So there are variables. The most obvious one is card kegs. What cards you get influences what deck you can build. Another is your level. Once you get to 61 you get more rare cards and this again increases your options. That said, lock, poison, and removal are my advice to you. You should strongly consider imposter. Not only will it lock an enemy card but it will spawn a copy for you with two bonus points. Order cards and tower (high base point value cards,) are both good options. If you can give me more details about where you are in Gwent (level, cards available, etc...) I can give more specific advise. Also please note, if you are really determined to pursue Nilfgard then you should focus on Nilfgard kegs. Expanding the faction base is the best first step.
I've just started playing the other day and am rank 26 or so, complete beginner. So far I've only opened Nilfgaard kegs because that's the faction I started with and am really enjoying it so far. I already got some cards like the one which puts an opponent's unit on top of your deck and Ramon Tyrconnel. I bought the Decree as I was told it's great to have if you want a certain card from your deck (which is true, it's very helpful). I also have War Council, Milton and Palmerin (those guys from Witcher 3). I'm currently playing with the Formation. Which cards would be beneficial to craft?
Are you playing on android? If not then you can go into deck builder, go to share deck, and paste the link into this thread. It would help to see it. As for specific cards invocation is extremely useful. It removes any one card from your opponents side of the board and puts it at the top of your hand. Vilgeforts can then spawn that card on your side if you destroy a friendly unit. Or you can use him to destroy high point value cards from your opponents hand and bleed them. Damien allows you to replay your leader ability. Vincent van morelehem is able to kill any card with any status instantly and is worth 5 points as well. These are all legendaries and are likely to take a while for you to get. I can give more specific help on epics and rares when I see your deck build. If you are using android maybe you can take a screenshot and post that. Anything that lets me see and interact with your deck is helpful.
This is my current deck
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Okay, so I like your deck. I do have some suggestions which might make things easier, but I want to emphasize I like how it looks now. Defender plus Damien is a hugely effective combo for NG. Sometimes the opponent blocks it by purifying or killing the defender, but if not then you get to repeat your leader ability. Cahir is another extremely useful card. Cahir completely dominates monsters and northern realms and makes Syndicate and SK greatsword sweat. My advice those three are the legendary cards you should save for.
Moving onto common and rare cards. Poison is hugely effective. Fangs of the empire and the cobra neutral cards give good removal and add points while doing it. You said you are new so I have to ask, are you aware of how poison works?
Another thing to consider is replacing the magne division with masters of disguise. They are engines that get one point per turn if the opponent has a locked unit. Finally, the alba spearman would be less efficient with my suggested changes away from soldiers, but you could replace them with van moorlehem hunters. They are 3 point cards that lock or cause bleeding for 2 turns. NG’s biggest advantage is its ability to lock and remove the other sides cards.
These suggestions are just that, suggestions. There are trade offs to implementing them. That said, I think you will find they help.
I also want to include a link to a different thread where I give advice to some other newer players it might help. https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/help-me-im-broke.11031692/
Moving onto common and rare cards. Poison is hugely effective. Fangs of the empire and the cobra neutral cards give good removal and add points while doing it. You said you are new so I have to ask, are you aware of how poison works?
Another thing to consider is replacing the magne division with masters of disguise. They are engines that get one point per turn if the opponent has a locked unit. Finally, the alba spearman would be less efficient with my suggested changes away from soldiers, but you could replace them with van moorlehem hunters. They are 3 point cards that lock or cause bleeding for 2 turns. NG’s biggest advantage is its ability to lock and remove the other sides cards.
These suggestions are just that, suggestions. There are trade offs to implementing them. That said, I think you will find they help.
I also want to include a link to a different thread where I give advice to some other newer players it might help. https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/help-me-im-broke.11031692/
Welcome to Gwent and the forum @Philido! But first thing first. Use all your provisions. Your deck has 1 provision left to spare. I think Milton and and friends are junk guys. You can consider replacing them (since you already have Serrit and his friends and both these gang expect is gang to be in hand). I see that you have gone majorly with Soldiers. While the individual cards are fine, it wouldn't hurt to have some kind of tech (for example, Lacerete for row punish). You don't seem to have any aristocrats and hence investing in Ball (scenario) may not be advisable now.
Cards you can consider in the order to include:
1) Defender
2) Damien
3) Letho (to complete the Serrit gang)
4) Skellan/Bribery
5) Poison Package (just adding two poisons will brick most time and will become useless.. so you may have to add Fangs and Rot Tossers and Maral along with Ball and Thirsty Dames to become a full NG player.. but that can happen slowly on its own time)
Cards you can consider in the order to include:
1) Defender
2) Damien
3) Letho (to complete the Serrit gang)
4) Skellan/Bribery
5) Poison Package (just adding two poisons will brick most time and will become useless.. so you may have to add Fangs and Rot Tossers and Maral along with Ball and Thirsty Dames to become a full NG player.. but that can happen slowly on its own time)
I think these are the cards you need to find in kegs or craft ASAP...
