Welcome to the new Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG from Team ESC!
Patch 10.4 has made numerous and substantial changes to the cards, significantly changing some archetypes.
But above all, the arrival of the Forgotten Treasures has brought a big change to the way we play Gwent and interact with our opponents.
Ring of Favor has become the (almost) omnipresent card: either you have to put it in your starting deck or you necessarily must insert a card to contest it. A real must-have.
The Golden Nekker has changed the geography of the game: very strong play that allows you to play 3 cards at the same time (first time ever for Gwent) but with limitations.
Being able to play only cards with a maximum of 9 provisions, inserting it in the deck means having to bring along many other neutral cards such as Ciri: Nova, Rutilia, Knickers and Aerondight …
Precisely the last mentioned one is another of the great arrivals of the expansion: an Echo that damages without “losing points”, all the additional damage that we would have lost with the classic removals, the “sword of Geralt” adds them to our lowest card.
It is virtually played in all the non-devotion decks.
The Ornate Censer and the Mysterious Puzzle Box, on the other hand, guarantee that surprise effect that makes many players turn up their noses but which makes the game even more sparkling.
Special mention for the Arcane Tome which allows you to play two (or three) cards at the same time.
Finally, the Vial of Forbidden Knowledge makes the game even more special: when it transforms (and therefore is present in both decks) we can have access to our opponent’s initial deck and know all his cards! This is also a first time for the game.
Below is the analysis of the decks of this meta.
Following the patch and expansion, we noticed the large amount of decks that are being played this season.
In our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG there are 14 decks all playable and all very competitive; but there are many others not present in our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG that can give you a hard time.
Some leaders played little in the last seasons and archetypes that we thought could never worry too much have returned to the field (see Dwarfs).
The Northern Realms benefited once again: thanks to the versatility of their cards, especially the siege engines, they churn out an incredibly strong priestess deck that thanks to the new Traveling Priestess card, in combo with the Tridam Infantry, allows you to generate even more than 30 points in a single play. It is true that she must be set … but when she enters it’s over.
Clearly the decks with Siege also remain a guarantee.
Scoia’tael always maintains its Elves top deck in Tier 1 but brings in another one, forgotten for centuries: Dwarfs! Thanks to the rework of some cards (such as the Zoltan’s Company or Zoltan: Warrior) it acquires a lot of solidity, generates points and in our non-devotion version controls the enemy board. A great high Tier 2 mix.
Syndicate instead comes with two versions of the same Off the Books leader: a “poisonous” version with the new expansion cards and a classic devotion version.
It adds a third deck: a great return of Lined Pocket that doesn’t go beyond Tier 3.
Monsters hold the shot quite well thanks to the Necromancer’s Tome: a card that can generate a large amount of points in the Vampire archetype, but which if removed causes all our plays to fall apart.
A version of Arachas Swarm also timidly re-enters the meta. Fun to play but perhaps less competitive than the other lists.
Skellige immediately takes advantage of the new expansion and enters the meta with a Hyperthin deck that takes advantage of all the new cards including the Magic Compass. Self-Wound remains in vogue, taking first place in Tier 2 thanks to the fact that there are not many Korathi Heatwaves decks around the meta.
Nilfgaard, as always, either benefits from the new expansions or suffers from it … In this case fails to impose himself: loses the leader Double-Cross (in the end the nerfs were fatal) and tries to get under with Imprisonment. Not a good time for the Great Sun.
To conclude our Gwent Meta Snapshot #19 – ENG our Zio Maruth (really him!) Goes to design a very special deck: the Thousand Harvesters!
Starting from a dynamic similar to that of the Ambushes, he uses the new Magiruna card to have the opportunity to create 4 or 5 Bountiful Harvests during the game.
Through Alissa Henson we have the possibility to put them all back in the deck from the graveyard and to play them at the same time with Simlas Finn Aep Dabairr.
A play that is not easy to set but that guarantees a large amount of points both immediately, both in hand, and for Harald Gord. A must try deck!
Enjoy our Gwent Meta Snapshot #19 – ENGand tell us what you think!
