Deck of the Day

[DRK3]

Today's deck uses one of my favourite concepts: build a deck around a 4 provision card!
And it was one that got a huge buff last patch, but apparently wasnt enough to make it popular, but it is enough to get my attention.

[DECK OF 06-11-21]
[ADDICT ALLEY]

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

Making wretched addict buff by 2pts per turn instead of 1 is a huge difference.
It's akin to a witch apprentice, or other boost 2 pts per turn gold engines, however, its cheaper cost is justified for two reasons: its much harder to setup (the turn its played its vulnerable at 4pts, or you need to have a self poison on order, which there are two, but then its those units that are vulnerable), and it goes quite tall but its poisoned, so its a risk if your opponent has poisons, they got half the job done for them...

Self poison is still a tough archetype to use, and the temptation to use those poison cards offensively is always there. That's why i think i made a good choice with the top end of the deck (Yrden, Heatwave, Philippa) - they are hated cards, and you are free to change them since they're not essential to the decks strategy - because they allow for massive disruption of opponents strategy quickly, while going for offensive poisons would take 2 turns for a single enemy unit.

The leader choice was also to have a quick control tool without wasting a turn, and it will make opponents think your bounty (the only bounty card in this deck is Kurt, to either purify or use with leader).
This deck doesnt have many spenders and also doesnt need many coins, mostly for Philippa and Igor. For Philippa, those coins should come from Kurt/ leader, and for Igor they should come from self poison Bleinheim combo.

Finally - Salamandra. That cutie was considered for this deck, but there was a huge risk it would kill our wretched addicts, or if it was used to poison several of them, you would waste engine potential on setting all the addicts up (where they would be very vulnerable to removal) before actually poisoning them, so i think the bleinheim combo works better here.

My opponent committed a lot to win R1 and underestimated the tempo of self poison, and i was able to win R1 with nothing but cards below 10p and a full purse (and with last say on R3, won the game with Yrden).

This is me BMing my opponent after he did an early pass, but i only did it because i had the perfect setup for what this deck tries to achieve (described in the deckguide) and i wanted to test its potential.

 

[DRK3]

No deck today, however...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

A theme deck series will start tomorrow, right here on this thread.
3 decks with a common theme, designed for those players that like to think and strategize when they play Gwent
One for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
They are all done by now, tested and properly optimized, i just need to finish up the guides on some of them...

Stay tuned.

 

[quintivarium]

A theme deck series will start tomorrow, right here on this thread.
3 decks with a common theme, designed for those players that like to think and strategize when they play Gwent

My poor cat will be so disappointed in these. You actually mean she won’t be able to win just by walking across my phone screen?

 

[DRK3]

My poor cat will be so disappointed in these. You actually mean she won’t be able to win just by walking across my phone screen?

Perhaps your cat will be disappointed, but i hope you wont, considering your occupation...

Without further ado, here is the...

'MATH IS FUN' DECK SERIES

The theme of this series is math, more specifically, using (neglected) cards where their true potential resides in manipulating the points of allied and opponent's units to obtain value.

Needless to say, these won't be easy decks to pilot, requiring a lot of setup, careful thinking ahead and knowing your opponent's deck.
The plus side is all of these decks dont have a fixed point ceiling, and its possible to obtain legendary results with them, if both luck and skill are on your side.

Finally, i would like to disclose this deck series was actually planned, and some of its decks were built and tested all the way back in September, but due to the approaching HoS sub-expansion, i put them on hold. Still, i re-tested all of them again, did some minor changes, but its possible some of them reveal what could be considered "outdated choices", but remember the goal here is to maximize the featured cards!

(Hint: there's an alternate theme for these decks, that could be considered... elemental )

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

[DECK OF 08-11-21]
[ICE AND FIRE]

'MATH IS FUN' SERIES - DECK #1

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

1) This is by far the most toxic of the decks in this series, and one of the nastiest things ive shared here in this thread. I dont like starting with this, the choice was done simply because it's a ST deck and i hadnt posted a ST list yet this season, and i like to run through all factions once a new season starts.

2) It's also the easiest of the deck series to use, but dont be fooled, its still much harder to use than the similar unitless ST lists. There's no heatwave here, there's CoC, Scorch and Blizzard, and you might just burn/ freeze yourself...

