Choose and Build Your Deck
Gwent Tips & Tricks
In the very beginning of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you will pretty much only have access to a Northern Realms deck since those are the most common cards to come across.
After some time (and some wins), you’ll start to amass a nice collection of cards which will allow you to build pretty much any deck you want. Choosing what to build will not only determine your access to certain cards, but also specific faction bonuses.
Depending on which faction is chosen as your focus, you will have one of the following abilities during a game of Gwent:
- Nilfgaard: Wins any round that ends in a draw.
- Northern Realms: Grants an extra card after every victorious round.
- Monsters: Decides who takes the first turn in battle.
- Scoia’tael: Keeps a random Unit Card on the battlefield after each round.
Each one has its own benefit to the player, and choosing the one that best suits your style of play is crucial. For example, Scoia’tael allows you to keep a card after a round which can change the tide of a battle since there is no drawing cards between rounds.
On the other hand, if you find yourself ending in a draw often, perhaps a Nilfgaard leader is best to guarantee you that much needed victory (why die together when you can watch your opponent fall?).
In order to play a game of Gwent in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, players will need at least 22 cards in their deck. From these 22, 10 will be drawn with a chance to swap out two of them.
Once you have your 10 cards, that’s all you’ve have for the match (with the exception of the Northern Realms bonus) so you’re going to want to make sure the 22 cards are comprised of selections you wouldn’t mind using no matter what.
Stack your deck to your play style. You don’t like weather cards? Then don’t put any in your deck so that there is zero chance of you getting one.
Always keep in mind what you’re putting into your deck. Unlike other trading card games, there isn’t any requirement to playing a card.
Yes, some bonuses are only activated when certain card combinations are in effect, but you can put any card down on your turn as long as you have it in your hand. So pick your favorites and start on the road to becoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s greatest Gwent player in existence.
