My hunch on next month Meta

[rrc]

This month is the most hostile meta I have ever played, even more so than the pre-HC GreatSword meta. But there are multiple threads to discuss that, so, let me guess what will happen next season. At the end of this month we are going to get a huge buff overhaul to Monsters. Eredin will be changed completely with a new ability (rightfully so, at last) and as always, he would be so overtuned that he would be the Foltest of next month.

How did I guess that? It is simple. When the Gwent Masters announced the last and final challenger of this season last month, two months in advance, it had Eredin's image in the poster. It didn't make sense by that time, but that time we didn't know NR would be this much overtuned. But usually, whoever is in the poster of any announcement would be the star of the announcement (for good or bad; when Sihil was murdered, it was on the poster; when Ghouls were made fair, they were on the poster; etc) and Eredin can't get any worse; so..

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1149221925429895168

And according to Ostry, MO are the next that is going to overhauled (and in the current Gwent culture, it directly means, buff the hell up)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1156235127288225793

So, at least next month, there would be three decks that are viable in addition to DJ, Foltest - Eredin.

I sincerely request CDPR to buff other factions Golds to the gold standard that NR has set whenever there is going to be an update. It is depressing to see the NR golds and then look at ST gold (and I believe all other factions golds would also feel super inferior to NR golds).

 

[bojerbela]

So, at least next month, there would be three decks that are viable in addition to DJ, Foltest - Eredin.

And Ardal and Usurper. That means for me: not a single Ranked match in that season...I hope,the next season Seasonal will be fun and I play only that...like in this season.

 

[Camaban]

And Ardal and Usurper. That means for me: not a single Ranked match in that season...I hope,the next season Seasonal will be fun and I play only that...like in this season.

Ardal and Usurper only rose in popularity because of Folstet and DJ, since they can more or less counter them. They are a necessary evil, since the devs refused to hotfix this very broken leaders releases in this patch, and MAYBE only will deal with them in te end of the month.

I get they won't nerf NR because they plan to buff other factions, but release one ultra powerfull faction and a OP leader to a already strong faction is a very dull move, putting the players in a limbo. If they couldn't release a full rework for all bronzes at the same time, they should have waited to launch at least two or three factions rework in the patch, not only NR.

 

[4RM3D]

Ardal and Usurper only rose in popularity because of Folstet and DJ, since they can more or less counter them.

That's not entirely true. Ardal was already decent, but got a nice boost with the NR patch, hence he also become more popular.

 

[DRK3]

Maybe Monsters will be the next one to be changed, but i think Scoiatael is the one that needs it the most.

And i dont know why but i barely see any SY or SK players on casual. Arent they the 2 strongest factions, maybe SK tied with NR? I see a lot of NR of course, because of the recent buff and the novelty aspect, but its strange not to see these other 2, since in ranked i read that they're popular and casual follows ranked patterns.

 

[rrc]

Maybe Monsters will be the next one to be changed, but i think Scoiatael is the one that needs it the most.
...

Yes, thanks a lot for saying that. In the list shared above, SK is above ST, which doens't make any sense at all. All this "buff them all" started because SK was too damn OP and NR and ST were the most pathetic ones. NR got an unbelievable buff with unbelievably OP golds. Naturally ST should come next. I sincerely hope that list is not an ordered list. If SK gets buffed before ST, it would at last put the "SK is CDPR's most favourite faction" speculations to rest.

@SlamaTwoFlags, please don't do the injustice of buffing SK before you buff ST. Please remember that all this started because of SK.

 

[bojerbela]

Ardal and Usurper only rose in popularity because of Folstet and DJ, since they can more or less counter them. They are a necessary evil, since the devs refused to hotfix this very broken leaders releases in this patch, and MAYBE only will deal with them in te end of the month.

I get they won't nerf NR because they plan to buff other factions, but release one ultra powerfull faction and a OP leader to a already strong faction is a very dull move, putting the players in a limbo. If they couldn't release a full rework for all bronzes at the same time, they should have waited to launch at least two or three factions rework in the patch, not only NR.