TIER 1
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/36fb682c047203e97d9fc2696e6f14e7
AUTHOR
Ci_87
INTRODUCTION
Patch after patch, Northern Realms now has a permanent place in the upper floors of the meta, this month making the most out of the new bronze card, Traveling Priestess, which combined with Pincer Maneuver ability guarantees a devastating combo. First place for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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Pincer Maneuver guarantees consistency to the deck, in addition to cards such as Snowdrop, Hubert Rejk, Knickers that allow you to have access to all the cards of the deck with ease, leaving only 2 cards in it, which are the 2 copies of Traveling Priestess, which we will play in the same round thanks to Vernon Roche.
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The siege engines in this deck represent a huge added value, while you get points thanks to them you can play all the other tempo cards in the deck to add charges to the Traveling Priestess copies.
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Snowdrop will boost itself by 2 every time we activate a Pincer Maneuver charge, so each charge plays for 4 points, for this reason King Radovid V has enormous potential in this deck, every time we draw a card it will be added to the right of our hand allowing to slow down the entry into the field of Sunset Wanderers, which on average, always arrives at 13 points.
WEAKNESSES
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With all the cards thet give consistency to the deck, the bricks such as Knickers are not a problem, however, you must remember to PLAY the Ring of Favor because otherwise in the deck at the end of the game there will be only one card left instead of 2 for the play with Vernon Roche.
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Mill? Did someone say Mill? I heard Mill..
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can insert Korathi Heatwave instead of Ring of Favor and then find the 2 provisions by lowering 5 provisions such as Boiling oil.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/383f4dfa5f27188581ea57aab6df301a
AUTHOR
AnthonyDJ96
INTRODUCTION
Post patch, the Elves deck has not suffered any particular changes. The only new addition is Ring of Favor which gives a tempo play in round 1. Elves is still the best performing deck for the Scoia’tael faction.
STRENGTHS
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The Elves archetype has the peculiarity of being a deck with fast plays, thanks to cards like Yaevinn, Aelirenn and so on, in combination with leader charges.
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Elves has an excellent ability to push and resist an opponent’s push in round 2.
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With Simlas, we have a giant last say on the Waylay (up to 5), thanks to the Vanadain and Alissa Henson combo.
WEAKNESSES
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The deck is prone to Waylay bricks, making Simlas’ play less decisive.
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High risk of over swarm in a hypothetical long round 3.
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Suffers from decks that do damage on row, Stockpile especially.
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can remove Ring of Favor to insert Toruviel.
TIER 2
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/25159094281f259de0de8fc0f72e8dbd
AUTHOR
gigifacile
INTRODUCTION
In order to play the Golden Nekker, the card’s symbol of the expansion, many decks have removed their cards at 10 or more provisions in favor of stronger tempo plays.
Too bad that, in this way, they have to give up the Korathi Heatwave, a perfect card to punish the most greedy archetypes in circulation, including this Self-Wound deck.
Cards like Melusine and Sigvald are therefore free to remain virtually untouched on the board and generate a frightening amount of points. First place of Tier 2 for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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If the opponent has no way to interact with Melusine or Sigval, victory is practically guaranteed.
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Very strong long round, short round even stronger as, in the right conditions, you can resurrect a Melusine even from 30+ points.
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Knut can be used as a control tool when we use it to damage a particularly large Melusine.
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Ihuarraquax can remove the strongest card from the opponent’s deck and, at the same time, play our Melusine.
WEAKNESSES
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Squirrel and Xavier Lemmes, since the deck aims to resurrect its strongest cards from the graveyard, so if the opponent manages to remove them, the whole strategy is destroyed.
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Against control decks, such as Nilfgaard or some version of Syndicate, it may be difficult to keep Melusine or Sigvald on the board.
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Korathi Heatwave.