Most bronzes you will get from faction kegs eventually, but here are some important ones for new NG players: (some because they are good, others because you need them to understand NG)
Bronze:
- Magne Division
- Infiltrator
- Fangs of the empire
- Tourney Joust
- Vicavaro Novice
- Thirsty Dame
- Nauzicaa Sergeant
- Nilfgaardian Knight
- Imperial Diplomacy
- Duchess Informant
- Imperial Diviner
- Assasination
- Ard Feainn Tortoise
- Ard Feainn Crossbowman
- Alba Pikemen
- Alba Armored Cavalry
- Viper Witcher
- Impera Brigade
- Experimantal Remedy
Mostly this is just a list to understand how Nilfgaard works. Some of those cards are not very good, some are. It depends on the meta and your own deck. It's not made for synergy. If you want synergy or a particular decktype, you got to decide what kind first..
But, with the above cards you can mix pretty DECENT decks AND understand the core concepts of NG. If you miss any of them after opening kegs, you should craft them with scraps. There are ofcourse other good ones, but that's mostly getting into type of decks, the above are more generic.
So, gold cards are way more expensive, so I'll try to stick with the ones that are good currently, but also popular currently. I might add in a few that are important to understand NG. And I am just trying to add generic ones, not ones that are needed in specific decks:
- Vanhemar
- Van Moorlehem Cupbearer
- Serrit, Auckes, Letho
- War Council
- Sweers
- Menno Coehoorn
- Hefty Helge
- Bribery
- Assire var Anahid
- Yennefers Invocation
- Vilgefortz
- Ffion var Gaernel
- Ramon Tyrconnel
- Letho Kingslayer
- Vincent van Moorlehem
- Damien de la Tour
Sadly NG has turned into a masquerade ball faction (scenario), but at lower ranks you should be able to make it fine without it. Besides, it requires some specific cards which I did not include here, and in a way it is a kind of specific type of deck or decks, so I did not include it in the list. But at some point it needs to be included, because sadly NG is not so good without it currently.
I might as well add a list of gold cards to AVOID: (for you, currently, and some in general)
- Vattier de Rideaux
- Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen
- Vrygheff
- Xarthisius
- Fringilla Vigo
- Isbel of Hagge
- Doadrick Leumearts
- Philippe van Moorlehem
- Milton de-Peyrac Payran
- Rainfarn of Attre
- Tourney Shaelmar
- Cadaverine
- Ceallach Dyffryn
- Palmerin de Leunfal
- False Ciri
- Rico Meiersdorf
Most bronzes you will get from faction kegs eventually, but here are some important ones for new NG players: (some because they are good, others because you need them to understand NG)
Bronze:
- Magne Division
- Infiltrator
- Fangs of the empire
- Tourney Joust
- Vicavaro Novice
- Thirsty Dame
- Nauzicaa Sergeant
- Nilfgaardian Knight
- Imperial Diplomacy
- Duchess Informant
- Imperial Diviner
- Assasination
- Ard Feainn Tortoise
- Ard Feainn Crossbowman
- Alba Pikemen
- Alba Armored Cavalry
- Viper Witcher
- Impera Brigade
- Experimantal Remedy
Mostly this is just a list to understand how Nilfgaard works. Some of those cards are not very good, some are. It depends on the meta and your own deck. It's not made for synergy. If you want synergy or a particular decktype, you got to decide what kind first..
But, with the above cards you can mix pretty DECENT decks AND understand the core concepts of NG. If you miss any of them after opening kegs, you should craft them with scraps. There are ofcourse other good ones, but that's mostly getting into type of decks, the above are more generic.
So, gold cards are way more expensive, so I'll try to stick with the ones that are good currently, but also popular currently. I might add in a few that are important to understand NG. And I am just trying to add generic ones, not ones that are needed in specific decks:
- Vanhemar
- Van Moorlehem Cupbearer
- Serrit, Auckes, Letho
- War Council
- Sweers
- Menno Coehoorn
- Hefty Helge
- Bribery
- Assire var Anahid
- Yennefers Invocation
- Vilgefortz
- Ffion var Gaernel
- Ramon Tyrconnel
- Letho Kingslayer
- Vincent van Moorlehem
- Damien de la Tour
Sadly NG has turned into a masquerade ball faction (scenario), but at lower ranks you should be able to make it fine without it. Besides, it requires some specific cards which I did not include here, and in a way it is a kind of specific type of deck or decks, so I did not include it in the list. But at some point it needs to be included, because sadly NG is not so good without it currently.
