Gwent Content Creators

[_Shavi_]

Imo there are two different categories, twitchers and youtubers.
- Twich: I've followed quite a lot of gwent streamers and have to say absolute favourite is Spyro. Yes, he plays meta-decks but that's what most of us want to see, high level gameplay. But in fact what I find so unique from his streams is his authenticity and the fact he is one of those persons who ends being funny while not trying to be funny, hard to explain. And he's really passionate about the game which is something I appreciate, have seen him discussing gwent after finishing his stream several times. Also, his casting skills are superb.
- Youtubers: I follow a lot of them, my favs are Ace of plays, bushr, fuchsiabriefs, freddy, trynet, devildriven, habbla, specimen and recently I would recommend The Council. Spyros tutorials on youtube are great too.

 

[DRK3]

Im posting today's Habbla's video here, since he's a streamer, but it could easily just be put on a 'problems of Gwent thread'.

I dont need streamers to "teach me" what to think or to validate my opinions, but i do feel like they have more attention than the common playerbase, and therefore an higher chance to influence the game devs in what the direction Gwent should take. And so, i obviously like when i see a streamer sharing the same opinions i have, and hope the general negative wave around the game forces some bigger commitment.

Im actually not gonna talk about all the problems, or all the problems Habbla mentioned - that would warrant its own thread.
I just want to address one: the leaders and leader provisions.

Lockdown is obviously a huge issue, and im not so sure it must stay in game, like i did before. I like it as a counter to greedy decks that have no other counter, but when it's just too good and oppressive against anything, and the provision deficit isnt enough as a handicap as it should be, it becomes dominant, like it is right now.

But in general, the leader provisions are a complete mess. Almost all are in the 164-167 range, and that's what leads to everyone using the same leaders while others are completely neglected.

-Looking at Skellige, no wonder everyone is using Ursine RItual, with 167 provisions and the Cerys play.
I wanted to use Rage of the Sea, its an interesting ability, but at 163 provisions, it was overnerfed, GS arent as oppressive anymore and yet this ability was left like this. Also Onslaught at 166 is a joke, it should clearly have more than UR.

-Scoiatael. Invigorate is 166! Same as Guerrilla Tactics, Call of Harmony and Mahakam Forge. Even compared to other factions, Invigorate should get like 169-170 provisions, and being at the bottom of winrates for YEARS is more than proof enough.

-Nilfgaard. It actually has many viable leaders. My problem is with Doublecross. 167 provisions, the most NG has, its absolutely absurd (and Habbla mentions this in video). They removed all the leaders that allowed 2 cards played in 1 turn but THEY FORGOT FREAKIN DOUBLECROSS. Its incredibly hard to play around and leave 3 bad cards for your opponent at the end. Why? Combo decks are dead and you need midrangey cards and your DC opponent will capitalize on that. This is IMO the biggest provision error in the game, it should be 162-163 provisions since its now the only leader that can still play 2 cards in 1 turn, and with how good Assimilate and Ball are, the downside is almost non-existent.

(To mods - if you feel like this post should be on another thread, feel free to move)

 

[Lokiat0r]

Interesting video. He certainly raises a lot of good points.

Scoiatael. Invigorate is 166! Same as Guerrilla Tactics, Call of Harmony and Mahakam Forge. Even compared to other factions, Invigorate should get like 169-170 provisions, and being at the bottom of winrates for YEARS is more than proof enough.

I found Invigorate to be an okay leader tactic when I first started playing. However, the overwhelming problem is that to get the most guaranteed benefit out of Invigorate, you need to use it immediately in the first round with a full hand of units. The longer you put off using it, the worse an ability it potentially becomes. That's almost exactly the opposite of what most leader abilities should be... Most of the time you can greatly improve your chance of victory by saving your leader ability for the final round, but Invigorate forces the immediate use in R1 because you'll get bled hard in R2 if you try to save it.

Unfortunately, I can't think of any good alternatives involving handbuffs where Aglais doesn't turn into a balancing nightmare.

