Gwent: The Witcher Card Game

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is a competitive card game developed and published by CD PROJEKT RED, based on a card game mentioned in Andrzej Sapkowski's novels, and an overhaul of the game featured in . It was originally announced on June 13th, 2016. Following an 8 month closed beta, and a 17 month open beta, it was officially released in late October 2018, with a console release following in early December.
The game also has a single-player spin-off, .
== Official Statement ==
: "I love GWENT — especially when I am winning. At times, I hate it — it's when I get my ass kicked. GWENT is one of the very few games I play almost every day (I clocked close to 350 hours). Why am I telling you this? It's because I want you to know that I'm invested and treat GWENT very personally."
: "I still remember the excitement of E3 2016 when we announced GWENT on PC and consoles. It was a blast! Well received by both you — gamers — and the media, I think we couldn't have had a better opening. And boy... were we naive. Compared to the single player RPGs we had been creating so far, we didn't realize how different it was to operate and develop a live game at the same time."
: "A year later, we took GWENT to Public Beta and — again — tons of gamers jumped in and checked it out. We still had a lot to learn. But, as always, we adapted. What we didn't realize back then was that we also started slowly drifting away from our original vision for standalone GWENT. While fighting with the everyday reality of regular updates and content drops, we lost sight of what was unique and fun about the game. And you played a big role in making us realize that. Thank you for your sincere feedback!"
: "We have never accepted 'good enough' at our company. We have always taken risks and made bold decisions if we believed they would result in a better game. And, you've guessed it, we've just made one now."
:– Marcin Iwiński, CD PROJEKT RED co-founderGWENT HOMECOMING — an Open Letter from Marcin Iwiński and the development team
== Casual and Ranked ==
GWENT is a representation of armies clashing on the battlefields of The Witcher universe, where players are the commanders, and cards are their forces. Players compete in fast past duels which consist of skill-based gameplay, and careful deck construction. The game is played over a best-of-three series of rounds, as players unleash their hand by slinging spells and diverse units with special abilities. The aim of the game is to use clever tactics and bluffs to deceive your opponent, and win the round.
Homecoming marks the official launch of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. It also stands as the biggest update the game has seen to date. Brand new visuals, new and revamped mechanics, more cards, and many other additions await.
=== A Battlefield reinvented ===
Homecoming introduces a complete visual overhaul of the board, featuring a brand new, lore-inspired design that's unique for every faction.
=== Leaders reimagined ===
Leaders are now full 3D models commanding the battlefield on your behalf. They come equipped with a powerful ability and determine how many cards in total you can mulligan at the beginning of a match and between rounds.
=== Progression powered by choice ===
The Reward Book is a new feature added with the Hoecoming update. Every faction has its own unique reward tree, which allows you to unlock leaders. Each leader also has their own unique tree you can move through. It's up to you to decide your path within a tree. This system empowers you to choose which rewards you want to focus on. Among the rewards are: faction-specific kegs, premium kegs, scraps, meteorite powder, wre, and leader skins. In addition, each tree contains Witcher lore tidbits which are revealed when claiming story nodes, allowing you to build a compendium of the universe lore.
=== Rank 2.0 ===
You start from rank 30 and progress towards rank 1. Ranks are split into 5 pieces — if you win, you get a piece of a stained glass avatar, if you lose — you lose a piece. Winning three or more matches in a row grants you an additional piece of the avatar. Once you have all 5 pieces, you unlock that avatar. The rank progression is as follows:
* For Rank 30-26, dropping down a rank isn't possible.
* For Rank 25-15, you only drop down a rank if you lose twice in a row.
* For Rank 14-8, there are no special conditions — the progression follows a linear pattern.
* For Rank 7-1, there's a linear pattern of progression, however, win streaks no longer give you two pieces of the avatar.
=== Updated Level Progression ===
The overall levelling experience is now faster and the level cap has been decreased from 100 to 60. After that, you get access to prestige — meaning that once you reach the maximum level, you can level up again, become level 1 prestige 1 and gain permanent bonuses!
