Gwent — starter deck and core strategy
Gwent is Witcher 3's in-game card game. Two trophies depend on it (Card Collector, Gwent Master). New players bounce off because the rules are explained badly. Here's the one rule that wins matches and the deck to start with.
The one rule everyone misses
- You play 3 rounds. The deck refills only between matches, never between rounds. Win two of three to win the match. Pass when you're ahead — passing skips your turn but the round still ends if both pass. The AI will keep playing cards if you pass; it usually wastes its hand chasing you.
Starter deck — Northern Realms
- Geralt starts with the Northern Realms deck. Build it up first — it's the easiest to learn.
- Win the Hearts of Stone DLC card games for free legendary cards: Olgierd, Iris's Companions, Possessed Knight.
- Play the merchant in White Orchard until he's broken — easy 100 crowns and a couple of common cards each round.
Core deck (under 25 cards)
- All Hero cards you can get — they ignore Decoy + weather effects.
- 3 Decoys — pull back your strongest cards to replay.
- Commander's Horn — doubles a row's strength; massive.
- Spy cards — the strongest engine in the game. Opponent gets the points but you draw 2 cards. Card advantage > round 1 points.
- Weather cards — sparingly; they hurt you too.
Best opener
- Round 1: drop a spy to draw +2 cards, then pass. You burn one card; the AI usually keeps playing trying to win round 1.
- Round 2: dump weakest filler, lose round 2 deliberately.
- Round 3: full hand vs their empty hand. You win.
If stuck: if you can't beat the Old Pals trio for the trophy, your deck is too thin. Buy every card from every Velen merchant first — it's ~1200 crowns total and unlocks 80% of the deck.