How to use cards?

[sharp]

Hello i am creating a monster card deck but i got some "Dryad cards form a keg", how can i use them in my deck?? Please help and thank you all for your time and answers

[abelthorne]

You can't: dryads are Scoia'Tael cards. You'd have to create a ST deck to use them.

Check the color of the border on the cards you get:
- brown = neutral cards
- blue = Northern Realms (NR)
- red = Monsters (MO)
- green = Scoia'Tael (ST)
- black = Nilfgaard (NG)
- purple = Skellige (SK)
- orange = Syndicate (SY)

Factions cards can only be added to a deck from that faction. Neutral cards can be added whatever the faction you use.

There are also ten Syndicate cards that have a dual color border, they can be added to either a SY deck or one from the other color. But you can get them only in Novigrad kegs I think.

[Kawayol]

You can add only Neutral (such as Characters, Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Dandelion, etc., or items/artifacts like Sangreal) cards to differing factions. All other cards are exclusive per one single faction/alignment ("light" or "dark", where Nilfgaard/Syndicate/Monster are considered "dark" and Northern/Skellige/Scoia'tael are considered "light"). You can interchange only Neutral/Character cards between drastically differing factions with incompatible alignments. It's like D&D alignment.

[sharp]

thank you very much guys, sorry hahahaha i started playing yesterday

[Kawayol]

I've literally started playing just a couple days ago as well, lol. And I've never ever played Gwent before that. I'm playing via GOG and not Steam, however, because GODLIKE GOG gives you a free copy of Enhanced Edition's Director's Cut version of first Witcher game when you obtain/install Gwent from GOG, while Steam STILL makes you pay for it even AFTER Gwent already appeared on Steam, so GOG definitely has way more incentive of being used for Gwent in particular. Cheers.

P.S.
https://www.gog.com/gwent-welcome-bonus. Since it's GOG, it's also completely DRM-free and has free goodies like soundtracks/wallpapers and etc., added over. Did I mention GOG's GODLIKE?

P.P.S.
Just a tip: no matter what faction you'll play and what hand/deck you're going to build - get your faction's "Defender" card ASAP and always immediately add it to the deck regardless of what set or Provision pool you might have. It'll make things WAAAY easier and will increase your chances for winning tremendously. Card with "Defender" skill is a MUST both for newbie players and pros alike.

[sharp]

Damn, allright thank you! GOG is godlike :D
What should i open to find that card faster? I checked and i dont have it currently

[Kawayol]

Defender cards are usually hard to obtain by opening kegs, as the chance of it dropping is very low because it's a high tier card. It's much easier to just accumulate 800 scraps (or 800 scraps and 800 dust, if you wish to obtain the animated one) and then directly buy/create it in your deck-building menu. To find it merely set all filters to "All" and then type "Defender" in the search bar.

[sharp]

I will buy it as soon as i can, thanks for telling me hahahaha have a great day!

[Lagrange]

Flip through this guide and refer it every now and then in your learning phase https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2102870819

[abelthorne]

Defender cards are from the Iron Judgment expansion, so you'd need kegs from that expansion. But given that they're legendary cards, the chances to get them are pretty slim, especially as they're faction cards, so can be used only in their faction's decks.

Better craft them if you really need them, though they cost a lot of scraps given they're legendaries.

Anyway, be aware that while they're strong, they're not *that* strong: there are still ways to deal with them (purify will remove the Defender status, they can be moved to a different row, they can of course be destroyed...). They might look great to new players and can be pretty effective at lower ranks but they're not much used by advanced players and are rarely seen in optimized strong decks.

[Kawayol]

Originally posted by Blue Bear:

have a great day

Considering that I'm currently trying to play as Syndicate and I still don't have a Defender for it (I've screwed up and bought a different card by mistake when I got all the funds on my hands already), I highly doubt this can be called a "great day". I'm losing left and right like an ass currently, lol.

[sharp]

all the factions are balanced?? Is there a broken faction right now that has the best cards in the game and top players play it or every faction is pretty balanced? My favourite faction is the Monster one and i dont really want to change it, is it good? I am winning games but losing too, overall i really love this game and yeah just wanted to know more about it

[abelthorne]

Originally posted by 陳躍文:

Considering that I'm currently trying to play as Syndicate and I still don't have a Defender for it (I've screwed up and bought a different card by mistake when I got all the funds on my hands already), I highly doubt this can be called a "great day". I'm losing left and right like an ass currently, lol.

TBH, if you're new to the game, avoid playing Syndicate: it adds its own level of complexity (managing coins) and you'll get cards less easily as it's not part of the base set (that faction was added later to the game).

[Kawayol]

Originally posted by abelthorne:

they can be moved to a different row

Which will make THAT row invulnerable (not against row and AoE/field/randomized effects, obviously) instead, no? Also, judging by my own personal experience of playing Monsters, obviously it's bad/stupid to try and place a Defender card on the field right away at the very beginning of the round. It's better to build a set of several decent cards first and THEN protect them with a Defender afterwards, after the opponent usually already managed to "splooge" several of his/her cards all over, thus minimizing the risks of being purified/poisoned/moved or whatnot.

P.S.
Quite frankly I LOVE the coin mechanic since it gives you an opportunity to get out from almost-unwinnable situations at the end of the round. I've already won several ranked games from pretty decently looking opponents by merely Hoarding and then splooging all over with coins at the end of 2-nd or 3-rd round, either by boosting cards themselves (like with Street Urchins) or by buffing other cards (like with the Oxenfurt Naturalist, which is INSANELY good if a hand combo lies well).

[abelthorne]

Originally posted by Blue Bear:

all the factions are balanced?? Is there a broken faction right now that has the best cards in the game and top players play it or every faction is pretty balanced? My favourite faction is the Monster one and i dont really want to change it, is it good? I am winning games but losing too, overall i really love this game and yeah just wanted to know more about it

It really depends on the meta, there are adjustments to cards every month and there are times where some factions or specific decks are pretty broken.

Currently, all factions are somehow balanced, with some a bit better and some a bit worse than others overall, but it really depends on the decks you use and encounter. Monsters are pretty "meh" right now (and have been for a long time).

On lower ranks, you'll meet people with a small collection and bad decks anyway.

[Kawayol]

Originally posted by abelthorne:

Currently, all factions are somehow balanced

Yeah, though Tidecloak Ransackers are literal BS trash with extremely misleading description, lol.

Monsters are pretty "meh" right now (and have been for a long time)

I'M CONSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMIIIIIN'