Tunnel Drill somehow keeps avoiding the nerf hammer and as such, SY is at the top of our meta report for yet another season. The absence of Relicts allows you to go back to Sigi Reuven and Philippa Eilhart, granting the deck even more coin generation and a powerful spender. Both additions make it easier to either contest Round 1 or defend the bleed, which is something the faction used to struggle with in the past. That said, if you find yourself losing against the likes of Reveal, feel free to go back to the old version with The Witchfinder and Graden, or even include a cheeky tech card like Tavern Brawl. As usual, Lined Pockets excels at turning coins into damage with Whoreson’s Freak Show and Tunnel Drill while having ridiculously powerful top-end control tools in Professor and Whoreson Junior. -Wusubi

Strengths:

- With a myriad of efficient removal at your disposal, you’re inherently favored against any engine-based strategy

- Tunnel Drill combined with a full bank and some leader charges plays for a ridiculous amount of points, often allowing you to annihilate the opposing board

Weaknesses:

- You can struggle on Blue coin if you don’t find Novigradian Justice or Philippa Eilhart

- The deck has a steep learning curve, as it requires an ideal hand composition with the right balance of coin generation and spenders

Considerations:

- You can try out this version with The Witchfinder and Graden

Initially underrated, Assimilate has emerged as the most dominant deck of last season, allowing 2 players to break the magical barrier of 2700 fMMR. While you can no longer rely on farming Fruits of Ysgith, you can still go toe-to-toe with SY. The fact that you’ve got access to cards like Cantarella makes it quite easy to tech against Reveal, which makes the deck incredibly flexible. Enabled by Artaud Terranova and the buff to Mage Torturer, the deck allows you to use the opponent’s weapons against them. Blightmaker, Fercart and Dead Man’s Tongue grant the deck solid Round 1 presence and a lot of thinning. Since the deck also includes special cards and Disloyal units, Joachim de Wett will pull your remaining gold cards if you’ve missed them. -Wusubi

Strengths:

- Blightmakers and Dead Man’s Tongue allow you to either contest Round 1 or defend the bleed while also thinning your deck

- The deck can generate a solid amount of points with its Assimilate and Create cards, especially if you manage to copy some bronze engines

Weaknesses:

- You rely on copying the opponent’s cards, which can backfire against reactive decks that don’t play any engines

- A bit draw dependent as you need access to your thinning cards early, otherwise the infamous Joachim into Mage Assassin might happen

Considerations:

- Gorthur Gvaed, Cantarella

- You can try out this version with Sunset Wanderers

To everyone’s surprise, Nature’s Gift had a huge comeback this season. It seems that Alzur has run his course and ST is back to the more reliable pointslam. The recent additions, such as the 5-provision engines and Simlas, helped the deck a lot. It now has enough power to rival the other factions, with decent matchups into NG decks especially. Harald Gord is your bread and butter, so you’ll want to secure Round 1 in order to have round control. This allows you to push into Round 2 and force a short Round 3, where your goal is to overpower the opponent with plays like Eithné, Forest Protector and Gord. With Fauve, Isengrim’s Council and Call of the Forest, the deck is very consistent, which is a big upside when compared to the Precision Strike version. -Cyberz

Strengths:

- The deck has a lot of impactful engines that can spiral out of control if unanswered

- Strong Round 2 bleed potential due to Orbs of Insight, great short round with Gord

Weaknesses:

- As a Devotion deck, you don’t have access to useful tech cards like Korathi Heatwave

- Control-heavy opponents, such as Lined Pockets and in fringe cases Reckless Flurry, can put a dent in your game plan

Considerations:

- You can try out this version with The Great Oak

When you start a game of Gwent and get Blue coin, Reckless Flurry is one of the leaders you’d least want to come up against. With plenty of proactive points from the Discard package and Raging Bears combined with Megascopes, they have more than enough firepower to win on even. Cards such as Svalblod Totem, Haern Caduch and Bearification make for a threatening bleed, allowing you to break up the opponent’s synergies while preserving Geralt: Quen as a powerful finisher. Keep in mind that while we’re including the classic Midrange version of the deck with all the 10-provision cards one can muster, there are many ways to play Reckless Flurry, be it with Sunset Wanderers, Portal and Avallac’h: Sage or Madoc and the Bomb package. Make sure to try them all out and find the version which suits you the best. -McP0yle

Strengths:

- With an abundance of control tools, you’re able to shut down the opposing engines

- The deck has a great Round 1 presence, which allows you to be extremely aggressive and potentially win on even

Weaknesses:

- Consistency can be an issue if you don’t find the Discard package

- As you have to bleed most decks, Blue coin can prove problematic if your opponent keeps threatening with their reach, forcing you to use some top-end cards

Considerations:

