This deck should probably run Yrden, because letting Fleders live is quite scary (especially 3 of them).
I have finally decided upon a Mutagenerator deck. You can find it here.
After considering multiple variants, I believe the strongest (by a significant margin) to be a deck that loads up on four-provision cards as targets for Mutagenerator. This both seems most authentic (the four provision cards are all cards I want to play, and the "extras" to ensure adequate numbers of Mutagenerator targets are fine to mulligan.
This deck also exploits the 4-provision Priestesses for a second win con. The Leader ability nicely supports both Priestesses and supports playing Mutagenerator round 1.
Onieromancy and Amphibious Assault may seem redundant, but I prefer to Oneiromancy for Mutagenerator to leader charge because I would rather leader charge a Priestess, and Oneiromancy allows me to play Mutagenerator as the first card (rather than using a play to make room for leader to draw it into hand). Amphibious Assault gives some helpful tempo in round one -- often allowing play one turn deeper. And it could draw either Priestess or Tridam Infantry round three without using a leader charge.
Heatwave and Anseis provide a little bit of control -- most matches I lost (for reasons other than blunders) were lost because of one card I could not handle, and these seemed like the best tools to answer those cards. I hate to include extra special cards because they reduce the effectiveness of Erland, but Oneiromancy, Amphibious Assault, and Heatwave all seem worth it.
King Radovid gives up to two extra leader charges -- especially helpful to empower a priestess. Dandelion provides significantly more carry over for Erland if not dealt with. If nothing else, he might draw fire away from Radovid or Trollololo. Trollololo provides another opportunity to double the Priestess charge value.
Despite his vulnerability, Visogota synergizes well with Troll, Dandelion, and Infantry. He also plays for a lot of points if not countered -- enough he could provide a third win con. And he too, can draw fire away from other things.
Gerhart is probably the least well fitting card. (I could find nothing better at 11 provisions.) But, combined with the students, can provide a bit of misdirection as to the deck type. And he, also, is good at drawing fire.
I have more information on play strategy and deck weaknesses in the deck guide found with the deck.
After considering multiple variants, I believe the strongest (by a significant margin) to be a deck that loads up on four-provision cards as targets for Mutagenerator. This both seems most authentic (the four provision cards are all cards I want to play, and the "extras" to ensure adequate numbers of Mutagenerator targets are fine to mulligan.
This deck also exploits the 4-provision Priestesses for a second win con. The Leader ability nicely supports both Priestesses and supports playing Mutagenerator round 1.
Onieromancy and Amphibious Assault may seem redundant, but I prefer to Oneiromancy for Mutagenerator to leader charge because I would rather leader charge a Priestess, and Oneiromancy allows me to play Mutagenerator as the first card (rather than using a play to make room for leader to draw it into hand). Amphibious Assault gives some helpful tempo in round one -- often allowing play one turn deeper. And it could draw either Priestess or Tridam Infantry round three without using a leader charge.
Heatwave and Anseis provide a little bit of control -- most matches I lost (for reasons other than blunders) were lost because of one card I could not handle, and these seemed like the best tools to answer those cards. I hate to include extra special cards because they reduce the effectiveness of Erland, but Oneiromancy, Amphibious Assault, and Heatwave all seem worth it.
King Radovid gives up to two extra leader charges -- especially helpful to empower a priestess. Dandelion provides significantly more carry over for Erland if not dealt with. If nothing else, he might draw fire away from Radovid or Trollololo. Trollololo provides another opportunity to double the Priestess charge value.
Despite his vulnerability, Visogota synergizes well with Troll, Dandelion, and Infantry. He also plays for a lot of points if not countered -- enough he could provide a third win con. And he too, can draw fire away from other things.
Gerhart is probably the least well fitting card. (I could find nothing better at 11 provisions.) But, combined with the students, can provide a bit of misdirection as to the deck type. And he, also, is good at drawing fire.
I have more information on play strategy and deck weaknesses in the deck guide found with the deck.
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I've had some trouble with the deck library not wanting to let me save and publish this deck. It worked for me before, but I had not logged out of playgwent.com It now seems to work even when I am logged out, but could someone please check and confirm? Thank you.
Still not working, and I have to say i am curious about this dekc
I think playgwent.com may be having issues. I will list the cards here — it’s awkward, but usable.
Pincher Maneuver Leader
Tactical Advantage Strategem
Oneiromancy
Amphibious Assault
Erland of Larvik
Gerhart of Aelle
Korathi Heatwave
King Radovid V
Prince Anseis
Dandelion
Vysogota of Corvo
Trollololo
Mutagenerator
Tridam Infantry x2
Peller
Cintrian Envoy x2
Squirrel
Ban Ard Student x2
Aretuza Student x2
Radovid‘
Traveling Priestess x2
Some important remarks made in the guide include:
1. The goal round one is to play Mutagenerator followed by as many 4-provision units ranged row as possible. Usually even Ban Ard Students go ranged row in round 1. I typically mulligan gold cards to have five, six, or even seven four-provision bronzes available.
