Quick answer: Minion Academy (Season 87) starts September 7, 2026 and ends October 5, 2026. It introduces Minion Giant — a new flying win condition that targets buildings and towers and fires a ranged toxin — alongside Hero Ice Wizard, whose "Frosty Fella" ability freezes every troop in an area and spawns a snowman the opponent must kill to free their push. Minion Giant is not in chests until Season 88; the free unlock is the Academy Antics Album (up to 3 daily-reward Snippets, full album = 1,750 Minion Giant cards + emote + tower skin, Arena 3+). Five dated events run across the season: 2v2 League, Princess Gambit, Clashroom, Royale Shuffle, and the Royale Shuffle Challenge.
Minion Academy (Season 87) launches Sunday, September 7, 2026 with 1 new card (Minion Giant), 1 new Hero (Hero Ice Wizard), 5 timed events, a new 12-mode Royale Shuffle game mode, and 26 bug fixes and changes that went live on September 1. The single most important fact for free-to-play players: Minion Giant is NOT in season chests; the only free unlock path is the Academy Antics Album (up to 3 daily-reward Snippets, 4 Duplicates trade for 1 guaranteed-new Unique Snippet, full album = 1,750 Minion Giant cards + emote + tower skin).
What Is the Minion Academy Season (Season 87) in Clash Royale?
Minion Academy is Season 87, the September 2026 season, running September 7 to October 5, 2026. The theme centers on the Minions getting schooled — and their graduate, Minion Giant, is the season's headline card. Unlike recent seasons where the new Hero was the primary acquisition challenge, Season 87 splits your grinding attention: Minion Giant requires the Album grind, while Hero Ice Wizard unlocks via the upgraded Pass Royale track or 200 Hero Coins.
Supercell's release notes contain no balance changes for September 7. The September 1 patch is a bug-fix and quality-of-life release (full table below); the one ladder-relevant change is that an Ultimate Champion draw now costs half of a defeat's trophy loss.
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What Are All the Minion Academy Season 87 Events?
Impact: significant. Five events run across Season 87 on top of the season-long Album, with a heavy second half — every event other than the Album and 2v2 League starts September 21 or later. Plan your schedule accordingly: the Album Event is the only one that runs the full season.
| Event | Dates | Type | What It Is | Headline Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Antics Album | Sept 7 – Oct 5 | Album Event | Collect Snippets by battling; complete scenes to unlock rewards | 1,750 Minion Giant cards + emote + tower skin (full album) |
| 2v2 League | Sept 7 – 21 | Competitive League | Team-based league road and leaderboard | Up to 2 badges (road + top-10,000 placement) |
| Princess Gambit | Sept 21 – 26 | Global Tournament | Sudden death with 2 Princess Towers, rotating 40-card deck, Level 11 cap | Exclusive badge + top-10,000 Leaderboard Finisher Badge |
| Royale Shuffle | Sept 21 – Oct 5 | New Game Mode | Random mode + random deck from 12 classic variants | Royale Shuffle Challenge (Sept 28 – Oct 5): Battle Banner frame & decoration |
| Clashroom Community Event | Sept 22 – 26 | Community Event | Biology, physics, and history lessons from 3 teachers, then a knowledge test | Rewards to be revealed closer to the date |
How Do I Get Minion Giant for Free?
Impact: massive. Minion Giant will not appear in chests until Season 88 begins. The only in-season free path is the Academy Antics Album Event, which runs the full season (September 7 – October 5, 2026) and is available from Arena 3.
How the Album works:
- Earn Snippets in four rarities (Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary) as daily battle rewards (up to 3 per day), through events, or in the Shop.
- Duplicates become currency. A Snippet you already own is a Duplicate. Each Duplicate Snippet awards a rarity-based number of Duplicates, and 4 Duplicates exchange for 1 Unique Snippet — a guaranteed new piece.
- Final-week safety net: during the last week of the event, every daily-reward Snippet is a Unique Snippet.
