Nilfgaardian Deck Strategies

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Can u guys pls rate my deck? What should i change? Ty

I run a few different golds and I teched mine a bit for the matches I'm facing right now. I believe Triss: Telekinesis is a much better option to Letho: Kingslayer. You run only 1 tactic in your current deck, and that can brick Letho. Triss is much more reliable and can give you a very strong opener (Triss + Roach + Recon Into Medic + Beer = 24 points). And in the late game, she can provide you with an additional Ointment for that last Witcher. Geralt: Igni is fine, but I prefer Vilgefortz, the art is much more sick and cool :D. But seriously, Vilgefortz tends to synergize better with Cahir. But that's more of a personal taste.

My deck follows below.

alchemy.jpg

Like I said, I teched against a few archetypes I'm facing. The Shackles works wonders against Consume, along with Mandrake, shutting down Nekkers right on the beginning of the match, and also resulting in a few rage quits. And the 27 cards is to counter some nasty Mill decks I was facing lately.
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Doesn't this deck need more 'monster' cards(I don't know the right name).

You have 12 special cards. Isn't that too much?? Maybe I'm wrong, I'm also just a newbie. But with Magic I always had a ratio of max 35% special cards and the rest are monstercards (again; please help me with the right name). But this was only with special decks who rely on special cards. Normally I would have a 25-30% special card and 70-75% monstercard ratio.

But please correct me if I'm wrong and this can be usefull in Gwent.
There are a few decks that run more special cards then usual. I can name 2, one is the same we're talking about right now, which is the Alchemy Nilfgaard, and the other is the Spellatael (or Spells Scoia'tael) . I'm climbing the ladder with the Alchemy one and a few other decks I like to play with. If you need any hint on this specific deck, PM me, and maybe we can run some friendly matches in the game.
 
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There are a few decks that run more special cards then usual. I can name 2, one is the same we're talking about right now, which is the Alchemy Nilfgaard, and the other is the Spellatael (or Spells Scoia'tael) . I'm climbing the ladder with the Alchemy one and a few other decks I like to play with. If you need any hint on this specific deck, PM me, and maybe we can run some friendly matches in the game.

Thanks for the offer. For now I'm tweeking a NG Spy deck with the cards I have. I'll send you a friend request and maybe we can play indeed!!

This is my deck so far.. It needs a lot of card swaps wich I don't have at the moment. But so far I'm winning 96% of my casual games with this deck.. Going to try it in Ranked later this evening.
gwent deck NG Spy so far.JPG
The leader is Jan Calveit of course.
 
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Can u guys pls rate my deck? What should i change? TyView attachment 10974437
I run a deck that's pretty similar to yours though, a few things are different:

3 swallows and 2 Mahakam Ales instead of the opposite. You don't want to get stuck with no proactive options if you go first.

Triss: Telekinesis instead of Geralt: Igni. It can pull Reconnaisance, or any of the myriad alchemy cards you have.

Vilgefortz instead of Letho Kingslayer. You don't have any tactics cards and most leaders are weak so he really isn't worth it. On the contrary Vilgefortz is an amazing gold, both capable of providing large point swings and capable of stopping high threats like Sabbath if you are stuck without any Viper witcher or Mandrake in you hand ( which shouldn't happen as there's a ton of ways to play and tutor those). I've recently encountered some Sabbath - Nova Decks where my opponent kept strengthening his Ciri: Nova and then Adrenaline Rushed it to give it resilience, so Vilgefortz is useful in those situations as well. Very gold dependent decks like all in sabbath and Sabbath nova tend to have bad bronzes like mardroeme and Adr. Rush which on their own, won't do much. You can totally use Vilgefortz offensively

And finally, Dragon's Dream instead of Black Blood. I don't like inconsistent, or semi-consistent Create cards like Black Blood and Dragon's Dream is a horribly underrated card. Most people expect Expired Ale so they row stack. I've never had it deal less than 11 - 12 points. It takes a bit of timing, usually I mulligan it away when I have it in my opening hand, because it's so much better to pull it with Vesemir, especially if you have Roach. Alchemy's 2 natural weaknesses are Weather and Swarm decks, Dragon's dream provides a counter for the latter and if the former uses weather proactively, it can also make a massive difference there. In the rest of the cases it might not swing for 16 - 17 points like Expired Ale does but I think covering the weaknesses is more important. Plus, it's a bit like Iris and Villentretenmerth, a pretty telegraphed combo, which can bully opponents out of the round. Finally, you can shuffle it back with Assire and because you have excellent thinning, Cahir into Calveit or Vilgefortz can pull it again to give the opponent nightmares :) In total, it has won me significantly more games than it has costed me.

