The release of the new Black Sun expansion has brought on one hand the return of the Scenarios, on the other hand it has given life to a new archetype based on the new Renfri card, totally opposite to the mechanics of the Scenarios.

Playing Renfri in fact requires very particular deckbuilding conditions, it is necessary to have at least 25 units in the deck, leaving no room for tutors such as Oneiromancy, fundamental in Scenario decks, and Korathi Heatwave, which represents the direct response to the Scenarios.

The Scenario decks therefore manage to find more playing space against Renfri.
Furthermore, Renfri decks lack the control tools of the opponent’s field, therefore those decks that already in their archetype have more control elements such as Pirates and Guerrilla Tactics are advantageous.

Given the popularity of Renfri and the few control tools, the ones that mainly benefit are the engine decks, Northern Realms with Siege and the Syndicate decks, famous for playing many engines, are found very high in our tier list.

Although it is difficult to precisely frame the meta after the release of such an incisive expansion, Renfri’s high play-rate inevitably leads to create decks to counter it, using mechanics such as those of Nilfgaard where, in a same Double Cross Renfri deck, multiple copies of it can be played.

Enjoy our Gwent Meta Snapshot #20 and tell us what you think!

TIER 1

Hidden Poison Nekker ☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/3a0b7497c16352e7cb963bbd426f258a

AUTHOR

mickg

STRENGTHS

The points seem to never end, thanks to the possibility of generating a massive amount even just passively
Golden Nekker allows you to lightly invest most of our other cards to drive the game the way you want
Townsfolk and the new Treasure Huntress seem made for each other
Maraal and Failed Experiment give us the possibility to “place” cards ready to inflict Poison status on our opponent’s cards, providing a powerful removal tool

WEAKNESSES

The Poison mechanic could sometimes be too slow if we want to remove an opponent’s key card
Some of our cards are at their best when you play in combination and it can happen that you end up with an impractical hand

Renfri Pirates ☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/481c06fed0fe43262805fdca7fb2f063

AUTHOR

Pelle

STRENGTHS

Absolute control on the opponent’s board, both on the small engines and on the tall units of the opponent’s decks.
Crach An Craite will make you win the round easily, and you can use it multiple times thanks to Fucusya.
Good capability of contesting round 1 thanks to Rutilia and Knickers.

WEAKNESSES

By not using the discard package, in unlucky cases, you may miss your key cards in some match-ups.
Playing Renfri too early can sometimes mean losing the Onslaught leader’s passive and thus losing important points.

Siege Stock-Pile ☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6c01d7d161097020865293b0518af537

AUTHOR

Peano93

STRENGTHS

Playing Mutagenerator on round 1 will enable a large amount of carryover (easily above 20 points)
King Henselt played in combination with Foltest’s Pride is still one of the strongest plays in the game. With 5 leader charges, that can be gained with King Radovid V, it can play for 35 points (and exceed 40 points if there is another Resupply engine on the same row)
The numerous Siege engines enable to easily remove most of the opponent’s engines

WEAKNESSES

Not drawing Mutagenerator on round 1 will greatly diminish this deck’s performance, as it will force us to play a list full of 5 provisions cards without any carryover

The meta sees a large number of Renfri’s decks, which can generate a lot of points on round 1 thanks to the numerous thinning cards (and eventually the use of their leader ability). This could force us out of the round before we wanted to, or even to lose on even (especially if Amphibious Assault is not in our hand)

TIER 2

Assimilate Imprisonment ☆☆☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6ef68d73b3fdd8df067ed53fb4e718af

AUTHOR

Peano93

STRENGHTS

Having full knowledge of the cards that will be drawn thanks to Calveit it will be possible to program the game-play with extreme precision.
The leader’s ability provides extra control tools, particularly useful against engine based decks (as the new Tier-1 Hidden cache list). Moreover, the extra damage by three will enable to set-up the deathblow for Coup the Grace.
The assimilate engines, together with the control tools, make a long round 3 extremely favourable. However, even if we are forced to a short round 3, playing Calveit at round 1 will likely bring to a situation of card advantage summed to the carry-over from The Mushy Truffle.

