Best Barnstorm Decks for Every Stage of the Trophy Road

The best Barnstorm decks are not your eight highest-level cards. They are eight cards that each do a job. Below are five decks you can build as you climb the Trophy Road, using only cards that unlock by that arena, with real Ember costs, the fusion pair each one carries and how to play it. They are our recommendations, not measured meta statistics.

How to build Barnstorm decks: the roles#

A deck is eight cards. You hold four and see the next one; a card you play goes to the back of the queue. Fill these roles first:

• Win condition: a card that ignores troops and walks to buildings, like the Battering Ram, Armored Camel, Sappers or Naphtha Balloon. One is enough.

• Tank: something sturdy for the front of your push. The Lion Knight gives you 1,700 HP for 3 Ember.

• Air defense: Hunting Falcons and the Naphtha Balloon fly, and ground-only troops like the Lion Knight, Pikemen and Mamluk Guard can't touch them. Carry two answers to air, at least one of them a troop or building (Longbowmen, Hunting Falcons, Horse Archers, Fire Tower, Grand Alchemist).

• Splash: Arrow Volley, Fire Pot, Naphtha Thrower or Blade Dancer, so swarms like Desert Raiders don't run you over.

• Spells: one or two, for damage (Arrow Volley, Fire Pot) or control (Smoke Bomb, Quicksilver).

• Extras: a building such as the Clockwork Cannon pulls building-targeters away from your Bastions, and cheap cards like War Hounds (1) and Squires (2) cycle you back to your win condition.

This Short shows why air defense matters: a Lion Knight swings at three Hunting Falcons and never lands a hit, then a Camel Cavalry beats three Pikemen because its riders shoot back.

Lion Knight vs 3 Falcons. Who wins? ⚔️ #shorts

Average Ember#

You start with 5 Ember, gain 1 every 2.8 seconds and hold at most 10; in the last minute it comes twice as fast. The deck builder shows your average Ember cost, and the Barnstorm decks below sit between 2.75 and 3.25. Lower averages cycle faster; higher ones hit harder but can leave you stuck with cards you can't afford.

Carry one fusion pair#

Each deck carries one public recipe. Both ingredients must be in your hand at once; drag one onto the other. Fusing costs no Ember (you pay the fused card's cost when you play it), and then a 15-second cooldown starts. Every recipe is in our Barnstorm fusion guide. Six more are secret riddles in the Alchemist's Workshop, and we leave those to you.

Early decks: Desert Outpost and Oasis Fort#

Early Barnstorm decks draw from a small pool (our arenas guide lists every unlock), and the basics win here.

Deck 1: Starter Ram (Desert Outpost, 0+ trophies)#

You start with all ten Desert Outpost cards, and the deck the game gives you is already a sound one.

• Cards: Lion Knight (3), Battering Ram (4), Longbowmen (3), Fire Pot (4), Arrow Volley (3), Hunting Falcons (3), Desert Raiders (3), Squires (2)

• Average Ember: 3.1 (25 for 8 cards)

• Win condition: Battering Ram

• Defense: Lion Knight; Longbowmen and Hunting Falcons for air; Arrow Volley and Fire Pot for groups

• Fusion: Longbowmen + Fire Pot = Fire Archers (5)

How to play it:

• Lead with the Lion Knight and drop the Ram behind him. Its first blow on a building does double damage, and two Squires jump out when it breaks.

• Save Arrow Volley for groups: Desert Raiders, Squires and Hunting Falcons.

• Fuse when nothing is attacking you. Fire Archers are two archers whose arrows splash and burn, against air and ground.

In this quiz Short, two Fire Archers face twelve War Hounds in a staged fight and walk away untouched, because their burning splash hits the whole pack.

Guess the winner. Can you get 5/5? 🤯 #shorts

Deck 2: Smoke Ram (Oasis Fort, 300+ trophies)#

• Cards: Battering Ram (4), Lion Knight (3), Longbowmen (3), Hunting Falcons (3), Clockwork Cannon (3), Arrow Volley (3), Smoke Bomb (2), War Hounds (1)

• Average Ember: 2.75 (22 for 8)

• Win condition: Battering Ram, with Shadow Falcons as a second threat

• Defense: Clockwork Cannon and Lion Knight; Longbowmen and Arrow Volley for air

• Fusion: Hunting Falcons + Smoke Bomb = Shadow Falcons (4)

How to play it:

• Smoke the Bastion as your Ram arrives. For 3 seconds nothing in the cloud, towers included, can attack.

• Place the Clockwork Cannon (ground only, 30 seconds) in the path of enemy Rams and Armored Camels so they hit it instead of your Bastion.

