Deck of the Day

[DRK3]

12th of May. It was precisely one year ago that i started this project, that i think contributed a lot to getting partner status a couple of months later.
And although i stopped playing and sharing new decks in December, i revived it for this week alone.

And today is the deck you oughta try.
The type that only comes once in a hundred.
The perfect balance of meme & power.
I apologize in advance for my excessive pride in this deck.
You have been warned.
I present to you...

[DECK OF 12-05-22]
[NEUTRAL PERFECTION]

--ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 'DECK OF THE DAY'--

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

Fully neutral deck. Its definitely not my first deck of such nature... but while the previous were rather weak, barely keeping up with tier 3 decks, this one destroys EVERYTHING.

Every single deck in the meta, i've beaten with this. I have done over 50 ranked matches with it, my winrate is above 90%.
Its been a long time since ive had a deck with such success, where i click the play button and feel like im gonna win regardless of matchup.

- I know the deck could be even stronger... but only if i ditched the full neutral status, and used SK cards which are insane. For example a Fucusya or even the "broken as hell" magic compass would get more value than Radeyah which is usually 13pts.
But as a neutral deck, i believe its perfect and can not be improved any further.

- Considerations? I knew i wanted Shupe, Radeyah and RuneMage. Mushy Truffle is also amazing and it has won me over.
Then i went with Muzzle and Heatwave for control - they're specials and can be targeted by Alissa to be replayed, and rarely fail to find value.
But i did consider including Geralts... the default, Igni and/or Yrden, but i didnt have provisions for them anymore, and they're more circumstantial than the ones i included, the current version is more reliable.

- The deck is absurdly consistent, i dont think i ever missed my top golds once.

- This deck is one week old. What this means is i havent had the chance to try it out enough times against the new decks that are popping off after tuesday's patch, like sihil and stuff (although i still place my bets on this one).

- I will make a separate post today about troll porter, i LOVE this card.

- Warning: despite my success, this is not a tier 0 deck. The deck isnt too hard to use, but knowing how every metadeck works helps a lot in beating them.

- Weaknesses: the deck is a mix of pointslam and control, so it might lose against engines on long rounds if they get out of hand.
Also swarm is dangerous, like ST dwarves or elves, and there is no wide damage (surrender to be considered...), but there is the 4pt shupe that does 3x3damage, plus leader for those situations.

Opponent opens with a bronze boosted by stratagem. Shup seizes it.
Hamadryad and leader charge. I muzzle it.
Then i play Snowdrop and Trollporter, and get 24pts with those 2 cards (and Knickers!)
R1 is won. Some might say i overcommitted. But i still have another Shupe, Radeyah, Runemage, heatwave, mushy truffle and full leader, and i am guaranteed to find them (look at the deck counter).

 

[DRK3]

Here's your Anti Sihil deck.
Its nowhere near as amazing as yesterday's deck, but it definitely gets the job done (and that is, defeat sihil decks, i wont promise wins against other decks)

[DECK OF 13/14-05-22]
[ANTI SIHIL]

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

Sihil is not as bad as we first thought.
I even considered using a NG swarm deck with my beloved 'cowguy' and going deep into this slave infantry strategy with vrygheff and vreemde, because in theory wide points should be able to defeat sihil, but giving them so many low powered targets felt wrong... so i adapted it to destroy them from start to finish.

This version is not even the 2nd, its the 3rd, i removed cards to counter sihil because it was overkill, and included options like Ivar and Henrietta that should help defeat other opponents.

And it should be said: this is definitely not the only way to defeat Sihil, and probably not even the best.
Sihil is a single damage-based control deck, and those excel against engine decks, but you can counter them by:
1. using their damage against them (self damage/ heal or deathwish)
2. denying their damage with armor or shields (dwarves or NR)
3. boosting the units setup for sihil (this can be achieved with any deck, bronze specials like froth or swallow do the job)
4. going wide and wide boosts (rule of thumb: if you're putting 3 or more units average, per turn, you're swell)
5. going unitless and only at the very end smashing points (a bit nasty, but works!)

