Town Hall 9 War Armies!

At TH9, the game changes pretty drastically, with attack strategies become much more complex, particularly if you are trying to 3 star other TH9s, starting with early stage or weak attacks, and moving to top TH9 strategies such as GoWiWi with Hog or Loon support, and Lavaloonion with Kill Squad.

DRAGONS

Basic Composition: At least 8 dragons, possibly hogs or balloons as support. Spells depend on strategy: 3 lightning to remove 1 air defense, otherwise mostly rage, sometimes a heal or two if relying more heavily on hogs or balloons.

Notes: Dragons don't get a boost at TH9 (other than getting an extra dragon with the 20 additional army spots, and an additional spell), but they're still a decent option for relatively new TH9s to 2 star other TH9s. You can go relatively high if xbows are set on ground and air defense is spread out, but you're not going to be getting 3 stars unless you're going up against a really rushed base with a bad design. Really though, you should be forgetting about dragons pretty quickly if you haven't already. 

Deployment Strategy: Same basic strategy as covered on the TH8 war army post. 

HOGS

Basic Composition: 30+ hogs, 6-10 wizards, possibly 1-2 giants to lure, other troops such as archers, barbarians, and witches to take out the enemy cc, all heal spells.

Notes: If you did hogs to level 4 at TH8, they can serve as a decent starting point at TH9, but even max hogs will only work on low to mid TH9s, and only on specific sorts of bases where you can get to the xbows quickly, and predict where the giant bombs are. It also helps if the heroes are near the outside. Don't plan on relying on mass hog attacks for long, but if you purchase your archer queen immediately on getting to TH9 and upgrade your lab and spell factory, hogs can be a decent place to start your TH9 upgrades, since it will allow you to keep your lab busy, and free up your elixir to upgrade your army camps.

Deployment Strategy: Same basic strategy as covered on the TH8 war army post.

GOWIPE

Basic Composition: 2 golem, 3-4 PEKKA, 6-10 wallbreakers, 14+ wizards. 2 rage, usually 1 jump, 1 heal.

Notes: Hopefully you did your PEKKA to level 3 at TH8, as GoWiPe is probably the best starting point for new TH9s, and can be used to consistently 2 star relatively high TH9s. GoWiPe by itself, however, is usually only a 2 star strategy, and has a number of shortcomings. The relatively small number of total troops makes the attack vulnerable to things like giant bombs and an enemy cc with lots of troops or witches, and PEKKAs tend to die pretty quickly when encountering high level teslas, particularly on bases where the teslas are clumped together, and bases with high level walls and lots of segmented areas. This makes 1 and 0 star attacks increasingly likely on high TH9s. Add this to the fact that in many ways level 3 PEKKA are inferior to level 1 witches, you're really going to want to move toward GoWiWi as soon as you can.

Deployment Strategy: You can choose to lure the cc or not with this attack; if you do, start there. Release golems first spread about 8 spaces apart, followed by a row of wiz behind them, and bursts of wallbreakers. Let wizards clear outer buildings and open up at least one wall into the base before deploying PEKKA, heroes, and possibly a backup contingent of wizards.

GOWIWI

Base composition: 3 golem, 4-5 witches, 6-10 wallbreakers, 14+ wizards. 2 rage, usually 1 jump, 1 heal.

Notes: The main advantage of using witches is that you have more total troops, and the golems and skeletons tend to set off traps, better protecting your wizards and witches. Even with level 1 witches, you will generally get a higher percentage of the base relative to level 3 PEKKA, but in many cases it is still a 2 star strategy. It can be more easily turned into a 3 star strategy, however, with support from balloons, or less often, hogs.

Deployment Strategy: Generally speaking, you don't need to lure with this attack; instead just drop a rage spell when you see the enemy cc coming.  Release golems first spread about 8 spaces apart, followed by a row of wiz behind them, and then witches behind them spread a few spaces apart but mostly in the center of your attack. Let wizards and witches clear outer buildings and send bursts of wallbreakers where you want to enter the base, opening up at least one wall into the base before deploying heroes, and possibly a backup contingent of wizards and witches.

GOWIWI (or GOWIPE) with BALLOON or HOG SUPPORT

Basic Composition: 3 golem, 4 witches, 6-8 wallbreakers, 14+ wizards, 4-10 balloons (or 6-12 hogs)

Notes: The basic problem with GoWiWi or GoWiPe is that once you get about half way through the base, your golems start dying, and the defenses on the far side start taking out your attack troops before they can get through the walls and take them out. The best way to turn a 2 star attack with these armies into a possible 3 star attack, then, is often by using balloons or hogs for support. Balloons may be slow, but there are a limited number of defenses that target them, and 2 max balloons deployed together will take out any mortar, cannon, tesla, archer or wizard tower in a single shot. Hogs are faster, but also tend to die faster, and do less damage per attack, so a few more hogs are usually required relative to balloons. If any air defenses will likely still be standing in the vicinity of where you're planning to deploy your support troops, however, then hogs are probably the better option.

