Welcome back to another tournament meta breakdown! This weekend is the first qualifiers for Gwent Open #3 of Season 4, the final Open of the year. Since our last qualifier, we've had the Curse of the Black Sun expansion released and with it new meta defining cards like Renfri and new scenarios. Let's see what the players decided to bring today. All decks can be found here.

Syndicate (16 total decks):

• Golden Nekker Poison (16)
  • w/Royal Decree (14)
  • w/Townsfolk (13)
  • w/Knickers (9)
  • w/Necromancy (8)
  • w/Kalkstein (8)
  • w/Alissa Henson (6)
  • w/Aguara (6)
  • w/Walter Veritas (4)
  • w/Vial of Forbidden Knowledge (3)
  • w/Arcane Tome (2)
  • w/Xavier Lemmens (1)
  • w/Whoreson's Freak Show (1)
  • w/Hammond (1)
  • w/Salamandra Assassin (1)
  • w/Dire Mutated Hound (1)

Our first dominant deck of the tournament is Syndicate Golden Nekker Poison. Every player brought it, and it's no wonder, as it was predicted by many to be the dominant deck this season before the season even began. There was a fair amount of variation in exactly what the deck should look like, with probably the most important distinction being whether to include Alissa for a potential double GN or just stick with single GN, which ended up being more popular.

Northern Realms (16 total decks):

• Royal Inspiration Knights (16)
  • w/Heatwave (15)
  • w/Aerondight (15)
  • w/Lady of the Lake (14)
  • w/Vial of Forbidden Knowledge (13)
  • w/Squirrel (8)
  • w/Geralt:Yrden (1)
  • w/Spores (1)
  • w/Margarita (1)
  • w/Xavier Lemmens (1)
  • w/Reynard Odo (1)
  • w/Vigo's Muzzle (1)
  • w/Crystal Skull (10)
  • w/Tactical Advantage (5)
  • w/Engineering Solution (1)

Our other dominant deck is NR Knights, and I don't think this will be a shock to anyone keeping up with the meta either. The deck has an absolutely absurd amount of points when left unchecked. There wasn't as much variation to be found here, though some certainly put their own spin on the deck. PepeSmile decided to run Yrden, and that's not the last time we'll see this card in one of his decks. 星条旗の小丑 decided to cut Lady of the Lake for Reynard Odo, which surprised me, and Kerpeten cut both Lady of the Lake and Aerondight to play a Muzzle instead.

Scoia'tael (16 total decks):

• Guerilla Tactics Harmony Elves Hybrid (7)
  • w/Aerondight (6)
  • w/Lady of the Lake (6)
  • w/Pellar (6)
  • w/Chameleon (5)
  • w/Dryad Ranger (5)
  • w/Forest Whisperer (5)
  • w/Squirrel (4)
  • w/Heatwave (4)
  • w/Percival (3)
  • w/Dwarven Chariot (2)
  • w/Roach (2)
  • w/Lake Guardian: Dusk Aspect (2)
  • w/Oakcritters (2)
  • w/Geralt Yrden (1)
  • w/Maraal (1)
• Deadeye Ambush Elves (4)
  • w/Spores (2)
  • w/Vial of Forbidden Knowledge (2)
• Guerilla Tactics Harmony Saskia Hybrid (3)
  • w/Cat Witcher, Dol Blathana Sentry, Dryad Matron (2)
  • w/Dwarven Chariot (2)
  • w/Ring of Favor (1)
  • w/Forest Whisperer (1)
  • w/Elven Swordmaster (1)
  • w/Water of Brokilon (1)
  • w/Aerondight/Lady of the Lake (1)
• Guerilla Tactics Pure Harmony (1)
• Guerilla Tactics Control Elves (1)

Everyone decided to bring ST as well, but we had far less agreement here on which deck to bring. A few players stuck with the old Elf decks (now including a Free Company for that sweet Bandit synergy) but most decided to go for Guerilla Tactics instead. Eight of these were still Vanadain/Simlas decks, with seven including Harmony as well and lEntropy going full control. Three players decided to bring Saskia Harmony hybrids instead. And Lerio was the long player opting for a more pure Harmony decklist, with Simlas playing double Bountiful Harvest and pointslam Oak and Zoltan:Warrior (no Munro) rounding out the top end. You may also notice PepeSmile's Yrden yet again in one of the Harmony Elves Hybrid lists, and also a cheeky Maraal in Holdyr's list.

Skellige (7 total decks):

• Onslaught Standard Pirates (3)
  • w/Heatwave (3)
  • w/Squirrel (2)
  • w/Maxii (2)
  • w/Holger (2)
  • w/Seagull (2)
  • w/Magic Compass (2)
  • w/Roach (1)
  • w/Endless Voyage (2)
  • w/Fucusya (1)
  • w/Morkvarg:Heart of Terror (1)
  • w/Delirium (1)
  • w/Stunning Blow (1)
  • w/Fortune Teller (1)
  • w/Sunset Wanderers (1)
  • w/Hammond (1)
• Onslaught Renfri Pirates (2)
  • w/Triss:Butterflies, Knickers (1)
  • w/Discard Package – Coral, Birna, Skirms, Morkvarg (1)
• Rage of the Sea GN Rain (2)
  • w/Operator, Arcane Tome, Gremist, Crow Messenger, Gigascorpion Decoction (1)
  • w/Ring of Favor, Fisher King, Scepter of Storms, Dorregarary, Little Havfrue (1)

Skellige saw a modest playrate as players looked to it for their fourth faction. Five brought some form of Pirates, with two Renfri decks and three non-Renfri decks. The non-Renfri decks all looked a bit different, with some combination of Endless Voyage, Fucusya, Compass, and Sunset Wanderers at the top end. Finally, we had two players go for Golden Nekker Rain decks instead, with slight variations between the two there as well.

Monsters (7 total decks):

• Force of Nature Thrive (5)
  • w/Witch Apprentice (4)
  • w/Ozzrel (4)
  • w/Fisher King (3)
  • w/Heatwave (3)
  • w/Toad Prince (3)
  • w/Dorregaray (3)
  • w/Queen of the Night (2)
  • w/Pellar (2)
  • w/Golyat (2)
  • w/Geralt:Yrden (1)
  • w/Aguara (1)
  • w/Xavier Lemmens (1)
• Blood Scent Renfri Vamps (2)
  • w/Roach, Knickers, Squirrel (1)
  • w/Triss: Butterflies, Toad Prince, Fortune Teller (1)

Seven players also decided to go for Monsters as their fourth faction, most choosing a Thrive list running Koshchey and The Manor's Dark Secret. Once again we see a modest amount of variation, most notably PepeSmile's Yrden showing up for the third time. We also got to see two players bring Renfri Vampire decks, different slightly on what consistency tools they wanted to use.

Nilfgaard (2 total decks):

• Imprisonment Renfri (2)

Nilfgaard rounds out the pack with the lowest playrate here. Only Truzky and Puzzle.Express decided that NG was worth it as the fourth faction this time around, and both brought identical Renfri lists. Without the ability to reliably count on the opponent playing Renfri, however, these Renfri lists rely less on Assimilate and more on control. They also still run Assire for the potential double Renfri, though they need to find their Pellar or use Artorius to spawn a Pellar to purify Renfri as she's Doomed on deploy now. Knickers makes an adequate backup target for Assire if they don't manage to purify the Renfri.