Deck of the Day

[DRK3]

just a small suggestion. allow your "meta-killers" to be recogized by opening a new threat. this one gets quite large if you keep adding and some of these decks, especially the meme ones are worth keeping somewhre to be found later not burried by a totally different theme

btw big Congrats @DRK3 for making partner. nice to have at least one "old scholl forum" contributor in the ranks

I understand your concern, and suggestion to keep meme decks and competitive decks separated on different threads.
However, that's why i created the almighty INDEX. Im very proud of it, as it helps navigation through this thread much easier.

I will post it here again, but REMINDER the link can always be found on the 1st post on 1st page of the thread.

Deck of the Day Index

2021 KEY,LINK TO THREAD NG,Nilfgaard,<a href="https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/deck-of-the-day.11087713/">https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/deck-of-the-day.11087713/</a> SK,Skellige SY,Syndicate,Note: all decks are designed to use all provisions according to its...

docs.google.com

I will mark on the notes which decks are part of the 'Anti Meta Deck' series, so they will be easy to find.

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2021

This is a very interesting deck. I love your selection of highly interfering order cards and the artifacts to give them zeal.

Unfortunately, a lot of the recent metas have revolved around cards that play for immediate value while keeping low profiles (swarms, drill, cleaver, eist, siege, etc.) Does it generate enough points when the big cards have no good targets?

Sorry, i almost missed your post while answering others and writing other stuff, but i dont want to leave questions unanswered here.

Like i said, i didnt properly test the deck as i didnt have much time, and also maybe the deck guide should be more clear.

Tempo is a very important, and the strategy with this NG Zeal deck is to play high tempo R1 with blightmakers and albrich+affan, so then you can get to R3 and can afford to play low tempo by playing the potions.

You can also do this if you're on red coin on R1 - i was playing against another NG, the moment i played the zeal potion on R1 he immediately passed, as he (correctly) suspected shenanigans - it was a 27pt Regis HV.

Also this happened on R3 (he probably learned the hard way not to play the stefan skellen he stole with my yen invo against an imposter player... )

On another match, it was a reckless flurry... i use amnesty on madoc and he forfeits, im really starting to love these wins vs Madoc players, just like i did heatwaving scenarios during double/triple ball times.

 

[DRK3]

Well, sh*t...
My intention was to post the 1st deck of the 'Anti-Meta Series Week' today.

Unfortunately, i ran to some unpredicted issues - i built my Anti- SK Flurry list, i played around 20 matches yesterday with it... and didnt face a SINGLE Reckless Flurry
Half of them were annoying NG Mill or Tactical Decision. I even faced 4 SK leaders - Rage of the Sea, Battle Trance, Ursine Ritual and Patricidal Fury - which in theory are all less popular than Flurry...

I think my mistake was playing in training mode, so today i will play in Ranked, i am in the tryhard' ranks so it shouldnt be so hard to find, the problem is this type of decks are designed to beat one metadeck and not care if they lose against the others, so it might be painful when fighting other metadecks...

Another suggestion/request i have - is anyone interested in helping me out trying these matchups in friendly matches?
I warn its an ungrateful job - i dont have the means to pay (i wish you could give scraps or ore to other players, it would solve this issue), i will only credit the person on the respective deckguide.
Also, ideally it would be someone with a decent grasp of all metadecks, and that has access to all cards, or at least the ones in the metadecks (i would try my anti-meta deck, first on a surprise basis (they wouldnt know what im packing), then with open decklist, to see if the anti meta deck still holds up.

I know im asking a lot, and it doesnt have to be a single player to help always, i would prefer to switch sparring partners to not burden too much work on a single user. Thanks (i will still try to build and test these anti metadecks in the meantime).

 

[jed9653]

Well, sh*t...
My intention was to post the 1st deck of the 'Anti-Meta Series Week' today.

Unfortunately, i ran to some unpredicted issues - i built my Anti- SK Flurry list, i played around 20 matches yesterday with it... and didnt face a SINGLE Reckless Flurry
Half of them were annoying NG Mill or Tactical Decision. I even faced 4 SK leaders - Rage of the Sea, Battle Trance, Ursine Ritual and Patricidal Fury - which in theory are all less popular than Flurry...

I think my mistake was playing in training mode, so today i will play in Ranked, i am in the tryhard' ranks so it shouldnt be so hard to find, the problem is this type of decks are designed to beat one metadeck and not care if they lose against the others, so it might be painful when fighting other metadecks...

Another suggestion/request i have - is anyone interested in helping me out trying these matchups in friendly matches?
I warn its an ungrateful job - i dont have the means to pay (i wish you could give scraps or ore to other players, it would solve this issue), i will only credit the person on the respective deckguide.
Also, ideally it would be someone with a decent grasp of all metadecks, and that has access to all cards, or at least the ones in the metadecks (i would try my anti-meta deck, first on a surprise basis (they wouldnt know what im packing), then with open decklist, to see if the anti meta deck still holds up.

