12 Giants

2 Healers

6-10 Valkyrie

12-16 Wizards

Wallbreakers (varies depending on what bases you are up against)

1 Golem (For Th9/10)

Optional

0-1 PEKKA (PEKKA can stand in for wizards, mostly if you need some hero killing power)

0-2 Witch (Good support troop but not necessary)

Spells

1 Rage, 1 Healing, 1 Jump, 2 Freeze. For lower th levels rage/healing tends to be the best. More healing if you need to keep up with defenses, more rage if your healers can easily handel the job.





Th8 Variation

Credit: Sadist Kandra

Pros

Spreads elixir costs and training time evenly

Elixir costs are reasonable

Keeps spell usage down

High DPS units allow healers to be used in more ways

Do not necessarily have to take on Air Defenses head on

With a Golem in the mix this combination tanks remarkably well, allowing high % attacks

Until higher wall levels, you do not need many wb in the mix to be effective

Extremely effective against rushed bases that neglected point defenses

Effectively deals with troops inside the base

Cons

Units are very trap vulnerable

Disco infernos can be an issue if they do not go down in the surge part of the attack

Vs high level th10 defenses healers have trouble keeping up

You have to consider base layout very carefully



Base Selection

Though very similar to the traditional Giant/Healer combination the addition of Valkyrie has certain advantages. Namely you can afford, damage wise, to bring 2-4 healers. This means they can get split up if need be. In fact this is the secret of my success. I split my groups of giants up much like a GoWiXx attack. Valkyrie also make a great compliment to healers as well. Before the update I discouraged more than 2 healers just because of all the variables you have to content with but with the addition of the poison spell 3 healers for Th8 and 4 for Th9/10 is very doable. Just keep in mind that in war the CC compositions are very different are barreling in will not work nearly as well as in regular raiding.

Because of this their are 3 types of Air Defense coverage that are weak verses this combination. Bases with a very wide spread of AD coverage in the outside layer. The next being in a line, Valkyrie are great at rushing ahead and taking these out. And finally heavily centralized Air Defenses. This may seem contrary but since you have Valkyrie along, the Giants can function much like golems do for GoViz, GoWiVa, and GoVaPe. As long as they are distracting defenses and taking fire, they are getting the job done. This means if I can get my giants in, and have them distract defenses along an edge - I will. The giants occupy perimeter defenses, and Valkyrie go for the heart. This also means AD coverage in the middle layer of the base is the hardest for this composition. Much harder to eliminate them before they have a chance to take out your healers.

After running this combination many times, luring is not necessary (in regular raiding). Now in war I never turn down an easy lure. If you can easily lure, its safer to do so. But if you are not luring you must know how to use Valkyrie to eliminate the CC quickly. For the record I do not recommend the tornado at Th8 (giants just aren't that great at Th8, and housing space is an issue) and for Th10 I recommend luring unless you already know what the CC is and plan for it. The DE factory really changed the nature of what is in a CC. You just don't see witches, mass archers, or mass wizards anymore. This means you will see lava hounds, dragons, valkyrie and loons. Loons can pose a real threat and due to changes in AI, dragons can as well if your troops do not move in to kill the unit. At Th9 level 4 valkyrie are strong enough that a skilled attack can move in without a lure but for other Th levels in war I would lure. You just can't count on your wizards/AQ to actually attack these CC units anymore.

You want to see defenses spread out and in particular non-defensive buildings mixed in between those defenses. Heavily concentrated defenses may overcome a healers effects while more spread out defensive fire allows healers time to keep the giants going. Also lots of trash buildings can be very distracting for your Valkyrie if outside of the base. However, with this combination of units funneling is usually a snap.

The core of the base is best if dense or tightly packed, in particular if it has a large collection of buildings in it. Valkyrie can make quick work of these types of core and often the giants and healers can then easily pick off the rest of the base. This is particularly true if x-bows, infernos, and teslas are all packed into the core.

Other than that you want bases that allow you to keep your giants in front and taking fire. This combination fizzles quick if your wizards (and or witches) get taken out. The Valkyrie can save it from a complete loss but a major component to this strategy is the giants soaking up damage like sponges.

The Healer

I wanted to make a special note here. To be useful a healer need not survive the battle, she only needs to prolong the life of your units. One characteristic of my own attacks is deploying her almost immediately. This serves several purposes. The 1st is that it prevents her AI from healing a unit I do not want her to. A healer will target the closest unit to her that has taken damage. This means if you wait to deploy her until an AD is down, she may go for your ranged units instead - or a hero. Giants are slow and generally deployed in a pack (the more housing space a healer is healing, the less likely she will break from her original target), a healer will generally stick with them until they either get substantially thinned out or die all together. The second is that it allows me to make use of her healing immediately. Its much easier to insure her survival in the early parts of the fight, than later. So if she goes down after surging the core, but has kept your giants at full health - she will have been effective.

For this reason, I visually cut a base into sections covered by Air Defenses and Infernos. If there is a gap in coverage, its generally the best place to use your giants. When dealing with a full array of defenses it can often be more practical to attack a location that is simply not well protected rather than always aiming to take out an Air Defense first. In fact, I rarely use my giants/healers near an Air Defense.

