In the year 2025, the mobile game Clash Royale (CR) became extremely popular among RHS students. This was not the first time CR rose to the top apps among students, however. Another significant CR trend occurred in 2022. That year led sophomore Sahib Smagh to start playing CR. “All my friends were playing [CR] in eighth grade,” he said. This year is his third year of playing.
The reason behind this year’s trend was behind the popular streamer Jynxzi. According to Smagh, Jynxzi “started playing [CR] on streams” and continued after the first time. Senior Christian Acord said that Jynxzi “really brought the game up to a height.”
“People just see other people playing…then [other] people start [playing,]” Acord said. Clearly, Jynxzi and other content creators playing CR caused the game to explode in popularity this year.
“Jynxzi really brought the game up to a height.” – Christian Acord
In CR, players use troops from cards from their deck to destroy their opponents’ three towers. Some cards were given evolutions-a way to make the card more powerful-and every month one or two new evolutions are released. Other cards are balanced every month to make them not as overpowering as before. This year, the trends are mainly focused around new evolutions and balance changes. “Everyone’s liking the balance changes right now,” Smagh said. “A lot of the new evolutions are also good.”
According to Smagh, October was the best season of Clash Royale. That update “brought a lot of much needed balance changes to different cards.”
Another major update of CR this year was when a card-called Furnace-was completely reworked, making it more prominent to players. “It really helped against some decks,” Acord said.
The impact of this year’s CR trend affected both students and teachers. “Every lunch, break, or free period I get, I’m probably playing CR,” Smagh said. “Anytime I have five minutes that I’m not doing anything, I hop on CR and play a match.”
CR has also affected students’ behaviors in classrooms, sometimes in a negative way. “If you go into a classroom, there’s at least five people playing inside,” Smagh said. Paul Werner, a teacher who played for eight years, said that some teachers “may be bothered by the fact that devices are used during the school day when it could be a distraction.”
Classrooms aside, a downside of CR is microtransactions. Many players want to play cards that follow the meta, which constantly changes. “It’s really hard to get the meta [decks] unless you have a lot of stuff accumulated in the game,” Werner said. He said that “people might be willing to pay” for CR. He said “money is better spent in other places.”
“People might be willing to pay for Clash Royale.” – Paul Werner
While the future of the CR trend is debatable, Acord said that CR will decline in 2026. “I think the craze will go on…until there’s an update that people don’t like,” Smagh said.
What deck do you play?
Podcast Royale!
Scan the QR code to visit Rocklin Media on YouTube, where Podcast Royale episodes will drop every week!
On Podcast Royale, we talk about balance changes, game updates, and commentate on matches.
If you are a RHS student or staff who actively plays Clash Royale and wants to be on our podcast, email the director, Kevin Feng at:
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