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The Team Aretuza GWENT Meta Snapshot attempts to showcase the most-played decks on the Pro and Ranked ladders. We then attempt to rank them based on deck strength. These are the decks dominating the ladder right now, and this list does not represent all of the decks available nor even necessarily the best there is to be seen.

Every deck has a short guide explaining how the list works, its pros and cons, and a few other considerations to take into account. We also list a few matchups we think are particularly good or bad for each deck. 

As the meta continues to shift, we will update our Snapshot to reflect the changes. Updates will continue to be announced on the Team Aretuza Discord Community and official Team Aretuza Twitter account.

Meta Snapshot #14

Patch Overview

PLEASE NOTE: This Meta Snapshot was intended for use during the Season of Love (February of 2020) and does not accurately reflect the meta as of the Season of the Bear (March 2020)

Below is Team Aretuza and Team Nova's Meta Snapshot for the Season of Love. The meta displays a large degree of variability after the balance patch that was implemented before this season's start. No true contenders stand out as one to completely dominate the meta as of yet, so we will remain diligent in following the meta to see if this changes. As always, we will make appropriate changes throughout the season to keep viewers up to date with the meta to the best of our ability. You can follow the invite link to our Discord server in the upper right hand corner of the site to ask any questions you may have at any time. Enjoy and good luck on your Gwent journey this month!

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

Another holdover from previous patches that has migrated its leader ability away from Pincer Maneuver, this Siege and Draug deck utilizes the two strongest win conditions available to Northern Realms in one deck for a dual gameplan. We will typically play Siege and Draug in different rounds, but it does represent a potentially threatening long round if we can use both together. As with many Northern Realms decks, our major decisions come when the opponent tries to play out Round 2 against us after winning Round 1. In this case, we will typically try to use Draug to fend them off and enter a favorable Round 3 for Siege while being on even cards or possibly a card up if the opponent overstays their welcome in Round 2. We will often combo our leader ability on the Reinforced Trebuchet from Siege to play around artifact Removal and gain a big tempo swing.

Essential Cards

  • Siege is half of our dual win condition package and represents our preferred Round 3 plan. We can use it to deal a devastating amount of damage, which will completely wipe out strategies that seek to develop a board, such as Elf decks and even some engine strategies.
  • The other half of our win condition is Draug, which we support with a large number of ways to quickly generate Humans on the board. When combined with cards that provide 1-power enemy units, we can swing for a large number of points on the turn following Draug, providing us with a means to force the opponent out of rounds or to find opportunities to stay ahead with only a 7 tempo Draug play.

Pros

  • Incredible long round
  • Huge ceiling when all of our pieces come together

Cons

  • Hugely reliant on variance of drawing the correct cards at the correct time
  • Draug power level has dropped in recent weeks due to more efficient answers to it

Tech Choices

  • Vincent Meis ⇒ Reinforcements

Vincent Meis represents a strong synergy with Kaedweni Revenants while also serving as a tech against high base strength units in the meta. If these cards are not present, the synergy with Revenants is likely not enough alone to play this card in our deck. Instead, we can play a flexible card like Reinforcements that can play as 9 points on a Caravan Vanguard or give us options on which Siege Engine to play.

Written by JMJWilson23

6,880 25 24 166

  • 16
    Mobilization
    Leader
    Mobilization Order: Play a copy of an allied unit from your deck, boost it by 2 and give it Zeal. This ability adds 16 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
    13
    Draug
    Draug Deploy: Transform all allied Human units in this row into Kaedweni Revenants, without changing their power.
  • 1
    12
    Philippa: Blind Fury
    Philippa: Blind Fury Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 4, then damage a random enemy unit by 3,2,1.
  • 7
    11
    Falibor
    Falibor Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 3. Deathblow: Repeat the Deploy ability and decrease the damage by 1.
  • 3
    11
    Queen Adalia
    Queen Adalia Deploy: Spawn and play a base copy of a bronze unit from your hand, then give it a Shield.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 1
    6
    Sabrina Glevissig
    Sabrina Glevissig Spying. Deathwish: Damage all units on this row by 2.
  • 3
    6
    Caravan Vanguard
    x2
    Caravan Vanguard Deploy (Melee): Boost self by 3. Deploy (Ranged): Spawn a base copy of self in this row. Bonded: Use both abilities.
  • 5
    5
    Carroballista
    x2
    Carroballista Deploy, Crew: Gain 2 Armor. Order (Ranged): Damage an enemy unit by 2.
  • 4
    5
    Reinforced Trebuchet
    x2
    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
    x2
    Siege Tower Deploy: Gain Vitality for 3 turns. Crew: Boost self by 3 instead.
  • 4
    4
    Aedirnian Mauler
    x2
    Aedirnian Mauler Order (Melee): Damage an enemy unit by 2.
  • 3
    4
    Ballista
    x2
    Ballista Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 1. Order: Damage an enemy unit by 2.
  • 3
    4
    Radovid's Royal Guards
    x2
    Radovid's Royal Guards Formation. Order: Boost an allied unit by 2. Inspired: Give it 2 Armor.
  • 3
    4
    Temple Guard
    x2
    Temple Guard Deploy (Melee): Boost 3 adjacent allied units by 1.

Honorable Mentions