Aretuza Report # 8
Gwent
Gaunter’s Ultimate Challenge
Week 5 allows players to choose one faction across Nilfgaard, Northern Realms, and Skellige. You can find the quests for each faction in the table below, as well as the title that will be awarded upon completion of the final step.
| Faction | Nilfgaard | Northern Realms | Skellige |
| 1 | Play a match with a supported faction | ||
| 2 | Damage units 10 times | ||
| 3 | Play 10 units with the lock keyword | Use an order ability 15 times | Boost units 10 times |
| 4 | Win 3 games with a supported faction | ||
| Title Reward | General | Outcast | Warmonger |
Pro Rank Cutoffs:
Here are the key cutoffs for Pro Rank as of July 28 at 1AM CEST.
| Top 16 | 10,297 |
| Top 64 | 10,152 |
| Top 500 | 9,889 |
Events
Top 64 Qualifiers
Congratulations to Team Aretuza's Shaggy for finishing in second place in the recent Top 64 qualifiers and securing a spot with Team Nova's Poisound in the next Gwent Open!
Gwent Partners Tournament #2
Best of luck to Crozyr, Kafunow, Redrame, and TheaBeasty in this week's Gwent Partners Tournament #2. Apero, Ceely, Johaggis, Lionhart, and Shinmiri2 will be casting games this weekend.
Team Aretuza
Stream Schedule
Here is the stream schedule of Team Aretuza’s Pro and Stream Team for the week of July 27 to August 3.
| Name | Social | Schedule (All times are in CEST) |
| Ceely | Twitch , Twitter | Tuesday to Friday at 5pm Sunday at 5 pm |
| Crozyr | Twitch , Twitter | Monday at 4pm Thursday to Sunday at 4:30pm |
| Lionhart | Twitch , Twitter |
Weekdays at 11am Gwent Partners Tournament cast on Saturday |
| Redrame | Twitch , Twitter | Daily at 6pm |
| Shaggy | Twitch , Twitter | Weekdays at 8pm |
| Shinmiri | Twitch , Twitter |
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 6pm |
| TheaBeasty | Twitch , Twitter | Tuesday to Friday at 6pm |
Player Spotlight: Unforgiven
Amir Mohammad "Unforgiven" Helalat
I'm a physical therapist and an acupuncture doctor who graduated from China. I have to work at my physical therapy clinic most of the time and I play different games during my free time.
Hi Unforgiven. Thank you for allowing us to have this interview. Can you tell us more about yourself?
You're welcome. Yeah, I can't think much more than my bio to share: maybe if someone wants to know more, they can ask me in private :)
How did you get into Gwent and how long have you been playing?
I got into Gwent back when I played Witcher 3. Then one of my friends told me there is a standalone Gwent card game so I started playing at that time but couldn't play much then so I stopped playing 2 years ago. And recently about 5 months ago, I started playing again.
You often secure a spot in top 16 and top 64, is there a certain way you play your games?
Not really. I just try to win the games and raise my MMR.
Are there any struggles you face when climbing?
Sometimes I struggle to enjoy the game due to some gameplay factors; for example I struggle to keep playing against certain broken decks such as current Skellige, which is not enjoyable for me.
You won the TLG Invitational. First, how did you prepare for it?
We prepared with our core team in Team Aretuza with some of the best players.
Did you ever see yourself winning the tournament?
Nope. I didn't even see myself in day 2 as I didn't even have a fourth deck for day 2.
Tell us your experience from the Invitational.
It was very great. The whole community was involved and a lot of great things happened together; thanks to TLG for that.
Which matchups were the hardest for you?
I always struggle playing against Nilfgaard. So that's that.
What do you think were the good things in the Invitational and the things they could possibly improve on?
Most of it was good I think. People were complaining about it being so long, but I think it was inevitable with so many players and they did a good job in organizing the tournament.
You also competed in the recent Top 16 and Top 64 qualifier, even finishing third in the Top 16 qualifier and almost qualifying for the Gwent Open. How did you prepare for this?
I prepared with our team members at Team Aretuza mostly with Shaggy. Thanks to him.
What do you think you could have done better in the qualifier games?
I think I tried my best. I'm gonna think that through with other members to see where I could improve on. But in the end, luck plays a big part and I wasn't lucky in the last games.
What are your thoughts on the Master Mirror expansion?
It could be good if there wasn't a super dominant faction in it. For me the game is not playable until Skellige gets fixed. I'm kinda sad with the CDPR balance team and how differently they see the cards than us.
What are your future plans in Gwent?
I just try to enjoy my time and find new friends. I don't really have any plans.
Do you have any message to the Gwent community?
Yeah, at the end of day it's just a game and people play to enjoy their time so be nice to each other and make others enjoy their time in the community.
The end of the current season is almost upon us. Don't forget to finish the seasonal trees in the reward book. Good luck on that final ladder push!
Author
Luis
Luis has been a gamer for most of his life. His first console was a Playstation 1 which he got at age 7. A few years later, he acquired a Gameboy Advance that became his gateway to the Pokemon series. He spent multiple hours playing through the Kanto and Hoenn Region with his friends. In 2011, he started playing Dota 1 and was his entry to the MOBA genre of games. Shortly after, he started playing League of Legends which he played from 2012 to 2017. Towards the end of the year 2017, he bought a Playstation 4 and played Destiny 2 and a few single player games on the side such as God of War, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Witcher 3 which he enjoyed the most. His first exposure to Gwent was back in Witcher 3. He realized that he was spending most of his time playing Gwent and collecting all the cards instead of doing side quests and story quests. Fast forward to 2019, he found out that Gwent, the standalone game, would be released on iOS. On the release day itself last October, he immediately downloaded the game and chose Northern Realms as his first faction since this is the faction he played the most back in Witcher 3 Gwent.
Editor
Kochua
An actuary by day, unrepentant roper by night, and the Gwent Wild Hunt #2 LAN Champion, Kochua brings a highly quantitative and analytical approach to competitive games. He discovered Gwent in October 2017 and was an instant convert, won over by the game's complexity and depth of strategy. During 2018, he compiled several top-50 Pro Ladder finishes in addition to winning Wild Hunt #2. In 2019, Kochua took a brief detour into Magic the Gathering: Arena, earning a bid in a Mythic Championship Qualifier Weekend before finally making the move to Dota Underlords. Kochua provides the team with editorial support, with a goal of making Aretuza the leading source of competitive Gwent and Underlords content. He also helps the team in its constant search for an analytical edge, and in the meantime tries some of his crazier theories out on the Underlords ladder as a Lord of White Spire.