 

[Messyr]

My problem is with Doublecross. 167 provisions, the most NG has, its absolutely absurd

DC varies in effectiveness greatly. It can be played around (making awkward choices, sure), it can simply hit some bad cards if pulled early, overall it is very conditional and predictable. Sure, at least 1-2 of the hits will be somewhat (sometimes very) useful, but there are a good amount of cases very it simply flops, putting a relatively useless card on board and wasting a one-use Leader ability.

They removed all the leaders that allowed 2 cards played in 1 turn but THEY FORGOT FREAKIN DOUBLECROSS

They removed Leaders which granted calculated plays with specific cards on demand. DC pulls a semi-random card from your opponents hand - a distinctively different scenario than being able to pull the right card of your selection at the right time as the other leaders did.

Overall, DC is far from pulling high winrate with any of the decks that are currently built around it (be it Mill or Assimilate). It is an OK Leader, yet ages away from being in the top tier. Further nerfing it's provisions would be a mistake.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2021

I found Invigorate to be an okay leader tactic when I first started playing. However, the overwhelming problem is that to get the most guaranteed benefit out of Invigorate, you need to use it immediately in the first round with a full hand of units. The longer you put off using it, the worse an ability it potentially becomes. That's almost exactly the opposite of what most leader abilities should be... Most of the time you can greatly improve your chance of victory by saving your leader ability for the final round, but Invigorate forces the immediate use in R1 because you'll get bled hard in R2 if you try to save it.

Invigorate design is just flat out bad. It is simply not on par with other Leaders in almost any aspects.
As it was suggested many times already, it should focus on directed hand (or deck) buffing, something along how the Allgod works. Being able to strategically place ~6-9 points on cards in your deck/hand would bring this up a few tiers immediately.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2021

Scoiatael. Invigorate is 166! Same as Guerrilla Tactics, Call of Harmony and Mahakam Forge. Even compared to other factions, Invigorate should get like 169-170 provisions, and being at the bottom of winrates for YEARS is more than proof enough.

You could put Invigorate at 175 provisions and it would still fail in it's current iteration.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2021

Lockdown is obviously a huge issue, and im not so sure it must stay in game, like i did before. I like it as a counter to greedy decks that have no other counter, but when it's just too good and oppressive against anything, and the provision deficit isnt enough as a handicap as it should be, it becomes dominant, like it is right now.

It is not the actual Leader that wins those games in itself. Those wins are hard carried by Kolgrim and 3-4 10+ Viper Mentors (and the occasional clogged mulligans).
Lockdown without these recent additions was nowhere near as oppressive before. Just go and try an oldfashioned Soldier/Ball Lockdown deck. A solid choice, yet nowhere near the success rate of the current Nova/Clog/Witcher archetype.

 

[ReaperTek]

They removed Leaders which granted calculated plays with specific cards on demand. DC pulls a semi-random card from your opponents hand - a distinctively different scenario than being able to pull the right card of your selection at the right time as the other leaders did.

Overall, DC is far from pulling high winrate with any of the decks that are currently built around it (be it Mill or Assimilate). It is an OK Leader, yet ages away from being in the top tier. Further nerfing it's provisions would be a mistake.

DC is the assimilate Leader and if it's used with enough Assimilate Unit's on board it always plays for a decent value even with "bad" draws which usually can be avoided if you know what you're up against and don't get to greedy like hoping for a Gord in the last 3 Card's while the opponent wisely only keeped faction specific Tudors and another "useless" Card.

I was also surprised that it didn't receive a rework along with the other 2 Card's in 1 Turn Leaders especially considering that it's also able to high roll in to the best Cards of the Game, heck even Wild Card (especially since it didn't have access to Vivaldi Bank because it doesn't have a Crime tag) received one and Slander in to Graden isn't exactly that much different than PF in to Champions Charge or Imposter/Imprisonment in to Vanhemar/Vincent.

They also kind of seem to have forget the provision buffs they gave them during the times when UR(which also received a additional hidden buff when they increased the power of the Bear Abomination from 5 to 6) and DC where rarely played and have been more of a Meme compared to the strongest faction Leaders during those times (Second Wind/Enslave and pre nerf Impirial Formation) and didn't have as much support like they currently have imho they both have no right to be on 17 Provisions everything above 16 provisions should really be reserved for only the weakest Leader skills.

