December 2025 Update: Heroes, Level 16 and a Progression Overhaul

The December 2025 update added an entirely new card class: Heroes. The first four — Hero Mini P.E.K.K.A, Hero Musketeer, Hero Knight and Hero Giant — are souped-up variants of classic cards with active abilities you trigger mid-battle. Heroes share a deck slot with Champions, unlocked from Arena 15, and are collected via 200 Hero Fragments or Pass Royale.

Progression was overhauled around them: card Level 16 arrived, King's Journey stretched to level 90, and legacy items were liquidated — Elite Wild Cards converted to Gems, Books and Magic Coins to cards and Gold — while Gems became spendable on card upgrades. Max-level duplicates began converting into Crystals, a new currency for emotes.

Trophy Road gained four arenas (25–28) up to 12,000 trophies, Ranked access dropped from 15,000 toward a permanent 11,500, and Pass Royale split into below-Arena-15 and Arena-15+ variants, the latter delivering a new Hero each month.

The Hero system and the resource conversions proved divisive, generating months of critical feedback that Supercell would directly address in its February 2026 'Upcoming Changes' announcement.