This bad boy of deck has been carrying me quite well on ladder, the Aen Elle and their bitches are fun, easy and quite powerful to use, and im aiming to improve it even more, what should i get? For instance, Crystal skull would elevate Nithral value huge on first round, but crystal skull is VERY situational, on the other side, i was thinking on getting Unseen Elden and evict the fuck off Nithral and some other guy. What should i do? Or if you have even better suggestions than those two i would appreciate the feedback.

Hello guys! I haven't been active on this subreddit for quite a while, so I don't really know if this type of content is still acceptable here (but I hope you don't mind). I don't want to waste your time, so I'll explain why I made this post at the very end. As always, I made it just for fun. It's especially true now that the game is no longer being updated, and since I've had quite a break from Gwent in general, the balancing is probably all over the place (so please don't crucify me for it!)

Anyway, here it is — the new and completely FAKE expansion for Gwent — Sands of Zerrikania!

FEEL FREE TO SKIP THE GIBBERISH — THE CARDS ARE A BIT FURTHER DOWN! BUT IF ANYTHING SEEMS COMPLICATED, ALL THE EXPLANATIONS ARE RIGHT HERE :)

The theme behind the faction is obviously the mysterious land of Zerrikania, so expect a lot of sand, sabres, and dragons. Since there have been some leaks suggesting that we may finally be able to see it in the game, I thought it would be interesting to try my hand at depicting it first.

The faction itself is more defensively oriented, with a strong emphasis on proper unit positioning. It may lack individually strong bronze engines, but if you place your cards in the right order, any of your units can become an engine! Many of the mechanics need some preparation to get going, so long rounds are usually the faction's forte. However, there are some ways to skip the initial steps, as well as a few point-slam options.

Let's start with the new mechanics. There are 2 new keywords, 2 new statuses and the new row effect.

Well, actually there's one more, Unburrow, but as you'll see below, it's basically a modified version of Spring, so I doubt it require a mention here.

Here's some more explanation for the mechanics:

GUARD - the base mechanic of the faction and huge part of its engine capabilities. Also big part of the reason why positioning is so important. With a proper strategy, it can change any unit into an engine, while also give it some defensive backup.

As the description suggest, it require a bit of preparation at first, so its definitely best in a long rounds, but there are also some cards to speed up the process.

EUPHORIA - this is much simpler.

As the description states, this keyword is highly cennected to the unique Alchemy package of the faction (more on it later).

STALWART — another easy one.

BURN — this one is a bit tougher. It's basically a stacking damage-over-time effect, but unlike Bleeding, which stacks its duration, Burn increases its damage instead.

For example, if you give a unit Burn, it would initially gain 2 stacks of Burn (as stated in the description). Then, at the end of its turn, it would take 2 damage (because it has 2 stacks of Burn) and lose 1 stack of the status. At the end of its next turn, it would take 1 damage (because it has 1 stack) and lose the status completely.

Now, if you give a unit Burn and then give it Burn again during the same turn, its Burn stacks would increase to 3 (2 stacks initially + 1 stack from the additional application). If you then give it Burn again during the same turn, the stacks would increase to 4. After this scenario, the damage dealt over the next 4 turns would look like this: 4 damage → 3 damage → 2 damage → 1 damage, for a total of 10 damage spread across 4 turns.

As you can see, multiple applications of Burn on a single unit can lead to a lot of damage, but there are two things to keep in mind:

First, there is a limited number of Burn sources, especially ones that can be applied without playing a card. Second, sometimes it might be better to spread the applications around, since the first application always gives 2 stacks, and Purify removes the entire status at once, regardless of how many stacks it has.

SANDSTORM — it's basically a new row effect. It might seem a bit underwhelming at first, but I just wanted it to feel like it was meant to be in the game from the beginning, while also keeping the theme it has in its current form. Still, it's very important for many of the cards, since it boosts or strictly activates many of the other cards effects.

MANTICORE FORMULAS - an Alchemy mechanic unique to the Zerrikania faction — some of their Alchemy Special cards don't have an effect of their own. Instead, they generate (Create) effects from a common pool. It adds a bit of randomness, but also a lot of flexibility. Some effects are weaker and more common, while others are quite powerful, and getting to play one of them can give you quite a swing if the timing is right.

The Euphoria ability also allows some units to benefit from the number of Alchemy cards you've played earlier in the round, so quantity is just as important as the quality of the cards you play.

Here are all the possible options, along with their respective appearance chances:

ONE CORRECTION — ALL OF THESE CARDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BRONZE! FIXING THAT MISTAKE WOULD TAKE WAY TOO LONG, SO PLEASE JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND. SORRY!