Giants

I just wanted to note here that giants actually have an advantage over golems in some ways. Giants have more DPS and when used with a healer can have infinite life. Their just a bit faster and since you use them in groups, single target infernos don’t do well against them and you do have the option of overwhelming infernos with their numbers - particularly ones that are not maxed out. The major advantage is they are less likely to send a whole raid hitting a wall.

Attacking





Attacking

The addition of Earthquake and Poison are huge for this attacking strategy. Luring has always strained this combination for troop space and poison means only the most war oriented troops will truly give you a run for your money. I've been making MASSIVE qualities of DE in up Champions II with 4 healers and 4 Earthquakes. I recommend you give it a try!

In any given attack method you want to carefully consider the Air Defense coverage. You only need to identify gaps or areas where taking out just one AD will create a gab in air defense coverage. At Th10 you must also consider disco infernos, which are better if firmly tucked deep inside the base. With Infernos you also want to attack from an angle where you hit the nearest one (if doubles) head on.

I’ve described it in more detail in my GoViz section, but Valkyrie do best with a runway. A somewhat confined direct path to the core. Too much side to side action causes them to whiff attacks something terrible.

One Point Attack

I am removing this section, I rarely attack from 1 location. Its probably the least effective way to use the giants and healers and most prone to AI pains.

Two-Point Attack

With Valkyrie two-point attacks are much more effective than one. You can clear more outside buildings and make a better path for the Valkyrie. It basically turns the Giants into the Golems in a GoViz attack. If you haven’t figured it out, a 2-point attack attacks 2 points. In the center of a typically 2-point attack is an Air Defense that once destroyed creates a large pocket. In this strategy you deploy healers immediately behind the giants because your giants aren’t going to take out the AD, your Valkyrie are. Your giants need only keep defenses occupied and if the walls are low enough in level you may not need to bother with wall breakers.





Since you attack at 2 points, you can leave buildings standing where you want your Valkyrie to attack. This is the most effective pathing strategy I know, as it eliminates the need to worry about if you cleared a building that is 8 paces off target that is technically closer.

A 2 point attack is very effective at dealing with the CC inside the base. (Lure if Th8 unless regular raiding) Just make sure you have a rage/healer for when you collide with the enemy cc and a jump spell to prevent your units from being hung up on a wall. For th10 the change of CC choices created by the poison spell means that in war your probably going to see a flying unit in the CC. This can create problems for timing, so at this point I recommend luring if trying it out in war (still experimenting with this). With the addition of poison spell I find I am not using my Valkyrie as much to eliminate the CC so I am factoring the CC placement a bit less than I use to and the inferno placement/heros more.



This is my bread and butter tactic when using Giant/Healer. For those of you not Valkyrie fans, hogs can also function in this role but will require lurning.

3-Point Attack

Originally my 3 point attack was 2 giant/healer combinations with a golem down the middle. Through experimentation this is more effective at Th9 that 10 due to infernos. At Th10 giants and Valkyrie actually make a killer team for the core rush. But the basics of this strategy are my bread and butter as a Th10 player in Campion.



The only major difference between this and the 2-point attack is that my Valkyrie have a tank lead the way into the core. This takes the point damage off of them and allows them to use their speed to swoop in while the defenses are occupied and do serious damage.



For Th9 a Golem will do this well, but for a Th10 player a golem actually has a serious disadvantage when facing duel discos. 1 golem is 30 space. This has been a problem that as plagued me for a long time. I have tried applying GoWi tactics to my strategy but honestly GoViz is not GoWi. You use your golems differently, and its just enough different that the same techniques were giving me poor results.



So what I do now, is I send in my giants/healers (maybe subbing one group out for a golem) in the same fashion as a 2-point attack. But now once I've created the funnel I send in the giants to occupy the nearest inferno. I then send in Valkyrie behind and time a rage so they quickly dispatch the nearest inferno. I then drop a freeze on the far side inferno and a heal spell after in the same manner as my Wrecking Ball technique. But I save on an extra freeze and can pack 4 Earthquakes or 2 jump spells. Against high level walls this can make a huge difference. Once you lose your momentum with this strategy it quickly fizzles out, by maintaining that momentum you can pull off some spectacular attacks.



Skim and Rush

This is not a staple technique but a base exploit that occasionally comes in handy. Some bases have large blind spots in AD coverage. If you stick to the outside of the base you can severely cripple the base while your giants receive infinite healing. It just requires you to attack in a way that is very abnormal. Most attacks are more direct, this technique requires you to actually attack a side of a base and move along it.

If you’ve identified a section of the base that has no Air Defense coverage or a whole ring. Deploy your giants and place 2 healers behind. Deploy at the corner of a compartment so that giants move along the edge of the base, periodically deploying wallbreakers to keep them doing this. Keep a few giants in reserve to clear a necessary building if need be.

Use only a handful of wizards to clear buildings. Your intention is to let the giants clear as many defenses in the blind spot as possible and since you are moving them in a sideways or looping fashion they may not effectively protect your wizards who will move to attack the center of the base eventually.

Once you’ve exploited the blind spot, clear a few necessary buildings and have your Valkyrie gut the core. If possible take out Air Defenses to prolong the exploit. This is a surgical style attack and requires you to think about unit AI and behavior. But when a base comes along that this works on, it is fun to capitalize type of attack.