[Wild Hunt] A Ride to victory !
With the recent Mahakam Ale Festival hotfix, the Wild Hunt Hound and the Wild Hunt Rider received a 1 strength buff. So I decided to give the archetype a try and I came to a conclusion : The Wild Hunt Rider is one of the most underrated cards in Gwent !
(Just so you know, the Wild Hunt Rider increases the damage dealt by Frost on the opposite row by 1, pretty simple to understand, it's basically like the old Nithral except it only targets 1 row)
You'll probably ask : "Why is the Wild Hunt Rider as "underrated" as you pretend it to be? Doesn't it just deal 1 damage a turn? Isn't it just like a Reinforced Trebuchet or a Temerian Drummer? What is so great about this card?" and I'll give you a few points about why this card is very strong.
First : The damage is targeted ! You always know which unit will be damaged or killed so you can plan your moves accordingly, like bringing a valuable unit into frost with a Drowner to insta kill it. (Impera Enforcers, Mangonel, Battering Ram, Kaedweni Siege Support, Dol Blathanna Marksman...)
Second : The Riders are stackable ! Early game, playing 2 Frosts is a call for Clear Skies but if you only play 1 frost and 2 Riders in the opposite row, the frost will deal 4 damages instead of 2 and your opponent will not clear it most of the time because he knows you'll just play more and more Frost. So it's a good way to save your frost for later.
Third : It's combotable with Drowner ! This way, each Drowner is a huge amount of removal by simply bringing key targets into frost. (if there's no key target on the board, try to hit the stronger unit so Frost can tick longer before you have to bring another unit into Frost, also IF YOU CAN try to anticipate the Frost hits so you don't end up with frost killing a 1STR unit)
Fourth : The amount of pression ! If your opponent doesn't have a way to clear The Frost or just run out of possibilies to do so, he'll just have to conceide the round. I can't count the number of Round 1 I won super early (in 4 or 5 turns) just because my Frost was too oppressive for my opponent.
I also won an important amount of Round 1 with equal cards just because of that.
And it also allows you to 2-0 your opponent. I tend to be greedy with this deck and go for a 2-0 if my opponent has carryover Round 2. And I have to say, even tho I'm sometimes 1 card down and have to play first, it's most of the time pretty easy to defeat my opponent due to the damages dealt by frost over the time.
Sixth : It can insta trigger Iris ! Nothing more to say, a single WHR can insta kill an Iris into Frost. Just check that there's no other unit with 3 or less strengths on that row.
Seventh : It has 9STR ! The simple fact that the WHR has 9 STR makes it pretty difficult to remove, so it's a very reliable unit and it'll demand some valuable cards to remove it like Coral, Artefact Compression, Ithlinne, Leo Bonhart, Madman Lugos, etc.
But let me introduce you to my deck !
https://imgur.com/a/BHdrF
And let me explain some of the cards...
- Nithral : Yes it's a 12STR Silver BUT it's an Alzur Thunder on a stick with a very easy trigger condition. And he can really help if you play second and you need to instant kill your opponent first unit. (potential target for Henselt, Impera Brigade or Mahakam Marauder for example)
- Katakan : Basically a Graveyard hater, and it can always eat a 9STR WHR
- Caretaker : Graveyard hater OR double Iris !
- Succubus : Round 3 finisher and you can bait some removal with it, plus you can always renew it for a good amount of surprise.
- Renew : Caranthir is a great target for Renew since it's another Frost on a stick. (and you never have too much Frost in your life) But Caretaker or Succubus are also good targets for Renew, depending on the match up.
- Iris : Instant dead with a single Wild Hunt Rider into Frost
- Mardroene : The only card I'm still not sure about its utility in the deck. I always have a Bronze slot left and I don't know with what I could fill it. It tried a Wild Hunt Longship or a Wild Hunt Warrior but I don't know, I'm not confortable with having a single unit. It Also tried a Lacerate but I feel like the amount of damage I have is enough with WHR, Jotunn, Drowners, etc. And Mardroene can reset an Alzur Thunder'd Wild Hunt Rider or reset a huge ennemy unit.
(it's pretty easy to figure out the utility of the other cards)
In my opinion, there's three cards that you can remove without changing the core of the deck...