3) After playing with this, i understand now better the appeal of unitless decks - these are no fun to play against, but they're particularly devastating against 'unitful' control decks. Winning R1 and having last say is very important with most decks, but with this one, i truly felt like i had 100% winchance on certain matchups.
Its quite strange seeing an enemy freakshow or hefty helge and not having the slightest need to counter them because they wont have a single target for all 10 turns of R3. It really does make some decks completely helpless, and even if they win R1 and push R2, they wont be in a favourable position if they rely on control and lack pointslam.
I said i UNDERSTAND the appeal of unitless, but i do not approve them at all, and something should be done about them, although im not sure what...

This is probably the match where ive felt the worst for my poor opponent, as it was so one-sided it didnt feel fair at all.
To make it worse, he had to use Graden and Scoundrel to not lose CA on R1, which are probably the only cards that could help him here (Graden can kill Olgierd Immortal, Scoundrel + Witchfinder can target Saessenthessis).

And Bounties is not the only victim of this deck... Enslave 6, Wild Hunt Frost, Vampires, they all struggle. NR Siege and SK Reckless Flurry also lose a lot of value, but they do have enough pointslam to stand a chance, in those matches blizzard is decisive.

 

[DRK3]

Today's special deck features a card i hadnt played with in way over a year.
And im betting a lot of newer players, perhaps even more experienced players, have never used it or even seen it!

Im talking about... Wolfsbane!

[DECK OF 09-11-21]
[SWARMSBANE]

'MATH IS FUN' SERIES - DECK #2

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

At the beginning of HoS, i said all my SK decks would have Fucusya from then forward... and this one doesnt. Why? This deck was done almost two months ago, before Fucusya was even announced. Also, even though she's one of the strongest cards in the game, she would disrupt this strategy, so not a welcome addition.

I am proud of the deck, i think its wildly different from anything out there.
I have played quite a lot with it, its winrate is somewhere in the middle, but its (amost) always a lot of fun.

You are very dependant on the matchup, but instead of the decisive factor being how control - engine your opponent is, its how many units they put and how much they boost (and having opponents that dont instantly deal with Sivald and light longship helps a lot).

Arnvald is really good now, i could even see it being used in metadecks, as soon as he's "found" by pro players.
Tuirseach veterans also really shine, when there is so much random damage in the meta, whether its reckless flurry, siege bombardments, madoc bombs and cataclysm, frost, SY freakshow - as long as it doesnt do 5 dmg and kill him, it will make it harder for your opponent.

A strong consideration for the deck would be to include more bear witcher quartermasters and mentors, since they give so much value here, but i wasnt sure what i could cut to fit them in (light longships and fanatics are essential to the identity of the deck).

Yep, portal can be a 2nd totem (the damage to trigger those fanatics comes from wolfsbane - absent here - or leader charges).

This is not a good example to depict the main strategy of the deck, but it shows its versatility:
Since this deck thins a lot, i didnt want to use Cerys for Shieldmaidens, instead i used them for Queenguard, my mill opponent underestimated their value and i was able to 2-0 him.

Now this is a good example of the deck's potential. My opponent was just that nasty Lippy Cerys, where everything else is control.
But since most of the units in that deck are even, my wolfsbane + wild boar of the sea combo was enough to pratically board wipe and win. (and yes, i misplayed the location placement, and went for a tall unit when my opponent obviously had an heatwave finisher... )

 

[DRK3]

Today we end this special series.
It was a short one, but believe me it took more effort than simply building a special series of decks without a recurring concept.

Also, i must admit this deck is not wildly different from the first NR deck i posted after HoS last month ('Medidate and Zap', deck of 06-10-21, in case you want to check it out). They both share a focus on spellweavers and include key cards like raffard's vengeance and chapter of wizards...
But there is a fundamental difference - in this one, i cut the alternative strategy of meditating mages and focus fully on an elegant type of control, with the inclusion of a new centerpiece: YENNEFER CONJURER!