 

[sfruzz]

- I will make a separate post today about troll porter, i LOVE this card.

That's indeed a great addition to the cardpool. Decks with Troll Porter are viable at Rank 4-6 (my current rank) and I suspect might perform well enough even a bit higher.

I knew i wanted Shupe, Radeyah and RuneMage

I wish singleton decks would not rely on Shupe. I know that with RuneMage you control the "Create" aspect of Shupe, but still I don't like its RNG effects. One of the iteration of beta Ciri:Nova was better, giving directly points for not using the third copy of a bronze.

Reckless Fury as well has an unfortunate level of luck involved. One of the last matches I played with that ability ended abruptly. My opponent had Defender + Damien de la Tour. The odds were slightly in favor of my opponent, but I used 3 charges of Reckless Fury and removed the threat. The connection of Mr Opponent suddenly, but not unexpectedly, broke and I won the game. Still, I don't feel too great about my play,

In my opinion Troll Porter is the better Troll, but still enjoyed decks that focus on replaying a strong card with Alissa and the idea of a fully neutral deck.

 

[DRK3]

That's indeed a great addition to the cardpool. Decks with Troll Porter are viable at Rank 4-6 (my current rank) and I suspect might perform well enough even a bit higher.


I wish singleton decks would not rely on Shupe. I know that with RuneMage you control the "Create" aspect of Shupe, but still I don't like its RNG effects. One of the iteration of beta Ciri:Nova was better, giving directly points for not using the third copy of a bronze.

Reckless Fury as well has an unfortunate level of luck involved. One of the last matches I played with that ability ended abruptly. My opponent had Defender + Damien de la Tour. The odds were slightly in favor of my opponent, but I used 3 charges of Reckless Fury and removed the threat. The connection of Mr Opponent suddenly, but not unexpectedly, broke and I won the game. Still, I don't feel too great about my play,

In my opinion Troll Porter is the better Troll, but still enjoyed decks that focus on replaying a strong card with Alissa and the idea of a fully neutral deck.

I disagree, i really like that Shupe has 15 different abilities and he's not just used for pointslam.

There is an element of RNG on some abilites - the most point-swingy - but you can minimize it.

-The 2pt Shupe has the 'switch a random unit' to the other side... Im no gambler, i only use this when there's a single, enemy unit on the other side and i know i will get it 100% (actually, there's 60% of getting that option, when used on red coin R1 turn 1, but those are good odds)
Also, THAT is why i use Knickers and not Roach on this deck

-The 4pt Shupe that kills a random unit. I rarely use this when there's many enemy units, only when there's 1/3, and its even possible to increase our chances to hit our target if we're able to eliminate some of the otherswith leader charges

-The 4pt Shupe that destroys artefacts is great against scenarios if you missed or already used heatwave

-The 4pt Shupe that deals 3x3 dmg is another one of my favourites, and the RNG can be minimized with timing and comboing with leader in a smart way.

-The 8pt Shupes are all reliable and no RNG. I rarely use Shupe for resilience, its very boring, only sometimes when its against a R2 drypass and i know it wont get countered, and possibly i will get another Shupe through Alissa

(Regarding Troll Porter, i dont think he's only viable up to a certain level, i believe he can fit and make most decks better at all levels)

 

[sfruzz]

There is an element of RNG on some abilites - the most point-swingy - but you can minimize it.

Maybe I'm too strict with Shupe. In the end, also mulliganing aggressively, entails some randomness.

I like cards with a clear effect like CIri, 8 point resilience, or Igni, destroy highest power units. There is no 60% of getting that option. As long as you match the condition and you draw the card, you get the effect 100% of the time.

Anyway I like original decks and I tried a version of your Shupe-Portal deck adapted to NG.

