Well, I believe skill comes into play when the board is not too good, or too bad. Those middle ground boards, combined with the nice team selection (which is partly a skill, too) give a room for creativity. Since I’m going in 3-2 formation, my idea is to bring the most important counters in both colours, so if the board is co-operative to some extent, it usually works well.
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I play EP because it’s a comfortable combination of skill and luck for me.
I have no interest in the all-skill games that I would be pathetically awful at. And I’m hopelessly too slow for shooter games 
But all luck games are boring.
I have days where all the boards seem to be stacked against me. And I have notoriously poor summoning luck. S2 portal hates me. TC20 hates me.
I level what I have, use the roster I have as best I can, and manage to have fun anyway. 
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Do you ever find those games when you know you just cant win no matter what you do ?
For example i might take 3 lots of reds into battle and have 1 yellow and 1 purple. I will get maybe 1 red tile on the board but get heaps of blue so i get a diamond. I use the diamond to get rid of all the blue and now heaps of greens come with blues and still no reds. By then all their specials have fired nearly and i might match the green diamond to get rid all all the greens and more blues and greens come and I finally get a red match but by then its all over.
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there is no skill. there is a set of guidelines - team build (limited by roster of course) and board work. anyone with half a brain can follow them. the outcome though is largely dependent on luck - the board, the specials, the enemy AI and now the talents.
I see it a lot in raiding - first battle you cant do anything at all and lose miserably, then come back with the same team and win easily.
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It’s fun, no matter if skill is involved 20, 40 or 60 %.
Imo it’s 20% heroes, 30% skill and strategy and 50% RNG and luck.
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Not me.
Advantages / Disadvantages
There are two main advantages/ disadvantages.
Heroes
Without the proper heroes you will always be at a disadvantage.
With the proper heroes you will have an advantage.
Hero potential
Without heroes at maximum costume, and X*+20, with maximum level troops, you will always be at a disadvantage.
With maximum potential heroes you will have an advantage.
Skill
Strategy
Even with all the above ( proper available heroes at maximum potential ) you still need to choose the correct team for attacking a defense. This is where knowledge, and skill first enter the situation.
Tactics
Even with all the above, you still need to choose what shields/ tiles to match, and when to use each special skill. This is where knowledge, and skill, also enter the situation.
RNG
RNG Special / Talents
If your team contains RNG heroes ( Wu Kong, Danzaburo, 5/5 Revive, 5/5 Evade, 5/5 Withstand, etc. ). This is where the majority of RNG enters the situation.
Boards
Without a decent sequence of boards you are at a disadvantage. ( starting board plus first 24 moves, 80% chance for rainbow team with all very fast heroes to 25% chance for mono team with all slow heroes ). This is the next biggest RNG factor.
Single target special skill
Special skills with a single target can have a variability of plus, or minus, 50% to damage ( or more. the exact damage formula currently unknown ). This is where RNG also significantly impacts the situation.
Combo chains
Combo chains ( Combo 3+ ) are the next biggest RNG.
Critical hits
Critical hits are the next biggest RNG.
Normal damage
Normal/ matching/ tile damage has the least amount of RNG since matches require at least 3x shields/ tiles.
Notes
See Also
([Guide, Wiki, Tactics] Placement of heroes when attacking - titans, bosses, raids, Jabberwocky, Gato)
([Essay] Please remove 1* and 2* Tourneys, I have already said good bye)
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I think there is skill involved, but it would only show in the long run.
The element of luck is quite large; anybody can lose a raid where they brought the best team possible and still fail miserably due to bad tiles. But I think in the long run, a skilled player can win about 5-10% of the raids a mediocre player would have lost.
That being said, there are also those superb boards where you only need to make one match and the raid is already won due to lucky cascades.
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I would really like it if you could raid an online player. You receive a warning, You Are Being Raided. Then you could fight back turn by turn against a real player. Or ignore and let AI defend you. PVP would make the game more interesting.
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hero availibility yes, but you have to choose which one to level up. and i don’t know how is the average player but the ones i know cant make a decision right. i say that with respect and love for my halfbrain friends, haha.
I have played this game for a couple of years now and at first it was mind blowing. I was completely over thinking things and looking to develop what I thought was a much needed game skill like you have in chess.
However, there is very little skill involved, other than knowing your hero roster, stats, special skills and how to work and play the board ie make diamonds etc.
Most high level players stay at that level because of the strength of their “top” 5* heroes etc.
But even then, every team you build, even with Heroes at +20 emblems and full strength troops (30) can be beaten by much weaker teams both in raids and in war.
So in a nutshell- luck plays a huge part in winning any battles
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Obviously RNG plays a huge factor, because even if you remove 100 tiles and get a massive cascade, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get the colours you need. In fact, many times I have had this happen and just got MORE of the exact colours I have got rid of and no new ones that I need.
However, there is a tactfulness to it too, because if you take out the heroes in the “wrong” order, you could easily lose.
I will try get rid of Snipers or Mana Controllers/Blockers before I take out healers or someone like Wilbur. Killing someone who can hit multiple or all enemies is also a big tactic versus killing just single hitter. If there was Ursena and Sartana on the same team, although Sartana is fast, i’d want to kill Ursena first. Obviously this really does all depend on the lineup and what board you have, who’s special on the opponents side is ready to fire (or almost) as well as your own specials that are ready.
So in short: yes, you do need to use some tactics.
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Hey @JonahTheBard , that’s an interesting idea. I’ll have to think about that one. Great idea.
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This thread keeps hitting the top of my “latest” list
So gonna bite then mute
If players & alliances would track stats over time in raids & wars, not only of themselves but fellow players & teammates for comparisons they would find the answer themselves if the game involves skill or not
Literally all it takes and the 3 yrd old debate(s) would be put to rest
That is all
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You would think that building your team up so strong with all that time and effort it took you should make a difference hey, but it doesnt, to me there is so much luck involved in this game its not funny and lower level teams shouldnt have much of a chance to beat you.
I get up some days and check my game and see ive lost to teams that are over 500 below my team score and it just makes you shake your head and say, whats the use in building your team up strong for.
It’s a funny thing where luck and skill overlap.
Maybe it requires looking at the game over long term stats.
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So you are not at a disadvantage when you take on similarly powerful or more powerful opponents.
Who cares who beats you in raids? I beat teams about 500tp above me consistently because - I have no choice! That is what is dished out to me. And on the plus side it gives me practice for war matchups.
Oh but if it really does bother you so much - I feel I should also let you know that if yours is a 4.6K+ GTV team then it is likely my 4.1K team with Noor in it was one of the ones that gave you a smack down.
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Videos or it didnt happen.
Well framed.
All of that adds up to some matches making my face look like below (Tom Dwan’s reaction) 
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I think those claiming it’s all or mostly luck are discounting a great deal of skill. As @JonahTheBard said, try playing with the top of the screen covered, or emulating auto play. If your win rate is anywhere close to the same then, yes, you are playing without skill.
But most good players don’t do that. How can you explain @IvyTheTerrible’s 90% win rate in raids by saying it’s all luck? Or people who commonly hit for 100k+ on 14* Titans?
For myself, I’m nowhere near either of those, but I’ve been consistently higher cups than others in my alliance with stronger teams. I have a far better win rate too. I know people who are relieved if they get 2 wins in 6 raids — I’m angry if that happens.
Is there a luck element? Sure. And there is in poker too. But just as with poker, you can intentionally lose. Try to do that with a slot machine.
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Which aspect of my statement requires video proof?