WEAKNESSES

Round 1 of the deck is overall weak. On blue coin, it is likely to lose on even. This could bring to a value bleed on round 2, which could cost most of the golds in the deck.
One of the best plays in this list consists in playing one of the stronger cards in our opponent’s deck through Artaud Terranova. However, in the case our opponent would wait to play their key cards, we would be forced to keep the Mage Torturer in our hand for multiple turns (therefore losing engine points) and to play our cards in a sub-optimal sequence.
Despite the inclusion of 8 tactics, on blue coin there is a probability of 16% of not drawing Calveit in round 1 (the probability increases to 20% on red coin). Not drawing Calveit on round 1 will gratly affect our game-play, by forcing us to a push on round 2 (in case of round 1 victory), or by opening the possibility of losing 2-0.

Infinite Cats ☆☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/bd3e8459a59e10724b3d6bd2fa970f71

AUTHOR

mickg

STRENGTHS

Once started, the setup of the key cards is really difficult to interrupt
Oneiromancy, Royal Decree and Arcane Tome make the deck sufficiently consistent, despite our strategy relying on a precise combo of cards
The deck has a notable snowball effect: 2-0 is quite frequent

WEAKNESSES

The control tools at our disposal are extremely limited, but if everything goes well we shouldn’t need them
Our opponent may try to play a limited number of units in the first round so as not to target Witches’ Sabbath
Despite the lack of decks that play a sufficient number of removals in the current meta, some Renfri combinations could still affect the outcome of our strategy

Precision Strike ☆☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/e76120dc7d885c623eeb3e2bb7b4246f

AUTHOR

Simo4dlc

STRENGTHS

Solid round 1 thanks to Vanadàin which is a good tempo play and, on the other hand, it greatly reduces the chances of bricking thinners like Waylay, Brokilon Sentinel and Knickers.
Simlas Finn aep Dabairr combo with 4 copies of Waylay is often game-winning both as round 2 push and short round 3 last say.
Good control tools such as the leader ability, usable anytime, which has great synergy with Hen Gaidth Sword and Geralt: Igni (replacement for Ornate Censer).
Dwarves package is a must-have for all Scoia’tael decks.

WEAKNESSES

Missing Vanadàin in round 1 makes the Simlas Finn aep Dabairr combo more complex, and so more easily pushable, if not impossible.
It suffers graveyard removals such as Xavier Lemmens, Squirrel and Lydia van Bredevoort.
No unit decks are tricky to deal with, only having few targets on the board.

Renfri Guerrilla ☆☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6803ad12034aa1512937123f48741a22

AUTHOR

Pelle/Rotello

STRENGTHS

Saskia: Commander can easily make you win round 1 at even, making you in control of the game.
Milva: Sharpshooter, combined with the leader’s skill, is an excellent control tool against the various Monster and Syndicate engines.
Lake Guardian: Duck Aspect can be an excellent short-round finisher.

WEAKNESSES

Relatively low draw consistency if you fail to play Saskia: Commander.
Suffers from control decks that can counter harmony and dwarfs engines.
It is essential to win round 1 and secure the last say as the deck has several tall units that can be punished by Geralt of Rivia or Geralt: Igni, which are very prevalent in this meta.

Off the Books ☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6f608e58e4ea7927eca274c3d2bf6550

AUTHOR

Pelle

STRENGTHS

Ability to manage Round 1 also of Blue Coin thanks to the Firesworn package.
Great control tools thanks to cards like Moreelse, Philippa Ehilart, Whoreson Junior and Professor.
King of Beggars always allows you to have enough coins in the rounds despite the use of Tributes, for a maximum of 12 coins.
Conjurer’s Candle is an excellent spender with resistance that allows us to protect our engines.

WEAKNESSES

Devotion does not allow to play some cards such as Korathi Heatwave or Squirrel which could be decisive in some match-ups.
Vivaldi Bank is not an optimal tutor and combined with the lack of thinning it can cause some key cards to be lost in certain match-up.
By contesting Round 1 with your opponents by investing Tributes, there is a risk that King of Beggars may be recalled earlier than expected.

