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Meta Snapshot #13

Patch Overview

Update: 26 January 2020; First published: 24 December 2019; Game version: 5.0.1.76

 

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

Overview

One of the ways we can take advantage of the new Northern Realms Scenario Siege is with the Pincer Maneuver leader ability. We are able to play two cards in one turn with our leader ability, which lets us immediately advance Siege to Chapter 1 of its completion. This reduces the effectiveness of any potential artifact removal and also plays for a huge swing in one turn. Typically, we will use our leader to play Siege (which we will draw into our hand organically or with Matta Hu'uri) and then play a Siege Engine after we tutor the desired card from our deck. Aside from this combo, we play a generally strong midrange deck with powerful Northern Realms golds and Radeyah.

 

Essential Cards

  • Siege is of course the major focus of the deck and we compose our list to support it. While the inclusion of so many high-provision cards means that our deck is able to utilize fewer golds, this is not a major downside because we must use some bronzes with Siege anyway. We usually want to play a few of our Siege Engines before we play Siege to maximize value from Chapter 2 (Bombardment). Of course, always check your hand and plan accordingly for the situation at hand.
  • The real heart of the deck is Radeyah. In this deck, we will often play Radeyah on the Melee row to utilize the Engineering solution stratagem. The natural combo with this is Prince Anséis, which can destroy a large unit and take advantage of the Shield blocking the first instance of damage back in the duel. The point ceiling of this combo is 29 points at maximum, but it also offers flexibility and removal.

 
Pros

  • Most likely has the strongest collection of top-end golds in the game
  • Large amount of removal supplemented by a few engines that can carry us in longer rounds

Cons

  • A bit weak to being pushed, relying almost entirely on Radeyah in a short round if we are forced to play in one
  • Weaker to removal than purely midrange Northern Realms decks

 

Tech Choices

  • Boiling Oil, Reinforced Ballista, Mantlet, Redanian Elite, Redanian Archer ⇒ Hen Gaidth Sword, Cintrian Enchantress, Aedirnian Mauler, Kaedweni Sergeant, Highwaymen

Hen Gaidth Sword is a card with a huge point ceiling (we will often look to combine Vincent Meis with it to play another copy of Radeyah), but it can be risky. We can play it especially if the meta is heavily centered around decks featuring Radeyah that also do not tend to push us, although this case might be a bit rare. We lose a number of solid Siege Engines to make this change, so we will have to accept the fact that we will sometimes draw a low number of them in the game, making Siege awkward at times.

Written by JMJWilson23.

7,480 25 23 165

  • 15
    Pincer Maneuver
    Leader
    Pincer Maneuver Order: Play a Northern Realms faction card from your hand, then draw any card. This ability adds 15 provisions to your deck's provisions limit.
  • 14
    Siege
    Siege Scenario: Progress whenever you play a Siege Engine Prologue: Spawn a Reinforced Trebuchet in your Ranged row. Chapter 1: Spawn a Battering Ram in your Ranged row. Chapter 2: Spawn and play Bombardment.
  • 7
    11
    Falibor
    Falibor Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 3. Deathblow: Repeat the Deploy ability and decrease the damage by 1.
  • 1
    11
    Philippa: Blind Fury
    Philippa: Blind Fury Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 4, then damage a random enemy unit by 3,2,1.
  • 8
    10
    Radeyah
    Radeyah If your starting deck has no duplicates, Deploy (Melee): Spawn your faction stratagem in this row. Deploy (Ranged): Create Neutral stratagem in this row.
  • 6
    10
    Bloody Baron
    Bloody Baron Formation. Order: Reset a unit. Inspired: If it was boosted, give it Bleeding for a duration equal to the amount of boost it lost.
  • 4
    10
    Avallac'h
    Avallac'h Deploy: Spawn and play Biting Frost, Impenetrable Fog, or Torrential Rain.
  • 4
    10
    Prince Anséis
    Prince Anséis Formation. Order: Damage an enemy unit by 4. Inspired: Duel an enemy unit instead.
  • 6
    9
    Matta Hu'uri
    Matta Hu'uri Deploy (Ranged): If neither player has passed and your opponent's hand is not full, they draw the lowest-cost card, and you draw the highest-cost card.
  • 2
    6
    Vincent Meis
    Vincent Meis Zeal. Order (Melee): Set the power of a non-boosted enemy to 1.
  • 5
    Boiling Oil
    Boiling Oil Damage an enemy unit by 5. Deathblow: Purify adjacent units.
  • 5
    5
    Carroballista
    Carroballista Order (Ranged): Damage a unit by 2. Crew: Gain 2 Armor.
  • 4
    5
    Battering Ram
    Battering Ram Order (Ranged): Move Battering Ram to the Melee row, then damage the highest enemy unit by 3. Crew: Gain Zeal.
  • 4
    5
    Bomb Heaver
    Bomb Heaver Deploy: Destroy an enemy artifact.
  • 4
    5
    Mantlet
    Mantlet Melee: Whenever you play a unit, give it 1 Armor. Barricade: Give it 2 Armor instead.
  • 4
    5
    Reinforced Ballista
    Reinforced Ballista Formation. Order: Damage a unit by 1. Charge: 1. Resupply: Gain 1 Charge.
  • 4
    5
    Reinforced Trebuchet
    Reinforced Trebuchet Ranged: Every allied turn, on turn end, damage a random enemy unit on the Ranged row by 1. Inspired: Damage a random enemy unit by 1 instead.
  • 4
    5
    Siege Tower
    Siege Tower Deploy: Gain Vitality for 3 turns. Crew: Boost self by 3 instead.
  • 2
    5
    Redanian Archer
    Redanian Archer Zeal. Order (Ranged): Damage an enemy unit by 1. Charge: 1. Barricade: At the end of every allied turn, gain 1 Charge.
  • 1
    5
    Redanian Elite
    Redanian Elite Deploy: Boost self by 6. Exposed: Reset self.
  • 4
    4
    Iron Falcon Infantry
    Iron Falcon Infantry Barricade: At the end of every allied turn, boost self by 1.
  • 4
    4
    Iron Falcon troubadour
    Iron Falcon troubadour Deploy: Give 2 Armor to a unit in your hand.
  • 4
    4
    Siege Ladder
    Siege Ladder Deploy: Move an allied unit to other row. Crew: Boost it by 2.
  • 3
    4
    Ballista
    Ballista Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 1. Order: Damage an enemy unit by 2.
  • 3
    4
    Radovid's Royal Guards
    Radovid's Royal Guards Formation. Order: Boost an allied unit by 2. Inspired: Give it 2 Armor.
  • 1
    4
    Redanian Knight
    Redanian Knight Barricade (Ranged): At the end of every allied turn, boost self by 1. Exposed: Move self to the melee row, then damage the strongest enemy unit by 2.

Matchups

Favorable against
Struggles against

Tier 2

Tier 3

Honorable Mentions