As most people I do think that the NR deck ist the strongest deck (end game and while you build your deck - since a lot of it's key cards can be bought from merchants), but imo the Monster Deck is the most fun to play.
I use the Siege Master Leader and not the Weather one. The Clear Weather card is only useful if 2 conditions are met... the opponent plays a weather card and it actually bothers you, doesn't happen that often tbh (if this game had a multiplayer mode you'd probably side-deck weather cards anyway)
I keep the "end game" decks as lean as possible, so no Weather Cards at all, exactly 22 units and 1 Scorch, 1 Decoy and 1 Horn at most.
Monster Deck is not that much worse than Nilfgaard imo, if you can use your Muster cards to maximum effect and get "Myterious Elf" the Monster Deck is actually the thinnest deck. A 25 Card Deck leaves you with 3 Cards left, while NG leaves you with 5 I think (without recycling the opponents spies), Muster is not that vulnerable to Scorch either... 2 of the 3 Musters come with a card that is stronger than "the main force", so you'd need 2 Scorches to do any severe dmg, also since the individual unit strength is low... there is quite a good chance that an opponents card is stronger. Certainly not weaker to Scorch than... any other Deck.
Still Deck could use a spy of it's own (dunno Foglet comes to mind) and the Crones were a lot better if one of them had a higher attack value than 6. And if the leader card was "Shuffle 2 cards from your hand back into your deck and draw a card of your choice" instead of "discard... oh boy...
PS: they should really buff the Triss card tho
I use the Siege Master Leader and not the Weather one. The Clear Weather card is only useful if 2 conditions are met... the opponent plays a weather card and it actually bothers you, doesn't happen that often tbh (if this game had a multiplayer mode you'd probably side-deck weather cards anyway)
I keep the "end game" decks as lean as possible, so no Weather Cards at all, exactly 22 units and 1 Scorch, 1 Decoy and 1 Horn at most.
Monster Deck is not that much worse than Nilfgaard imo, if you can use your Muster cards to maximum effect and get "Myterious Elf" the Monster Deck is actually the thinnest deck. A 25 Card Deck leaves you with 3 Cards left, while NG leaves you with 5 I think (without recycling the opponents spies), Muster is not that vulnerable to Scorch either... 2 of the 3 Musters come with a card that is stronger than "the main force", so you'd need 2 Scorches to do any severe dmg, also since the individual unit strength is low... there is quite a good chance that an opponents card is stronger. Certainly not weaker to Scorch than... any other Deck.
Still Deck could use a spy of it's own (dunno Foglet comes to mind) and the Crones were a lot better if one of them had a higher attack value than 6. And if the leader card was "Shuffle 2 cards from your hand back into your deck and draw a card of your choice" instead of "discard... oh boy...
PS: they should really buff the Triss card tho
Scorch is not the best way to counter muster cards but instead is better countered by weather cards. And unless you have multiple spy cards you need more than one decoy in your deck. I really believe decoys are the single strongest tactical card in the game.
I think most agree that a key winning strategy is to be able to play more cards than the 10 you start with. That means muster, spy, medic cards are really important. And in order to counter spy cards you need decoy or medic (but medic is much weaker than decoy in this regard). Muster as I said can be countered by weather and to a less extent by scorch.
After decoy comes horn cards in my opinion. A hand with 2 horns, 2 spies and a decoy will be very hard to defeat. One favorite strategy of mine is when I get the NR Stennis and Dijkstra spy cards I also try to get pick a biting frost card and a decoy. First round I play both. In the vast majority of the games the AI will do one of two things. If they have a spy or decoy they will take my spy card. I then decoy that play. They will almost always pass after I play both spy cards and they don't have a spy and/or decoy in their hand. I then just use my biting frost and a simple 5 or 6 point card and win the round. I also end up with 11 cards in my hand on average compared top their 8 or 9 (assuming they don't have a decoy) and won the all important first round.
And since they must win round two the AI can never pass. It must keep playing till I pass. I just save a siege point card till the last round to easily win.
I think most agree that a key winning strategy is to be able to play more cards than the 10 you start with. That means muster, spy, medic cards are really important. And in order to counter spy cards you need decoy or medic (but medic is much weaker than decoy in this regard). Muster as I said can be countered by weather and to a less extent by scorch.
