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Gwent in The Witcher 3 is, according to many players, more fun than the rest of the RPG. It's a simple card game: get a higher total number than the opponent, through any means necessary. Plus, it doesn't focus on combat as other online card games do. The original game (not the spin-off), is still very fun to this day, but the player might have to complete some of the lengthy The Witcher 3 story for the best cards out there.

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The best Gwent deck The Witcher 3 offers for Muster effects is the Monsters deck. The Monsters deck contains no Medic or Spy cards, but boy does it have spades of Muster cards. These cards bring out all copies of that card onto the battlefield at once from the deck, overwhelming the enemy completely before they have a chance to respond – it's the deck's signature mechanic.

Updated January 13, 2023 by Kath Leroy: Even though it’s Geralt’s line of work to fight monsters, and he spends the better part of The Witcher 3 doing exactly that, there’s one area of his life where monsters can come in handy. In Gwent, Geralt’s favorite game (depending on the player, of course), the Monsters Gwent deck is easily one of the most powerful ones thanks to the monsters‘ power to multiply and their overall strength.

Considering how rich the Monsters Gwent deck is, it’s only natural that some of the cards are more useful than others. Just like with the monsters Geralt faces, there can only be one strongest monster in this Gwent deck.

16 The Witcher 3 Compared To Standalone Gwent

the witcher gwent table feature

After the resounding success of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red launched a standalone Gwent online card game, similar to games like The Elder Scrolls Legends or Hearthstone. It offers more strategic gameplay and a huge number of new cards and mechanics to play with compared to the version of Gwent that players see in The Witcher 3.

However, card effects in Gwent and The Witcher 3 are almost universally different. Thus, guides for card choices and decks in The Witcher 3's Gwent mini-game do not pertain to strategies in the standalone online game Gwent.

15 Toad

Witcher 3 Gwent Best Cards Monster Deck Toad
  • Abilities: Scorch: Destroy the enemy's strongest Ranged attacker as long as their ranged units' strength totals more than 10
  • Row: Ranged
  • Strength: 7

The Toad card in The Witcher 3's Gwent mini-game features a terrifying rendition of a Toad in its most nightmarish possible form, lashing out its tongue from behind multiple rows of teeth toward the viewer. Described as Big, Bad, and Ugly, the Toad is a seven-power monster that sits in the Ranged row with the special Scorch effect.

When a Toad is played, its controlling player can automatically destroy the enemy's strongest Ranged unit as long as their total strength in the ranged row is 10 or more. It's a great way to suddenly turn the tables, and it can be obtained two ways – with the Hearts of Stone expansion installed, it's won from Olgierd von Everec, while in the base game without the expansion, it's found in The Alchemy Inn in Oxenfurt.

14 Nekker

Witcher 3 Gwent Best Cards Monster Deck Nekker
  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in the deck and play them instantly upon playing this card
  • Row: Melee
  • Strength: 2

The Nekker is one of the least powerful Muster cards available in the Monsters deck, but it's also one that can be more easily acquired than others. It's a two-power Melee combat row card that summons all other Nekkers to the battlefield from the player's deck, which can make one player much stronger than the other pretty quickly.

The Nekker card can be won as a random reward from Gwent players throughout the world of The Witcher 3. It can also be bought from the innkeeper in Harviken or obtained from the slaver Hammond's corpse during the quest Following The Thread. It's a Monster card that will likely be replaced later on by stronger options, but it's a good one to use to fill out an early deck.

13 Ghoul

Ghoul Gwent card
  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in your deck and play them instantly
  • Row: Close Combat
  • Strength: 1

The Ghoul Gwent card has a similar feeling and effect to it as other cards in the game, making it easily missable. On its own, the card is weak, scoring only a single point for the player, less than a majority of the Gwent cards. The good news is that if Geralt managed to collect all three Ghoul cards, he only needs to play one for all three of them to be laid out on the Gwent battlefield.

This move still brings only three points, but three points are better than one, just like three ghouls present a bigger threat than a single one.

12 Arachas/Arachas Behemoth

  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in the deck and play them instantly upon playing this card
  • Row: Siege
  • Strength: 6

The Arachas Behemoth is a 6-strength siege combat unit with the Muster ability. However, the Arachas Behemoth is special as it can summon other Arachas from the deck, not just Arachas Behemoths.

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It's possible can find three of these out in the world, and all three are purchased from various innkeepers in Arinbjorn, Urialla Harbor, and Svorlag in Skellige.

11 Celaeno Harpy

Celaeno Harpy Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Agile: Can be placed in either Melee or Ranged rows
  • Row: Melee or Ranged
  • Strength: 2

The Celaeno Harpy is a special 2-strength unit with the Agile trait. The Agile trait gives the card the ability to be placed in either the Close Combat or Ranged rows upon its initial summon. It can't be moved once placed, but nonetheless, it gives Geralt's game some versatility.

Say there's a weather effect barring Melee cards from providing strength to Geralt's game. With the Agile trait, Geralt doesn't have to worry about having a card that can only be used on that row in his hand.

10 Crone: Brewess / Weavess / Whispess

Crones Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in the deck and play them instantly upon playing this card
  • Row: Melee
  • Strength: 6

The Crones are some of the creepiest enemies in The Witcher 3, and they get a fittingly creepy Muster ability in Gwent. All three of the Crones have this ability, but it's only possible to win one of each of the cards in the game. So, when a Crone is played, it summons the other two to the playing field from the deck instead.