- Full album completion = 1,750 Minion Giant cards (awarded throughout the album), a themed emote, and a tower skin. Extra Snippets after completion convert into bonus rewards.
| Duplicate Snippet Rarity | Duplicates Awarded | Duplicate Snippets Needed per Unique |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 3 | 2 (6 Duplicates, 2 carry over) |
| Rare | 3 | 2 (6 Duplicates, 2 carry over) |
| Epic | 4 | 1 |
| Legendary | 4 | 1 |
The "needed per Unique" column is arithmetic on Supercell's stated rates (4 Duplicates = 1 Unique), not a separate published figure. The practical read: a duplicate Epic or Legendary pays for a guaranteed new Snippet on its own, while Commons and Rares need two. Because the final seven days guarantee Unique daily Snippets, the album is designed to be finishable by consistent daily players — collect your 3 daily-reward Snippets every day from September 7 and let the last week close the gaps. For a full completion plan, see the Academy Antics Album Event Guide.
What Is the Minion Giant Card?
Impact: massive. Minion Giant is the brand-new win condition for Season 87 — a flying troop that targets buildings and towers and, in Supercell's words, "spits out a ridiculously horrid toxin from range." He is a ranged flying building-targeter, a combination no current win condition offers: Balloon and Lava Hound target buildings but attack on contact, while Minion Giant attacks from range.
What is confirmed and where it comes from:
| Property | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Flying win condition, targets buildings and towers | Supercell release notes |
| Attack | Ranged toxin projectile | Supercell release notes |
| Rarity | Rare | Official Supercell card API, retrieved September 8, 2026 |
| Elixir cost | 4 | August 31 TV Royale reveal, as reported by RoyaleAPI; confirmed by the official Supercell card API |
| Knockback | Immune — cannot be pushed back | August 31 TV Royale reveal, as reported by RoyaleAPI |
| Hitpoints, damage, range, speed | Not published before launch | — |
| Availability | Album Event only; not in chests until Season 88 | Supercell release notes |
Knockback immunity is the design hook if the reveal holds at launch: current air pushes can be displaced by Fireball, Log-style pushes, and Bowler-type knockback, and Minion Giant would ignore that entirely. Level 11 HP, damage, and DPS go live in-game on September 7 — check the in-game card info or RoyaleAPI's card page for the verified sheet once the season launches, and this page will be updated with them. The strategic implication is already clear: players will need to kill him on approach rather than stall or redirect him, which rewards air-targeting DPS (Musketeer, Hunter, Mega Minion, Inferno Tower) and point-damage spells over knockback-heavy counters.
What Does Hero Ice Wizard Do?
Impact: significant. Hero Ice Wizard brings the "Frosty Fella" ability to the Hero slot. Per Supercell's release notes:
- He slows enemy troops with his normal attacks, exactly like the standard Ice Wizard.
- When you activate Frosty Fella, a sneaky snowman spawns behind the nearest slowed troop while every troop in the area is frozen in place.
- Your opponent must destroy the snowman to free their push.
The mechanic is a freeze with a physical anchor: unlike the Freeze spell, whose effect simply expires, the Frosty Fella freeze persists until the snowman is dealt with, so the opponent has to commit damage to it before their push moves again. That makes Hero Ice Wizard a defensive pivot against fast pushes and a counterpush enabler — freeze the push on your side, then punish while the snowman soaks attention. Snowman hitpoints, freeze radius, and ability cost were not published in the release notes; we will add them to the Hero Encyclopedia once they are live.
How to unlock Hero Ice Wizard:
- Choose him as a reward on the upgraded Pass Royale track (Season 87)
- Or spend 200 Hero Coins
Unlike Minion Giant, there is no free Album path for Hero Ice Wizard this season.
What Is the Royale Shuffle Mode?
Impact: small. Royale Shuffle is a brand-new game mode where you battle in a random mode with a random deck — spin the wheel and one of 12 classic variants loads:
- Triple Elixir
- Super Troop Showdown
- Sudden Death
- Rage Battle
- Heist
- Snowball Bombardment
- Mega Monk
- Blackout
- 4-Card Clash
- Capture the Mortar
- Dragon Hunt
- All Evo Showdown
The mode runs September 21 – October 5. A dedicated Royale Shuffle Challenge (September 28 – October 5) awards a Battle Banner (frame and decoration). See the Royale Shuffle Guide for how to play each of the 12 modes with a deck you did not build.
This is a lighter commitment than a full tournament — suited for players who want cosmetic rewards without a grind. Skip it if you are mid-push on the Album.
