Understanding Gwent: Tips for Playing the Scoia'tael Faction

When you're first learning to play Gwent, the first decision you're confronted with is choosing which faction to play. Each faction is balanced differently with different abilities and strengths. Understanding how each faction works will not only help you understand how to use and build your own deck, but also how to outplay your opponent and their faction.

Gwent: The Legendary Card Game is faithfully recreated from Gwent in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and features the same five factions, each with a clear identity and tactical approach. It also plays with the same three row battlefield: Close Combat (also known as Melee) Row, Ranged Row, and Siege Row.

Today, we’re diving into Scoia’tael, a faction of clever elven archers, medics, and skirmishers. By the end, you’ll have a clearer sense of how Scoia’tael fits your preferred playstyle and how to start building effective decks around their unique strengths. The goal is to provide you with a starting point so you can form your own strategic maneuvers with a Scoia'tael deck. Interested in learning more about the other factions? Learn more about the Monsters faction in our previous blog post.

PLAYING SCOIA'TAEL FACTION IN GWENT

Scoia’tael represents elves, dwarves, dryads, and guerilla fighters who rely on cunning rather than brute force. Their identity centers around unpredictability and tactical repositioning. Scoia’tael rewards smart timing, in which every play has the potential to surprise or disrupt the opponent.

SCOIA’TAEL FACTION ABILITY

Scoia’tael’s faction ability allows you to decide who goes first at the start of the game. It can seem like a negligible advantage, but choosing who goes first instead of deciding by coin toss can alter the game’s dynamic and outcome. Because each player only has ten cards for the whole game, playing the first card allows the other player to reformulate their strategy while all their cards are still in their hand. Knowledge is power, and this rings true even in Gwent.

SCOIA’TAEL STRATEGY: STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES TO CONSIDER

• Many cards have the “Agile” ability. This means a card can go on either on Close Combat row (also called Melee) or Ranged Combat row. Once placed on the battlefield, the card cannot be moved so make sure you have a plan before playing your Agile cards. The Agile ability gives you unique flexibility, letting you adapt your board placement based on the opponent’s moves. You can leverage it to avoid bad weather effects, maximize row synergies for a well-timed Commander’s Horn, or dodge special abilities like a painful Unit Scorch that targets a specific row. There is no right or wrong way to distribute Agile cards across your rows, but remember that once placed down, these cards cannot change rows!
  
  
• Skirmishers can Muster other skirmishers of the same group. Playing one Dwarven Skirmisher will allow you to Muster the other Dwarven Skirmishers (not Elven Skirmishers however) in the same turn. This gives you the advantage to play more cards than just the 10 in your hand, and the ability to play more than one card in one turn.
  
  
• Play your Medic cards strategically. Cards with a Medic ability can bring back a Unit card from your discard pile. To make the most of this powerful ability, avoid playing a Medic card early in the game, especially if you have no cards in the graveyard. Wait until the end of the first round, or better yet, save it for later rounds when you have more cards accumulated in the discard pile, so that you can use a Medic to bring back a game-changing card that changes the tide to your favor.
  
  ADVANCED TIP! Many people will scoff at Medic cards since many carry 0 strength. However, consider the potential of combining Medics and Decoys in play. For example, you play a Medic to bring back a Unit card into play. In your second turn, you can use a Decoy to take back your Medic into your hand. In your third turn, you can now play your Medic card again and bring back another Unit card from your graveyard into play. You now have two more cards to strengthen your army, giving you more cards than your opponent and more opportunity to dominate the battlefield.
  
  

Scoia’tael cards often manipulate board positions or hide their intentions due to their unique faction ability and presence of Agile cards. Scoia’tael is the perfect faction for players who prefer calculated misdirection and outplaying opponents through clever tactics.

Do you think we missed something about playing Gwent with the Scoia'tael faction? Leave a comment with any additional tips for players looking to master their gameplay using a Scoia'tael deck!