2. With the zero tempo Mutagenerator and mostly 4 provision units played in round one, that round will be abysmal. I don’t mind losing on even. If an opponent passes, I don’t mind going down two, three, or even four cards to win the round. What matters most is getting lots of carryover, but don’t go down cards and still lose.
3. Don’t panic if an opponent removes Mutagenerator. Your game plan changes, but you still have competitive cards. Although not optimized for this, it is still possible to get a priestess to 12-15 charges with Trollololo and/or Tridam Infantry. Erland can now be used round one to maximize his carryover or saved for round 3 to capture unused boosts from Dandelion.
4. Somewhat surprisingly, this deck is vulnerable to repeated removal. Prioritize destroying enemy removal engines. You can generally outperform boost engines.
Pincher Maneuver Leader
Tactical Advantage Strategem
Oneiromancy
Amphibious Assault
Erland of Larvik
Gerhart of Aelle
Korathi Heatwave
King Radovid V
Prince Anseis
Dandelion
Vysogota of Corvo
Trollololo
Mutagenerator
Tridam Infantry x2
Peller
Cintrian Envoy x2
Squirrel
Ban Ard Student x2
Aretuza Student x2
Radovid‘
Traveling Priestess x2
Some important remarks made in the guide include:
1. The goal round one is to play Mutagenerator followed by as many 4-provision units ranged row as possible. Usually even Ban Ard Students go ranged row in round 1. I typically mulligan gold cards to have five, six, or even seven four-provision bronzes available.
2. With the zero tempo Mutagenerator and mostly 4 provision units played in round one, that round will be abysmal. I don’t mind losing on even. If an opponent passes, I don’t mind going down two, three, or even four cards to win the round. What matters most is getting lots of carryover, but don’t go down cards and still lose.
3. Don’t panic if an opponent removes Mutagenerator. Your game plan changes, but you still have competitive cards. Although not optimized for this, it is still possible to get a priestess to 12-15 charges with Trollololo and/or Tridam Infantry. Erland can now be used round one to maximize his carryover or saved for round 3 to capture unused boosts from Dandelion.
4. Somewhat surprisingly, this deck is vulnerable to repeated removal. Prioritize destroying enemy removal engines. You can generally outperform boost engines.
April Spies
Today’s deck is in a style I really like – unfortunately one that the design philosophy of Gwent tends to discourage – a deck with no real tutors and very little thinning. All cards are chosen with multiple, interdependent synergies; you make decisions based upon what you have drawn and not some pre-designed, ideal card order. Although it certainly builds towards bigger plays, the deck has no clearly defined finisher. Every game plays differently, depending upon draw and match-up. But the deck has both good point generation and good control. In testing, it fared very well – except when I misplayed it. But be aware that I play almost exclusively on unranked, “training” mode. Thus, my competition can sometimes be weak – and that was the case when testing this deck.
I guess you could classify the deck as a “theme deck”, with the theme being spying. Virtually every card either gives a spying tag or exploits the spying tag. Considerations include:
You can find the deck here. Please let me know if you have trouble with the link – I have been having difficulty with the deck library not letting me open the decks to other users. I think the problem was that platgwent.com was not making my decks public even after I clicked the button, but I am not sure. The link works for me – but my supposedly broken links also worked for me.
Today’s deck is in a style I really like – unfortunately one that the design philosophy of Gwent tends to discourage – a deck with no real tutors and very little thinning. All cards are chosen with multiple, interdependent synergies; you make decisions based upon what you have drawn and not some pre-designed, ideal card order. Although it certainly builds towards bigger plays, the deck has no clearly defined finisher. Every game plays differently, depending upon draw and match-up. But the deck has both good point generation and good control. In testing, it fared very well – except when I misplayed it. But be aware that I play almost exclusively on unranked, “training” mode. Thus, my competition can sometimes be weak – and that was the case when testing this deck.
I guess you could classify the deck as a “theme deck”, with the theme being spying. Virtually every card either gives a spying tag or exploits the spying tag. Considerations include:
- Making room for a defender (to protect engines, but especially Philippe). This would make the deck a bit more draw dependent.
- Exchanging Seditious Aristocrats for Thirsty Dames. The former synergizes better with Usurper Emperor (but I typically play the Aristocrats before Emperor comes into play) while the later enables Philippe’s zeal (but I have not found zeal all that helpful). Ultimately, I chose Aristocrats because they offer more flexibility as to when they are played
- Exchanging Mage Torturers and Imperial Diviners. The former give spying, the latter purify – which helps with veiled units as well as defenders. I would like more of both – but fitting them in the deck….
- More disloyal units. What is spying, without true spies? But I already almost always mulligan Emissary, and Informants can struggle to find targets. And where do I get space?
- Swapping out Fercart. I like his ability to apply spying, but it was honestly hard to fit enough spells to justify him. Without Fercart, I could drop Bribery and maybe War Council. This would allow some space for other cards I wish I had. Avoiding surplus provisions while maintaining synergy becomes a minor issue with this.
You can find the deck here. Please let me know if you have trouble with the link – I have been having difficulty with the deck library not letting me open the decks to other users. I think the problem was that platgwent.com was not making my decks public even after I clicked the button, but I am not sure. The link works for me – but my supposedly broken links also worked for me.