=== Two rows, layers of character ===
Whether through powerful bonuses a card receives when placed on its preferred row, or the Reach mechanic determining how many rows a card's ability can cover — with Homecoming, where you play your cards has much greater impact on the battle than ever before.
=== Deck building, rebuilt ===
Your army must consist of at least 25 cards, but there's no upper limit. Each unit has a Recruit Cost which represents how powerful it can potentially be when in use, while each army has a Recruit Cap — a limit to how much power it can wield.
=== New card type — Artifacts ===
These powerful cards do not directly influence the score when played. They are, however, significantly more difficult to remove from the battlefield, which makes Artifacts and their abilities something the opponent has to plan for.
=== New ability — Orders ===
Orders, unlike abilities which trigger automatically when a card is played, can be activated manually, adding another layer of strategy to the game. Will you use it as soon as possible, or wait until a more opportune moment presents itself? The choice is yours.
=== Flipping the coin flip ===
In an effort to further balance the game, the player going first gets to exchange an additional card during mulligan and gains Tactical Advantage — an Artifact card summoned onto the board at the beginning of a match.
=== More to each turn than a single card ===
Turns don't end immediately after a card is sent to the battlefield anymore. With more mechanics in play, such as the new Order abilities, it's up to you to decide whether you're done for the turn and ready to hand over control to the opponent.
=== Count your cards before they're drawn ===
You will always draw 3 cards at the beginning of each round. There's a limit of 10 cards you can have in your hand at any point, and any additional cards will be automatically discarded. This may hinder your efforts, but also offers new tactical possibilities for certain strategies.
=== Same passing game, new level ===
Similarly to ending turns, passing rounds has also changed. You can only pass if you didn't use any Order or Leader abilities and didn't play a card during that turn. However, should the number of cards in your hand reach 0 at any point in the game, you will pass automatically.
== GWENT Arena ==
: "I've been waiting for you. No, no, you don't know me, but I know you, and your deepest, darkest desires. Look here, it can all be yours. All you need do is sign, just a mark, and you can win it all. Oh, one last thing... there will be others, and you will have to fight for it."
– Gaunter O'Dimm, Gwent: The Witcher Card GameGWENT: The Witcher Card Game - Arena trailer
Welcome to the Arena, a new GWENT mode where fun, excitement and great prizes await. It's a place for players who aren't afraid of changing circumstances and who always expect the unexpected.
In this mode, for a certain fee, you'll sign a contact with a mysterious fellow named Gaunter O'Dimm. You'll then be offered a series of choices, and through these end up with a complete deck of 26 cards. Now the possibilities here are almost limitless. With a little bit of good fortune, you'll draw golds galore, from any and all factions, and in multiple copies. Also, you'll be able to play cards you don't have in your collection, and feel their power in action.
Once you've built your deck, you'll use it to compete against other player who also entered the Arena. Playing combos and using strategies you wouldn't normally employ. Fun, varied decks and strange cards will appear more often. Thanks to his, every game will be quite an experience.
The more opponents you defeat, the greater the rewards that await. The game is over once you have either lost three lives or achieved nine victories. If you're looking for something new and adventitious, but something that's still GWENT at heart, you're in the right place, and in very good hands. So don't hesitate, sign the contact, jump on board and have lots of fun in the unique experience that is GWENT Arena mode.
==Singleplayer==
=== Practice ===
Down on your luck? Or simply wishing to try out a new deck? Practice mode allows you to hone your skills against an AI opponent, the Turning Machine. Don't be fooled though, the Turing Machine may prove to be just as tough as any human opponent.
=== ===
The world stands on the verge of chaos, as the tensions between the power-hungry Nilfgaardian Empire and proud Northern Realms grow. Facing an imminent invasion, Meve — war-veteran Queen of Lyria and Rivia — is forced to once again enter the warpath, and set out on a dark journey of destruction and revenge.
