Using all provisions is a good rule to follow. But I remember taking several months before I acquired enough appropriate cards to consistently use all provisions. The new beginner trees should help current beginners avoid this. But I would argue it is better to have cards that work together than to use the last couple of available provisions. Of course, in this case, One Who Craves Souls’ suggestions do fit the deck.
this thread make me create a new shieldwall deck.
Its almost the same as it was a long time ago (when it was create, the triple duel meta). But i added raffards revenge.
The decks ir performing really well and it has this deck you guys are sharing as a base (but i made some changes, take off adallia, nenekke, reinforcements, ronvid, and frigates and included Selktkirk, donimir vysigota and raffards revenge).
With raffard the deck wins consistent and its really easy to win round 1 using almost only bronzes and him (you can spend some gold too, but of course, try to save the tripe duel, vysigota, baron and donimir for last round)
Its almost the same as it was a long time ago (when it was create, the triple duel meta). But i added raffards revenge.
The decks ir performing really well and it has this deck you guys are sharing as a base (but i made some changes, take off adallia, nenekke, reinforcements, ronvid, and frigates and included Selktkirk, donimir vysigota and raffards revenge).
With raffard the deck wins consistent and its really easy to win round 1 using almost only bronzes and him (you can spend some gold too, but of course, try to save the tripe duel, vysigota, baron and donimir for last round)
@quintivarium, @OneWhoCravesSouls and @DRK3
Wanted to provide an update regarding the Shieldwall deck that was put together with your help. I played 7 games last night with the following deck (see below) and won all 7 games. I had some very good, very tough matchups and was able to get the wins.
www.playgwent.com
As recommended, the only change I made was to remove Ronvid and add Margarita Laux Antille; I had to pay 200 resources to craft her, but she proved to be well worth the investment; if it wasn't for her in a couple of the matches (and being able to reset her Order ability) I would have lost.
That said, I am still trying to understand the point of the Kerack Frigates; to me, they seem a bit of a waste, placeholders really. I haven't really figured out how to incorporate them effectively into my gameplay other than deploying them for a 2-power sailor/soldier every round.
Based on the Shieldwall deck I linked above, what other changes would you recommend I make to it? What is the logical next step(s) to really flesh this deck out even further for maximum potential?
As it is, I am very, very pleased with this deck, and I want to thank all of you for your help and assistance in guiding me in Gwent!
Wanted to provide an update regarding the Shieldwall deck that was put together with your help. I played 7 games last night with the following deck (see below) and won all 7 games. I had some very good, very tough matchups and was able to get the wins.
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.
www.playgwent.com
As recommended, the only change I made was to remove Ronvid and add Margarita Laux Antille; I had to pay 200 resources to craft her, but she proved to be well worth the investment; if it wasn't for her in a couple of the matches (and being able to reset her Order ability) I would have lost.
That said, I am still trying to understand the point of the Kerack Frigates; to me, they seem a bit of a waste, placeholders really. I haven't really figured out how to incorporate them effectively into my gameplay other than deploying them for a 2-power sailor/soldier every round.
Based on the Shieldwall deck I linked above, what other changes would you recommend I make to it? What is the logical next step(s) to really flesh this deck out even further for maximum potential?
As it is, I am very, very pleased with this deck, and I want to thank all of you for your help and assistance in guiding me in Gwent!
NR have always been 3rd best faction, something like that. when you get a chance try my beloved losers Scoiatel
Frigates if not in interrupted is a 2 Point per turn engine apart from that it's use in your current Deck is a bit limited, i assume that the starter Deck was intended to be played with the Uprising Leader Skill where you need to lineup a Row with as many boosted unit's as possible (there's where Stennis, Nenneke and also the in the starter Trees available Voymir come to play) for a big Lyrian Scytheman finisher, but the Frigates are still decent in your Deck and you should keep them until you need to make room for more Gold Cards.@quintivarium, @OneWhoCravesSouls and @DRK3
Wanted to provide an update regarding the Shieldwall deck that was put together with your help. I played 7 games last night with the following deck (see below) and won all 7 games. I had some very good, very tough matchups and was able to get the wins.
