ESC team happily present you the sixth italian Gwent meta snapshot!
With the introduction of various new leaders the meta has radically changed, creating new archetypes and improving the existing ones.
The faction whom received more benefits surely is Northern Realms: thanks to the new leader ability, Shieldwall, it has prematurely imposed itself has the best deck in the ladder, taking his place in the tier 1.
Also Skellige, which was a great faction even before the patch, is now stronger thanks to the new ability Rage of the Sea.
Right behind tier 1, Scoia’tael finally recovered its rightful spot in tier 2, with the Symbiosis archetype that has improved a lot with the new leader ability, Nature’s Gift.
Monster and Syndicate are the ones which kept their stable positions from the last meta, with Syndicate Hidden Cache being a great tier 2, and Monster Overwhelming Hunger positioned just a few steps below.
And finally Nilfgaard, which surely is the faction that has been weakened the most from the last patch.
The only option that Nilfgaard has now, is the Double Ball deck, in both Imposter and Lockdown version, still, both are merely a tier 3 and Nilfgaard results way worse than the other factions.
Snapshot represents the set of the main competitive decks which, divided by tier, create a complete vision of the current meta. Snapshot varies according by the changes introduced (about every month) each time a new season begins.
Tier 0 = This section contains t decks that tend to monopolize meta. Decks so superior to others in every aspect that they cannot be placed in Tier 1. Capable of winning easily in any situation, often regardless of the draws.
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 Coins. They provide a favorable match-up against the lower tier decks.
Tier 2 = This section contains decks that are less consistent than Tier 1 but, with optimal access to all the resources of the deck, they could win against Tier 1 decks. They suffer more from the Blue Coin.
Tier 3 = This section contains the decks that can have a good winrate but suffer the match-ups against decks of the upper Tiers. In some cases there may be variations of some cards compared to the stronger Tiers.
Special Mentions = Decks difficult to pilot, but in the right hands they can compete against the major tiers. Finally, they have the advantage of the surprise effect which should not be underestimated. These decks are also 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.
Writers/Consultants: Movius00, Calupama, Clauz86, Maruth24, Gigifacile, Ci_87, EleganceJR, iamunframed, AnthonyTheStampede, Invictatop95, Fritzdecat, Giordaniko.
Management/Editing/Translation: Movius00, Miranda, Giordaniko, Fritzdecat, Ghostemane.
TIER 1
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/d18efcf6f05623d82558e0d7641a5be3
AUTHOR
Maruth24
INTRODUCTION
The new Leader “Shieldwall” has projected the Northern Realms archetype (which was already strong last season), directly to the absolute top of the tier list.
Being able to boost your engines by 2 points and at the same time give them a Shield is a very synergistic and decisive mechanic for this faction, especially using the keyword of Duel (Prince Anseis and Seltkirk thank you!).
STRENGHTS
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It is this new leader, with its 3 charges, to be the strong point of the deck, as cards such as Vysogota of Corvo, Anna Strenger and Seltkirk have never had such an important and effective protection in the past, to finally make them real solid win-conditions.
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The cards with Duel also abuse the Shield and manage to remove really gigantic units in the enemy board without even losing too much health, this even allow the reuse of this mechanic thanks to Viraxas, also Amphibious Assault makes you play well even the round 1, and by boosting cards such as Kerack Frigate, it manages to give a crazy starting round without having to invest particularly strong gold cards.
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This will allow the deck to develop its winning plot in long rounds, where thanks to the Defender (and thanks to the leader’s charges) it manages to protect its main engines and be practically unbeatable in a long round by any other deck in the meta.
WEAKNESSES
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The only real weakness of the deck is the presence of only one tutor for the units (Amphibious Assault) which also does not even allow you to take any unit as it has a limit of 9 maximum provisions (of the tutored card) .
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We will happen therefore in some games to draw badly and miss our strongest gold cards, like Prince Anseis above all (and I would add the word “luckily”, otherwise the deck would be totally unbeatable).
