Learn Gwent

Enough to play a first game without reading anything else. The detail comes after.

1. A game is played over three rounds: the first player to win two of them wins the match.
2. Each player draws 10 cards, and may discard 2 to draw 2 replacements — once only, before the start.
3. Players take turns playing one card on one of the three rows: close combat, ranged or siege.
4. The strength of the cards on the board adds up: whoever has the most points once both players have passed wins the round.
5. Passing is final for the current round, and your 10 cards have to last all three.

A game of Gwent is played over three rounds: the first player to win two of them wins the match.

A coin toss decides who goes first. Each player then draws 10 cards from their deck, and may discard 2 of them to draw 2 replacements — once only, before the match starts.

Players then take turns playing one card each. The strength of the cards on the board adds up: whoever has the most points once both players have passed wins the round. Be careful — passing is final for the current round.

A draw makes both players lose the round — unless one of them is playing Nilfgaard, which wins ties.

The board is split into three rows per side: Close Combat, Ranged Combat and Siege. A unit can only be played in the row printed on its card — except Agile cards, which let you pick between close combat and ranged.

Rows have no inherent strength or weakness against each other. Weather and several special cards, however, target a specific row: spreading your units out beats stacking everything on one line.

Five factions can be played as a main deck: Northern Realms, Nilfgaard, Scoia'tael and Monsters from the base game, plus Skellige with the Blood and Wine expansion.

Each faction has a passive ability that changes how it plays entirely:

Each faction has 4 leaders in the base game, with a fifth added by Hearts of Stone; Skellige has 2, introduced with Blood and Wine. The last base-game leader of each faction can only be obtained through the "High Stakes" quest.

A leader ability can be used once per match, whenever you choose — well timed, it can turn a game around. A few examples:

Foltest: Lord Commander of the North

Clears any weather effects in play.

Emhyr var Emreis: The White Flame

Cancels your opponent's leader ability.

Eredin: Commander of the Red Riders

Doubles the strength of all your close combat units.

Francesca Findabair: Daisy of the Valley

Draws you an extra card at the beginning of the battle.

King Bran

Your units only lose half their strength in bad weather.

Beyond raw strength, these mechanics are what give Gwent its depth:

Decoy

Swap this card with one already on the battlefield to return that card to your hand.

Medic

Lets you pick a card from your discard pile and play it instantly — no heroes, no special cards.

Spy

Played on the opponent's side and counts towards their score, but lets you draw 2 extra cards.

Commander's Horn

Doubles the strength of all unit cards in that row. Limited to one per row.

Scorch

Kills the strongest card(s) on the battlefield (heroes are immune).

Tight Bond

Placed next to a card of the same name, the strength of every copy in the row is multiplied by the number of copies gathered there.

Muster

When played, every card with the same name in your deck is found and played instantly.

Morale Boost

Adds +1 strength to every other unit in the row, applied after all other abilities.

Agile

Can be placed in either the close combat or the ranged row, but cannot be moved once placed.

Hero

Unaffected by special cards, weather and abilities — but a Commander's Horn won't double it either.

Weather cards reduce units in a row to 1 strength, for both players at once. Heroes are immune.

Biting Frost

Close combat row.

Impenetrable Fog

Ranged row.

Torrential Rain

Siege row.

Skellige Storm

Ranged and siege at the same time (Blood and Wine).

Clear Weather

Clears all active weather effects.

Hearts of Stone adds a fifth leader to each of the four base factions, plus a handful of extra cards, several of them neutral.

Blood and Wine introduces the entire Skellige faction, with a mechanic of its own: Berserker units transform into far more powerful war bears as soon as a Mardroeme card is played on their row.

A few pointers that make the difference, even against the toughest opponents: