Gwent Card of The Moment

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This thread is for articles about and discussion of particular Gwent cards. Some posts will be humorous, some serious. Most (but not all) of the contributions I make will be on seldom seen cards that maybe deserve some attention. But please do not consider it "my thread". I value any comments you would like to make about specific cards. However, it is not intended as a place to argue over whether particular cards are overpowered. Those discussions are very appropriate -- but in a different thread.

Alphabetical Index:

Abandoned Girl
Alissa Henson
Anna Strenger
Armor Up
Artis
Assault
Bare-Knuckle Brawler
Blindeye Apothecary
Boatbuilders
Ciri
Courier
Cyclops
Damned Sorceress
Dandelion: Poet
Dwarven Chariot (by DRK3)
Elder Bear
Fisher King
Idarran
Ihuarraquax
Immortals
Iris' Companions
Kambi
King Belohun
Mage Infiltrator
Mastercrafted Spear
Milva: Sharpshooter
Peasant Militia (Sorry, this article has been moved; comments on it precede the article.)
Portal
Pyrotechnician
Ragh Nar Roog
Ring of Favor
Saber-Tooth Tiger
Sapper
Scoia'tael Neophyte
Sir Scratch-A-Lot
Siren
Sukrus
Thaler
Torque
Troll Porter
Villentretenmerth
Viy
Wererat
Wheel of Fortune
Windhalm of Attre
Wolf Pack
Wolfsbane
Wyvern Scale Shield
Yennefer: Conjurer
 
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DRK3

Forum veteran
Actually i loved to use Peasant Militia, and i used it (them?) quite a few times... in the beta :ohstopit:

OMG Victory with Cow Deck.png

This wont end well.png

NR vs NG Swarm Match.png


1. Yes i was already a fan of swarm decks
2. Yes i was already a fan of meme decks (one of those was a full neutral deck)
3. Peasant Militia was a special, that spawned 3x 3pt units on a row. That wasnt great, but it wasnt as bad as it is now compared to the rest.
More importantly, it was THE ONLY way to get bronze units on the board, there werent ANY actual bronze units.
 
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I loved the original idea of Peasant Militia, where it'd fill a row with 1 strength Peasant Militia units.

Yes, you could target enemy row.

Yes, you could clog 3 enemy rows in 3 turns.
 
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CARD OF THE MOMENT: PEASANT MILITIA
Note: this article was previously posted. It was moved so it could be linked in the thread index. Some comments made on it now appear above the article in this thread.

Faction: Neutral

Color: Bronze

Provision Cost: 4

Strength: 2

Deploy: Boost an allied unit by 2.

Use Frequency: Unknown. It is believed, however, that this unit was depicted in a Neolithic cave painting discovered near Aretusa.

Comments: Reasons to play this oft overlooked card include the following:
  • When it bricks, you only miss two points.
  • It synergizes with almost everything.
  • It is neutral – so you could play it in every deck.
  • It evokes sympathy in your opponent.
  • The card art colors match your shoes.
  • It’s sometimes nice to hear a duck squawk.
  • It catches your opponent off guard.
  • You feel good if RNG causes you to miss the card.
  • It’s great fun against NG “play your opponent’s cards” decks.
  • It allows you to run a 41-card deck.
  • It supports random acts of kindness in the Gwent venue.
  • CDPR obviously created the card with the intent that it be played. So you should do so.
  • Your opponent may not know how to react to it.
  • To substitute for an Oxenfurt Scholar which you don’t yet own.
  • Because it doesn’t really matter – you’re always going to mulligan four-provision cards anyway.
  • To boldly play what no one has played before.
  • To see if you can find a reason for playing it that Quintivarium missed..
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Villentretenmerth

Faction: Neutral

Color: Gold

Provision Cost: 11

Strength: 6

Ability: After two allied turns, on turn end, destroy the highest unit on the battlefield, excluding self.