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can make small changes to the level of the bronze cards such as inserting 2 copies of Dun Banner (instead of Ballista and Siege Support) to try to give the player an extra chance to thin out the deck and draw the key cards.
DIFFICULTY
Medium/Difficult
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/6b8e7aeba0971b3b0f1b040d369313c2
AUTHOR
Fritzdecat
INTRODUCTION
The months pass by, the game changes, different metas alternate, but one constant remains: the strength of Skellige.
Despite a considerable amount of tweaking this faction has undergone, we feel like we are putting Skellige back into Tier 1.
The new ability of the leader “Rage of the Sea” is decidedly flexible, in fact, it gives Skellige the possibility to “reach“, a bit like Imperial Formation did for Nilfgaard; all of this, combined with the extraordinary ability to produce points enjoyed by this faction, is overwhelming in many match-ups.
STRENGHTS
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The deck is similar to old versions of the Tempo Warrior that were played in the past.
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The deck is built on a series of flexible responses to the various situations in meta, such as Gremist for the Defender of Northern Realms or Hjalmar an Craite as a heavy removal combined with the new An Craite Greatsword, recently reworked card, but which is flexible and synergistic in the deck economy and with the Leader’s ability “Rage of the Sea”.
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The deck expresses great potential especially with red coin.
WEAKNESSES
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The deck has no particularly bad match-ups.
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It produces many points, both by keeping them on board, and by taking them away from the opponent’s.
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Undergoes the reign of Northern Realms Shieldwall, but is still able to contend with it anyway.
TACTICAL CHOICES
1x An Craite Warrior -> 1x Gutting Slash
Hjalmar an Craite -> Morkvarg: Heart of Terror
DIFFICULTY
Medium
TIER 2
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/45fed13ffa5a3a4006af689efc75a4fa
AUTHOR
Giordaniko
INTRODUCTION
The 7.2 patch introduced the new leader ability “Nature’s Gift” to support Symbiosis, which quickly became a strong presence in the meta, giving new strenght to the Spell Gord archetype.
STRENGTHS
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This deck combines some great tempo plays (Novigradian Justice, Ele’Yas, Harald Gord, Forest Protector), strong engines such as Dunca, Hamadryad and Treant Boar, and also a good number of removal to contrast your opponent.
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Very strong finisher with Gord, which allows a lot of points in a short Round 3.
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The new leader ability allows to use at its best the Hamadryad‘s ability, or to take Treant Boar out of removal range.
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This deck has also a great consistency thanks to Oneiromancy, Fauve and Novigradian Justice.
WEAKNESSES
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This deck suffer all the archetypes which tend to avoid the damage removal, like Shieldwall. Moreover, it’s very important to win round 1, in order to have a short round 3 where Gord can perform at his best without being reset or removed.
TACTICAL CHOICES
For a more swarming variant, you can make this changes:
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Oneiromancy -> The Great Oak
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Novigradian Justice -> Call of the Forest
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Mahakam Volunteers (x2) -> Duén Canell Guardian (x2)
DIFFICULTY
Easy
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/f12a61ee4ba85758be28c0d926d24f18
AUTHOR
Calupama
INTRODUCTION
Despite the numerous nerfs that the CDPR has brought to the Skellige faction, even in this competitive season the Warriors archetype remains extremely strong and versatile to play.
The bronze package is very consistent, this allows it to have excellent tempo plays without having to spend more than necessary.
STRENGHTS
Flexible on both long and short rounds, this archetype is able to control the opponent’s board very well with cards like Champion’s Charge, Madman Lugos, and Skjordal Drummond.
The faction ability is also certainly able to always offer a safe target for Blood Eagle and always offers further additional points with Hemdall.
Finally Harald An Craite, being an engine himself, guarantees a solid and really oppressive play for the opponent, as it will be difficult to eliminate two pieces from our half of the board at the same time.