 

[DRK3]

Last deck of the week, and for the foreseeable future.

[DECK OF 15-05-22]
[MYSTERIOUS SEAS]

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 really love this deck, it's very strong and versatile, but it also relies on some of my favourite cards like CrowMother & Crow Messengers, Flaminica & Bear Witcher Mentors.

With this leader, you might expect the rain archetype - cards like Havfrues, Rioghan and the dreaded Messengers of the Sea. That would be very strong (too strong?), but it would also be something everyone has seen before, something i've covered in this thread before.

I am against using Compass to get Fucusya.
First, because of how unfair it is. Second - why only use one of the two, ARGUABLY, best cards in the game? Why not both?
(and yes, i know the answer -to fit into golden nekker decks, but im not here to build pointslam decks)

The value of adapting to each opponent and being able to try many different strategies with the same deck is invaluable to me, and something usually NG is able to do. Magic compass is horribly OP, but you cant deny its very interesting and opens up many new strategies.

Also, the last thing i wanted to demonstrate with this deck is the value of decoy on hyperthin decks.
Now, pratically all factions can thin to 0 with ease, and decoy is a hidden gem in those situations - you can replay ANY unit (as long as it isnt doomed) for just 6provisions. And i exemplify it here with Fucusya, which generates so many points and isnt a unit that is typically targeted because its not an engine and you dont expect further value from it.
I did make a few opponents forfeit when they saw that 2nd Fucusya, which is kind of a cheat, i admit.

A great example of insane value from bear witcher mentors, offering to the seas, and the synergy between them and other cards you can get from magic compass (in this case, Arnachad), and the value of versatility (Arnachad destroys NR, but i would never select it against NG as it would just get Yen Invo'ed or locked)

Try out this deck, or make your own hyperthin + decoy deck and share here your own amazing double play finishers!

 

[quintivarium]

DRK3,

it has been nice having you back in the forums — if only for a short time. Best wishes to you — I hope you will be able to drop in again from time to time.

 

[DRK3]

First of all, im sorry if i implied i would be away from this topic for a long time (less than a month isnt that long). Although i wasn't sure when i would return to it.

Second... lets do another short burst of decks!
Deathwish today, since i hadn't fully explored the changes and reworked cards yet. Followed by new (themed) Triss and Yen decks!

[DECK OF 08-06-22]
[DEADLY RITUAL]

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 deathwish. I probably have more matches with Overwhelming Hunger than the other 6 MO leaders combined (although Arachas swarm is a respectable 2nd place).
I disagree whenever anyone claims its not competitive or Viy its the strongest version of the archetype.

SCENARIO NOT USED
I didnt use Haunt. Truth be told, i think Haunt is starting to get a bit powercrept. Its biggest value is the extra consumes and the psychological effect on opponents, but i chose to replace it and add more 'bang for the buck' and a few extra consumes.

OPTIMIZATION PROCESS
This is not the first version of the deck.
I had Xavier Lemmens, Ruehin and 2x Harpy Eggs. I replaced Lemmens with a squirrel (usually 1 GY banish is enough), removed one of the harpy eggs to have an extra provision to upgrade Ruehin to Dethlaff HV and included Queen of the Night as purify is still essential, against defenders, Ciri Novas or to purify a lock from an important gold unit.

RUEHIN VS DETHLAFF HV
i think 1 provision apart between these 2 DW units is not enough. Ruehin will keep getting ignored this way.
Because with 2 more pts, Dethlaff HV is usually worth a lot more, it would require a long round of consumes on Ruehin to be more valuable than a Dethlaff HV.
And Arachas Queen aggravates this problem (you need more consumes for a 2nd Dethlaff HV, but a LOT more consumes for 2 Ruehins).
Basically you only want Ruehin when you have very few other DW units to be consumed on the deck.
And Succubus is anti-synergy with Ruehin as it serves the same purpose, except with 1 more pt and cheaper as the upside, and need to setup and only works late rounds due to adrenaline as downside.

