Gwent Card of The Moment

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And also makes him extremly vulnerable to dandalion vainglory. Thats why i never use elder bear :smart:
Well put.

Dandelion: Vainglory looms over our heads, I'm positive nobody in this fine community is daring enough to craft their decks without keeping this dastardly minstrel in mind. As a matter of fact, I think it's time for our valuable fellow card player (and mentor) quintivarium to address his potential in this thread to, if nothing else, provide some much needed nerf suggestions we so desperately crave. Enough with the tomfoolery, this has to stop!
 

DRK3

Forum veteran
LOL Beautifully put. I don't think I've ever seen Vainglory played in a match.

Play Operator on a Beast = guaranteed value on Dandelion Vainglory :cool:

Play Operator on a Slyzard, and your opponent might even consume some of his units with it, and make it bigger... for your Vainglory :oops:
 
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I have to say, in The Last seasonal where The cards change to One provision hight in One match i have a beatifull dandelion vanglory.

I really cant remember my opponents beast card, but my dandelion plays for something like 13-15 points
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Portal

Faction: Neutral
Color: Gold
Provision Cost: 12
Type: Artifact
Ability: Summon a random 4 provision unit from your deck to the left of this card. After 3 turns, summon a random 4 provision unit from your deck to the right of this card.
Use Frequency: common
Notable Synergies: any good four provision cards

Comments:

This thread was designed to bring some attention to interesting, but rarely seen cards, and portal hardly qualifies – it is a very good card that is used frequently. But it has some subtleties that can be overlooked. Thus, these comments are geared more toward casual users of the card than experts.

First, note that it costs 12 provisions to play only 8 provisions worth of cards. What you gain for the extra four provisions (plus some deck design limitations) is the ability to play two cards for the cost of one turn. This is a significant tempo boost, and the card should be used in conditions where you expect to benefit from the tempo boost.

Also, because Portal summons random four provision units, you improve the consistency of Portal by only including those four provision units in your deck that you want it to summon. And be aware that summoning is not the same as playing – you will not get deploy effects off a summoned card. This is a mixed blessing as many four provision cards have undesirable deploy effects.

Finally, be aware that Portal is somewhat inconsistent with deck polarization. To maximize the average number of provisions you actually play in a match, you want to have around six four-provision cards in your deck. The targets of Mulligans are less likely to be played than other cards – if you have lowest possible provision mulligans, the average of your remaining cards can be higher. If you do not mulligan four-provision cards, you give up average value of the cards you play. But because Portal restricts your four provision units, you must either use non-unit four-provision cards like special cards, or you must give up some value from polarization. Make sure your use of Portal is worth it.
 
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?
I just wanted to add he's been seen lately lurking around some old artifacts. And don't forget his glorious past as a namesake to insult high end Ng cards.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Windhalm of Attre

Faction: Northern Realms
Provision Cost: 7
Strength: 3
Starting Status: shield
Abilities: Every allied turn, on turn end, boost this unit by 2 if it has a shield.
Synergies: King Roegner, Lady of the Lake, Sangreal, Watchman, Cintrian Artificer
Use Frequency: rare

Comments:
Windhelm is a card I choose to present for two reasons: first, I think it is better than is often recognized, and second, because I think it is a model of good card design.

Although Windhalm only plays for five points if he is shut down immediately, he is a strong enough engine to most players will want to shut him down, which is usually done by inflicting damage to take down the shield. But I usually have at least one source to restore his shield if this is done – giving another 2 points and forcing the opponent to shut him down a second time. Thus, he not only typically draws two sources of damage/removal away from other engines, he keeps my opponent defending (usually trading down) for two turns as well. At 7 provisions, I don’t need to rely on him to carry a round, it suffices that he drains my opponent of potential value. Of course, if he is not addressed, I am very happy with his production.

I consider him a model of good deck design because he is clearly capable of making a big difference in a match without being so overwhelming that he absolutely must be removed. And he is a card with whom there are typically interesting interactions: the shield prevents most immediate removal; his ability, while powerful, is easily shut down, and then can be re-established, albeit not trivially.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Windhalm of Attre

Faction: Northern Realms
Provision Cost: 7
Strength: 3
Starting Status: shield
Abilities: Every allied turn, on turn end, boost this unit by 2 if it has a shield.
Synergies: King Roegner, Lady of the Lake, Sangreal, Watchman, Cintrian Artificer
Use Frequency: rare

Comments:
Windhelm is a card I choose to present for two reasons: first, I think it is better than is often recognized, and second, because I think it is a model of good card design.