My former stance on Lockdown being a necessary Evil has totally changed, imho it will get even more problematic the more powerful Card's they introduce it just became now more obvious with the clog Archetype additionally Lockdown seems to be the perfect excuse to not hotfix (or even balance them later) broken or Overtuned Leader interactions because it's pure existence already reduces their reliability and removes necessity to properly balance them.

Invigorate design is just flat out bad. It is simply not on par with other Leaders in almost any aspects.
As it was suggested many times already, it should focus on directed hand (or deck) buffing, something along how the Allgod works

They removed Sacrificial Vanguard with the reason that generates Carryover (i really don't see where it generates Carryover tough, they should have removed the most dull SK Leader Reckless Flurry instead, especially after the Greatsword rework that Leader became almost entirely Useless) so it would make totally "sense" to rework it in to something that generates Carryover, seriously Invigorate needs a entire rework maybe a further support for Dwarfs or along with the next expansion to support a newly added Archetype.

 

[Messyr]

They removed Sacrificial Vanguard with the reason that generates Carryover (i really don't see where it generates Carryover tough

That was a questionable, or I'd even say bad decision, I agree. That specific Leader was absolutely unique and strongly supported a specific archetype of SK (even though at that time it wasn't competitive).
The removal of SV felt more like an excuse in order to avoid being forced into a scenario where they have to release future cards targeted to this specific decktype.
As such, now there are specific cards previously supporting SV waiting for a full rework in order to become playable again (Coral for example).

I also agree that Reckless Flurry is by far the most dull of all available SK leaders. It is on par in my book with Jackpot in SY.

P.S.: we are really moving away from the main topic here, so yes, probably these posts could be moved under a different thread.

 

[DRK3]

They removed Leaders which granted calculated plays with specific cards on demand. DC pulls a semi-random card from your opponents hand - a distinctively different scenario than being able to pull the right card of your selection at the right time as the other leaders did.

Overall, DC is far from pulling high winrate with any of the decks that are currently built around it (be it Mill or Assimilate). It is an OK Leader, yet ages away from being in the top tier. Further nerfing it's provisions would be a mistake.

There's a proverb that applies perfectly here: "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king".

Doublecross is that king now (or Queen, more appropriately )

 

[ottergog]

Trynet123 - a very popular streamer, and i totally see why: from the ones i know, he's the most consistent in posting videos, almost everyday i think, 45-60min each. He has regular videos, but now also weekly tournaments where he casts matches between his viewers, or its him vs his viewers.
He is by far the most composed streamer, never seen him angry once in like a hundred videos; and never seen him have "meltdowns" like other streamers, where they say they're quitting the game or need a break.

He is by far one of the most composed players out there, which made this intro so funny. The first minute should be shared with everyone working on the Gwent team. This, kind developers, is our current collective bane expressed very eloquently!

"[Gwent] Crushing SK with A Vampile" on YouTube

Post automatically merged: Feb 21, 2021

You need to catch it from the very start to see his reaction.

Post automatically merged: Feb 21, 2021

True to thread topic, will add that I have been enjoying the YouTube posts of The Council.

 

[DRK3]

Good afternoon, ladies and gents.
I return to this topic, but this time is not to talk about streamers - i will change the title of the thread to broaden the scope of the thread - but about other gwent content creators, more specifically, Gwent teams.

Disclaimer: i am not a fan of these teams of players, and i've been very critical of them in the past, specifically for their meta reports and how they influence the meta and reinforce netdecking behaviour. Despite my opinion, i will try my best to be unbiased, and any criticisms dished out will have a basis to back them out.


I want to bring attention to other problems, ones i've been slowly noticing over the past few months, and today they reached a breaking point.
I will be very negative (that is my specialty after all ), but i encourage others to bring light to the positives of these team's actions, or even refute my arguments with their own. I might even do a post on the positives i find, later on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe the two biggest Gwent teams are Team Aretuza and Team Leviathan Gaming. I know more recently, other teams have popped up, like Bandit gang and Elder Blood, but i dont know enough about them yet to make any claims.