I know...but if we get a new overpowered leader, than we'll see more Usurper decks. Seasonal was really good, but in the last days I see more Usurper decks there too. I don't know why the devs think that no hotfix is necessary, but it's not fun to play always against the same 4 decks.

 

[Hellsmoke77]

I'm not playing this game again until ST is put on the level of other factions and stays there. It's been nerfed so many times that you can hardly even recognize it from what it once was. Most of the cards are just completely ridiculous and have as good as no use what so ever. Boost self by 3 as long as this is the only unit on the board? How does this have anything to do with current ST? I digress..For the most part we need thinning. I've said it a hundred times, thinning is not an archetype, it's fundamental to the game in general.

Not going to get into it all because it's not worth my time but that's my take on it. This ST update that eventually comes needs to be good or I'm giving up on this game after so many years. I think I've given it enough time.

 

[RyseAurellius]

I know...but if we get a new overpowered leader, than we'll see more Usurper decks. Seasonal was really good, but in the last days I see more Usurper decks there too. I don't know why the devs think that no hotfix is necessary, but it's not fun to play always against the same 4 decks.

I don't think they believe no fix is needed. Given they plan to bring the other factions up I don't see why they would be doing nerfs now.

They have seen whats happening and are working on the games balancing issues.

 

[Payus]

Am I the only one playing a ST deck who has no problem with ardal, foltest, henselt, usurper, dj, and the rest? I don't mean to brag but I rarely loose, albeit I mostly play seasonal and my rank is low. But I've faced the most broken decks and won without issue... I sometimes draw very bad or missplay and loose, but when I draw ok, the game is usually set for me. I'm using francesca only btw, and no, its no net deck, it's my own.

 

[4RM3D]

[...] I rarely loose, albeit I mostly play seasonal and my rank is low [...]

You kinda defeated your own argument there. Seasonal doesn't count and ranking only matters in the single digits.

 

[Payus]

Sure. But i've faced the same decks everyone complaints about. So there.
Besides, you can face any rank in seasonal.

 

[Draconifors]

I want to point out that Challenger announcements tend to feature characters of the faction whose theme the event is going to have; look up Challenger #3 (Scoia'tael) and #4 (Skellige) announcements. There hasn't been a Monsters (or NR) themed Challenger yet, either.

Besides, if they're going to overhaul other factions to be on the level Syndicate is on, and do it one faction at a time to keep the scale of changes reasonable, then of course some Leaders will be stronger than others (and therefore more popular among players) -- until all factions have been "upgraded".

 

[RyseAurellius]

I want to point out that Challenger announcements tend to feature characters of the faction whose theme the event is going to have; look up Challenger #3 (Scoia'tael) and #4 (Skellige) announcements. There hasn't been a Monsters (or NR) themed Challenger yet, either.

Besides, if they're going to overhaul other factions to be on the level Syndicate is on, and do it one faction at a time to keep the scale of changes reasonable, then of course some Leaders will be stronger than others (and therefore more popular among players) -- until all factions have been "upgraded".

Yeah, patience is what people need. But everyone wants everything right now. CDPR have said they are bringing other factions up and that they aren't a fan of nerfing, which is good because nerfs almost always take more value away than what they give.

I'm confident that the meta will cool down, they will figure out balance issues and we will see competitive and diverse decks from all factions.

 

[rrc]

I want to point out that Challenger announcements tend to feature characters of the faction whose theme the event is going to have; look up Challenger #3 (Scoia'tael) and #4 (Skellige) announcements. There hasn't been a Monsters (or NR) themed Challenger yet, either.

I didn't know this. Thanks for the info!

Besides, if they're going to overhaul other factions to be on the level Syndicate is on, and do it one faction at a time to keep the scale of changes reasonable, then of course some Leaders will be stronger than others (and therefore more popular among players) -- until all factions have been "upgraded".

