. In the Clan War League, you get one attack per war over the seven-day season.
Q: What’s the reward for winning a Clan War?
A: If you win, you’ll get a massive influx of Gold, Elixir, and Dark Elixir, along with Clan XP to level up your clan and unlock powerful perks.
Q: What happens if the battle ends in a draw?
A: If both clans earn the same number of stars, the winner is decided by the total destruction percentage. The clan that inflicted more overall damage takes the win.
Q: Can you skip Clan War?
A: Yes. You can set your Clan War preference to “Opt-Out” in your player profile. This tells your clan leaders you are unavailable to participate in the next war.