I know im asking a lot, and it doesnt have to be a single player to help always, i would prefer to switch sparring partners to not burden too much work on a single user. Thanks (i will still try to build and test these anti metadecks in the meantime).

If I didn't have such a narrow window in which I play, along with the time difference (USA), I'd love to help. Highest I've gone in ranked is 3, and have all but 7 cards I believe (all missing cards are neutral)

 

[Molock7]

Another suggestion/request i have - is anyone interested in helping me out trying these matchups in friendly matches?
I warn its an ungrateful job - i dont have the means to pay (i wish you could give scraps or ore to other players, it would solve this issue), i will only credit the person on the respective deckguide.
Also, ideally it would be someone with a decent grasp of all metadecks, and that has access to all cards, or at least the ones in the metadecks (i would try my anti-meta deck, first on a surprise basis (they wouldnt know what im packing), then with open decklist, to see if the anti meta deck still holds up.

I know im asking a lot, and it doesnt have to be a single player to help always, i would prefer to switch sparring partners to not burden too much work on a single user. Thanks (i will still try to build and test these anti metadecks in the meantime).

Hello,
I would be really happy to help you if I can, I often share your point of view(not always ) and 'm very gratefull for your job in original decks.

I've all the cards, 1200+ hours since HC (i'm there since beginning of open beta), have been in pro rank from time to time (even if it does not mean that much...) and don't expect any rewards apart playing some fresh orginal challenging games.

So if I can help you from time to time don't hesitate ! (I do not garanty top200 player level )

edit: previous user rise intersting point... what is your timezone ?

 

[DRK3]

Thank you for the swift response and willing to cooperate with me.
You (and others) dont need to prove yourselves as pro players or anything, just have a decent grasp of how to play metadecks, that isnt hard at all, even players that start weeks/ couple of months can quickly learn how to play most metadecks.
The other condition - having the cards - is a little bit less flexible, unfortunately.

@jed9653 Thank you, maybe you wont be able to help with this one due to missing cards, but maybe can help with another.
For this week, besides the SK Flurry, the other 3 i need to do anti decks are:
A) MO sabbath/ Koschey
B) NR blue stripes siege (seems the strongest of the NR metadecks)
C) SY Jackpot

And please dont feel pressured to craft cards you dont like just to help me out.

@Molock7 Thank you, i thought i already had you in my friend list, but it doesnt seem so, please add me.

Regarding the timezones question, im GMT (1 hour less than CEST i think, except that daylight savings time stuff messes a bit, so it might be the same hour this time of year).
But im a nocturnal creature, i often play up to 2-3 AM, so that's no problem, and can also play on the afternoon (here).

 

[EduFerraz]

Well, sh*t...
My intention was to post the 1st deck of the 'Anti-Meta Series Week' today.

Unfortunately, i ran to some unpredicted issues - i built my Anti- SK Flurry list, i played around 20 matches yesterday with it... and didnt face a SINGLE Reckless Flurry
Half of them were annoying NG Mill or Tactical Decision. I even faced 4 SK leaders - Rage of the Sea, Battle Trance, Ursine Ritual and Patricidal Fury - which in theory are all less popular than Flurry...

I think my mistake was playing in training mode, so today i will play in Ranked, i am in the tryhard' ranks so it shouldnt be so hard to find, the problem is this type of decks are designed to beat one metadeck and not care if they lose against the others, so it might be painful when fighting other metadecks...

Another suggestion/request i have - is anyone interested in helping me out trying these matchups in friendly matches?
I warn its an ungrateful job - i dont have the means to pay (i wish you could give scraps or ore to other players, it would solve this issue), i will only credit the person on the respective deckguide.
Also, ideally it would be someone with a decent grasp of all metadecks, and that has access to all cards, or at least the ones in the metadecks (i would try my anti-meta deck, first on a surprise basis (they wouldnt know what im packing), then with open decklist, to see if the anti meta deck still holds up.

I know im asking a lot, and it doesnt have to be a single player to help always, i would prefer to switch sparring partners to not burden too much work on a single user. Thanks (i will still try to build and test these anti metadecks in the meantime).

ii would love to help you in that.

Just add me

EduFerraz.

Also, i have all the cards, so you can ask me to create any deck you whant to face

Post automatically merged: Jul 20, 2021

Thank you for the swift response and willing to cooperate with me.
You (and others) dont need to prove yourselves as pro players or anything, just have a decent grasp of how to play metadecks, that isnt hard at all, even players that start weeks/ couple of months can quickly learn how to play most metadecks.
The other condition - having the cards - is a little bit less flexible, unfortunately.

