For which faction you like the PoP expansion the most?

[Markus_Wirth]

Now, after I tried out all the new mechanics a bit I want to ask your which is your favorite faction concerning the last PoP update?

My ranking is a as follows:

1) NR
I really like the new Patience key word. Gerhart of Aelle is really fun to play and Band Ard Student + Aretusa Adepts + Necromancy + Casting Contest are great combos. Did not really try the cooldown archetype already but in total I think it´s a good replacement for charges.
Downside: Istredd. I tried an all-in Snowdrop + Istredd + Pincer Maneuver deck but did not really succeed. His patience ability can maybe include a big decree of consistency but is to my mind not the best fit into this archetype.

2) MO
The new Sabbath key word is awesome and playing around with Gan Ceann also offers huge carryover potential.
Downside: Witch Apprentice: From my perspective 4 power units which can regulary increase by 4 are a bit too much. Also do not like the Viy interaction. Would add the following: If Sabbath is not achieved damage self by one instead.

3) SK
They created something great for weather. Now we have weather conditional graveyard interaction and weather transformation (Fulmar). Also strong support for the whole druid archetype (Gedyneith) and beast synergies for Axel Three-Eyes.
Downside: From my perspective all these druid focused Range of the Sea deck are currently not competitive (and probably not even close to the top SK decks). Maybe giving another passive ability to Melussine Cultist (like damage a random opponent unit in the opposite row if there is weather) can help.

4) SY
I like the overall bounty support but consider it to be very strong, maybe even too strong.
Downside: SY removal was already dominating before PoP 1. Maybe some cards should be slightly nerfed (they already did for Professor).
Same ideas for nerfing some of the strong cards:
Whoreson Junior: Devotion (Melee): Boost an opponent unit by 1 and then damage by 6 instead if its boosted. (Actually would appreciate if SY Cutups get a boost-opponent units archetype)
Witchfinder: Reduce power to 6

5) NG
Unlike many other players I consider Rience to be a wonderful card. He can offer huge value and there are so many synergizing cards interacting with the top 3 of your deck + Rico. Also you can use him in various strategies (Hyperthin, Mill, Snowdrop).
Downside: The other 3 cards I consider to be a disappointment. The bronzes (11 for 9 + 2 thinning) are too strong and have almost no downside. Dead Man´s Tongue is okish but can so easily run into tall punish that its only valid usecase I consider to be is Hyperthin.

6) SC
Biggest disappointment. Francesca is comparable to old mystic echo but she has some use cases. Vanadain is completely unplayable currently. Whisperer of Dol Blathanna is very comparable to Symbiosis 3 and Sorceress of Dol Blathanna is also ok (from my perspective even the best SC POP card) but honestly there is no card I am hyped about.
Probably the idea of the deck is to make as many specials as possible and have one big Gord in the end. Hope that PoP 2 and PoP 3 offer more creative tools, cards, key words, strategies for SC. When you read "Wield a superior elven magic and unleash a torrent of spells on your opponent!" you expect really more than just synergizing with special cards, creating special cards or transforming cards to special. Untill now we do not have 1 SC spell.

 

[zBleach25]

Rience is an elder bear and since when has snowdrop become a strategy?

 

[EduFerraz]

For me the strongest deck - untill now - are MO and NR.

Of course wich aprendice will get a huge nerf in next month (maybe in can be nerfed in this month), but untill there its my favorite card.

In the beggening i really thought the SY deck was going to be the strongest one, but until now i couldnt create a good and consistent deck. But, of course, when some other brains start to thinking, problably they will create a superb deck and that could be tier 1 or 0

 

[Draconifors]

I'll always vote NG.


And I do like their new cards, including Rience.

The Bronzes of course are amazing. The Blightmaker's whistling voiceline is one of my favourites in the entire game.
Dead Man's Tongue is great as well (at least in hyperthin, which is what I've played) especially since it has some flexibility. I used it to get rid of an Affan I had no chance of triggering anymore in one game (to make sure Vilge hit Tibor), and in another got rid of doggos I also had no chance of triggering.
Rience may not be reliable, but his ability to potentially outright delete two cards from the opponent's board would not be balanced if he was super consistent. High risk, high reward. With superb art, too (not that the others aren't great, but Rience's is even better).


