This weekend is the penultimate Gwent Open qualifier of 2022. This meta is interesting for two reasons – first, we just had a patch overhauling Nilfgaard as well as a quick hotfix that has shaken up the meta somewhat. Additionally, this is the patch that the last Gwent Open of the year will be played on, so last month's qualifiers will be looking at these tournaments to judge what they'd like to bring to Gwent Open. All decks can be found here.

Syndicate (16 total decks):

• Golden Nekker Poison (14)
  • w/Decree (13)
  • w/Roach (13)
  • w/Kalkstein (13)
  • w/Knickers (11)
  • w/Failed Experiment (11)
  • w/Townsfolk (11)
  • w/Necromancy (4)
  • w/Dorregaray (3)
  • w/Walter Veritas (3)
  • w/Aguara (2)
  • w/Freak Show (2)
  • w/Alissa (1)
  • w/Ring of Favor (1)
  • w/Ferko (1)
  • w/Fisher King (1)
• Off the Books Devotion Tributes (2)
  • w/Kalkstein, Failed Experiment, Eventide Plunder (1)
  • w/Cleric of the Flaming Rose, Extra Keeper of the Flame, Arena Ghoul (1)

SY keeps its streak of unanimous inclusion among players in the qualifier. This time, however, John丶Sally and Bart933 decided to try bringing the slightly older Devotion King of Beggars deck rather than GN Poison. The GN decks looked familiar, with just "Pawel_Burza" including an Alissa. The nerf to Failed Experiment did make a few players cut it from their decks.

Nilfgaard (16 total decks):

• Imprisonment Renfri Assimilate/Soldiers Hybrid (8)
  • w/Roderick (7)
  • w/Artorious Vigo (7)
  • w/Braathens (6)
  • w/Igni (5)
  • w/Triss: Meteor Shower (5)
  • w/Vilgefortz (5)
  • w/Imperial Diviner (5)
  • w/Lydia (3)
  • w/Slave Hunter (3)
  • w/Spotter (3)
  • w/Artaud Terranova (2)
  • w/Nauzicaa Brigade (1)
  • w/Sunset Wanderers (1)
  • w/Daerlan Soldier (1)
• Double Cross Renfri Assimilate/Soldiers Hybrid (6)
  • w/Mage Infiltrator (5)
  • w/Roderick (5)
  • w/Emissary (5)
  • w/Slave Infantry (5)
  • w/Ard Feainn Crossbowmen (4)
  • w/Artorious Vigo (4)
  • w/Knickers (4)
  • w/Blightmaker+Mage Assassin (1)
  • w/Artaud Terranova (1)
  • w/Lydia (1)
  • w/Mage Torturer (1)
• Double Cross Calveit Assimilate (2)
  • w/Lydia (1)
  • w/Yen's Invocation (1)

Nilfgaard also had a perfect inclusion rate, which I'm sure comes as no surprise after its soldier package got a sweeping round of buffs this patch. Every deck had some take on Assimilate paired with soldiers, and most of them were Renfri decks as well, the lone exceptions being Magpie's and RabbitGeorge's Calveit Double Cross decks. Zoltan3344 had the most unique deck, opting for Sunset Wanderers and Daerlan Soldiers (with Artorious Vigo to pull them). In general, I found there was a little more variety in the Imprisonment decks than the Double Cross decks.

Scoia'tael (15 total decks):

• Guerilla Tactics Harmony Saskia (8)
  • w/Zoltan:Warrior (4)
  • w/Great Oak (4)
  • w/Simlas+Two Waylays (4)
  • w/Simlas+Bountiful Harvest (3)
  • w/Simlas+Vanadain (1)
  • w/Percival (6)
  • w/Maxii (2)
  • w/Decree (2)
  • w/Aen Seidhe Saber (5)
  • w/Cursed Scroll (3)
• Guerilla Tactics Double Scenario (2)
• Guerilla Tactics Renfri Midrange (1)
• Deadeye Ambush Elves (4)
  • w/Spores (3)
  • w/Dol Blathanna Bomber (2)
  • w/Vial of Forbidden Knowledge (2)
  • w/Vrihedd Officer (1)

There's still no "right" way to play Harmony, although we're closing in on a consensus now. Guerilla Tactics with Harmony and Saskia was the play for most participants in this tournament, with the main disagreement being what consistency tools you need and what to do with your Simlas. The Chinese players both decided to bring near identical Double Scenario decks instead, and Grandkazuzu went for a Renfri midrange deck instead. Finally, four players decided to stick with the standard Elves deck.

Monsters (7 total decks):

• Renfri Vampires (5)
  • w/Toad Prince (4)
  • w/Roach (4)
  • w/Squirrel (4)
  • w/Triss:Butt (3)
  • w/Pellar (3)
• Carapace Kelly (2)
  • w/Old Speartip + Asleep, Sir Scratch a Lot, Strays of Spalla, Hideous Feast (1)
  • w/Lady of the Lake+Aerondight, Nithral, Mahakam Ale (1)

Everyone brought SY/NG, and only Gandalf0271 didn't bring ST, which means we're now down to the decks that players likely considered as their "fourth faction" deck. Monsters leads the way here, with five players going for Vampires and two for Keltullis decks. These decks have mostly been figured out at this point, with just a few minor tweaks here and there depending on the preference of the player.

Northern Realms (6 total decks):

• Royal Inspiration Knights (6)
  • w/Vandergrift (5)
  • w/Oneiromancy (5)
  • w/Heatwave (4)
  • w/Royal Decree (1)
  • w/Ring of Favor (1)
  • w/Igni (1)
  • w/Knickers (1)
  • w/Gerhart of Aelle (1)

Knights has certainly fallen off in popularity, though a respectable six players still opted for it this time around. We see some interesting inclusions here like Gerhart in Redrame's list, Ring of Favor from Puzzle.Express, and Igni from Gandalf0271, but otherwise it's a fairly similar list to what we've seen in the past.

Skellige (4 total decks):

• Onslaught Renfri Pirates (2)
• Onslaught Golden Nekker Pirates (2)
  • w/Holger+Maxii (1)
  • w/Derran + Raiding Fleet (1)

Rounding out the pack is Skellige. Self Wound is nowhere to be found as the choice for the few SK players was instead some form of Pirates, either Renfri or Golden Nekker. Once again these are lists we've seen before – identical Renfri lists from the Chinese players, and only a slight different in what consistency package to use separate the GN decks of Zoltan3344 and RabbitGeorge.