@jed9653 Thank you, maybe you wont be able to help with this one due to missing cards, but maybe can help with another.
For this week, besides the SK Flurry, the other 3 i need to do anti decks are:
A) MO sabbath/ Koschey
B) NR blue stripes siege (seems the strongest of the NR metadecks)
C) SY Jackpot

And please dont feel pressured to craft cards you dont like just to help me out.

@Molock7 Thank you, i thought i already had you in my friend list, but it doesnt seem so, please add me.

Regarding the timezones question, im GMT (1 hour less than CEST i think, except that daylight savings time stuff messes a bit, so it might be the same hour this time of year).
But im a nocturnal creature, i often play up to 2-3 AM, so that's no problem, and can also play on the afternoon (here).

I think for SY the strongest deck its lined pockets Spyroza deck

 

[Molock7]

@Molock7 Thank you, i thought i already had you in my friend list, but it doesnt seem so, please add me.

Regarding the timezones question, im GMT (1 hour less than CEST i think, except that daylight savings time stuff messes a bit, so it might be the same hour this time of year).
But im a nocturnal creature, i often play up to 2-3 AM, so that's no problem, and can also play on the afternoon (here).

Friend invite sent.
I'm in CEST so, just one hour .

 

[jed9653]

Thank you for the swift response and willing to cooperate with me.
You (and others) dont need to prove yourselves as pro players or anything, just have a decent grasp of how to play metadecks, that isnt hard at all, even players that start weeks/ couple of months can quickly learn how to play most metadecks.
The other condition - having the cards - is a little bit less flexible, unfortunately.

@jed9653 Thank you, maybe you wont be able to help with this one due to missing cards, but maybe can help with another.
For this week, besides the SK Flurry, the other 3 i need to do anti decks are:
A) MO sabbath/ Koschey
B) NR blue stripes siege (seems the strongest of the NR metadecks)
C) SY Jackpot

And please dont feel pressured to craft cards you dont like just to help me out.

@Molock7 Thank you, i thought i already had you in my friend list, but it doesnt seem so, please add me.

Regarding the timezones question, im GMT (1 hour less than CEST i think, except that daylight savings time stuff messes a bit, so it might be the same hour this time of year).
But im a nocturnal creature, i often play up to 2-3 AM, so that's no problem, and can also play on the afternoon (here).

Yay! I plan on crafting the full collection as I get resources, but my missing cards are:

Vigo's Muzzle
Uma's Curse
Aguara TF
Phoenix
Iris: Shade
Wolfsbane
Aguara
Tesham Mutna Sword

Also sent you a friend request.

 

[DRK3]

Here we go, i officially declare the beginning of...

ANTI-METADECK WEEK

I chose a few top metadecks, and i will design a specific deck to counter them as best as possible.
Today we start with Anti- Reckless Flurry, as i considered it one of the easiest to counter.

I will also post some thought processes and alternatives that occurred to me as i was trying to build this deck, you can read it if you're interested. Note i dont promise to do this for all upcoming anti-metadecks.

Finally, credit to @Molock7 for helping me out testing this anti metadeck, when i was having trouble finding it as random opponents. The metadeck version that was used as basis was the TLG version, found on their metareport.

[DECK OF 21-07-21]
[ANTI-META (RECKLESS FLURRY)]

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.

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i said these anti-metadecks will be designed to counter 1 metadeck and dont care if they lose 100% against other decks.
This one is not the case - the downside is that its not guaranteed to win against reckless flurry (i actually lost a match with it, but very close), but i would still say you're favoured against it. The upside? Of the 20 matches i did with it against other decks while trying to find Reckless Flurries, i won most, ironically i even won against some of the metadecks that will have an anti deck on the following days!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOUGHT PROCESSES

Some of this deck choices might seem weird, but i assure you they were picked to take advantage of Reckless Flurry's weaknesses:

-Glorious Hunt is a card rarely seen, even more so on MO decks. But its 1pr cheaper than CoC, and more importantly it targets base strength, not current strength, so it will easily target GS even if they're at 4/7 and even if i have consume units at 10/15pts.

-I went the consume route instead of tall units so you dont give too much value to Junod or Heatwave.

-Slyzard and barbegazi wouldnt be my 1st choice against other decks, but since there are no bombs that do more than 4 dmg, it forces RF to use leader charges if they really want to kill those, wasting 1-2pts of dmg.

-Flurry doesnt have locks, almost no tall control except heatwave and Hjalmar and a lot of indirect damage, this makes it awkward for them if you play DW units, they kill them and you dont even need to consume, they're doing the work for you.

