Netdecking Discussion [Why is everyone doing it?]

[DRK3]

I personally am against netdecking, not only because i like to do my own thing, and stand out, but because crafting new decks and finding out what works well and not is one of the most enjoyable things on Gwent. I dont even watch Gwent videos, all i got is my matches experiences.

On closed beta, it took me like 2 months to craft 10 different decks, even longer to start using all factions. This time? Barely over 1 week and already did that. But i guess some people just have 0 creativity in them, or dont like taking risks.

 

[Snake_Foxhounder]

Please don't take this as an attack on you. But how far has that creativity taken you? We're talking about competitive, ranked play.

Back in CB I had a really interesting monster deck that was more defensive than offensive. It was a hybrid weather/control/disruptive deck. While really fun to play, it didn't get me that far in ranked.

If there's anyone to blame for netdecking in competitive play, it's the game itself. Creative decks are fun to play but they have nothing on high-end competitive decks.

Each faction has one or 2 archetypes that work. Everything in between is just not as good. That's why most decks are the same. I understand how people get tired of it. I played ranked yesterday and a SK player was using a QG deck. Round one I steal his QG and win the round in the end. I start the second round and steal his other QG and he quits. But that's what happens when each faction has 1 or 2 archetypes that just slaughter everything else in their respective decks.

I want to use my quirky Monster deck in ranked. I want it to do well. But it can't and it won't. As long as balance is the way it is, homebrew decks that aren't part of the mainstream competitive play will stay stay at lower levels or casual play.

P.S.

I like people who netdeck and then just slap random cards on the board. Netdecking is one thing, understanding the game and the deck you're using is another.

 

[Avetohol]

Please don't take this as an attack on you. But how far has that creativity taken you? We're talking about competitive, ranked play.

Back in CB I had a really interesting monster deck that was more defensive than offensive. It was a hybrid weather/control/disruptive deck. While really fun to play, it didn't get me that far in ranked.

If there's anyone to blame for netdecking in competitive play, it's the game itself. Creative decks are fun to play but they have nothing on high-end competitive decks.

Each faction has one or 2 archetypes that work. Everything in between is just not as good. That's why most decks are the same. I understand how people get tired of it. I played ranked yesterday and a SK player was using a QG deck. Round one I steal his QG and win the round in the end. I start the second round and steal his other QG and he quits. But that's what happens when each faction has 1 or 2 archetypes that just slaughter everything else in their respective decks.

I want to use my quirky Monster deck in ranked. I want it to do well. But it can't and it won't. As long as balance is the way it is, homebrew decks that aren't part of the mainstream competitive play will stay stay at lower levels or casual play.

P.S.

I like people who netdeck and then just slap random cards on the board. Netdecking is one thing, understanding the game and the deck you're using is another.

Netdecking flourishes when the game has limited choices. Then there are 1-2 strategies, as you said, that work best and everyone flocks around them. But this is not at all how it should and is meant to be.
It's CDPR that can actually fix it. The counter to net decking is to simply flood the game with different cards and make card have complex links and synergies and add cards that are out of any archetype but are strong on themselves. Simply make the game with such a variety, that no deck should always be better than 80% of the other decks.
This will let people play the decks they like and still be competitive enough. I don't think people want to just copy decks, but they get tired of being beaten by the same deck over and over and they have 2 options - either join them or just leave the game out of frustration.
CDPR are walking a red line here, NG and ST special are running rampant and they have to move fast, because it's open beta, everyone can play and see it for themselves and eventually get disappointed.

 

[pngpl]

I think you overestimate the number of players that netdeck.
I like experimentation but if you see my "main" deck you would think that I netdeck, although I don't.
l will explain with an example why you see identical decks.

Let's say you play against ST.
And your opponent plays a mahakam defender.
You can be certain that his deck does not include a card like dol blathana marksman or neophyte commando.
You expect his deck to have a mahakam guard* card.

Why you can predict this?
It's simple.

Most cards are designed to have very good synergy with a certain type of cards, cards that belong to the same archetype.
The very same cards that are excellent within a deck of a certain archetype, are either "bad" or "not that good" in decks with a different archetype.

The above is the reason why you do not see "hybrid" decks (that are successful of course).

Plus, there is a limited number of archetypes for each faction.

Add that these archetypes are obvious to everyone....

...and you have the reason why almost everyone plays the same decks.

 

[Guest 4139610]

Some people dont know how else to do things maybe

 

[Snake_Foxhounder]

Both posts above have it right.

Completely agree with Avetohol. We simply need a better balance and more cards that allow players to create a number of different decks within the same faction, that will actually be competitive.

pngpl also has a good point. You can't throw random cards in your deck and get far. Synergy is important but is also very limited as of right now. Whenever you see Morkvarg, you know they'll have shieldsmiths to buff him, probably even Wild boar. When you see spies, chances are he'll play Brigades. When you see monsters, weather's there, etc. It's limited to what you can actually do.