Use Frequency: rare

Notable Synergies: none

Comments: Villentretenmerth is a somewhat expensive and tempermental tall removal. I do not recommend it as a strong card. I do find it an extremely fun card. It has led to some of the most interesting and unique strategic interactions I have encountered in the game. Let me share a couple. Note: I play Villentretenmerth in an all-neutral deck I use to complete the quests requiring playing x number of neutral cards as quickly as possible. I loaded the deck with cards that give me the ability to play other neutral cards (like Dandelion: Poet). Then I filled it with other interesting neutral cards. It is not a deck designed to win matches, although it is not horrible as most cards play for decent value.

Example 1: I begin round 3 playing Iron Falcon Troubadour Front Row (placing armor on Iron Falcon Infantry), my opponent plays Tears of Siren (storm front row). I play the Iron Falcon Infantry (back row), and my opponent plays Covenant of Streel front row. Although I could remove the defender with my Bekker’s Rockslide and a Reckless Fury leader charge, I decide I need Rockslide for a possible Fulmar and play Villentretenmerth (which had previously been given two armor by a Troubadour). My opponent then used Gigascorpian Decoction on his own Covenant of Steel! I could now remove the defender with a Piercing Missile, but I could not save my Infantry.

Example 2: I start third round playing Dandelion Poet and Iron Falcon Troubadour (with armor on Villentretenmerth). My opponent plays Radeyah and I play Villentretenmerth. My opponent plays Dudu to copy Villentretenmerth. And I reply by damaging my best target (Radeyah) by four with Enraged Ifrit so my Villentretenmerth can take out my opponent’s.

Analysis: A little thought makes it clear why Villentretenmerth is a fun card. First, it is strong enough (especially when I give it armor) to not be immediately removed – thus it stays on the board to be interacted with. Second, its effect is significant, but occurs after two turns – so interacting with the unit is worthwhile. And finally, its effect involves a number of possible other units – so interaction can be with many cards – it doesn’t have to focus on Villentretenmerth itself. I would love to see more cards with this kind of interesting play.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: WYVERN SCALE SHIELD
for Tucoffin

Faction: Neutral

Color: Bronze

Provision Cost: 7

Artifact:

Zeal:
Order: Boost an allied unit by 1.
Charge: 4
Limit: 1 charge per turn

Use Frequency: infrequent, usually played only to fulfil artifact quests

Notable Synergies: Mastercrafted Spear?

Narrative:
A few months ago, while on an urgent mission for the Empire, I found myself in battle against a big lout from Skellige. The upstart kept waving this thing in my face and yelling, “Seven Provisions! Seven Provisions!” It caught my attention. It was round – like the world! It was brown – like a potato! And it was full of little spikey things – just like elven ears! I just knew I had to have one.

Now, if you know the Emperor like I do, you know he is jealous of his resources – one can’t just ask for valuable, rare artifacts; one must earn them. I knew I would need to find one through the glory of battle. So, I gathered my spies, emissaries, and informants; my couriers, mages, and witchers; even that silly dog who, “may raid the battlefield to aid you.” And I searched for a bearer of such a fine item. After weeks of diligent search, I finally found a likely victim enemy of state.

I planned my theft attack carefully. I sent for Angouleme. And knowing her to be a flighty b**** lady, as likely to return with a pitfall trap as a scenario, I sent for Syanna to whip her into order. But Syanna rebuffed my most polite request and Angouleme was nowhere to be found. I sent for Cantarella, but she was off gallivanting with that de Wett character on a mission so secretive that even the emperor himself couldn’t tell me about it

I would have to do this the hard way. I went to the viper witchers to hire an alchemist, but they denied my credit! This was getting to be a real pain – I was going to have to haul the whole of Gorthur Gvaed – turret and tower – to the battlefield. Do you have any idea how much magic that takes? I swear, it cost me eight whole provisions! But eventually, we marched off to glory.