ALTERNATIVES

I thought of 5 possibilities when countering Reckless Flurry:

I) Using their tons of damage against them, with Deathwish (seen above).

II) Also taking advantage of their damage, but with SK self damage. But i think this wouldnt be as effective - they would kill the svlablod fanatics from totem with bombs, blueboy lugos would just die, also defender to protect a possible flaminica would die to heatwave or Junod. The pirate deathwish ship would be fun, but the pirate archetype is too based on damage too, so not good vs reckless flurry.

III) Madoc Madness - one of the best ways to counter RF is to counter Madoc, i recommend Cipryan Wiley for a very effective way. But an alternative is reversing the Madoc against them, going NG double Madoc, stealing their Madoc, possibly getting a 4th one with coup, 4 Madocs vs 0 of them is an insta win (i had a match with double madoc vs RF and crushed them, and my deck wasnt even optimized to counter them at all)

IV) Unitless - this is probably effective, giving them no targets for damage. the problem is winning R1 since RF has so many points. Also it would likely have to be ST unitless, which is not very original and im not a fan of. And immunity wouldnt be good because the leader charges can still target immune units.

V) Precision Control - this is probably the most spectacular way to counter RF but also the hardest. What i mean by precision control are things like scorch, Igni and Schirru, you would have to line them up, probably with something like ST precision strike or guerrilla tactics. RF has a lot of 7, 8 and 10pt units to make some amazing megaburns.

Extra) I really wanted to use Olgierd Immortal, it would absorb a lot of damage and the only counter RF has would be heatwave. Also its funny how Living Armour is immune to leader RF leader charges - they bypass armor, so it targets the points, but since the armor is at 10, the strength of the unit immediately reverts to 10!

 

[DRK3]

Today its time to counter NR.
There are actually 3 variations that are popular in the meta - but all include Siege.
I chose what i considered is the strongest and hardest to counter of those 3, to make an anti-deck: the Blue Stripes Siege.

Credits to @jed9653 for helping me out testing this one last night.

MESSAGE: i figured out a small way to repay the favour of these players that are helping me - i am unable to get items from Shupe's shop with real money, but i have more than enough Meteorite Powder, and the 400/800 MP packs are possible to gift to friends.

So i will gift any of these to these players as requested, and it doesnt have to be in the moment they help, if there isnt any pack they like, we can wait a month or two until there is one they like and i will get it for them then.
Also, this offer is retroactive, @Molock7 who already helped me out this week can take it anytime he wants.

[DECK OF 22-07-21]
[ANTI-META (BS SIEGE)]

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.

www.playgwent.com

BS Siege is so strong and popular for several reasons, one of them is - it relies on two strategies that are really good against NG.
NG is usually the best to counter NR, but the locks and poison arent very good against blue stripes because of the inspired zeal charges, not giving NG a chance to stop them. Also, NG rarely uses Heatwave, so using a damage scenario like siege against them is great.

Well, i went ahead and used NG anyway to counter it, but in a different control style. If this deck wasnt a part of this series, its name would be 'Seize Fest'.

Sidenote: i was very excited to counter this deck, my initial plan was to use Angouleme, some of the best fun i've had is using opponent's scenarios against them with Angouleme copycat decks. Unfortunately i had to give up on that idea, because of megascopes. This 4pr artefact basically ruined Angouleme, which was already binary (worth a ton in some matches, a brick in others), because now she can lowroll on artefacts not worth her provisions, while before it was a guaranteed scenario or location.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALTERNATIVES

Blue Stripes Siege isnt easy to counter. The Siege is obvious - use heatwave, and control to deal with reinforced ballistae.
But the blue stripes, regular removal isnt good enough. But there's a few options:

I) Seize all the blue stripes. This was the best option IMO, so i went with it.

II) Banish all the blue stripes. Ive tried such a deck a few months ago, but it wasnt good enough. You have 2 banish bombs, good, Regis Bloodlust is too expensive for its value. Also Xavier Lemmens isnt as effective, since now he can only banish once per turn, and stuffing a deck with squirrels doesnt seem wise. Besides, Pavetta is usually the 1st play on R2, sometimes there's no chance to do GY banishes.

III) Destroy all blue stripes before they are copied with BS scouts, megascopes or foltest. This strategy is a good backup plan, and even employed by the deck i posted when seizing isnt available. But if the BS go to the GY, they will be sent back to deck with Pavetta, you are doing well for that round, but not countering their value for later rounds.