• Shadow Falcons are three fliers that stay invisible until they strike. Fusing spends your Smoke Bomb, so choose: smoke for the Ram, or falcons.

Mid-ladder decks: Coastal Citadel and Mountain Keep#

Mid-ladder Barnstorm decks split into heavy pushes and fast cycles. Here is one of each.

Deck 3: Camel Cavalry (Coastal Citadel, 700+ trophies)#

• Cards: Armored Camel (5), Horse Archers (4), Naphtha Thrower (4), Pikemen (4), Longbowmen (3), Arrow Volley (3), Smoke Bomb (2), War Hounds (1)

• Average Ember: 3.25 (26 for 8)

• Win condition: Armored Camel, or the fused Camel Cavalry

• Defense: Pikemen and Naphtha Thrower; Longbowmen, Horse Archers and Arrow Volley for air

• Fusion: Armored Camel + Horse Archers = Camel Cavalry (7)

How to play it:

• The Armored Camel has 3,800 HP and walks slowly. Start it at the back so your Ember refills, then add the Naphtha Thrower behind it to burn whatever chases it.

• Camel Cavalry costs 7, two less than the Camel and Horse Archers played apart, and its two riders shoot air and ground. Fuse in the last minute, when Ember flows twice as fast.

• Pikemen deal double damage to mounted units and beasts: enemy Camels, Horse Archers and War Hounds.

Deck 4: Powder Kegs Cycle (Mountain Keep, 1,100+ trophies)#

• Cards: Sappers (2), Fire Pot (4), Mamluk Guard (4), Hunting Falcons (3), Clockwork Cannon (3), Arrow Volley (3), Squires (2), War Hounds (1)

• Average Ember: 2.75 (22 for 8)

• Win condition: Sappers, or the fused Powder Kegs

• Defense: Mamluk Guard and Clockwork Cannon; Hunting Falcons, Arrow Volley and Fire Pot for air

• Fusion: Sappers + Fire Pot = Powder Kegs (4)

How to play it:

• Sappers are two very fast runners that blow up against the nearest building. At 2 Ember, send them often; every pair needs an answer.

• Powder Kegs cost the same 4 Ember as Fire Pot, but each keg blasts for 600 instead of a sapper's 320, over a wider area.

• The Mamluk Guard hits for 580 per strike. Put him on any tank that crosses the bridge, then send Sappers behind him.

At Lion's Gate (1,600), swap the Clockwork Cannon for the Fire Tower (5), which hits air too. The average becomes 3.0.

Late decks: Falcon Palace and Legends' Siege#

Deck 5: Frost Balloon (Falcon Palace, 2,200+ trophies)#

Late Barnstorm decks punish mistakes fast. This one defends with a slowing cannon and wins from the sky.

• Cards: Naphtha Balloon (5), Quicksilver (4), Blade Dancer (4), Clockwork Cannon (3), Lion Knight (3), Longbowmen (3), Arrow Volley (3), War Hounds (1)

• Average Ember: 3.25 (26 for 8)

• Win condition: Naphtha Balloon

• Defense: Frost Cannon, Lion Knight and Blade Dancer; Longbowmen and Arrow Volley for air

• Fusion: Clockwork Cannon + Quicksilver = Frost Cannon (4)

How to play it:

• The Balloon flies over walls and armies, hits buildings for 680 a time and drops a last bomb when shot down. Send it right after a good defense.

• Quicksilver freezes everything in the blast, towers included, for 3.5 seconds. Freeze the Bastion as the Balloon arrives.

• The Frost Cannon slows each target by 35% and lasts 30 seconds. Fuse early, but hold it until a ground push is coming.

• Blade Dancer spins through swarms; the Lion Knight holds bigger troops.

Here is that spin in action: one Blade Dancer against nine Squires in a staged bridge fight, then a Lance Charger running into three Pikemen.

9 Squires vs 1 Blade Dancer. Who wins? ⚔️ #shorts

Barnstorm decks at a glance#

Make these decks your own#

None of these Barnstorm decks is final. Swap like for like, then check that you still have a win condition, an answer to air and something for groups. Rewatch losses in the Battle Log, and open Top 100 to copy the decks the ladder leaders play. You have three deck slots, so keep one for experiments.

The list is only half of it: in the studio's bot-vs-bot balance tests, a hard bot beat an easy bot playing the exact same deck 74.9% of the time over 800 matches.

Get Barnstorm free on Google Play (iPhone coming soon), and find the FAQ and support at barnstorm.softick.dev. New to sieges? Start with our beginner's guide.

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