[DECK OF 10-11-21]
[THUNDERSTRUCK]

'MATH IS FUN' SERIES - DECK #3

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 struggled a bit making this deck, mostly because i wanted to include a lot of things that synergized with this deck:
I wanted Alzur and Oneiro (mage and spell), i wanted AA (because its so good it should be in every NR deck) and i wanted Scorch or Igni (because they work well with the main spellweaver + YenCon strategy of this deck).
Unfortunately all of that was cut, in order to include what i consider more important cards for this deck - Chapter of Wizards and Gerhart.

I also wanted to include Queen Adalia and reinforcement for more guaranteed speallweavers which are the backbone of the deck, but instead i prayed to the RNG gods and included 3 runestones (the 3rd from C.oWizards), so they give me more spellweavers, but other mages should still be good.

I dont think the deck is perfect, far from it.
The strangest choices are probably Ildiko and Raffard's Vengeance. Strange because Ildiko only has one great target, where zeal is important, which is precisely raffard's, and raffard's because this is not an inspired zeal deck and ildiko is the only way to give it zeal. Also, there are no duels here (Anseis, Seltkirk), which are probably the best combo for Ildiko.
Still, i wanted to include her (the first time i do so), as she's a mage, at 6 she's harder to remove, gives zeal and also her order can put another engine outside removal.

CoC is included, as there's no AA to make it weird, and unfortunately its probably the only way to deal with defenders.

I thought this deck would be awful against other control decks but it did better than i expected, as many werent able to go past the defender and shields, or had enough control for the major threats like YenCon and Raffard, but not enough to deal with all spellweavers, who did major damage!

Do you see what i did here?
My opponent placed his units carelessly, and ended up stacking the melee row, so i did everything to not kill any unit on that row the entire round, even saving my CoC which was always going to that pikemen, so his Vrygheff would be bricked

 

[DRK3]

A few months ago, i tried sharing a 'No Legendaries' deck, and it got great feedback.
Since then, ive been doing no legendaries for all other factions, one per month.
This month, its Scoiatael's time:

[DECK OF 16-11-21]
[NO LEGENDARIES - ST EDITION]

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 must admit, this is not the strongest of 'no legendaries'...
Im not a particularly good ST player or deckbuilder, but i did put the extra effort and even tried a completely different version, but this one was much better (in case you're curious, the other version was more elf-centered, like old school elfs, none of that HoS crap).

Decision process:
-Dwarves, i wouldnt have Novigrad Justice, Zoltan(s) or Brouver...
-Elves, i wouldnt have scenario, aelirenn, vernossiel or isengrim...
-Harmony, is kinda bad already even with legendaries, and ive explored it recently. But i included barnabas, one of the best epics ST has.
-Spellatael, i absolutely hate the archetype (apologize if feelings are hurt), and i wouldnt do such a deck, in fact i might even do some anti-decks in the future for this thread and one would definitely be anti-spellatael.
-Symbiosis (which has some overlap with spellatel nowadays), again, im not a big fan. Wouldnt have eithne or simlas, but i guess i could play hamadryads and bountiful harvests and whisperers/sorceresses, and it would just be a weaker version of a metadeck.
-Unitless is also kinda hard without Madoc, Sabertooth and Saessenthessis, but there's a different type of unitless...

Traps! i had to play traps!
I do love traps. And all traps are bronze or epic, so all can be included... but there's a big caveat: no Eldain, which is the card that single handedly makes the trap archetype good, because it gives value to traps that fail to do so on their own, and allows a more unitless playstyle.
What this means is in this deck, just like it was before Eldain was added, traps must find good value on their own (as in, trade better with your opponents cards) in order to be successful with this deck.

I did take this chance to include the traps 'Treant Mantis Stalk' and 'Mahakam Horn' which are kinda awkward with Eldain, but since he cant be included in this deck since he's legendary, now's the best chance to use them.