Scenario Koshchey ☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/ce2a4dcf7b2ead7cc0bc22a20a9a42ea

AUTHOR

Rotello

STRENGTHS

One of the main win conditions is the strength of Sir Scratch-A-Lot. Being able to activate Thrive engines even on the opponent’s cards can be really strong, especially in match-ups with a very high base strength.
Possibility of investing Caranthir (on Koshchey or Sir Scratch-A-Lot if necessary) knowing that it can be replayed later thanks to Renew, or take advantage of the carryover of the Crones.
Very strong in the push and mid-length rounds.

WEAKNESSES

He suffers from match-up controls that manage to get answers for Koshchey and Sir Scratch-A-Lot.
The deck loses much of its strength if it starts first due to the slow set-up of Thrive engines. High chance of losing on even with blue coins against many of the decks in the current meta.
There is a risk of over-swarming the board in a long round against decks that do not remove units (hence the presence of the Crones pack with Brewess which, if necessary, can recover space by consuming units).

Eist Warrior ☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/a34e71eb555e44c45a57fda8a6236f51

AUTHOR

Rotello

STRENGTHS

Almost total control over the enemy board thanks to Raid cards that give direct removals on the opponent’s engines.
Eist Tuirseach‘s power-play and leader charge Blaze of Glory still represent one of Gwent’s strongest plays today. Moreover, with the addition of Deranged Corsair it is even easier to get to Bloodthirst 3 to take full advantage of Eist’s ability.
Very strong long round thanks to the possibility to score points while controlling the opponent.

WEAKNESSES

It can be a problem not having round 1 access to Blood Eagle or Highland Warlords, which are a very important factor in carryover and raid points on this list.
Weak presence in round 1.
Being a Devotion deck, it is not possible to take advantage of a direct removal from the graveyard like Squirrel.

TIER 3

Renfri Double Cross ☆☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/d547d4eac194891a940c590c5079031c

AUTHOR

Gigifacile

STRENGTHS

Possibility to play Renfri twice in the course of the game thanks to Assire who puts it back in the deck and to Roderick to be able to fetch it. Eventually, if you manage to spy on the opponent Renfri, you can even play three thanks to Artaud Terranova
Discreet control tools between the bronze blocks cards and Vilgefortz to remove opposing units that go very high
Great thinning thanks to cards like Renfri’s Gang and Blightmaker. In this way it is practically certain that all the important cards of the deck will be drawn

WEAKNESSES

The Assimilate package, indispensable in this deck, generates far fewer points than other archetypes present in the meta, both on the long round and on the short round.
Difficulty in winning the first round, as the only strong time plays are the gold cards, which we don’t want to play in round 1, and Blightmaker

Renfri Vampires ☆☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/cb495331679693da0f3077a202a36970

AUTHOR

Yami8

STRENGTHS

Abuse of Red Coin
Very strong in a short Round 3
Strong synergy with one of the options offered by Renfri: “Upgrade a unit by a value equal to its base strength” in combo with the finisher of the deck “Regis: Reborn“

WEAKNESSES

Like all Renfri decks, it lacks of consistency
This deck necessarily needs the last say

Handbuff ☆☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/9e4ae803085f610dc1bf5b212a01ece4

AUTHOR

Pelle

STRENGTHS

Dunca, Farseer and Hawker Support, together with the leader ability, allow us to generate a truly remarkable carryover without giving up points during the round
With Torque already automatically in our starting hand, we can take care of hitting key cards thanks to Triss: Butterflies and the deck’s thinning ability

WEAKNESSES

Very few control tools make it really vulnerable to engine decks, especially in a tough match-up like against Syndicate
In case of failure to win round 1, it suffers terribly the push of round 2 by the opponent as we will be forced to invest a lot if not all of our carryover

Knights ☆

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/7debe7696006646e59ba0e6cef1ddb03

AUTORE

Quigon96

STRENGTHS

Thanks to Squire and Vandergrift it is possible to set a huge carryover for the rounds to come, if it is not answered by the opponent.
The setup Immortals with Damned Sorceress hugely helps during both first and second rounds, allowing also the knights errant to work better.
The leader ability can generate a big quantities of points (up to 15) and also has synergy with the new Scenario passive

WEAKNESSES

The deck easily wins the first round, but because of the few control tools, it doesn’t want a long round 3, this forces it to push during the second round consuming the greater part of its resources and finding itself in trouble if not able to 2-0.