The link works fine. It’s just new “Card library” feature that makes importing awkward.
For anyone who wants to import the deck follow the order after following the deck’s link:
Import to my decks -> Preview deck -> Export to Game.
I’d definitely try this deck, thank you for sharing. Maybe I’ll swap Usurper (imo the card is just weak) for Vilge: Renegade to abuse opponent’s RoF or other good things devotion decks cannot afford.
For anyone who wants to import the deck follow the order after following the deck’s link:
Import to my decks -> Preview deck -> Export to Game.
I’d definitely try this deck, thank you for sharing. Maybe I’ll swap Usurper (imo the card is just weak) for Vilge: Renegade to abuse opponent’s RoF or other good things devotion decks cannot afford.
Thank you, Igor, for the feedback. But especially for the opportunity to post my next deck without waiting 24 hours to avoid automerge.
Specialized
Today’s deck is from one of my two least favorite factions to play – and one considered by many to be relatively weak in the current meta. To make things more challenging, I avoid cards and concepts I dislike – and in ST, there are a lot of those which are popular at the moment. I am also aware that a new balance patch will be released in a couple of days. I am trying to avoid cards which are likely to make the deck instantly obsolete.
Still, I have a deck that I find plays quite well, albeit, again, most of my testing was against competition which I would generously describe as not stellar. It revolves around cards that benefit from special cards: Simlas, Francesca, Saov Ainmhi’dh, Alissa, Jonny, Sarah, Elven Seers, and Whisperers of Dol Blathanna. Then I added Figgis for a little protection (mainly for Francesca), selected 12 nice special cards, and finished with a Pyrotechnician (because it seemed like the best choice that fit). I chose the invigorate leader, first because it is the one ST leader toward which I have an affinity, and later, because it made sense. Not other leader really fits, invigorate provides 12 points in play, and it protects and buffs engines like Whisperers, and order cards like Sorceress of Dol Blathanna.
More significant than the cards that are included in the deck are the cards which are not.
The deck’s biggest vulnerability is to removal – most of your engines are weak – and Francesca is an attractive target. Play to protect what you can – and use decoy tactics for what is most important. Let me know how this deck works for you – I have been pleasantly surprised. Find the deck here.
Specialized
Today’s deck is from one of my two least favorite factions to play – and one considered by many to be relatively weak in the current meta. To make things more challenging, I avoid cards and concepts I dislike – and in ST, there are a lot of those which are popular at the moment. I am also aware that a new balance patch will be released in a couple of days. I am trying to avoid cards which are likely to make the deck instantly obsolete.
Still, I have a deck that I find plays quite well, albeit, again, most of my testing was against competition which I would generously describe as not stellar. It revolves around cards that benefit from special cards: Simlas, Francesca, Saov Ainmhi’dh, Alissa, Jonny, Sarah, Elven Seers, and Whisperers of Dol Blathanna. Then I added Figgis for a little protection (mainly for Francesca), selected 12 nice special cards, and finished with a Pyrotechnician (because it seemed like the best choice that fit). I chose the invigorate leader, first because it is the one ST leader toward which I have an affinity, and later, because it made sense. Not other leader really fits, invigorate provides 12 points in play, and it protects and buffs engines like Whisperers, and order cards like Sorceress of Dol Blathanna.
More significant than the cards that are included in the deck are the cards which are not.
- In most non-devotion decks, both Ring of Favor and Aerondight are autoinclude. So I didn’t.
- Vanadain/Waylay seems to be the lifeblood of ST these days. Not here. Let’s at least try something different.
- Most ST players seem to avoid Golden Nekker – probably to include Simlas. I avoided Nekker too – but more because I really wanted Francesca.
- Gord is both boring and overused in special decks. I’ll pass.
The deck’s biggest vulnerability is to removal – most of your engines are weak – and Francesca is an attractive target. Play to protect what you can – and use decoy tactics for what is most important. Let me know how this deck works for you – I have been pleasantly surprised. Find the deck here.
This post is a request for help. If the deck here posted is original, I doubt it will be for long. But I think it is badly broken and would appreciate others trying it and letting me know if they feel the same.
The idea is simple – use NG low power disloyal units to boost Sahil to as much damage as possible in round 1. If an opponent has no units, you can still play the disloyal units simply to boost Sahil. Most of the strategy is managing rounds one and two to get Sahil as high as possible by round three without going down more than a card.
The biggest issue is not drawing Sihil for round 1. (It may be worth modifying the deck to minimize this risk.) I have had success just passing round one without playing a card if this occurs. Usually, I can win a long round 2 and still proc Sihir a lot if I draw it. If I can’t get it round two, I am unlikely to win the match. Otherwise, you want to watch for defenders denying you access to vulnerable units. Vincent, Vilgefortz, and (with a round of setup) Tesham Mutna Sword can all handle defenders. But generally, you want lots of bronze units in hand to be able to use Sahil.
I publish this deck because, if it is as broken as I fear, getting it out will help draw the developers attention to a potentially broken card.