WEAKNESSES
Being a deck that plays with the Devotion mechanic, it could suffer all Scenarios that abuse the coin having no answer like the Bomb Heaver and its lack of proactivity makes it particularly vulnerable to blue coin especially if attacked with removals on our engines.
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can replace Gremist with Herkja Drummond and you can replace a Drummond Berseker with an An Craite Greatsword and add another Svalblod Ravager.
DIFFICULTY
Average
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/e084021abdb97922357973659d6f8fdf
AUTHOR
Calupama
INTRODUCTION
Even if Nature’s Gift is very popular at the moment, this Precision Strike decklist is able to grant a lot of satisfaction in this meta. The central card of the deck is Schirrù, which, with the correct board setup, can carry the game on his own.
STRENGTHS
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A strong long round, thanks to Eithné Young Queen, The Great Oak and the other Symbiosis engines.
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A lot of removal which will give us a lot of control on the board.
WEAKNESSES
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Setting up Schirrù can be very problematic in some games.
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This deck is kind of weak on round 1, so the risk to lose round 1 on even while going first is pretty high.
TACTICAL CHOICES
This deck can also be played without the Devotion package, granting more removal options but losing some points overall.
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/ac38fb64655b6940e9e1d0e607bfc1cd
DIFFICULTY
Average
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/46ad99e96649a8a6e3fc1c66ea33b736
AUTHOR
Calupama
INTRODUCTION
In this competitive season, the Swarm archetype of Syndicate, characterized by Firesworn Zealots, finds its maximum expression in this renewed version with the Sacred Flame artifact that has been enhanced by the last patch.
In fact, this card is now able to boost all Firesworn Zealots in our half of the board and not simply those on a single row.
STRENGHTS
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This deck is clearly built to best maximize the overall points on the long round with cards such as the Fallen Knights, Echo Syndicate card Dies Irae and Sacred Flame.
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In fact, all the cards listed above enjoy a strong synergy between them supported by the Grand Inquisitor Helveed, Congregation and also Lieutenant Von Herst, essential to speed up the production of Firesworn Zealots Token.
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Cards like Ulrich and Jacques are very useful for giving us tempo-play in a short round when opponent does not give us space.
WEAKNESSES
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This Archetype, despite Jacques’s presence, has not a good short round.
In fact, it could often happen that we can’t win round 1 and if forced to play round 2 we may have to invest more than we should to win the game. -
The lack of many removals, represented only by Whoreson Senior, could create problems against all types of opposing engines.
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can replace Casino Bouncers with Smuggle.
DIFFICULTY
Average
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/ffe7e87a91bed26a06cd88cf9ebd3945
AUTHOR
Invictatop
INTRODUCTION
Update 7.2 has affected negatively the Monsters faction again, due to some nerfs. Overwhelming Hunger continues to be the best leader ability, while the newcomer White Frost greatly disappoints.
STRENGHTS
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This Monsters deck still has one of the strongest rounds 1 of all the meta, thanks to the cards with Thrive and Frost.
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Scenario allows us to easily push round 2 and get a good strategic pass, for a possible short round 3.
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The deck loves starting as second, as opponent is immediately put on the ropes and has difficulty starting with certain engines, which fall within Miruna’s range.
WEAKNESSES
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It struggles against certain match-ups, such as Northern Realms, to win round 1, due to the high number of engines placed on the board by the opponent.
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It hasn’t a very strong long round 3 .
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The presence in the meta of many non-Devotion decks, able to respond to our scenario with Korathi, is surely a problem.
TACTICAL CHOICES
Foglets, Imperial Manticore and Red Riders can be added in place of Ard Gaeth.
DIFFICULTY
Average
TIER 3
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/0d785cfe4cd324842411c1587f0a5e03
AUTHOR
Fritzdecat
INTRODUCTION
Yes, Nilfgaard seems to have fallen from its golden spot.
The Black Sun faction opens the Tier 3 but there are many difficulties for it in this meta.
It loses some of its most played leader skills due to the changes in the last patch, the new ones introduced struggle to appear useful to the cause.
