Patchnotes 7.3

[ya1]

[...] The weakest guys get nerfed again, and the strongest ones got irrelevant nerfs that can be easily answered by slight provision shuffles. Bad balancing.

I would argue that removing Bomb Heaver counts as Masquerade Ball being buffed.

Thing is nobody was running the Heaver anymore because of the NG downfall and SY sidelining. All "meme" artifact removal needs were fulfilled by Heatwave which is still the case. Nothing changes. Zero insight to the real Gwent meta by the devs. Again. Scenarios were the least of the balance problems. The STRONGEST THINGS are the balancing problem. And the strongest things used no scenarios. So why the scenario nerfs are the main thing this patch?

It's the same freaking thing happening in Gwent again. [...] The real balancing team should be looking at what is played, what is winning the ladder, what is winning the touneys, what is going on in the meta. This... this is just more of the "hey nerf the double ball because Jonathan_123 from Reddit don't like it. "

 

[Slizzl]

I'm not so sure about Ball being auto-include anymore. Yes it's unlikely it will be removed anymore, but it's 15 provs for a single ball. Even though NG stays in bottom tier (competing with MO ofc), the one time limit on scenarios will definitely see a widening of NG archetypes being played (Imperial formation with Cahir, spies etc.)

I agree. Heatwave is all over the place and if Masquerade Ball gets removed you now lose out on 15 provisions, that's a pretty hard hit. I'm probably not using it.

 

[elhamra]

Is this a joke?! NG buffs are completely trash.Just unnecessary NG cards got buff and these buffs won’t make these cards good.They are still going to be unnecessary.it seems NG is still the weakest faction by far.After bunch of nerfs to NG,the only playable card was ball and now it got nerf too.If NG won’t get real buff,then just remove the faction and give our scraps back.

 

[ShinAkira00]

I agree. Heatwave is all over the place and if Masquerade Ball gets removed you now lose out on 15 provisions, that's a pretty hard hit. I'm probably not using it.

Doesn't everyone have to deal with their artifact being removed? It's a risk we all had to take. Ball is essentially an auto win card even in a short round NG can activate all chapters with a single card if they tutor into an aristocrat. And their scenario fits into any deck. A MO player has to commit to deathwish for example, NG however has flexibility. Frankly scenarios in general need to be nerfed by limiting chapters to one turn

 

[InkognitoXI]

I really think that a 3 provision nerf is not enough to answer SW NR.
Apart from the fact that the ****** that is SW is not hit enough the changes look ok.

 

[Riven-Twain]

Moderator: Hey there, all. We've already deleted one post, and edited another. Since a few people seem a bit upset about this patch, here's a reminder from our Forum Regulations:

please, keep the following basic rules in mind:

• always treat others with kindness and respect
• do not insult others and try not to easily take offense
• avoid excessive swearing/profanity

Constructive criticism is always welcome, but rage and offensive comments are not. So, please, keep it civil. Thank you.

 

[ya1]

From the competitive view, NG got totally irrelevant buffs that might or might not finally brinng the meme assimilate package into competitive circles. My bet is on not. But maybe assimilate is the last NG hope. If not, good bye NG forever, the last thing keeping NG in Tier3 - the scenario - was just nerfed to the ground.

The strongest get stronger, the weakest get weaker... Thanks CDPR for the lesson in the capitalist reality,,,

 

[ReaperTek]

RIP Bomb Heaver meta (09/12/19 - 30/09/20)

Say hello to the Heatwave meta.

So now, no more double scenarios, but the only artefact removal is with heatwave or Shupe. Not sure how i feel about that.

Honestly I think it would had been better to remove Artifact removal completely, now every non Devotion Deck will just run Heatwave instead because Shupe is way to unreliable (if the Meta should become Scenario heavy*) and that the Scenarios would have been nerfed accordingly maybe even in to Meme Deck type of Material.

Rest of the patch looks OK, I guess we'll have to wait and see how it affects the Meta, at least Blizzard (old White Frost) did finally become somewhat playable but the Witcher Trio still remains in a unplayable state.

*maybe it's finally time to put Angoulême back in my Assimilate Deck

 

[ShinAkira00]

1. Definitely a welcomed change adding doomed to scenarios, it was long overdue but better late than never.

2. Why is Viraxis not 5pts? NR is near unbeatable outside of SK, meanwhile I'm stuck with Auberon that's useless in R1 and only slightly less useless in R3.

3. Removing cheap counters to scenarios is not good. It means now you MUST have a scenario to compete and having heatwave will determine whether you win, or is that the intention? Everyone will have a scenario because it's that or lose...heatwave or lose, scenarios are an auto win in most cases.

4. MO is the weakest faction at the moment. The buffs to beast cards are an improvement but beasts need better Gold cards to even be playable. This push into frost is just irritating. It's slow tempo against the swarm of scenarios that are going to now be coming our way and it was already bad enough with the power creep from MM. Point slam isn't MO's identity anymore, you now have Bronze cards that do better than a lot of gold cards, the faction needs more flavorful mechanics. Beasts are a good place to start

 

[rrc]

Overall, I liked the changes, especially the flavor of the changes. ST elves got minor boosts (though I am not sure if they will be used) which is welcome (but damn... why in the world ST Scenario costing more than MO and SK scenario? I can't understand this nerf in provision). NG buffs look insignificant, but I think Slave Infantry/Vrygheff/ThatGuyWhoBoostsAllCopyByTwo seems like a nice T3 deck to try.