Although Windhalm only plays for five points if he is shut down immediately, he is a strong enough engine to most players will want to shut him down, which is usually done by inflicting damage to take down the shield. But I usually have at least one source to restore his shield if this is done – giving another 2 points and forcing the opponent to shut him down a second time. Thus, he not only typically draws two sources of damage/removal away from other engines, he keeps my opponent defending (usually trading down) for two turns as well. At 7 provisions, I don’t need to rely on him to carry a round, it suffices that he drains my opponent of potential value. Of course, if he is not addressed, I am very happy with his production.

I consider him a model of good deck design because he is clearly capable of making a big difference in a match without being so overwhelming that he absolutely must be removed. And he is a card with whom there are typically interesting interactions: the shield prevents most immediate removal; his ability, while powerful, is easily shut down, and then can be re-established, albeit not trivially.
Also preventing the potential damage the opponent could do, he plays for 5 at deploy and at least more 1 point.

But in a lot of matches the opponent wont have a single ping 1 damage, so problably he will prevent more than 1 point damage. And if you manage to put shield on him again, he problably will play for way more than his 7 provisions.

in fat its a good card, but its rare to see because the rest of the deck he supports (shields /king roegner, but no duels) is not so good.. But i think in a mix of shields/king roegner and duels he can be play more
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Abandoned Girl

WANTED
Photo Unavailable

Name: Unknown
Faction: Unstated
Bounty: Unworthy
Offenses:
  • Singing off key in the great Harmony
  • Shooting spitwads instead of thunderbolts
  • Cavorting with trees
Last seen: Somewhere south of Brokilon
Warning: Should be considered empty armed and dangerless
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Boatbuilders

Faction: Skellige
Provision Cost: 5
Strength: 5
Deploy: Give two armor to an allied unit. If you control a ship gain zeal.
Order: Give one armor to an allied unit.
Cooldown: 1.
Use Frequency: rare

Comments: Boatbuilders is one of four cards which grant armor every round. The others are Mantlet (Neutral) and Dwarven Chariot (ST), also at 5 provisions, and Wagonburg (neutral) at 4 provisions. Boatbuilders is probably my favorite of these because it gives a significant boost to a unit of choice when boatbuilders deploys, and then allows choice where the armor is applied every turn after. Aside from the obvious annoyance to removal heavy or ping heavy decks, armor is directly useful to certain cards or in certain combinations. It can be very useful with Brouver, Yghern, Living Armor, Arnaghad, Crach an Craite (if played before units are deployed, as with Mantlet), Draco Turtle (if armor can be removed), Yarpen Zigrin, Iris: Shade, Trollololo, Vlodimir von Everec, Endrega Queen, Terror of the Seas, or any unit with Barricade. I especially like it with SK as a way to absorb undesired self-damage, e.g., that from Mardroeme. The drawback to all these armor granting cards is their relatively low tempo, together with few ways to cash in on an armor accumulation. Iris: Shade on a heavily armored Dracoturtle can be amazing, but usually, it just makes Dracoturtle a prime Heatwave target. Without Dracoturtle, Iris is rarely valuable. Vlodimir almost never gets enough value to be worth either the time or provisions. And cards like Terror of the Sea are usually shut down before their value can be fully realized. The timing of the armor is wrong to have much value to Crach an Craite (if only Mantlet were either a pirate or a ship!), and there are usually better ways to empower Arnaghad (Sukrus or boosts). In conclusion, I like Boatbuilders, but I am always a bit disappointed in how it narrowly misses being truly effective.
 
