Moonlight Peaks: All Nokturna Cards & Best Decks

From the moment Moonlight Peaks' Dragan introduced me to a little game called Nokturna, I have been addicted to the 'Gwent for Dummies' formula that this game offers. Starting slow with low-tier opponents with basic versions of their optimized decks. To hardcore tactical battles with the best versions of these decks imaginable. 

It's a game that actually requires you to think mindfully about each opponent, employ counter tactics, and build decks that give you the best possible chance of success. But, as you might imagine, there's always a bit of luck involved. 

So, to help you make sense of this card game and build decks that work excellently, here is a guide of all cards and what compositions work best. 

All Nokturna Cards Revealed

To begin with, you'll only have access to a starter deck, which will give you just enough scope to win your initial games against NPCs around town. But with each win comes new cards, and you'll have 75 card variants to collect. 

Here is a rundown of all the cards available in Moonlight Peaks: 

• 1. Death (Deity, Value 0) – On Play: Flip all other cards with a value of 3 or less.
• 2. Sun God (Deity, Value 3) – Ongoing: Whenever a card goes to your discard pile, this gets +1. Persist
• 3. Moon Goddess (Deity, Value 1) – Ongoing: Whenever you draw a card, this gets +1. Persist
• 4. Queen of the Sea (Aquatic, Value 5) – On Play: The highest-value opposing card gets -2 for each Aquatic in play. Elusive
• 5. Gobbler (Plant, Value 2) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Plant, this gets +1. Persist
• 6. Vampire Lord (Vampire, Value 4) – On Play: Flip your highest-value card besides this one. This card gets +6 if a card was flipped.
• 7. Gravedigger (Werewolf, Value 1) – On Play: Play the highest value Werewolf from your discard pile.
• 8. Deep Sea (Location, Value 1) – Ongoing: All other non-Aquatics have -1 while this card is in play. Persist
• 9. Full Moon (Location, Value 2) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Werewolf, draw a card. Persist
• 10. Graveyard (Location, Value 2) – Ongoing: Has +2 for every flipped card in play. Persist
• 11. Greenhouse (Location, Value 2) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Plant, it gets +2. Persist
• 12. Siren (Aquatic, Value 2) – On Play: All opposing cards with a value of 6 or more get -3. Elusive
• 13. Charm of the Ocean (Aquatic, Value 2) – On Play: All opposing cards get -1. Elusive
• 14. Skullfin (Aquatic, Value 5) – Ongoing: At the end of the round, return this card to your hand. Elusive
• 15. Nightshade (Plant, Value 0) – Ongoing: Gets +5 each time it persists. Persist
• 16. Pumpkin (Plant, Value 1) – Ongoing: Has +4 if this is the only Plant in play. Persist
• 17. Red Jester (Vampire, Value 1) – On Play: Flip the highest opposing card with a value of 5 or more.
• 18. Nightfall (Vampire, Value 2) – On Play: Flip all opposing cards with a value of 8 or more.
• 19. Blood Prince (Vampire, Value 2) – On Play: Flip the lowest opposing card with a value of 3 or less.
• 20. Sangromancer (Vampire, Value 8) – On Play: Your opponent draws 4 cards.
• 21. Howling Wolf (Werewolf, Value 3) – On Play: Reveal the top card of your deck. If it's a Werewolf, play it. Otherwise discard it.
• 22. Wolf Pack (Werewolf, Value 4) – On Play: Reveal your hand. Play your lowest value Werewolf.
• 23. Loyal Wolf (Werewolf, Value 4) – Ongoing: At the end of the round, return this card to your hand.