Looking at the roster of TLG and Aretuza, its easy to see they are "powerhouses", they have in their members +70% of the big names in gwent, whether they are streamers (SpecimenGwent, Misterhabbla, Spyro_ZA), official casters (Shinmiri, Jaggerous, Lionhart), or even pro players (gravesh, Kams, and even Pajabol, the only Gwent Masters winner).

So, if they have so many of these talented players and creators, i expect quality content of their websites, no? But that is not what i found, far from it:

On TLG, i enter the site and i see a meta report on May 6th. That is the day of the 8.5 patch, i found it weird and checked it out, were they that quick? No, that was a meta report for the previous season! Like, what the F'? Are they so out of touch with the game that they dont know when a new patch with significant changes is coming out? And release a meta report so late its outdated on launch

So, i checked Team Aretuza's website, to see if the situation is better - the last meta report was for season of the bear, that was in March, i believe. So no, not a better situation at all...

Have these teams lost relevance? Or they're more focused on other CCGs, like Runeterra? Are the new teams, that i mentioned earlier, have overtaken these 2 colossi in popularity? Because i know for sure netdecking is still huge in Gwent, but perhaps players are getting their metadecks from other sources?

The REAL reason i checked these websites was not to look at meta reports, but to check other articles they may have. On TLG, they have so many people but only wusubi writes articles, and only like 1 every 2 months.
On Aretuza's there's also no articles except some interviews and meta reports (not even for every season).

This is very frustrating for me. I love writing for gwent, whether its meme deck guides or other misc. stuff, and perhaps this is bravado but i think i alone would do a better job in the written department than these entire teams. But this is not motivating me to prove it, i think maybe its just showing written articles and guides, even meta reports, have too few of an audience, and videos and streams is where the success it's at. What do you guys think?

 

[quintivarium]

I don’t really have an opinion on Gwent “Teams” — they generally don’t impact my enjoyment of the game one way or another.

Like you, I wish there were more, stronger, written articles about Gwent strategy — when I was learning the game, I found nothing useful except for Gwent glossaries. Eventually I found Spyro_za’s series of instructional videos (which are quite excellent), but I would prefer to learn from articles. Maybe that’s why I appreciate your guides so much.

 

[DRK3]

Today, i go back to 'spreading the word' about some of my favourite gwent creators:

First of all, our favourite mate from the land down under. This video in particular shows a deck most players hate, including myself, but it's for a very important cause, explained by Fuchsia in the beginning of the video, so i recommend it to support a charity organization and also the man himself in a time of need. Also, i recommend watching his other videos, some of the best meme quality content on youtube.

Next, the creator i've watched the most. There was a time earlier this year when he seemed to be moving away from gwent, but more recently, specially since he created his Patreon, he's more devoted to creating content for the game, and actually trying to diversify content instead of the same stuff as other streamers - that is represented perfectly with this multi-part series with another creator and a very interesting concept and direct support from CDPR itself.

Finally, this is a new creator i found recently. His videos are a mix of netdecks and more original decks. The one in particular im sharing is the first one i saw from him.
His style is not for everyone, and im talking about the speed of his videos. I love it, thanks to its edits its lightning fast, so most of his videos are 3-15 min long instead of 30-60min, and also they include some memes and jokes similar to Great Dandelion Show.
I think he started recently, but on the past month it seems he's posting regularly, a few videos each week.

 

[Tucoffin]

Haven't watched much of Fuchsia, but my dude Habbla there is an absolute blast! His intros are worth the videos alone, but he's actually very dedicated to his channel now.

KorathiHeatwave's channel is growing on me, because his videos are very well edited, and sometimes I don't wanna listen to commentary - just analise the plays by myself. He's also a very competent player. Good calls on your recommendations, @DRK3.

PS: Where is our dear friend Freddybabes? Did he quit for the time being (or forever)?

 

[ReaperTek]

PS: Where is our dear friend Freddybabes? Did he quit for the time being (or forever)?

He's currently playing off camera because he wants to play competitive again.

Him now playing competitive again and Lifecoach also suddenly returning to Gwent could maybe mean that Gwent World Masters 1 is just around the corner?