==GWENT Masters==
GWENT Masters is the official eSports series for GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. Organized by CD PROJEKT RED, the idea behind GWENT Masters is simple: to elevate competitive GWENT to a professional level, and give gamers the opportunity to officially become the best GWENT players in the world.
The starting point for GWENT Masters is the Pro Rank. This is the eSports oriented side of competitive play, separate from the normal Ranked mode. Pro Rank will be played in seasons, each one lasting for one month. To remain competitive throughout the seasons, players will need to actively participate in the Pro Rank, as well as constantly vary the factions and deck types they use. The top 500 Pro Rank players will retain their top positions, while other players will be demoted by one rank, but will still be able to climb back next season and join the race immediately.
Every Pro Rank season, players will be rewarded with Crown Points accounting for their achievements during GWENT Masters and its events. Players will receive Crown Points for:
*placing in the top 200 of the Pro Ladder at the end of each season
*participating in official GWENT tournaments organized by CD PROJEKT RED
*and placing in licensed GWENT tournaments not organized by CD PROJEKT RED.
There are three tiers of official GWENT tournaments. GWENT Open is the entry tier of tournaments, but is by no means a walk in the park. There will be a total of 8 GWENT Open tournaments during each GWENT Masters series. Only the top 8 players with the most Crown Points at the end of each Pro Rank season will qualify to battle it out for fame, glory, and a piece of the $25,000 USD prize pool.
The second tournament tier is GWENT Challenger. Each of the 4 Challeneger events taking place every four Pro Rank seasons will feature a total of 8 competitors:
*the winner of the previous Challenger
*up to 4 finalists of 2 GWENT Open tournaments held prior to a Challenger event
*up to 3 players with the most Crown Points accumulated over the course of the two seasons leading up the Challenger
*and 2 Wild Card players, invited to the tournament by CD PROJEKT RED.
And there's a lot to compete for, as the prize pool for every GWENT Challenger will be $100,000 USD, with the winner also claiming the Challenger winner's title and ring.
The GWENT Masters series will conclude with GWENT World Masters, the final tier of official GWENT tournaments, sporting a $250,000 prize pool. Most importantly, the event will determine who from the 8 competitors entering the battlefield will become the first ever GWENT World Champion. Participants will include:
*up to 5 winners of previous Challenger events
*and up to 7 players with the most Crown Points in the Pro Rank accumulated over the seasons leading up to GWENT World Masters.
Each official CD PROJEKT RED tournament of the GWENT Masters series will follow the same single-elimination format, with the winner being determined in a best-of-five game series. Ahead of the tournament, each participant must build 4 decks from 4 different factions. No two decks can be of the same faction. Opponents will be able to ban, in secret, a chosen enemy deck at the beginning of each game. Winning decks can't be used to play another match, while losing ones may be used again or swapped out for another.
== Expansions ==
===Crimson Curse===
On March 4, 2019, the first card expansion, Crimson Curse, was announced and was released on March 28, 2019.
==== Official Statement ====
:The Blood Moon is rising. This is a time of the Crimson Curse, a time of madness and despair. A dark ritual performed by a mighty higher vampire Dettlaff turns the moon blood red, corrupting the land and its inhabitants. No one is safe and there's nowhere to run — new breeds of monsters are awaking from their slumber, thirsting for blood. Will you join Dettlaff in his quest for revenge and destruction or choose to fight back and protect the innocents?
File:GWENT Crimson Curse Expansion Teaser
=== Novigrad ===
On June 18, 2019, a new expansion called Novigrad was announced and was released on June 28, 2019. The expansion adds a new faction, the Syndicate, as well as five new leaders and over 90 new cards. The sixth leader, Sigismund Dijkstra, was added a month later.
==== Official Statement ====
:Welcome to Novigrad!
:Don't be fooled by the city's beauty and wealth — it's rotten to the core. Crime lords are vying for control of the streets using any means at their disposal. Yet strange events are becoming more commonplace. Once rival gangs are now being seen working together. The chaos is evolving, but why? And more importantly, into what?