- One of the Wild Hunt Navigator
- Mardroene (I suggest a Wild Hunt Warrior or a First Light even tho I didn't face much Weather lately)
- Renew (I tried with Imlerith but I feel like he's too inconsistent, even in a Frost oriented deck, can be replaced by Ge'els tho)
With the recent Mahakam Ale Festival hotfix, the Wild Hunt Hound and the Wild Hunt Rider received a 1 strength buff. So I decided to give the archetype a try and I came to a conclusion : The Wild Hunt Rider is one of the most underrated cards in Gwent !
(Just so you know, the Wild Hunt Rider increases the damage dealt by Frost on the opposite row by 1, pretty simple to understand, it's basically like the old Nithral except it only targets 1 row)
You'll probably ask : "Why is the Wild Hunt Rider as "underrated" as you pretend it to be? Doesn't it just deal 1 damage a turn? Isn't it just like a Reinforced Trebuchet or a Temerian Drummer? What is so great about this card?" and I'll give you a few points about why this card is very strong.
First : The damage is targeted ! You always know which unit will be damaged or killed so you can plan your moves accordingly, like bringing a valuable unit into frost with a Drowner to insta kill it. (Impera Enforcers, Mangonel, Battering Ram, Kaedweni Siege Support, Dol Blathanna Marksman...)
Second : The Riders are stackable ! Early game, playing 2 Frosts is a call for Clear Skies but if you only play 1 frost and 2 Riders in the opposite row, the frost will deal 4 damages instead of 2 and your opponent will not clear it most of the time because he knows you'll just play more and more Frost. So it's a good way to save your frost for later.
Third : It's combotable with Drowner ! This way, each Drowner is a huge amount of removal by simply bringing key targets into frost. (if there's no key target on the board, try to hit the stronger unit so Frost can tick longer before you have to bring another unit into Frost, also IF YOU CAN try to anticipate the Frost hits so you don't end up with frost killing a 1STR unit)
Fourth : The amount of pression ! If your opponent doesn't have a way to clear The Frost or just run out of possibilies to do so, he'll just have to conceide the round. I can't count the number of Round 1 I won super early (in 4 or 5 turns) just because my Frost was too oppressive for my opponent.
I also won an important amount of Round 1 with equal cards just because of that.
And it also allows you to 2-0 your opponent. I tend to be greedy with this deck and go for a 2-0 if my opponent has carryover Round 2. And I have to say, even tho I'm sometimes 1 card down and have to play first, it's most of the time pretty easy to defeat my opponent due to the damages dealt by frost over the time.
Sixth : It can insta trigger Iris ! Nothing more to say, a single WHR can insta kill an Iris into Frost. Just check that there's no other unit with 3 or less strengths on that row.
Seventh : It has 9STR ! The simple fact that the WHR has 9 STR makes it pretty difficult to remove, so it's a very reliable unit and it'll demand some valuable cards to remove it like Coral, Artefact Compression, Ithlinne, Leo Bonhart, Madman Lugos, etc.
But let me introduce you to my deck !
https://imgur.com/a/BHdrF
And let me explain some of the cards...
- Nithral : Yes it's a 12STR Silver BUT it's an Alzur Thunder on a stick with a very easy trigger condition. And he can really help if you play second and you need to instant kill your opponent first unit. (potential target for Henselt, Impera Brigade or Mahakam Marauder for example)
- Katakan : Basically a Graveyard hater, and it can always eat a 9STR WHR
- Caretaker : Graveyard hater OR double Iris !
- Succubus : Round 3 finisher and you can bait some removal with it, plus you can always renew it for a good amount of surprise.
- Renew : Caranthir is a great target for Renew since it's another Frost on a stick. (and you never have too much Frost in your life) But Caretaker or Succubus are also good targets for Renew, depending on the match up.
- Iris : Instant dead with a single Wild Hunt Rider into Frost
- Mardroene : The only card I'm still not sure about its utility in the deck. I always have a Bronze slot left and I don't know with what I could fill it. It tried a Wild Hunt Longship or a Wild Hunt Warrior but I don't know, I'm not confortable with having a single unit. It Also tried a Lacerate but I feel like the amount of damage I have is enough with WHR, Jotunn, Drowners, etc. And Mardroene can reset an Alzur Thunder'd Wild Hunt Rider or reset a huge ennemy unit.
(it's pretty easy to figure out the utility of the other cards)
In my opinion, there's three cards that you can remove without changing the core of the deck...
- One of the Wild Hunt Navigator
- Mardroene (I suggest a Wild Hunt Warrior or a First Light even tho I didn't face much Weather lately)
- Renew (I tried with Imlerith but I feel like he's too inconsistent, even in a Frost oriented deck, can be replaced by Ge'els tho)