Thanks for the offer. For now I'm tweeking a NG Spy deck with the cards I have. I'll send you a friend request and maybe we can play indeed!!

This is my deck so far.. It needs a lot of card swaps wich I don't have at the moment. But so far I'm winning 96% of my casual games with this deck.. Going to try it in Ranked later this evening.
View attachment 10974449The leader is Jan Calveit of course.

Spy decks tend to be ineffective in the higher ranks generally. For your case, you definitely need more Impera Brigades, seeing as you have a ton of spies :) Vilgefortz if you can ever afford him, is a priority gold in my opinion, as one of the best Nilfgaard golds around. If you are using Calveit, Cahir is another decent option. Since you are using Infiltrators, you can also Consider Menno Coehoorn though it's not as much of a priority as the other 2

Silvers, Cadaverine is an interesting choice to destroy all spies. I quite like the idea. Though there are better silvers I think. Like Ceallach. I'd swap Manticore Venom for Ceallach personally, and then possibly, Vaedermakar with Vanhemar for that weather clear
If you get more Impera Brigades, consider using Assire to put them back in the deck if you play them early on so that you can use them again in a later round.

Finally, you can also consider Vicovaro Medics instead of Ambassadors. Aside from the tech they provide, they can resurrect spies, especially emissaries, to play more units from your deck and thin it down. most people run 2 Vicovaro Medics, though I personally run 3
 
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High time to refresh this thread for Homecoming. :p

So, I know witchers are played a lot, and I play them as well -- but with Usurper rather than Emhyr. It's super fun, although for opponents prooooobably not so much.

Usurper.png

I know it's not the most efficient list, but I never build for maximum efficiency -- fun is much more important to me.
 
The only card I don't want in my hand is Roach, and she has been behaving well. Also, I've lost quite a few coinflips, so I've had one mulligan.

Aldo run 1 Vicovaro Novice, fixes mulligan'ing into bad stuff, especially if you run the witcher trio.
 
So, Nilfgaard has been struggling with an identity problem lately right? The only real full archetype it has is reveal, but as we know it was severely nerfed a few weeks ago. Then there's spies, locks, soldiers, mill and a few others that arent enough for a 25 deck.

Well, i found an interesting NG deck that is really fun to play, although a bit tricky, and always different:

You know the SK strategy Jutta + Mirror to quickly put her at 18 pt? This is basically a whole deck around that.
First you need big units - im using Primordial Dao and Caldwell cuz they're cheap, but you can use Tibor or Letho (before he gets new ability)

Then you also need Master of Disguises, which is the most expensive bronze unit in Gwent for a reason. But most people arent using it to its full potential: MoD is 4 pt and switches points with an enemy. It provides huge swings if used on 13pt enemies, but what about when there's only 5/6 pt enemies?

This is where the star of the deck comes in: the criminally underused Alchemist (4pt, 4 provisions bronze that swap points between 2 ALLIES). Alchemist ability is instant, so you can swap MoD 4 pts for an even lower unit, then use MoD on the biggest enemy. You can also use it to put those juicy 10pts Caldwell has on an unit that wont betray you and go to the other side.

And finally, there's Becker Twisted Mirror. So now you have (if it wasnt destroyed) a big unit like Caldwell or Dao that has 9/10 pts base value but its value has been switched with a 1/2pt unit, so use the Mirror on them for a 14-18 boost.

(i also complement the deck with locks and the dude that steals locked units, so the opponent really has no chance of having a big unit left, unless its immune)

Good luck!
 

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Cool idea - I actually have never seen this combo before, but I don't think strategies that revolve around any one card staying alive for more than a turn are viable given all the removal in the current meta. You'd probably have to use zeal or immunity to pull it off, which is making it a pretty expensive set-up that won't necessarily always find value... Cool strategy for some underused cards, though. Have you been able to pull it off consistently?

Also, as far as NG archetypes go, I'd consider "disruption" a kind of archetype (i.e., deck-jamming cards that thwart or deny your opponent value, and that are a colossal pain in the butt to play against...)
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Aldo run 1 Vicovaro Novice, fixes mulligan'ing into bad stuff, especially if you run the witcher trio.

One of the best bronzes in the game. Has helped me out with unlucky Roach and witcher pulls many times...
 
So, Nilfgaard has been struggling with an identity problem lately right? The only real full archetype it has is reveal, but as we know it was severely nerfed a few weeks ago. Then there's spies, locks, soldiers, mill and a few others that arent enough for a 25 deck.