In the battle, however, nothing went according to plan. In the first round of skirmishes, my stupid opponent kept using junk like Portal and Frightener and Haunt. He even used a Hen Gaidth Sword! But never the object of my desire. I knew I would have to be more clever. So, in the second round I tried to lure it out with my handy, dandy Hefty Helge. Who wouldn’t want a shield against that baby? By my opponent responded with a Tainted Ale! And the stupid machine actually drank the foul stuff – all of it!

But I didn’t give up. I tried again with an Alba Pikeman. And sure enough, out comes a Wyvern Scale Shield! I immediately ordered a ceasefire, to prepare for my third and final round. I quickly found the Ofiri merchant I had pressed into service. But Gorthur Gvaed was nowhere to be found. (Where do castles go when you need one?) And I swear, Oneiromancy must have been at the bottom of my pack. That RNG! Luckily, I was, as always, prepared. I began by calling upon Avallac’h: Sage who found the missing castle (I think Knickers had buried it somewhere). Next, from the battlements of Gorthur Gvaed, I arranged a parley – both sides could gather their wounded and dead. And sent the Ofiri Merchant into the enemy camp where he traded Letho: Kingslayer for the newly recovered Wyvern Scale Shield. All that was left was to call Land of a Thousand Fables into the elusive Oneiromancy and the Shield was mine! Success!

But that’s not the end of the story. See, I think I’m allergic to Wyvern blood. No sooner did I strap the stupid shield on than the stupid thing began to chafe. Badly! But I had one card left. My ace in the hole my back pocket. Bearification! If ever I needed it! And that’s how I got my new pet, Bruiser.
 
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CARD OF THE MOMENT: COURIER

Faction: Nilfgaard/Syndicate

Color: Bronze

Provision Cost: 4

Strength: 5

Deploy (melee): Look at the top three cards from your opponent’s deck and move one to the top.

Deploy (melee): Look at the top three cards from your deck and move one to the top.

Use Frequency: rare

Notable Synergies: Joachim de Wett, Tibor Eggebracht, Vilgefortz, Isbel of Hagge, Affan Hillergrande, Cantarella,, Imperial Golem, Kingslayer, Viper Witcher Mentor, Viper Witcher Alchemist, Mage Assassin, The Last Wish, Ofiri Merchant

Comments: I find Courier to be a fun card. It is a little low-tempo, and some might consider it weak. But if you can get two points of value out of Courier’s deploy ability, it is up there with the best four-provision cards. Although it will never anchor a deck, it is potentially useful support in several decks. I find it mildly surprising that the card is almost never used. It plays at least three useful roles:
  • It is a consistency card able to improve the top card of either its own or its opponent’s deck. Unfortunately, it doesn’t probe deeply enough to change draws, but it does potentially empower units that deal with top cards of a deck. To me, it justifies the existence of a card like Viper Witcher Alchemist, which is otherwise very RNG.
  • It is a top card shuffler. Sometimes it is important to get a certain card off the top of either your deck or your opponent’s. Courier can do this.
  • It is an information gatherer. Early in a match, seeing three of your opponent’s cards may help you identify the deck being played. As a dry pass response, Courier can tell you what the opponent will draw to their hand.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: IMMORTALS

Faction: Northern Realms

Color: Gold

Provision Cost: 7

Strength: 6

Status: Shield.
Ability (melee): Whenever this unit loses its shield, boost it by 2.
Ability: At the end of your turn, gain shield.

Use Frequency: rare

Notable Synergies: King Roegner, Damned Sorceress

Comments: Immortals is a good card without a good home. It is an excellent foil for frost in the melee row and is very good against random damage pings. The problem is that both of these actions must be initiated by your opponent – hence Immortals is inconsistent. There are a handful of cards you could play that trigger the lost shield condition, but only the two listed above as synergies really benefit themselves by this act (others are cards like Reinforced Ballista which could target Immortals but do so at the expense of not striking the enemy). I find it a fun tech card, but I must admit I wouldn’t play a serious deck around it. Aside from removing the row lock, I think the card is OK. But it needs more supporting cards to work in a realistic deck.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Pyrotechnician
Faction: Scoia’tael

Color: Bronze

Provision Cost: 4

Strength: 4

Armor: 2

Order: Damage a random enemy unit and self by four.