Deployment Strategy: The first part of your attack will be exactly the same as your normal GoWiPe or GoWiWi strategy.  If you're using balloons for support, the idea is generally to deploy them as soon as any air d in the vicinity as been destroyed, dropping them in groups of 2 as close to the target defense as possible, targeting defenses along the sides or back of the base relative to where you went in with your main attack. Ideally, your golems will still be alive, and if you are dealing with teslas, archer or wizard towers, it helps if those defenses start targeting the golems before you deploy your balloons. The same basic strategy also applies to hogs; just be wary of giant bombs, and remember cannons target them also (mortars don't do enough damage to hogs to be a problem).


BALLOONION

Basic Composition:  Around 24-30 balloons, the rest minions. Spells depend on strategy, but usually 3 rage and 1 heal.

Notes: While max balloonion can still be used to 2 star relatively high TH9s, and is still a higher level trophy and raiding strategy, the addition of lava hounds has turned what was generally a 2 star strategy into a possible 3 star strategy.

Deployment Strategy: Drop balloons in a long bow around 2 sides of the base, trying to target 2 or even 3 air defenses as quickly as possible, sometimes with a second row of balloons directly behind. Spread minions behind, rage balloons, use healing spell when close to wizard towers.

LAVALOONION

Basic Composition: 3-5 hounds, 16-25 balloons, 2-25 minions, 3 rage, 1 heal

Notes: With level 6 air defense, 3 hounds is usually enough, but level 7 air defense tends to need 4. You can lure, but balloons dealing splash damage when they die, combined with minions following the balloons, usually takes care of the enemy cc without luring. If not luring, heroes can usually be used to distract defenses toward the end of the raid, or to take out a wizard or archer tower before it kills your balloons. With 5 hounds in particular, 4 rage can work well. 

Deployment Strategy: Pick 2 air defenses that are close together, deploy 2 hounds at each, followed by balloons and rage. Save a few balloons to deploy from the opposite side once the those defenses have started to target the hounds when they fly across the base.


GOLAVALOONION (LAVALOONION + KILL SQUAD)

Kill Squad Composition: 1-2 golem (usually 1), 4-6 wizards, 0-4 wallbreakers, 0-2 witches, heroes, possibly a jump and/or a rage spell.

Air Composition: 3 lava hounds, 12-18 balloons, 5-20 minions (usually 10). Usually 2 rage, 1 heal

Notes: This is a very technical attack with lots of components, and an army composition that really has to be fine tuned to the base and the attack strategy. When executed well though, it is one of the best shots of any army to 3 star other TH9s. The purpose of the kill squad is to take out the archer queen, at least 1 air defense, and at least lure out the cc, if not kill it entirely. If the Kill Squad is successful, 3 lava hounds with a dozen or so balloons and 10 minions can usually take out the rest of the base.

CC Lure: If there is a defensive piece outside the range of air defense that can lure the cc, it can be helpful to start with 2 balloons to take out that defense and simultaneously lure the cc (a single balloon may lure the cc but will probably die before taking out the defense). Various techniques to kill the enemy cc can then be used, including barb/wiz/witch, or getting them into a clump and floating a balloon so they kill it when it is directly over them, which will kill level 5 wizards, but not entirely level 6. Be careful you're not expending too many minions if you use them here; if you don't have at least a few to use as cleanup at the end, you may run out of time before destroying the whole base. The only troops you really need to worry about are wizards and dragons, and minions and archers if there are more than just a few. Whether you lure, or use your kill squad to take out the cc, leaving a witch alive while starting your air attack will not matter. Lava hounds can actually be something of a problem as well, in which case the best strategy is to lure it out, then get it to chase one of your hounds while following it with about half your minions.

Kill Squad: Start by deploying the golem on whichever side of the base the archer queen is on, followed by wizards to clear some of the outside buildings on either side of where you plan to make your entrance. Usually it is good to leave the building directly in front of where you want to go in until last, and deploy wallbreakers to make a hole before unleashing your barb king. Often, you'll want to get your golem and barb king past the first set of walls, which requires a jump spell. If you're luring, there's a decent chance that a max golem in your clan castle, along with 4 wizards and 2 wallbreakers and your heroes will be enough to take out the queen, an air defense, and hopefully at least a couple other defensive structures that shoot air troops. If you're not luring, 2 additional wizards and a witch are generally a good idea, and you also may want to have a rage spell at the ready. For tough bases with high defense, and bases with 2 witches in the cc, you may even want a second witch, and maybe even a second golem, especially if it will help you get to a second air defense. Be careful not to use too many troops though, or you won't have enough for your air attack.

Main Attack: In most cases, you want to go around the base with your main attack (clockwise or counterclockwise), starting from where you took out the first air defense. Drop 2 hounds to target the first air d you plan to take out from different locations to trigger any air mines or bombs, followed by groups of 2-4 balloons spread out behind (2 balloons for archers, wiz, cannon, mortar, teslas, 4 when attacking air defense and xbows, and a rage spell on as many of the balloons as you can. If you can figure out which air d the hounds will fly toward after the first one is down, it will help with the next phase of attack. Drop the 3rd hound followed by balloons and rage as close to the second air d as you can. If you didn't need a jump spell and have a third rage, use it to get the balloons over to the third air defense. Healing spell should be used once hounds die to keep balloons alive when encountering wiz towers, a group of teslas, or xbows. Sprinkle minions around the outside after the defenses are down for cleanup.