SK I dislike on principle, even when its new cards are fine like now.

Sabbath and Relicts are just boring pointslam.

ST got the weakest cards, but I do like three of them. I think you can guess which one I don't because it's the one I've yet to see a single person like.

SY cards are cool, and Bounty as an archetype is probably my favourite of what Syndicate has to offer.

NR... I do think Patience is a cool mechanic (and the animation is awesome), but I just don't really like NR as a faction.

 

[DRK3]

I havent even tried the new SK, NR and ST, but i have an idea of what they are. My answer is... none.

There are definitely some great cards - value-wise - with this sub-expansion, but overall i am disappointed with it, and i dont think the meta until part 2 of PoP will be very interesting. I hope im wrong. Maybe when i try SK druids or some new NR madness i will change opinion.

Regarding Rience... F. That. Card.
When it was announced, i was one of the few who didnt make fun of it or claim it was terrible, i was willing to give it a chance, and i did.

Yes, it does provide a lot of value sometimes. And i even use RIco and a lot of the deck was built with it in mind, but it bricks way more often than i thought, and its the worst feeling...
On two occasions i almost broke my PC screen out of frustration, seeing a full enemy board with so many values, and my Rience options "dodged" those values at impossible odds, i deleted the deck immediately after and i dont think i will play RIence again anytime soon.

 

[zBleach25]

I havent even tried the new SK, NR and ST, but i have an idea of what they are. My answer is... none.

There are definitely some great cards - value-wise - with this sub-expansion, but overall i am disappointed with it, and i dont think the meta until part 2 of PoP will be very interesting. I hope im wrong. Maybe when i try SK druids or some new NR madness i will change opinion.

Regarding Rience... F. That. Card.
When it was announced, i was one of the few who didnt make fun of it or claim it was terrible, i was willing to give it a chance, and i did.

Yes, it does provide a lot of value sometimes. And i even use RIco and a lot of the deck was built with it in mind, but it bricks way more often than i thought, and its the worst feeling...
On two occasions i almost broke my PC screen out of frustration, seeing a full enemy board with so many values, and my Rience options "dodged" those values at impossible odds, i deleted the deck immediately after and i dont think i will play RIence again anytime soon.

Elder bear, I said it.

 

[Pacifixer]

I finaly tried all the factions (not all the new cards), so here's my ranking:

1.) NR
Patience is really cool ability with great potential to display your skill. Graveyard shenanigans are really fun and i'm sure there are some interesting interactions with Istred or Gerhart, that i don't even know about yet.
Unfortunately 4 cards are not enough to build a proper Patience deck. I assume we'll get more Patience cards with PoP2 and PoP3, so we have to be patient for a while longer

2.) SK
I like the weather shenanigans a lot. This archetipe is lot more demanding than a typical SK meta deck, and that's always good to see.
I think SK weather archetipe is still lacking something. Few more weather support cards should make it lot more reliable and fun.

3.) ST
I haven't tried Vanadáin yet. Franceska and bronzes are fun to play and work pretty well, they might even be a bit too strong.

4.) NG
I'm not a big fan of excessive consistency, but i have to admit, these new cards feels damn good to play (unless they brick ). Even Rience is great.
Blightmaker + Mage Assassin combo is way too strong, it definitely deserves a nerf.
Blightmaker - 4 power/ 5 prov
Deploy: Move a card in your deck to the top of it. If it was a special card, Spawn and play a Cow Carcass. If it was a mage, spawn The Guardian in this row at the end of this turn, if the card is still on the top of your deck.

5.) SY
Solid addition to Bounty archetipe. New cards work very well, but unlike other factions, SY is expanding already existing archetipe, so it's just not that exciting.

6.) MO
I hate MO! I always disliked playstyles that are super simple. The direction devs took with MO is just something i cannot agree with.
Witch Apperntice is mind-blowingly overpowered! I think they should nerf it to 3 power and 6 prov.