 

[ya1]

Constructive criticism is always welcome, but rage and offensive comments are not. So, please, keep it civil. Thank you.

Thank you for the reminder. But please understand that it is sometimes hard to keep your vocab in check when the balance is so bad. The non-issues got answered, keeping the memes in the super-meme box. The real issues got ignored or dealt with in the ways that proved in the past not to work. So.. W. T. Fantastic balancing!

 

[ReaperTek]

Overall, I liked the changes, especially the flavor of the changes. ST elves got minor boosts (though I am not sure if they will be used) which is welcome (but damn... why in the world ST Scenario costing more than MO and SK scenario

Vernossiel's Comando will be a brick whenever playing against Nilfgaard so I'm not really sure it's that big of a Buff because it also doesn't allow you to run much non Elven units if you want to benefit from it and it removes another Deadeye that Melee row Vernossiel could have benefited from.

 

[ya1]

3. Removing cheap counters to scenarios is not good. It means now you MUST have a scenario to compete and having heatwave will determine whether you win, or is that the intention? Everyone will have a scenario because it's that or lose...heatwave or lose, scenarios are an auto win in most cases.

This is completely - if I may say so under the constant invigilation by the mods - stupid attempt. First, scenarios were not the balance problem. Second, scenario answers were limited to non-devo. All non-devo ran Heatwave. Almost no non-devo ran anything else anti-scenario except Heatwave since NG had been nerfed to the ground. Absolutely nothing changed. Maybe some unranked hardasses running the Heaver because they know unranked is where they see more NG - maybe they got nerfed. But competitive Gwent got nothing out of this change. The only scenarios seeing much play in ranked - Haunt and Passiflora - were still in the bottom and were never replayed.

All in all, the weakest (NG) got nerfed again, and this time to the very very ground. Lost another archetype - double ball - which was completely meme and not threateing any balance state. And the strongest got irrelevant nerfs that can answered by switching this card to the other or this leader to the other,

 

[rrc]

Vernossiel's Comando will be a brick whenever playing against Nilfgaard so I'm not really sure it's that big of a Buff because it also doesn't allow you to run much non Elven units if you want to benefit from it and it removes another Deadeye that Melee row Vernossiel could have benefited from.

Yes.. But ST scenario will now put a 4,3,3 elves rather than 3,3,3, elves and for that we have paid an extra provision. But the fact that it puts an engine (even though which is the easiest of the engines to brick - not just by NG, but also by a defender or any other non-elf-st card) is most satisfying thing than seeing a dumb freaking 3 point deadeye. But in R3 (hopefully you get to R3 playing elves), NG or even self brick can be avoided by playing Vernossil herself for a guaranteed +1 tick.

I would have been very happy if the change was made without the provision nerf.

 

[InkognitoXI]

Say hello to the Heatwave meta.

Honestly I think it would had been better to remove Artifact removal completely, now every non Devotion Deck will just run Heatwave instead because Shupe is way to unreliable (if the Meta should become Scenario heavy*) and that the Scenarios would have been nerfed accordingly maybe even in to Meme Deck type of Material.
[...]

I think the idea is more like the Weather rework, if Scenarios are too oppressive they will be hit, but the binary part is fortunately finally gone.
And besides, Heatwave trades down against Scenarios, so I am unsure if this means all non-devotion cards will run it, although as this format has proven it is a very reliable and good card with or without Scenario interactions.

 

[Guest 4368268]

I'm glad to see an end to the bomb heaver vs. scenario interaction, that was long overdue. It is a shame though that these neutral reworks usually just create more dead cards that are too weak to ever take seriously and not interesting enough to use in 'meme decks' the reworks to some faction bronzes like Harpy are nice, it's good to see them use the bonded keyword for once, it's a cool concept that has been underutilized.

It makes drawing two-ofs of weaker bronzes less damning. The Frenzied Dao rework is a strange one. With the dragoon rework they acknowledge that people prefer to pay less provisions for their tech cards rather than have more points but with Frenzied Dao they say "now you don't have to play a weak tech card"

The rage of the sea rework is good. But the problem with SK will just juggle to another leader as it has been doing for months now. (Second Wind > Patricidal Fury > Rage of the Sea > Now probably back to Patricidal Fury) the Warriors lists are just way too consistent/strong because of the crazy bronze pointslam package combined with the incredible control options. SK has been nerfed about 5 times now in the last few months and it's still Tier 1, that tells you just how broken post MM SK was.

As for NG and MO in general, obviously both still way too weak compared to ST/SK/NR. The shieldwall nerf is a strange one. It's the duel interaction that imo is causing issues with it. Shield on a card like Anna is one thing, but the Anseis/Seltkirk interactions are just stupid. I like the suggestion to give these cards veil. It's not like locks/poison would have been a solution to them anyways as poison takes a couple of turns and locks aren't used.

