The most OP deck now is probably the Lined Pockets. And that's why it's probably correct to assume it's gonna be nerfed. Than the NG metabreaker will probably become the strongest and that's why I suppose CDPR is (should be) considering nerfing it as well. But what to nerf exactly?
I can see, many people consider the quad Joachim combo the most problematic. But I have to say, I tried to run it in many decks without the Masquerade Ball (like various Assimilate, Enslave, Imprisonment or Imposter) last and this season and I have to claim, these decks are interesting, but not strong enough by any means. And by strong I mean being widely known (so your opponent knows it and can foresee whats comming) and still be strong enough to be in like tier 1 or 2 at least.
And this leads me to a "heretic" conclusion, that MASQUERADE BALL is actually the card TO BE NERFED - or better say - REWORKED. AND THE REST OF THE FACTION SHOULD BE BUFFED in fact at the same time.
Funny today I was also thinking about starting a thread about scenario's.
First I played a few games to try out some and analyze which one is the best but more importantly why?
MB came (without surprise) out on top, followed by Haunt the rest of scenario's aren't that offending.
Why is the NG scenario so OP?
1 Poison ability is very strong and it can have a very high ceiling even in 2 turns
2 NG has the best gold support for scenario
Both combined are simply 2 massive winconditions if your scenario won't get heatwaved.
Even if it gets heatwaved the NG aristocrats are still very powerful.
Fun fact is that your chance of winning in a mirror is much higher when you swap MB and replace it for Heatwave
Simply because you save 5 provisions meaning you can play more golds
But it doesn't stop with MB alone NG has some cards that totally ignore Gwent's provision system:
A Yennefer: Invocation
B Cantarella / Gorthur Gvaed
Double cross is the most played NG leader at the moment because it contributes very favorable in point output:
I The highest provision bonus of +17
2 Knowing your opponents hand can be helpful to play around things or steal strategy
3 Massive value when highrolling into a good gold card
So there is not 1 simple change to fix all we need several.
I would start with scenario's in general:
a Scenario chapter will only trigger when bronze unit is played
For NG in specific:
b Fangs of the Empire should be changed to 5 provision cost
On short term i would suggest to change below cards on long term they should change entirely:
c Yennefer Invocation: place an enemy unit at the
bottom of your deck
d Gorthur Gvaed: move a card of your opponents graveyard to the
bottom of their deck
As for Double cross I would prefer a leader ability that doesn't rely on a RNG-ish interaction.
This one is kind of difficult because the assimilate archetype is full of RNG which isn't interesting at all from a competitive point of view.
Of all the assimilate cards that trigger the ability Duchess informant, Vigo and Braathens are fine but the rest is just a casino which can be highly frustrating to play against.
So in short assimilate and double cross need pretty big rework