TACTICAL CHOICES
Ihuarraquax, Royal Decree, Bekker’s Mirror → + Cerys: Fearless, Oneiromancy, Armored Drakkar.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/5c002aa9b666b15b79699b5422023ea6
AUTHOR
JJ_GG
INTRODUCTION
With this new season the Siege Engines deck remain faithful to the previous one, the only variant included is the Ring of Favor, a must have in all decks right now. Very good for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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The addition of Ring of Favor gives us the opportunity to challenge the first round very easily.
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An incredible control of the board prevents the enemy engines from being able to grind points by cutting them off from the start.
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King Henselt + Pride of Foltest combo remains the strongest play of the deck.
WEAKNESSES
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It is a deck that needs initiative and prefers the blue coin and must win round 1 to have a better chance of winning the game.
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Suffers a lot from no unit decks as most of the Siege Engines points are lost without interaction with the opponent’s board.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6bb140b18b70d376179397f86d7ab561
AUTHOR
Elquellora_
DESCRIPTION
Recent buffs to the Dwarf archetype have given incredible strength to the deck, making it strong and competitive. Among these, the most incisive are the reworks done for Zoltan: Warrior, Zoltan’s Company and Munro Bruys, cards that now allow important and impactful tempo play. Thanks to them, the deck has become excellent in a short round, without losing the characteristic of a strong long round, also thanks to its main card: Brouver Hoog.
STRENGHTS
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The passive of the Forge of Mahakam leader synergizes perfectly with the cards that make up the deck and gives them the possibility to protect their points, thanks to additional armor.
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Strong tempo plays thanks to cards like Zoltan: Warrior, Zoltan’s Company, Munro Bruys and Dennis Cranmer, which make this pile solid on the short round.
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Very strong deck even in the long round thanks to cards like Brouver Hoog (which if not solved wins games alone) and Barclay Els, very flexible card depending on the situation.
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Quite overwhelming as a red coin, it also defends the blue very well, due to the strong tempo plays and the cards with the Resilience ability, like the new GiantSlayer and the inevitable Zoltan Chivay.
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Good deck thinning level thanks to Mahakam Volunteers and the Novigradian Justice strong play.
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Given the current meta, control tools such as Korathi Heatwave, Vigo’s Muzzle and tech cards like Spore and Pellar have been included in the deck.
WEAKNESSES
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In some match ups, being pushed or bled with Zoltan’s Company in hand can be uncomfortable and cause you to lose the setup of some of the strongest engines in the deck, not being able to put boards later.
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Instant resolution of cards like Zoltan’s Company and Brouver Hoog in a long round can put the pile in serious trouble against many decks in the meta.
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In certain match ups, missing Zoltan’s Company means losing the game.
TACTICAL CHOICES
It is possible to evaluate the inclusion of Zoltan: Scoundrel for a further strong play and to buff Zoltan’s Company.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/f5c7b7be4b5842a23ce1615b75f15ccb
AUTHOR
Quigon96
INTRODUCTION
Following the trend of Golden Nekker decks present for almost every faction, here we have the Syndicate’s version!
STRENGTHS
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Very strong engines thanks to all the spenders who double the value of the coins such as Gellert Bleinheim and at the same time it has many tempo plays that generate a lot of value for Aerondight.
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In a meta with at least a pair of guaranteed tall units per deck, being able to poison and destroy is very effective.
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Versatile, has both a great short round and a good long round.
WEAKNESSES
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Difficult to measure the resources to have effective rounds 2 and 3.
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Whoreson Freak Show is the only direct response to the opponent, since the poisons take 2 turns.
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can insert Salamandra Mage.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/400b80e31be74ea0b2da32654430919a
AUTHOR
Pelle
DESCRIPTION
Always being able to count on the Bronze Firesworn package introduced last season, Syndicate can try to keep up with the tempo play of the other factions also in Round 1, thanks also to the addition of the Shady Vendor which fits perfectly into the Tributes archetype, and the Conjurer’s Candle, an artifact spender with Resilience useful for enhancing and thus protecting your engines.