(Note: the other only semi-viable alternative for "ST no legendaries" i see would be engine overload, with stuff like Pavko Gale, Treant Boar, and the bronze engines used in ST movement)

 

[NR4ever]

GWINT: Wiedźmińska Gra Karciana

Zagraj w ulubioną grę mieszkańców wiedźmińskiego świata! W GWINCIE stawisz czoła innym graczom w dynamicznym starciu; tutaj liczą się twoja intuicja, umiejętność improwizacji i rozważne dobieranie kart.

www.playgwent.com

I want to sheare my double-draug deck. It is really effective, and strugge only against syndycste and skellige. If anyone will like that deck I will be greatefull for advices how it can be improved

 

[DRK3]

GWINT: Wiedźmińska Gra Karciana

Zagraj w ulubioną grę mieszkańców wiedźmińskiego świata! W GWINCIE stawisz czoła innym graczom w dynamicznym starciu; tutaj liczą się twoja intuicja, umiejętność improwizacji i rozważne dobieranie kart.

www.playgwent.com

I want to sheare my double-draug deck. It is really effective, and strugge only against syndycste and skellige. If anyone will like that deck I will be greatefull for advices how it can be improved

Im sorry but this thread isnt meant for anyone who wants to share a deck, its solely for my own creations, as a sort of portfolio (which ive shown to CDPR to obtain Gwent Official Partner status).
Only on times where i take breaks from Gwent do i welcome others to share their own decks here, which is not the case.

Still, i encourage you (and others) to share decks like you did, either on other existing threads or new ones.

And you can leave this one, i just ask you dont do it again please.
And i will share my opinion on your deck like you requested:

Its definitely an interesting deck: Madoc + Siege + Draug, and with scorch to top it all off.
Scorch should work really well with pings from reinforced ballistae or revenants that "line up" enemies. However you need to be careful with Madoc's cataclysm effect that might disrupt some of your setup.

I also really like the decoy inclusion for Draug... I also used it in my triple draug siege i posted here on 30th May (here's the decklink, the deck may be slightly outdated but the core concepts should be the same)

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

Another aspect i really like on your deck is the foltest pride, it should work really well with Draug and Revenants.
And Vincent Meis works wonderfully with revenants too.
And your suggestion to include Idarran is also good (should only be played after Draug, at a time where there are so many threats for the opponent to answer they will be pressured).

The deck seems solid, but do you have trouble proccing siege? You only include 5 siege engines, i would have included 1/2 more.
Also using Mushy Truffle for an extra PFI, im not sure its the right thing, perhaps it is, i would have to test it.
FInally, i dont think Sabrina is so essential you need to save her for R3, perhaps against more swarmy decks she's really great but not to the point she's your wincon.

(Also, i hope you're "recycling" your 1pt PFI revenants with the other revenants, its very point effective if you do)

 

[NR4ever]

Im sorry but this thread isnt meant for anyone who wants to share a deck, its solely for my own creations, as a sort of portfolio (which ive shown to CDPR to obtain Gwent Official Partner status).
Only on times where i take breaks from Gwent do i welcome others to share their own decks here, which is not the case.

Still, i encourage you (and others) to share decks like you did, either on other existing threads or new ones.

And you can leave this one, i just ask you dont do it again please.
And i will share my opinion on your deck like you requested:

Its definitely an interesting deck: Madoc + Siege + Draug, and with scorch to top it all off.
Scorch should work really well with pings from reinforced ballistae or revenants that "line up" enemies. However you need to be careful with Madoc's cataclysm effect that might disrupt some of your setup.

I also really like the decoy inclusion for Draug... I also used it in my triple draug siege i posted here on 30th May (here's the decklink, the deck may be slightly outdated but the core concepts should be the same)

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

Another aspect i really like on your deck is the foltest pride, it should work really well with Draug and Revenants.
And Vincent Meis works wonderfully with revenants too.
And your suggestion to include Idarran is also good (should only be played after Draug, at a time where there are so many threats for the opponent to answer they will be pressured).

The deck seems solid, but do you have trouble proccing siege? You only include 5 siege engines, i would have included 1/2 more.
Also using Mushy Truffle for an extra PFI, im not sure its the right thing, perhaps it is, i would have to test it.
FInally, i dont think Sabrina is so essential you need to save her for R3, perhaps against more swarmy decks she's really great but not to the point she's your wincon.

(Also, i hope you're "recycling" your 1pt PFI revenants with the other revenants, its very point effective if you do)

Ok i am sorry and thanks

PFI: I've tried draug with everything possible: "big bodies" that "did sth" before and at the end to change all of them into revenants, immortal chavallairy with shields, and Caravan guards - and in the end of the day PFI - despite of they fragility against rain or another ping effects - is doin' best from they all. And idarran can be easily combo with them - you can eat one of your 1p revenants with another one and idarran can create another one in another row on deploy.

