I'm sure we all know very well how obnoxious mill can be. I don't want mill to completly disappear, but in it's current state, i would rather see it dead than viable in casual.
So this is my idea how to "fix" mill archetipe.
What is wrong with mill?
Simply put: it's poorly implemented and overall under-developed, which leads to unhealthy interactions with other play-styles.
Mill in Gwent is implemented in the same way as in any other card game = mill the top (random) card. The problem is that Gwent is fundamentally different from those games. Gwent deck has less cards and every card is more important, on top of that Gwent has provisions instead of mana. So the idea, to do it the same way MTG (and other games) does it, makes no sense.
How to fix it?
I think the best way to improve mill in Gwent is to connect it to the provision system.
Currently mill cards are balanced around their low tempo, which creates an unhealthy play-style - if mill gets access to some legit R1 tempo, it becomes a nightmare to play against; and now that Kolgrim is a thing, going for 2:0 is not that easy. Also low prov mill cards can provide (often randomly) insane carryover by removing some important high prov card.
So 1.: Kolgrim should only work if you have less cards in deck than your opponent.
2.: Milling should not be random.
3.: Mill cards should not be able to hit something lot more expensive then they are.
and 4.: Mill archetipe should have more "non-mill" support and higher tempo.
In adition to Kolgrim, here are the reworks that IMO could make mill less toxic and more viable.:
Keyword: Mill
Move a card from a deck to it's owners graveyard.
Kingslayer
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal 3 bronze cards or a gold cards with provision cost 6 or less, than choose a bronze card or a gold card with provision cost 6 or less and Mill it.
Note: Kingslayer's purpose is to Mill for the sake of Milling, not to randomly remove opponent's best card. You're choosing one out of 3 cards to compensate for not beeing able to mill a good card.
Traheaern
Prov.: 7
Power: 5
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal 3 gold cards with provision cost 9 or less, than choose a card with provision cost 9 or less and Mill it.
Note: Traheaern is supposed to hit something actually good, but, just like Kingslayer, not the best.
Warrit
Prov.: 12
Power: 7
Order: Reveal a random card from your opponent's deck with provision cost 11 or more, than choose to Mill that card or Mill the top 2 cards from your opponents deck with provision cost 10 or less.
Note: This is the big one, that can seriously mess up your opponents game plan. Even if your opponent gets lucky and has all his high prov golds in hand, Warrit won't brick. Order restriction gives the opponent a chance interact, but high base power requires an expensive answer.
Cantarella
Prov.: 7
Power: 1
Disloyal
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal a gold card with provision cost 8 or less, than choose a card with provision cost 8 or less, Mill it, than spawn and and play a copy of it.
Isbel
Prov.: 9
Power: 5
Order (Ranged): Look at the top card of your deck and reveal the top card from your opponents deck with provision cost 10 or less, put one in your hand and the other one in your opponent's hand.
Stregobor
Prov.: 7
Power: 6
After 2 allied turns, both player will draw the top unit from their decks and damage it by 6 (or set its power to 1 if the unit's power is 6 or less).
Note: Stregobor is not as oppressive as other mill cards, so small buff to his survivability doesn't hurt, as long as he's not turning Speartip into 1p play.
Ofiri Merchant
Prov.: 4
Power: 4
Whenever the amount of cards in either deck changes during your turn, boost self by 1.
Note: Random swapping is just as toxic as random milling. Plus i think this change would make for an interesting engine.
Operator
Prov.: 7
Power: 4
Armor: 2
Whenever the amount of cards in either deck changes during your turn, boost self by 2.
Note: I'm not sure about reworking Operator, he's very unique and i like that, but the interaction with Kingslayer could be pretty toxic.
Viper Witcher Alchemist
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Look at the top 3 cards of your deck, choose one and put it on top of your opponent's deck, than spawn a copy of the top card from your opponents deck, that is from their starting deck, on top of your deck.
Note: Better support for Brick archetipe instead of mill.
Courier
Prov.: 4
Power: 4
Deploy (Melee): Look at the top 5 cards from your opponent's deck and put them back in any order.
Deploy (Ranged): Look at the top 5 cards of your deck and put them back in any order.
Combat Engineer
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Booset self by 1 for every card you Milled this game.
Melee: Whenever you Mill a card, damage a random enemy unit by 1.
Ranged: Whenever you Mill a card, boost self by 1.
Spotter
Prov.: 5
Power: 1
Deploy: Boost self by the provision cost of the last card you Milled.
Cadaverine
Prov.: 7
Order: Destroy self and play a copy of a card you milled this game with provision cost lower or equal to Cadaverine's charge count.
Every allied turn, on turn start, and whenever you mill a card gain a charge.
Deploy: Gain a charge for every card you milled this game.