Also, it isnt easy to counter the Roche Merciless play, which puts 2 BS with order next turn, that need to be countered immediately. You can use some leaders like enslave, imposter, imprisonment, SY blood money, ST PS or GT, etc.
But without commiting leader (since this play is usually done R1), there's a few ways too, that rely on having engines with damage setup. In this deck i used tactics and tactic engines, but it can also be done with enforcers and mage infiltrators, with SY freakshow or tunnel drill, or locking them with auckes with serrit in hand (this can also be done on R3, to lock as many BS as there are!

IV) Letting the blue stripes copy and swarm... Then bringing the pain!
This is a bit dangerous, but possible. Row punishment like lacerate, surrender, Tinboy, double ST row trap (sorry never remember the name), sabrina or even dragon's dream. Or Lambert SM or Gimpy Gerwin.
Or you play with fire, and try to have a massive Igni, but its tricky, since one of the BS is always buffed by inspired zeal charge, so you need to either move it or damage it to 4 like the rest, and also the initiative condition of Igni, otherwise it needs 35 pts.
Or if you're really insane, you can try blizzard all the BS, even funnier *players googling what's 'Blizzard'

 

[DRK3]

Today's anti deck is a result from a request from @Tucoffin . He's also the one who helped me test it out today, however we both didnt have much time available, unfortunately, so there was only one match, where usually i consider 3-4 matches the ideal when testing these anti decks.

Even worse, i LOST, which isnt promising for a deck designed to counter another, however in its defense i made a HUGE mistake at the end of R1, plus a few more on R2, which lead to a short R3, which spells doom for this matchup.

[DECK OF 23-07-21]
[ANTI-META (SABBATH KOSCHEY] (A.K.A. 'ORDERLY FASHION' A.K.A. TRIPLE SHANI)

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.

www.playgwent.com

To be perfectly honest, i kinda cheated on this one.
I built it with Sabbath Koschey in mind, but also with an idea i had on the 'to-do list' since Shani got reworked.

Also, i went devotion, mainly for kerack marines, but arguably that devotion is wasted by not using foltest (on dun banners which are included), specially against a deck like Koschey which has little control, making Foltest more likely to go unchecked.
I sacrificed strength for memes (triple shani!), but you dont have to do the same - Priscilla or viraxas can be traded for Foltest, with some minor prov adjusments on the lower end.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOUGHT PROCESSES

I chose NR to counter Koschey because i wanted to deliver on the request that was made, otherwise i would generally recommend NG or SY to counter Sabbath Koschey, not because those factions are really strong but because they have the best tools to punish and control MO. Still, NR can also get the job done.

Why is Sabbath Koschey so strong?

There are a few reasons:
-Its a combination of cheap pointslam with hard to remove 2pt per turn bronze engines (endrega larvae, witch apprentices)
-Its threatening on red coin, you cant pass R1 with the prospect of she who knows being played after, leading to a scary push R2 and if you survive, an even scarier short R3
-Caranthir Koschey its the strongest play in this deck. Why? Even if you have counters ready for the 2 koscheys, as soon as they're played, they still get value from the endrega larvae spawned, and them being 2pts now instead of 1 makes a big difference, even Yrden isnt a good counter

Best way to beat Sabbath Koschey?

Engines and long rounds. This is what i did here with NR and arbalests, but any engine-heavy deck from any faction will do. For example, ST movement, NG assimilate (copying their amazing bronzes) or many other NR archetypes (ideally not ones with random pings, because thrive and armor reduces that value).
Remember their bronze engines are 2pt per turn, so your engines need to do that too or even better. With a lack of control, engines can run rampant and beat pointslam, by controlling the match and deciding for a long R1 and a long R3.

Spoiler

I would say the absolute best way to counter Koschey (the first one, spawned by caranthir, which is more vital to counter than the 2nd) is sweers, but any seize is good.

Sidenote: i urge you to try this deck, it might seem weird to use a NR deck without siege, but ironically it was able to beat BS Siege (which had a different counter deck), after winning R1 against siege, with a lot of commitment, but no BS copying, then R3, without carryover the BS weren't a match for control engines.

 

[jed9653]

Sidenote: i urge you to try this deck, it might seem weird to use a NR deck without siege, but ironically it was able to beat BS Siege (which had a different counter deck), after winning R1 against siege, with a lot of commitment, but no BS copying, then R3, without carryover the BS weren't a match for control engines.

I still wake up from the nightmares of that counter deck

 

[Tucoffin]

@DRK3 You have my appreciation for coming up with the deck, and one single match cannot determine whether it's effective or not. If nothing else, I may use it just as an excuse to play some Shieldwall (it's been a while).

 

[DRK3]

And we have arrived to the end of ...

ANTI-METADECK WEEK

My plan was to make this a 'monday to sunday' thing, unfortunately i wasnt able to do that, but 'wednesday to (next) monday' is technically still within the span of a week.