Trufle: it's surely not essential part of the deck but i couldn't find better solution. Adalia could also did a good job with PFI, yet in the end of the day she is 10 prov for 8 points and trufle is 11 for 10. Anyhow, I qgree with You and I think it is possible to find better investment for that 10 provinsion than trufle

sabrina: It's intersting thing about players facing NR that they all incline subconsiously to put units in melle row (because of tribuchets i belive) and Sabrina is doing great job than. In My experience scorch and Sabrina are two most points generators in that deck
Madoc is Aid in that, what NR lacks the most imo - immidiate reactions. Therefore i like to have some bombs in the deck - you can puryfy defender with bomb, or red mist is doin' great job in high units control; on top of thatt madoc is very irritating card to play against - many times opponent uses heatvave only to get rid of him, when in the R3 usually bombs are used very rarely because we have a lot of better cards

Scenario: there are many scenario triggers, but reinforced ballistas and foltest pride are definitively the Best. But as emergency You can play ordinary ballista or ladder (that is good to put revenants in full row also) , and always in Total emmergency we have leader ability to Aid in scenario triggering

If You will have more thoughts about my deck if You will Try it I will be very greatefull for shearing

 

[DRK3]

Reviving cards has always been a part of Gwent, and more specifically, a part of Skellige's identity - before that mechanic was expanded to other factions.
I've always liked the mechanic, even though it pisses off a lot of people that the units that they remove dont stay dead like they wished
One of its advantages, that is rarely spoken off is its versatility - you setup a graveyard, then you have options for different situations, similar to tutoring but in a more strategic way.

Anyway, since i love the mechanic, from time to time i make a deck where i cram every single revive card available, and whenever a new revive card is added - in this case, Fucusya - i return to the concept.
The result is obviously a not serious deck.

Note: to be completely honest, the deck does NOT include all possible revives. 2x Offering (bronzes) werent used, because getting 1pt units with SK isnt as easy as for MO that has Fruits or arachas swarm.

[DECK OF 20-11-21]
[RESSURRECTION]

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

The reason the deck works so well is because how amazing Little Havfrues are, one of the PoP cards that made me love my favourite faction again.
There will be another SK deck soon, focused on another PoP bronze i love (hint: its not disgustingly OP Messenger of the Sea).

Little Havfrues are 6pts initially, so outside cheap removal range. They get strengthened the more you play them. They make damage awkward to opponent, akin to ST's pyrotech, as you can then use their order and find extra value. And since its order doesnt generate value without external synergies (like using a Messenger of the sea), you can simply float the order when you dont want wasted value, like too many armor on opponents side or not enough turns (of course in the latter situation, Righan can help out )

 

[DRK3]

Hey guys and gals.
I havent been very active in Gwent lately (been playing Dark Souls a lot, actually), but i am posting a new deck for today, and at least one more will be posted until the end of the month / season.

[DECK OF 25-11-21]
[LIFE OF CRIME]

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

If you've been a regular in this thread, you might have noticed one of my favourite ways to build a deck is to focus on a single bronze that has a lot of potential.
This deck is definitely that case, with Cutup Lackey.

It uses the "classic" combo of Congregate leader to both get coins and low tokens to instantly setup whoreson sr, thus skipping additional steps (for example, Lined Pockets would also be a good leader for this deck with so many crimes, but it would be so much harder to setup Whoreson Sr).
Then two more cutup lackeys with Portal. And even more with Igor!

The weaknesses of this deck?
- Its a one round deck. I really should stop building this type of decks, but they're the most fun.
- It takes quite a long time to setup. Specially if going greedy and putting all the lackeys and sir skewertooth, then your opponents wont wait for you and start putting threats you need to deal with, and you either lose value on lackeys or from letting those threats run free.
(This is why i didnt included defender to protect Lackeys and Igor - it would make setup even longer)

Do you see all those dryads and treants? No? Exactly!
(Damnation loves Eithnés btw)

 

[DRK3]

LAST DECK OF THE MONTH / SEASON!

I hope you like it, it's one i've had ready for almost a month, but i was undecided between two different versions, and i ended up going with this one, which is more clear on which archetypes it uses.