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The Brewess can be found as a random reward, the Weavess is won from an Old Sage in the Velen Gwent quest line, and the Whispess can be bought from the Innkeep in Arinbjorn in Skellige.

9 Draug

Draug Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Hero: Unaffected by any cards or abilities
  • Row: Melee
  • Strength: 10

The Draug is a 10-strength Hero-type card in the Monsters deck with no additional abilities. Hero-type cards can't be affected by special effects or card abilities, and thus are powerhouses in Gwent, at least when it comes to upping numbers.

Draug can be found by defeating Crach an Craite during the Skellige Gwent quest lines, and it's the only one that players are able to find, so Geralt should use it well!

8 Kayran

Kayran Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Hero: Unaffected by any cards or abilities, Morale Boost: Buffs allies in the same row, Agile: Can be placed in either Melee or Ranged rows
  • Row: Melee or Ranged
  • Strength: 8

Kayran is an eight-strength Hero-type card with both the Morale Boost and Agile traits. Morale Boost ups the strength of every unit occupying the same row, which can be either Close Combat or Ranged because of the Agile ability.

It's a card that the players should try to get as early as possible, but because it's a random reward from Gwent players it might be necessary to do a little bit of grinding first.

7 Vampire: Fleder / Garkain / Ekimmara / Bruxa...

Vampire Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in the deck and play them instantly upon playing this card
  • Row: Melee
  • Strength: 4

The four main Vampire cards each have four strengths and the Muster ability, which conveniently summons each of the four whenever one is played, even though they technically have different names.

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Fleder and Ekimmara can be bought from innkeepers in Harviken and Svorlag in Skellige, respectively, while Garkain is a random Gwent reward and Bruxa is won during a quest in Blood and Wine.

6 ... And Also Vampire: Katakan

Katakan Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Muster: Find any cards with the same name in the deck and play them instantly upon playing this card
  • Row: Melee
  • Strength: 5

The fifth vampire, Vampire: Katakan, seems a little bit underwhelming at first. It's no different from the others, except for its higher strength, right? Well, even having a one-point higher strength can affect lots of things. Say, the opponent wants to Scorch Geralt's cards, eliminating all the highest-level cards in play simultaneously.

Well, if Geralt has one Vampire that's slightly stronger than the others, it will take the hit instead. This card is won from Madman Lugos in the Skellige Gwent quest line.

5 Imlerith

Imlerith Gwent card
  • Abilities: Hero: Not affected by any Special Cards or abilities
  • Row: Close Combat
  • Strength: 10

As one of the major bosses in the base game, Imlerith’s card is surprisingly underpowered considering how hard it can be to defeat the actual Imlerith, especially for a player going through their first playthrough of the game. Unlike other Gwent cards featuring the bosses of the game, Imlerith’s card doesn’t have any special powers, besides being the Hero card.

On the other hand, it still provides the player with a bonus of ten points which can sometimes be enough to make up for the difference between Geralt and his opponent and help Geralt win the game. As a result, Imlerith is a card worth having, but not the best one in this Gwent deck.

4 Eredin: Bringer Of Death

Eredin Bringer of Death card
  • Abilities: Leader: Restore a card from your discard pile to your hand
  • Row: N/A
  • Strength: N/A

Eredin is the final boss of the base game in The Witcher 3. As such, it makes sense that the Gwent cards featuring Eredin are more powerful than others. Eredin has several variations of his Gwent cards, with different effects. Of them all, Eredin: Bringer of Death is the most underrated one. The card’s effect is seemingly simple – when Geralt uses it, it restores a discarded card from his pile into his hand.

While this might not seem like much, it can be the difference between losing or winning the game, especially if Geralt is running out of cards to use. It’s possible to get the card relatively early on, from the child prodigy player Haddy in Midcopse in Velen, so the players should be careful not to miss out on getting the card in their effort to move forward with the main story.

3 Eredin: Destroyer Of Worlds

Eredin Destroyer of Worlds Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Leader: Discard two cards and draw any one card from the player's deck
  • Row: N/A
  • Strength: N/A

Eredin: Destroyer of Worlds is one of the five available Leader cards for the Monsters Deck. This form of Eredin, the leader of the Wild Hunt, allows the player to discard two cards in exchange for one from their deck.

It's a great way to mill through the cards to find something Geralt needs, which can help find that Muster card the player desperately wants to use. This version is won randomly from the Velen Gwent quest lines.

2 Eredin: King Of The Wild Hunt

Eredin King of the Wild Hunt Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Leader: Allows the player to play any weather card from their deck instantly
  • Row: N/A
  • Strength: N/A

Eredin: King of the Wild Hunt is another of the five versions of Eredin represented in Gwent. This card lets the player choose any Weather card from their deck and put it immediately onto the battlefield.

Weather effects can change the course of the game instantly, making this one of the more powerful Leader cards in the base game. Luckily, it comes default with the Monsters deck.

1 Leshen

Leshen Witcher 3 Gwent Monsters Deck
  • Abilities: Hero: Unaffected by any cards or abilities
  • Row: Ranged
  • Strength: 10

The Leshen is a horrifying Wendigo-like creature in The Witcher 3, and it brings that strange sinister power with it over to Gwent. The Leshen is a 10-strength Ranged Combat card with the Hero type.

It's not going to bring anything back from the dead, or summon other Leshens from the deck, but it's nonetheless an intimidating card the players should get their hands on ASAP. It's won from Ermion during the Skellige Gwent quest lines.

The Witcher 3 is available for the Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.

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