After decoy comes horn cards in my opinion. A hand with 2 horns, 2 spies and a decoy will be very hard to defeat. One favorite strategy of mine is when I get the NR Stennis and Dijkstra spy cards I also try to get pick a biting frost card and a decoy. First round I play both. In the vast majority of the games the AI will do one of two things. If they have a spy or decoy they will take my spy card. I then decoy that play. They will almost always pass after I play both spy cards and they don't have a spy and/or decoy in their hand. I then just use my biting frost and a simple 5 or 6 point card and win the round. I also end up with 11 cards in my hand on average compared top their 8 or 9 (assuming they don't have a decoy) and won the all important first round.
And since they must win round two the AI can never pass. It must keep playing till I pass. I just save a siege point card till the last round to easily win.
Oh man, I couldn't disagree more.
If you're playing against someone who throws down a set of muster cards (like the 3 Crones), plays one of the "add +1 to each" cards, and THEN a Horn - those Crones are worth something like 12 points each.
Scorch - blammo. Minus 36 points for you, you piece of filth.
There's also nothing like a good weather card to knock a row down from 30 or 40 points down to 8. Mmm, sweet sweet weather cards.
Yehh weather cards are pretty useful specially when you are playing against strong AI player. If you use weather card perfectly then victory is yours
the reason i say scorch isn't the better way is because when i play a monster deck I make sure I have a cover card that is higher or the AI has a card that is higher. So I might have 5 muster cards of 4 points each. But if the playing field has just one 5 point card all those muster cards are safe. If I think the AI has a scorch I'll play a 5 point card before that horn as cover.So the scorch can only take down the 10 points and not the 40 points of muster. This is why a weather card is almost always better against muster than a scorch.
Yes monsters can very often hit 100 - 150 with ease. The vampires, arachas, crones, and nekkers all have the muster special ability that when you play any one card of its type it automatically pulls all others of the same type from your deck/hand and plays them on the battlefield. So for example, if you play just a single vampire card then it auto-pulls all your other vampire cards and instantly plays them. Below is a quick list of all the muster cards you'd use on a finished monsters deck:
Vampire Cards: (5 - 4 - 4 - 4) Total Str: 17
Arachas Cards: (6 - 4 - 4 - 4) Total Str: 18
Crones Cards: (6 - 6 - 6) Total Str: 18
Nekker Cards: (2 - 2 - 2) Total Str: 6
So even before any Commander's Horns or leader abilities your deck will have 59 Str just from these cards alone. Considering you only need one of a specific type to pull all the others, you can easy (and often) get all of these onto the battlefield since it would take only 4 cards. On top of that, your final deck will have lots of hero cards. A quick glance at mine and in my monsters deck I currently have 8 hero cards (not counting the mysterious elf): (Geralt: 15 - Ciri: 15 - Yennefer: 7 - Triss: 7 - Draug: 10 - Imlerith: 10 - Leshen: 10 - Kayran: 8 So with this setup you have 82 attack power from your hero card alone. So just counting hero cards and your monster cards with the muster special ability your deck has 141 power. Keep in mind this is before any Commander's Horns or Leader buffs added in.
Just imagine throwing a commander's horn down on your melee row when you have all crones (18 x 2), arachas (12 x 2), vampires (17 x 2), and nekkers (6 x 2). This gives you a melee row combined power of 106 that can be achieved with a mere 4 unit cards and a commander's horn/leader ability! This is actually a very common occurrence in any match when playing with a monster's deck since you just need any one of the specific card types to pull all the others of the same type.
So yes, can be quite powerful indeed
Monster and Scoital have poor card draw.
This is why they are both terrible.
Muster is an interesting idea, but it would work better if you put the muster cards into your hand and not into play.
This could potentially flip the power scales to favor those two decks over Nilf/NR.
As is, Nilf and NR has way better card draw with very little drawback.
3 Faction spies each and one Hero spy.
Nilf is also better for spygames because they have more medics, a relevant leader ability and a better passive for all ins.
Nilf really falls flat when it comes to bringing big numbers to a single round though.
