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Meta Snapshot #8

Patch Overview

Updated: 14 June 2019 (Game version: 2.2.0.24)
First published: 13 May 2019 (Game version: 2.1.0.57)

  • 14 June 2019:
  • 07 June 2019:
    • Updated the following lists to reflect the recent balance patch:
      Arachas Queen Consume, Artifact Arachas, Brouver Midrange, Calveit Swarm, Crach Control, Dana Harmony, Eithné Deathblow, Emhyr Midrange, Henselt Draug, Svalblod Selfwound.
    • Temporarily removed the following lists, as we have yet to adjust them to the recent balance patch:
      Ardal Tactics, Arnjolf Control, Big Woodland, Brouver Traps, Deathwish, Dwarves, Humans Northern Realms, Shupe Nilfgaard, Shupe Northern Realms.
    • Tier adjustments:
  • 24 May 2019:
    • Added an FAQ
    • Added Artifact Arachas and Brouver Midrange
    • Updated Crach Control deck list
    • Tier adjustments:
      • Big Woodland Tier 2 ⇒ Tier 3
      • Shupe Nilfgaard Tier 2 ⇒ Tier 3
      • Ardal Tactics Tier 3 ⇒ HM
      • Shupe Northern Realms Tier 3 ⇒ HM
      • Dwarves Tier 3 ⇒ Tier 2
      • Crach Control Tier 3 ⇒ Tier 2
  • 19 May 2019:
    • Added links to PlayGwent.com for easy deck importing.
  • 17 May 2019:
    • Added Ardal Tactics, Arnjolf Control, Dana Harmony, Deathwish and Humans Northern Realms
    • Added new matchup section for Tier 1 and Tier 2 decks
       

Contributors

Consultants: Adzikov, Damorquis, Jamedi, JMJWilson23, Kochua, Kolemoen, Molegion, Santtu2x, Sergi2Vamos.
Editors: Apero, Kochua
Manager: JMJWilson23

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

While decks in this tier remain good laddering options that can successfully achieve high winrates, they can struggle to achieve the same winrate when matched up against decks we place in higher tiers. They may make for strong tournament options.

 

Honorable Mentions

Decks here aren't strong or popular enough to be tiered, but have enough potential to be better with the adequate support cards. They may win against unsuspecting opponents and can make for interesting tournament options, but are otherwise worth just 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!


Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Overview

After the recent buff to Eredin Bréacc Glas and Nekurat, this old Monsters archetype has been revisited. This deck has the usual features of Tall Monsters decks (Ozzrel and units with a high base power) with some engines as well. Just like any other Tall Monsters deck, we are very resilient to bleeding in Round 2 due to the short-round power of this card package. Many opponents may try to do just this, expecting some kind of "cheese" strategy from an Eredin deck, which allows us to gain card advantage with our powerful short round. In a longer round, the engine value is often strong, with a mixture of true engines (Imlerith, Nekurat) and Thrive cards. Going first in a round is often an advantage because we can secure the highest unit in play to enable our Dominance effects with Imlerith as the most important one. As a result, this deck will often play out Round 2 while using a mixture of high-tempo plays and passive value from Imlerith to force out valuable resources from the opponent.

 

Essential Cards

  • The primary enabler of this more engine-based Monsters archetype is Imlerith. A persistent 2-points-per-turn engine that is especially resilient to removal due to protection from Eredin Bréacc Glas' leader ability is a valuable tool for this deck. Even in a relatively short round, Imlerith achieves respectable value for its provision cost, giving it a high floor. The main weakness of the card is a Lock, which will often trade down in points anyway. The other main weakness is tall removal, as the 3-point boost from Eredin puts it at 8 points and makes it thus a perfect target for cards like Geralt of Rivia. This risk is not that great however, as tall-unit punish will always find value against our deck by targeting Golyat, Old Speartip: Asleep or Ozzrel.
  • One of the most powerful aspects of this deck is its ability to play a very powerful short round which punishes the opponent for attempting to bleed us from our engines in Round 2. The card most responsible for this feature is Ozzrel. If we play a tall unit in one of the early rounds, which is not uncommon, then Ozzrel will play for a large number of points (10 or 11), all of which come in the form of instant and proactive tempo.