UPDATE:
I have now significantly polished the deck, making it both stronger and more consistent. I still believe it to be borderline if not broken. The deck has been changed to the updated version.
Strengths of the deck include:
The idea is simple – use NG low power disloyal units to boost Sahil to as much damage as possible in round 1. If an opponent has no units, you can still play the disloyal units simply to boost Sahil. Most of the strategy is managing rounds one and two to get Sahil as high as possible by round three without going down more than a card.
The biggest issue is not drawing Sihil for round 1. (It may be worth modifying the deck to minimize this risk.) I have had success just passing round one without playing a card if this occurs. Usually, I can win a long round 2 and still proc Sihir a lot if I draw it. If I can’t get it round two, I am unlikely to win the match. Otherwise, you want to watch for defenders denying you access to vulnerable units. Vincent, Vilgefortz, and (with a round of setup) Tesham Mutna Sword can all handle defenders. But generally, you want lots of bronze units in hand to be able to use Sahil.
I publish this deck because, if it is as broken as I fear, getting it out will help draw the developers attention to a potentially broken card.
UPDATE:
I have now significantly polished the deck, making it both stronger and more consistent. I still believe it to be borderline if not broken. The deck has been changed to the updated version.
Strengths of the deck include:
- heavy reliance on bronze cards early in the match – which virtually guarantees high-end gold cards in the final round (unless you actually prefer bronzes!)
- strong in both short and long round 3.
- very difficult to counter
- the worst match-up is probably monsters consume – which is not meta
- strong against both broad and tall strategies
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Sihil itself is quite broken but i fear your list is far from optimized. For starters, you need several ways to tutor it R1, arcane tome is probably the best.
Ive also faced a NG spy sihil deck and he used Joachim to get that 4pt target. I did beat him though.
I've seen a few sihil lists, players are still working on em, but i fear we will end up seeing sihil lists super popular for all factions or close to it, like a bad nightmare, a return to early Homecoming.
Thank you DRK3. I have done considerable polishing of the deck, and the new version now replaces the unpolished initial version. I definitely needed more ways to draw Sihil, but chose Matta Hu'uri (to draw Oneiromancy) because Arcane Tome breaks initiative -- essentially wasting both a bronze card and a target. I don't think the provision difference matters. If I find I need still more consistency, I think Arcane Tome is next to include, but I need more testing to determine that. Odds of missing Sihil, Oneiromancy, and Matta Hu'uri are pretty small. Land of a Thousand Fables will cost cards I don't want to give up.
I have also added Lacerate for wide punish and a tool to set up more targets. To do this I also removed Treason, which gives the deck more bronze units for Sihil. I replaced Artaud with Braathens because Artaud could have been drawn by Matta Hu'uri. And I replace Tactical Advantage with Magic Lamp (even though I had to craft the card) so Emissaries could be played efficiently on the first turn.
I don't know whether spying is the optimal way to go with this deck -- but I do appreciate the damage pings (especially of Enforcers) to set up Sihil targets (the only NG accessible bronze units with storable damage charges are Enforcers, Turncoats, and Fire Scorpions; the first two need spying).
I do believe that NG is the best faction for Sihil. It is far easier to set up the initial boosts with a bunch of weak, disloyal units -- and the biggest reason Sihil decks flounder is being too slow uncorking Sihil. I have not seen many Sihil decks; those I have seen do not (in my opinion) place enough focus in setting up Sihil quickly.
I have also added Lacerate for wide punish and a tool to set up more targets. To do this I also removed Treason, which gives the deck more bronze units for Sihil. I replaced Artaud with Braathens because Artaud could have been drawn by Matta Hu'uri. And I replace Tactical Advantage with Magic Lamp (even though I had to craft the card) so Emissaries could be played efficiently on the first turn.
I don't know whether spying is the optimal way to go with this deck -- but I do appreciate the damage pings (especially of Enforcers) to set up Sihil targets (the only NG accessible bronze units with storable damage charges are Enforcers, Turncoats, and Fire Scorpions; the first two need spying).
I do believe that NG is the best faction for Sihil. It is far easier to set up the initial boosts with a bunch of weak, disloyal units -- and the biggest reason Sihil decks flounder is being too slow uncorking Sihil. I have not seen many Sihil decks; those I have seen do not (in my opinion) place enough focus in setting up Sihil quickly.
So what can I say about Sihil.
It has a potential to be very powerful IF you’re lucky enough to draw it and also a good setup for him in R1.
I’ve made a meme Enslave 7 deck with it which also had Calveit, Fire Scorpions, Ardal [16], Yenvo, Bribery, Manno and all the bronzes I could fit in.
The problem is if you can’t boost it in R1, later it becomes more useless than anything (I consider taking Cursed Scroll to be more consistent on Blue Coin). But if Scorpions stick (which happens surprisingly often actually), R1 becomes the more easy the more damage Sihil accumulates.
In R3 I often play Diplomacies and Remedies while opponent’s side of the board stays empty almost all the time (thx to Assassinations and Jousts).