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CARD OF THE MOMENT: Scoia’tael Neophyte

Faction: Scoia’tael
Provision Cost: 4
Strength: 2
Deploy: Spawn a base copy of this unit on the other row.
Order: Transform an allied elf into an Elven Deadeye.
Use Frequency: rare (most common with the Aen Seidhe Sabre strategem)

Ways to Counter a Neophyte Deck:
  • Kill the Neophyte. Heatwave should suffice. In a pinch, Angry Mob works too. But watch out if you depend upon Curse of Corruption – that one takes a bit of foresight.
  • Deal with all copies at once. Schirru is great provided you have saved some self-damage. Lazy players could use Blizzard or Wolfsbane instead.
  • Kill its targets. Should your cowardly opponent attempt to hide a Neophyte behind a defender, don’t panic. Just kill the other elves your opponent plays to the board.
  • Mill it. Courier or a back-row Warritt can improve your chances.
  • Steal it – it is well within range of Coup de Grace.
  • Trust in luck or Karma. Your opponent won’t draw it every match.
Just remember – in Gwent there are answers for everything. Whatever you do, don’t panic – with foresight and planning, even Neophyte decks can be defeated!
 
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CARD OF THE MOMENT: Idarran

Faction: Neutral
Provision Cost: 8
Strength: 6
Ability: The first time you spawn a unit each turn on your side of the board, spawn a one power copy of it on this row, then give it doomed.
Use Frequency: moderate

Comments:

Idarran is a kind of meme kingpin, used in all kinds of different decks. Normally, you do not need him to help swarm tokens – it’s easy enough to swarm tokens in other ways that are cheaper and higher tempo. Iddarran’s forte is in spamming units. Because the units he creates are spawned (not played) and have only one strength, you generally want to spawn engines or at least order cards. And because Idarran can quickly allow things to spiral out of control, he is typically a high removal target. Unless he is a decoy, you will want to protect him with defenders and/or purify cards.

Because Idarran is popular and likely familiar, I will not go into detailed possible uses – simply check for situations that spawn appropriate types of cards and ask yourself whether Idarran can change a meh combination into something spectacular; it happens often. I should point out that he is especially useful with delared effect cards like Megascope or Igor the Hook as he can be played on the turn these cards trigger -- and is hence guaranteed to produce at least one copy before being removed.

The big reason I want to single out Idarran for attention is that he is a rare unit that gets better with powercreep. The more effective units he can spawn, the more uses he could have. Prior to the Price of Power expansion, only a few useful bronze cards were ever spawned – and usually only one copy of those. But with Megascopes and Mushy Truffle, the number of spawned units and potential pool of useful targets increased dramatically. As the number of spawning cards grows, and as new, better bronze units are introduced, Idarran should continue to get better. Even if you have no present use for him, he needs to be periodically revisited – his day is almost inevitable.
 
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CARD OF THE MOMENT: Artis

Faction: Skellige
Provision Cost: 12
Strength: 5
Deploy: Play a 4-provision cultist from your deck.
Ability (Ranged): Whenever a unit is played, damage it by half its power.
Use Frequency: rare

Comments:
Artis used to be my favorite card (and in some ways he still is). But despite my resolve to not let this thread reduce to one of griping about cards – I cannot resist giving my complaints about the latest rework of Artis (which gave the cultist play and increased the provision cost from 8 to 12).

I love Artis because his ranged ability is unique. It works extremely well with many self-damage cards – often allowing berserk abilities to immediately trigger or setting beneficial board-state conditions. It is nice because it can do these things with good tempo and distributes value over many cards. Of course, this ability comes at a price – many cards are harmed by this ability as well. But this harm can be worked around by limiting the number of cards harmed in the deck and by timing the play of Artis so he appears after cards you don’t want halved in strength.

I also love the idea of a cultist tutor – I had so many decks that failed because I just could not draw my cultists when I needed them.

But the two abilities together are a complete failure. The cultists are usually needed round one; the damage all units as deployed ability is needed round three. And all cultists except Svalbold Fanatic are best played undamaged. The big challenge of Artis is always going to be the limitations he places on the deck around him. And after all the sacrifices made to accommodate him in a deck, it is very hard to be competitive if he is not drawn or is immediately removed. The obvious fix to make him viable would be to remove the row restriction and/or increase strength/armor to push him out of 5-point removal range. Instead, all that was accomplished in the re-work was an increase in provision cost not offset by the new benefit. And now, in addition to limiting unit types than can go into his deck, Artis also limits provisions.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Kambi

Faction: Skellige
Provision Cost: 10
Strength: 4
Deploy: Discard the rightmost card in your hand, then your opponent discards the rightmost card in their hand.
Use Frequency: rare

Comments:
What can I say? Kambi is low tempo, over-priced, and inconsistent. Even at its best, it is very hard to use well.