(In case you're curious, the other version also included Artis, defender, Vildkaarl and Ursine Ritual leader. Getting a damaged unit for havfrue singers was easier, but i felt the leader wasnt contributing enough as i had other means of getting damaged units anyway. Also, Artis had anti synergy with one of the stars of the deck: Axel 3 eyes).

[DECK OF 29-11-21]
[BEAST MODE]

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 love this deck! If i started this season with a SK deck that represented my favourite gwent creator, this time i finish the same season with a SK deck that represents... ME!

I) finally a deck that showcases brilliantly the awesomeness of havfrue singers!
II) a deck that uses two of my favourite archetypes: healing and beasts. (Flaminica and Axel 3-eyes are two of my absolute favourites! )
III) a deck that shows Lippy doesnt have to be paired with Cerys and Ursine Ritual, it can be used with most SK leader and archetypes.

Unfortunately this is the best screenshot ive got to showcase the amazing value on havfrue singers and axel 3 eyes - i say unfortunately, because if you notice, its the wrong leader because its actually from the original, other deck version. However, the cards in play are the same you see on this deck.

This deck has no trouble beating NG assimilate/spies, they usually dont know what to copy and underestimate the combo potential of havfrue singer + bear witcher adept.

 

[DRK3]

So it turns out i did a silly mistake in my index with decks posted in this thread, particularly in the deck counter which i was counting and updating manually instead of using the provided excel functions

This is fixed now (the link to the index is below), but it basically ruined my plans of doing 100 decks this year... because i thought i was at 92 now, but it turns up i had 10 more, so im at 102 and i surpassed the 100 mark, for which i wanted something special

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

RANDOM STATS:
102 decks posted by me in this thread, all complete with deckguides + forum text, between May 12th and November 30th.
That is an average of 1 deck every 2 days, of which im pretty proud of.
52 of those were shared in the first 2.5 months of this project, while the remaning 50 were distributed over the past 4 months (yes, ive been decreasing my activity, but fear not, its only normal for starting projects to have an unmatched intensity...)

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE (DECEMBER):
Well, my plans are mostly the same - i planned 8 decks AT LEAST for december.
6 will be focused on the new cards that are dropping, one for each faction.
Then the last 'No Legendaries' deck, and yes, best for last! (SK has incredibly strong cards without even going through the legendaries, it will possibly be the strongest of this type of decks ive been posting)
And the last one... a wild card (or wild deck, i should say ).

Happy December, happy Masters this weekend, and happy Gwent!

 

[DRK3]

DECK OF THE DAY RETURNS!

New cards mean fresh new decks.

[DECK OF 07-12-21]
[VETERAN STATUS]

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 am sorry.
I know this deck is probably one of those that will dominate the meta, quickly be one of the most hated.
And even worse, personally i really dislike SK Warriors.
So, why did i chose this for the first deck of the season?

A) Its simple and straightforward. This means that optimizing it is much faster and it quickly got the way its supposed to be.
And also i think most players prefer to start exploring the easier-to-use cards, then advance to the more complex ones.

B) Better to get this one out as early as possible, because later on, neither i or you will want to see more of these guys, whether by playing them or facing them. And yes, i could just avoid sharing this deck, but its SK, my favourite faction (sorry to those tired of hearing me say this ) and i feel like i must explore all of its cards.

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

This deck is really strong, but it does have its weaknesses:
Limited tall removal, no banish options to deal with scenarios or Madocs or other carryover stuff, not great ways to deal with defenders, etc.

I do like my choice to use Reckless Flurry instead of the obvious choice - BoG.
So far i havent had an "EIst fail" once - i either am able to get BT3 or set him up or Coral and at 6 they arent easy to remove.

I also think its a mistake to ditch Fucusya because of the nerf, all lists ive faced werent using her, but i think she is still worth the 14pr, maybe not to combo her with Coral anymore, but Skjordal? Damn, that's really strong.

