META SNAPSHOT #6
10.10

Welcome folks to another meta snapshot from Team White Frost! "Chronicles" card drop released and we are in for so many treats with a lot of new cards, decks and archetypes. Some of them even proved to be relatively strong compared to the last patch's meta. Nilfgaard is still the strongest faction with lots of viable decks, especially with a newly-released leader ability. Northern Realms and Skellige are two other winners of the patch, while Scoia'Tael seems to fall behind in the meta.

I am Axii and let's join me in exploring the meta of Gwent October season!

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TIER LIST SUMMARY

Tier 1

  • NG Pointslam Renfri [9] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/fba2e0c3397ce5fa2e930fc21694c874


Tier 2

  • NR Reaver Spam [8.5] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/12d41a571d31f44746af9020eb120a5d

  • SY Devotion Off the Books [8.5] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/guides/356489

  • SK Reckless Flurry Sove [8.5] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/4866aae7e26593a95d90f63a59c2feb2


Tier 3

  • NG Knights [8.25] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/75f9abf50e1d5b15dadc5596a128caa9

  • SY Poison Kekker [8] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/7bca7b25b6f5c2754e94732498ad57f7

  • MO White Frost [8] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/97c93161f1e1d64d4bf10bf0d481378b

  • NG Shupe Enslave 5 [7.75] https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/331139c0aa649c10fab8e8f63c170bdb


Honorable mentions

  • MO Deathwish Yrden https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/be96c31668e5ecbf7b067c34d7f66259

  • SK Selfwound Kekker https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/c2e75a34cabc13c09db2c4265ec34fa7

  • ST Symbiosis https://www.playgwent.com/en/decks/guides/354665

TIER 1

Pointslam Renfri [9]

Guess who's still up for another meta, good old NG renfri seems to not care about the assimilate package nerves, they simply just switch to other packages like soldiers and enemy-boosting knight. This deck vomits tons of points with Spotter, Spotter and more Spotters, in addition to 84,000 points Ivar and Triss Meteor. Having lots of control isn't enough, the deck also runs Yrden, because why the hell not!

The only downside of the deck would probably be being vulnerable to Igni, Yrden since people tend to row stack for Triss value. Also, going for long rounds might be tough in a few match-ups due to the lack of engines. However, that rarely happens.

Some cards for consideration: Guillaume de Launfal, Palmerin de Launfal, Vilgefortz

TIER 2

Reaver Spam [8.5]

Do we even have to write anything here, like at all? It's a Reaver Hunters deck. You play one Reaver after one another until the game is over or your opponents disconnect. With Boholt, Reaver Scout and Reaver Hunters introduced in 10.10, Northern Realms seems to finally have another viable deck after the dominance of Siege in the past many many months.

Just like a typical NR deck, Reaver Spam requires so much control from the opponents or the game just ends after the fifth or sixth Reaver Hunters appear on the melee row.

However, thanks to its strength and popularity, many new decks have been introduced to counter Reaver Hunters. The card "Surrender" is an amazing counter against these Hunters. White Frost with lots of movement could also pose a threat to this deck. And of course, some SK control lists could be used to counter this deck, although they won't fare too well with other meta decks. And Nilfgaard, of course! Just queue into Reaver spam with your Nilfgaard lists and play their cards better than themselves!

Devotion Off the Books [8.5]

This is a midrange devotion SY list with Sigi Mastermind but without Collusion. The new cards fit perfectly into this list. While Little Bird acts as an awesome spender, Sigi allows players to play 2 cards in a single turn, preferably Tunnel Drill and another Crime card to immediately start drilling your opponents.

In earlier rounds, the firesworn bronzes can keep you in the round to either fight for it or give it up without much commitment. In addition, by putting firesworn bronzes in the graveyard, you also setup for Cyrus in subsequent rounds - a very strong card that usually plays for over 20 points, a great pushing and defending tool.

The downside of this deck is probably the thinning problem. The deck has no Sewer Raiders or the clowns couple to thin. Also, KoB and sometimes the Drill itself could be bricks that you don't wanna draw into in rounds that matter.

