A Detailed Guide on How to Counter the

Executioner + Tornado Combo

Hello everyone, this is VoreyAddicted; bringing you a new guide on how to counter the popular Executioner + Tornado synergy.

So, as most of you already know, Executioner and Tornado is one of the strongest combos in the game right now; even stopping some of the deadliest pushes. The double pass of the Executioner’s blade and the heavy movement restrictions of Tornado should not be underestimated. In this guide, I will teach you all about both cards. I will also show you popular Executioner-Tornado decks and their counters, and give you tips on how to prevent this combo from ever happening.

In this guide, I will teach you all about both cards. I will also show you popular Executioner + Tornado decks and their counters, and give you tips on how to prevent this combo from ever happening.

Table of Contents

Who Is the Executioner?

The Executioner is the man with the axe; destroying those who dare cross his path. He learned how to boomerang the axe at an early age, and perfected the technique. Unlocked in Jungle Arena, he is a tough character to kill.

He has a total of 1010 health, outlasting every direct damage spell except for rocket.

His axe passes through enemies twice.

He has a slow attack speed. However, when his axe is in the air, his attack speed isn’t affected by buffs or debuffs.

His range is small for a ranged unit, so be careful about units with longer range, as they can combo with tanks well.

What Is the Tornado?

The Tornado is a spell that rounds everything up and keeps them there. Its favorite target is the Hog; preying on its demise. Unlocked in Builders Workshop, this is an annoying spell to go against.

It lasts for 2.5 seconds, killing skeletons and bats; while dragging everything else to its location.

Its radius is huge; you can pull many things into it.

Buildings are not affected by this spell, so the bit of damage that Tornado does won’t help kill that X-Bow!

This card is known for its ability to activate the King’s Tower, so exploit it whenever possible!

How Do These Cards Synergize?

These two cards synergize very well because of a few reasons:

1) The Tornado clumps everything together in a very small area.

Having a huge radius can even snipe troops like Princess and Dart Goblin.

2) The Executioner engages the troops in the Tornado (most likely tanks in front) from a distance.

Even though many ranged troops outrange the Executioner, the troops in front of the tornado sort of shield the Executioner

Also, the axe passes through multiple enemies instead of stopping at one, like the Wizards. Its reach is eight tiles long and a tile wide, which is monstrous.

3) They both lead to counter push opportunities.

These reasons explain why Executioner plus Tornado is a very powerful combo. Just keep these in mind when you are facing this.

How Can You Counter This Combo?

Here are a few cards, decks, and tips to counter this combo.

(Bolded are the best counters)

Cards

Carry Heal: This card is THE hard counter to this combo. Even with their support troops to distract yours, Heal can still power through their damage.

Carry Rocket: This card is the second hard counter to this combo. It immediately kills the Executioner; then you only must worry about support troops and/or spells.

Carry Lightning: This card does not hard counter the combo, but when paired with other spells, it can do wonders. It can also hit their support troops, so yours can kill them easily.

Carry Freeze: While not dealing any damage to the Executioner, this card can halt the combo, leaving enough time for your troops to kill theirs.

Decks

Three Musketeer-Heal Beatdown/Cycle: This deck style is the BEST way to counter this combo; hands down. If you can stop this combo when attacking, then you have a virtually unstoppable push/split push.

Example: Three Musketeers, Heal, Elixir Pump, Zap, Fireball, Knight, Lumberjack, Battle Ram.

Executioner-Tornado Beatdown/Cycle: Surprisingly, a good counter to this combo is itself. If you’re able to line up all their troops, you can easily create a counter push and give them a taste of their own medicine.

Example: Executioner, Tornado, Hog, Ice Spirit, Lightning, Log, Skeletons, Knight.

Giant Skeleton Beatdown: Want to stop any counter push? Simple! Place down your Giant Skeleton and focus the other lane! However, these decks are very skill-dependent, so the Average Joe won’t be successful with this deck style.

Example: Giant Skeleton, Battle Ram, Poison, Executioner, Skeletons, Tornado, Night Witch, Log.

Siege: Being one of the hardest deck archetypes to play, it is very rewarding when your Mortar or X-Bow lands a few shots on the tower. This constant chipping your opponent out and playing defensively leads to a very different type of mindset. Therefore, you can’t make any mistakes using these decks as they are very skill -dependent. Plus, your main win condition can’t be sucked into range of their troops with their Tornado! And if you’re primary win condition isn’t working out as planned, you can always play it defensively and ship out your opponent using spells.

Example: Mortar, Archers, Ice Spirit, Skeletons, Rocket, Arrows, Log, Knight.

Tips

Separate the tank from the support troops, and vice versa: Another tip to take into consideration; if you can kite the tank away (or the support troops) from your support troops, then taking down this combo will become massively easier. Just remember to space out your cards, as your opponent can always tornado them in.