YRDEN AND GLORIOUS HUNT
Yrden is a very hated card and more binary than ever. I've had matches where it was worthless, but ive also had 30,40,60pt Resets yesterday.
You can replace it if you want something more consistent, but with less potential.

Glorious Hunt, although it might backfire, it definitely fits on a DW unit. Because it targets BASE POWER, not current power, so you can have big consume units and not worry. Notice how all units in deck are 6pt base power max. That means defenders and Ciri Novas are always targeted unless the opponent has a bigger base power unit. This is where deck knowledge is important, as there's a few decks that also only have 6pt as their biggest unit, and you dont want to burn your own giant Kayran.

This deck just eats up SK Warriors. Yes, the Yrden is nearly useless, but they dont have locks, seizes or consumes and their damage isnt worth much against deathwish units and we have more pointslam.
I like to play Dethlaff HV on R1 or 2 to tempt their leader use. If they use it, they lose their biggest play. If they dont use it, later on they wont have units so big that their 12damage is used, or you use Kayran and they cant target it. Its a win-win.

Two similar decks, with a lot of pointslam, then a Geralt at the end. I lost because this opponent had the good practice of distributing boosts on both rows, but i gambled and put a huge 30pt Kayran on board to avoid resets (he had already played heatwave), but he had Igni (Yrden would make me lose too)

This is the new symbiosis. You can still see my Yrden in hand, order on both artefacts and i already won...

 

[DRK3]

Lets go Yen today, as i have played quite a lot to test this deck already.

[DECK OF 09-06-22]
[ALL-YEN]

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

Yennefer is closing in on Geralt (the character with most versions in Gwent - 7), now with 5 different versions (i include Yen Invo, although its not a unit). But while making a deck with all Geralts suffers from diminishing returns, because most of those cards are similar (tall punishment), a deck with all Yens suffers the opposite effect - lack of synergy between them.

This is a problem when these Yens are conditional and have deckbuilding "soft restrictions": Yen vanilla requires you to go either swarm or unitless, Yen Divination requires to go hyperthin and have multiple tall units on deck, Yen conjurer requires you have other damages to line up the enemy highest units, Yen Illusionist requires a lot of spawning.

Still, i did my best. But if you want to have a great deck, dont be crazy like me and do these "theme decks"

Misc. Gwent Guides to... [THINNING]

Also i dare you win against The assimilate/spyes deck with any another deck. And when i mean win, its a Good win rate, not only One match where you have luck to get all the good cards and your opponent not I would say the NG spies deck is less problematic than Idarran-Snowdrop combos in this...

forums.cdprojektred.com

Above, the guide i wrote yesterday exclusively for the Yennefer Illusionist card. (you need to scroll a lot down to find it)

NG doing ST things...

The mirror...

More traumatizing ST players with their own favourite units...

Biggest army of piggies you've ever seen?

 

[DRK3]

Today is Triss's day.
Unfortunately her new card isn't exactly interesting, i'ts just support for pointslam (like it needed... )

Still, i won't present a MO deck like everyone else, and there's a good reason why...

[DECK OF 10-06-22]
[TRISSES AND ARNIES]

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/guides/330775

Why did i select SK?
For one, i knew i was going to do a deck with all 4 Triss versions. So it had to be something that synergized with all 4.

Triss Meteor Shower (MS) and Triss vanilla both benefit from pointslam, tall units. ST and NR simply dont have tall units, so it had to be one of the other 4 factions.

Triss Telekinesis (TK) can fit every faction, but she's a bit powercrept, so you need a bronze special that is really good. I considered bone talisman or lacerate, but that would require more building around them. I think Freya's blessing can be worth the cost though.