So this is my idea how to "fix" mill archetipe.
What is wrong with mill?
Simply put: it's poorly implemented and overall under-developed, which leads to unhealthy interactions with other play-styles.
Mill in Gwent is implemented in the same way as in any other card game = mill the top (random) card. The problem is that Gwent is fundamentally different from those games. Gwent deck has less cards and every card is more important, on top of that Gwent has provisions instead of mana. So the idea, to do it the same way MTG (and other games) does it, makes no sense.
How to fix it?
I think the best way to improve mill in Gwent is to connect it to the provision system.
Currently mill cards are balanced around their low tempo, which creates an unhealthy play-style - if mill gets access to some legit R1 tempo, it becomes a nightmare to play against; and now that Kolgrim is a thing, going for 2:0 is not that easy. Also low prov mill cards can provide (often randomly) insane carryover by removing some important high prov card.
So 1.: Kolgrim should only work if you have less cards in deck than your opponent.
2.: Milling should not be random.
3.: Mill cards should not be able to hit something lot more expensive then they are.
and 4.: Mill archetipe should have more "non-mill" support and higher tempo.
In adition to Kolgrim, here are the reworks that IMO could make mill less toxic and more viable.:
Keyword: Mill
Move a card from a deck to it's owners graveyard.
Kingslayer
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal 3 bronze cards or a gold cards with provision cost 6 or less, than choose a bronze card or a gold card with provision cost 6 or less and Mill it.
Note: Kingslayer's purpose is to Mill for the sake of Milling, not to randomly remove opponent's best card. You're choosing one out of 3 cards to compensate for not beeing able to mill a good card.
Traheaern
Prov.: 7
Power: 5
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal 3 gold cards with provision cost 9 or less, than choose a card with provision cost 9 or less and Mill it.
Note: Traheaern is supposed to hit something actually good, but, just like Kingslayer, not the best.
Warrit
Prov.: 12
Power: 7
Order: Reveal a random card from your opponent's deck with provision cost 11 or more, than choose to Mill that card or Mill the top 2 cards from your opponents deck with provision cost 10 or less.
Note: This is the big one, that can seriously mess up your opponents game plan. Even if your opponent gets lucky and has all his high prov golds in hand, Warrit won't brick. Order restriction gives the opponent a chance interact, but high base power requires an expensive answer.
Cantarella
Prov.: 7
Power: 1
Disloyal
Deploy: Reveal the top cards from your opponent's deck until you reveal a gold card with provision cost 8 or less, than choose a card with provision cost 8 or less, Mill it, than spawn and and play a copy of it.
Isbel
Prov.: 9
Power: 5
Order (Ranged): Look at the top card of your deck and reveal the top card from your opponents deck with provision cost 10 or less, put one in your hand and the other one in your opponent's hand.
Stregobor
Prov.: 7
Power: 6
After 2 allied turns, both player will draw the top unit from their decks and damage it by 6 (or set its power to 1 if the unit's power is 6 or less).
Note: Stregobor is not as oppressive as other mill cards, so small buff to his survivability doesn't hurt, as long as he's not turning Speartip into 1p play.
Ofiri Merchant
Prov.: 4
Power: 4
Whenever the amount of cards in either deck changes during your turn, boost self by 1.
Note: Random swapping is just as toxic as random milling. Plus i think this change would make for an interesting engine.
Operator
Prov.: 7
Power: 4
Armor: 2
Whenever the amount of cards in either deck changes during your turn, boost self by 2.
Note: I'm not sure about reworking Operator, he's very unique and i like that, but the interaction with Kingslayer could be pretty toxic.
Viper Witcher Alchemist
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Look at the top 3 cards of your deck, choose one and put it on top of your opponent's deck, than spawn a copy of the top card from your opponents deck, that is from their starting deck, on top of your deck.
Note: Better support for Brick archetipe instead of mill.
Courier
Prov.: 4
Power: 4
Deploy (Melee): Look at the top 5 cards from your opponent's deck and put them back in any order.
Deploy (Ranged): Look at the top 5 cards of your deck and put them back in any order.
Combat Engineer
Prov.: 5
Power: 5
Deploy: Booset self by 1 for every card you Milled this game.
Melee: Whenever you Mill a card, damage a random enemy unit by 1.
Ranged: Whenever you Mill a card, boost self by 1.
Spotter
Prov.: 5
Power: 1
Deploy: Boost self by the provision cost of the last card you Milled.
Cadaverine
Prov.: 7
Order: Destroy self and play a copy of a card you milled this game with provision cost lower or equal to Cadaverine's charge count.
Every allied turn, on turn start, and whenever you mill a card gain a charge.
Deploy: Gain a charge for every card you milled this game.