STRENGTHS
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Solid Round 1 with the Firesworn Bronze Package
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Short Round 3 thanks to Savolla and King of Beggars
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Good Round 3 along with the possibility of control thanks to cards such as Whoreson Freak Show, Junior, Philippa and Moreelse and the usual excellent faction golds cards such as Jacques and Professor
WEAKNESSES
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Starting with Blue Coin remains a problem this season against decks that abuse the red coin
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Devotion makes the deck less solid, lacking key cards such as Heatwave or Muzzle, but especially the Ring of Favor present in almost all non-devotion decks
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Vivaldi Bank is not an optimal tutor and together with the lack of thinning it can cause some key cards to be missed in a specific match-up
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By contesting round 1 to your opponents, there is a risk that the King of Beggars may be recalled earlier than expected
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6ef68d73b3fdd8df067ed53fb4e718af
AUTHOR
Clauz
INTRODUCTION
After the numerous nerfs received in the recent months, Double-Cross ability finally gives way to Imprisonment by sacrificing some points to gain an important control tool.
The nerfs to the provisions of the Mage Assassin and the “tempo oriented” meta dictated by the latest released cards force the faction of the black sun to give up one of its most iconic cards which is Yennefer Invocation in favor of better tempo plays which are useful in all the 3 round like the new Runemage card that not only gives us a double activation on units with Assimilate but considerably increases the strength of creation cards such as Lydia and Imperial Diplomacy.
STRENGTHS
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Solidity in the control tools due to cards such as Vigo’s Muzzle and Korathi Heatwave.
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Our Leader prevents combo decks from executing their strategy by applying considerable pressure.
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The spy mechanic effectively counteracts many of the major combo / engine decks of the Northern Realms (which dominate the current meta by abusing King Radovid), and Skellige.
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Extreme solidity in the draws thanks to Jan Calveit.
WEAKNESSES
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Suffers a lot when it starts with the blue coin if the enemy has a lot of tempo plays.
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The numerous nerfs have greatly affected the power of the deck in general (which still remains in a good spot).
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The important plays are few and if you do not make the most out of your hard removals on the right targets, you risk compromising the entire game.
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Against some top tier decks there is a lack of really good targets to put the tag spy on.
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Missing Jan Calveit‘s draw in round 1 often compromises the fluidity (and sometimes the outcome) of some match-ups and our general gameplan.
TACTICAL CHOICES
Bribery, Yennefer Invocation, a second copy of Blightmaker.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/5ea311649d93380c8cefcc35a8ebe959
AUTHOR
Xpretorian
INTRODUCTION
With the arrival of the new faction artifact, Necromancer’s Tome, Monsters regain a minimum of its splendor with the evolution of what was once the Vampire deck with the use of Witches’ Sabbath.
Although the strategy has remained the same, it is implemented by exploiting the Necromancer’s Tome, in order to recall Fleder and the bleeding engines from the graveyard. Last place of Tier 2 for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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In a meta where the decks with few removals, the deck itself has a very high amount of points, thanks to the possibility of playing multiple Fleders thanks to cards such as Operator and Megascope.
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Has a consistent short round thanks to the presence of Regis: Reborn who can guarantee a large amount of points in a single play.
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If you manage to have numerous Fleders on the field in a long round, the play with Armored Arachas is a possible last play that can really make you recover a lot of points against your opponent.
WEAKNESSES
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The deck itself is one dimensional.
If it is up against a deck that consistently removes Fleders from the board, the deck loses most of its points. -
The deck suffers terribly from graveyard removals, so cards like Xavier Lemmens or Squirrel.
TACTICAL CHOICES
In the 4-provisions cards, a Feast of Blood can be exchanged for an Undying Thirst.
TIER 3
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/246d536efa2580c3d392d6b7b2919336
AUTHOR
Yami8
INTRODUCTION
Reckless Flurry is strongly coming back in the ladder’s meta, especially in the first days of this season, where this deck has become very popular.
Later, however, once everybody got to know this deck and its lack of tall removals, since it plays Ciri: Nova and therefore it has no cards above 9 provisions, so this deck has lost a lot of its “strength”, for this reason we have decided to insert it in tier 3. First place of Tier 3 for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGHTS
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The main strength of this deck is the abuse of the red coin; in fact, when you go as second it is very easy to win at even cards with this deck.