My worry is, when factions are done one by one, SK should either not have it at all (remember it all started because SK is too OP) or should get it at the last. SK getting buffed before ST doesn't make sense in any way. NR and ST were horrible and apparently NR was the worst and hence now it is buffed like crazy. Ideally, ST should be the next one. But all pros agree that MO is in very bad state, so MO getting buffed makes sense. But then, it should be ST -> NG and then if needed -> SK.
The initial announcement was something like we are going to buff every other faction to the level of SK and SY and why would SK need a buff before ST?
ST has never been dominant or strong. It is always in the sweet spot of "it can get by; it is not that bad". The only thing ST does it, counter the current Meta and try to win some games. I want that to change and I want that to change before SK gets another round of buffs.

 

[RyseAurellius]

I didn't know this. Thanks for the info!

My worry is, when factions are done one by one, SK should either not have it at all (remember it all started because SK is too OP) or should get it at the last. SK getting buffed before ST doesn't make sense in any way. NR and ST were horrible and apparently NR was the worst and hence now it is buffed like crazy. Ideally, ST should be the next one. But all pros agree that MO is in very bad state, so MO getting buffed makes sense. But then, it should be ST -> NG and then if needed -> SK.
The initial announcement was something like we are going to buff every other faction to the level of SK and SY and why would SK need a buff before ST?
ST has never been dominant or strong. It is always in the sweet spot of "it can get by; it is not that bad". The only thing ST does it, counter the current Meta and try to win some games. I want that to change and I want that to change before SK gets another round of buffs.

There is no favoritism towards SK, despite your many posts to the contrary. If SK was indeed their favourite faction and getting unfair amounts of attention, the forums would be full of people complaining about them instead of SY and NR... I'm sure ST and MO will get there, give them time. Shouldn't matter what order it happens in as long as it happens which I have faith it will.

Having said that I can't imagine the forums not having a post from you about how SK are the worst thing ever conceived in the history of the universe.

 

[SMiki55]

Rofl

 

[rrc]

There is no favoritism towards SK, despite your many posts to the contrary. If SK was indeed their favourite faction and getting unfair amounts of attention, the forums would be full of people complaining about them instead of SY and NR... I'm sure ST and MO will get there, give them time. Shouldn't matter what order it happens in as long as it happens which I have faith it will.

Having said that I can't imagine the forums not having a post from you about how SK are the worst thing ever conceived in the history of the universe.

SK was indeed too powerful and OP for a very long time and the forum had hell lot of posts and threads about SK until SY arrived
I would never say SK is the worst thing ever conceived in the history of Gwent. When Svalblod was introduced (and before he was buffed like crazy), I even created a thread admiring how much Svalblod is awesome and how losing to Svalblod doesn't feel bad as it has a lot of synergy and combo; that was before he was buffed too much that it became a horrible nightmare. When people say Knut (or any other SK combo) is bad, I defend it as it is a combo. I don't hate SK. I hate it when SK could generate so much points through their bronze and can bully and win a round just with 4 and 5 provisions bronzes when every other faction suffered due to horrible bronzes. Then came SY and distracted the attention and then came Foltest and distracted it even too much. But the fact remains that there were some 3 months in which SK was too damn oppressive with their powerful bronzes which no other faction could handle with their bronzes, which made the forum have a lot of threads and posts about SK (not all from me).
Yes, even I want to believe that every faction would get buffed; but no, the order matters. It should go from the weakest to the strongest. The buff shouldn't happen to the faction which is already too powerful and which started the "buff them all" era before other weak factions.

 

[FG15-ISH7EG]

the forums would be full of people complaining about them instead of SY and NR

That is something that makes me really wonder for quite a while. Before the NR patch, people complained about SK and SY and describing the SK faction as being close in power to SY or even even. Now after the patch I haven't seen a single complained about SK or even mention of it.
What happened?
Was SK only so strong, because it hard countered NR before, or is it hard countered by NR now? SK even received a couple of buffs too.

@rrc that mainly answers my question

 

[SMiki55]

SK has some really strong archetypes, but a couple of mediocre ones as well. "Pirates and ships" are pretty underwhelming despite addition of dual faction cards.