Finally, the reworked Triss Butterflies. The obvious choice is using her in ST handbuff, but i already excluded that for previous reasons.
Then i thought of duel units. NR has Anseis and Seltkirk... except i also excluded that faction for the same reasons.
Then i thought of the "other" duel unit - Arnachad! And my choice was made!

WARNING: the deck isnt strong at all, and got less wins with it than with yesterday's Yen deck.
This deck doesnt pointslam as hard as some GN decks, and it has little control and cant keep up with engine decks on long rounds.
Still, Triss deserved a deck focused on her.

In this situation, Triss MS was worth 26pts!

My opponent here crushed me, because he had double last say, however his Triss MS value is roughly the same as i got in the previous screenshot.

 

[UMA22]

Why is everyone playing the same deck ?
I dont know why, almost all the deck i faced seems to be a copycat of the same one
Let take for example Keltullis deck,
they all play it with nithral and ciri dash It normal if it was only one but each time i faced a Keltullis deck those two were played with
Also sihil with skellige, playing it with patricidal fury is the best way so ok for this, but they all play it with King bran, try to purify arnjolf, and land of thousand fables
Many decks are like that just a copycat why ? Isn't there enough creativity from the players ?

 

[DRK3]

Why is everyone playing the same deck ?
I dont know why, almost all the deck i faced seems to be a copycat of the same one
Let take for example Keltullis deck,
they all play it with nithral and ciri dash It normal if it was only one but each time i faced a Keltullis deck those two were played with
Also sihil with skellige, playing it with patricidal fury is the best way so ok for this, but they all play it with King bran, try to purify arnjolf, and land of thousand fables
Many decks are like that just a copycat why ? Isn't there enough creativity from the players ?

Yes, netdecking and metadecks are very prevalent in Gwent and the amount of players building their decks for themselves and trying different cards is sadly very small.

You and everyone else are welcome to take a look at the decks i post in this thread (this year i havent posted much though), i make a point of making them fundamentally different from metadecks, and you dont need to copy the deck exactly, you can adapt them or take inspiration to try your own variants if you feel comfortable.

 

[UMA22]

Yes, netdecking and metadecks are very prevalent in Gwent and the amount of players building their decks for themselves and trying different cards is sadly very small.

You and everyone else are welcome to take a look at the decks i post in this thread (this year i havent posted much though), i make a point of making them fundamentally different from metadecks, and you dont need to copy the deck exactly, you can adapt them or take inspiration to try your own variants if you feel comfortable.

My variation of Keltullis deck is way more better, i play it with viy, so instead of bossting my units with weak bronze cards like they do, i eat my viy almost each round if i have a good draw.
Also, even if u destroy my defender and ban my Keltullis i will not surrender like they do, bc i'll still have a boosted viy
Also my siege deck, nobody ever thinked about turning those volunteer and other human unit into kaedweni revenant with draug, then play bitchy sabrina

 

[DRK3]

Today's deck is not exactly wholesome, but i can promise its very different from what you've seen.

[DECK OF 14-06-22]
[CARRY ME CIRI]

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

BUILDING PROCESS:
I started with the handbuff idea, after seeing the insane potential the new reworked farseer has.
But that unit is usually seen on an all-in handbuff deck, which pratically builds itself (just stick every handbuff card in the deck).
I obviously dont want to do that, because its obvious, but also because i dont think its very strong.
Cards like Ithlinne and the reworked Triss Butterflies are super expensive, for the added value you can select where the buffs go. Instead, i go with farseers and hawker supports which are so much cheaper but provide great handbuffs too, and it results on more distributed boosts on all your units, so the deck is more balanced throughout the match and less "bleedable".

Then i decided to go for Ciri Nova, since there werent any 10+pr cards i needed. And with handbuffs, vulnerable but valuable cards like Ciri or Gabor are at least safe from cheap removal. If they're countered by a heatwave, its ok since this deck has so much carryover, it can still win if you lose CA on a push R2 but manage to take 2-4 units for R3.