 

[Jollyrogerxberg]

NR! this is greed this is fun. cool reworks along the way. Love it trying to make 12p student carryover and love to curse when it wan't work.

Sc: love the bronce sourceress hate Vanadain, Franny is ok but nothing exiting just a good spellatel goldcard.
SY: cool bounty support but these kill engine decks tends to suck a lot of fun (took 3 minutes, throwing all bounty alongside freekshow and some coins in a deck. totally erased my oponents board and put the deck to rest after one game)
NG: great and totally insane powercrept bronce package. the hell? 11p pointslam and thinning move. Even SK sais whOOt?
MO: don't now. seems rather boring. bigboys, 4p engines ...who needs goldcards when piggy rides and shines
SK: have not tried. theme and meme, I like the looks, though.

 

[Messyr]

Maybe giving another passive ability to Melussine Cultist (like damage a random opponent unit in the opposite row if there is weather) can help.

Anything but that please
That card is already a clusterf#&@ of passive/active abilities which make it extremely clunky in most situations. Sometimes less is more, if it fits the role well.

 

[kachigar_gwent]

I really like Syndicate in terms of lore this expansion.

 

[ya1]

It all depends if you include balance changes and the new designs for old cards. Those changes might have even more impact on the game than the new cards.

1. NG: number 1 op bronzes ever = Blight-MA, very good and VERY bugged Tongue and a nothing Rience. I like Ball. Many people don't. But it's the only "normal" NG deck so... give those NG soldiers armor payoffs already, and soldier-based control tools so that the whole Nilfgardian nation doesn't have to go to the Ball...
2. NR: great new cards and changes, all.
3. SY: Bad bad bad. Okay Witchfinder and meh other cards, all in all except Witchfinder zero meaningful changes to bounty. Jackpot = another mistake after Cove, a new ridiculously op leader even more op than the last one. Best golds in the game, same deck, different leader, even better now.
4. ST: meh, where are the new ACTUAL ST SPECIALS?
5. MO: meh, op Koshtchey and a bunch of tall relicts to proc thrive, nothing new, EDIT: ah, the Piggies... another autoinclude.
6. SK: meh meh meh, best SK cards are neutral these days, lol.

 

[zBleach25]

It all depends if you include balance changes and the new designs for old cards. Those changes might have even more impact on the game than the new cards.

1. NG: number 1 op bronzes ever = Blight-MA, very good and VERY bugged Tongue and a nothing Rience. I like Ball. Many people don't. But it's the only "normal" NG deck so... give those NG soldiers armor payoffs already, and soldier-based control tools so that the whole Nilfgardian nation doesn't have to go to the Ball...
2. NR: great new cards and changes, all.
3. SY: Bad bad bad. Okay Witchfinder and meh other cards, all in all except Witchfinder zero meaningful changes to bounty. Jackpot = another mistake after Cove, a new ridiculously op leader even more op than the last one. Best golds in the game, same deck, different leader, even better now.
4. ST: meh, where are the new ACTUAL ST SPECIALS?
5. MO: meh, op Koshtchey and a bunch of tall relicts to proc thrive, nothing new, EDIT: ah, the Piggies... another autoinclude.
6. SK: meh meh meh, best SK cards are neutral these days, lol.

Vigilantes aren't bad, at least insofar as they are 2p engines with 4p cost

 

[Madlax1992]

Northern Realms takes the spotlight because, aside from the 4 new cards, of which 2 are indispensable, 1 is more situational and the other 1 very binary, and the new Patience archetype which is pretty nice, many of its older cards received a substantial amount of changes that revived the Siege scenario, siege engines are now playable and I like the fact that Siege decks have so many combos that work out, you can hardly fit them all in a single deck. You can go full Siege machines, you can go for a combo of siege machines and soldiers (Foltest), you can go for Mages, etc. etc.

Because of the Stockpile change and the cards with Charges were changed to Cooldown, this expansion felt bigger than what it actually was. Reworking old cards is still an expansion itself. While they are not new content per se, they are a breath of fresh air.