I might as well add a list of gold cards to AVOID: (for you, currently, and some in general)
- Vattier de Rideaux
- Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen
- Vrygheff
- Xarthisius
- Fringilla Vigo
- Isbel of Hagge
- Doadrick Leumearts
- Philippe van Moorlehem
- Milton de-Peyrac Payran
- Rainfarn of Attre
- Tourney Shaelmar
- Cadaverine
- Ceallach Dyffryn
- Palmerin de Leunfal
- False Ciri
- Rico Meiersdorf
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Great help, thank you!
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Okay, changed a wee bit since I got Vincent and Vanhemar in a keg, next cards to throw out will be Palmerin, Milton and maybe Geralt I guess....is a defender helpful at the moment?
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Defenders are best when they protect one of three types of cards.
1. Engines
2. Towers (cards with 9 points or more that Geralt might remove.)
3. High utility cards. In other words a card like isobel with moderate power but an order or an ability you want to trigger.
Your hand doesn’t really fit that criteria. Honestly, the problem with Vincent in your current hand is you don’t have a lot of status generating cards to use before using him. That is where lock and poison come in. Your on the right track.
Well, I included him because I currently have four locks and sometimes the opponent has other statuses (like that one where he boosts every turn) and I quite often find a decent target. Would be even more effective if I had poison I guess, that will be my next target
True, that status is called vitality. It can make for an effective target. Shield can also be one if the opponent tries to protect something of value. Also, he is the perfect counter to defender as that too is a status. Honestly, you are probably right to include him now. Poison is the backbone of NG at the moment. The one thing I do wonder about is your leader. 8 point boost plus 5 point play is worth 13. Less if you draw the 5 point card on your last Mulligan. Playing imposter, if your opponent plays a tower you could get as much or more off the top. If they play a valuable engine then you lock it, gain its engine power for yourself and get the base +2. IMO, imposter is the best leader in the game. Especially with Vincent to kill them right after.
Imagine teaching a new guy something actually good instead of telling him to play basically the most hated deck right now.
Nevermind the guys above, buy everything with a spy/assimilation tag if you have a heart.
^
The above is a (bitter) half-joke (not about the assimilation, though, it's quite good, but not quite beginner-friendly), but seriously, the thing they recommend you (namely removal spam, poison in particular), is probably going to get nerfed very soon, because many, many people are fed up with this mechanic and quit the game/ranked for real because of it. So stocking up on poison isn't the smartest move in the long-term.
The problem is that Formation is a guaranteed 13 points whereas Imposter seems too situational to me, sometimes I even struggle to find a target for Geralt...it also gives one provision less, but I don't know if that's significant
The provision really isn’t that big of a deal. If your comfortable and successful with your current leader than that’s all that matters. I would suggest experimenting with imposter at some point. Between the lock and the theft plus 2 I think you might find yourself better situated. But honestly there is no right answer, only personal preference.
Well, the point of the thread is to recommend the best cards for a beginner...if the faction heavily relies on poison there's no way around it if you want to be competitive I guess. What's so bad about it?
Yes, there would be no way around it if the faction in question didn't have an alternative. The thing is, there's at least two decently powerful and then many more meme-ish-yet-kinda-decent Nilfgaard decks that don't involve poison/Vincent Van Murlegem.
You'll understand soon enough.
Short version is - nobody likes it when an enemy deck can kill everything on your side of the board, and unfortunately this is exactly what's happening with Nilfgaard right now. A lot of people had to switch to decks that counter poison mechanic specifically.
(Expect a lot of voiced trying to disprove what I've just said. If you want to build your own impressions, try searching "Double Ball" here on forums and allocate some time for reading of the relevant threads)
If you think you need a Geralt card, there is a better alternative in Leo Bonhart for Nilfgaard. I didn't include it in the list of gold cards you need to get or those you shouldn't get.
I really depends in you want to include such a card. If you see alot of cards that are more than 9 body, then perhaps it could be good. Leo can also kill any witcher if there is not a 9+ card.
Vincent is a pretty good alternative, but it needs a status. Vanhemar should be good for now. At this level you should probably include some locks in your deck (Alba armored cavalry)
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Well, NG is not really good without poison at the moment. But I think at his level it's probably fine to play NG without scenario at least, and maybe without any poison at all. Or maybe add a poison or two. Depends on the deck,
Just double check the list of bad gold cards that I added. Most of those are generally pretty bad. Very few of them are usable, and those are only in special decks.
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It's probably better for him to stick with Imperial Formation at the moment. It's the most generic NG leader. If he wants to try other leaders, I think he should rather try Lockdown and Enslave to get a better idea of some Nilfgaard specific things.
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At some point.. But you don't need it yet.
You can add some poison cards in your deck, I even recommended some. But a full blown poison deck is a special deck, and I don't think you need to play it yet, and I don't think you should play it yet. It depends on the scenario (masquarade ball) and some other very specific card.
Better to get to know Nilfgaard without alot of poison first. Experiment with including some poison.
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