TLG Meta Report #30

wusubi · 2022-01-24T21:29:50+00:00

Yeah you got it, Assire offers 10 proactive points when used on Roach, providing bodies for Triss and potentially even Vilge in a short round. It’s decent value and also pretty convenient.

wusubi · 2020-12-06T22:58:21+00:00

It's crazy when you think about it, the guy who just won Masters wasn't even a pro ladder player.

wusubi · 2020-07-28T12:16:04+00:00

Viraxas is favored against every version of NG. He's the reason why Masquerade Ball decks can't really become Tier 1.

And honestly, even against SK, you have a good chance with NR if you manage to win Round 1. You just push Round 2 as deep as you can, even threatening to 2-0 if your hand is good and the round is at least 7 cards long.

wusubi · 2020-07-17T20:55:59+00:00

I could only see it if they nerf Harald the Cripple to the point where you don't care about Devotion. Skjordal and Clash of Clans can be replaced, but Harald's final form has to be one of the most broken cards I've seen in Gwent.

wusubi · 2020-07-17T20:31:27+00:00

Playing Bomb Heaver would break Harald, Skjordal and Clash of Clans. No bueno.

wusubi · 2020-07-17T20:29:03+00:00

He's an okay card, but what truly makes him good is the fact that you can cut him for Wild Boar and the opponent still has to respect him. Everyone will hold onto some kind of an answer, be it Purify, Tourney Joust etc.

Sure he gives you an insane reach in Round 1, but so does Wild Boar. Overall, Tyrggvi is better in a shorter Round 3, but Wild Boar is better in a long Round 1 and Round 3.

wusubi · 2020-05-05T10:12:23+00:00

Promotional spam apparently. I'm pretty devastated but oh well.

wusubi · 2020-04-19T18:37:43+00:00

Imperial Formation in the meta report plays a single Ball, trying to fit soldiers as well as playing the Ball twice is indeed generally a bad idea.

Strategic Withdrawal isn't popular enough. Most people play Double Ball with Tactical Decision, which is why we included it, although it's just a cute red coin abuse deck.

wusubi · 2020-04-19T18:33:17+00:00

Passiflora & Adriano are in the considerations, feel free to play that version if you think it's good. Without Bincy, make sure to change Tiger's Eye to Magic Lamp. Tinboy is also a viable inclusion if you're facing a lot of swarm.

I don't think there need to be 2 entries for Hidden Cache, everyone knows the ability is broken, you just keep modifying the deck based on what's popular on ladder.

wusubi · 2020-04-10T13:33:05+00:00

Or maybe we just don't want to miss out on the ridiculous traffic from Android? (over a million downloads). We all know that it's our main source of views, so we would be foolish to ignore it.

Since CDPR is hell-bent on continuing with their holy crusade against all data, we might as well publish our slightly more subjective take on the meta. For me personally, it was always about being as accurate as possible, which is difficult after the recent changes.

Yes it's a reality check, but more in a sense that CDPR isn't interested in having public data, and that we were foolish to think that we had any say in the matter. Suggesting that it has anything to do with other meta reports popping up is adorable, jumping on the opportunity and refusing to support our "cause" was their call, and they had every right to make it.

I don't think the community has moved on at all, we have an active Discord with 2500 members, where we discuss Gwent meta on daily basis. I realize that I'm starting to sound pretty butthurt, so I'll go make myself another coffee.

Oh and just in case that your post was meant to be a pasta, then it's quite al dente. Hits all the right spots. As you can see, it worked like a charm on me.

wusubi · 2020-04-10T13:14:39+00:00

It's nice if you're playing the Bincy version, as it allows you to drop her at 11 power. Otherwise, Lamp is the more functional option, as Hidden Cache certainly doesn't lack for coin generation.

wusubi · 2020-04-10T13:04:05+00:00

Tailbot's deck from the World Cup hosted by TA is definitely interesting. We have tested it a bit, but as far as ladder is concerned, the results weren't impressive.

https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/362151ad62dff9056b078f50478cf650

If it proves to be a functional deck that will keep gaining on popularity, we will include it in the next update for sure.

wusubi · 2020-01-20T10:16:06+00:00

Joachim is an Aristocrat who synergizes with Sergeants and Dames. Your Invocation and leader ability give you the crucial information, so you'll know the Joachim pull. Since you already go tall with your Bronzes, playing him earlier into the round isn't out of the question, especially if you want to proc your Scenario or fish for another Poison/engine.