• 24. Mysterious Seeds (Item, Value 0) – On Play: Reveal the top 2 cards of your deck. Play each Plant. Discard the others.
• 25. Fertilizer (Item, Value 0) – On Play: Reveal your hand. Play your lowest value Plant. It gets +3.
• 26. Watering Can (Item, Value 1) – On Play: All your Plants get +2.
• 27. Trident (Item, Value 1) – On Play: Gets a value equal to the combined value of all Aquatics in play.
• 28. Silver Dagger (Item, Value 1) – On Play: All opposing Vampires and Werewolves get -2.
• 29. Scythe (Item, Value 3) – On Play: All opposing cards lose Persist.
• 30. Luck Potion (Item, Value 0) – On Play: Double the value of your lowest value card in play besides this one.
• 31. Map (Item, Value 0) – On Play: Play the first Location card in your deck. Shuffle your deck.
• 32. Teleport (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Flip an opposing Location card. Play a card.
• 33. Time Loop (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Draw a card. Play a card.
• 34. Enlarge (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Your next card gets +2. Play a card.
• 35. Bubble (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Your next card gains Elusive. Play a card.
• 36. Starfish (Aquatic, Value 2) – On Play: Draw a card. Elusive
• 37. Twilight (Aquatic, Value 3) – No special ability. Elusive
• 38. Brickle (Aquatic, Value 4) – No special ability. Elusive
• 39. Missing (Aquatic, Value 5) – No special ability. Elusive
• 40. Glowglammer (Plant, Value 1) – No special ability. Persist, Elusive
• 41. Roses (Plant, Value 1) – On Play: Draw a card. Persist
• 42. Sage (Plant, Value 2) – No special ability. Persist
• 43. Willow Tree (Plant, Value 3) – No special ability. Persist
• 44. Sleeping Vampire (Vampire, Value 1) – No special ability.
• 45. Batling (Vampire, Value 2) – No special ability.
• 46. Waltzing Vampires (Vampire, Value 3) – No special ability.
• 47. Scholar (Vampire, Value 4) – No special ability.
• 48. Scarlet Count (Vampire, Value 5) – No special ability.
• 49. Royal Vampire (Vampire, Value 6) – No special ability.
• 50. Alpha Wolf (Werewolf, Value 1) – On Play: Has +2 for every other Werewolf you have in play.
• 51. Omega Wolf (Werewolf, Value 1) – No special ability.
• 52. Werecub (Werewolf, Value 2) – No special ability.
• 53. Werewolf (Werewolf, Value 3) – No special ability.
• 54. Lone Wolf (Werewolf, Value 4) – No special ability.
• 55. Wolf Form (Werewolf, Value 5) – No special ability.
• 60. Wand (Item, Value 0) – On Play: Play the first Spell card in your deck. Shuffle your deck.
• 64. Dreamwalk (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Your opponent reveals their hand. Play a card.
• 66. Fortune (Spell, Value 0) – On Play: Look at the top 3 cards of your deck. Play a card.
• 67. Chester (Animal, Value 8) – On Play: Reveal your hand. Discard your highest value card. Friend +3
• 68. Vampster (Animal, Value 0) – Ongoing: Flip this card if it's not the highest value card in play. Friend +10
• 69. Stoney (Animal, Value 3) – Ongoing: At the end of the round, return this card to your hand. Friend +3
• 70. Cheeklet (Animal, Value 1) – No special ability. Friend +1
• 71. Cheeken (Animal, Value 3) – Has +8 for each Cheeklet you have in play. Friend +3
• 72. Draculamb (Animal, Value 4) – No special ability. Friend +3
• 73. Rabbicula (Animal, Value 2) – No special ability. Friend +3
• 74. Cowcula (Animal, Value 5) – No special ability. Friend +3
• 75. Almanac (Item, Value 1) – On Play: Draw 3 cards.

