GWENT: The Witcher Card Game: Complete Guide

How modern GWENT works in its GWENTFINITY era: round-based strategy, card advantage, deckbuilding with provisions, the factions, free-to-play economy, ranked climbing and what changed when CD PROJEKT RED handed balance to the community.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the GWENTFINITY era (last developer patch 11.10, October 2023; card balance since then is set by the community Balance Council). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status in 2026: Is GWENT Still Alive?

Yes, but in maintenance mode. With Update 11.10 (October 2023) CD PROJEKT RED shipped its final developer-made card changes and introduced the Balance Council, a player voting system that decides future card adjustments. Servers, ranked, seasonal modes and the shop remain online, and the game is still free on Steam, GOG, iOS and Android. Expect no new official card drops; the meta shifts through community-voted balance changes instead. The official news feed has been quiet since mid-2024; its last notice was that from October 25, 2024 GWENT is no longer supported on Windows 7/8/8.1 (Steam) or Windows 7 (GOG) - it may still run, but compatibility problems there won't be fixed.

How the Balance Council works: voting runs monthly. To vote you need at least Prestige 1 and either Pro Rank or 50 ranked wins in the current season. You vote for up to three cards in each of four brackets (provision increase/decrease, power increase/decrease), and each cycle applies roughly 3-10 changes per bracket to cards that pass a minimum vote threshold. Provisions can't drop below 4 and power can't drop below 1.

Earlier 2023 updates are still relevant to today's card pool: the Claw and Dagger drop (11.4), Lineage keyword for dragons (11.5), the Cycle Progression System (11.6), The Tide Rises drop with the Might and Vice keywords (11.7), and the revamped Draft mode (11.3).

Quick Start

Win 2 of 3 rounds. You don't need to win every round, and you shouldn't try. Winning the war is about card advantage.
You only draw a few cards between rounds. Every card you spend in Round 1 is a card you don't have in Round 3. Pass smartly.
Finish the tutorial and the faction unlock rewards. They give you starter decks and resources.
Pick one faction and build it up before spreading scraps across all six.
Don't mill cards randomly. Keep your collection until you know what you need; mill only extra copies.
Use netdecks. Copying a proven deck from a deck site or content creator is the fastest way to learn the game.
Do daily quests and the Reward Book. Reward Points unlock kegs, scraps and cosmetic rewards.
Read the opponent's leader ability at the start. It tells you their faction plan.
Seasonal modes (rotating rules) are a good place to learn cards without ladder pressure.
Hover everything. Card text, statuses (Lock, Veil, Shield) and row effects decide games.

How a Match Works

Two players, each with two rows: melee and ranged. Each row holds up to nine units.
You start with 10 cards in hand and can mulligan (redraw) some before Round 1. Between rounds you draw a small number of extra cards, and your hand is capped at 10.
Each turn you play one card (or pass). Your point total is the sum of your units' power. Highest total wins the round when both players pass.
The player going second starts with more tempo; the player going first gets a stratagem card in hand to compensate.
Leader abilities can be used once (or have charges) and define each deck's plan.

Card advantage: the core skill

If you win Round 1 while using fewer cards than your opponent, you're ahead. Common patterns:

Pass early when you're ahead on points and your opponent must spend cards to catch up.
Bleed in Round 2: if you won Round 1, force your opponent to play cards in Round 2 or concede it, so they have fewer resources for Round 3.
Dry pass (pass without playing) in Round 2 when you're down a card and need to save everything for a long Round 3.
Save your finishers. Cards with big effects (large removal, engines that scale) usually belong in Round 3.

Short vs. long rounds

Decks are built for different round lengths. Engine cards (units that grow every turn) want long rounds; tempo cards (instant points) are best in short rounds. Controlling round length is half the game.

Deckbuilding

Minimum 25 cards, with a maximum of 2 copies of each bronze card and 1 of each gold.
Provisions: every card has a provision cost, and your deck has a provision limit set by the base limit plus your leader ability's bonus. Strong gold cards cost more provisions.
Units vs. specials: decks need a minimum number of units (the deckbuilder warns you).
Leader ability choice is part of the deck; each faction has several.
Most competitive decks play mostly gold cards plus a handful of efficient bronzes.

Keywords you must know

Keyword	Meaning (simplified)
Deploy	Triggers when played from hand
Order	Activated ability you use on your turn; often with Charges or Cooldown
Zeal	The unit can use its Order the turn it's played
Timer	Triggers after a countdown
Boost / Damage	Increase / decrease a unit's power
Armor	Absorbs damage before power
Lock	Disables a unit's ability
Purify	Removes statuses
Spawn / Summon	Create a new unit / pull one from deck
Veteran	Gains extra power at the start of the next round
Doomed	Banished instead of going to the graveyard
Might	Triggers if you control a unit with 10+ power on each row (added in 11.7)
Vice	Triggers after you spend a set number of Coins (Syndicate, added in 11.7)
Lineage	Boost at game start based on Dragons in your deck (11.5)