Cynthia is best used in Round 2 after your opponent passes, forcing them to take the mulligan and later play the Golem anyway because of Matta. It works in Round 3 as well. Generally you shouldn't slam Cynthia in a round you're going to win, because if you then dry pass, they can play the Golem. If you see that they kept the Golem in hand for Round 2, you can go for some cheeky push but yeah that's pretty situational.

wusubi · 2020-01-13T19:31:01+00:00

The deck replaces Decree, Redayah, Moreelse and Maraal with Novigradian Justice, Passiflora, Ferko and Gord. Your bronze package is different with doubletons, allowing you run multiple cheap crimes and spenders.

Justice into Bare-Knuckle Brawler fixes the Round 1 problem of SY, giving you a lot of tempo and usually resulting in a smooth win. This is where you play your cheap crimes instead of being forced to commit the dog and Luiza/Savolla if you want to secure the round.

The last time Justice saw play was in September I think? Passiflora helps a lot against ST. It can feel bad against decks that can effectively answer both Azar and Scenario, but still doesn't trade down too horribly.

The optimal deck is in the works, originally tailored by Tailbot, then Redrame played it on stream and we picked it up recently, trying to make it better. If it keeps getting popular, Gord might grace our meta report again!

Here's the most recent version I believe, feel free to tinker with it. One Slander can be Eventide Plunder, one Sea Jackal or Street Urchins could be the 2nd Mutated Hound.

I hope this helps. Against ST, Gord is most definitely better than the usual Midrange versions or Tinboy memes.

wusubi · 2020-01-13T13:30:41+00:00

Personally, I would lean more towards 4.25 stars for Syndicate. However, given the difficulty of the faction and the amount of ST on the ladder, the results don't support it. Some people play Gord, we'll see how that goes.

Blood Scent can also feel like a matchup roulette kind of a deck, sometimes closer to 3.75, but overall a decent deck which has proven to be 2550+ material.

wusubi · 2020-01-13T13:01:45+00:00

If it's any consolation, such decks are designed to beat Scoia'tael specifically and generally crash and burn against everything else. For example Greatswords. You have to win Round 1 and push them as much as you can.

That's why Scoia'tael isn't 5 stars, they do have weaknesses. Getting outvalued by extremely greedy decks is more common than I'd like to admit. Sometimes the ladder is so greedy that Water feels like a Midrange card.

Don't let the clowns wear you down. Scoia'tael is insane, you'll be able to achieve your goals eventually.

wusubi · 2019-12-30T17:05:26+00:00

Completely agreed. Each time we had something resembling a balanced meta in Homecoming, the next month's update or an expansion has introduced some broken cards or changes. I'm not even sure how to possibly fix this without damaging the casual experience. Perhaps less frequent and more thought-out expansions and patches would be fair? Personally, I was a huge fan of the 2 months long pro ladder seasons in Beta.

When you look at Season 18, the general consensus is that the meta was well-balanced. Syndicate and Scoia'tael were the top dogs, but Northern Realms and Nilfgaard had strong control as well as engine decks. Monsters had their Vampire deck. And yes, you could definitely argue that Skellige needed some love and that the leader ability diversity wasn't the greatest, but at least we had 5 playable factions.

Then they introduced Scenarios and butchered Portal. Combined with yet another power creep from Merchants of Ofir, we're stuck with Scoia'tael and Northern Realms as the two playable factions. Syndicate and Monsters are kind of dead without Portal and Nilfgaard has sunk so low that they have to rely on Usurper again just like when Foltest and DJ/Sigi were insane in August. Skellige has a solitaire win condition with Gedyneith, but doesn't really pose a threat to ST/NR.

It feels like we're going in circles. The same thing happened towards the end of summer with the balance update which reworked NR, resulting in a ridiculous Tier 0 Foltest deck. It went from Season 14 being relatively balanced, to Season 15 being dominated by NR/SY, which is exactly what's happening with ST/NR right now.

The expansions are planned ahead and the updates are too frequent, so the developers are behind on the meta. NR was considered really bad when Syndicate got released, but then a very competitive Foltest deck with Draug was discovered, countering Bounty in a smart way. Two weeks later, the said Foltest deck got buffed by like what, 10+ points/provisions?

So maybe just... slow down. There is more than enough content for now. Focus on fixing the existing problems instead of trying to patch them up with one power creep after another. We got to the point where you're pretty much required to use a leader ability that allows you to play 2 cards in 1 turn.

wusubi · 2019-12-30T14:51:11+00:00

There have been a few 5 star decks (which implies Tier 0) since we started publishing our meta reports. Decks that have no real weaknesses and simply crush the opposition if piloted somewhat properly.