I left the hardest (to counter) for last - Syndicate. Originally, it was the Jackpot list that i intended to target, but the meta shifted a bit in these weeks and suddenly the lined pockets list became more prevalent. Also, to make my job tougher, there are different variations.

And instead of picking one version and ignoring the rest, i did a mish-mash that does better against a certain version of Lined Pockets, but will probably also do well against Jackpot or other LP variants.

Finally, thanks to @EduFerraz for helping me test out this one, but also discussing the strategies and counter strategies behind them.

[DECK OF 26-07-21]
[ANTI-META (LINED POCKETS)]

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.

www.playgwent.com

First of all, i just loved the idea of beating the strongest faction in the meta, the one that always gets the bans in the tournaments, the one always in tier 1 in the meta reports... with the faction considered the weakest right now - ST. And not even one of the most popular leaders from ST, but its the right one for the job! I hope you @rrc like it!

Second, i am not a big ST player at all, but within that faction, elves and traps are my favourite, and im happy to finally do a deck for them on this thread. I've got a LOT of experience with these archetypes (loved traps back in the beta, and my highest winstreak to this day was with an elf swarm deck), and this deck is way harder to pilot than standard elves or regular elf+traps.

Third, the metadeck version this is best prepared to counter its the TLG version (which uses Philippa), not the Team Elder Blood version (which uses Heatwave). I wouldnt recommend a scenario deck against decks with heatwave, because you're giving value to that card. Replace scenario with vernossiel to be stronger vs heatwave variant, if you wish. For Phillipa, there arent good targets for her here, either way.

To make my life tougher, i played against a deck that uses Heatwave and Professor, instead of Philippa and Witchfinder.
I've also used this deck against other decks and it performed really well (70+% winrate)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOUGHT PROCESSES:

I wasnt able to play during the weekend, but i had a lot of time to think and decide what's the best way to counter SY decks. ST wasnt picked randomly, it was chosen for two reasons: Schirru and traps.

The most powerful combo LP has is Cleaver and tunnel drill, so i knew i had to focus on countering that, possibly in multiple ways.
That is not a new task for me - LP was also super dominant in March/April, and i reached pro rank by targetting them, doing something similar to this deck - locking Cleaver to make sure he stays at 5pts and Igni'ing a row full of 5s... with MO deathwish (nobody expects it there for sure!)

Well, Igni is great, but it requires no higher units and initiative... But ST has Schirru, who doesnt care about higher or lower units!
Note: i also considered using scorch or blizzard, but that was too insane even for me.

The most popular leader for Schirru is obviously Precision Strike. Also its popular to use Isengrim's council and/or call of the forest, to be able to summon Schirru at 4/5 and have more versatility on the value you want Schirru to burn.
But we dont need that versatility here, it will always be at 5 unless coerced blacksmith ruins our plans. Also, Isengrim's council doesnt allow for an elf deck, COTF is too expensive. And Guerrilla Tactics instead of Precision Strike makes Schirru more surprising, and all you need is a single charge to put him at 5 - my trusty opponent confirmed he did not see Schirru coming.

The other alternative to counter Cleaver is a proactive method, in this case traps.
But since he was nerfed to 1pt strength, no armor, he can actually be countered this way by another faction - SK, with Arnachad or just a measly an craite longship, in the same fashion it can be used to kill a Kolgrim before it boosts (hilarious!). That's an anti-deck alternative right there.

Also, you may find strange there's no crushing traps in this trap deck. Stranger even, when i tell you its my favourite trap. But i didnt use it because that trap is very bad against LP, and besides you got Schirru for wide punishment (amazing against Arachas swarm)

The pitfall trap in particular is risky too, it might mess up the Schirru, so i recommend it to either play after Schirru, or before in hopes of hitting cleaver. And the serpent trap was included mostly for Sunset Wanderers, it wont brick since so many of LP cards are specials, but it might induce a pass if its done against a R2 bleed (which cost me one of the matches )

Oh, and Cyprian Wiley, i cant understand why i never see anyone else using him, its a must for every non-devotion deck, since all SY decks use flying ship, and there's also a lot of madocs. He's probably the card i consider most underrated.

 

[EduFerraz]

And we have arrived to the end of ...

ANTI-METADECK WEEK

My plan was to make this a 'monday to sunday' thing, unfortunately i wasnt able to do that, but 'wednesday to (next) monday' is technically still within the span of a week.


I left the hardest (to counter) for last - Syndicate. Originally, it was the Jackpot list that i intended to target, but the meta shifted a bit in these weeks and suddenly the lined pockets list became more prevalent. Also, to make my job tougher, there are different variations.

And instead of picking one version and ignoring the rest, i did a mish-mash that does better against a certain version of Lined Pockets, but will probably also do well against Jackpot or other LP variants.