My overal thoughts on the patch are that clearly they've got other (bigger) things on their mind than trying to balance the game properly a.i the upcoming expansion. But releasing an expansion in an already severely unbalanced game sounds like a recipe for disaster to me so I hope they'll tread carefully there.

Looking through these patch notes I see no new decks being utilized/old annoying decks disappearing and therefor it's safe to say that the meta should be as uneventful and boring as last months' was, last months' Gwent felt like a lowpoint to play for me. The Homecoming cycle of crossing my fingers and hoping they "get it right next time" continues.

 

[Barracuda88]

The ST changes arent very satisfying imo apart from dragoon. Officer bonded is a joke it still plays for 5 but plays for 6 on bonded wtf?

It plays for 6 per unit on bonded, yes, which is fine for a 4p unit. Compare it to the Marauders, who play for 7 each, but can be prevented from gaining value by removal because they go tall themselves and it's vitality. The officer meanwhile, gets his value on deploy and is flexible, utility-wise

 

[EduFerraz]

Finally the death of double ball.

Thanks CDPR.

[...]

 

[Madlax1992]

1. Definitely a welcomed change adding doomed to scenarios, it was long overdue but better late than never.

2. Why is Viraxis not 5pts? NR is near unbeatable outside of SK, meanwhile I'm stuck with Auberon that's useless in R1 and only slightly less useless in R3.

3. Removing cheap counters to scenarios is not good. It means now you MUST have a scenario to compete and having heatwave will determine whether you win, or is that the intention? Everyone will have a scenario because it's that or lose...heatwave or lose, scenarios are an auto win in most cases.

4. MO is the weakest faction at the moment. The buffs to beast cards are an improvement but beasts need better Gold cards to even be playable. This push into frost is just irritating. It's slow tempo against the swarm of scenarios that are going to now be coming our way and it was already bad enough with the power creep from MM. Point slam isn't MO's identity anymore, you now have Bronze cards that do better than a lot of gold cards, the faction needs more flavorful mechanics. Beasts are a good place to start

1. The change is indeed good, but it comes rather late and for some factions at a rather inopportune moment. Ball should have been doomed and nerfed long ago, but now this nerf will make NG even less playable and competitive. The only things that will keep it less anonymous now is Assimilate and Hyperthin. But these are Tier 3 or lower decks.

The change to Passiflora is also quite questionable as they merely shuffled the chapters. I don't really consider it the 2nd best scenario. Gedyneith provides much more pointslam in a short round than Passiflora. Siege and Feign Death should have been somewhat reworked as they are the least used scenarios. Feign Death received a double nerf IMO, as those who used it in conjunction with Vernossiel to trigger deadeyes will now be left with 1 less deadeye.

2. Yeah, Viraxas was clearly in need of a power nerf. Even until now I am wondering why Auberon was nerfed. He wasn't particularly great when the was a 6 power card, but now he is in a rather pitiful state. Auberon simply does not have the same game-changing impact Viraxas and Harald has. Although, to his credit, he still gets to be played in comparison with Usurper.

3. That I don't think is the case. For one thing, Heaver and Dimeritium Bomb weren't really getting any love in this season. Most decks used Heatwave to counter Scenario and everything that went too tall. Also, giving them doomed severely crippled decks that were relying on using them more than once (SK Alchemy and NG Poison). I anticipate less reliance on Scenarios after this patch and more decks without it. NR and ST in particular will almost completely ditch them, and I would add even SK. Gedyneith is good, but the archetype in which it played the best (alchemy) relied on it to be played twice with Lippy. I don't think there is an alternative to make Battle Trance as relevant as it was until now with alchemy.

4. MO is not really the weakest faction, but the second weakest. Its strongest deck remains OH Deathwish. Haunt was being played only once so for them, the doomed effect does nothing. What might weaken it is an increased usage of heatwave. NG is by far the weakest now since Ball was nerfed to the ground and the buffs it got are rather underwhelming. I don't think the changes done to Palmerin will make the Spy archetype competitive.

 

[Shagric]

I have to say that after the last patches I did not expect anything at all. But in contrast to the last patches (minus the GS rework) I was pleasantly surprised. I think this is the first good patch without any MAJOR setbacks we have had in quiet a long time.

Yes, it is indeed a bit to careful - but imo its a very solid step forward. (As in: It doesnt create 10 new problems and fixes a lot of issues)

1) the reworks are well rounded and interessting - while some could need a bit more power (the neutrals mostly), their design is great (swords). No archypes got butchered this time aswell for no reason.
2) FINALLY the binary artifact problem has been tackled. And scenarios got doomed aswell! Shupe and heatwave play pretty much even in round3, so i think this is an elegant solution. fine tuning can be done later on.
3) good comunication about the changes to base kegs (hate it, cause those are the cards Im still missing) and you kept your roadmap plans which i really apprechiate.

Only sad thing is that I (and a lot of the community) feel like these issues should have been fixed months ago. And at the same time "new" issues (like the shieldwall/duel interaction, SK dominance, ...) are not acknowledged as problems even though everyone can see them.

Keep this direction and the good work up! Thanks!