12 damage was the most I could do with Sihil (practically I could do more, but after killing Patricidal with Sihil, my last opponent forfeited with 3 cards).
Overall the card has its potential, but I think it’s too hard to setup it consistently for the deck to be competitive.
Imo Arondite does the job better needing almost zero setups or strategy and without that difficult conditions (vomiting points to stay ahead in your turn imo is much easier than meeting Deathblow and Initiative conditions).
All in all I still suspect some toxicity with Sihil later, after people figure out how to boos it properly.
It has a potential to be very powerful IF you’re lucky enough to draw it and also a good setup for him in R1.
I’ve made a meme Enslave 7 deck with it which also had Calveit, Fire Scorpions, Ardal [16], Yenvo, Bribery, Manno and all the bronzes I could fit in.
The problem is if you can’t boost it in R1, later it becomes more useless than anything (I consider taking Cursed Scroll to be more consistent on Blue Coin). But if Scorpions stick (which happens surprisingly often actually), R1 becomes the more easy the more damage Sihil accumulates.
In R3 I often play Diplomacies and Remedies while opponent’s side of the board stays empty almost all the time (thx to Assassinations and Jousts).
12 damage was the most I could do with Sihil (practically I could do more, but after killing Patricidal with Sihil, my last opponent forfeited with 3 cards).
Overall the card has its potential, but I think it’s too hard to setup it consistently for the deck to be competitive.
Imo Arondite does the job better needing almost zero setups or strategy and without that difficult conditions (vomiting points to stay ahead in your turn imo is much easier than meeting Deathblow and Initiative conditions).
All in all I still suspect some toxicity with Sihil later, after people figure out how to boos it properly.
After more testing with Sihil, I am inclined to agree. The deck is absolutely overwhelming if you can boost Sihil to 5 or 6 damage in round one. it’s practically hopeless if Sihil cannot get to at least three or four damage. The problem is that, no matter how you design the deck, reaching this milestone is entirely match-up dependent. Thus, I am finding Sihil not so much overpowered as incredibly binary, and hence, as toxic as I first feared —although not for the reason I’d feared. I’ve had my fill of this deck — time for something more pleasant.
Today's deck represents a polish of a deck I have discussed elsewhere. But with the polish, I have found the deck very viable against most competition and a lot of fun to play. It is a Monsters consume deck -- with a significant twist. It uses a lot of almost never-seen cards -- proving that many older, seemingly useless cards can still shine in the right context. The core concept of the deck stems from the Fruits of Ysgith leader and an attempt to maximize that leader value. The idea is to play a Fruits of Ysgith, trigger its thrive, and then consume it virtually every round, thereby creating a two point per turn engine. This requires either a Wererat or a Slyzard for the unlimited consumes. The base play can then be enhanced by cards like She-Troll of Vergen and Vran Warrior -- cards that grow upon every consume.
From here, the core concept has much flexibility. I chose the remainder of the deck to compensate for four fundamental weaknesses. First, most monsters decks lack good control. In the current Gwent environment, there are many gimmick decks capable of playing huge engines or having other value if not countered. Second, this consume strategy absolutely demands consume units and is vulnerable to their removal/control. These units must either appear in surplus, be protectable, or the deck needs alternative win cons. Third, this deck will inevitably develop very tall units. Mechanisms must be in place to handle tall punish. Fourth, engine value is weak in short rounds and does not usually generate good reach. Ways to generate tempo are important.
I tried to provide control directly (by Heatwave and Vigo's Muzzle), and less directly through damage generation in a consume process. Hence the Rotfiends and the Cyclopses. By the way, I don't necessarily need Cyclops for a deathwish trigger -- there are sufficient consumes that a Cyclops can be used for focused removal.
I overloaded consumes to prevent shutting the deck down by stopping the consumes. This also accounts in part for the Ruehin -- to provide the surplus consumes a possible target. It also partially accounts for the Caranthir and the Witches Sabbath. All together, the deck has access to five infinite-consume units: two Slyzards, one Wererat, one spawned by Caranthir, and one Wererat summoned by Witches' Sabbath. Only a heavy control deck can deal with all. Two Mahakam ale's limit the effectiveness of locks for control. A Cave Troll (defender) gives even more protection. It, also, can appear in multiples in this deck.
This deck is not for those highly averse to tall units -- this deck has to go quite tall. I does distribute the risk by having multiple tall units. Wererat orders can be an excellent preventative for Ornate Censer, but they will shut down the rat to some degree, and can create rowspace issues. Use them with discretion.
Witches Sabbath can jump-start engines in round three -- provided the graveyard contains at least one defender and one Wererat. Deathwish/consume combos can have excellent reach, but typically take a turn to set up. But if necessary, Slyzard or Wererat can consume a more significant Deathwish unit instrad of a fruit.
The full deck can be found here.
From here, the core concept has much flexibility. I chose the remainder of the deck to compensate for four fundamental weaknesses. First, most monsters decks lack good control. In the current Gwent environment, there are many gimmick decks capable of playing huge engines or having other value if not countered. Second, this consume strategy absolutely demands consume units and is vulnerable to their removal/control. These units must either appear in surplus, be protectable, or the deck needs alternative win cons. Third, this deck will inevitably develop very tall units. Mechanisms must be in place to handle tall punish. Fourth, engine value is weak in short rounds and does not usually generate good reach. Ways to generate tempo are important.