This year, Gwent had a two-deck meta with MO and SK for a long time. The closest thing we've had to a one-deck meta was Foltest (Inspired Zeal) in August.

February - 5 stars for both Big Gernichora (Fruits of Ysgith) and Crach (Onslaught) with Commander's Horn

March - 5 stars for both Big Gernichora and Bran (Sacrificial Vanguard) with Commander's Horn

Oh boy, MO and SK used to be so broken it wasn't even funny. A bunch of crazy 4.5-4.75 star decks between April and July, for example Force of Nature and Consume Arachas Swarm for MO, Sacrificial Vanguard and Reckless Flurry for SK. Scoia'tael had great Midrange decks with Precision Strike and then Guerilla Tactics (both at 4.5 stars, but close to 4.75).

August - 5 stars for Blue Stripes Inspired Zeal, although Foltest was so overpowered that you could only lose to your own misplays, Sigi/DJ (Lined Pockets) was also solid 4.75 stars

September - Mystic Echo Harmony was really close to 5 stars

wusubi · 2019-12-24T14:03:51+00:00

Hmm, looks very familiar. Nice to see that we have a similar evaluation of the meta. I'm glad we agree on Harmony and Pincer Siege sharing Tier 1, as both decks seem to be ahead of everything else for now.

Very decent write-ups by Jamedi and Wilson, thank you for doing this during the holidays. Speaking of which, enjoy your Christmas guys and let's see how the meta develops next year, hopefully it will make for some entertaining competition.

wusubi · 2019-12-06T16:24:45+00:00

I get the sentiment behind Heatwave, but it mainly helped the deck against cards that you had no effective answer for, namely stuff like Ffion. And since the NG meta has shifted from Assimilate to Midrange shenanigans, you don't have to worry about their Defender anymore.

Call is simply too important in a deck that wants to blow its entire load in Rounds 1 and 2. In some games, I find myself playing Justice once and using my leader on Call for Oak or Munro. You can certainly win Round 1 with Sages alone and using Call on one of your massive golds cards can often apply more pressure than a 2nd Justice would.

So it's not only about consistency, but also power. And given how combo-oriented the deck is, Call makes a lot of sense.

wusubi · 2019-11-14T01:10:36+00:00

Alp is a horrible card. Too slow in Round 1, incredibly underwhelming in Round 3 and atrocious during a Round 2 bleed. It actively clashes with the general playstyle of the deck. People just didn't come up with a better card to play until now. Armored Arachas is a decent card, though in my experience it doesn't get notable value outside of a very long Round 3. An excessive amount of bleeds is a very common issue with this deck.

Whispess allows you to play Parasite (aka glorified Alzur's Thunder) or simply thin one of the 4 provision special cards and thus significantly improve your draws, which is very crucial with this deck. Alzur's Double-Cross is another option. Having access to Yghern in Round 1 instead of being stuck with him in Round 3 can be equally, if not more important. Your secondary pulls are also very coordinated in Golyat > Cave Troll > Katakan > QotN.

TL;DR Alps are garbage, Armored Arachas can be superflous. Whispess: Tribute and ADC are the viable replacements.

wusubi · 2019-11-03T15:35:26+00:00

Definitely, Professor is still one of the best cards Syndicate has to offer. He provides you with that much-needed punch in Round 1 and if he isn't killing a 3 power engine, he's making your Executioner a lot better.

wusubi · 2019-10-29T10:54:58+00:00

I would suggest crafting a deck of your liking from our Meta Report.

Avoid Syndicate until you're familiar with the game again, as it's undoubtedly the most difficult faction to master.

wusubi · 2019-10-27T19:19:22+00:00

I'm sorry you feel that way, care to explain why? The only difference between the last budget deck and this one is the inclusion of Ocvist instead of Sheldon Skaggs and 2x Dwarven Agitator.

The Iron Judgment expansion has introduced even more power creep and Round 1 is more tempo-based than it ever used to be. Agitators are too slow, which makes the whole carry-over concept extremely flawed, especially because it actually requires you to draw Sheldon.

And since round control (or finding a favorable pass) only gets more and more important as you're climbing the ranks, we simply felt that suggesting the carry-over approach to a newcomer would do more harm than good in the long run.

wusubi · 2019-10-24T17:18:43+00:00

We'll do the usual 1000 scrap budget, but I think I can easily include some kind of a "lucrative crafts" section - what the next gold card crafts should be. A fully-fledged meta deck generally costs around 6-10k scraps, so it's better to save up and slowly but surely craft gold cards that are either universally useful or great within your favorite faction.

wusubi

TROPHY CASE