'Strong Unit on Hand' Challenge

[DRK3]

'Strong Unit on Hand' Challenge

Hello fellow players.

I have come up with a goal, while trying to make totally new decks. This challenge is based on a ridiculously OP strategy that will probably be nerfed soon. And i wanna make clear that i hate it, and while im trying to in a way, recreate it with other factions, i wouldnt publish a strategy if i felt like it would create further imbalances in Gwent. Im only doing these for the challenge, since i know the results will be less effective than the infamous strategy:

You have probably guessed what im talking about: the strengthened NG knight on hand, with Emhyr. Basically, they use a cheap strategy (in both meanings, since it only requires a few bronzes, a silver and a default Leader) to have a card with high base points on hand that they ll use to buff everything to ridiculous amounts.

This strategy works even better because of 2 bronze items they added recently: Wyvern shield and Spear. And because of spotters + ointments, that means BG can use that strong card 6 times more than the other factions (not including dopplers, operators, etc.)

However, what inspired me to try doing something similar with other factions wasnt that cheap deck ive seen multiple times but a brilliant SC player that showed me something incredibly creative (which i wont share for now, since it was his strategy)

So, i have already analysed all cards and here's my "Rank", from easy to hard on achieving a similar strategy with other factions, and the number of ways/ cards it can be possible:

Nilfgaard - 2 cards
Skellige - 1 card
Scoiatel - 1 card
Northern Realms - 2 cards
Monsters - 0 cards (i believe its impossible with MO, please show me if im wrong)

Soon ill present results with each faction (except NG and MO for aforementioned reasons)

 

[SoSaHer]

I have also seen people play this strategie with scoiatel and octvist

They basicly buff that dragon to 28 (mandrake, double mahakan horn due to eithne). And then they got 28 points spears and wyvern shield when the dragon returns to hand after 4 turns.

 

[DRK3]

No Title

So, yesterday ive already tried this with NR and it was kinda hard - that's why even if it has 2 methods of doing it, i classified it as the hardest faction (considering its impossible with MO).

You need to start with a bronze or silver with high base value. NR is not the best in this, but i tried with King of Beggars, since he isnt doomed or stubborn, and he strengthens to 15. Unfortunately it may be hard to get him to 15 early on. Then you use Mandrake to make him 21.

Now, that he's strong, there are 2 ways to make him go back to your hand:

1. Nenneke - after KoB is in graveyard, use her to put back on deck. Then somehow you need to get him again on hand, possibly on R3, or with Avallach, spy or Ves (the only true mulligan card for NR)

2. Pavetta (a.k.a. the hard way) - she puts your weakest other bronze/silver back on deck. You need to make your 21 pt KoB (or other unit you chose) your weakest non-gold on board. Good luck with that (i tried and failed)...

Yesterday i actually failed on this, but was able to achieve something similar with Ves, which is also a nice target since she's 11 pt base. Here's the results:

 

[4RM3D]

Alternatively, you can strengthen Ocvist, which returns to your hand automatically, meaning any faction can play it, although NG and ST would be best. Another option is using Milva, but she is more unreliable.

 

[DRK3]

SoSaHer and 4RM3D I see im not the only one who witnessed the Ocvist strategy - shouldnt be surprised since you 2 guys probably play even more than me!

Yes, he used exactly that - Ocvist is the only non gold card that easily returns to your hand and there's no longer 'exhausted ocvist' so he stays with same base value. And although its Neutral, it works best for SC because of Mandrake + double Mahakam Horn with Eithné.

And Milva is indeed the 1 option i listed on SC. I wanted to try with her, but unfortunately i dont have her yet, nor Saskia which would probably be useful too. Today, i expect to try my luck with my main faction SK, and will post results.

 

[DRK3]

Now i come to present my results with this tactic for Skellige, as promised.

Skellige only has one card (as far as i know), to allow this, but it definitely works better than in NR.

The card in question is the criminally underused - Clan Smuggler - which lets you put a bronze from the GY back to the deck. Since its a bronze its easier to get as you can put 3 smugglers, or even a pirate captain to fetch it.