Best Decks to Win Consistently

Let's say that you're either the most studious or the most lucky Nokturna player this side of Moonlight Peaks, and you have all the cards in the game and have multiples of them to spare. We want to take the whole card pool and put together some dream decks that should win consistently and put your opponents to the sword.

Here are three sample decks that we would suggest you try and work toward building in Moonlight Peaks:

Werewolf Deck

First, we have the Werewolf deck, a deck that focuses mainly on getting as many wolves on the field during one round as possible to overload the field and give the opponent no chance of matching your score.

The ideal play here, assuming you get perfect draws, is to start with Howling Wolf and hope that you pull Wolf Pack, as this will play yet another wolf into play. Then, you could play another Wolf Pack, Loyal Wolf, or Time Loop if your hand isn't as strong as you would like. Before playing Alpha Wolf to finish off the round, boost the value of this card by +2 for every wolf you get on the field.

Then, during your second turn, it's all about conceding the point and setting up for the third round. So, you should play cards like Full Moon and Almanac to get more cards in your hand and then play any wolf card to make up the numbers.

Then finally, you should repeat the strategy used in the first round for the third, possibly utilizing Gravedigger to bring back a Wolf Pack, as this will be the guaranteed highest-value card in your discard pile, meaning two additional wolves on the field.

Here are all the cards you'll need to make this work:

• 2× Full Moon (Value 2, Location) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Werewolf, draw a card. Persist
• 2× Howling Wolf (Value 3, Werewolf) – On Play: Reveal the top card of your deck. If it's a Werewolf, play it. Otherwise discard it.
• 2× Wolf Pack (Value 4, Werewolf) – On Play: Reveal your hand. Play your lowest value Werewolf.
• 2× Gravedigger (Value 1, Werewolf) – On Play: Play the highest value Werewolf from your discard pile.
• 2× Alpha Wolf (Value 1, Werewolf) – On Play: Gain +2 for every other Werewolf you have in play.
• 2× Loyal Wolf (Value 4, Werewolf) – Ongoing: At the end of the round, return this card to your hand.
• 2× Werewolf (Value 3, Werewolf) – No special ability.
• 2× Werecub (Value 2, Werewolf) – No special ability.
• 2× Time Loop (Value 0, Spell) – On Play: Draw a card. Play a card.
• 2× Almanac (Value 1, Item) – On Play: Draw 3 cards.

Aquatic Deck

Next we have the Aquatic deck, a loadout that focuses on nerfing your opponents' cards rather than worrying too much about your own points tally.

Again, perfect draws assumed, your first turn would ideally play Deep Sea, a persisting card that means all non-aquatic cards lose a point. Then, you would ideally double down with Charm of the Ocean to have them lose yet another point. Then, finally, you hit them with Queen of the Sea, which will have their top card in play lose at least 6 points. You'll only have 8 points on the board, but in most cases, that'll be enough.

Then, I would recommend trying to go for the 2-0 victory, because if you're playing against a deck that has persist cards, the game might get away from you. Ideally, repeat this scenario again. But, if the cards don't fall quite right, lean into high-value cards like Skullfin, and be sure to use Trident at the end of the turn for a killer blow.

Here are the cards you will need to run for the Aquatic Deck:

• 2× Queen of the Sea (Value 5, Aquatic) – On Play: The highest-value opposing card gets -2 for each Aquatic in play. Elusive
• 2× Siren (Value 2, Aquatic) – On Play: All opposing cards with a value of 6 or more get -3. Elusive
• 2× Charm of the Ocean (Value 2, Aquatic) – On Play: All opposing cards get -1. Elusive
• 2× Skullfin (Value 5, Aquatic) – Ongoing: At the end of the round, return this card to your hand. Elusive
• 2× Starfish (Value 2, Aquatic) – On Play: Draw a card. Elusive
• 2× Deep Sea (Value 1, Location) – Ongoing: All other non-Aquatics have -1 while this card is in play. Persist
• 2× Trident (Value 1, Item) – On Play: Gets a value equal to the combined value of all Aquatics in play.
• 2× Bubble (Value 0, Spell) – On Play: Your next card gains Elusive. Play a card.
• 2× Time Loop (Value 0, Spell) – On Play: Draw a card. Play a card.
• 2× Almanac (Value 1, Item) – On Play: Draw 3 cards.

Plant Deck

Then lastly, we have the Plant Deck, a deck that's all about setting up early and making the most of cards that persist to win games on the back end.

To begin, Greenhouse is the best opening gambit, followed by Gobber, as this gives you a +3 for all plant types for the rest of the game. Then, end this round with Nightshade, as this will mean it gets the maximum amount of persists during the game. You have no real hope of winning the first round, but the second and third are yours to lose.

In the second round, you'll want to win, but you'll also want to make yourself bulletproof in the third round. So, you'll want to play cards like Willow Tree and Sage, and if you're up against it in the final turn, Watering Can usually will get you out of a bind.

If you get through the second round, the hard part is over, as the last round practically takes care of itself, as you'll have about 15 points before you even play a card.

If you want to run the plant deck, here's what you'll need to include in your deck:

• 2× Greenhouse (Value 2, Location) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Plant, it gets +2. Persist
• 2× Nightshade (Value 0, Plant) – Ongoing: Gets +5 each time it Persists. Persist
• 2× Gobbler (Value 2, Plant) – Ongoing: Whenever you play a Plant, this gets +1. Persist
• 2× Fertilizer (Value 0, Item) – On Play: Reveal your hand. Play your lowest value Plant. It gets +3.
• 2× Mysterious Seeds (Value 0, Item) – On Play: Reveal the top 2 cards of your deck. Play each Plant. Discard the others.
• 2× Watering Can (Value 1, Item) – On Play: All your Plants get +2.
• 2× Roses (Value 1, Plant) – On Play: Draw a card. Persist
• 2× Willow Tree (Value 3, Plant) – No special ability. Persist
• 2× Sage (Value 2, Plant) – No special ability. Persist
• 2× Enlarge (Value 0, Spell) – On Play: Your next card gets +2. Play a card.