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.
As recommended, the only change I made was to remove Ronvid and add Margarita Laux Antille; I had to pay 200 resources to craft her, but she proved to be well worth the investment; if it wasn't for her in a couple of the matches (and being able to reset her Order ability) I would have lost.
That said, I am still trying to understand the point of the Kerack Frigates; to me, they seem a bit of a waste, placeholders really. I haven't really figured out how to incorporate them effectively into my gameplay other than deploying them for a 2-power sailor/soldier every round.
Based on the Shieldwall deck I linked above, what other changes would you recommend I make to it? What is the logical next step(s) to really flesh this deck out even further for maximum potential?
As it is, I am very, very pleased with this deck, and I want to thank all of you for your help and assistance in guiding me in Gwent!
I think the next step would be to replace Nenneke with Seltkirk and might make room for the Defender Donimir of Troy kinda like EduFerraz did. (Although I would suggest that you might wait with crafting Raffards Vengeance until the next balance Patch comes on December 7th since there's a possibility that it might receives a Nerf.)
Afterwards the Deck should be fine and you might focus on crafting different kind of NR Decks like Siege Scenario, NR Witchers, Mages or Blue Stripe Commandoes.
As for Keg opening you should now focus on NR Kegs until you have all of the Bronzes and most of the Epic (the Golds with the Purple Gem) Cards and afterwards switch to either a different faction or the Price of Power, Neutral or Ultimate Kegs and craft the remaining NR Legendarys (Golds with the Golden Gem) you want with scraps since their Drop Rate is usually pretty bad.
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I want to add a last hint on "keg opening". Save the neutrals for last really. If you have a decent collection of your faction (NR) focus on the new expansion, powercreep is real. Neutral kegs should be the last thing to buy because the pool of neutrals is big AND BAD. The few really strong neurals you will either find in expansion packs or craft from scraps. Oni and HW for example are sosososososo much better then the average neutral, it's just waste of ore to go and try to get good cards out of neutral kegs.
Trust my, i have a nearly complete collection of all the factions but am missing a bunch of Neutral golds. Despite expansions I buy a 50-100 neutral kegs now and then to complete it, but there is no fun left in doing it. No "curious what will i get" just punching through duplicates.
Trust my, i have a nearly complete collection of all the factions but am missing a bunch of Neutral golds. Despite expansions I buy a 50-100 neutral kegs now and then to complete it, but there is no fun left in doing it. No "curious what will i get" just punching through duplicates.
Glad to see its working out for you, although im not surprised at all - like ive said before, that deck (the reworked version) can probably carry you very far in the ranked ladder, probably close to Pro rank, so on lower ranks where i assume you still are (before rank 15) its probably capable of stomping most other decks.
A shame to read this, kerack frigates is actually one of my favourite NR cards.
Unless you're using it incorrectly, its a 2pt per turn bronze engine, even in this day that is pretty amazing, usually only gold cards can generate 2 or more pts per turn.
All you need is rowspace and play a soldier on its left (you have plenty of soldiers in your deck, so thats not a problem). And those points generated arent boosts, so you arent getting vulnerable to resets. You are however getting vulnerable to wide removal - cards like lacerate - but those are so rare (at least in high ranks) that is quite safe to rely on going wide.
Note that like @OneWhoCravesSouls said, its possible to get even more out of frigates, if you include "payoffs" for swarming with volunteers, like using Voymir or the uprising leader strategy he described. Or using siege and frigate is another scenario trigger.
BUT, there's nothing wrong with using frigates just for the points without the payoffs, it makes your deck more of an all-arounder and definitely easier to use.
One last thing - your leader charges should be used one for Anseis, one for Anna, the last one is more flexible, it can be on a bronze engine like a temerian drummer or a frigate (the Amphibious assault boosts your bronze units so they're outside of cheap removal, those dont need the extra protection from leader shields).