The meta is Korathi-dependent, the targets for our poisons have been decreased, long story short, deep Black for the Black Sun.
STRENGHTS
The deck looks like the classic version of Double Ball deck that we had seen a lot in previous meta.
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The strategy, as we well know, is based on the possibility of playing our Scenario twice, also through the solidity of the Oneiromancy card, which facilitates things.
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The deck enjoys the usual removal package and we decide to play it with Imposter leader, one of the most valid currently for Nilfgaard in our opinion.
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Stealing important engines in this meta is useful, the combo with Vanhemar is a very strong play.
WEAKNESSES
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The deck generates few points, and is based on the possibility of having pieces to remove and to see at least Scenario or Oneiromancy in the first round, however, in the meta where Korathi is so present, and the strategy of our deck suffers a lot from the loss of Masquerade Ball, especially when it is banned.
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However, the deck is not easy to use, Nilfgaard clearly scores fewer points than other factions, and, often our opponents are able to play around the Poison mechanics.
TACTICAL CHOICES
None.
DIFFICULTY
Difficult
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/c74e9db95632080e63a86d66a54a2d73
AUTHOR
Clauz
INTRODUCTION
With the latest change in 7.2 and the addition of new leader abilities, the Monsters faction has received new and excellent synergies with the the Frost mechanics, finding in White Frost leader and consequently in this archetype a solid and viable alternative to Overwhelming Hunger and/or to the Scenario decks, but, being a list with an high difficulty, you have to learn how to break the game into 3 different rounds.
STRENGTHS
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The great strength of this deck lies in the medium/long round which gives us the possibility, thanks to cards like Ard Gaeth, Eredin and to leader to effectively control the board, while developing many points.
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A second but fundamental strong point of this deck lies in the big/tempo package provided by Yghern/Ozzrel/Auberon/Golyat which provides us in case of an opponent push in round 2 to have a very incisive round 3 and/or to abuse the red coin despite having slower tempo plays than Monsters decks we are used to.
WEAKNESSES
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Sometimes the unconditional push of the high tier decks will involve the use of the second Ard Gaeth, greatly affecting a possible medium/long round 3.
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In other cases the fact of being a Devotion deck and therefore, not being able to play cards such as Bomb Heaver and/or Korathi is negative, this will worsen some match-ups.
TACTICAL CHOICES
You can replace Adda: Striga for The Beast by recovering a 4-provision removal by inserting a copy of Natural Selection in replace of one of the Wild Hunt Warrior or alternatively replace, if the meta requires it, the Wild Hunt Hound for a second copy of Naglfar’s Taskmaster.
DIFFICULTY
Difficult
DECKLIST
https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/bd9b1a0a1f50166fc87cb64bfc54f04e
AUTHOR
Clauz
INTRODUCTION
Patch 7.2 has evolved the meta in a direction that is not really suited to the mechanics of Nilfgaard which, despite the buff to some of its units, is in a huge disadvantage position compared to other top tier factions such as Realms, that can easily abuse the new leader skills, however, Nilfgaard finds in Lockdown a fair answer to these mechanics.
STRENGTHS
The fundamental strength and perhaps the only one left in Nilfgaard is the excellent ability to thin the deck, in this particular “non-devotion” version in addition to the classic faction tutor cards, it manages to make the most from cards such as Oneiromancy, useful to go and look for the fundamental or situational outs and play them at the most opportune moment like the Scenario and Assire Var Anahid.
WEAKNESSES
Like all Scenario lists, with the blue coin it suffers a lot, especially against factions with high tempo plays or engines that are difficult to remove such as Monsters and Northern Realms (although against Monsters the poison mechanics is very effective); at the same time another weak point of Nilfgaard is currently represented by Bomb Heaver and Korathi which are now omnipresent in all of this season’s top tier lists.
TACTICAL CHOICES
Squirrel and Angry Mob can be substituted for other 4-provision Soldier cards depending on the meta change.
DIFFICULTY
Average