Bait out Tornado using a mild or semi-tanky support troop to distract the Executioner: This is also a very important tip. If you can sacrifice a support troop for the greater good, then you can counter the Executioner and their push all together! You can then create an overwhelming push.

Space out your cards when defending a push: This is one of the better tips to utilize when handling this combo. If you can space your troops far apart from each other, then the opponent will have a harder time bringing in those troops with the Tornado, and might even miss one of your troops! Use this to your advantage and counter push whenever possible.

Never push too hard: This tip can be confusing at times when playing certain decks, but it must be remembered. Think about this: if your opponent can counter your push with a minimal amount of elixir and/or have troops that remain, then it might not be a clever idea to create a huge push. Create small mini pushes with your deck that your opponent will have trouble following up with.

Count their card rotation and elixir count: This is a more general tip but is one of the more important ones to remember, as if not counted correctly, then you can make a huge mistake and possibly lose the game. Make sure that your opponent won’t have eight elixir in hand when you push or defend.

Pressure the lane opposite in which the Executioner is in: Another simple tip: if you can simply use small combos to pressure the opponent into reacting, they might make a mistake and separate their beloved combo!

Things That You Need to Stop Doing Against This Combo

All right, now you know all about Executioner plus Tornado, and how to counter it. However, you might not know habits that you need to stop doing to truly master countering this combo. So, I will go over cards, decks, and habits that can detriment your progress.

(Bolded are the things that you can improve on the most)

Cards

Stop using Hog Rider: The Tornado is the bane of this guy’s existence, so if you are facing a lot of those decks, simply stop using him and focus on another win condition, such as Royal Giant or PEKKA.

Stop using Three Musketeers without Heal: if you are facing a lot of Executioner-Tornado decks while using Three Musketeers, pack Heal and possibly a Mirror for the Heal. Your Musketeers will stop dying to this combo and be able to create a huge counter push.

Stop using spawners: You might know already that the Executioner hard counters these cards, so if you’re having trouble going against him, then stop using spawners.

Stop using win-more cards: These are the cards that can help you overpower your opponent, even if you already are. This includes Rage and Clone. Your extra firepower will simply won’t work against it (Tornado absolutely shut down Clone, and Rage doesn’t really help if your troops can’t reach his Executioner).

Stop using Goblin Barrel: Tornado absolutely devastates the barrel by either denying any damage done to the tower or activating the King Tower. Plus, they will probably have multiple counters to your barrel in hand.

Stop using Miner: This card is not bolded because only certain placements can deny activating the King Tower. If you know how to play this card well, then you can completely deny your opponents from activating their King Tower. In that case, go ahead and still use him; just be careful of placements.

Stop using two or more swarm cards: This is less obvious, but if you bring too many swarm cards, then the opponent will learn to put the Executioner in a place where it counters multiple swarms at once. Be cautious of sending more than one swarm at a time.

Decks

Stop using any type of Hog Rider deck (unless you can immediately shut down the Executioner): This is a big no-no because almost any push you can put together can be stopped with less elixir than you. Plus, once your King Tower is activated, this deck becomes extremely hard to win with.

Stop using spell bait decks: An obvious counter to this deck is Executioner-Tornado. Plus, many of those decks usually carry two or three spells, so they can work with many threats thrown at them and simply brush them away.

Stop using bridge spam decks: A new archetype was given birth to long ago, and not much is known about it currently. These decks may consist of Battle Ram, Poison, Inferno Dragon, Three Musketeers, Ice Golem, and Bandit. Its main breakdown is to harshly punish your opponent whenever they make a big move (e.g. Golem in the back or pumping up) by placing multiple units at the bridge that they can’t ignore. However, what I do know is that Executioner and Tornado can easily take care of a small clump of troops, so if you face this deck a lot, wait until the combo moves out of the meta before using this deck again.

Tips

Stop clumping units: This is one of the most important things to remember when facing this combo. If you fail to keep your troops spaced out, then your opponents can easily take care of your attack or defense and punish you.

Stop placing troops in a lane if an Executioner controls it without backup: This is a relatively simple tip. Push the opposite lane if possible, but keep your units off to the side so the tornado can’t hold your troops over to their Executioner in the other lane.

Stop using your win condition if it keeps getting countered: Say for instance; your Hog Rider activated the King Tower early in the match. You only want to use Hog Rider if their Tornado is out of hand. Switch to a secondary win condition, such as spell cycling to either win or draw out the match.

Conclusion

Now that you have read this guide, you now know all about what and what not to do against this combo. Using these tips and tricks; maybe even using one of these suggested decks, you can easily overpower this combo and rise above all.

Did I miss anything, or would you like to provide some feedback on how I can improve next time? Let me know in the comments, and I can get back to you! (English only please, you can use a translator if needed; I can read broken English quite well.)