6 things you should know about playing GWENT

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Burza46

CD PROJEKT RED
6 things you should know about playing GWENT



The Closed Beta of GWENT is live and we’re happy to see first gamers duking it out! One of the coolest things about GWENT is that you can learn to play it in a couple of minutes. However, there are still plenty of things that can take you by surprise if you’re not looking in the right direction. Here’s a couple of tips that can help you play more efficiently. Here we go!


1. You are the Wild Card!
Bluffing and deception lie at the core of GWENT. You should always expect your opponent to try and trick you during a match. Sometimes it’s quite easy to call a bluff -- if your opponent is playing cards into weather on purpose, it can mean that they’ve got a Clear Weather card in their hand. Other times bluffs can be quite elaborate -- like when your opponent is playing a lot of disloyal cards, making you believe they’re giving up the round on purpose, where, in reality, they’re baiting you to pass the round instead and turn things around with a single card. But remember that you can bluff your way to victory, too. Even if you were unlucky during the draw and the cards you have in your hand don’t play well together, you can still deceive your opponent into thinking that you have a sleek play up your sleeve.


2. Avoid overloading your deck!
In GWENT you can create decks of up to 40 cards, with the minimum number of cards required in your deck being 25. These limits include both units and special cards. So what’s there to hold you back from creating a huge 40-card deck consisting of your most powerful units, weather and spell cards? Basically, the bigger your deck, the lower your chance of drawing a card you might actually need in a pinch during a match. The key when creating a deck is finding the right mix of cards with a game plan in mind, as well as a sweet spot for the number of cards that make it viable.


So, while it’s tempting to fill out your deck with strong units, it’s much better to create a smaller deck focusing on card synergy, where units and special cards work together to create mind bending combos. A good idea for a Monster deck, for example, is creating a deck that focuses on mustering breedable units, like Nekkers and Arachas. Having a Woodland Spirit lets you summon Rabid Wolves, which are also a breedable unit. Using them early will allow you to thin out your deck, leaving your strongest units up for the draw when you enter the next rounds. Using Monster Nest lets you create copies of every breedable unit on the board. Follow that with a Thunderbolt Potion and you’ve got yourself an army.




If your opponent isn’t willing to part with their removal spells or weather cards to counter this, then you get an idea of their tactics and also and easy win this round.


3. Don’t over invest during the first round!
You need to win two rounds to claim victory. If you play all your strongest cards during the first round, you’re basically handing your opponent the advantage in the rounds that follow. You don’t really want to do that, nor do you want to play more cards than you have to in order to secure a win after your opponent passes. Unless it’s the third round and you just want to rub it in.


A good idea for an opening is playing cards that will benefit you during the next two rounds. For Monsters, playing a couple of strong units first is a great option. It forces the opponent to play the same number of cards of equal value minimum or a couple of cards of lower value to match your board, and lets you start off the next round with a powerful unit. If you’re playing Skellige and your deck focuses on resurrecting units to make them more powerful, that means you should play all those units which benefit from this effect during first. Regardless of the outcome of the round, you’ll be set for some huge plays during the next rounds.


4. Always be aware of your side of the board!
In GWENT, some cards like Epidemic, Scorch or weather cards affect both sides of the board. So while it might be tempting to burn away the opponent’s strongest unit from the board, you should always check your side of the board beforehand.


5. Always try to vary the strength and type of units you’re playing!
Unit removal and debuff cards are sparse in GWENT, but when your opponent plays theirs, you want to be sure to minimize the blow you sustain. If you play a lot of units of the same strength or type, chances are that the opponent will be able to use that and take them all out or weaken them all in one fell swoop with the right spell or weather card.


6. Try to have at least one answer to weather cards in your deck!
So you’re totally dominating a round playing Northern Realms, for example. You’ve got a dozen of Melee units on the board. You think there’s nothing the opponent can do, victory is in the bag. Suddenly, the opponent pulls out a Biting Frost card, setting the strength of all non-Gold units on both Melee rows to 1. Playing a Monsters deck, your opponent’s Wild Hunt units on their side of the board are immune to the effect, giving them an advantage. The best way out of this is having a Clear Sky card, or any other card that can produce this effect. Unless you want your entire strategy to be ruined by one card, you’ll want to have something that makes you weatherproof in your hand.



