Funnel Creation Tips for Effective Lavaloon Attacks

Introduction

What if the difference between a messy one-star and a clean triple was just three buildings on the edge of the base? In Lavaloon, funnel creation isn’t a side quest—it’s the whole plot. The best attackers don’t rely on brute force; they shape the base so Balloons travel in a straight, ruthless line, popping defenses like dominoes. In this guide, we’ll break down how to craft those paths with surgical precision—using heroes, spells, siege machines, and smart troop sequencing—to turn more of your Lalo hits into confident three-stars.

Why Funneling Matters in Lavaloon

Lavaloon is all about control. Balloons target defenses, so a bad funnel allows them to split, drift, or circle the perimeter. A good funnel turns the base into a corridor—Air Defense to Air Defense—so Hounds tank and Balloons sweep through with minimal detours.

Key principles:

• Minimize lateral choices: If Balloons can choose between two equidistant defenses on different sides, they’ll split. Good funnels remove one of those choices.
• Preserve momentum: Haste and Rage are worth little if Balloons stall or backtrack. Clean lanes keep their speed, DPS, and spell value high.
• Isolate threats: Pathing should sequence the scariest defenses (Queen, core Multi Inferno, X-Bows, Spell Towers) so you hit them under spell coverage and tanking windows.

Pre-Scout: Reading the Base for Lalo Pathing

Before you pick troops, sketch the path.

1. Identify anchors and breakers:

• Anchors you keep: a line of defenses you’ll collapse sequentially (ADs, Wizard Towers, Scattershots, Town Hall).
• Breakers you delete pre-Lalo: Archer Queen, Clan Castle, one key Sweeper, and one high-impact splash (Scatter/Multi). Removing 2–3 of these creates a safe corridor.

2. Draw your corridor:

• Connect two Air Defenses with an imaginary line. Which buildings along that line create a “rail”? Trim outside defenses that cause lateral pulls.
• Note Sweeper cones. Entry opposite the push is ideal; if not possible, plan Freeze timing to cross the cone under speed.

3. Pick a siege plan:

• Blizzard (Invisible Super Wizards) or Super Archer Blimp: carves the inside of the funnel, removing core targets early.
• Stone Slammer: builds the funnel while Lalo moves, flattening a side without committing heroes.
• Battle Blimp: snipes the Town Hall or removes a corner to stop wrapping.

Hero Funnels That Make or Break Your Lalo

Your heroes aren’t just for value—they’re the chisel that shapes your lanes.

Common hero goals:

• Queen and CC removal: prevents Hounds and Balloons from getting shredded or distracted. Sui King+Queen with a few Ice Golems can remove the enemy Queen and a Sweeper.
• One side wall-off: King takes a side, Queen takes the other, so Balloons can’t leak outward.
• Back-end cleanup: If the base has a late Multi and Wizard Tower combo, consider saving Royal Champion to sweep that section under Warden ability.

Execution checklist:

• Entrance control: Use a small funnel for your heroes first. Baby Dragons, Wizards, or Sneaky Goblins pull them into the pocket you want. No funnel means no value.
• Timing: Start the hero dive early enough to set the lane before Hounds fly. If you wait too long, you’ll rush the Lalo and misplace spells.
• Spell support: One Freeze or Invisibility on the enemy Queen or core splash can double hero value. Keep 1–2 spells flexible for the dive.

Pro move: King on a corner with a Wall Breaker or Yeti+Wizard to force him deep; Queen follows behind on the adjacent edge. The gap between them is your Lalo lane.

Spell-Assisted Funnels: Haste Corridors and Freeze Bridges

Spells aren’t just for damage—they shape movement.

• Haste corridors: Drop Haste in overlapping ovals that pull Balloons from AD to Scatter to Multi. Haste early is fine if it keeps the pack tight and moving; Rage later for core bursts.
• Freeze bridges: Use Freeze on a Sweeper cone or Multi Inferno to “bridge” from one anchor to the next. If a Sweeper threatens to push your pack sideways, a 2-second Freeze keeps them on rails.
• Invisibility trims: One Invis can hide a side defense so Balloons ignore it for a few seconds, preventing lateral pulls. Use sparingly and only if it prevents a split.
• Skeleton Spells: Distract enemy Queen or Royal Champion during the Lalo, especially if the hero dive didn’t remove them. Place on them as Hounds arrive.