File:GWENT Novigrad Expansion Trailer
=== Iron Judgment ===
On September 14, 2019, another expansion called Iron Judgment was announced and was released on October 2, 2019. The expansion adds over 80 new cards and mechanics. It also reintroduces several elements from the beta version of the game.
==== Official Statement====
:The North is on the rise and Radovid is back to bring justice to his enemies — the kind of justice that is being served by fire and iron. Stand by his side or defy royal authority — whichever you choose, get ready for some of the fiercest battles in GWENT's history. Relive the Battle of Brenna, learn the secrets of the Salamandra, or join Gascon's company of noble criminals — there is plenty of opportunities to get into a fight in GWENT: Iron Judgement.
File:GWENT Iron Judgment Expansion Trailer
=== Merchants of Ofir ===
On December 9, 2019, Merchants of Ofir was released without previous announcement. The expansion adds over 70 new cards, including new stratagems and scenario cards.
==== Official Statement ====
:They came from faraway lands — foreign and mysterious. They've brought marvelous wares with them — both magnificent and terrifying. On their journey, merchants of Ofir will cross paths with all GWENT's factions; some want to trade with them, while some want to take their wares with brute force or cunning.
:No matter what approach you will choose for yourself, remember that Ofiri are always getting paid — if not with gold, then with blood.
File:GWENT Merchants of Ofir Expansion Trailer‎
=== Master Mirror ===
On June 3, 2020, Master Mirror was announced and was released on June 30, 2020. The expansion adds over 80 new cards, introduces new keywords and evolving cards.
==== Official Statement ====
:YOUR FATE IS IN HIS HANDS!
:He's always been there, quietly pulling at fate's strings, his evil touch creeping its way into key events in the Continent's history. From the Empire of Nilfgaard, to the Northern Realms, to the isles of Skellige and beyond, his influence knows no bounds. You may be tempted to try to defy the diabolical trickster, but in the end all will play by his rules and all will bend to his will. He is Master Mirror, and it is he who decides how the story plays out.
File:GWENT Master Mirror Expansion Trailer
=== Way of the Witcher ===
On November 17, 2020, Way of the Witcher was announced and was released on December 8, 2020. The expansion adds over 70 new cards and introduces new keywords.
==== Official Statement ====
:LEARN THE WAY OF THE WITCHER
:In a world plagued by horrors and monstrosities humanity desperately needed a new type of weapon to turn back the tide. Created by ingenious Alzur, witchers — professional monster slayers of exceptional strength, speed, and agility were tasked to end the threat once and for all. Organized into different schools they honed their craft and passed their knowledge onto novices in training. Some of them were destined to become the legendary heroes and protectors of humanity. Others — the very thing they were supposed to fight...
File:GWENT Way of the Witcher Expansion Trailer
=== Price of Power ===
On May 24 2021, Price of Power was announced. Unlike previous expansions, this one was a set that will conclude with 3 different expansions within it to be released throughout the year.
The first expansion, Once Upon a Pyre, was released on June 8, 2021, the second expansion, Thanedd Coup, on August 3, 2021, and the third and final expansion, Harvest of Sorrow, on October 5, 2021.
==== Official Statements ====
<tabber>
Expansion 1=
:ONCE UPON A PYRE
:Magic, like any other power, can be a double-edged sword - dangerous for both its victims and its wielder. Many mages and sorceresses were known for bringing endless destruction and suffering, yet even more of them perished upon the pyres stoked by the witch hunters and superstitious folk alike. Truth be told, in a world where horrendous monstrosities lurk around every corner, it can be said that the evilest of monsters often harbor human hearts.
File:GWENT- Price of Power - EP1- Once Upon a Pyre - Launch Trailer
|-|Expansion 2=
:THANEDD COUP
:Most battles are fought on blood-soaked fields, others during violent sieges, but some are waged via more treacherous means. Why bother assembling and equipping armies when all you need to do is strike a shady deal? A well-placed agent hidden among an enemy's ranks can be worth more than a hundred swords, and a well-timed betrayal can do just as much damage. Pick your side during the infamous clash of the most powerful mages on the Continent ⁠— the Thanedd Coup ⁠— and fight to the last spell!