Against an equal power deck, it's pretty much impossible for it to win the first round if the opponent goes all in.
NR can manipulate tempo the best out of all 4 options and brings huge numbers to the table through tight bond.
Basic 10 power heros are actually unfavorable on the initial draw and are best redrawn most the time to cycle spies.
NR literally has no weaknesses.
This is why they are both terrible.
Muster is an interesting idea, but it would work better if you put the muster cards into your hand and not into play.
This could potentially flip the power scales to favor those two decks over Nilf/NR.
As is, Nilf and NR has way better card draw with very little drawback.
3 Faction spies each and one Hero spy.
Nilf is also better for spygames because they have more medics, a relevant leader ability and a better passive for all ins.
Nilf really falls flat when it comes to bringing big numbers to a single round though.
Against an equal power deck, it's pretty much impossible for it to win the first round if the opponent goes all in.
NR can manipulate tempo the best out of all 4 options and brings huge numbers to the table through tight bond.
Basic 10 power heros are actually unfavorable on the initial draw and are best redrawn most the time to cycle spies.
NR literally has no weaknesses.
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Northern Realms
Seigemaster Leader (Doubles Seige Units)
4x Spies (max)
3x Decoys
2x Healers
7-8 Hero Cards
2 Blizzard/Frost cards (for Monster decks)
1. Start with playing all your spy cards. Opponent will pass after few turns. Use a weather card if needed and take the round.
2. Go all out in the next round and take the win, as you'll likely have card advantage. This round can be passed if you feel overwhelmed.
3. This round, if needed, should be easy win.
Seigemaster Leader (Doubles Seige Units)
4x Spies (max)
3x Decoys
2x Healers
7-8 Hero Cards
2 Blizzard/Frost cards (for Monster decks)
1. Start with playing all your spy cards. Opponent will pass after few turns. Use a weather card if needed and take the round.
2. Go all out in the next round and take the win, as you'll likely have card advantage. This round can be passed if you feel overwhelmed.
3. This round, if needed, should be easy win.
As I read Gwent reviews from many gamers it looks like a easy game to win so I made some suggestion here..
The suggestion is to randomized AI player card decks so that its hard for us to judge what cards AI going to have as well strategies going to vary as per what card deck & cards AI going to have.
This actually looks good to me as thsi really going to add some randomness to game which going to make it more playable with particular AI player.
Code:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/50043-Suggestionns-for-New-Patch-VoteThis actually looks good to me as thsi really going to add some randomness to game which going to make it more playable with particular AI player.
There's one more vampire actually. And generally I agree about monsters. Muster can easily give you more net points than spies, scorch and the dragon can be protected against (especially if NG drops their stronger spies), and just keep several clear weathers against the frost. If the opponent has a spy/medic/decoy build, she (and I say she because I mean Sacha) will find decoys almost useless, since I won't play any spies against her (thus mitigating her draw advantage), and 0-str medics only marginally useful for the same reason.Vampire Cards: (5 - 4 - 4 - 4) Total Str: 17
....
So yes, can be quite powerful indeed
Actually I thought as NR is starting deck its going to be weaker then other decks & Monster deck is going to be strongest. When i played my Gwent tutorial I thought cards strength is going to be increased in this order.
1] Northern Realms Deck
2] Nilfgaardian Empire Deck
3] Scoia’tael Deck
4] Monster Deck
But after reading posts here looks like NR is the strongest one. I am not going to play till 1.07 patch release so I hope its true.
1] Northern Realms Deck
2] Nilfgaardian Empire Deck
3] Scoia’tael Deck
4] Monster Deck
But after reading posts here looks like NR is the strongest one. I am not going to play till 1.07 patch release so I hope its true.
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I haven't played with a Monster deck, but I have played against them. Imo a Monster deck is a doubled edged sword, while its muster ability can easily overwhelm the oppenent it can also have a serious drawback because you can run out of cards to play.
Yesterday I was playing against a Monster Deck in Velen, the AI used ALL of its muster cards in the first round plus an ice giant and a griffin. Impressive numbers yes, oh and I played a NR spy card, can't remember the name, but it's a guy with 5 strength
I had a Frost card within reach so the overwhelming advantage quickly turned to dust. I won the first round with 4 cards (can't remember which ones). Needles to say, there was nothing the AI could do on the second round, except play a few monsters and weather cards and get owned.