Our Meta Snapshots represent the set of decks considered competitive by our Team Analysts, decks specially selected to reflect the Ladder’s meta.
These decks are chosen based on several criteria: frequency at which specific archetypes are encountered in Ladder, win rate of the selected lists, ratio between negative and positive match-ups, personal tastes of our Competitive Players.

Tier 1 = This section contains decks that tend to define the meta, to be competitive against other Tiers 1 and not to be disadvantaged starting from Blue Coin. They provide a favorable match-up against the lower Tier decks.

Tier 2 = This section contains decks that are less consistent than Tier 1 even if with a high win rate, slightly lower than those in Tier 1. They have a slightly higher amount of negative match-ups.

Tier 3 = This section contains decks that can have a good win rate but suffer the match-ups against decks of the upper Tiers.

Special Mentions = Decks difficult to pilot, but in the right hands they can compete against the upper Tiers. Eventually, they have the advantage of the surprise effect which should not be underestimated. Usually these decks are not recommended for inexperienced players.

Star symbol meaning:
The increasing number of stars indicates the strength that the deck expresses within the Tier of belonging. The greater the number of stars, the greater the force expressed.

The release of the new Black Sun expansion has brought on one hand the return of the Scenarios, on the other hand it has given life to a new archetype based on the new Renfri card, totally opposite to the mechanics of the Scenarios.

Playing Renfri in fact requires very particular deckbuilding conditions, it is necessary to have at least 25 units in the deck, leaving no room for tutors such as Oneiromancy, fundamental in Scenario decks, and Korathi Heatwave, which represents the direct response to the Scenarios.

The Scenario decks therefore manage to find more playing space against Renfri. Furthermore, Renfri decks lack the control tools of the opponent’s field, therefore those decks that already in their archetype have more control elements such as Pirates and Guerrilla Tactics are advantageous.

Given the popularity of Renfri and the few control tools, the ones that mainly benefit are the engine decks, Northern Realms with Siege and the Syndicate decks, famous for playing many engines, are found very high in our tier list.

Although it is difficult to precisely frame the meta after the release of such an incisive expansion, Renfri’s high play-rate inevitably leads to create decks to counter it, using mechanics such as those of Nilfgaard where, in a same Double Cross Renfri deck, multiple copies of it can be played.

Enjoy our Gwent Meta Snapshot #20 and tell us what you think!

TIER 1

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

The points seem to never end, thanks to the possibility of generating a massive amount even just passively

Golden Nekker allows you to lightly invest most of our other cards to drive the game the way you want

Townsfolk and the new Treasure Huntress seem made for each other

Maraal and Failed Experiment give us the possibility to “place” cards ready to inflict Poison status on our opponent’s cards, providing a powerful removal tool

WEAKNESSES

The Poison mechanic could sometimes be too slow if we want to remove an opponent’s key card

Some of our cards are at their best when you play in combination and it can happen that you end up with an impractical hand

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

Absolute control on the opponent’s board, both on the small engines and on the tall units of the opponent’s decks.

Crach An Craite will make you win the round easily, and you can use it multiple times thanks to Fucusya.

Good capability of contesting round 1 thanks to Rutilia and Knickers.

WEAKNESSES

By not using the discard package, in unlucky cases, you may miss your key cards in some match-ups.

Playing Renfri too early can sometimes mean losing the Onslaught leader’s passive and thus losing important points.