- Gerd, An Craite Greatsword

Reveal is making another comeback to the meta, as the deck’s main nemesis, Fruits of Ysgith, has been nerfed to the ground. The game plan is still the same: thin down to 1 big unit, ideally Imperial Golem, and put it back into the deck. This allows you to generate a massive burst of points with Triss Merigold, Yennefer: Divination, Xarthisius and Vilgefortz. The inclusion of control tools like Alzur’s Thunder and Tourney Joust improves your matchups against SY and ST, as some removal can go a long way. Doadrick Leumaerts gives you some much-needed consistency, helping you fix your hand while putting the bricks and pay-off cards to the bottom of your deck. Sadly, this doesn’t change the fact that the deck will sometimes lose to itself, as it struggles with having a playable hand in Round 1 while relying on finding Snowdrop and Dead Man’s Tongue. -Pajabol

Strengths:

- Tactical Decision provides you with a ridiculous amount of points, as it synergizes with Snowdrop, Affan and Mage Assassin

- The deck has one of the most explosive short rounds in the game, but it can also hold its own in a long round due to a sufficient amount of control tools

Weaknesses:

- Relies on drawing Dead Man’s Tongue and Snowdrop in order to execute its strategy

- With a high amount of bricks and pay-off cards, the deck will often struggle to contest Round 1 or defend the bleed

Considerations:

- Royal Decree, Albrich

After Gravesh brought Alzur to the grand stage during Gwent Masters 2 in his Carapace deck, the flamboyant mage is making his huge comeback to the meta in this version of Precision Strike. The plan is to set up Orbs of Insight in the graveyard with the help of Simlas and Elven Seers, and then activate them by tutoring Alzur with either Royal Decree or Oneiromancy. This allows you to utilize his ability and immediately spawn some units. Feign Death gives the deck some Round 1 presence and should be used to get round control and last say for the tremendous Gord finisher. However, including all of these packages (and bricks) makes the deck a bit draw dependent, and you most certainly aren’t happy about the recent rise of Reveal and Reckless Flurry, as both matchups can be tough. -Pajabol

Strengths:

- The deck has a sufficient amount of removal along with the biggest finisher in Gwent

- You have two sources of tempo that can be used in different rounds: Feign Death and Alzur with Orbs of Insight

Weaknesses:

- Struggles against control-heavy decks that can reliably shut down your key engines

- Draw dependent, vulnerable to tech cards (tall punish, row punish, Xavier Lemmens)

Considerations:

- Forest Protector, Pact

Out of all the decks that have resurfaced after the nerfs to Relicts, Duels has certainly benefited the most. The deck is notorious for its slow approach to Round 1, where you build up engine value and carry-over with Ban Ard Students while staying in reach with Amphibious Assault. As such, the fast-paced Fruits of Ysgith deck was the bane of your existence. However, with MO out of the picture, Duels have found themselves in a decent spot again, with 6 players bringing the deck to the recent Top 16 qualifier. Since Siege is a liability against SY, it has been replaced by Bloody Baron, who improves your matchups against Reveal and ST. You can go toe-to-toe with any deck in the meta and even rival SY if you draw most of your golds. However, its inherent lack of consistency is what keeps the deck from ever reaching the heights of Tier 1. -Wusubi

Strengths:

- With a healthy balance of engines and pointslam, the deck has a flexible game plan, allowing it to perform well in long and short rounds alike

- Inspired Zeal with Seltkirk, Prince Anséis and Shani into a juiced-up Ban Ard Student are efficient control tools, allowing you to shut down the opposing threats

Weaknesses:

- Can be vulnerable to control-heavy decks such as Lined Pockets and Reckless Flurry

- Very draw dependent; the power level varies greatly if you miss one or two gold cards

Considerations:

- Istredd, Margarita

While Gedyneith has slipped in and out of the meta over the last year, it seems some new additions to SK such as Melusine and Bride of the Sea have helped Battle Trance get back on its feet. As an engine-overload deck, there are many ways for you to set up a board that can generate an insane amount of points per turn if left unanswered. The deck includes Covenant of Steel for some protection, along with two copies of Freya’s Blessing to resurrect our potent bronze engines. With the sheer amount of points from Gedyneith and the carry-over from Melusine and Crowmother, you have a lot of options to overwhelm opponents who lack specific answers. That said, outside of Decoction and Dorregaray, the deck doesn’t have any control tools, so in some matchups you’ll have to try your best to win Round 1 in order to bleed the opponent. -SpyroZA

Strengths:

- The deck can successfully play long and short rounds alike with its engines and great finishers in Gedyneith and Melusine

- Crowmother and Melusine allow you to play for carry-over, which helps you with both bleeding the opponent and defending a bleed yourself

Weaknesses:

- Lacks control tools, vulnerable to tall punish

- Despite having a decent amount of thinning, the deck is a bit draw dependent, as you don’t have direct access to Gedyneith

Considerations:

- Heatwave, Heymaey Skald