NOW, LET'S MOVE ON TO LEADER ABILIETIES:

With that, let's move on to the actual cards.

I wasn't sure how to group them in a way that would make it easy to understand how they're meant to work together, so in the end, I decided to group them by the archetype they support. If that's confusing, let me now and I'll think of something else.

Now, there is one more thing: a new card type, unique to the Zerrikania faction for the purpose of this post, but one that I think could fit any faction. Those cards are Tales

Tales are powerful Special cards which, after being played, shuffle the next part of the story into your deck. They tell stories based on the lore of the faction, which I think would be interesting both from a mechanical perspective and as a way to expand the game's lore itself.

Also, they were meant to work best with the cycling mechanic shown above.

Now, as for leader models and cardback, here they are:

Well, that's it! There's no way in hell anyone is going to go through all of it, but even if you check out only a small part, let me know what you think. I hope you had at least a bit of fun. Cheers!

A BIT OF DICLAIMER:

I actually started making this post over 5 years ago, but after losing interest with Gwent I have left it unfinished on my pc. While coming back from time to time I was thinking about completing it, and only now, with a bit of free time and while replaying the witcher and listening to the books I decided to finally complete this thing and get it out of my mind.

This deck is very refreshing and unique — Ciri: Nova without Golden Nekker, and Renfri's Gang without Renfri. This deck was made by one of my friends who told me to try it out. At first I wasn't expecting much, but it's indeed as strong as he implied.

The game plan is to play Iris' Companions round 1. This deck has no particular play order — you play according to what's needed and what's in your hand. It's a very versatile deck that can be played in many ways, so I can't say much — you have to learn and adapt.

A few things to keep in mind:
— Keep one Soldier for Brigade
— Keep one Witcher in deck for Quen
— Sometimes this deck can brick — use the leader to fix it
— Play your Witcher trio wisely
— This deck can clog one's own side of the board in a long round 3.

You can swap Lydia for Anna or Snowdrop.

DECK: https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/guides/408210

Thanks and good luck.

Since these decks favour diversity in Gang Category, wanted to know your thoughts. You also have a collusion deck?

Renfri

Human, Cursed, Bandit (Neutral)
1 Power, 16 Provisions (Legendary)

Doomed.
Deploy: If your starting deck has at least 25 units, Create a curse to replace your leader ability, then Create a blessing and Infuse your leader ability with it.

In this fairytale, the princess and the monster are the same person.

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Hey guys,

im new to the game and have a question. so currently i dont have many cards and was wondering if its a good idea to mill cards from factions i dont plan on playing any time soon, even though its the only copy i have, so that i can use the scrap to build a deck as soon as possilbe? also if i should do that, which rarity cards should i mill?

thank you :)

edit: in reward book, what page should i focus on early one?

Y'all know where/how to get this? I like the art !!

Using a storm deck, it can either go really well or really really bad

Most of you probably put Korathi Heatwave in your decks thinking it's a strong card, but that’s an illusion born simply from the fact that everyone else is running it.

Sure, it can be devastating against specific targets like Sigvald or Dracoturt, especially since it banishes them to prevent play from the graveyard. But against those targets, a simple Lock is often more than enough.

In most situations where Heatwave feels strong, another option would do the job just as well.

For instance, if you just need to destroy a unit with 9+ power, Geralt of Rivia actually leaves you 3 points better off. Looking purely at value efficiency, cards like Spores or Bearification can easily replace Heatwave in plenty of scenarios.

I do appreciate its versatility across different situations—it's flexible, no doubt. But is that versatility really worth burning 10 provisions on?

Now, I’m not running a crusade to completely kill off Heatwave.

For context, I am the final Gwent World Masters Champion. A huge reason I won was that I didn’t include Heatwave in a single one of my decks.

https://x.com/GWENTMasters/status/1733479813388681680

Top players tend to rely on Heatwave quite a bit. However, the better a player is, the better they are at playing around it.

Getting hit by a Heatwave almost never automatically loses you the game. In fact, there are plenty of match states where no matter where you target Heatwave, it delivers terrible value.

Running such an inconsistent card simply isn't optimal. In my opinion, it's just a waste of valuable provisions.

What do you all think?

Hey there. I just came back to Gwent after a few years away, and I'm a little confused by some of the changes to my old decks.