(I tried a different ST Handbuff deck first, with the same farseer strategy and Golden Nekker, but with Hyperthin and Triss+ Yen Divination to reveal a gigant Torque, then summon it through summoning circle or decree.
Although the idea was really nice, it was so hard to execute, i switched it up for this simpler, carryover version)

 

[DRK3]

Yet another Golden Nekker deck - i promise this is the last one for the foreseeable future
It's based on probably the most hated card in Gwent in 2021 - Tunnel Drill. I hated it fervorously myself, but finally it ended up being nerfed and went straight out of the meta, replaced by Freakshow (which i recently noticed was also nerfed, in provisions)

Right now, it can still be deadly but at least its much harder to play it and immediately use it for 3(dmg) for 2(coins)... which is exactly what this deck tries to do, a bit of toxic nostalgia

Also, this is my 1st SY deck of the year and first time using the SY Forgotten treasure cards, which are really strong.

[DECK OF 15-06-22]
[DRILL YA'A NEW ONE ;AKA D.Y.N.O.]

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

SY still suffers from the same issue it has had for a very long time - having only one competitive deck, which is a mish mash of the best cards avaliable to the faction.

I admit this deck doesnt stay far from that philosophy, but there isnt really a SY archetype im a fan: Firesworn are probably my least favourite swarm, bounty and the recently buffed poison are too disgusting for my taste, so i end up doing a midrange deck, with a few signature DRK3 weird choices, like Tavern Brawl and Walter Veritas

This is the ideal scenario for R2 - an opponent that dry passes and you can establish 20 points of carryover (8 Nova, 12 from Ignatius coming next turn from SC) and 8/9 coins at end of round, so R3 you start with 4 coins.

This is a poor player who fell for the arcane tome bait, which allowed drill to do 3 damage and kill his freixenet, sorceress, other token dryad, ... not even the biggest Gord could save it now.

 

[DRK3]

Yet another Golden Nekker deck - i promise this is the last one for the foreseeable future

That statement, just a few days ago, did not age well...
BUT, in my defense, more than a Golden Nekker, today's deck is a seasonal mode deck, so it doesnt really count as a GN deck

I built it without any knowledge of what dominated the meta in the current seasonal (Dual Casting), but a nice coincidence happened when i discovered mill was everywhere there - which is awful - but that Lippy / Compass Lippy is the perfect counter for mill and it really pisses them off

[DECK OF 18-06-22]
[SEASONAL MAGICAL]

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 deck is far from perfect. It has been optimized quite a bit, but what pushed me to do it weren't the mill players, but the ones who were doing other strategies, which were the ones that were actually able to beat this deck.

Magic compass is insane, even moreso in this seasonal mode, and the versatility it packs allows to win on every matchup... the problem is when the draws, the GN pulls dont go our way, as the deck is absolute chaos, its like a powerful stallion that its hard to tame.

Truth be told, i havent even pulled off the ideal match - 2x magic compasses on R2, 4x on R3. Because i mess up something, dont get the draws at the right time or the echo cards get banished... or the other opposite happens, and i 2-0, sometimes even two cards down, as the point potential of GN and compass in this mode makes it feel like you're using cheats.

CONSIDERATIONS: the deck could probably use more artefacts, so GN has multiple targets and the pulls arent wasted.
Also a lot of cards brick when pulled from GN, like Bride when there is no rain and/or alchemy specials in GY, freyas blessing when there are still no bronzes in GY, when roach or Knickers are pulled as the unit, when you put storm on both rows when there are none/few enemy units on the other side, etc.
This deck was not designed for consistency at all, but for chaos and fun.

(sorry no screenshots this time - now i got a decent smartphone where i can play Gwent anytime, but i dont even know how to take screenshots)

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

ALERT: i have updated the excel index with the decks of this year, you can check it out here

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

 

[DRK3]

One more deck - SURPRISE! - the last one this month, and the last before the new (mini?) expansion is released next week.
I know its hard to get excited over anything else in the current game, when these new super strong cards are being revealed everyday. And the deck im presenting is not exactly a banger, instead its more of a nostalgia trip...