And at its present cost and strength, Kambi is probably non-viable. But it does have a strategically interesting and unique power that is easily underestimated. The few Kambi deck I have seen tend to want Kambi as a closer, but this overlooks half of the card’s potential.

Kambi’s power accomplishes two things – it trades a weak card in your hand for a hopefully better card in your opponent’s hand AND it alters round/game length. Let me discuss both.

To maximize value, you obviously want to trade a bad card for a good card. You can the play of your hand; you can control which card is the rightmost when Kambi is played. This does require advance planningIdeally that card is something like a Tuirseach Skirmisher or Morkvarg. To some degree, you can also control which card is on your opponent’s right. When cards are drawn from the deck, they generally move to the right-hand end of the deck. Whenever your opponent draws a card without playing it, it will be on the right. And you can observe when Sunset wanderer moves to the rightmost slot. Finally, you can often tell by opponent play whether only strong cards remain in the opposing hand.

What I find interesting in Kambi is the card’s ability to manipulate round length. This can be used to favorably alter the 7 and 4 card threshholds at which players can regain full hands. It can also tamper with bleeding strategy. And it can shorten a round to your advantage.

Unfortunately, the timing of Kambi can be very difficult. It is hard to get good targets in both your hand and your opponent’s hand at the same time you want to alter round length. And playing a low tempo card in a round you shorten can be quite anti-synergistic, although a discard package could alter this.

In all, Kambi is a card I enjoy strategically; I await the day that it gets buffed into viability.
 

DRK3

Forum veteran
Kambi is actually my favourite card on Gwent betas, and since the betas were my favourite versions of the game, in a way its my favourite Gwent card of all time! But its ability had nothing to do with what is is now, it was more akin to double Salamander, a board wipeout.

Regarding the modern version of Kambi, i also enjoy it a lot, as its trolling potential is unmatched. :shrug:

The few Kambi deck I have seen tend to want Kambi as a closer, but this overlooks half of the card’s potential.

Kambi’s power accomplishes two things – it trades a weak card in your hand for a hopefully better card in your opponent’s hand AND it alters round/game length. Let me discuss both.
This is a contradiction: its precisely by using Kambi as a finisher (so, with 1 other card in hand for it to be discarded) that you are maximizing the odds that the discarded card from the opponent is a strong card.

Also, you forgot to mention a very important aspect (and strength) of Kambi - if you have last say and finish with Kambi, making your opponent discard their last card, you are also preventing him from using leader if it was still available, and any orders or charges of units on board, which can be massive against opponents with huge finishers.

Another interesting thing about Kambi are the indirect buffs and nerfs it got. When Matta was released, Kambi became SO much better, because it made your opponent discard the highest card he just drew, while you discarded your lowest - i used this to make dozens upon dozens of opponents discard their scenarios (which came out in the same expansion) and forfeit.
On the other hand, when oneiromancy was released, it made Matta obsolete, so indireclty Kambi became worse.

What I find interesting in Kambi is the card’s ability to manipulate round length. This can be used to favorably alter the 7 and 4 card threshholds at which players can regain full hands. It can also tamper with bleeding strategy. And it can shorten a round to your advantage.

A possible Kambi strategy is to commit a lot of value on R1 and do a tempo pass on 7 or 6 cards. You're opponent may go down to 4 cards to win it, and they will think they're safe, they didnt lose CA. Then on R2 they will drypass, so they go to R3 with 10 cards, but if you play Kambi then, it will make the opp discard a card and you get CA.
This is one of the very few methods of getting CA with unit's abilities, together with Ciri, Ciri Dash and coin flip abuse with Stregobor/Isbel + Matta.
 
GWENT CARD OF THE MOMENT: Saber-Tooth Tiger

Faction: Scoia’tael
Power: 7
Provision Cost: 9
Order (zeal): Transform self into Sabre-Tooth Tiger: Stealth
Frequency: Common in unitless decks, infrequent elsewhere

Saber-Tooth Tiger: Stealth: At the start of your turn, damage all enemy units that are alone on their row by two and transform self into Sabre-Tooth Tiger.