 
Pros

  • Solid value in most round lengths when our engines are able to stick
  • Tall Monsters package provides great short-round value

Cons

  • One of the most vulnerable decks in the game to tall-unit punish effects
  • Plays some suboptimal cards to enable the Organic package with Nekurat

 

Tech Choices

  • Naglfar ⇒ Geralt of Rivia
  • Imlerith's Wrath ⇒ Adda: Striga

Naglfar is one of the strongest Monsters cards and possibly the best tutor in the whole game. Removing it decreases the consistency of the deck, particularly when it comes to drawing key cards and combo pieces when they are needed. This may become a necessary sacrifice if we face a lot of decks that play tall units themselves along with a tall-unit punish such as Geralt of Rivia. In those matchups, we will likely lose when the opponent is able to trade up by 3 points on one of our own tall units while we are unable to do the same to them.

Imlerith's Wrath is a tech card that achieves value in two ways. First, it can be a form of tall-unit punish when we are able to establish our own tall unit on the board first. Second, and more importantly, this card can achieve instant removal on opposing engines to prevent us from being overrun by an engine-overload strategy. Removing a key engine can be valuable, especially if it is one that does damage and can deny us from having the tallest unit in play. An alternative to Imlerith's Wrath is Adda: Striga, which can also remove engines. The upside to Adda: Striga is that it also puts points on our own board. This makes it specifically better against engines that are 5 points or less; however, this also means that we cannot punish the opponent for playing tall units, like we could with Imlerith’s Wrath.

5,060 25 19 166

  • 16
    Eredin Bréacc Glas
    Leader
    Eredin Bréacc Glas Order: Boost an allied unit by 3 and give it a Shield. Charge: 2.
  • 10
    Naglfar
    Naglfar Look at 2 random gold cards from your deck, then play one and place the other on top.
  • 10
    10
    Golyat
    Golyat Deathwish: Your opponent Summons the highest unit from their deck on the opposite row.
  • 9
    10
    Old Speartip: Asleep
    Old Speartip: Asleep No ability.
  • 4
    10
    Protofleder
    Protofleder Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 3. Dominance: Drain an enemy unit by 3 instead.
  • 6
    9
    Katakan
    Katakan Thrive. Deploy: Spawn an Ekimmara and Summon it to this row. Deathwish: Repeat the Deploy ability.
  • 5
    9
    Imlerith
    Imlerith Order: Damage a unit by 1. Dominance: Damage a unit by 2 instead. Cooldown: 1.
  • 1
    9
    Ozzrel
    Ozzrel Deploy (Melee): Consume a unit from your opponent's graveyard. Deploy (Ranged): Consume a unit from your graveyard.
  • 8
    Imlerith's Wrath
    Imlerith's Wrath Damage an enemy unit by the power of your highest allied unit.
  • 6
    8
    Brewess
    Brewess Deploy: Consume 1 allied unit(s). Increase the number of targets by 1 whenever you play Whispess or Weavess.
  • 5
    8
    Weavess
    Weavess Deploy: Boost an allied unit by 2. Increase this boost by 2 whenever you play Whispess or Brewess.
  • 4
    8
    Whispess
    Whispess Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 2. Increase this damage by 2 whenever you play Brewess or Weavess.
  • 6
    Parasite
    Parasite Damage an enemy unit by 6, or boost an allied unit by 6.
  • 5
    6
    Nithral
    Nithral Deploy: Destroy an enemy artifact. Dominance: Damage adjacent enemy units by 2.
  • 6
    Hideous Feast
    x2
    Hideous Feast Damage an enemy unit by 3 and boost an allied unit by 3.
  • 3
    5
    Nekurat
    x2
    Nekurat Order (Melee): Drain an enemy unit by 1. Cooldown: 2. Whenever you play an Organic card, reduce this unit's Cooldown by 1.
  • 3
    5
    Wyvern
    Wyvern Thrive. Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 2.
  • 4
    Spores
    Spores Restore a unit to its base power.
  • 4
    4
    Nekker Warrior
    x2
    Nekker Warrior Thrive.
  • 3
    4
    Plumard
    x2
    Plumard Deploy: Give an enemy unit Bleeding for 2 turns. Bonded: Give it Bleeding for 4 turns instead.
  • 1
    4
    Nekker
    x2
    Nekker Thrive. Deploy: Spawn a base copy of this unit and Summon it to this row.

Honorable Mentions