Siege Machines for Funnel Creation

• Battle Blimp: Best for Town Hall snipes or value pockets that break the core line. Blizzard or Super Archer payloads can delete a Sweeper, core Multi, and Town Hall, turning a ring base into rails.
• Stone Slammer: Naturally creates a flank funnel while sustaining DPS. Great when your heroes took the opposite side. It also soaks traps for Balloons.
• Lava Hound Blimp combo: Start the Lalo and send the Blimp through the Hound path; the Hound tanks Air Mines and air-targeting defenses for the Blimp.

Tip: If the base has stacked Sweepers, Stone Slammer entry against sweep is risky—lean toward a Blimp with a Freeze setup instead.

Coco Loons and Trap Trimming

Seeking Air Mines and Red Air Bombs are Lalo’s silent killers. Trim them before your main pack arrives.

• Coco Loons: Send 1–2 Balloons ahead of Hounds and Blimp. Trigger mines safely. If a Coco Loon survives, it also contributes to DPS and pathing.
• Red Bomb nets: Wizard Towers and Air Defense clusters often hide red bomb packs. Before your main stack hits a Wizard Tower line, send 2–3 test loons from an angle.
• Healer traps awareness: If you opened with a Queen Charge into Lalo (QC Lalo), coco loons protect Healers early, then continue to trim for the Lalo.

Building the Corridor: Practical Pathing Patterns

Think in lanes, not circles.

• AD-to-AD lane: Ideal when ADs form a diagnonal or L-shape. Hero dive clears one corner; Lalo enters from the opposite corner, moving along ADs.
• Side crush and sweep: Use heroes to crush the top edge; send Lalo from the opposite edge to flow across, using Haste to keep speed and prevent peel-offs.
• Reverse L: When the Town Hall is off-center, carve a short L-shaped funnel so Balloons move into the TH under Warden ability, then rotate to Scatter and Multi.

Spell layout example:

• Entry: Haste on first two defenses after AD, Freeze on Sweeper cone.
• Core: Rage overlapping Multi and Scatter; Warden ability as Balloons cross Giga Bomb or dense trap area.
• Exit: Haste or Freeze for back-end Wizard Tower+Multi, save 1 Freeze for a last-stand Monolith or Spell Tower re-arm.

Town Hall Specific Tweaks

• TH10–TH11: No Warden or early Warden means tighter funnels. Prioritize enemy Queen and at least one Sweeper. Zap Lalo is strong here—delete a core Air Defense or Sweeper with Lightning to pre-shape your lane.
• TH12: Warden ability is your anti-Giga Bomb. Plan the lane so the Balloons cross the Town Hall during ability. Blizzard Blimp is reliable to carve the core.
• TH13: More splash with Scattershots. Funnel must avoid double-Scatter exposure. Use Freeze bridges to cross the first Scatter under Haste, then Rage for the second.
• TH14: Headhunter pathing is key; Queen and RC are tanky. Use 1–2 Headhunters under Warden ability. Consider a short Queen Charge to strip a Sweeper before Lalo.
• TH15: Spell Towers change funnel math. If Rage Tower covers a Scatter or Multi in your lane, delay your main pack until heroes or Blizzard remove the Rage Tower—or commit extra Freeze. Invisibility Tower near Town Hall demands earlier trigger with a small Blimp or a delayed Warden ability.
• TH16: Monolith plus Spell Towers plus new hard-hitting defenses increase punish. Build extra-safe lanes: more coco loons, earlier Freeze on Monolith, and stricter hero funnels. Stone Slammer shines when you need a living funnel that deletes edge splash.