Kerack frigates suck, they clog your row and aren't a real passive engine. They are slow to start ticking and require you play cards to keep using their active ability. They are sorta useful for generating crew, but as an engine they are weaksauce. All the enemy needs to do, in order to disable them, is just kill a crewmate to the left of the frigate. And even if you let a frigate go uninterrupted, it just produces a row worth 22 points, which is nothing nowadays.
Far stronger and still useful is Keldar, which passively keeps giving 2 points even after you pass, making it far more dangerous (but of course it's 9 prov).
For a starter card, Kerack Frig is a 5 out of 10.
Far stronger and still useful is Keldar, which passively keeps giving 2 points even after you pass, making it far more dangerous (but of course it's 9 prov).
For a starter card, Kerack Frig is a 5 out of 10.
Correct. This new deck is based off of a NR starter deck that used the Uprising Leader skill, Kerack Frigates, Stennis, Nenneke and Scytheman. Since following the advice given here and making a few changes to the deck, most notably the Shieldwall skill, I am left wondering what the point of the Frigates were since the rest of the cast of characters were removed to semi-support their use.
Would you mind listing these Gold cards, in order of importance, to include in this deck once I am ready to move on from Frigates?
During my time playing this deck, I am finding that the Frigates are not fast enough to put out enough +2 units to keep up with decks that do area of effect power removal. The Frigate mechanic, to me, seems slow and a bit situational for the premise of this deck because I'd rather save a Tridam Infantry or Temerian Drummer (for example) from death than a Frigate.
Thank you very much for this advice! I have been using the Leader skill on Anna and Anseis, almost exclusively, and this strategy has paid off handsomely. If I draw Anna, she is usually my first play, stacked with the Shield skill, which I will then follow up with Tridam Infantry on either side of her (if available). If I end up drawing a Kerack City Guard with Anna, I'll lay out the Guard first as bait before playing Anna.
Seltkirk for Nenneke, Donimir of Troy, Vysogota of Corvo and Reinforced Ballista while removing Queen Adalia, Reinforcement and a Kerack Frigate.
Like i said if you don't accidentally draw Raffards Vengeance from a Keg you should probably wait if he's still worth it after the balance update in around 2 Weeks, i would probably replace Egmund and the other Kerack Frigate to make room for him and a Radovid Royal Guard.
You should if possible always play Anna after you already have at least one unit on Board that her first boosts aren't wasted if she should get removed the same goes for Temerian Drummer.
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You should be playing Anna Strenger when you already have two adjacent units, and put her between them and use leader charge, that way at the very least you get 2pts of boost in case she's immediately countered (when you climb more and start facing a ton of NG this will become more frequent).
Also, the adjacent units shouldnt be a frigate and something else, because it messes frigate's crew and positioning.
If you want more NR golds to craft, the siege scenario is a safe bet, the defender is also useful or you can get the newest cards, the disgusting patience mages, but these might get nerfed next patch, in 2-3 weks.
So, it has been a little over two weeks that I have been playing with the following two NR shield decks and wanted to give an update on my progress.
This is the original deck that I had asked for build help with in this thread, as far as its next logical progression in game play. Let's call this deck "Step 2":
www.playgwent.com
That deck was followed up with the following iteration, in which @quintivarium, @OneWhoCravesSouls and @DRK3 assisted in putting together. I'll call this deck "Step 3":
www.playgwent.com
Here is what is happening. I am currently at Rank 15; I started at rank 22. I have been able to handle my own with the Step 2 deck, winning just a hair under half of my games.
However, when I switch to the Step 3 deck, I immediately start losing games and my win ratio goes into the toilet. I don't know if it's because the matchmaking system is comparing Ranks and "deck strength" when selecting opponents? Or it could be that I simply don't know how to properly play this deck, but I doubt that is the case.
In any event, with regards to the Step 3 deck, is there a "Lite" version of this deck that you guys could help me with? A deck that blends Step 2 and Step 3 into something that meets in the middle? I'd like to raise my win ratio from sub .500 to maybe .700 or so, without getting clobbered by opponents because the matchmaking system thinks my deck is somehow over-powered with Legendary's all of a sudden.