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What Is the 2v2 League (September 2026)?
Impact: significant. The 2v2 League runs September 7 – 21 — the first two weeks of the season. It is a team-based competitive format with two badge tracks:
- League road: complete the road to earn 1 badge.
- Leaderboard placement: finish in the top 10,000 to earn a second badge.
With an early deadline (September 21), the 2v2 League overlaps only with the Album Event. Focus the first two weeks on League road completion while collecting your 3 daily Album Snippets — the two cadences are compatible.
What Is the Princess Gambit Tournament (September 2026)?
Impact: significant. Princess Gambit returns September 21 – 26 as a Global Tournament:
- Sudden-death battle — the first tower destroyed decides the match
- 2 Princess Towers only, no King Tower (the battle's namesake)
- Rotating deck of 40 cards — you see which cards and forms are available at the start of each battle
- Evolutions and Heroes are always active, based on your personal Collection
- Available cards are capped at Level 11
The Level 11 cap removes card-level advantage, but the Evolution and Hero rule does not: which Evolutions and Heroes you can field depends on what you own. Rewards are an exclusive badge plus a Leaderboard Finisher Badge for the top 10,000. For the June 2026 edition and what carries over, read the Princess Gambit guide.
What Is the Clashroom Community Event?
Impact: small. Clashroom runs September 22 – 26. Three "teachers" deliver lessons on biology, physics, and history in the context of Clash Royale (the science behind retching Minions and freezing troops, per Supercell), and your knowledge is tested afterward. Supercell will reveal the reward structure closer to the date on its social channels; this page will be updated when it does.
What Bug Fixes and Changes Shipped on September 1, 2026?
Impact: small for most players, significant for Ultimate Champion ladder players and Hero users. All of the following went live on September 1, 2026 in two batches (07:00 UTC and 15:45 UTC), ahead of the September 7 season start.
| Fix / Change | What Changed | Batch |
|---|---|---|
| Victory Run returns (test) | Victory Run is back as a limited test; not every player will see it and variants may differ | 07:00 UTC |
| Ultimate Champion draws | A draw now costs half the trophies a defeat would — for both players | 07:00 UTC |
| Hero Tombstone crash | Activating the ability after Hero Tombstone is destroyed while frozen no longer crashes the game | 07:00 UTC |
| Hero Tombstone ability button | Always shows an ability button on deploy, even if a previous Tomb Queen is still on the field | 07:00 UTC |
| Hero Barbarian Barrel / Hero Berserker | Both now refund Elixir if defeated before their ability triggers | 07:00 UTC |
| Evolved Hunter vs Mega Knight | The net now actually affects a jumping Mega Knight instead of wasting the cooldown | 07:00 UTC |
| Evolved Wall Breakers | No longer deal extra tower damage when the barrel explodes next to a tower | 07:00 UTC |
| Little Prince attack speed | Attack-speed buff is no longer reset after using his ability | 07:00 UTC |
| Bandit / Boss Bandit dash | Both gain 50ms longer immunity while dashing, fixing mutual dash hits | 07:00 UTC |
| Skeleton King soul bar | Now hidden after using his ability | 07:00 UTC |
| Fisherman and Vines Masteries | Card Mastery progress restored | 07:00 UTC |
 Rune Giant | Buffing animation restored | 07:00 UTC |
| Void targeting preview | Void now highlights flying troops when hovering the spell | 07:00 UTC |
| Non-damaging AoEs | Rage, Earthquake's slow, and Evolved Princess's slow apply their effect instantly | 07:00 UTC |
| Vines and Lightning tie-break | Target the enemies closest to the center of the deploy area when hitpoints are tied | 07:00 UTC |
| Boat Battle disconnects | Fixed | 07:00 UTC |
| Card Mastery double-collect crash | Fixed | 07:00 UTC |
| Friends Leaderboard | Friends' scores no longer show as zero at the top of Trophy Road | 07:00 UTC |
| Seasonal Arena visuals | Fixed images and text on Trophy Road | 07:00 UTC |
| C.H.A.O.S modifier display | Modifiers now display correctly | 15:45 UTC |
| Royal Delivery in C.H.A.O.S | Behaves as expected | 15:45 UTC |
| Goblin Drill Epic Modifier | Summoned Drills now have the correct HP | 15:45 UTC |
| Bridge-to-tower jumps in C.H.A.O.S | Hog Rider, Ram Rider, Royal Hogs, Evolved Royal Hogs, Mother Witch Hogs, and Hero Dark Prince's Rhino no longer jump straight from the bridge to the tower | 15:45 UTC |
| Fisherman Rare/Epic Modifiers | Working correctly | 15:45 UTC |
| Little Prince ability stats | Displayed stats corrected | 15:45 UTC |
| Hero Valkyrie ability pathing | No longer goes directly to towers while using Wild Whirlwind | 15:45 UTC |
Three of these matter for deck decisions. The Ultimate Champion draw rule turns a stalled 9,000+ match from a full loss into half a loss, which slightly favors defensive stall decks at the top of ladder. The Hero Barbarian Barrel and Hero Berserker refund removes the worst-case outcome of both heroes dying before their ability fires. And the Evolved Hunter fix restores the net as a real Mega Knight answer.