Yesterday I was playing against a Monster Deck in Velen, the AI used ALL of its muster cards in the first round plus an ice giant and a griffin. Impressive numbers yes, oh and I played a NR spy card, can't remember the name, but it's a guy with 5 strength
I had a Frost card within reach so the overwhelming advantage quickly turned to dust. I won the first round with 4 cards (can't remember which ones). Needles to say, there was nothing the AI could do on the second round, except play a few monsters and weather cards and get owned.
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When you start out, you have immediate access to Northern Realms, and shortly after, Nilfgaard. So, I spent a lot of time using those decks and getting good with them. My favorite deck is Scoia'tel. It is a balance between the monster deck(has muster cards), and the human faction based cards...essentially, it is the "hybrid" deck. Trouble is, if this were a multiplayer game(and I hope it becomes one), I'd probably use Nilfgaard. The reason being, everyone knows that the most damage you do with Scoia'tel deck, is primarily ranged, and having played the AI, I know the weakness, just as I do the monster deck, who's muster cards are primarily melee based. Nilfgaard and Northern Realms are similar decks, and their diversity makes them more unpredictable, as all of their damage is not typically done all on one line, but spread out.
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Yeah, a lot of the AI likes to put down and waste muster cards early. That's why I pretty much always washe the first round. I get them to use as many cards as possible, using my low value cards, and using dummies to recall a card before washing. A lot of times I'll use the Foltest fog and clear skies card to waste an additional turn, without wasting cards, just to get them to spend another card and then I'll pass. The next time I'll go for victory, but still using my low cards first. Most of the time I win based on just having more cards...unless I was really unlucky and got hit by 2 or 3 spy cards and had no dummy cards to steal their spy cards, or had no spy cards myself.
IIRC correctly there are only 2 clear weather in the whole game. That means you may get one per game.
And I can play decoys to remove my big cards thus forcing you to win 36-0. Monster decks are very easy to defeat.
EDIT: Here's a typical game vs. monster deck.
Monster plays a muster card and it pulls from the deck and not the hand (best outcome). 9 remaining
I play a spy or regular card. from 9 to 11 cards remaining
Monster is forced to play another card. 8 remaining
I can play a decoy, weather or low level card. 8 to 10 remaining.
Monster deck is forced to play another card or clear weather. 7 remaining.
I now pass. They now just have 7 cards left while I can have up to 10 if I played a spy card.
And if I had two spies they are really dead.
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AI monsters is easy to beat, yes. But monsters don't have to waste musters early. If you decide to spy-spam the first round, monsters can just pass. If you yield the round, monsters can play a 15 hero in the second and pass; you'll have to spend at least 2 cards to beat it, and it'll stay for the 3rd round - well, unless some spy from round 1 remains instead (so 3 cards from your advantage are gone). And in the last round you'll have a pretty hard time beating their rallied musters. Perhaps the only vulnerability monsters have here is if you keep biting frost for the last and use your card advantage to force monsters pass earlier.
As for decoys, they can be changed for other cards, sure, but it's still a spent card, which could have been a 10 or 15 instead.
I LOVE when the AI passes in the first round when I use my spy cards. Assuming I go first (worst case) here is a possible scenario:
Me - play spy card (as NR this is a close combat) 11 cards in hand.
Monster passes first round. (Big mistake but seen AI do this) 10 cards.
Me - Play second spy card. 12 cards in hand.
Me - Play close weather card. 11 cards in hand.
Me. Play a 4/5 point range card. 10 cards in hand
Win round gain NR card 11 cards in hand.
(The above can be modified where the monster AI plays a card but the ratios stay the same.)
I now have a win and an extra card. The AI is screwed because round two is a must win for them and they can't pass in fear of me winning that round. This means I'm pretty much guaranteed to win round 3 and the game.
Well, you've also wasted your only frost (it's unlikely that you'll have 2), and it's very hard to beat monsters without it. Also, if you played your 9pt spy, it might very well be the one that stays on the board.