Any assistance for tweaking a blend between the Step 2 and Step 3 decks would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
This is the original deck that I had asked for build help with in this thread, as far as its next logical progression in game play. Let's call this deck "Step 2":
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.
www.playgwent.com
That deck was followed up with the following iteration, in which @quintivarium, @OneWhoCravesSouls and @DRK3 assisted in putting together. I'll call this deck "Step 3":
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
Join in The Witcher universe’s favorite card game! In GWENT, you clash with your friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction.
www.playgwent.com
Here is what is happening. I am currently at Rank 15; I started at rank 22. I have been able to handle my own with the Step 2 deck, winning just a hair under half of my games.
However, when I switch to the Step 3 deck, I immediately start losing games and my win ratio goes into the toilet. I don't know if it's because the matchmaking system is comparing Ranks and "deck strength" when selecting opponents? Or it could be that I simply don't know how to properly play this deck, but I doubt that is the case.
In any event, with regards to the Step 3 deck, is there a "Lite" version of this deck that you guys could help me with? A deck that blends Step 2 and Step 3 into something that meets in the middle? I'd like to raise my win ratio from sub .500 to maybe .700 or so, without getting clobbered by opponents because the matchmaking system thinks my deck is somehow over-powered with Legendary's all of a sudden.
Any assistance for tweaking a blend between the Step 2 and Step 3 decks would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
@Serellious Taking a quick look at your step 2 and step 3 decks, i can make a few deductions:
-You said you're rank 15 now. I am assuming now you're getting to the part NG opponents are getting more and more frequent...
Cards like Raffard and Seltkirk are better in Inspired Zeal, as you can instantly use their order... with shieldwall and defender, you may be able to protect them against most factions but NG will just destroy, steal or lock all your stuff.
-In none of your decks you include the NR scenario, 'Siege'. However, your step 3 deck is looking like it could fit siege, since you already have 2 reinforced ballistae, i would just put 2/3 more bronze siege engines. And since you need provisions to fit the very expensive scenario, you need to remove and downgrade cards - ask yourself if Vysogotta, Seltkirk, Donymir are getting you good value or not or they're getting countered a lot.
You dont need to include NR scenario to be competitive. A downside is with shieldwall leader, you are dependant on your luck to draw it, and players might try to bleed you out of it (they may be doing this now, assuming you have it while you dont). An upside is that even though NG can counter most NR stuff, it rarely includes heatwave in their decks so scenarios are actually effective against them.
-You said you're rank 15 now. I am assuming now you're getting to the part NG opponents are getting more and more frequent...
Cards like Raffard and Seltkirk are better in Inspired Zeal, as you can instantly use their order... with shieldwall and defender, you may be able to protect them against most factions but NG will just destroy, steal or lock all your stuff.
-In none of your decks you include the NR scenario, 'Siege'. However, your step 3 deck is looking like it could fit siege, since you already have 2 reinforced ballistae, i would just put 2/3 more bronze siege engines. And since you need provisions to fit the very expensive scenario, you need to remove and downgrade cards - ask yourself if Vysogotta, Seltkirk, Donymir are getting you good value or not or they're getting countered a lot.
You dont need to include NR scenario to be competitive. A downside is with shieldwall leader, you are dependant on your luck to draw it, and players might try to bleed you out of it (they may be doing this now, assuming you have it while you dont). An upside is that even though NG can counter most NR stuff, it rarely includes heatwave in their decks so scenarios are actually effective against them.
First, the developers have said that the deck does not enter the match-making algorithm. I have no reason to doubt this. Rank certainly does -- that is the purpose of ranked play. And details of the match making algorithm have not been released -- I would presume to prevent people from exploiting it.
