Soo, after several hours over the weekent ive got a little weary, so, the feedback.
Well, there is plenty of bugs, most annoying for me was tunderous "white noise" played for no apparent reason after playing WH riders, but ill skip those, enough is written on them
Regading gameplay itself - it felt off. Cant really describe it better, but ill try to explain what was "off" for me:
Firstly, there were changes to deck structure: 2 copies limit for bronzes brought massive inconsistencies, i guess there can be an argument for it, but i personaly just dont like it. Blacklisting is gone and, well, its just sad. It was an awesome mechanic, and its very hard for me to imagine a sensible reason to remove it. Those two add up to extra-painfull package when you consider that some leaders leave you basicly no mulligans. Yeah, by the way - Leaders mulligan "price" is awesome. Id leave Francheska with 0 mulligans if i could. Simply for the sake of all that time ST players pretended her ability was balanced. On a serious note - dont do that, shes allready almost unplayable. Core of the new deckbuilder - provision system, is a thing of beauty thou. Never seen that in other CCGs (there might be, in not big on this genre) and its a genious solution to "3.5 mana" problem.
Then, there are new mechanics.
Order mechanic is awesome, it basicly adds another layer gameplay in itself. So by any means, slap it on every faction. I do mean it, Why should NR get all the fun? Just, maybe add a little variety with those? A bit too much "ping for 1-2 damage every turn" among them. Even in that form - orders are wellcome, and that much more can be done with them.
Artifacts mechanic is another new one. And ill put my tomato-dodging skills to the test here, because i actually like it. And yes, people can and will create opressive "remove everything" decks with them, im guilty of trying it out myself. But since DBPs are gone (i wonder where they are buried, id like to dance there) there is no finisher for that. With artifact removal being plentifull and "destroy artifact" tag being fairly cheap, its nowhere near "Buff Toruviel to win" levels of frustration. There is even a premium "And their mothers" version in White Frost, for true haters.
Row-specific effects are wellcome, if sometimes confusing for old players.
So, now that ive written this down it actually looks pretty optimistic, so whats the problem?
Well, first there are cards themselves. Gonna start with NG:
First of all - Usurper exists. Really, it does. Someone actually thought it was a good idea. Its like "Dont drink and design" poster made into a leader card. And i know it sounds mean, but... please, reconsider this one. It surpassed DBP level of "didnt really think it through.
Spotters, Viper Witchers and Bribery - just why? Extreme RNG, no skill involved, low risk. Why are those cards there?(
Skellige - not big on playing them, so only a side view here.
Not much offensive here. Discard is still awesome for deck efficiency.
Only thing that really bothered me about SK is Harrold + Two Blades/Greatsword interaction. Pretty sure that 24 point swing of 1 card and on-demand leader is a bit too much, especially when Harrold can hit immune units and gives you 3 mulligans.
Scoia'Tel - well, they look allright.
Surprisingly even for myself, i like their current interation.
NR - couldnt really find a place with them. Sure, Cursed NR has a really good matchup vs comsume. but other than that, well... Its fun to play, but i couldnt find anything id climb ladder with. Faction-specific NR golds tend to be either removal magnets, or worthless. Vandergrifts sword could be nice if it was, idk, 4 supply? Man himself is underwhelming as well.
Gonna give it a shot with, Seila, i believe? Sorceress that damages any ordered unit. Could be fun.
Lastly, monsters, faction i spent time with the most.
Consume works, well, it allways has, hasnt it? Scorch, resets and locks are you bffs again. Or you can just go Cursed NR for swarm battle 3000.
Other than that oldschool archtype, well there isnt much.
WH isnt really a thing anymore. You can make it work, but you cant really build a pure WH deck, no new cards and some old friends left to get eaten, Caranthir decided that being an arch navigator is a boring office job and commited suicide: volounteered to become a professional snack in consume deck (RIP, you will be missed).
Imlerith:Smaash (wich is the only proper name for that card, mind you.) can do work, but, again, its simply better in consume (most of the time, you dont really need 30+ removal).
Overall, if you dont mind consume - they're good. If you do - well, good for you, but its going to be a rough ride.
Lastly we have neutrals
Same old suspects here. Tutoring is more valuable than ever, witchers trio are basicly an autoinclude. As in - you better know exactly what you do if you dont put them in. They might need to cost more, really. Roach is, again, better then ever.
Excludin NG, its mostly ok, some rough spots here and there. But if you take an average between all factions, Usurper single handedly drags it into the dumpster.
Biggest flaw of the game however is its UI. Match history is uniformative, deckbuilder screen is a mess. It could be a long list, a rant. Long story short - i really hope its not the final UI. In its current form, i was real tempted to just forgive and forget.
Game got pretty, it includes alot of new and cool stuff, most changes actually make sense, but..Ive played gwent before, for long time. And i still couldnt figure out just WTF was happening on the board for waay too long.
A new player will quite likely go for alt+f4.
That pretty much sums it up, hopefully some of those issues pop up in this thread consistently enough to cause action.