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Meta Snapshot #11

Patch Overview

Update: 26 September 2019

First published: 17 September 2019 (Game version: 3.2.0.52)

 

Changelog: 

 

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

The main game plan of this deck is using Portal into our 4-provisions cards, Artorius Vigo into Impera Brigades, and Menno Coehoorn as a way to thin our deck to the maximum. With this plan, we try to have only Tibor Eggebracht as the last card in our deck, which assures that Xarthisius and Yennefer: Divination can only Reveal Tibor, giving us 5+13 points and 3+13 points, respectively. Vilgefortz is used on Yennefer to finally thin out our Tibor and completely empty our deck. The recent change to Yennefer's Invocation shifted this archetype's leader from Ardal aep Dahy to Jan Calveit: We can now yoink a good card from our opponent’s board and play it immediately with our leader. This gives us more points than Ardal, without compromising our deckbuilding.

 

Essential Cards

The most important cards are our finishers: Xarthisius, Tibor Eggebracht, Vilgefortz, and Yennefer: Divination. However, we want to draw our thinning cards early in the game; Portal is probably the most important one, together with Artorius Vigo into Impera Brigades. Our Tactics allow us to remove the opponent's engines, so, depending on the matchup, access to them can be essential. Ideally, we want to control the first or first two rounds with our Tactics, proccing Fire Scorpions and forcing a medium- to short-length Round 3 where our finishers overwhelm the opponent.

 
Pros

  • High-power finishers, lots of tempo with early plays such as Artorius Vigo into Impera Brigades and Portal, lots of control tools
  • Tactics package can deny opponent engine setups.

Cons

 

Tech Choices

  • Experimental Remedy ⇒ Bribery

The Tactics in this deck can be adjusted to reflect one’s own personal preferences. Experimental Remedy has a lower point ceiling than Bribery. On the other hand, Bribery is more expensive, but we can brick an opponent Triss: Telekinesis, when we do not have any bronze Tactics in our deck.

 

Written by Jamedi.

6,740 25 15 167

  • 17
    Jan Calveit
    Leader
    Jan Calveit Order: Look at the top 3 cards from your deck and play one.
  • 12
    Portal
    Portal Deploy: Summon a random unit with 4 Provision Cost from your deck on both sides of this card.
  • 3
    10
    Roach
    Roach Whenever you play a gold card, Summon this unit from your deck to a random allied row.
  • 9
    Yennefer's Invocation
    Yennefer's Invocation Place an enemy unit or an enemy artifact on the top of your deck.
  • 13
    9
    Tibor Eggebracht
    Tibor Eggebracht Deploy: Your opponent Summons the top unit from their deck to a random enemy row.
  • 5
    9
    Vilgefortz
    Vilgefortz Deploy (Melee): Destroy an enemy unit, then your opponent Summons the top unit from their deck to a random enemy row. Deploy (Ranged): Destroy an allied unit, then Summon the top unit from your deck to a random allied row.
  • 5
    9
    Xarthisius
    Xarthisius Deploy: Reveal a random card in your deck. If it's a unit, boost self by its power and shuffle it back. If it's an artifact or a special card, play it.
  • 3
    9
    Yennefer: Divination
    Yennefer: Divination Deploy (Ranged): Reveal a random unit from your deck, then boost an allied unit by its power.
  • 8
    Marching Orders
    Marching Orders Play the lowest unit from your deck.
  • 6
    8
    Assire var Anahid
    Assire var Anahid Deploy (Melee): Shuffle a card from the opponent's graveyard into their deck. Deploy (Ranged): Shuffle a card from your graveyard into your deck.
  • 2
    8
    Artorius Vigo
    Artorius Vigo Assimilate. Deploy: Create and play a 1-power copy of a bronze unit from your starting deck.
  • 2
    8
    Menno Coehoorn
    Menno Coehoorn Deploy (Ranged): Play a Tactic card from your deck.
  • 2
    6
    Roderick of Dun Tynne
    Roderick of Dun Tynne Spying. Deploy: Look at 2 random gold cards from your deck, then play 1.
  • 6
    Experimental Remedy
    Experimental Remedy Play a bronze unit from your opponent's graveyard.
  • 3
    6
    Impera Brigade
    x2
    Impera Brigade Deploy (Melee): Summon all copies of this unit from your deck to this row.
  • 5
    Assassination
    x2
    Assassination Damage a unit by 6. Decrease the damage by 1 for each unit adjacent to it.
  • 5
    Imperial Diplomacy
    x2
    Imperial Diplomacy Create and play a bronze card from your opponent's faction.
  • 4
    Tourney Joust
    x2
    Tourney Joust Remove an enemy unit's Shield and damage it by 4, or give an allied unit a Shield and boost it by 4.
  • 4
    4
    Nauzicaa Sergeant
    x2
    Nauzicaa Sergeant Whenever you play a unit with Deploy, boost self by 1.
  • 3
    4
    Fire Scorpion
    x2
    Fire Scorpion Order: Damage a unit by 1. Charge: 1. Gain 1 Charge whenever you play a Tactic card.

Matchups

Struggles against

Honorable Mentions