#sun tzu

All Clan War games run on the fundamentally same game theory, it isn't what you may think (resource gathering is a necessary but overrated aspect of it, as is raw offense, being in a strong clan is worth 100x as much as saving up for a massive boon in power later, always play to overrate yourself early, so as to appeal to the good clans ASAP, this is true whether you're a significantly paying player or not. It would only be slightly unnecessary if you're either the leader of or buddy of a leader of a strong clan.)

1. Do not start a clan war game if you can't no-life the game for 3 solid days. You need to be able to dedicate 3 solid real life days where you spend at least half of your waking hours towards this game. I am not kidding, this matters so much more than you think. If you're skilled enough, you'd be able to slack off the middle day of the three due to how bursts of bonuses work in these games but to do that you need to be willing to spend 5-7 dollars to cover it and then it will basically put you exactly where you need to be. If you had worked hard all three days at it, you usually only need to pay 1-2 dollars on a small package boost thing.
   
2. You need to be mentally and financially ready to spend around 15 dollars on the game. This is a minimum, trust me. If you are not willing to spend that money on a game, especially a mobile game, that's fair enough but quit while you're ahead. You won't excel at 90% of the games out there if you're 100% aiming to be free-to-play because the time and energy required to pull of hyper-farming to compensate for the lack of payment still means next to nothing once we analyse significantly premium buys like high-tier vigilantes in Mafia City, high-tier Commanders (or maxing out the good Commanders you already own) in Rise of Kingdoms, so on and so forth. You really will need to spend money on these games as you progress, you will hit 'paywalls' that are not at all things where skill and dedication truly can overcome the complete pay-only stepping block you need to climb over said wall in progress. It's up to you to prove me wrong on this, I am certain this is true, in fact it unfortunately is more like double that amount; 30 dollars, if you really want to be close to genuinely dominant in a server.
   
3. If points 1 and 2 are fully embraced by you and you're ready to proceed, spend day 1 doing everything the game tells you to do. Do not think you are smarter than the game is, it is built to guide you to do basic things very well, so do them all as it tells you to do. However, the one exception to this rule is if you have the opportunity to upgrade a resource tile/production-zone in your city/turf/town whatever it's called (your place/base where you produce things in) then do this regardless of the game telling you it's wise or not. Just do it, it's always worth it in all of these game formats before they make it obvious that it's worth it. 
   
4. On day 2, you need to start using your brain, at the end of day 1 when you had to work or sleep or whatever, you should have left 1-2 troops gathering resources depending what the game let you do. Day 2 should begin with you ignoring the missions/quests the game assigns you and putting on whatever kind of gathering boost the game gives you, even a production boost if you find yourself short of something. Use it all, ramp up the buildings do everything you can do as fast as possible and gather, gather, gather. Dedicate entirely to your main account, you shouldn't have a farm account yet. Just go ham and be a resource-hungry blind player. Even if your 'team' clan/alliance/whatever-name-team tells you to help them, ignore them, you shouldn't be in an amazing team, you should be in a bad team for beginners. Once you're done and all your buildings and training are decent, you ditch that team for a recruiting team that isn't pro and very high-tier but is decent. It is important even if you havethe power to hit a better team's minimum, you stick to a medium team where you are above the minimum. I will explain why in the next step.
   
5. You are now in your 'floating team', this team will become your brethren and friends for the next 2 weeks of your clan war game life. Do not piss them off but don't be entirely quiet so they would sooner kick you than another. Be friendly, keen and active. They build an alliance building and need help? Help out if you can. They are under attack because they stupidly annoyed another clan? Consider joining the other clan or help them out but if you join the other be sure you'll want to and be able to last there. You are a floating boat in an ocean, let the mediocre team carry you. For all you know you hit the jackpot and this is that one mediocre team that actually becomes one of the big players later on, if not it doesn't matter. It's better to aim for a team that's your language and able to interact socially well with you. You'll learn ins and outs of the game by the tryhards within the mediocre team (there's always 2-3) and you'll be able to have a good reputation as a loyal member. Ignore the invites you may get from the 'big boy' teams, that's not your job yet. Stick with this team, help, do everything that is required to be seen as a good team member and don't worry about power-increase, let it naturally come, perhaps pay a small package to help you on your way if you get busy IRL. Keep your ear close to 'da street' and get a sense of which clan is a big power player. This is 100% essential to your success in the city/kingdom/empire (server's) long-run. DURING THIS STEP YOU SHOULD BUILD YOUR FARM ACCOUNTS. 
   