I tried to provide control directly (by Heatwave and Vigo's Muzzle), and less directly through damage generation in a consume process. Hence the Rotfiends and the Cyclopses. By the way, I don't necessarily need Cyclops for a deathwish trigger -- there are sufficient consumes that a Cyclops can be used for focused removal.
I overloaded consumes to prevent shutting the deck down by stopping the consumes. This also accounts in part for the Ruehin -- to provide the surplus consumes a possible target. It also partially accounts for the Caranthir and the Witches Sabbath. All together, the deck has access to five infinite-consume units: two Slyzards, one Wererat, one spawned by Caranthir, and one Wererat summoned by Witches' Sabbath. Only a heavy control deck can deal with all. Two Mahakam ale's limit the effectiveness of locks for control. A Cave Troll (defender) gives even more protection. It, also, can appear in multiples in this deck.
This deck is not for those highly averse to tall units -- this deck has to go quite tall. I does distribute the risk by having multiple tall units. Wererat orders can be an excellent preventative for Ornate Censer, but they will shut down the rat to some degree, and can create rowspace issues. Use them with discretion.
Witches Sabbath can jump-start engines in round three -- provided the graveyard contains at least one defender and one Wererat. Deathwish/consume combos can have excellent reach, but typically take a turn to set up. But if necessary, Slyzard or Wererat can consume a more significant Deathwish unit instrad of a fruit.
The full deck can be found here.
Wouldnt the reworked hybrid fit perfectly in your deck? 8pts for 4pr, or a backup extra consume if needed.
8 for 4 is still quite good, the only thing better is the 'cheat' megascope on 9/10pt bronzes.
Bigger
Today, I offer a deck that I believe still feels unique despite using the current cliché trio: Nekker, Nova, and Aerondight. It is different because it is very heavily focused upon pointslam – getting ahead (and staying ahead) of your opponent to maximize Aerondight value. There are no designated closing cards/combinations – you can play virtually anything you draw provided you are careful to avoid bricks and overcommitment. Be wary of using your artifacts – you want one for Golden Nekker to draw and you might need Arcane Tome to tutor Golden Nekker.
The deck performed very well in admittedly limited testing (much against weak competition). Even on red coin, I almost always grabbed a lead by the second turn and maintained that lead until I chose to pass. The one exception occurred on red coin against a Skellige discard package that drew well, wile I lacked all my best tempo plays. Even then, after passing at 7 cards, I easily dominated a bleed attempt round two and won round three handly. (It is usually wise to pass early in round 1 if you cannot quickly take a lead. You want as many of your turns as possible to proc Aerondight.) The deck also handled an NG Sihil deck – I had enough boost and armor to play around Sihil; although I did have to sacrifice my Blightmaker/Assassin combos and I had to be conservative with Vigo.
The deck thins well (bricks are possible, but not common); under some circumstances you can overthin if not careful with Arcane Tome. You do not have to be tentative about mulliganing unwanted golds – you will likely draw them again.
Nauzicaa Sergeants have good engine value to start round 1 on blue coin, but you might not want the low tempo on red coin. They can always be the target of Deadman’s Tongue if you foresee insufficient tempo in ever playing them. Of course, Blightmaker/Assassin is the classic NG round 1 thinning/tempo tool and it works well here. But I am not averse to using it with Tongue if it is not drawn. I will also use Tongue to kill thinning cards (assassins) when I fear over-thinning. Eskel is both high tempo and an engine – ideal for round 1 (which is rarely short). Vigo can often be used to create a Blightmaker for another 11-point play, but he also creates a double engine with Sergeant (most players target Vigo for removal – so even when he is low tempo, he trades up and I haven’t found few assimilate procs to be an issue). And Tibor, played from hand, is usually good point swing as well as potential to trap a key card. Fercart is a nice tempo accelerator, as well as helping Tesham Mutna Sword gain value. This sword is good against most defenders without further setup – it’s also good against veil and doomed units – you don’t have to count on a spying tag. Arcane Tome is a backup target for Nekker, and an emergency tutor for Aerondight. You most likely have more special cards than your opponent, so you are likely to get net value from Tome. Again, beware of over-thinning. Treason is valuable for both removal and pointslam but is usually best in a longer round. Bribery normally gives at least one good option – and can help provide a sense of the opponent’s deck. Vilgefortz is flexible (remember he can be used defensively, especially against Sihil) and often invaluable. Armory is the primary artifact target for Nekker and another nice hedge against Sihil. Nekker can be used at any time for a powerful tempo boost. If saved for round 3, be careful to preserve a unit, special, and artifact target. Other cards were chosen because they offered the greatest possible tempo at their provision cost.
If given a choice (and I usually am), I prefer to bleed round two unless there are other indications. Not only does this maximize Aerondight value, it often makes better use of Nova. But a long round is rarely to be feared with this deck. Despite its lack of significant engines, it has consistent bursts of tempo and good removal for enemy engines. Not to mention a generally growing Aerondight.