As I look at your two decks, I don't know that I think the step 3 version is better than the step 2 version. You have traded Adala, Nenneke, Egmund, Reinforcements, and 2 Kerrack Frigates for Donimar, Raffard's Vengeance, Seltkirk, Vysogota, Re-enforced Ballista, and Radovid Royal Guard. So you are giving up 5 engines (I assume Adala and Re-enforcements would be used on engines) for 3 engines (if Vengeance actually draws an engine). You are giving up Frigates ability to go wide rather than tall. You are sacrificing some of the synergies with Tridam Infantry. In return, you get stronger removal and stronger protection. If Vysogota sticks, he is a better engine, but even with defender, he will be top priority to shut down.
But at this point, you probably understand your decks better than I do. DRK3 may be correct about Inspired zeal being a better leader for your step 3 deck (although I am still biased toward Shieldwall). But with inspired zeal, Vysogota loses value and you may want to re-think his presence -- he will draw attention away from some other units, but very often he will not score many points himself.
Rather than suggesting specific changes for you, I would rather help you to decide on those changes yourself. Your post has left out several significant details. When you decks lose, why did they lose? Were there errors you made that could have earned more points for you (or fewer for your opponent)? Did you fail to draw a particular card that would have changed the game? Were your good units stopped (destroyed, locked, etc.), or were they out performed by your opponent's units? Did your own removal find good targets? Do you tend to lose long rounds? Do you tend to lose short rounds? (Losing short rounds would be somewhat expected with you engine-heavy deck -- but may hint at some play strategies; frequently losing long rounds suggests a weakness in the deck.) What factions are you facing? Does you deck perform better against certain factions than others? In short, what types of decks do you lose to? Are there cards in your deck that you are always hoping to draw? Are there cards that you almost always mulligan? What cards win games for you? Are there combinations that seem to work well? Are there combinations that don't work? When you lose, what might have enabled you to win? Is there one card that you simply couldn't answer? Did you struggle to get value from you own cards?
This type of questioning will help you determine whether the problem is with your deck, your play, or your luck. And if it is with your deck, it helps you identify strengths and weaknesses, things you want to strengthen and things you want to remove.
Like DRK3 already suggested switching to inspired Zeal should already improve the Deck a lot since it makes the usage of Raffards, Anseis and Seltkirk more risk free.
As for how to properly play it the first play should if available always be Raffards Vengeance either protected with Tactical Advantage, Shieldwall or a inspired Zeal charge (the other two charges are usually used for Anseis and Seltkirk) and afterwards you build up the bronze Engines like Drummer and tridam infantry, Vysogota should always be played in the final round (or on a Round 2 Bleed) with the Defender because everyone will try remove him.
At this point you probably encounter more and more control heavy Decks which obviously makes engine Decks especially if it needs a bit of a built up with multiple Engines like Tridam infantry and a unit that boosts it struggle, which is why a lot of players switch to Cards that don't rely that much on combos and instantly provide good Value, for example Gerhart of Aelle practically replaced Viraxas in a lot of Decks since he instantly plays for great value and isn't reliant on a good Order Unit.
I mean the next Step would probably be to craft something closer too the current Meta Decks like Inspired Zeal Siege although I would recommend to wait spending resources until next week, because the upcoming update will most likely shake up the Meta quite a bit so I would advice you to stick with the Decks you currently have till than and might experiment a bit yourself between Deck 2 or 3.
As for how to properly play it the first play should if available always be Raffards Vengeance either protected with Tactical Advantage, Shieldwall or a inspired Zeal charge (the other two charges are usually used for Anseis and Seltkirk) and afterwards you build up the bronze Engines like Drummer and tridam infantry, Vysogota should always be played in the final round (or on a Round 2 Bleed) with the Defender because everyone will try remove him.
At this point you probably encounter more and more control heavy Decks which obviously makes engine Decks especially if it needs a bit of a built up with multiple Engines like Tridam infantry and a unit that boosts it struggle, which is why a lot of players switch to Cards that don't rely that much on combos and instantly provide good Value, for example Gerhart of Aelle practically replaced Viraxas in a lot of Decks since he instantly plays for great value and isn't reliant on a good Order Unit.
