Uprising Draug

Uprising presents the most "meta" of all the factions, as this deck has been used with great competitive success by such players as Demarcation who achieved the highest Northern Realms fmmr score of all-time with it. The game plan is often quite simple in that the deck does not typically wish to play its strong Gold cards in Round 1, instead preferring to play just Bronze cards (as permitted by the opponent) and passing to Round 2. If we are able to win Round 1, a long Round 3 is preferable to let Draug be a strong win condition. Otherwise, we will allow the opponent to bleed us in Round 2, at which point our decision is to balance card quality in Round 3 with the potential for card advantage. A good rule of thumb is to set up a strong Draug row and then play Draug when there is only one weaker card left in hand. This lets us play that weaker card if the opponent passes (preserving our best cards for Round 3) or to push for card advantage with the swing we get from Draug if they keep playing. In terms of card replacements, we can replace Philippa: Blind Fury if the meta has very few engine-heavy decks. One option is to replace Philippa and both Ballistas with Alzur's Double-Cross, Anna Strenger, and Bomb Heaver. When making this change, it is recommended to use Tactical Advantage as the stratagem.

Imposter Masquerade Ball

For Imposter, we have a deck that looks strikingly similar to most other Nilfgaard decks, which is unsurprising based upon recent nerfs to other strong cards in the faction. Our main threat in the deck is Masquerade Ball, which we supplement through cards like Vincent Van Moorlehem and Joachim de Wett. Vincent in particular can be strong with Imposter due to the natural synergy we achieve by applying a status effect with our leader. This deck can be strong at winning Round 1 in most cases, but especially when going second. It is important to identify the cards and hand and see which packages it is okay to utilize in the given situation. The key card we wish to use carefully is Ramon Tyrconnel, which can carry a round when combined with Ard Feainn Crossbowman and other Soldier cards, but this is also our best card in Round 2 so we must be confident about winning Round 1 when using it there. In terms of replacements, this deck can be shifted to a so-called "Double Ball" deck by dropping the Ramon and soldiers package for Assire var Anahid, Matta Hu'uri, and more poison-oriented Bronze cards, such as Thirsty Dame, Rot Tosser, and potentially King Cobra.

Hidden Cache Passiflora

In terms of Hidden Cache decks, the only notable difference between this deck and the versions that were rampant in the meta last month is the exclusion of the Madame Luiza and Savolla combo. The nerf to Luiza (now an orders effect) can make the combo more disruptable, but it is possible that in most games it will still work so feel free to experiment with these cards as desired. The gameplan for this deck ties in nicely with the way the leader ability works. Because we gain a charge of the ability in each round, we are incentivized to play all three rounds when possible. We also get to take advantage of The Flying Redanian in all rounds like this. Using a combination of poison cards and some engines (Passiflora Peaches or Saul de Navarette if required) is a strong option to win Round 1. We can follow this up by pushing in Round 2 with even more engines, including Passiflora if we have sufficient Blindeyes in hand to complete the scenario. Changes to the deck can be quite simple as mentioned above. If we wish to add Madame Luiza and Savolla to the deck, we can drop Hammond, Dire Mutated Hound, and Pickpocket for Luiza, Savolla, and a Kikimore Warrior.

Overwhelming Hunger Haunt

Perhaps the least played of the Year of the Werecat abilities, Overwhelming Hunger decks have existed in many forms in an attempt to push the boundaries of the leader ability. This deck utilizes Haunt as a powerful win condition, but other versions focus more on midrange application or by using some gimmicky combos, such as filling the opponent's board with Rats through the help of Noonwraith. With the Haunt version presented here, we have a strong Round 1 due to powerful Bronzes like Endrega Larva and some mid-level Gold cards we can commit to Round 1 like Penitent. The deck is flexible in how it plays rounds, displaying an ability to play out Round 2 against decks that are incredibly strong in a long round or simply pass to Round 3 against more midrange decks. The leader ability can be used flexibly, so be sure to look for strong opportunities to utilize Miruna for a big tempo swing that provides us with an advantage. In terms of card replacements, the tutor of choice can be swapped from Matta Hu'uri to Naglfar if we wish. Additionally, Geralt: Igni can be swapped out if it is not finding value in the meta. Some replacements include Frightener: Dormant and Protofleder.

Mahakam Forge Dwarves

Scoia'tael has been dominated by Mystic Echo decks for so long (with some Elf decks alongside them) that Mahakam Forge has been utilized very little. The leader ability is relatively weak so it is not very surprising that it doesn't stack up compared to the powerhouse decks of the faction. The main advantage to using the Mahakam Forge ability (other than fringe benefits such as worsening instances of random damage) is the use of the two units in the deck with resilience. Our gameplan to abuse them as much as possible is to try our hardest to win Round 1 and then push Round 2 either with the help of our carryover from Round 1 or while developing Gabor Zigrin and Zoltan Chivay during Round 2 to help us in Round 3. It is important to be aware of potential removal the opponent has in order to play these cards as safely as possible. This version supplements the Dwarf package with poison effects, seeing as the opponent already will find solid purify targets with Resilience anyway. We can replace the Poison cards with additional Dwarf cards if desired. The notable additions would be Zoltan: Warrior, Munro Bruys, and a second [card]Makaham Guard[/card], filling out the balance of provisions with other Bronze Dwarf cards.

Blaze of Glory Priests

Finally we have another one of the lesser-played leader abilities in Blaze of Glory. This leader ability provides us with a solid control option that we can use while also developing an engine of our own. As such, this deck features engines heavily through the pairing of Svalblod Priest and Armored Drakkar. The additional layer of synergy here is that we can often grow our units above 13 power, meaning that Jutta an Dimun can be played from hand instead of wasting mulligans at 8 provisions when the 12 damage is excessive. With Crowmother in the deck, as well as a strong self-growing engine in the Priests and Drakkar combo, we can typically generate a strong push in Round 2, finishing off Round 3 with our leader ability and Sigrdrifa's Rite to resurrect Jutta. Do not hesitate to use Royal Decree in Round 1 in this deck, as Crowmother and cards like Birna Bran or Svalblod Priest are essential to have early in the game. This deck can be shifted around to be more midrange in focus, or we can maintain this version by swapping out Triss: Telekinesis or Royal Decree for Hjalmar an Craite. In the case of dropping Triss, we can use the extra provision to add Gigascorpion Decoction to the deck in place of Mardroeme or Raging Bear.