Comments:

Saber-Tooth Tiger is a common fixture in ST unitless decks; I think it is under appreciated elsewhere – hence this article. Let me be clear: Saber-Tooth Tiger is not a card that will make a deck or carry a match. And at 9 provisions, it is an investment. But playing for 7 immediate points is not horrible per turn production. And those points are very secure – amongst the hardest to remove points in the game.

But it is not just the inaccessibility of points to the opponent that makes Saber-Tooth have value – and this is why Saber-Tooth should not be limited to unitless decks. Saber-Tooth is a very valuable disruptor – a card that leaves an opponent with awkward choices and forces changes in match plans. It may delay deployment of an engine (to avoid that engine from falling into easy removal range). It encourages playing of summoning cards earlier than an opponent might wish (which can easily escalate to overcommitment). It can also prompt row-stacking – which could be punished by the likes of crushing trap. Under the correct circumstances, it can even become a damage sponge. Assuming your opponent lacks big removal tools (or you are willing to have big removal used on Saber-Tooth instead of something more important, you can leave stealth mode untapped and allow Saber-Tooth to take random damage pings. When next transformed, the damage will disappear.

Saber-Tooth is very much a multi-purpose card – I wish I saw it used more as such.
 
CARD OF THE MOMENT: Iris’ Companions

Faction: Neutral
Color: Gold
Provision Cost: 7
Strength: 5
Deploy: Draw a card of your choice, then discard a random card. If you have Iris in hand, choose which card to discard instead.
Use Frequency: rare
Notable Synergies: Iris: Shade, Iris von Everec, cards you want in your graveyard, cards you need in hand.

Comments: Let’s play a game of “Guess My Deck”. You have one clue – the deck was significantly improved by the inclusion of Iris’ Companions.
Begin by considering decks that benefit from the presence of Companions. Because the discard is random, I won’t play it for the discard unless I can beneficially include one of the Irises (preferably both). And because I risk discarding a critical card, I won’t play it for the draw unless I can include one of the Irises, or I have nothing I mind discarding, or I am so desperate for a certain card that I am willing to risk a bad discard. And because of the card’s conditions, I won’t play it if I have easier options to use. That narrows possible decks a bit – both MO and SK have clearly superior discard options and other factions are pretty limited in using cards from their own graveyard, or at least they would rather the cards get to the graveyard via the board. But for drawing cards, there are better tutors (e.g. Oneiromancy) – unless we specifically want the card in our hand and not directly played to the board. And even then, NR has access to a leader (Pincer Maneuver) that does a much better job of drawing desired cards to hand. Two strategems also do better (Mask of Uroboros and Cursed Scroll), though these only help on blue coin. And Selective Mutation does better for adrenaline cards.

I don’t guess I will use Companions to get a juicy discard – it will have to be to tutor a card to my hand. But what do I need in hand instead of played to the board? Now the possibilities are really limited: initiative cards (Regis, Scorch, Igni, or Blizzard), cards that trigger another card’s effect if in hand (Serrit or Auckes, dragons for Eyck, Palmerin or Milton) cards that other cards can copy if in hand (bronze firesworn cards for Ulrich, special cards for Land of a Thousand Fables, bronze soldiers for Ramon, bronze NR units for Adalia, Bronze Units for Raffard’s Vengeance, 10 provision or lower monster units for Caranthir, bronze units for Operator, special cards for Fercart), cards that actually do something while in hand (Wanderers or Torque) or cards you really want to boost in hand (Aglais). I will not count cards that contribute toward or receive a minor boost if in hand.

Most of these listed options are simply not worth a 7-provision card to bring them to hand on a low tempo play. The only exceptions that strike me are the four initiative cards, Aglais, Torque (in a non-devotion deck), a handful of Caranthir targets, or possibly a couple of operator targets. Because there is a relatively high probability that a given card is drawn by round three (and thinning generates more points than Companions), and because there is a good chance that at least one of two bronze cards will be drawn round one, Companions will most benefit a deck that needs a particular gold card in hand in round 1. That leaves Aglais or non-devotion Torque.

Non-devotion opens a whole new realm of possibilities for a Torque deck. Companions gives that deck some much needed consistency. That is the deck where I first found Companions actually useful.
 
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