The deck can be found here. It could use more extensive testing; if you try it, let me know how it works and changes you would suggest.
Today, I offer a deck that I believe still feels unique despite using the current cliché trio: Nekker, Nova, and Aerondight. It is different because it is very heavily focused upon pointslam – getting ahead (and staying ahead) of your opponent to maximize Aerondight value. There are no designated closing cards/combinations – you can play virtually anything you draw provided you are careful to avoid bricks and overcommitment. Be wary of using your artifacts – you want one for Golden Nekker to draw and you might need Arcane Tome to tutor Golden Nekker.
The deck performed very well in admittedly limited testing (much against weak competition). Even on red coin, I almost always grabbed a lead by the second turn and maintained that lead until I chose to pass. The one exception occurred on red coin against a Skellige discard package that drew well, wile I lacked all my best tempo plays. Even then, after passing at 7 cards, I easily dominated a bleed attempt round two and won round three handly. (It is usually wise to pass early in round 1 if you cannot quickly take a lead. You want as many of your turns as possible to proc Aerondight.) The deck also handled an NG Sihil deck – I had enough boost and armor to play around Sihil; although I did have to sacrifice my Blightmaker/Assassin combos and I had to be conservative with Vigo.
The deck thins well (bricks are possible, but not common); under some circumstances you can overthin if not careful with Arcane Tome. You do not have to be tentative about mulliganing unwanted golds – you will likely draw them again.
Nauzicaa Sergeants have good engine value to start round 1 on blue coin, but you might not want the low tempo on red coin. They can always be the target of Deadman’s Tongue if you foresee insufficient tempo in ever playing them. Of course, Blightmaker/Assassin is the classic NG round 1 thinning/tempo tool and it works well here. But I am not averse to using it with Tongue if it is not drawn. I will also use Tongue to kill thinning cards (assassins) when I fear over-thinning. Eskel is both high tempo and an engine – ideal for round 1 (which is rarely short). Vigo can often be used to create a Blightmaker for another 11-point play, but he also creates a double engine with Sergeant (most players target Vigo for removal – so even when he is low tempo, he trades up and I haven’t found few assimilate procs to be an issue). And Tibor, played from hand, is usually good point swing as well as potential to trap a key card. Fercart is a nice tempo accelerator, as well as helping Tesham Mutna Sword gain value. This sword is good against most defenders without further setup – it’s also good against veil and doomed units – you don’t have to count on a spying tag. Arcane Tome is a backup target for Nekker, and an emergency tutor for Aerondight. You most likely have more special cards than your opponent, so you are likely to get net value from Tome. Again, beware of over-thinning. Treason is valuable for both removal and pointslam but is usually best in a longer round. Bribery normally gives at least one good option – and can help provide a sense of the opponent’s deck. Vilgefortz is flexible (remember he can be used defensively, especially against Sihil) and often invaluable. Armory is the primary artifact target for Nekker and another nice hedge against Sihil. Nekker can be used at any time for a powerful tempo boost. If saved for round 3, be careful to preserve a unit, special, and artifact target. Other cards were chosen because they offered the greatest possible tempo at their provision cost.
If given a choice (and I usually am), I prefer to bleed round two unless there are other indications. Not only does this maximize Aerondight value, it often makes better use of Nova. But a long round is rarely to be feared with this deck. Despite its lack of significant engines, it has consistent bursts of tempo and good removal for enemy engines. Not to mention a generally growing Aerondight.
The deck can be found here. It could use more extensive testing; if you try it, let me know how it works and changes you would suggest.
CONTROL BOOST
It has been a while since I gave this thread much attention. With DRK3's return, there was no longer a void to fill. Honestly, I had no decks I got excited about. And the current meta (July-August 2022) didn’t help. I hate Scenarios – all scenarios in all decks. They place too much value in one card which reaches both draw or lose, then remove or lose proportions: the epitome of binary. Even worse, they are so strong they become virtually include or lose – at which point they virtually pigeonhole all decks into usually narrow archetypes.
So, about all I ever played was a Nilfgaard deck designed not to win, but to play (not spawn or summon, but play) as many cards in a match as possible – so I could complete quests as quickly as possible.
Today’s deck came as a bit of fresh air. It reminded me of how much fun it can be to actually play Gwent (as opposed to merely watching streamers and reading/writing articles about Gwent). All it takes is the right deck: one that doesn’t use hated cards, one that involves some level of strategy and where quality of play impacts matches, and one that has a chance against meta decks that don’t care about such things. Ironically, it is a Northern Realms deck (normally my fourth favorite faction behind SK, MO, and NG).
I don’t claim this as a super-powerful deck, but it is a deck which has proven sound against every deck I have faced except for one (and that one I misplayed so badly it is hard to tell). The basic idea of the deck is simple – I just took all my favorite NR boost engines together with the strongest removal options I could fit. It has what I would normally consider ridiculous levels of removal – but the current meta drives that.
