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Meta Snapshot #12

This GWENT Meta Snapshot, created by Team Aretuza and Team Nova, attempts to establish the best decks to play on Ranked Ladder and Pro Rank, given the current state of the metagame, in order to maximize the chances of winning games and climbing.

Every deck is accompanied by a short text explaining a little bit about the archetype, showing the reasons for placing it in its tier alongside the pros and cons of the deck and a tech section. 

As the meta continues to shift, we will consistently update our Snapshot as well as add more decks in the following days and weeks. Updates are announced on our Discord and Twitter.

 

Tier 1

Decks in this tier have favourable matchups against the majority of lower tier decks and some favourable matchups against other Tier 1 lists. Another criterion is that these decks should be able to win against lower-tier decks on blue coin most of the time.

 

Tier 2

Decks in this tier can beat Tier 1 decks if the player can access its full potential, or are strong decks with a clear counter; in addition, these decks should win consistently against lower tiers.

 

Tier 3

Decks in this tier are generally viable for normal ladder and for some cheesy picks at tournaments. These decks can surprise opponents and win matches, but without that surprise factor their potential is significantly reduced. A deck at this tier should lose against Tier 1 and Tier 2 decks the majority of the time

 

Honorable Mentions

Decks that aren't strong enough to be tiered, but with enough potential to be much better with the adequate support cards. These kind of decks are always worth keeping an eye on.


Written by Jamedi; Consultation: Damorquis, JMJWilson23 and SwanDive

 

What is a Meta Snapshot?

A Meta Snapshot is a comprehensive list of the decks which are played in a CCG. The decks are ordered by criteria, accounting for their power level through a tier (used by Team Aretuza & Team Nova), star or numerical system. If you would like to discuss our current Meta Snapshot, you can join our Discord server.

 

Which kind of criteria are used to classify a deck into a tier?

While the list of criteria is extensive, here are the most important aspects:

  • Power level is the amount of points a deck can output in comparison to others in the meta. In general, decks of higher tiers tend to have a greater number of unconditional points without depending on what rival decks do.
  • Consistency is focused on the draw dependency of a deck and the amount of thinning this deck has. Better thinning means more consistency, which usually means easier access to higher-value cards. If a deck is too dependent on drawing one or two certain cards but runs no thinning, it lacks consistency.
  • Counterability is the difficulty that other decks have to tech for the matchup against a certain deck and how much they need to sacrifice to improve the matchup. In Gwent, there are a lot of ways to prepare a deck for a concrete matchup and we can expect players to tech against the strongest/most popular decks of the metagame. The capability of a deck to win despite teching plays a role in its tier placement.

The data are collected by the players in several hundred matches and is then translated into the Snapshot. While the normal ladder experience can be different, tiered decks are good to climb the ladder to Pro Rank with relative ease.

 

What is the meaning of the different tiers?
  • Tier 1: Decks in this tier are the strongest, the most difficult to counter and heavily influence how decks in other tiers adapt.
  • Tier 2: Usually this tier covers decks which are still good, but due to some reason, they cannot be qualified as Tier 1. They usually have less strength than Tier 1 decks or have another factor that makes them slightly worse than top tier decks. In some particular metagames, a deck can be Tier 2 due to how easy it is to tech against it.
  • Tier 3: Decks in this category are still viable for climbing the ranked ladder, but they encounter more difficulty at high fMMR. They can still be used as tournament picks (in formats in which you can ban). They may still have favorable matchups versus some Tier 1 decks, but they are usually unfavored. Decks which are inconsistent or too draw-dependent also fall into this category.
  • Honorable Mentions: Here, we put decks whose strength is not enough to be tiered, but which have the potential to be much better with some support. These decks are always worth keeping an eye on. A deck which has been discovered recently and has not been played enough to be tiered can also fall into this category.

 

My experience differs from what you describe in the Snapshot. Does this mean that the Snapshot is not accurate?

Short answer, no. Long answer, there are a huge number of factors that can influence the development of a matchup between two players with their respective decks, which includes player skill, knowledge of the matchup and the respective decks, cards drawn and how they have played the match. Also, it is worth noting that a meta snapshot represents a picture of how the meta is in a particular moment. “Tiers” as defined above are never rigid constructs. In any given day, the meta can shift dramatically.

In general, inexperienced players tend to play worse and with more unpredictable lists. As we move up on the ladder, decklists tend to be more optimized, sometimes influenced by content creators such as popular streamers or the most recent meta snapshot. Reaching Pro Rank, we can expect to face the best possible players with the most optimized decklists.

 

I have a different list from the one shown in the Snapshot. Does this mean that one of the lists is incorrect?

Lists provided in our snapshots are usually stock lists, which are supposed to be a base to be modified according to the meta you are currently facing and your own playstyle. The tech section provides some card replacement options which may be more effective within a particular meta. This normally does not affect a deck’s overall consistency.

 

I haven’t seen this deck which appears in the Snapshot / I play this list or this archetype and it isn’t in the Snapshot.

The Snapshot tries to be as accurate and complete as possible. We release an initial snapshot as soon as the meta has settled after a game patch and make as many updates as possible afterwards. If a deck is not included, it will most likely be added in one of the next updates, as we try to prioritize the most popular and relevant decks. Despite that, we have to skip some decks which are unpopular or are very similar to existing ones. If you would like to be informed about our updates, feel free to check our website regularly or follow Team Aretuza or Team Nova on Twitter or Discord.