 

[DRK3]

On the first day of the patch, i faced a ton of vampire decks and they're really strong, but were all identical, and i said to myself i wouldnt do such a deck for this thread...
But the meme inspiration swept over me, and i thought of something NO OTHER CREATOR HAS DONE with vampires - although much harder to pilot and requiring a lot of setup and luck - but i hope you like it, specially if you love Regis

(Note: this is actually not the 1st version of the deck - the original had Orianna but no fleders and i had the deck tested and deckguide ready, but after reading some comments i switched it and it got quite better. That's why there was no deck yesterday, as i was updating and testing the new version)

[DECK OF 09-12-21]
[REGIS FIESTA]

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Vampires got so much stronger, with Regis Reborn but also the buffs to 3 bronzes: Alps, Nekurats and Fleders.
Ive seen comments on how Fleders are better than Orianna and i cant disagree.

Regis Reborn is really strong, however i changed my mind and now think he's actually really well balanced, one of the very few of these 12 new cards that can boast that. Because even though its quite easy to put him at 10-15 strength, he has a hard ceiling, he's very expensive and without last say, it can be punished hard.

Unseen Elder and Dethlaff arent included, as the other 3 Regis are very expensive, and we wouldnt even have devotion for Elder because 3 of the 4 Regis are neutral. Also Katakan (reworked) would be great here too, but both defender and Matta are essential for this deck to support the harder to use Regis cards.

Also, there's an unexpected synergy between all the bleeding and Regis (regular), making the lineup 1-2-3-4-... smoother than if you did it with regular damage, only problem is when there's many armored units and you definitely need a 1pt 0 armor to start things up with Regis waves.

The following images are mostly from the 1st version of the deck (i did around 15 matches with that one, and only 5-7 with the new one) but the key strategies are the same, just imagine instead of a big Orianna you have two big Fleders

Im not afraid to use Regis (regular version) here on R1 as its quite hard to use and SK rarely plays more units on R3 than on R1 because of discard package, so dont always be greedy and save it for R3. (and yes, this was a total board wipeout!)

This is one of the cases where defender is MVP - this Regis deck is particularly good against pointslam or swarm decks with little control, they usually only pack an heatwave, which defender eats it but then Regis lives and gets insane value from his drain (+30pts swing here)
And also notice all 4 Regis were used in this round, 4 for 4!

Another match where all Regis found great value.
And notice the irony of the leader skins - im using Dethlaff skin (because im cheap and didnt pay for Journey ) with a 4 Regis deck, while my opponent is using Regis skin with a heavy Dethlaff Higher vampire deck!

 

[DRK3]

Today we go Syndicate.
With a deck built around King of Beggars (dont worry, there will be a Firesworn deck with Hemmelfart later on, too).

I know some players argued that KoB wont be used for tribute support, but only slapped on midrange decks for the Savolla combo.
Maybe that's the best option, but im actually quite pleased with this full on tribute deck, i feel like im equipped to tackle most situations.

[DECK OF 10-12-21]
[THIS IS JUST A TRIBUTE]

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I really like how good fences are in this deck, a bronze card some of you have never seen or played.
All of the top end cards are very reliable, except Tinboy. Its mostly matchup dependant, but its also counter productive to pack so much removal, as it steals away Tinboy value, however there's too many dangerous threats and engines to just leave them unanswered, long gone are the times where most of those were just 1pt per turn generation.

Also, it should be mentioned there's some anti synergy between KoB and this Off the Books leader and Madame Luiza.
HOWEVER, this is not a problem in this deck because its has quite a few tribute units (6, if we dont include Professor whose tribute is rarely used, and 2x renegade mages, which are tribute 0 anyway), so its very easy to get KoB out, and leader makes him more likely to come out later on, most likely by R3, so you dont overcommit early.

CONSIDERATIONS: Swindle and pickpocket, i know these crimes arent considered any good, but i like how they can be used to get carryover on a drypass R2, or easily get to 9 coins for boat to come out. However you can replace them if you wish.
Also, it might be a waste to be devotion and not include the bronze mutant makers, although renegade mages are also 7 for 4 and you dont need many coins with this deck anyway.

This is a good example of a good R1, getting a lot of value with low commitment and also thinning a lot.

I actually started this match thinking i was gonna lose.
I committed very little R1 and 2, and saved all my control for R3.
Funny that the 1pt boost Erland gives witchers actually made his 5pt bronze shield witcher easier to remove, because bloody good friends was able to damage instead of bleeding, that little thing at the beginning of R3 probably costed my opponent the game.

