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The Skeleton Army card is unlocked from the Bone Pit (Arena 2). It spawns 15 single-target, melee Skeletons with very low hit points and low damage, with an overall extremely high damage per second. A Skeleton Army card costs 3 Elixir to deploy. Due to their high numbers and overall, very high DPS, the Skeleton Army is very effective against single target enemy troops and building targeting troops such as the P.E.K.K.A., Prince or Giant. Another benefit is the Skeleton Army's low cost of 3 Elixir, making it a very versatile card that can give the player an Elixir advantage in almost any case. Although they have low health individually, their sheer numbers allow for them to be effective at blocking most troops and siege buildings. This can even work for air troops, such as the Inferno Dragon due to the fact that the Skeleton Army can stall and pull the Inferno Dragon away from the tower, giving the tower a chance to destroy the Inferno Dragon. While being powerful in numbers, they are very weak against splash damage and spells; most area damage units will be able to take out the whole swarm without losing health. Low-cost spells are also effective at taking the swarm out efficiently. Despite their area damage weakness, the Skeleton Army is capable of countering directional area damage troops like a Wizard or Bomber. For this to work, the Skeleton Army must be placed directly on top of the unit, surrounding it and overwhelming their area damage before the swarm is defeated. The player must also have the assistance of a Crown Tower to damage down the troop, as otherwise there is a chance the Skeletons could clump up in such a way that the troop could eliminate them all before being defeated. The Skeleton Army can bait the opponent into using their area damage spell, allowing the player to use other high DPS swarms such as Goblin Gang safely. However, unlike the Goblin Gang, the Skeleton Army can be fully countered by a wider range of spells. As such, they may not the most effective at baiting out the desired spell, such as The Log, if they have more than one. Other swarm troops such as Barbarians and Minion Horde may be more favorable as a substitute, as they have higher hit points compared to the Skeleton Army. However, they also have a heavier Elixir cost, which does make them more committal but also makes them more enticing for the opponent to use a higher cost spell like Fireball on them, allowing other spell-vulnerable cards in the player's deck to thrive. Poison and Fireball are a negative Elixir trade but do counter the Skeleton Army effectively. The Barbarian Barrel can not only counter the Skeleton Army for a positive Elixir trade but also force out a response from the opponent. If the barrel is played right at the river, the Barbarian that spawns will get two hits on the tower left unattended, allowing for valuable chip damage. The Skeleton Army is not recommended to be used offensively, as they can be easily wiped out with spells such as Arrows. However, if the opponent's cheap spell is out of rotation, this play may force non-efficient counters out of their hand, as if the Skeleton Army manages to lock on to a Crown Tower, they will deal extremely high damage to or even destroy it. Their high count allows them to be played in the center or behind the player's King's Tower to cover both lanes. This often entirely deters the opponent from immediately attacking, as they will only be able to spell down half of the swarm with one push. The Skeleton Army is quite effective with Clone to overwhelm your opponent when their proper counters are not in rotation. Using a Rage on the Skeleton Army makes it a huge threat since they already move quite fast and deal high damage per second. Mirroring or Cloning the Skeleton Army gives a huge numbers advantage. However, trying either of these strategies is very risky, as a splash unit or a spell can wipe it out for a positive Elixir trade. In double Elixir, the impact of failing this strategy is reduced because of the faster Elixir generation rate. An Ice Golem is able to eliminate the entire Skeleton Army with its death damage when equally leveled for a positive Elixir trade