File:GWENT- Price of Power - EP2- Thanedd Coup - Teaser Trailer
|-|Expansion 3=
:HARVEST OF SORROW
:Summer is moving on in the Valley of Flowers. The days of joy and carelessness are over. The cruel winds are blowing from the North and with them comes the smoke of the fires burning and echoes of the armies marching. The last vestige of hope remains with those who survived the slaughter and fled the battlefield to fight another day. Their wounds will heal, but the sorrow will remain with them forever...
:Take part in the decisive battles between all factions raging all across The Continent and reap your rewards. The Harvest time is upon us!
File:GWENT- Price of Power - EP3- Harvest of Sorrow - Launch Trailer
</tabber>
===Black Sun ===
On June 24, 2022, Black Sun was announced and was released on July 5, 2022. The expansion adds 27 new cards.
==== Official Statement====
:Some folk say the world will end in ice, some - that fire will scorch all. Others heed to the old prophecies, predicting the darkness to be the end of everything. Once in a century, the sunlight fades as shadows grow and encroach on the world of the living. Corrupting, twisting, driving minds mad. Yet, in a world teeming with curses and afflictions, there are pristine places untouched by evil and heroes carving their way through the darkness.
File:GWENT- Black Sun - Launch Trailer
== Notes==
*GWENT's production name was "SEAWOLF".Rafal Jaki: "The codename for Gwent was #seawolf"
==Videos==
File:GWENT_The_Witcher_Card_Game_Official_Launch_Trailer
File:GWENT_The_Witcher_Card_Game_How_to_Play
File:GWENT_THE_WITCHER_CARD_GAME_Player_Progression_Stream_16.10.2018
File:GWENT_THE_WITCHER_CARD_GAME_Homecoming_Developer_Stream_05.10.2018
File:GWENT The Witcher Card Game Homecoming Reveal
== Early Artwork==
GWENT wallpaper keyart photoshoot 1920x1080 EN.jpg|Early key art
GWENT KeyArt Illustrated 1920x1080 EN.jpg|Alternate early key art
Twgwent trade mark logo.png|Original logo
TwGwent Bluff your way to victory.jpg
TwGwent The board.jpg|Original board style
TwGwent Your hand.jpg
==Homecoming Gallery ==
GWENT-screenshot-CardGameplayEffects 01 Skellige-EN.png|Scoia'tael vs Skellige
GWENT-screenshot-CardGameplayEffects 05 Nilfgaard-EN.png|Nilfgaard vs Monsters
GWENT-screenshot-CardGameplayEffects 03 Scoia-EN.png|Monsters vs Scoia'tael
GWENT-screenshot-CardGameplayEffects 08 N Realms-EN.png|Nilfgaard vs Northern Realms
GWENT-screenshot-CardGameplayEffects 09 Monsters-EN.png|Monsters vs Scoia'tael
== Open Beta Gallery==
GWENT OB 1.png|Monsters vs Nilfgaard
GWENT OB 2.jpg|Northern Realms vs Monsters
GWENT OB New Deck Builder.png|Updated deck builder and collection viewer
GWENT PCXB1 01.jpg|Northern Realms vs Monsters
GWENT PCXB1 02.jpg|Monsters vs Scoia'tael
GWENT OB Old Deck Builder.jpg|Original deck builder
GWENT OB Old Deck Viewer.jpg|Original collection viewer
==Closed Beta Gallery==
Gwent CB 1.jpg|Nilfgaard vs Nilfgaard
Gwent CB 2.jpg|Northern Realms vs Monsters
TwGwent Grab a chair you are one of us.jpg|Gamescom alpha build
TwGwent A world begging to be explored.jpg|Gamescom alpha build
TwGwent Your hand 2.jpg|Gamescom alpha build
TwGwent How to win.jpg|Gamescom alpha build
==References==
== External links ==
*The official GWENT website
*The official GWENT Masters website
*European Union Intellectual Property Office
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