Because my opponent had absolutely 0 control, i was able to maximize my coins and removal with bloody good friends and whoreson Jr, and played a massive tinboy that denied a lot of Radovid value.

 

[DRK3]

Sorry for the weekend off, i DID plan to post a deck but 'Patience is a Virtue' seasonal mode called up on me...

[DECK OF 13-12-21]
[GOLD DIGGER]

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The original version of this deck didnt include Ardal, but that was such a waste since its enslave 6 and with 12 tactics, Ardal has a lot of potential without any setup.

What does this mean? I will do ANOTHER NG deck later on this month, and that one will have Ardal, but he will be the centerpiece!
Remember how players said Ardal was trash before the update, because they didnt see a good use for him? Well, after much evil planning, i came up with not one but TWO ways to play a naughty Ardal, and i havent seen any other creator figuring it out yet, so it will hopefully blow some minds

The concept of this deck is to polarize the deck as much as possible, filling the low end with tactics and cards that take advantage of them, then draw al your best cards in R2 (and R3, if it comes to that).

Henrietta is an underrated card, some players always argue she's unreliable but i disagree. Also, in this meta, Guerrilla Tactics, Blood Scent, Uprising, Reckless FLurry, they're all valuable, the only problematic one is Blaze of Glory (you need a SK unit in deck, and i dont include Yen Invo), thats the only case where Henrietta is best mulligan'ed away.

Oh, and Amnesty was not in the original deck but seemed a good choice to deal with those pesky Madocs in ST.

Definitely not impressive values for venendal elites, but these were played R3, they usually find best value in R1, but the more you have in hand, the less value each will have.

Just had this match now. I barely have any assimilate in my deck, but henrietta and bribery are super valuable against assimilate opponents, you just need to be careful they dont use them against you.
Also, my Ardal put a 12pt blightmaker back on hand to 4, while my opponents Ardal also gave me back my 4pt blightmaker and allowed extra cow carcass poison value and i won.

 

[DRK3]

Here we go, Scoiatael time.
If you read the Saskia Commander thread, you may already know the troubles ive gone to make and test this deck.

I really REALLY wanted to avoid the typical SaskiaC deck, with Guerilla tactics, movement, Madoc, Milva sharpshooter unitless.
So i did something no one else tried! (because its crazy and weird and hard to use )

[DECK OF 14-12-21]
[DWARVES & DRAGONS]

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That's right, a dwarf deck with Saskia Commander!
I rarely make dwarf decks, i mostly dont like the leader ability, and i considered changing it, but unfortunately its essential for this deck and to make Brouver work.
Also, its the second time i use Ihuarraquax on a dwarf deck, like there's some kind of synergy there... There isnt, i just dont do well with the "wholesomeness" of dwarves and feel the need to include a curveball to my opponents.

The deck may seem random but its out of the 100+ decks ive posted here, its probably one of those that had the most thought and testing behind them.
This is seen mostly in the bronze units selected, trying to find the best ratio of dwarf and non-dwarf units, to keep both SaskiaC and Brouver reliable.

I wish there were more ways to put multiple ARMORED dwarves on the board, but zoltan + zoltans company is too slow and expensive, if the rowdy dwarves spawned by zoltan had armor by default i would have included him.

The biggest consideration at the end - include Oneiromancy or not? I kept it, as i got too used to it, but it might be a mistake, as the deck already thins with SaskiaC, Ihuarraquax and Novigrad Justice. What would you guys suggest replacing Oneiro with?

This is the type of moments that make Ihuarraquax worth it!

One of the best matches ive had this season, my opponent had 0 control (outside the random damage of fucusya rain and harald skull pings), and it was really close but at the end the serpent trap gave me the win.


@rrc @Barracuda88 @Riven-Twain
I want to hear what the ST masters and dwarven masters have to say on this deck please

 

[Barracuda88]

Haha, well it looks fun AND completely mental to me! Forget the calculated risk of pulling Saskia C and Brouver with the unicorn: you include it to target them! Saskia no deploy!! I'm not brave enough for that. Definitely shows that it's possible to make a MF deck with the saskquatch, though. Maybe ditch the unicorn for the Heatwave or Call of the Forest, swap some bronzes around, throw in Myrrgtabrakke for good measure, idk.

Edit: I think it's this deck could use a Barnabas.