Not sure I'd say it was nerfed. There are pretty good reveal decks floating around. I'm not sure if it's safe to claim they're stronger compared to Emhyr Shupe but it's not too far off. They're certainly far more reliable. I've seen some Calveit decks that aren't exactly trash either. NG has plenty of viable options.

Cool idea - I actually have never seen this combo before, but I don't think strategies that revolve around any one card staying alive for more than a turn are viable given all the removal in the current meta. You'd probably have to use zeal or immunity to pull it off, which is making it a pretty expensive set-up that won't necessarily always find value... Cool strategy for some underused cards, though. Have you been able to pull it off consistently?

That would be the problem with it. Once people start seeing it they will adjust to it.
 
Cool idea - I actually have never seen this combo before, but I don't think strategies that revolve around any one card staying alive for more than a turn are viable given all the removal in the current meta. You'd probably have to use zeal or immunity to pull it off, which is making it a pretty expensive set-up that won't necessarily always find value... Cool strategy for some underused cards, though. Have you been able to pull it off consistently?

Also, as far as NG archetypes go, I'd consider "disruption" a kind of archetype (i.e., deck-jamming cards that thwart or deny your opponent value, and that are a colossal pain in the butt to play against...)
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One of the best bronzes in the game. Has helped me out with unlucky Roach and witcher pulls many times...

To be honest, i havent used it enough times to provide reliable results, but the 10-15 matches i did with it, i had good results. I use other NG bronze engines as bait, so hopefully when i play the 2 MoD they dont get removed or locked instantly. And i do have a Zeal potion, but its incompatible with MoD and this strategy, the zeal is for Vattier or Fringilla.

I also used to use Vicovaro Novices, but now with 6/7 Mulligans every match i dont feel like i need to anymore.
 
I'll share some results of the deck i described above:

Switcharoo Deck doin his thang.jpg

It definitely works best on Monster decks that dont run locks/ direct removal (where you choose the unit you want to damage)
Switcharoo vs Big Units.jpg

I played Caldwell but switched its points to my lock unit before it switched sides. he ate the caldwell, i locked the big barbegazi, and this turn i stole that barbegazi and reset the ghoul for a +40pt swing.
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I even feel bad for him.jpg
It also completely wrecks Dwarf boost decks, like it can be seen here. Dont forget to pack some locks, guys!
 
I mentioned earlier that I was playing Usurper with witchers. And I still am, although the deck has seen some changes due to suboptimal card choices and changes in provision costs. It's just as fun to play as it was in November, though!
Here is the current version of the deck (@mzeebra, I'm tagging you because you were interested in what I run):
1.PNG

2.PNG


I almost always mulligan away the Alba men, but they can get decent value. Arachas Venom I added in before the witcher trio nerf, but it's a solid card even without those three constantly showing up.

(The image quality leaves a lot to be desired, I know.)
 
That's a very different Usurper deck than the one I'm running, which is interesting in itself..

My biggest question is regarding Geralt: Professional(11). I don't get why people bring this instead of Geralt Of Rivia(10). It seems less convenient. Personally I swapped my Geralt of Rivia with Leo Bonhart(10) due to the added versatility at no extra cost.

I know that ofcourse doesn't fit with a Witcher deck, but.. Why not regular Geralt?
 
I don't get why people bring this instead of Geralt Of Rivia(10).
Can't speak for others, but I run Professional for two reasons. Firstly, he has a guaranteed 3 damage, whereas Geralt of Rivia can be a mere 3 points. Secondly, I really like the card; the ability, the art, and the premium animation plus sound effects. (Professional is my profile card, too.)
 
That's a very different Usurper deck than the one I'm running, which is interesting in itself..

My biggest question is regarding Geralt: Professional(11). I don't get why people bring this instead of Geralt Of Rivia(10). It seems less convenient. Personally I swapped my Geralt of Rivia with Leo Bonhart(10) due to the added versatility at no extra cost.

I know that ofcourse doesn't fit with a Witcher deck, but.. Why not regular Geralt?

Leo and Geralt can sometimes brick since they won't find a target of 8 or more power while Professional is always at least 6 points. Every point counts! I like running Nilfgaardian Knights to boost enemy units so that its easier for those cards to get value.
 
I've found Assimilate to be a lot of fun. Create synergising with it really opens up options in deckbuilding. Anarietta's voicelines are pretty great, too.

I've not tried my Assimilate deck outside of the seasonal mode but I bet it would be possible to pull off some nice chains even without the double specials.

Create = RNG = inconsistency; however, fun is more important to me than always managing to execute the best combos. Besides, it can offer some unexpected, great synergies if I'm lucky!
 
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