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The ability to create the perfect card for the situation with Magic Compass is another major reason to play this deck.
WEAKNESSES
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Very draw dependent, in addition to the discard package; it is very necessary in the first rounds to draw cards such as Ciri: Nova and Aerondight, and not draw the many bricks of the deck.
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The RNG given by the Golden Nekker can make you win / lose games by itself, in addition to the fact that you have to set up the game while still being careful to leave the right outs in the deck.
TACTICAL CHOICES
None
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/765a092928f0793fe3f6df62ae755e6f
AUTHOR
mickg
INTRODUCTION
After several season, Lined Pockets comes back as a reliable archetype for th Syndicate, giving back some freshness to the faction.
STRENGHTS
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The six leader charges, the passive ability and the indispensable King of Beggars allow us to always have a decent number of coin to spend to our needs;
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Nmber of power plays now is high enough to have good cards to play in any round, potentially without overcommiting;
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New card Conjurer’s candle gives us access to a protection tool for our menaces, firsts above all Tunnel Drill and the two Cutup Lackey.
WEAKNESSES
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The lack of Moreelse, Philippa and Whoreson Junior puts the deck in a weird spot whenever you need to remove a card in a single turn:
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Some cards of the deck need a long enough round to generate value, especially those who synergize with Crimes;
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Bare-knucle Brawler is a great control tool and also sets up Geralt: Igni, but this last card can be akward if you end up being too greedy.
TACTICAL CHOICES
For control lovers, you can replace Geralt Igni with Moreelse and put Kurt in the deck in the place of Maxii with the spared provision.
Being a non devotion deck, you can change a 4 provision cost card with Squirrel.
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/d2b2754a956cedb7877098421299f43a
AUTHOR
gigifacile
INTRODUCTION
One of the biggest gaps that has always plagued the Monster faction is the lack of control tools for the opponent’s board and this leads it to suffer matches against engine-based decks.
With the release of the new expansion, however, most decks have preferred the use of tempo cards over engines, allowing Monster decks to Thrive by no longer having to worry about the opponent’s board.
Arachas swarm is the perfect example: why worry about what your opponent is doing, when you can simply fill your board with cute little spiders? Last place of our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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Red coin: the deck abuses the red coin very well, often allowing us to win R1 at even cards.
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In 3 or 4 plays you can get a frightening amount of points.
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Ornate Censer is huge in this deck, having the ability to play it the same turn in which with the leader’s ability we spawn a 1 strength unit.
WEAKNESSES
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Long rounds are much weaker compared to all the decks in the meta, so if you fail to win R1 you practically lost the game.
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Suffers against all decks that have many 1-pings, so NR siege engines, SK rain or Rekless Flurry, dwarves ….
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There is no way to set up the Golden Nekker properly, so you have to hope for the RNG.
TACTICAL CHOICES
Virtually none, the deck needs these cards to be played well.
Gwent Meta Snapshot #19 – ENG
Special Mentions
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/b48cef1310f321c8c6cc1db830dfbe96
AUTHOR
Quigon96
INTRODUCTION
Great shoutout to ZioMaruth24 who, along the lines of the Deadeye Ambush combo used in the Elves deck, created this deck basing the combo on Bountiful Harvest instead. Special mention for our Gwent Meta Snapshot # 19 – ENG
STRENGTHS
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Thanks to Dol Blathanna’s Sorceress and Bountiful Harvest, there will be many additional engines available to those included in the initial deck, making it difficult for the opponent to answer them all.
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With the combo of Simlas + 4 Bountiful Harvest we are very strong in the push and guarantees us a lot of carryover for a short round 3.
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The leader, in addition to enhancing the Sorceress of Dol Blathanna, works great with Vigo’s Muzzle.
WEAKNESSES
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Needs to draw Runemage and Simlas in hand by Round 2.
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Suffers from control decks and especially Nilfgaard Assimilate.
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Needs to win the first round at any cost to have a chance to push or have the last say at least.
Gwent Meta Snapshot #19 – ENG