With this strategy the strengthened unit must be a bronze. I chose the Clan Warrior (12 pt) and i summon it with Crach to make it 14 pt in the 1st turn. Then strengthening with SK is easy as hell - Shieldsmiths, herbalists with shrooms, Vesemir with Mandrake, and Wild Boar of the Sea for continuous strengthening, which is great since most players wont give up easily on R1.

There's a few dangers with this: Scorching it is laughable - you just use a Priestess to revive your bronze unit, as many times as needed. Locking is no problem either. The problem is Artefact Compression (usually from other Crach, or SC) or MO and NG who will steal it the 1st chance they get with Caretaker or Vicovaro Novice.

When your strong unit is on the GY, you can add aditional buffs with Draig Bon Du and Blackhand. After that, resist the temptation to ressurect it, and put it back on deck.

Then comes the hard part - you need to get it back. The best way is through previous deckthinning and discarding.

After that, you can use Clan Protectors to summon the items (Wyvern Shield and Spear). And that's it!

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I've played 20 matches with this deck. Won 10, and of those 10 only 4 was i able to actually get the strong unit back on the hand and fulfill the strategy. Lots of players forfeited midway, and there were a couple of Artefact compressions and steals that made me forfeit as i just wanted to test the deck, not win. Here are some of the results:

(EDIT) Damn, im not able to upload the screenshots i got. I dont understand why, since i used the same method just a few hours ago and it worked... Oh well, the pics just showed that this strategy is hard to put to work, but when it does, its devastating.

(EDIT2) The NG Knight BS strategy uses him at 18 pt? I got my Clan Warrior to 33, twice. Who needs Ciri Nova then...

 

[Void_Singer]

I looked at this too... outside of Ocvist (or the useless gold Ciri: Dash)
NR: Nenneke might actually be the harder option since a solid fetch requires Lesser Demons (unreliable).. at least with Pavetta you can adjust your play sequence so it's the only critter on field
ST is much easier by comparison, with Milva
SK is easiest via Smugglers > Crach
NG actually has a second option via Assire, with the downside of requiring another card to get it back (Stefan, Usurper > Francesca, Lesser Demons, but the upside of being virtually immune to scorch

PS the reason that knights are usually used at 18 is because it only requires 2 plays... gives your opponent only 1 turn to react, and keeps spotters under 25 for early protection against Igni. if you don't think they're running scorch, or don't think you'll want the extra buff killer you can push it up to 21 (or 22 for the manticore) instead.

 

[Khreygond]

and yet that tactic suffers immeasurably from one thing: the opponent can bleed you to death. The setup is low tempo and then they'll just make sure you are drained. Not to mention Scorch.

The other day I faced an ST player who used that tactic exactly. He went 3 cards down to beat my Crones and set his ocvist up, because all I did was play the crones and pass and he had to wait for 4 turns to make sure Ocvist returns to his hand, spending so many cards. Then used a mercenary to boost it up to 29 which I drained via Elder and ended up wiping him out with cards to spare.

 

[Void_Singer]

Yup the Ocvist strategy is very weak because of the wait.. the second your opponent plays it or buffs it, you pass and their card advantage dies horribly. alternately you can keep going with a stronger tempo and lock him at the end. Milva at least lets them cut their losses by picking him up early (or using a different card), although at the high risk of losing the round a card or two down. not sure, but Farseer might help mitigate that.
Sk's only disadvantage (to Emhyr) seems to be that it requires two cards to get back in hand, and neither generates much pressure, but on the plus side you can leave it out the whole round and not lose it's value that round (unlike Emhyr). Well not entirely... The NG vesion gets 10 plays out of the Critter (nclluding the critter), AFAICT the SK version only gets 7, and 3 of those are damage that will likely be at half value or less (depending on how high you buff) so you'd probably want to pair it with something else like bears or maybe axemen

ETA:
the Emhyr deck is short on counters, so it actually loses quite frequently to both Axeman, and to a lesser degree Slave Driver/Vicovaro Medic/Ointment

 

[Void_Singer]

I made a mistake earlier... I thought Pavetta went to hand but that's wrong, she also goes to deck... so no improvement there over Nenneke.
Personally I'd run both with a preference for Pavetta if you were going to try