^{Contributors: Writing: lordgort & Easha Dustfeather; Review & Editing: SwanDive.}

Introduction

In Gwent, many units and artifacts have an Order ability. In fact, every game has at least one card with Order: The stratagem card given to the player going first. In this lesson, we'll take an in-depth look at Order and how to use cards with it.

What Is Order?

When a card with Order is on the game board, during your turn, you can use the card's Order ability to get the stated effect. Unless another keyword modifies it (see below), Order abilities can be used only once and only in your next turn after playing the Order card at the earliest.

Not only units and artifacts have Order effects, many leader abilities use this keyword as well.

Playing an Order

On your turn, you can use any number of Order abilities in any sequence you choose. You can use Order abilities both before and/or after playing a card from your hand. This enables advanced strategies: for example,  you can use the Order ability of Pavko Gale to damage an enemy unit with 7 power, bringing it to 5, and then play Nature’s Rebuke to trigger its deathblow ability and boost a Treant on your side by 2.

You can wait as many rounds as you wish to use one-time Order abilities, for example, this is very common with the Magic Lamp stratagem.

Once you use an Order ability, you cannot pass the turn without playing a card, so plan ahead!

Modifying Keywords

Lyrian Arbalest with its Order not ready yet, holding 2 Charges (see below) and Charges depleted.

Zeal

As already mentioned, you cannot use a unit's Order ability until the turn after you play it. The exception is when a unit has another keyword, Zeal. If you've played other collectible card games, you can think of Zeal as like Charge in Hearthstone or Haste in Magic: The Gathering. Zeal allows you to activate an Order ability in the same turn you played the card with this effect.

Charge

While most Order abilities can be used only once, others have multiple Charges. Unless otherwise restricted, you can use any number of a card's Charges in one turn.

On the other hand, much like with one-time Orders, you can also wait as long as needed to use stacked charges. Provided it isn’t eliminated beforehand, you can use charges gained by Hefty Helge to remove one high-power unit, as opposed to using every charge immediately.

On the game board, a card with Charges will show the number of Charges remaining. Once the last Charge is used, the Order ability is no longer available unless an effect gives the card another Charge.

Cooldown

Some cards with Order have multiple Charges or no cap on the number of uses, but to prevent them from breaking the game, they have a Cooldown: a number of turns you must wait to use the Order ability again. 

A one-turn Cooldown means you can use an Order ability once every turn, a two-turn Cooldown means you must skip a turn between uses, and so on.

Cooldowns appear on the game board as an hourglass icon with a number beside it. Use this information to plan your future turns!

Conclusion

Order is among the most complex keywords in Gwent, with several other keywords devoted to making it work. Understanding Order and how to use it alongside cards you play is critical for success. Good luck, and have fun!

Author

Green Cricket

Green Cricket is one of the heads of Aretuza, creating an environment where players and content creators can thrive and continuously improve themselves. In addition to his work at Aretuza, he runs a Gwent YouTube channel for beginners and advanced players alike. He teaches how to become better at Gwent and offers one in-depth Gwent guide each week as inspiration.