 

Are you just including the most popular decks/FOTM lists? Do you keep the best lists for yourselves?

No. While it is true that part of our work is to try and create a representation of the meta that is as accurate as possible and this, of course, includes the popularity of decks, popularity has no impact on how decks are tiered. We do not keep the best lists for ourselves. We are creating meta snapshots to share our collective knowledge of this game and provide players of all levels with a more enjoyable Gwent experience.

 

Do you have more questions? Join the discussion on Discord!

Contributors

Consultants: Adzikov, Argeiphontes, Ash_philo, Brazilianbeast, Damorquis, Gwent2town, Jamedi, JMJWilson23, Kara_Lisa, kolemoen, Miketocome, Molegion, Poisound, Santtu2x, shinmiri2
Editors: Easha Dustfeather, Kochua, lordgort, Lothari, Mortheous, SwanDive
Manager: SwanDive

Patch Overview

Update: 17 November 2019; First published: 16 October 2019; Game version: 4.1.0.64

 

Changelog:

 

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Honorable Mentions

Overview

This deck has appeared as the result of a collective effort between various members of the community. It is based on the idea of how to get the maximum value out of a singular engine, Artis, while all other cards in the deck benefit from it. As the meta has evolved to be less aggressive towards engines, this playability of these kinds of of greedy cards has improved greatly: For the first time since its release, Artis is playable, as we have enough tools to protect it. The rest of the deck is composed of the most powerful bronzes Skellige has to offer and a selection of removal and consistency tools.

 

Essential Cards

  • Artis is the heart of this deck. Its mechanic has two parts: synergizing with our Berserk abilities, such as in Vildkaarl and Tuirseach Veteran, while damaging every single unit our opponent plays. Artis is a very greedy engine which is super fun to play in combination with the right cards.
  • Sukrus/Covenant of Steel: If Artis is the heart of our deck, these two cards are the bones which protect it. This combo is extremely difficult to answer for our opponent. If our Defender is Purified, we can just play Artis next to Sukrus and still get a good value out of it.

 
Pros

  • Immediate Artis value
  • A lot of strength in a long round and good short rounds due to Sigrdrifa's Rite

Cons

  • Vulnerable to engine removal
  • Difficult to pilot, unstable hands

 

Tech Choices

  • Lady of the Lake ⇒ Gremist

Surprisingly, Lady of the Lake has performed well in this deck, representing an additional protection layer for Artis. Despite that, we can come back to the original list, where Gremist was used as a way to get rid of statuses.

 

Written by Jamedi.

 

  • Second Wind Second Wind 15 Order: Play a Skellige unit from your graveyard. This ability adds 15 provisions to your deck's provisions limit.
  • Korathi Heatwave Korathi Heatwave 10 Banish a unit or an artifact.
  • Royal Decree Royal Decree 10 Play a unit from your deck.
  • Sigrdrifa's Rite Sigrdrifa's Rite 9 Summon a Skellige unit from your graveyard into an allied row.
  • 7 Covenant of Steel Covenant of Steel 9 Defender. Berserk 6: At the end of your turn, gain 1 Armor.
  • 6 Sukrus Sukrus 9 Prevent the unit to the left of Sukrus from taking any damage.
  • 5 Artis Artis 9 Ranged: Whenever a unit is played, damage it by half its current power.
  • 5 Vildkaarl Vildkaarl 9 Berserk 2: Transform into a Champion of Svalblod.
  • 4 Harald Houndsnout Harald Houndsnout 9 Deploy: Spawn 3 of Harald's Pals and Summon them to your other allied row. Order: Damage an allied unit by 1. Cooldown: 1.
  • 12 Jutta an Dimun Jutta an Dimun 8 Deploy: If Jutta an Dimun is the highest unit, damage self by 6.
  • 2 Ermion Ermion 8 Deploy (Ranged): Play an Alchemy card from your deck.
  • Raiding Fleet Raiding Fleet 7 Give an enemy unit Bleeding for 4 turns and play a random bronze ship from your deck.
  • 5 Lady of the Lake Lady of the Lake 7 Shield. Order: Give an allied unit a Shield.
  • Delirium Delirium 6 Split 6 damage randomly between all units on an enemy row.
  • Mardroeme Mardroeme x2 5 Damage a unit by 3, then boost it by 9.
  • 8 Tuirseach Veteran Tuirseach Veteran 5 Deploy: Damage self by 3. Berserk 2: Heal self.
  • 4 Armored Drakkar Armored Drakkar x2 5 At the end of your turn, if Armored Drakkar has no Armor, gain 2 Armor. Exposed: Boost self by 1. Bloodthirst 2: Boost self by 2 instead.
  • 3 Svalblod Priest Svalblod Priest x2 5 Every allied turn, on turn end, damage the allied unit to the right by 1, then boost self by 2.
  • Gutting Slash Gutting Slash 4 Damage a unit by 4. Bloodthirst 2: Damage a unit by 6 instead.
  • Stunning Blow Stunning Blow x2 4 Damage a unit by 4. If it has Armor, increase damage to 7.
  • 2 Terror Crew Plunderer Terror Crew Plunderer x2 4 Deploy: Damage a unit by 2. If it's an ally, boost self by 4.