With no tutoring (or thinning) and the only real choices being between removal or boost engines, I expected the deck to be boring. But it has proven to be one of the most strategic decks I have seen lately. Because it has no dedicated closing cards, because the only card requiring real set-up or synergy being Tridam Infantry, and because you can’t mitigate the randomness of draws, you are open to the option of playing virtually any card at any time – As long as you draw it. Because virtually every card is useful in multiple situations, it is rare that the game is ruined by “bad draws”. Yes, it’s nice to draw Hen Gaidth Sword, Vandergrift, and Dandelion in round one – but missing one, or even all of them is not disastrous. Worse is to miss Heatwave when an opponent draws Scenario – but, at best, an uncountered scenario only wins one round.
The critical strategic element of the deck is timing: choosing when (and how) to develop engines vs. countering opponent’s engines, and when to develop carryover is surprising deep. (Don’t forget that the order of Squires carries across rounds if it is used but not triggered.) And while this deck needs time for engines to develop (hence strongly preferring long rounds), the carryover as well as expendable engines makes bleeding a viable threat – especially a soft bleed that can become a serious 2-0 attempt if not aggressively countered.
Beware of three things:
It has been a while since I gave this thread much attention. With DRK3's return, there was no longer a void to fill. Honestly, I had no decks I got excited about. And the current meta (July-August 2022) didn’t help. I hate Scenarios – all scenarios in all decks. They place too much value in one card which reaches both draw or lose, then remove or lose proportions: the epitome of binary. Even worse, they are so strong they become virtually include or lose – at which point they virtually pigeonhole all decks into usually narrow archetypes.
So, about all I ever played was a Nilfgaard deck designed not to win, but to play (not spawn or summon, but play) as many cards in a match as possible – so I could complete quests as quickly as possible.
Today’s deck came as a bit of fresh air. It reminded me of how much fun it can be to actually play Gwent (as opposed to merely watching streamers and reading/writing articles about Gwent). All it takes is the right deck: one that doesn’t use hated cards, one that involves some level of strategy and where quality of play impacts matches, and one that has a chance against meta decks that don’t care about such things. Ironically, it is a Northern Realms deck (normally my fourth favorite faction behind SK, MO, and NG).
I don’t claim this as a super-powerful deck, but it is a deck which has proven sound against every deck I have faced except for one (and that one I misplayed so badly it is hard to tell). The basic idea of the deck is simple – I just took all my favorite NR boost engines together with the strongest removal options I could fit. It has what I would normally consider ridiculous levels of removal – but the current meta drives that.
With no tutoring (or thinning) and the only real choices being between removal or boost engines, I expected the deck to be boring. But it has proven to be one of the most strategic decks I have seen lately. Because it has no dedicated closing cards, because the only card requiring real set-up or synergy being Tridam Infantry, and because you can’t mitigate the randomness of draws, you are open to the option of playing virtually any card at any time – As long as you draw it. Because virtually every card is useful in multiple situations, it is rare that the game is ruined by “bad draws”. Yes, it’s nice to draw Hen Gaidth Sword, Vandergrift, and Dandelion in round one – but missing one, or even all of them is not disastrous. Worse is to miss Heatwave when an opponent draws Scenario – but, at best, an uncountered scenario only wins one round.
The critical strategic element of the deck is timing: choosing when (and how) to develop engines vs. countering opponent’s engines, and when to develop carryover is surprising deep. (Don’t forget that the order of Squires carries across rounds if it is used but not triggered.) And while this deck needs time for engines to develop (hence strongly preferring long rounds), the carryover as well as expendable engines makes bleeding a viable threat – especially a soft bleed that can become a serious 2-0 attempt if not aggressively countered.
Beware of three things:
- The deck has very few even moderately good reach/tempo cards: Triss, Anseie, Hen Gaidth (only on its second use), and Muzzle – do not take point slam decks into short rounds
- Balance between engines and removal is important in all rounds. Engines have limited value near the end of a round, but passive boost gives you threats after passing.
- Heatwave can be invaluable – there are so many “remove or lose” cards right now that it is easy to commit Heatwave on a good target only to encounter an essential target later.
I am really sorry to hear that. It was never my intention to steal your motivation to share decks here, in fact i wished we would have both kept posting decks in our respective threads, may compare, cooperate, but never in a sort of competition, trying to take out the other, because there's definitely room for two (or more) deck creators in these forums.
But that is not all - im afraid my return was never permanent, and i've also been drifting away from Gwent lately, for the same reasons as always. I probably wont stop completely because now i have Gwent on my mobile and there's situations where i dont have much else to do, but its likely i will stop sharing decks, at least until the next card drop, because inspiration for new decks has been running low.
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Regarding the actual deck you posted, i can definitely understand its viability.
Sometimes you dont even need to resort to underused cards to make a fresh deck, you can use most cards that are meta or have been meta recently, but mix them up in a new deck and the result will be something new, making you wonder why nobody tried that before. The same thing happened to me recently, but with a SK deck i did for a seasonal mode.
If anyone tried to build something like this once in a while, maybe the Gwent landscape wouldnt be perfect, but surely it would be better and more varied than the 5-10 decks of the season...