I mean the next Step would probably be to craft something closer too the current Meta Decks like Inspired Zeal Siege although I would recommend to wait spending resources until next week, because the upcoming update will most likely shake up the Meta quite a bit so I would advice you to stick with the Decks you currently have till than and might experiment a bit yourself between Deck 2 or 3.
Well, you are far from "the metas decks" but i simple loved your step 3.
In fact, like i said in this topic, i create an deck very similar with your "step 3".
And i disagree with the others, with shieldwall you can protect vysigota, anna and other engines. Also NG players are not using so many block anymore, so you can protect raffard.
Aneis you use one leader charge and he is better than with inspired zeal.
So, in fact, the only 2 cards could be good with inspired zeal are selktrik and raffards. In other hand, like i said, with SW you can protect vysygota, anna, have a huge anseis, and, of course, you can protect raffard and selktrik (this last, if he survive the first tun, he is much better than with inspired zeal)
One more time, your deck is far from "the meta" but i have played some games with a similar deck and i know it performs pretty good
For the recoord, i see you saying you are losing with this deck.
Well, i will say how i play with this deck.
First round i want raffards revenegance in hand - for me he is the most important card in hand in round 1 (also, maybe you can trade 2 4p card to 2 winche, wich help with raffards).
The other important cards are AA (of course), dun banner and a winch to use raffards 2 times.
Problably you will not always have this 3 cards in hand, but its not a problem if you dont have all. Nevertheless, having some of those cards will help to thin your deck.
In first round you want to win it, because you dont want to be bleed in second round. So you can use almost any card, the only 2 (or 3) cards i prevent you to not use its vysygota and defender, and, problably, its better to save one of the duel cards for round 3 (prefer anseis).
So a first round with raffards, anna, dun banner, temerian drummer, kerack city guard, tridam infantry (with anna and temerian drummer) will give you, in most cases, a win in round 1.
I recomend you to not bleed in round 2, since you want a long round 3 with vysygota. Of course, if its a deck "you must bleed" than do it.
In a long round 3 starts with defender than vysygota and at least you need one leader charge in vysygota. The rest is up to you.
PS: if you arent playing long round 3 (or because you are bleeding or your opponent is bleeding you) i recomend to swich vysygota for another thing, since in a short round he is not so good
In fact, like i said in this topic, i create an deck very similar with your "step 3".
And i disagree with the others, with shieldwall you can protect vysigota, anna and other engines. Also NG players are not using so many block anymore, so you can protect raffard.
Aneis you use one leader charge and he is better than with inspired zeal.
So, in fact, the only 2 cards could be good with inspired zeal are selktrik and raffards. In other hand, like i said, with SW you can protect vysygota, anna, have a huge anseis, and, of course, you can protect raffard and selktrik (this last, if he survive the first tun, he is much better than with inspired zeal)
One more time, your deck is far from "the meta" but i have played some games with a similar deck and i know it performs pretty good
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For the recoord, i see you saying you are losing with this deck.
Well, i will say how i play with this deck.
First round i want raffards revenegance in hand - for me he is the most important card in hand in round 1 (also, maybe you can trade 2 4p card to 2 winche, wich help with raffards).
The other important cards are AA (of course), dun banner and a winch to use raffards 2 times.
Problably you will not always have this 3 cards in hand, but its not a problem if you dont have all. Nevertheless, having some of those cards will help to thin your deck.
In first round you want to win it, because you dont want to be bleed in second round. So you can use almost any card, the only 2 (or 3) cards i prevent you to not use its vysygota and defender, and, problably, its better to save one of the duel cards for round 3 (prefer anseis).
So a first round with raffards, anna, dun banner, temerian drummer, kerack city guard, tridam infantry (with anna and temerian drummer) will give you, in most cases, a win in round 1.
I recomend you to not bleed in round 2, since you want a long round 3 with vysygota. Of course, if its a deck "you must bleed" than do it.
In a long round 3 starts with defender than vysygota and at least you need one leader charge in vysygota. The rest is up to you.
PS: if you arent playing long round 3 (or because you are bleeding or your opponent is bleeding you) i recomend to swich vysygota for another thing, since in a short round he is not so good
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