 

[Draconifors]

I don't follow any GWENT content on YouTube, except for the official channel of course, but I like to watch a few people over on Twitch. All of them interact with chat, which includes answering questions, and also talk as they're playing to think aloud and also explain why they make those plays. All of them are very good players, too.
In no particular order:

Trynet123 is popular for very good reason. Really chill streams, and he never gets angry or calls opponents names.

I'd imagine everyone knows WatchFlake from the Masters, but his own streams are also really good. Super fun, and it's always a good time.

Everyone also knows shinmiri2, and his streams are by far the most educational ones I've ever watched. But they're also really entertaining and fun.

Then there's a much smaller streamer called PlainTalkJon. He is extremely laid-back and chill, and plays a lot of meme decks in addition to "serious" ones. His community is small but great.

Last but not least, and I sure am glad he's back, Lifecoach1981. He's a brilliant streamer, and excellent at the game too just like he was in the past. Super fun to watch.

 

[vultusprime]

Trynet123 is popular for very good reason. Really chill streams, and he never gets angry or calls opponents names.

I personally find trynet1234 a little boring. It seems to me that he simply "clocks in" does his day of work and that's it. Of all the streamers or youtubers, he's the one with less enthusiasm for the game.

 

[DRK3]

I personally find trynet1234 a little boring. It seems to me that he simply "clocks in" does his day of work and that's it. Of all the streamers or youtubers, he's the one with less enthusiasm for the game.

I disagree with your opinion on trynet, but before i justify, i have to say i am not of his biggest fans who would defend him blindly no matter the situation, in fact i stopped watching him when this year started, because he posts so regularly that it becomes too time-consuming.
So, i am doing it rationally and for the sake of fairness.

I can understand how some would find him boring and less enthusiastic, but that's one side of the coin, the bad one, and you're disregarding the good: he's calm, doesnt get affected by results much, he's mature instead of several gwent streamers/youtubers who are loud, obnoxious and use clickbait thumbnails, he posts more regularly than any other (not sure about twitch, but on YT im am sure of this; and he has never had a meltdown and pretend to quit the game, only to return a few days/weeks later after calming down.

Yes, he 'clocks in', from what i understand he has a contract so he has to stream x hours everyday, most streamers dont have this source of income, i guess they only earn through youtube/twitch views and ads (not sure how those work, doesnt matter).

Still, even if its due to his contract, he's "loyal" to the game, communicative with his chat and most importantly, plays extremely well. In fact i dont think there's any streamer who plays at his level, only pro players do - if this was my main criterion for selection on who to watch, i would have kept watching him, but alas, its not, and i rather have entertainment, and more sporadically because i dont have as much time as i did.

 

[Easha]

A topic about content creators and all I see is video content while there is so much more to content creation.
Blogs, guides, articles, infographics, podcasts, custom cards or even whole expansions... Sure, it is harder to produce such content on a daily basis and that is probably the reason why it seems like nobody (here) has this part of content creation on their radar.

Meanwhile I do not consume any Youtube and only use Twitch for official Gwent content where I get some actual news instead of mere opinions. It is utterly boring to me to watch people tossing cards when I could play myself during my limited leisure time. Which is yet another reason why I prefer written content: I can just get all the information in a minute or two instead of wasting 15 minutes of my time to watch a video whose content could be summarised in a few bullet points.

 

[DRK3]

A topic about content creators and all I see is video content while there is so much more to content creation.
Blogs, guides, articles, infographics, podcasts, custom cards or even whole expansions... Sure, it is harder to produce such content on a daily basis and that is probably the reason why it seems like nobody (here) has this part of content creation on their radar.

Meanwhile I do not consume any Youtube and only use Twitch for official Gwent content where I get some actual news instead of mere opinions. It is utterly boring to me to watch people tossing cards when I could play myself during my limited leisure time. Which is yet another reason why I prefer written content: I can just get all the information in a minute or two instead of wasting 15 minutes of my time to watch a video whose content could be summarised in a few bullet points.

Well, only recently did i convert this thread from just being focused on gwent streamers/youtubers to all content creators.
I havent shared any other type of content here because i dont follow any in particular, but the purpose of the thread is for EVERYONE to share and recommend their favourite content they find.

