Clash Royale Season 87 Minion Academy: Free Minion Giant, Hero Ice Wizard and Every Event Date
Clash Royale Season 87, "Minion Academy", went live on 7 September and runs until 5 October, and it hands out a brand-new win condition for free rather than selling it. The Minion Giant is a 4-Elixir Rare flying troop that targets buildings, and Supercell is giving every player up to 1,750 copies of it through a season-long album event. Clash Royale is free on Android and iOS, so nothing here is gated behind a device or a region.
What the Minion Giant does, and how to get it free in Season 87
The Minion Giant is a Rare card that costs 4 Elixir. It flies, it locks onto buildings and towers rather than troops, and it attacks from range by spitting toxin instead of closing to melee. At Tournament Standard it carries 1,817 hitpoints and deals 126 damage per second. That combination — an air win condition that ignores ground defenders and outranges most of them — is the reason it is worth claiming even if you never build a deck around it.
The free route is the Academy Antics Album Event, which runs from 7 September to 5 October and unlocks at Arena 3. Working through it awards 1,750 Minion Giant cards plus an emote and a tower skin. Supercell has confirmed the card will not appear in chests until next season, so the album is the only way to get it during Season 87. Miss the window and you wait.
The Ice Wizard becomes a Hero
Season 87 also promotes the Ice Wizard to Hero status. His ability, Frosty Fella, freezes every troop in an area and spawns a snowman behind the nearest already-slowed troop. There are two ways to unlock him: pay 200 Hero Coins, or select him as your reward on the upgraded Pass Royale track. Supercell has not published a cash price for the Hero on its own.
The season's boosted cards lean into the theme — Minions, Minion Horde, Mega Minion and the Ice Wizard. If you have those cards sitting at a level you have been ignoring, this is the month they cost less to push.
Every Season 87 event date
- Academy Antics Album Event — 7 September to 5 October. Arena 3 and up. Rewards 1,750 Minion Giant cards, an emote and a tower skin.
- 2v2 League — 7 to 21 September. Awards up to 2 badges.
- Global Tournament: Princess Gambit — 21 to 26 September. Two Princess Towers per side, played with a 40-card rotating deck.
- Royale Shuffle — 21 September to 5 October.
- Clashroom community event — 22 to 26 September.
The back half of the season is where the schedule gets crowded. Between 21 and 26 September, Royale Shuffle, the Princess Gambit tournament and Clashroom all overlap, so the ladder grind and the event grind compete for the same play sessions. Plan around it if you are chasing the album completion at the same time.
What Supercell has not said
Two things are missing from the official release notes and are worth separating from what is confirmed. Supercell did not publish a balance-change list alongside the season launch, and it did not publish Pass Royale pricing tiers in the same post. Reward tables comparing the free and premium tracks have circulated in published reports, but the prices attached to them are not from Supercell's own announcement. Treat any specific figure you see as unconfirmed until the in-game store shows it on your account, since Pass Royale pricing varies by region.
The Minion Giant's Trophy Road placement is the other detail to watch. Reporting on the season puts it at Arena 5, behind a 1,300-trophy requirement, once the season ends and the card enters normal circulation. Supercell's own post only confirms that it stays out of chests until next season.
Running it on an older phone
Clash Royale is one of the lighter live-service games on Android, which is why it keeps showing up on budget handsets years after launch. If you are playing on something modest, our round-up of the best Android games for low-end phones and 2GB RAM covers what actually holds a stable frame rate. For the 2v2 League specifically, it helps to have someone to queue with — we keep a list of the best multiplayer Android games to play with friends if your regular duo has drifted off.
Supercell's other big title is running its own timed event this month: the Clash of Clans WWE event and its five $9.99 hero skins ends on 1 October, four days before Season 87 closes. And if storage is the reason you dropped Clash Royale in the first place, our measured list of the best Android games under 100MB is a reasonable place to rebuild a home screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get the Minion Giant for free in Clash Royale?
Complete the Academy Antics Album Event, which runs from 7 September to 5 October and is open from Arena 3 upwards. Finishing it awards 1,750 Minion Giant cards along with an emote and a tower skin. Supercell has confirmed the Minion Giant will not drop from chests until the following season, so the album is the only source during Season 87.
What are the Minion Giant's stats and Elixir cost?
The Minion Giant is a Rare card costing 4 Elixir. It is a flying win condition that targets buildings and towers and attacks at range rather than in melee. At Tournament Standard it has 1,817 hitpoints and deals 126 damage per second.
When does Clash Royale Season 87 end?
Season 87, Minion Academy, ends on 5 October 2026. The Academy Antics album event and Royale Shuffle both run to that same date, so 5 October is the deadline for claiming the free Minion Giant cards.
How much does the Hero Ice Wizard cost?
The Hero Ice Wizard costs 200 Hero Coins, or you can select him as a reward on the upgraded Pass Royale track instead. His ability, Frosty Fella, freezes troops in an area and spawns a snowman behind the nearest slowed troop. Supercell has not published a separate cash price for him.
Are there balance changes in Clash Royale Season 87?
Supercell did not publish a balance-change list with the Season 87 launch notes. The season does boost Minions, Minion Horde, Mega Minion and the Ice Wizard, but boosted cards are a seasonal levelling perk rather than a stat rebalance. Any card change would be announced separately.