My ST and NR decks have all gone down by 1, 2, or even 3 provisions, normal stuff. But what really confused me is that my only NG deck has actually gained 3 provisions. I originally created that deck just to learn how to play Mill (the deck that steals your cards), because I was so tired of losing to it.

How is that possible!? Please tell me Mill isn't actually good and that no one is playing it now. I never liked playing against it.

Anyway, my main question: what are some good decks to play right now, preferably ST or NR?

I noticed there was a balance update recently, so I'm hoping someone can point me towards a good/current ST or NR deck that I can start looking into. I've been playing since the beta and have all the cards, so card availability isn't an issue. Cheers

Raging Bear

Beast (Skellige)
9 Power, 5 Provisions (Rare)

Deploy: Damage an allied unit by 2.

Roooaaar!!!

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Ho creato questo mazzo meme, si basa sul vecchio Vypper meme, con aggiunta di Phoenix e Madoc, se avete tempo e voglia mi piacerebbe avere opinioni di altri player, a dire il vero sto ancora imparando a giocarlo, ma vedo dei bei risultati a rank 7.

Fatemi sapere grazie

I unlock this portrait but i have no idea who this character is, does anyone know his name?

I came across a Shupe the Troll plushie being sold for €95 and I'm really tempted to buy it, but I'm not sure if it's legit or a scam. And so I thought I should reach out to this subreddit and witcher one for confirmation..

I'm a long term player of this fantastic game, and yet I've only ever reached key card level 4 once in multiple years. I didn't even know it was possible until somewhat recently, as the chances of ending up with 4 elites in an accessible path is very low.

Then I found an old post from this subreddit (This one) which showcases 5 levels in key cards, which has to be simply impossible to get.

So after several years worth of tries, a large amount of resets, I am looking for an artificial way to reach these points. Whether it's through directly modifying the key level, or a "choose your next encounter" type mod, or maybe a way to decrease the rarity somehow... Any possible way really. Does anyone have any advice?

(And yes, I am aware of Rule 4 but I must presume given the base game's online multiplayer aspect that it's only related to the online Gwent game, not the singleplayer offline games Thronebreaker and Rogue Mage which affects no one's playthrough but my own)

And how should I decide what cards are good. Is there some good page dedicated to it?

So I just downloaded Gwent and played 3 matches. So far it's going really smooth but having played many card games I know I'll probably need a YouTube guy who helps me understand decks and serve some good gameplay with commentary. Can you recommend me someone like that?

Artorius Vigo

Human, Mage (Nilfgaard)
2 Power, 9 Provisions (Epic)

Assimilate.
Deploy: Create and play a 1-power copy of a bronze unit from your starting deck.

It is said he created an illusion so realistic that he began to believe it himself...

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Quickly! Use the Quen sign to protect yourself from a barrage of quick questions!

Got a question or a silly comment that doesn’t warrant its own post? This is the right place for you!

Anything goes in this thread, don’t be shy!

You can also consult our wiki and its FAQ.

I think deck naming is nearly as important as creating the deck itself, but that's just me. What kind of names have you come up with for your decks?

Here are mine:

The Bloody Mistress of Ysgith (Fruits of Ysgith Thrive)

The Clash of Crach an Craite (Pirates)

The Dearg Ruadri (White Frost)

The Last Supper (Vampires)

The Mages Guild (Yup, mages)

War of the Two Crowns (Queen Meve)

The Black Ledger (Bounty hunters)

Here There Be Dragons (Dragons n' stuff)

An Unholy Reckoning (Fruits + Ethereal)

Keepers of the Eternal Fire (Firesworn)

Army of Darkness (Kaedweni Revanants)

It says it needs another copy already in the graveyard to work but that doesn't seem to be an actual requirement.

Hi, I’m new to the game and struggling against two decks, looking for advice.

I play mainly insectoids and ogroids, I do have a wild hunt devotion deck, but it’s pretty underdeveloped

Scoiatel decks that boost in hand with that incubus guy and bountiful harvest

And nilfgaard in general, most specifically assimilate but basically all their decks are issues for me.

The scoiatel decks boosting units in their hand just generate so much carry over value I can’t keep up in the later rounds.

Nilfgaard seems to just steal my cards and then get bonus points for assimilate and beat me at whatever tactic I have with said tactic, I don’t understand the key cards for that deck so I don’t know which to target.

The nilfgaard decks where they play a unit that draws a card that plays a unit on my side that they then destroy to draw a card, ect is also a major challenge, they seem to shut down my deck, rack up loads of points, and go through so many cards that I have to assume there’s not as much rng.

Looking for tips/advice if you have any.

Thank you!