Aerondight makes red coin way too punishing

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In general, back in open-beta, going first put you at a big disadvantage. With Homecoming, it was lessened somewhat with Tactical Advantage and the extra mulligan the player going first got. When the new stratagems were released, it brought going first and second in pretty close parity. While some decks still prefer and take advantage of going second, it was roughly even I’d say,

Unfortunately, it’s not like that anymore. With Aerondight in the game, going second feels incredibly punishing now. Perhaps even equal to open-beta blue coin. Winning the first round in Gwent is important as it gives you round control. You get to decide how long round 2 is for the most part, and you can avoid being bled. So many decks now (in fact most) can 2-0 an opponent easily. Aerondight exacerbates this problem. Going first means you get huge tempo advantage which ensures your Aerondight is always at max value, and what’s worse, it denies your opponent’s Aerondight entirely. In certain match-ups, especially mirror matches (for example Golden Nekker relicts), the game is decided by the coin flip alone. Whoever goes first gets a good Aerondight and the opponent doesn’t. The only way the player going first loses the match is if they misplay badly or just get really bad draws (which is rare considering all these decks run GN, Roach, Knickers, and other thinning which gives them huge tempo on top of consistency).

It’s at a point where I feel like I can’t compete if I don’t run those decks. And so I do, but the moment I see that they get the first move, I get depressed and don’t even want to play the match because I know I’ve lost already (especially in a mirror). I’ve never felt so punished by turn order before. Aerondight is such a binary card (like so many other cards they’ve released in the last set) where you pretty much get either massive value or no points at all. What’s worse, this turn-to-turn “fight” for most points at the end of of the turn makes people play the exact same way. Slam all your high-value golds in round 1 with Roach and Knickers and other cards that jump out of your deck or hand, and play down to 0 cards in rounds 1 and 2 so you have a beefy Aerondight stacked on top of your deck for a short round 3.

Aerondight is not a healthy card for this game. It makes people play the exact same way, and it makes games too easily decided by the coin flip alone (that should never be a thing). The worst thing though? It takes all strategy, nuance, and planning out of the game. There is no more bluffing, trying to bleed, deciding what should be saved for later rounds, or long-term planning. All it takes to win now is slamming all your cards in round 1 and have Aerondight carry you in rounds 2 and 3 with other forms of carry-over.

I don’t think this is good for the health of the game, and I don’t think most players like playing Gwent this way.
 
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I agree with everything, aerondight is a toxic card that is ruinning The game.

Alao we have devs without "The feeling" about The game. I know they said in theyr articles about balance that they cant listening for every blame because while some players are blaming, other players are loving it, and usualy People takes time to blame



Buuuuut, nevertheless that, devs need to have The feeling to know what and when they need to change.

2 season (and maybe 3) to change somenthing that os ruinning the game its not aceptable
 
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