Use Frequency: once common, becoming infrequent

Role: Proactive starting card with strong inhibitive properties.

Comments:
Pyrotechnician is a Gwent tragedy. Once upon a time, it was a great, low provision bronze card. It would be a seeming innocuous play to open the round – but then the opponent would have to play. It hardly merited a lock – even from Nilfgaard. It was one point to strong (with its armor) for standard (at the time) five-point removal and four or five damage will only net two points of value after it used its orders. It did not allow the play of a four-strength engine as it could then have removed that engine. In short, it played for a virtually certain 6 points (which was good for a cheap card at the time), and it often forced opponents into significantly suboptimal plays.

Enter power creep. Players come to expect seven points of value from a four-provision card. New engines enter the board with six or seven strength – out of technician’s range. Technician lingers in ST decks, largely because there is no better option, but the pride is gone from its step.

More power creep. Pyrotechnician doesn’t synergize with the new and improved thirty-point gold cards. Pyrotechnician clings to the shirttails of a few throwback decks, gasping its last breath.
 
GWENT CARD OF THE MOMENT: VIY

Faction: Monster

Provision Cost: 14

Strength: 7

Deathwish: Shuffle Viy back to your deck, then increase its base power by 3.

Use Frequency: Viy was the basis for one formerly meta deck.

Comments:

Viy is, if anything, a controversial card: this article will tackle the big controversy head-on – just how IS this creature’s name really pronounced? Phonetically, there seem to be two major camps: those who would pronounce it “Vie” and those who prefer the pronunciation “Vee”. Being more scientific, I chose to consult the experts.

In his numerous scientific writings, the dearly-departed mage-scholar Idenloppopenolis argues that the appropriate way to pronounce a name is the way as its bearer chooses to pronounce it. According to his colleague, Fitzenbizzawort, Idenloppopenolis actually mounted an expedition to ask said creature its name. In Idenloppopenolis’ final moments, he was heard to scream “Ieee.” This makes a sort of sense if the V in Viy is silent and the y is pronounced ee. Of course, it is unclear if Idenloppopenolis actually meant that as the answer received, or if it was a subconscious vocalization as his body was rent limb from limb.

When asked, Dandelion claimed Geralt pronounced it … Nah, forget it! Who would believe a poet (or a witcher for that matter) anyway?

In the belief system of certain Skellige cultists, knowing a being’s name gives you power over it. Were you to correctly pronounce Viy, they would have to kill you.

According to Riven Twain, the Linguist in Annual Residence (LIAR) at Oxenfurt, Viy is not an actual word with a real pronunciation, but an acronym, Varble Infantuses Yrogen, which in old Cintrian means “bunny dragon”. Villentrentenmerth could not be reached for comment.

According to associates of certain Syndicate kingpins, it is pronounced, “Jones”. (It doesn’t have to make sense if it’s Syndicate.)

And finally, in the lore of a Nilfgaardian children’s riddle, “What do you call the million-legged insectoid that eats cities whole?”, the correct answer is, “It doesn’t matter – you don’t want it to come anyway.”

Well folks, there you have it. The definitive answer to an unsolvable controversy.
 
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According to Riven Twain, the Linguist in Annual Residence (LIAR) at Oxenfurt, Viy is not an actual word with a real pronunciation, but an acronym, Varble Infantuses Yrogen, which in old Cintrian means “bunny dragon”.
Heh. That's one theory, anyway. Modernists suggest a more recent coinage, representing some of its more prominent attributes: 'Virulent. . . Infuriating . . . Yaarrrgh!' The scholarship is still undecided on this idea. . . .