What Should I Do First in the Minion Academy Season?
If you want Minion Giant for free: collect your 3 daily-reward Snippets every day from September 7. Duplicate Epics and Legendaries convert straight into Unique Snippets; save Common and Rare Duplicates until you have two of them. The final week (September 29 – October 5) guarantees Unique daily Snippets, so consistency matters more than luck.
If you want Hero Ice Wizard: pick him on the upgraded Pass Royale track or spend 200 Hero Coins.
For competitive play: the 2v2 League deadline (September 21) is the first hard date — prioritize those games in the first two weeks alongside the Album grind.
For Royale Shuffle rewards: the Battle Banner challenge runs September 28 – October 5 — no urgency until late in the season.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Does Clash Royale Season 87 Start?
Season 87 (Minion Academy) starts September 7, 2026. The season runs until October 5, 2026 — the same date the Academy Antics Album Event closes.
How Do I Get Minion Giant in Clash Royale?
Minion Giant is unlockable through the Academy Antics Album Event (September 7 – October 5, Arena 3+). Complete the full album — up to 3 daily-reward Snippets per day, 4 Duplicates tradable for 1 Unique Snippet, and guaranteed Unique daily Snippets in the final week — to earn 1,750 Minion Giant cards. Minion Giant is not available in chests until Season 88.
What Does Minion Giant Do in Clash Royale?
Minion Giant is a flying win condition that targets buildings and towers and attacks with a ranged toxin. He is a Rare card costing 4 elixir, confirmed from the official Supercell card API on September 8, 2026; the August 31 TV Royale reveal had already listed the 4-elixir cost alongside knockback immunity. Hitpoints and damage were not published before launch.
Is Minion Giant in Chests in Season 87?
No. Minion Giant is not available in chests during Season 87. Chest availability begins in Season 88. The in-season unlock is the Academy Antics Album Event.
How Do I Unlock Hero Ice Wizard in Clash Royale?
Hero Ice Wizard unlocks via the Season 87 upgraded Pass Royale track or by spending 200 Hero Coins. There is no free Album path for Hero Ice Wizard this season.
What Is the Royale Shuffle in Clash Royale?
Royale Shuffle is a new September 2026 game mode where you battle in a random mode with a random deck, drawn from 12 classic variants (Triple Elixir, Super Troop Showdown, Sudden Death, Rage Battle, Heist, Snowball Bombardment, Mega Monk, Blackout, 4-Card Clash, Capture the Mortar, Dragon Hunt, All Evo Showdown). It runs September 21 – October 5, with a Battle Banner from the Royale Shuffle Challenge (September 28 – October 5).
What Is Princess Gambit in September 2026?
Princess Gambit runs September 21 – 26 in Season 87. It is a sudden-death Global Tournament with 2 Princess Towers, a rotating 40-card deck, Evolutions and Heroes always active, and all cards capped at Level 11. The top 10,000 players earn a Leaderboard Finisher Badge.
What Season Is Clash Royale on in September 2026?
Clash Royale is on Season 87 ("Minion Academy") from September 7, 2026. Before that date it is still Season 86 ("K.H.A.O.S"), which runs August 3 – September 7, 2026.