Snapshot Header Image

Meta Snapshot #12

Patch Overview

Update: 17 November 2019; First published: 16 October 2019; Game version: 4.1.0.64

 

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

Overview

Contrary to other Enslave decks which focus more on engine value in the form of Assimilate, this deck adopts a more control-heavy midrange approach. As a result, we are stronger against greedy decks, particularly those that play tall due to some of our tech choices. We support our control cards with a linear core of Soldiers that play for solid value at any point in the game. Using these cards for pure value has the added benefit of improving our matchup against other control-heavy lists as well. On the other hand, our lack of cards that scale reduces the power of our long round significantly when we are not in a matchup where our control cards receive additional value by removing key engines. The other major downside of the midrange approach is a slightly weaker ability to push the opponent in a long Round 2 if the meta revolves around decks that like to pass in Round 1 early.

 

Essential Cards

  • One of our power plays in the list is Ramon Tyrconnel, which finds suitable targets in Ard Feainn Tortoise and Nilfgaardian Knight. The Tortoise is our primary target and we can leverage it into additional value on occasion when the "downside" of boosting an opposing unit ends up on a unit we will later remove with Yennefer's Invocation or Vilgefortz or Reset with Peter Saar Gwynleve.
  • Vilgefortz is a flexible card in the list that is once again enabled by the inclusion of our high-base strength bronzes. Often, we can use Vilgefortz as an additional removal for tall units, but it can also be used for pure value by destroying one of our own small units to pull a 7-power Nilfgaardian Knight or Ard Feainn Tortoise from the deck. With the amount of thinning we play, it is likely that all of our golds are already in hand, making Vilgefortz on one of our own units nearly guaranteed to play a bronze.

 
Pros

  • Solid control tools for engines and tall units
  • Can present board states that are difficult for the opponent to interact with

Cons

  • Lacks potency in a long round if we aren't gaining extra value out of our removal
  • Can have a weak Round 2 due to lack of engines

 

Tech Choices

  • Royal Decree, Leo Bonhart, Battle Preparation ⇒ Triss: Telekinesis, War Council, Assassination

If we find that Leo Bonhart provides us with more counters against tall units than the meta requires, we can increase our own power level by upgrading it to Triss: Telekinesis. This change is accompanied by replacing Royal Decree with War Council (which does decrease our consistency of finding key cards, although this need is reduced with the removal of Leo Bonhart from the list) and upgrading Battle Preparation to another copy of Assassination to make our Triss: Telekinesis more reliable and give us additional control options.

 

Written by JMJWilson23.

 

8,590 25 16 166

  • 16
    Enslave
    Leader
    Enslave Order: Seize an enemy unit with 3 power or less. This value is raised by 1 for every 4 Tactic cards in your starting deck. This ability adds 16 provisions to your deck's provisions limit.
  • 10
    Royal Decree
    Royal Decree Play a unit from your deck.
  • 4
    10
    Avallac'h
    Avallac'h Deploy: Spawn and play Biting Frost, Impenetrable Fog, or Torrential Rain.
  • 4
    10
    Ramon Tyrconnel
    Ramon Tyrconnel Deploy: Spawn and play a base copy of a bronze Soldier from your hand and give it 2 Armor.
  • 3
    10
    Leo Bonhart
    Leo Bonhart Deploy (Melee): Destroy an enemy unit with 8 or more power. Deploy (Ranged): Destroy an enemy Witcher.
  • 9
    Yennefer's Invocation
    Yennefer's Invocation Place an enemy unit or an enemy artifact on the top of your deck.
  • 6
    9
    Lambert: Swordmaster
    Lambert: Swordmaster Deploy: Damage an enemy unit and all its copies by 2.
  • 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.
  • 8
    Bribery
    Bribery Create and play a unit from your opponent's starting deck.
  • 4
    8
    Hefty Helge
    Hefty Helge Shield. Order: Damage a unit by 2. Charge: 1. Gain 1 Charge whenever you play a Tactic.
  • 3
    8
    Sweers
    Sweers Deploy (Melee): Seize an enemy unit with 3 or less power.
  • 2
    8
    Menno Coehoorn
    Menno Coehoorn Deploy (Ranged): Play a Tactic card from your deck.
  • 4
    7
    Glynnis aep Loernach
    Glynnis aep Loernach Assimilate 2.
  • 5
    Assassination
    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.
  • 7
    5
    Ard Feainn Tortoise
    x2
    Ard Feainn Tortoise Exposed: Boost an enemy unit with the most power by 3.
  • 7
    5
    Nilfgaardian Knight
    x2
    Nilfgaardian Knight Deploy: Boost an enemy unit by 2.
  • 1
    5
    Duchess's Informant
    Duchess's Informant Spying. Deploy: Spawn and play a base copy of a non-Spying bronze enemy unit.
  • 4
    Battle Preparation
    Battle Preparation Boost an allied unit by 3 and give it 2 Armor. If it's a Soldier, boost it by 5 and give it 2 Armor instead.
  • 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.
  • 3
    4
    Magne Division
    x2
    Magne Division Every allied turn, on turn end, boost self by 1 if this is the only card on this row.

Matchups

Favorable against
Struggles against

Tier 3

Honorable Mentions