Reckless Flurry Sove [8.5]

This deck is among the easiest lists to play in the current meta while also maintaining decent winrates thanks to the power of immunity. It's actually quite similar to previous Reckless Flurry lists that play Aerondight. Just stay ahead every turn with the discard package and strong bronzes, get yourself a big sword and combo with Sove in R2 for a huge point swing, all stored under cover of immunity. Do the exact same thing in a shortened R3 and you would probably win.

It's important to have your discard package in R1, alongside key cards like Sove, Aerondight and Sigrdrifa's Rite. Missing any of these cards might result in a loss since they are pieces of the important combo.

Get "Surrender" if you encounter too many Reaver Hunters. Get Knickers and Roach if you find drawing cards hard. Otherwise, this is definitely a good list to farm some Ws in your match history.

TIER 3

Knights [8.25]

NG Knights is a really weird deck. When CDPR first introduces the new leader ability and its archetype, it looked kinda bad since boosting your opponent seems like a dumb idea. Oh boy, how pepega was that thought! With the reworked cards, this deck has so many points and it's very hard to counter its gameplan, since most decks can't interact with points on their side of the board. This is the deck that can win but also lose by 50-100 points depending on the matchup.

By going really tall, the deck is vulnerable to tall removals like Igni, Yrden, Heatwave or a mere Spore. At the same time, while excelling in long rounds, the deck feels very bad in short rounds, where the top-end golds like Beauclair, Rainfarn, Ivar or False Ciri can easily be bricks in your hand.

Some of the following cards can be considered: tutors, thinning combo (Blightmaker and Mage Assassin), Cahir, Defender.

Self Poison Kekker [8]

A similar case to assimilate: self-poison Syndicate is one of the strongest decks for multiple seasons after having a card buffed to an almost Busted level (Failed Experiment). Although the card gets nerfed p-by-p each patch, it can still perform well and to some extent, make the whole archetype still viable.

This list has so many points, in the form of damaging/poisoning your opponents with Drill, Fisstech, Salamandra Hideout, Maraal; or in the form of points such as Roland, Gellert Bleinheim, Townsfolk. The deck has great control tools from powerful bronzes, and Ciri: Nova as well as Conjurer's Candle act as carryover for later rounds.

Overall, we think that the deck can do well in both long rounds, thanks to the engines and the Golden Nekker, for short rounds. That being said, the deck will probably fall apart if the opponents have the answers for all engines, as well as successfully bleed out the GN before the final round.

Wild Hunt White Frost [8]

White Frost has just received 4 new cards from the card drop to support the archetype. And this Frost list includes all of them.

Ideally, you would want to win R1 for round control, and then have last say in R3 with a huge Caranthir Golden Child finisher. Tempo-wise, Frost has enough points to win R1 from either red or blue coin. With a buff to Imlerith's Wrath, Frost doesn't need Dominance for the tall removal anymore. Tir Na Lia helps the deck get carryover, while the deploy ability helps with Dominance if Eredin is on the board.

Just like previous versions of Frost, the deck doesn't have that much control, and will lose to binary or engine-heavy decks that don't care about rows. In addition, since Nilfgaard decks are very popular, chances are a lot of Frost damage will be absorbed by Spotter's armor.

Shupe Enslave 5 [7.75]

A flashback from early 2022 with old Bushy's Enslave control list, the deck has 100% consistency with Jan Calveit, and lots of control options from tactic cards, leader, Skellen and even Shupe/Radeyah if needed. Now, with the introduction of "Nilfgaard Knights" such as Guillaume, Milton and Ivar, the deck performs much better in long rounds.

However, the deck falls short against point slam decks and engine-heavy decks in a long round. In addition, it is somewhat vulnerable to bleeding because of Jan Calveit if you lose R1. Overall, although being not a really solid deck against the meta, it is really fun to play. Well..., it's Shupe, what's more to say.

Honorable Mentions

Deathwish Yrden

Selfwound Kekker

Devotion Symbiosis