Letho of Gullet - Minor Buff

[rrc]

Recently I created a NG Witcher heavy deck for some Witcher Quest. I didn't expect to win any games since I created solely for the purpose of doing quests. But Having multiple Geralts and in general witchers actually seems to be OKish. I could win games in casual quite easily when I tried. But then it struck me. Recently Letho received a huge buff (from 6 power to 8 power) and it actually helps with the tempo in many games. But I want to propose another minor buff to Letho. I am not saying he is weak or unplayable now. He is actually pretty good. But..

What if he gets changed to: If Auckles is in hand Lock an enemy unit. If Serrit is in hand, damage an enemy by 3. If both of them are in hand, use both of their deploy ability. Initially I thought simply having "If Auckles is in hand use his deploy ability. If Serrit is in hand use his deploy ability." But then this would be like a nerf to him, since, if Auckles is not in hand, he would do 1 less damage. Having all three cards in hand is very very rare and when it happens, getting a little bit extra ability should be OK. Compare these to the Crones.. you can draw them in any round and play them in any round and they will get buffed deploy ability.

Then you may ask "So, the skill required is to draw all three cards and keep them in hand?" sarcastically and I will reply in a humble tone "Isn't Gwent always about 'who can draw most of their golds?'"?

 

[Sensimilius]

I think those cards should have their effects if the other cards are in hand OR on the field. :] Something like that, that way you get more out of them. They're pretty niche cards anyway.

 

[ya1]

Letho package is bad because it's anti-synergistic. In order to get good value from Letho and Serrit, you need to keep Auckes in hand. And not only is Auckes a terrible card (identical to the neutral Dorregarey), but also locks late in the round is meh.

Second, same thing as with Imprisonment, you do not want to damage & lock because 1) anti-synergy with Vanhemar and Vattier and 2) many engines have armor (Frigates, SK ship, Drummer, etc.).

Package needs a complete redesign. If it's about damage then make it about damage and let it play with the soldier package. If it's about locks then buff the hell out of it and make locks a competitive archetype. Also, don't force the player to keep a bad 5-power unit in hand just so that other cards got decent(-ish) value. Make the payoff conditional on the other witchers being EITHER in hand OR on the board. Or make it like the Crones.

 

[DRK3]

I think Letho, with the recent buff, is already pretty powerful, 11pts (with Serrit) in hand, i think it might be the best tempo play NG has (Vigo+Impera Brigade/Hounds is 12, but its more RNG dependent)

I do agree its anti synergistic - on a match recently, i was playing a ton of endrega larvae and my opponent had this viper witcher trio. He had to play Letho before to get value, even when Auckes would be the best to instantly lock all Larvae before they thrived.
Same thing can happen against revenants, where you need to lock all at the same time. So yeah, maybe add at least the Auckes effect to Letho.

 

[rrc]

Yes, if Letho gets the deploy effects of each card, this awkward interaction wont happen and he can happily lock all the cards. I would love to see this change so that at least this Witcher Trio are powerful and worthy enough to add in more decks.

 

[Morph3uXD]

Letho package is bad because it's anti-synergistic. In order to get good value from Letho and Serrit, you need to keep Auckes in hand. And not only is Auckes a terrible card (identical to the neutral Dorregarey), but also locks late in the round is meh.

Second, same thing as with Imprisonment, you do not want to damage & lock because 1) anti-synergy with Vanhemar and Vattier and 2) many engines have armor (Frigates, SK ship, Drummer, etc.).

Package needs a complete redesign. If it's about damage then make it about damage and let it play with the soldier package. If it's about locks then buff the hell out of it and make locks a competitive archetype. Also, don't force the player to keep a bad 5-power unit in hand just so that other cards got decent(-ish) value. Make the payoff conditional on the other witchers being EITHER in hand OR on the board. Or make it like the Crones.

I agree the way the trio is they are very inconsistent, they need to at least have the option to activate their effects, with auckes and Serrit in the field.

Keeping a bad card in hand like Auckes, trying to activate the effect of Letho and Serrit often costs a game, and even if you manage to activate the effect of Letho, this is usually not a big deal. 11 points are good, but the block is no longer as good as it once was, and as said the damage is completely antisynergistic to the blocking archetype.