 

[OG.laloquaint]

Netdecking Ruins Fun

Netdecking Ruins Fun. Don't get me wrong, I love this game. I think it's great, but playing against the same King Bran, Dagon and dwarves deck got annoying really quick. Literally just a week (or two?) after the patch and the game is full of this. I get why people would use them in ranked but in casual? Come on! I honestly just wish people were more creative instead of just copying the "best" decks.

Clarification: my problem isn't playing against them, most of them are pretty easy to beat, except Queensguard, they're really strong lol. My problem is that so many players use them.

 

[rctboy95]

I had 9 queensguard games in a row recently, it got boring really fast so i understand where you're coming from. I'm playing reveal nilfgaard atm which isn't even that good in the meta but it's more fun than the monster decks.

 

[xenogorgeous]

I enjoy much more deck building that using a net decking , that someone discovered that works 90% of time, with boring and predictable gameplay mechanics, giving the same results game after game .... I think it's much more challenge and fun try to pick some crazy combinations never tried before and try to win some games .... this way, the fun factor indeed works better !

 

[SrdjanB]

There are few reasons, people want to have nice competitive multyplayer fun, not to spend all the time theorycrafting, or people realize they are bad at it, but are good players who want to be competitive in high MMR, or just people learning to theorycraft by piloting the various deck of great deck builders,

 

[Ouderkirkj]

Because they can't think for themselves.

 

[Zjiin]

To be fair, the current game is a joke anyway. Why bother putting the effort into being creative and working out a new build when your just going to get completely shat on by tempo decks. Might as well just netdeck til the game either dies or CDPR see whats happening.

The game is so poorly balanced theres no point even trying to play anything but the T1 netdecks, the gap in power is so obscene nowadays.

 

[Marginal0]

Netdecking? Right... This isn't MtG with a 1000+-sized cardpool. The number of golds or silvers is limited, and you must truly be dreaming if you can't see the interactions between cards. If you just like to randomly mesh cards together and play, you have to deal with the consequences.

Though I'm just an average player, I can assure you that creativity in deckbuilding is being rewarded in the upper leagues, where people basically want you to netdeck so they can play circles around you.

If you don't like to face a certain type of decks, just quit at the beginning of the match and move on. It's really that simple. And for the record: I've faced a diversity of decks until now. The last few days have been NR more than anything else. Monsters are indeed frustrating (how many weather triggers can they play?) but for now that's how it is. We will probably see some minor nerfs in the coming weeks.

 

[wildkeny]

With such a small amount of bronze cards, there is only a limit selection of optimized decks that are able to survive at high ranks.

 

[StrykerxS77x]

To be fair, the current game is a joke anyway. Why bother putting the effort into being creative and working out a new build when your just going to get completely shat on by tempo decks. Might as well just netdeck til the game either dies or CDPR see whats happening.

The game is so poorly balanced theres no point even trying to play anything but the T1 netdecks, the gap in power is so obscene nowadays.

What MMR are you playing at?

 

[Icedrake707]

Geralt is so op. Netdecking and op cards are obnoxious

 

[SHALLAHJUSTICE]

I made an oath early on to never play as the popular spam/autopilot decks like monsters and only play as ST.

I don't even use a popular archetype like dwarves or mulligan, I feel like I've created a relatively unique deck and it fucks with people because they expect and prepare to face a common archetype and plan the match to disable your strategy, but with me, people can guess but never truly know what to expect.

Was difficult moving up the ranks at first, I started adjusting my deck as I went along, making several major edits, one for thinning, one for CA, one for weather protection.

Now I have found my special place, at rank 18 and I dare say I am on my way to becoming a grandmaster.

Advice: don't let monsters sap your morale, I know they can do that, play as often as you can for daily rewards and card kegs and there are so many cards you do not have to play an archetype because the rest of the world are, do your own thing and throw a few surprises in there.

 

[Alwaysmiddle]

I think netdecking is natural way people learn about card game. When you are new, it's natural to copy from others that are more experienced. I think people are mostly hating on the imaginary stereotype of players who don't want to make effort to fully understand the premise the deck or tweaking decks to according to situation.

Netdecking is fine honestly imo after making 4.3k MMR myself, I wish I wasn't blocked by these in game "social stigma", it's a faster way to learn the game.

 

[D4mian]

People do this becuase it's an effective way to gain MMR. I believe that only a small amount of players care about creativity in ranked. That doesn't make them better or worse - they just have a different approach. I play a niche Emhyr deck on the ladder and while it's still better than its counterparts from gwentDB or Gwentlemen Meta Snapshot, I'm well aware that getting to 4.3k will be much more difficult than it would be with a Dagon list. I don't like the fact that an unexperienced Dagon player can get to 4.3k without any effort, but I have to accept it - it's my choice to fight an uphill battle, after all. The only advantage I sometimes have is that people have no clue about my gameplan - that's probably why creative decks may work better past 4.4-4.5k.

On the other hand, Dagon netdeckers in casual are disgusting.

 

[actionjack123]

Like most said...
Lack of card variety and expansive of cards kinda force you to netdeck.