The Factions

Faction	Identity	Typical plans
Monsters	Consume, Deathwish, Thrive, big units	Growing swarms, consume engines, Ice Giant and "Might" big-unit decks
Nilfgaard	Control, tall units, locks, seize/poison	Disruption, poison, soldier synergies
Northern Realms	Charges, crew, Formation, siege engines	Armor and siege, boosting engines
Scoia'tael	Harmony, movement, traps	Harmony packages, movement and Nature cards
Skellige	Bloodthirst, self-damage, graveyard	Self-wounding, discard and graveyard decks
Syndicate	Coins, Tribute, Bounty	Coin economy, gang synergies, Vice payoffs

Neutral cards (including famous characters like Geralt and Ciri variants) can go in any deck.

Beginner-friendly factions: Northern Realms and Monsters tend to have straightforward boost/swarm plans. Syndicate and Nilfgaard are rewarding but more intricate.

Game Modes

Mode	What it is
Ranked	Main competitive ladder; monthly seasons with rank rewards
Seasonal	Rotating special rules each season; no rank pressure
Arena / Draft	Draft a deck and play a run of matches for rewards; entry costs resources. Since 11.3 you draft a leader ability, then eight three-card packages, then a stratagem, and the turn timer is 25 seconds
Training / Friendly	Practice vs. AI or a friend

The Cycle Progression System (introduced in 11.6) promotes specific card sets during each cycle and rewards playing ranked with decks built from those sets. Base, Starter, Thronebreaker and Novigrad sets count for every cycle.

Ranked Ladder

You climb the numbered ranks (counting down from 30) by earning mosaic pieces; higher ranks lose pieces on defeat.
Beyond the top numbered rank is the Pro Rank ladder, which uses MMR from your best factions.
Seasons run monthly and each season grants rank-based rewards.
Faction variety matters at Pro Rank because your score combines multiple factions' MMR.

Economy and Free-to-Play

Currency	Use
Ore	Buy card kegs
Scraps	Craft specific cards
Meteorite Powder	Craft premium (animated) versions
Reward Points	Spend in the Reward Book trees for resources and cosmetics

How to get the most out of it:

Craft, don't gamble. Once you know which deck you want, crafting targeted cards is more efficient than opening kegs.
Milling (destroying) cards returns only part of their crafting cost. Mill extra copies and cards you truly won't use.
Daily quests and win rewards are your main income; complete dailies even if you don't grind.
Reward Book: prioritize nodes that give kegs and scraps early, cosmetics later.
The game is genuinely playable without paying. Money mostly buys cosmetics, premium cards and faster collection.

Mulligan Tips

Mulligan duplicates of bronze cards you don't need two of right away.
Mulligan "bricks" (cards that are weak without their combo) if you're unlikely to find the combo.
Keep your key round-3 finishers and your best tempo cards.
Thinning your deck (cards that pull others from the deck) improves later draws.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Trying to win every round. Winning Round 1 by spending three more cards than your opponent often loses the game.
Overcommitting to a round you've already lost. If your opponent passes far ahead, sometimes you just pass too.
Ignoring the opponent's graveyard and hand count. Card count is the key number on the board.
Playing engines into obvious removal. Bait out removal with a lesser engine first.
Building decks with too many tech cards. Tech is great until it's dead in your hand.
Crafting every faction at once. Focus one competitive deck first.
Forgetting row limits. A full row (nine units) can blank your spawns and summons.

Advanced Tips

Count points per card. Compare how many points each card generates over the remaining turns of the round; engines are worth more the longer the round.
Track your opponent's likely hand from their faction, leader and what they've played; known netdecks are predictable.
Play around big row effects by splitting units across rows.
Use Order and Charges at the right time. Holding an Order can threaten removal and force awkward plays.
Save a pass for tempo. The last-say (last card played) in Round 3 is often worth more than raw points; plan so your opponent runs out first.
Keep an eye on Balance Council changes. Since GWENTFINITY, card values change based on community votes. Re-check your decks after each change cycle.

FAQ

Is GWENT shutting down? Not as of September 2026. CD PROJEKT RED ended active development with GWENTFINITY (11.10, October 2023), but servers and ranked are still online and the community Balance Council handles card changes.

Is it free? Yes. All cards can be earned through play; purchases are optional.

What's the best faction for beginners? Northern Realms and Monsters are easy to understand. Pick whichever faction's plan you enjoy; netdecks exist for all six.

How many cards are in a deck? Minimum 25, limited by provisions. Max 2 copies of each bronze and 1 of each gold.

Is this the same as Gwent in The Witcher 3? No. Stand-alone GWENT evolved into a different game with two rows, provisions and a larger card pool. For the Witcher 3 style, play the in-game Gwent or the separate single-player spin-offs.

What is GWENT: Rogue Mage? A separate paid single-player roguelike deckbuilder set in the Witcher world, released in 2022. It doesn't affect your online collection.