Starting to feel like a GWENT pro already? Follow these tips next time you play and you’ll take a step in the right direction. And if you want to learn more, be sure to follow our Facebook and Twitter and check playgwent.com for more insights.


See you on the battlefield!
 
I wonder why 40 card decks are even allowed, is there any possibility they can be good or are they just a noob trap? If so, why allow them?
 
Skellige "shuffle your cards into the graveyard" decks might like bigger card decks. Not sure if they would benefit from 40 though.


Burza46 maybe work these tips into the tutorial instead of the "spend your big card first!" mess you've got so far as a tutorial? Because your hints are very good, while the tutorial is less than dubious.
 
Burza46;n6925300 said:
6. Try to have at least one answer to weather cards in your deck!

Having at least one weather card won't change anything. If you are using Dagon u can bet the opponent will have at least 2 more weather cards, especially the nasty "i can cover two rows with weather effects" cards. So in the end resistance is futile.
 

Guest 3857871

Guest
Dimeritium bomb and Aeromancy, two cards that can turn the tide of the battle even if your opponent had a +100 lead on you. Given most of their cards are not golden.
 
Vipstaakki;n6938800 said:
Dimeritium bomb and Aeromancy, two cards that can turn the tide of the battle even if your opponent had a +100 lead on you. Given most of their cards are not golden.
those two cards are good but atm they just don't fit my deck. i have to test that (meaning to add cards) in order to see how things develop.
 
This article helped me A LOT, never played GWENT because and with the help of this little guide I've been able to stop my horrible losing streak :)
 
Pyrofox;n6933200 said:
I wonder why 40 card decks are even allowed, is there any possibility they can be good or are they just a noob trap? If so, why allow them?

Early on when Ge'els/Monster Breeder was actually a thing having closer to 40 cards was much better for that deck. You played a bunch of cards that had Muster so you didn't want to draw multiples of the same unit. I had a lot of success with that deck running 35 - 40 cards compared to people i would play against who tried cutting it down to 25.
 
Can anybody explain me the 2nd point i.e regarding deck of cards and its functions.. ?. its liitle confusing ..
 
radev222;n8198740 said:
Can anybody explain me the 2nd point i.e regarding deck of cards and its functions.. ?. its liitle confusing ..

I'll start by explaining the whole second point deeper, as i can't understand what are you asking.

Cards usually have a base effective value. For example, you can have a silver card with 10 points and no effects(therefore 10 value), a gold card with 12 points(12 value), a card that has 4 points but it does 3 damage to the opponent and gains 2 points if the target survives(4+3+2=9 value), a card that boosts the value of maximum 5 cards from the same row by 4(4*5=20 max value), and the list can go on. I hope that now you can make an idea of the TRUE VALUE of the cards, and not just their face value.

Therefore, expanding on the previous explanation we can agree cards can be arranged by their true (maximum) value.

Giving a player that has for example 100 usable cards for the faction he is building his deck for, the first 40 cards might have an average value of 10. Cutting the number to 25 cards, the average value might jump to 11-12, effectively boosting the face value of the deck. (without considering combos, more on that in a second)

A second...

Furthermore, some cards combined will have an average TRUE VALUE higher than their face value. (for example 12 vs 8)

In most of the cases, even if the true value of the deck is the same for 25 and 40 cards, having less cards is most of the times (excepting some deck archetypes) advantageous, as we have a higher chance to draw our combos, therefore actually being able to utilize the true value of the cards.

This game is quite mathematical, so the value part is quite important in my opinion (considering, of course, the value done with both combos and raw power)

I guess i don't need to explain card types (units, weather, spells) as i believe the tutorial does a great job explaining them.

Next on the 2nd point there are example of combos, but unless you are familiarized with those cards, there is no point in bothering explaining them (you can click on them to see their effects and understand those combos). Anyway, the starter deck is simple in building combos, and with as less cards there are, you can actually build them by mistake and understand them later. (kudos GWENT for that!)


If there is anything left unexplained, or you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I believe you can have a fair and fun experience with this game (compared to other pay-ish to have fun games). Of course, that factor must be present in any free to play (f2p) game, and Gwent does a great job in balancing this aspect!
 
Pyrofox;n6933200 said:
I wonder why 40 card decks are even allowed, is there any possibility they can be good or are they just a noob trap? If so, why allow them?

Maybe in the future you can have some milling decks and 40 cards could be usefull.
 
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