Finally, thanks to @EduFerraz for helping me test out this one, but also discussing the strategies and counter strategies behind them.

[DECK OF 26-07-21]
[ANTI-META (LINED POCKETS)]

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First of all, i just loved the idea of beating the strongest faction in the meta, the one that always gets the bans in the tournaments, the one always in tier 1 in the meta reports... with the faction considered the weakest right now - ST. And not even one of the most popular leaders from ST, but its the right one for the job! I hope you @rrc like it!

Second, i am not a big ST player at all, but within that faction, elves and traps are my favourite, and im happy to finally do a deck for them on this thread. I've got a LOT of experience with these archetypes (loved traps back in the beta, and my highest winstreak to this day was with an elf swarm deck), and this deck is way harder to pilot than standard elves or regular elf+traps.

Third, the metadeck version this is best prepared to counter its the TLG version (which uses Philippa), not the Team Elder Blood version (which uses Heatwave). I wouldnt recommend a scenario deck against decks with heatwave, because you're giving value to that card. Replace scenario with vernossiel to be stronger vs heatwave variant, if you wish. For Phillipa, there arent good targets for her here, either way.

To make my life tougher, i played against a deck that uses Heatwave and Professor, instead of Philippa and Witchfinder.
I've also used this deck against other decks and it performed really well (70+% winrate)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOUGHT PROCESSES:

I wasnt able to play during the weekend, but i had a lot of time to think and decide what's the best way to counter SY decks. ST wasnt picked randomly, it was chosen for two reasons: Schirru and traps.

The most powerful combo LP has is Cleaver and tunnel drill, so i knew i had to focus on countering that, possibly in multiple ways.
That is not a new task for me - LP was also super dominant in March/April, and i reached pro rank by targetting them, doing something similar to this deck - locking Cleaver to make sure he stays at 5pts and Igni'ing a row full of 5s... with MO deathwish (nobody expects it there for sure!)

Well, Igni is great, but it requires no higher units and initiative... But ST has Schirru, who doesnt care about higher or lower units!
Note: i also considered using scorch or blizzard, but that was too insane even for me.

The most popular leader for Schirru is obviously Precision Strike. Also its popular to use Isengrim's council and/or call of the forest, to be able to summon Schirru at 4/5 and have more versatility on the value you want Schirru to burn.
But we dont need that versatility here, it will always be at 5 unless coerced blacksmith ruins our plans. Also, Isengrim's council doesnt allow for an elf deck, COTF is too expensive. And Guerrilla Tactics instead of Precision Strike makes Schirru more surprising, and all you need is a single charge to put him at 5 - my trusty opponent confirmed he did not see Schirru coming.

The other alternative to counter Cleaver is a proactive method, in this case traps.
But since he was nerfed to 1pt strength, no armor, he can actually be countered this way by another faction - SK, with Arnachad or just a measly an craite longship, in the same fashion it can be used to kill a Kolgrim before it boosts (hilarious!). That's an anti-deck alternative right there.

Also, you may find strange there's no crushing traps in this trap deck. Stranger even, when i tell you its my favourite trap. But i didnt use it because that trap is very bad against LP, and besides you got Schirru for wide punishment (amazing against Arachas swarm)

The pitfall trap in particular is risky too, it might mess up the Schirru, so i recommend it to either play after Schirru, or before in hopes of hitting cleaver. And the serpent trap was included mostly for Sunset Wanderers, it wont brick since so many of LP cards are specials, but it might induce a pass if its done against a R2 bleed (which cost me one of the matches )

Oh, and Cyprian Wiley, i cant understand why i never see anyone else using him, its a must for every non-devotion deck, since all SY decks use flying ship, and there's also a lot of madocs. He's probably the card i consider most underrated.

Well, those were amazing play.

I start playing knowing He has everything to try to counter me, but when i see The leader He choose i have no clube what was going on.

I have to say... Schirru is AMAZING in this deck, its The "icing on the cake". When He first came i Just though.... Uh oh (and i was with shupe skin and i thought in say that meme only after He played schirru).

What can i say? Schirru took me of a lot of points and a lot of coins.

As DRK3 said, my deck its a little different from the meta, só i was using heatwave in The place of phillipa and also professor in The place of witchfinder, so my Life was a little better facing this deck (since i could heatwave cenário).

Also, since i was playing professor, i didnt realyze how good saess... (The Dragon) its good against witchfinder. I mean,she play for 7 body and 3 coins and nothing ele, since all the bountys goes in The Dragon and she gots imunity.

Its a really good deck. LP its tier 1, so its not that easy to beat it, even using a deck made only to beat it, but with this deck you are favorable.


For the Last, i really enjoy help you DRK3, i hope i could help you again in The future.

