Comprehensive LavaLoon Guide - How to three star TH9

I have used lavaloons for a while and just can't figure out why sometimes it's a one star but the other time it's an overkill three star ... on the same base!

Let's think about what are the variables and what are the constants of a base.

Variables :
1. CC troops - they can destroy your raid if they are not taken care of quickly
2. Queen - She can shoot down balloons and destroy you if she doesn't die quickly

Constants:
1. Your troop strength
2. Defenses strength.

So I believe if you can eliminate the changing variables as soon as possible, your results will be more consistent. Overall, 4 lavas plus 20 loons is a very overpowering troop against TH9.

The strategy is to pick a map that
1) You can easily lure out CC and kill them with heros because heros don't really have much of use in an air raid other than cleaning.
2) Kill that queen with lava puffs. So you need to pick a map where queen is right next to an AD. You must start your raid from that side of AD, put 2 hounds over, rage on top of the AD and queen and have the puffs to take out queen as soon as possible.

Troop composition :
1. If it's lvl 6 AD or below, I use 4 lavas
2. If lvl 7 all over, i might have to use 5 lavas
3. Rest loons
4. 4 rages

Check this out:




Pen

The Clan War is about who can three star max TH9

And two star TH10.

Game has changed recently after many clans have discovered dragons are only good for TH7/8, pure hogging is in the past and Gowipe can only get you two stars on mid/high TH9.

Everyone in the CoC community is in search of the next new troop composition to three star more TH9 and nail TH10 with at least two stars. Because whoever can do that will win the war.

After searching high and low even when I was taking my CoC rehab, I came to realization there isn't a one formula fits all anymore. It really depends on the map you are facing. And you really have to construct an army based on the map you are raiding and understand how to use each type of troops.

A point I do agree with is that if you don't use defense targeting troop type, 3 starring a max TH9 will be a real tough task to accomplish.

Before I show you some strategy videos. Let's review the pros and cons of each main war troop comp:
1. Hogs : fast without walls blocking them. Relatively higher HP and damage. But DGB kills them. Needs healing to survive. heros wreck hogs. Can't be healed under infernos.

2. Loons : Very effective with high HP and high attacking power, But you won't survive if Lvl 7 ADs are at presence and it's super slow

3. Gowipe/wi: strong troop strength and attacking power. Witches are the best to kill heros. But pekkas die too fast when near max teslas are nearby. Also walls slow down this troop type resulting 2 stars on near max TH9

4. Lavaloonion: it's either one star or three star. If loons don't survive, minons get killed. No one clears TH. Highly dependable on map layout. Although when you pick the right map, Quatrolavaloonion with 4 hounds can do the job.

A new way of thinking is to utilize all troops strength based upon the map you are raiding so you can end up with an army with everything: Hogs kill outer skirt ADS so you can use loons to take out defenses before sending in Gowipe or Gowiwi or just straight up witch wiz with heros. I also noticed the pros know exactly how to release loons and how many. It is never random. Rule of thumb: Without AD, 2 loons for wiz tower, 1 for everything else. Count precisely how many you need when you are killing defenses.

HoLoWiWi

Ok, so here is a video that talks about the new war troop comp called HoLoWiWi : hogs, loons, wizards and witch. Check it out :




If you have time to read the whole thing and watch all videos including how to scout maps, check out this page :
How to use HoLoWi in war to three star max TH9

GowiwHog
Another combo I have tried recently myself is mixing large amount of hogs (at least 16 or more) with Gowiwi. No pekkas. I personally had some success with it.

Here is a link you should read :
Three Star TH9 with Hogs and Gowiwi combo

here is a video showcase three starring a max TH10


Gowipe/wi with Balloons
You want to find those bases with very centralized ADs, preferably all in the core. If two are in core and two are out, you want to use hogs to kill the ones outside. You also want to find maps that have ADs concentrated on just one side. Send in Gowipe troops to knock out Core and Ads then balloons can trash the rest of the defenses. If Ads are clustered just on one side, you are in for luck cuz the other half of the map without ADs can be owed by balloons.  I have also seen people mixing Gowipe with Balloonion. So they will send in Gowipe first to take out Core and centralized ADs. When ADs are almost done, send in balloons far away from the very last ADs and then swamp some minions behind loons to clean.

Watch this attack:

New Attack Type with Gowipe/wiwi and LOONs!

I find this guide rather helpful. As an air guy before, I've always thought air can somewhat being mixed with ground to maximize both attacking styles potential.

This guide shows you how to pick an ideal base to use half ground and half air and how to use the air potion properly. Another part I really like this guide is the details on how to draw and kill CC troops more effectively. Check it out guys

3 star max TH9 with Gowipe/wiwi and LOONS

The Best War Clan and How They Three Star Max TH10

Ice Ice Baby is one of the top war clans with all max or near max TH10. They have an official thread on supercell forum to showcase their war log. It's freaking impressive. You should def check it out :

Ice Ice Baby Official War Log

That's war clan at a whole different level when you are trying to three star max TH10 with lvl 40 heroes. I thought they relied on strong ground troops. WRONG!!! Air raiding with hound was the new way to do it.

I have two great videos to share with you. The first one was a recap of two top clans clashing Max vs Max. It's awesome so watch it even though it is 46 minutes long. Here it is :


The second video is dedicated to White, Zedd, Sadak, South and Moose, the air lovers. Want to get a crash course on lavaloonion? This is the best one :

Everyone should use the Wiki

This is THE go to site for kitty to find out the stats of my defenses, heros, troops, etc.. So I know it will take three lighting to take out a lvl 6 AD, but not lvl 7. Math is magic guys! So check this out. It will also tell you how much you will need to upgrade anything.. Hero upgrade charts is awesome!!! Bookmark this site :


Clash of Clans Wiki