General Tips Gwent Guide

Last update: 06 July 2017

A lost battle doesn't mean the war is lost! Gwent is, first and foremost, an art of effective bluff. Sometimes it's a good idea to pass a round and let the opponent win in order to start the next round with an advantage and more cards in hand.
Remember that the board is cleared of all cards after every round, The only exceptions are cards that:
Have an additional skill and remain on the table until the next round;
Cards that were buffed with "Adrenaline Rush" and thus stay for the next round;
Cards that come back to the board weakened after a finished round;
Cards that create another unit after their deletion, for example: "Prize-Winning Cow".
There is one Monster deck passive skill that is especially interesting - when a round is finished, a random unit stays on the battlefield.
When you start a game, you're in a problematic situation. In order not to help the opponent, try not to reveal what kind of deck you're playing right away by not using the key cards.
Try to play every faction instead of limiting yourself to one. Thanks to this, you'll gain necessary knowledge that proves useful while playing. By becoming familiar with every faction, you know what to expect from the opponent.
Casting the same kind of weather effect, like Frost, on the same row won't multiply the effect.
Casting another weather effect on the same row eliminates the previous one. For example, if you summon Rain in the row with Fog, units will only suffer damage from Rain, while Fog will be dispelled.
Count points on the board after every played card and remember to take weather effects into account. Also, remember that weather takes points at the beginning of the turn. For example, if the opponent has passed and there are 4 units under the influence of Frost, adjust your victorious move so that it covers the 4 points that you'll lose before you pass.
Browse the opponent's graveyard from time to time. It is especially useful when fighting decks that rely on resurrecting key units, for example, a Skellige deck based on Queensguard and Cerys. If you have cards that are capable of resurrecting or destroying units from the opponent's graveyard, like Griffin, Nekurat, or Vicovaro Medic, you can thwart the opponent's plan.
Before playing a card, read its description carefully. It is especially important when playing Gwent for the first time. Playing a unit in a clumsy way can harm you.
Advantage in cards is really important in Gwent. While playing cards, try to always beat the opponent, even if it's 1 point. It is very important not to end a round with a smaller number of cards in hand. If you play a card that doesn't beat the opponent, and he/she passes, you'll find yourself in a problematic situation and either sacrifice one more card to save the round or start the next round with the same amount of cards, which can be disastrous.
If you won a round, and you start the next one with a deficit of one card, simply pass and let the opponent sacrifice one card to win the round. In this way, you'll start the decisive round with the same amount of cards.
Positioning your units, which is placing them on the board, is another important issue. For example, Vran Warrior devours the unit on the right when played. Then, it devours another unit every two turns, so if you place a Gold card on its right side, Vran Warrior becomes useless. The same goes for Event cards, like Commander's Horn, which boosts 5 adjacent units by 4 points. While playing your units, you have to make sure that the enemy won't be able to eliminate an entire row with a single Event card. Try to separate the key units with other ones or play them to different rows to make the game more difficult for the opponent.
Learn the effects of every weather effect to be able to operate well in hostile weather. For example, Fog damages the strongest unit in the row by 2 points so playing a card with 10 points of Power lets you protect the weaker units for a few rounds.
First Light is a very useful cart that should be part of most decks. Thanks to it, you can remove all negative weather effects the opponent put on you. First Light proves useful against any deck, not only those relying on weather. Having played it, you have two choices: remove negative weather effects or play a random Bronze card from the deck. Thanks to this, you'll never left with a dead card in hand.
Remember that "Scorch" eliminates unit(s) with the highest amount of attack points (except for golden cards!). If there are more such cards on the table, for example: 18 points each, all of them will be eliminated. What's very important, "Scorch" can also destroy your own cards so use it wisely.
In Gwent, every unit has a certain amount of Power which is also its Health. When a unit is weakened, it loses some of its Power.
While creating a deck, try to make it diverse so that you're able to play cards to all rows: melee, ranged, and siege. Thanks to this, one enemy weather effect won't be the end of you.
By winning at least 6 rounds a day, you gain more Ore for Card Kegs. More information on this topic can be found in a subchapter dedicated to the account progression system.
When looking for decks and strategies on the Internet, keep in mind that the players from the top of the leaderboards adjust their decks to a small number of opponents that they fight. Therefore, sometimes you'll need to modify a borrowed deck in order to make it work well in games from a different part of the leaderboards where the deck variety is much greater.
When faced with a difficult choice while opening Card Kegs - for example, one of the 3 Legendary cards is a Premium one - first think if a given card is useful to you at all. If not, the cards that you'll be using are always a priority.
Before you start crafting Legendary cards, think about Neutral ones first, such as Geralt: Igni. Neutral cards can be played in all decks. If you create one or two Legendary cards for a specific Faction, and then you stop playing it because it's not performing as you thought it would, you not only waste time but also a large amount of Scraps.
If there is an information on an upcoming update on the game's website, don't mill any cards. After an update, some cards can be milled and provide a full amount of Scraps.

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