Best TH9 Base Layouts 2026 — War, Farming & Anti-Hog Designs

Town Hall 9 is a landmark in Clash of Clans progression. It unlocks the Archer Queen — the single most powerful hero in the game — as well as the X-Bow, one of the best defensive buildings available. TH9 is also where wars become truly competitive, with attack strategies becoming significantly more complex.

What TH9 Unlocks

New Hero:

• Archer Queen — can be upgraded to level 30 at TH9 (eventually). Her ability makes her briefly invisible and heals her, making her incredibly hard to kill during Queen Walk strategies

New Defenses:

• X-Bow — extremely high DPS, can be set to ground-only or ground+air mode; a TH9 with high-level X-Bows is significantly harder to 3-star
• Additional Mortar and Air Defense upgrades
• Dark Elixir Drill upgrades

New Troops:

• Golem
• Witch
• Additional spell slots

The TH9 Attack Meta 2026

At TH9, the dominant attack strategies are:

GoWiPe (Golem, Witch, P.E.K.K.A): Still viable at TH9 for 2-star attempts. The Golem tanks, Witches spawn skeletons for distraction, and PEKKAs deal heavy damage.

LaLo (Lava Hound + Balloons): Air attack that uses Lava Hounds to tank Air Defenses while Balloons deal damage. Consistent 2-star strategy.

Hog Rider Spam: Mass Hog Riders with Heal Spells is one of the easiest TH9 strategies to learn and execute. Most TH9 war bases have anti-Hog design as a priority.

Best TH9 War Base — Anti-Hog Design

Hog Riders are the #1 threat at TH9 in war. The best anti-Hog war bases use:

1. Double Giant Bomb placements — Hog Riders trigger Giant Bombs and Double Giant Bomb kills eliminate entire Hog groups. Place them at the transition points between compartments where Hog Riders must pass
2. Spread defenses — Do not cluster Mortars and Cannons; spread them so Heal Spells cannot cover multiple defenses simultaneously
3. Centralized Clan Castle — Spring Trap Hog Riders that enter the core and deploy defensive troops directly on top of the incoming Hog Rider group

TH9 Farming Base Priorities

Dark Elixir is critical at TH9 because the Archer Queen requires enormous amounts for upgrades. Protect the Dark Elixir Storage by:

• Placing it in the innermost compartment of the base
• Surrounding it with X-Bows and Air Defenses (to deter both ground and air farming attacks)
• Using 3+ wall layers between the storage and the nearest wall edge

Upgrading Priority at TH9

1. Archer Queen to level 10 ASAP — her survivability improves dramatically each level
2. X-Bows to maximum level — the single biggest defensive upgrade at TH9
3. Air Defenses — LaLo becomes more common as players progress; strong Air Defenses deter it effectively