Best Gwent Decks by Faction
How to build a strong deck for each of the five factions in The Witcher 3, which leader to pick and which cards to collect first.
How to Use This Guide
These are our suggestions, built from the cards in our database. Gwent in The Witcher 3 has no single best deck: the right one depends on which cards you have collected so far. Start with the faction perk, then fill the deck around it.
Upgrading the Starter Deck
Every new game starts with Northern Realms. These cards are easy to get early and make the starter deck a real deck:
- Buy from Elsa in White Orchard
Blue Stripes Commando, Catapult, Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter and the leader Foltest: Lord Commander of the North. - Win in Velen and Oxenfurt
Vernon Roche from Haddy, Sigismund Dijkstra from the Bloody Baron and Yennefer of Vengerberg from Stjepan in Oxenfurt. - Big upgrades
Vesemir from Vimme Vivaldi and Ciri from the Scoia’tael merchant, both in Big City Players.
Tight Bond and siege power
Northern Realms draws a card every time it wins a round, so it rewards winning round one and running the opponent out of cards. Its strength is Tight Bond: identical cards in the same row multiply each other, so three Blue Stripes Commando are worth 12 each instead of 4.
- Leader
Foltest: The Siegemaster doubles your Siege row, where most of the faction’s big units live. Foltest: Lord Commander of the North from the starter deck clears weather and is a safe early pick. - Core units
3× Blue Stripes Commando, 3× Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter, 2× Catapult (8 strength, Tight Bond), Trebuchet, Ballista and Siege Tower. - Heroes
Vernon Roche, Esterad Thyssen, John Natalis and Philippa Eilhart, all strength 10 and safe from weather and Scorch. - Spies
Prince Stennis, Sigismund Dijkstra and Thaler give the opponent a few points and you two new cards each. - Watch out for
Scorch and Villentretenmerth can wipe a stacked Tight Bond row, and Torrential Rain or Biting Frost cut it to 1 per card. Carry Clear Weather and spread your bonds over different rows.
Spies, medics and big bodies
Nilfgaard wins every tied round, which makes close finishes yours. The deck has the strongest spies in the game and several Medics, so you can out-card the opponent and bring units back from the discard pile.
- Leader
Emhyr var Emreis: The White Flame cancels the opponent’s leader ability, which shuts down the strongest horns and weather leaders. Emhyr var Emreis: Emperor of Nilfgaard lets you look at three cards in the opponent’s hand. - Core units
2× Black Infantry Archer (10 strength), Heavy Zerrikanian Fire Scorpion (10), 4× Impera Brigade Guard (Tight Bond) and Siege Engineer. - Spies
Stefan Skellen, Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen and Vattier de Rideaux. - Medics
2× Etolian Auxiliary Archers, Siege Technician and the hero Menno Coehoorn. - Heroes
Letho of Gulet, Menno Coehoorn, Morvran Voorhis and Tibor Eggebracht. - Watch out for
Spies make the opponent’s total higher, so don’t play them in a round you need to win by a small margin.
Muster swarms and Agile units
Scoia’tael chooses who goes first. That sounds small, but going second in round one lets you see what the opponent commits before you play. Many units are Agile, so you can move them away from the row the weather hits.
- Leader
Francesca Findabair: Daisy of the Valley gives you an extra card at the start of the match, which helps any Scoia’tael deck. - Muster
3× Dwarven Skirmisher, 3× Havekar Smuggler and 3× Elven Skirmisher. Play one and the others jump out of your deck. - Agile units
3× Dol Blathanna Scout, 2× Vrihedd Brigade Veteran, Barclay Els, Filavandrel aén Fidháil and Yaevinn. - Heroes
Eithné, Iorveth and Saesenthessis (all ranged 10), and Isengrim Faoiltiarna, a close-combat hero with Morale Boost. - Extra punch
Milva (10, Morale Boost) if you won her at the masquerade, and 3× Havekar Healer to revive units. - Watch out for
Many of the best units sit in the Ranged row. Impenetrable Fog hits them hard, so keep Clear Weather and put Agile units in Close Combat when fog is likely.
Muster swarm in the Close Combat row
Monsters keep one random unit on the board after each round, so they rarely start a round from zero. Most of the deck is Muster cards, which empty your deck quickly and fill the Close Combat row in a single turn.
- Leader
Eredin: Commander of the Red Riders doubles your Close Combat row, where nearly all Monster units go. Eredin: King of the Wild Hunt plays any weather card from your deck. - Muster groups
3× Ghoul, 3× Nekker, 3× Arachas with Arachas Behemoth, the three Crones (Brewess, Weavess, Whispess) and the vampires such as Vampire: Katakan. - Heroes
Draug, Imlerith, Leshen and Kayran (Agile, Morale Boost). - Hearts of Stone
Toad scorches the opponent’s strongest Ranged units. - Watch out for
Biting Frost drops a full Close Combat row to 1 per card, and Scorch or Villentretenmerth punish big units. Carry Clear Weather and don’t put everything on the board in round one.
Berserkers and a strong third round
Skellige arrives with Blood and Wine. At the start of round three, two random units from your discard pile return to the board, so you can afford to lose units early. The deck’s tricks are Mardroeme, which transforms Berserkers, and Kambi, who leaves a strong card behind when he is removed.
- Leader
Crach an Craite shuffles both discard piles back into the decks. King Bran makes your units lose only half their strength in bad weather. - Core units
3× Clan an Craite Warrior and 3× War Longship (both Tight Bond), 3× Light Longship (Muster), and Olaf (12 strength, Agile, Morale Boost). - Berserkers
Berserker and 3× Young Berserker transform when Mardroeme hits their row. The hero Ermion carries Mardroeme too. - Heroes
Hjalmar (ranged 10), Cerys (close 10, Muster) and Ermion. - Support
Draig Bon-Dhu works as a horn, Birna Bran is a Medic and Clan Dimun Pirate brings Scorch. - Watch out for
The deck needs the right cards at the right time. Finish Never Fear, Skellige’s Here first, so the full collection is in your deck pool.
Neutral Cards Worth Adding
- Neutral heroes
Geralt of Rivia and Ciri (15 each), Yennefer of Vengerberg (7, Medic) and Triss Merigold (7) fit in every deck. - Mysterious Elf
A hero spy with 0 strength. You draw two cards and the opponent gets nothing. - Specials
Run Decoy to save a unit from Scorch or weather, or to take a spy the opponent played on your side and use it yourself, at least one Clear Weather, and Scorch if you face big rows. Commander’s Horn is strongest on a row your leader doesn’t already double. - Keep the deck lean
A deck needs at least 22 units. Staying close to that number makes it more likely you draw your best cards.