Example Plans

1. Anti-two ring base (TH15):

• Blizzard Blimp over the moat deletes core Multi and a Sweeper. Heroes take the 3 o’clock edge to remove enemy Queen and one AD. Lalo from 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock, Warden follows. Freeze bridges the Town Hall Invis Tower; Warden ability through Giga Bomb. Corridor stays tight, pack exits into Scatter with one Haste, RC clears back-end Wizard Tower.

2. Box base with off-center Town Hall (TH14):

• King+Ice Golem+Wizards take 9 o’clock to remove a Scatter-side. Queen at 10 o’clock trims and walks down. Lalo from 11 o’clock into Town Hall, ability over Giga Bomb, Rage for core X-Bow stack, Haste exits to 6 o’clock. Stone Slammer on 3 o’clock flattens flank to prevent wrap.

3. Symmetrical base with stacked Sweepers (TH13):

• Zap one Sweeper and an X-Bow. Sui heroes clear enemy Queen and a corner AD. Lalo from the zap side with double Haste to cross the remaining Sweeper; Freeze on first Scatter, Rage at the second. Coco loons sent every 4–5 seconds.

Common Funneling Mistakes and Fixes

• Mistake: Heroes wander and leave a hole. Fix: Commit one extra funnel troop (Sneaky Goblin or Baby Dragon) and one extra Wall Breaker. The cost is less than losing the lane.
• Mistake: Balloons split at the first junction. Fix: Remove the side-point defense before starting, or use Invisibility on it for 3 seconds to deny the pull.
• Mistake: Early Haste that leads Balloons into a dead end. Fix: Place Haste so it overlaps the next target, not just the current one. Haste should pull, not only boost.
• Mistake: Ignoring Sweepers. Fix: Either enter from behind them, Zap/Blizzard one, or plan Freeze bridges; never cross a Sweeper cone naked.
• Mistake: No plan for back-end splash. Fix: Save Royal Champion or two Balloons plus a Freeze for the last Wizard Tower+Multi pocket.

Drill Your Funnel: A Repeatable Planning Routine

Use this five-minute checklist before every Lalo hit:

1. Circle targets to delete pre-Lalo: enemy Queen, CC, one Sweeper, one splash.
2. Draw your AD-to-AD or TH-to-Scatter corridor. Identify exactly two lanes you’ll keep and two you’ll kill.
3. Assign tools: heroes take one side, siege takes the opposite, spells bridge core threats.
4. Schedule coco loons every few seconds during flight and before siege.
5. Reserve 1–2 spells for recovery: a Freeze or Haste to fix a surprise split.

Practice map: Friendly Challenges against ring and box bases. Run the same base three times with different funnels—hero heavy, siege heavy, spell heavy—and compare split rates and cleanup time.

Cleanup Matters to Your Funnel

A good funnel also speeds up cleanup:

• Hold 4–6 Minions to start behind the Lalo as soon as defenses fall.
• Drop a Wizard or Archer on outside trash right after your heroes cut a side.
• If time fails haunt you, consider bringing a Baby Dragon strictly for post-core corners.

Pro Insights and Micro Tips

• Staggered Hounds: Send first Hound, then a wave of Balloons, then second Hound a few seconds later. This keeps tanking continuous and prevents Balloons from stepping into un-tanked splash.
• Headhunters: 1–2 under Warden ability assassinate Queen or RC without burning hero spells.
• Warden mode: Air. Keep him behind the densest Balloon pack; don’t activate ability on the first Hound pop—wait for Town Hall or core splash cross.
• Side snipes: One Balloon per cannon or archer tower that sits outside your lane can prevent future splits.

Conclusion

Funneling for Lavaloon is less about troop count and more about geometry. Remove the right pivots, build a clean lane, and your Balloons will reward you with ruthless pathing and spell efficiency. Start by deleting the queen or CC, trim one flank with heroes, carve the other with siege or spells, and keep Balloons marching from anchor to anchor under Haste corridors and Freeze bridges. Do this consistently, and you’ll turn “almost” hits into comfortable triples—no miracle needed, just disciplined lanes and smart timing.