Also, i was "working" while i was playing, so i forget to take some screenshots, i dont know If you take it

 

[DRK3]

Also, i was "working" while i was playing, so i forget to take some screenshots, i dont know If you take it

I sure did, im a 'screenshotaholic', got thousands upon thousands of screenshots of Gwent taken over 4+ years, perfectly organized and divided in folders for each month.

I will post now screenies of some of these anti-metadeck series test matches, by chronological order.

I only got one from this anti-deck matches, and it's a defeat But the other matches were a win, and this one was a defeat after a banish bomb i wasnt counting on, against a 1pt Dethlaff HV spawned by Caranthir.

When you think you're going to 2-0 against Blue Stripes, then Hubbert comes out and ruins your plans...

This was an unplanned match, its actually the Anti-Koschey deck vs BS siege. And fortunately it went my way, because there were no BS on R1/2 (all the ones you see were copied on R3) and i managed to stop them from copying on melee row too.

This one was a tragedy - a R1 perfectly played, got 20+ points of engine value out of those 3 up front... until i completely screw it up, just moments after this, by letting him win R1 because i miscalculated the points and didnt want to commit shani and vincent was waiting for she who knows.

This is a nice Schirru. I could've waited longer (this was the first time my opponent was seeing Schirru, so there was still the surprise factor, but i didnt want to risk it so i took the chance. i still lost this match, because i had already commited scenario R1, eldain had to come out R2 and had nothing left for R3.

This is the match i finally won against LP, but it was stressful. At the moment of screenie, im 25pts ahead, but opp has full purse, full leader, a bounty target on my side, and his last card is none other than freakshow, so a boardwipe was coming... luckily it wasnt enough and i won by 2.

 

[jed9653]

View attachment 11240128
When you think you're going to 2-0 against Blue Stripes, then Hubbert comes out and ruins your plans...
View attachment 11240131
This was an unplanned match, its actually the Anti-Koschey deck vs BS siege. And fortunately it went my way, because there were no BS on R1/2 (all the ones you see were copied on R3) and i managed to stop them from copying on melee row too.

These matches were absolute rollercoasters and I loved them! Thanks for the opportunity, especially with the huge time difference.

 

[DRK3]

These matches were absolute rollercoasters and I loved them! Thanks for the opportunity, especially with the huge time difference.

No problem, i am the one who needs to say thanks, to you players that helped me. And let you know we can play with any other decks, it doesnt have to be only when im testing decks and making you use decks perhaps you dont even like, i am open to "free" matches, with you or any other forum user who's interested, send me a PM in that case.


ANNOUNCEMENT:

i will do 2-3 more decks this week (one of them is already built and being tested), to finish up all loose ends i got on my 'deck idea list'. Then i will take a short break until the update comes with new cards, and hopefully start blasting new decks right from August 3rd

 

[EduFerraz]

That second game was amazing.

I dunno where i was in my mind, but After schirru, i have continue playing The round 2 and it workt.

Well, in fact, against traps i Will try to always bleed, but sometimes its dificult, in The first game you passed in round 1 when i was going to pass, so i needed to spent all the coins, and 2 leaders coins to take The round

 

[DRK3]

Today's deck is the result of a request earlier this month.
@Tucoffin i didnt forget Here's a Belohun deck!

[DECK OF 28-07-21]
[BELOFUN]

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.

www.playgwent.com

I like the deck, but NR devotion feels very restrictive.
Not having a good way to deal with defenders sucks, Anseis + shieldwall is probably the best way, but i wanted to use a different leader.
And you feel like you must use Foltest+ dun banners or blue stripes or you're wasting potential.

BELOHUN ANALYSIS

I believe this card could use a buff.
I love the concept, and it synergizes really well with Coen, another mid provision card that needs you to build the deck around to get the most of.

But the statline is all wrong: it has a 5pt body, 8 provisions. With devotion, boosts units played TO 5 if they're lower, without devotion, to 4.
Well, playing this without devotion simply isnt worth it. And NR simply doesnt have enough cards to pay off.
And at 5, he's way too easy to remove, needs additional protection.

-I considered using Siege scenario and machines, but they're all 3-5 and wont get much value from Belohun

-I considered using Shieldwall to protect Belohun, but ended up with Mobilization to create another engine. Why? The matchups are very binary, against most decks, i was able to keep Belohun active, while against NG and to a lesser extent SY, no matter how many defenders, boosts, purifies i try to use to protect him, it's never enough anyway, so the extra protection seems redundant.

My suggestion to buff Belohun, after some consideration, is to increase his provisions to 9, but buff him to 6 to make him harder to remove since he's an engine that needs to stick for a long round to pay off, and buff his effect to 6/5 (dev/ non dev).