6. The moment you're comfortable on your farm account(s), start to look for the big-player clan that's looking for you (some games only require 1, others 2-3, don't worry about being a hyperfarmer, keep your farms decent, that's all that matters). You should be at least 2 full weeks into the game past the time you joined the previous clan. Trust me on this 2-week rule, it's not just about power gain pace, it's about streetsmart pace, you need to see who rises and falls and has a bad vs good reputation. Aim to join the clan who has the best reputation and has done the least sins to other clans, value that over power if the two aren't clear. Within the top four clans of a typical clan war game server, the one who is consistently obeying the 'street code' and has very consistent etiquette is most likely run by players who have deep knowledge and respect for the game, regardless of how particularly powerful they are at that moment. If worse comes to worst and you find they were more toxic than you thought, you will at least have not gotten peer-pressured to break rules and be too much of a troublemaker when you beg another big clan to let you in. This is about risk aversion and being in the clan that will last in the long-run. Nobody likes the clan that abuses its power too soon into a server, they never ever last and if they 'last' the server becomes dead as the weaker just leave meaning they are kings of an empty wasteland in the long run with a terrible reputation if the once who ditched it spread the word about them. This is why it's paramount to be a keen, active player of a rule-obeying clan. Your reputation can get wrecked with one dirty move you get pressured into. You need to be part of the 'hero clan' not the 'villain' clan, servers always ultimately form this dynamic. It is very important to understand how and why the villain clan always loses int he long run but sometimes there's a three or four-way dynamic with 2-and-2 type alliances. Be part of the kindest clan even if they are allied to the dirtiest-playing clan, only value the reputation of your own clan, ignore the other chaos that shifts and changes but the core leadership of the big clans rarely ever truly changes.
   
7. As things progress, you will find that almost all clan war games unfairly benefit from the short-range units being invested into. There's always two types of short-range units; the type that tank the damage and defend and the type that attack hard and fast and aim for the backline. It is possible I am wrong, there may be one of these games where it's optimal to focus on your long-range damagers, heck one may even favour the 'tanky damagers' (the vehicular fourth type that mainly is useful for gathering resources and destroying structures) but if you ask me, based on what I've seen in these games, it's objectively best to either be a tanky focuser or the speedy-short-range focuser. In some games the tanky type are called bulkers, in others infantry etc, in some games the speedy are called bikers, in others cavalry etc. It doesn't matter, all of these games run on the same four fundamental types of crew, you should always dedicate to either the tanky or the speedy, do not be mistaken to think there's long-term benefit in focusing on the long-range because you see, the long-range damagers are great if you pay a ton of money and have such high tier stuff to pull it off but the tanky types are insanely OP as they're both defensive and offensive at once when invested fully into while the short-range speedy are so OP because they're just so utterly versatile (they hit the entire backline meaning both the damagers and the vehicle types) and they help your operation-speed be slightly reduced usually as they're faster units in the first place, helping you ambush opponents and even retreat faster than the other specialists can. Once you decide which of the two you're investing in, stick at it, don't change your mind later or overly try to 'even things out' there is a tiny bit of value in that,  yes, but fundamentally know your specialty and in all other ways you can assist a type, stick to a singular specialty of the tanky or speedy type.
   
8. Even if you are an introvert IRL, friendships and loyalties matter. Don't be the quiet guy in the corner, get to know your clanmates, chat now and again, help and ask for help. It's both fun for you and them to feel this interaction. If it ends up going toxic and bad, it's likely you chose the wrong clan or even game. Bear it in mind, consider changing.
   
9. These rules will all help you but never underestimate the importance of being a nerdy type in these games. Ultimately, those rules are what they all have in common. Now, get to know the games specifics. Don't be the sucker who didn't know enough when it really counts.