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

Playing Mutagenerator on round 1 will enable a large amount of carryover (easily above 20 points)

King Henselt played in combination with Foltest’s Pride is still one of the strongest plays in the game. With 5 leader charges, that can be gained with King Radovid V, it can play for 35 points (and exceed 40 points if there is another Resupply engine on the same row)

The numerous Siege engines enable to easily remove most of the opponent’s engines

WEAKNESSES

Not drawing Mutagenerator on round 1 will greatly diminish this deck’s performance, as it will force us to play a list full of 5 provisions cards without any carryover

TIER 2

DECKLISThttps://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6ef68d73b3fdd8df067ed53fb4e718af

AUTHORPeano93

STRENGHTS

Having full knowledge of the cards that will be drawn thanks to Calveit it will be possible to program the game-play with extreme precision.

The leader’s ability provides extra control tools, particularly useful against engine based decks (as the new Tier-1 Hidden cache list). Moreover, the extra damage by three will enable to set-up the deathblow for Coup the Grace.

The assimilate engines, together with the control tools, make a long round 3 extremely favourable. However, even if we are forced to a short round 3, playing Calveit at round 1 will likely bring to a situation of card advantage summed to the carry-over from The Mushy Truffle.

WEAKNESSES

Round 1 of the deck is overall weak. On blue coin, it is likely to lose on even. This could bring to a value bleed on round 2, which could cost most of the golds in the deck.

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

Once started, the setup of the key cards is really difficult to interrupt

Oneiromancy, Royal Decree and Arcane Tome make the deck sufficiently consistent, despite our strategy relying on a precise combo of cards

The deck has a notable snowball effect: 2-0 is quite frequent

WEAKNESSES

The control tools at our disposal are extremely limited, but if everything goes well we shouldn’t need them

Our opponent may try to play a limited number of units in the first round so as not to target Witches’ Sabbath

Despite the lack of decks that play a sufficient number of removals in the current meta, some Renfri combinations could still affect the outcome of our strategy

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

Solid round 1 thanks to Vanadàin which is a good tempo play and, on the other hand, it greatly reduces the chances of bricking thinners like Waylay, Brokilon Sentinel and Knickers.

Simlas Finn aep Dabairr combo with 4 copies of Waylay is often game-winning both as round 2 push and short round 3 last say.

Good control tools such as the leader ability, usable anytime, which has great synergy with Hen Gaidth Sword and Geralt: Igni (replacement for Ornate Censer).

Dwarves package is a must-have for all Scoia’tael decks.

WEAKNESSES

Missing Vanadàin in round 1 makes the Simlas Finn aep Dabairr combo more complex, and so more easily pushable, if not impossible.

It suffers graveyard removals such as Xavier Lemmens, Squirrel and Lydia van Bredevoort.

No unit decks are tricky to deal with, only having few targets on the board.

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

Pelle/Rotello

STRENGTHS

Saskia: Commander can easily make you win round 1 at even, making you in control of the game.

Milva: Sharpshooter, combined with the leader’s skill, is an excellent control tool against the various Monster and Syndicate engines.

Lake Guardian: Duck Aspect can be an excellent short-round finisher.

WEAKNESSES

Relatively low draw consistency if you fail to play Saskia: Commander.

Suffers from control decks that can counter harmony and dwarfs engines.

It is essential to win round 1 and secure the last say as the deck has several tall units that can be punished by Geralt of Rivia or Geralt: Igni, which are very prevalent in this meta.

DECKLIST

AUTHOR

STRENGTHS

Ability to manage Round 1 also of Blue Coin thanks to the Firesworn package.

Great control tools thanks to cards like Moreelse, Philippa Ehilart, Whoreson Junior and Professor.

The Scenario decks therefore manage to find more playing space against Renfri.
Furthermore, Renfri decks lack the control tools of the opponent’s field, therefore those decks that already in their archetype have more control elements such as Pirates and Guerrilla Tactics are advantageous.

DECKLIST

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6ef68d73b3fdd8df067ed53fb4e718af

AUTHOR

Peano93