And there's no rule against self-promotion: you're welcome to share here your blog link and an explanation of it.

Like you, i am fan of written content over video content, for similar reasons, and i too feel somewhat bitter over the gwent team's neglect of this type of creators - as far as i know, the only players who ever got the official partner status are video creators.
I've been thinking about questioning them directly about this, perhaps on the TWIG segment.

Personally, i dont own a gwent site or blog or channel, all i've written for Gwent i shared here on this forums, probably hundreds of hours over 4 years, which i bet is more commitment than some of what the current official partners had to do for it. But i feel this might've been the wrong choice, since it seems these forums are the most ignored by the dev and PR team.
Oh well, i'll stop now or this will turn into another rant on how poor their communication with their playerbase is, we dont need another one of those

(EDIT) My turn to self promote - my recent project, where i share a new, original deck every day, with deck guide and a few notes.
You said you prefered written content, just 2-3min reading, this is perfect for you, hope you enjoy it and try some of the decks:

Deck of the Day

(EDIT - 27/06/21) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rdV1QBsdGuz-YFb-RFZRJUjNgeQreTooDVOVE5KhcR4/edit?usp=sharing Hello everyone. I come here today with perhaps my most ambitious project for the Gwent Forum. The title of the thread should be clear on its purpose - each day i will share a...

forums.cdprojektred.com

 

[Easha]

It was for sure not meant as an accusation, but a mere observation.
However, and in defense of the Reds, I can assure you there is a Gwent Partner who received the status for her blog - because I am that person. Nonetheless, I support your qustion on TWIG in that regard as most of the content creators are producing video content. And while you state self-promotion is okay, I did not come here for the highly important internet points, but to point out that there is more to Gwent content creation than moving pictures.

Regarding Teams that you mentioned in #69: The only Gwent team that matters to me is CDPRs internal Team Diamond which is in charge of UI and other polishing and bestowed great work such as the new Stratagem animations upon us which is something I can appreciate.

As for forum content: I started writing the first newbie guides before it became en vogue after Homecoming on external websites, but as the work conditions there took a turn for the worse this platform was no longer an option so I moved some of my content to the forums which can now be found here. Once again in defense of the Reds, I worked with red_coshy to transfer that knowledge here. There are still some older guides to update and transfer, but time is limited and quite frankly: working on articles for our blog takes a higher priority for that very reason.

Writing of which, let me promote it here after your invitation. We don't use social media and do no(t) regReddit, so dropping a link here is probably not a bad idea after all:

Glittering Girly Gwent Gaming – Two girls' perspective on GWENT The Witcher Card Game

girlygwent.emjer.com

At Glittering Girly Gwent Gaming my co-auther Princess Poppy and me are writing about Gwent through the eyes of two girls.
Experience the dark, grey Witcher world displayed in the card game through rose-coloured glasses. Silver for monsters, steel for humans, and glitter for everyone!
Our girly blog is meant to bring some cuteness and glitter to the dark and grizzly Witcher world just to bring a contrast to the table. That is why our posts are full of silliness, bad puns, meme deck guides, and whatever else we can possibly come up with – from girls but not only for girls. Gwentlemen are welcome as well.
We also wanted to fill a niche in content creation. Most of the existing content is just about meta decks, how to become a better player and lots of competitive topics in general. In contrast Glittering Girly Gwent Gaming looks beyond numbers and competition: at the artworks of the cards, at the lore, at the people behind the game… We felt this aspect was underrepresented and so are the blog format and ladies in content creation when it comes to Gwent.

 

[DRK3]

@Easha Those intro decks you did and shared here was the first time i found out about you and your blog, actually.

And i did ask Burza yesterday on his TWIG AMA about the gwent partners program, at that time i thought you didnt get that status, but afterwards i checked the official list also in these forums and found your name there, which made me hopeful about gwent written creations.

I contacted Ryan before doing an actual application for the program, now waiting for his answer, but now its the weekend, and they'll be so busy with PoP expansion promotion beginning monday, so it might take some time, but that's OK.

On a final note, i too prefer interesting and original decks, the so-called memes, and always try to encourage players to at least try them or build their own.