-By now, i've explored pretty much every card i found interesting, and ignored what i found basic or already explored by others.

-I considered doing an 'underdogs' deck for every faction (i did one for SY last year), which is a deck where most top golds are underrated cards never used in meta but that i think actually provide decent value. Unfortunately, there werent as many as i thought, i could do a fantastic one for SK but i've done way too many decks for my favourite faction, i want to diversify... And for other factions there werent as many of those underrated golds as i wished.

-I considered another full neutral deck, this time without the strong versatile golds (Shupe, Heatwave, Muzzle, Mushy Truffle), i even tested it out... it was awful.

-I considered doing a "bonded" deck with gold pairs - the two ifrits, the two daos, the unicorn/chironex, the ST etriel murliega... but all of those cards range from terrible to decent, at best. And there aren't enough to fill a deck.

Instead, i went back to basics, and did a deck similar to what you could find in 2019:

[DECK OF 29-06-22]
[RETRO REALMS]

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

Ahh, Northern Realms, i guess it can be considered the default faction, and the first one i tried (for some brief hours) in Gwent.

Philippa BF, Falibor, Baron and Anseis were in EVERY NR deck, and a lot of players (probably me included) asked for their nerf... Turns out that there was an alternative - just ignore them and wait a couple of years and they will be powercrept and be fine (or maybe now they even need a buff, so a problem was traded for another )

Despite the powercreep, the deck still proves decent. I think its due to its nature - engine decks dont suffer from powercreep as badly as pointslam decks, and an old engine deck can still (somewhat) compete with a new pointslam deck.

Props to Belohun, Reynard and Keira, which usually provided me great value and i believe are some of the underdogs of NR.
However its apparent the siege engines archetype is vastly superior in doing what this deck tries to do.
Also, no AA (its really expensive now) is a big issue, but it gives the player a taste of how playing NR felt back in the day, where short rounds were a nightmare and you relied strongly on draws to get your best cards.

PS - the weakest link in the deck is probably Ronvid, a 6 for 6 in today's meta is horrible, the 1pt carryover isnt worth it, at least in this deck, maybe in one where crew is needed or a draug deck that needs 1pt units. Feel free to switch him, even any 5p engine is probably better.

Lastly, if you're insane like me, go ahead and try this deck in the current seasonal (Battle Rush)

This was a crazy match in seasonal.
Crazy because all my opponent has to do each turn is play a card, meanwhile im trying to use charges from different units every turn in 8 seconds, all while my mouse decides to go unresponsive every now and again, to make this even harder... For masochists only.

 

[DRK3]

Something i forgot to say yesterday - you can count on me to bring you fresh new decks with the new cards, hopefully starting right on 'day one' of the Black Sun expansion (i think its on the 5th July, but havent seen official confirmation).

I already have some ideas and done some theorycrafting...

 

[EduFerraz]

Something i forgot to say yesterday - you can count on me to bring you fresh new decks with the new cards, hopefully starting right on 'day one' of the Black Sun expansion (i think its on the 5th July, but havent seen official confirmation).

I already have some ideas and done some theorycrafting...

Just waiting for those crazy ideias.

But, since you dont like too much sy i would make a chalenge to make a sy deck in Day one

 

[DRK3]

Just waiting for those crazy ideias.

But, since you dont like too much sy i would make a chalenge to make a sy deck in Day one

Challenge accepted!

Its fair to say SY is not a faction i particularly like, in fact, i didnt pay much attention to its revealed cards and was planning to leave SY decks for later and start with SK which is the faction i immediately gravitate towards, unless there is a specially spicy meme on another faction.

But i wont do that anymore, i will start with SY - Gudrun is my favourite leader/ character of that faction, so its adequate.