Minor correction: For the record, I'm Fellow of Abstract Linguistics and Semantic Extractions. A common enough mistake, to mix up these two chairs -- they've similar upholstery.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Fisher King

Faction: Neutral

Color: Gold

Provision Cost: 6

Strength: 5

Deploy (ranged): Move any card from your deck to the top.

Use Frequency: rare

Notable Synergies: cards that draw or use the top card in the deck, cards that desire having a given card in hand, cards with initiative

Comments:

I think Fisher King is an often-overlooked card. It has one more strength than Blightmaker at the same provision cost and with the same deploy ability minus Blightmaker’s spawn ability – but it is a neutral card. While cards like Oneiromancy and Royal decree that directly tutor a card might seem more useful, there are exceptions. The tutors can never put the desired card in one’s hand – they force its play. Thus, a card like Caranthir Ar-Feiniel cannot be used on a card that is tutored to the board; but he can be used on a card top-decked into one’s hand. Initiative is also broken by the act of tutoring the card; Fisher king allows it to be played instead. And sometimes – especially against NG – it’s nice to be able to move a card away from the deck top.

The big issue with Fisher King is that its value is a bit low for six provisions (I would look for about 8-9 points of value at that cost). Thus, moving a card to the top of the deck must be worth 3-4 points, probably a bit too much for most decks.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Blindeye Apothecary

Faction: Syndicate
Provision Cost: 4
Strength: 2
Deploy (melee): Heal an allied unit
Deploy (ranged): Boost an allied unit by 3
Tribute 2: Complete both deploy abilities instead

Comments: If used only to boost, Apothecary is a paltry five value for four provisions. It is the possible healing that truly justifies the card. And why does Syndicate need healing? It is not generally a faction with numerous damaged cards floating on the board. It is very meme, but I have found one very effective use for apothecary – in combination with insanity units in a no/low coin syndicate deck. It is wonderful to recharge an Igor the Hook, a Bloody Good Friends, or a Whoreson Junior. In a pinch, it can even burn coins if you want to keep below the fee threshold for insanity (rather than coins to be used). Normally, the coin cost of Igor’s ability renders it of limited value; not so in combination with Apothecary – but you do want to ensure that you use insanity value and not coins.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Cyclops

Faction: Monster
Provision Cost: 5
Strength: 4
Deploy: Destroy an adjacent allied unit and deal its power as damage to an enemy.

Comments: Many monster decks have two significant drawbacks: a tendency for units to grow tall (and hence, vulnerability to tall punish), and a lack of control/removal options. Cyclops, at least for conventional deathwish decks, helps address both! By converting a death wish unit’s power to damage, rather than boost, it offers controlled removal without going tall. Often, when people wish to trigger deathwish, they look for consume cards. Cyclops is an alternative that can bring balance to a deck. Like many of the base set card, its value per provision is a bit low for truly competitive decks, but it is a nice addition to casual deathwish decks with surprising versatility.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Elder Bear

Faction: Neutral
Color: Bronze
Provision Cost: 4
Strength: 6
Ability: none
Use Frequency: occasional
Notable Synergies: none

Comments: Why comment on a card that does nothing special? Because it does nothing special! With no special abilities, Elder Bear is an excellent benchmark for card value – especially in terms of power per provision. While it is definitely not a go-to card, that it is used at all suggests that (until power creep renders it useless) 6 points of power on a 4-provision card is a reasonable expectation. And before it was buffed from 6 provisions, it was also a measure of value per play as average provision cost of cards in a 25-card hand is slightly more than six and a half. Actually, the very generic cards (like elder bear) are extremely useful in understanding game strategy precisely because they are plain. Rather than seeing them as boring, look for ways they can be instructive. I am a better player because of Elder Bear. How many cards can you say that about?
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Elder Bear

Notable Synergies: none
Interesting points, but in this particular one I beg to differ. Elder Bear is a beast, so we have synergy with a few cards that base their effects on this tag. Whether they're valuable or not is a different matter, but certainly they cannot just pass by unmentioned.
 
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