Well, there are people with 2500+ with SY.
But I agree, it needs a little buff.
LITTLE.
But I agree, it needs a little buff.
LITTLE.
I feel like I've tried everything to get pure Fireswarm to work but it either doesn't slam down enough points or have enough removal. Eternal Fire Inquisitor having a devotion effect to trigger the deathblow no matter what seems logical. Something needs to be done with Sacred Flame and possibly Damnation. Lonely Champion should have one more base value so it doesn't entirely kill your tempo like now. Maybe something can be done to Scribe or Keeper of the Flame too? Some sort of devotion effect?
If they just tweak the cards already in the game a bit I fully believe it could be a great and fun deck.
If they just tweak the cards already in the game a bit I fully believe it could be a great and fun deck.
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Old school syndicate still decent. Bloodmoney or wild card plus passiflora. Like maybe 1 wh card.
The problem with SY will always be hard ceilings thanks to coin limit. The only way they played around that was with bounty and Passiflora. Now dies irae kinda gives it some points again. But then the opponent slams their boat and you're down 4 points on your finisher.
SY's whole gimmick makes it hard to pilot for anything that isn't firesworn too right now which isn't helping either.
SY's whole gimmick makes it hard to pilot for anything that isn't firesworn too right now which isn't helping either.
Well, they're back. I can honestly say I didn't miss them. It's exactly as Jason said "it seems every time we touch Syndicate we end up making it far too weak or far too strong" I think I know why. Syndicate has some really busted cards (the scenario, Philippa, Azar Javed, Ewald etc.) however, this package can only shine if Syndicate's bronzes are at least on par with the rest.
Syndicate is simply too versatile, especially when it comes down to control. It's reminiscent of Nilfgaard in this regard.
We've seen the outrage Nilfgaard brings around even when they're tier 2 or 3. But Syndicate is far more frustrating to play against in my opinion. The swings are just so absurd. They sit on their coins and give you very little to interact with and suddenly an Ewald or Philippa wipes your board or steals an expansive and strong engine. Blue coin against SY is a nightmare and they know it.
They have the best defender, the best control card(s), the best row punish card, the best scenario, the best purify and the poison cards and the best points per turn engines, too. They can quickly get so many points passively per turn while playing specials that mess your strategy up. I think they're just really un-fun to play against even when they're weak, let alone when their power level is equal or higher than the other factions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say they're 'tier 0' or anything like that, just that they've got a super versatile tools to deal with you regardless of what you choose to play but you often need very specific cards to deal with their stuff.
Syndicate is simply too versatile, especially when it comes down to control. It's reminiscent of Nilfgaard in this regard.
We've seen the outrage Nilfgaard brings around even when they're tier 2 or 3. But Syndicate is far more frustrating to play against in my opinion. The swings are just so absurd. They sit on their coins and give you very little to interact with and suddenly an Ewald or Philippa wipes your board or steals an expansive and strong engine. Blue coin against SY is a nightmare and they know it.
They have the best defender, the best control card(s), the best row punish card, the best scenario, the best purify and the poison cards and the best points per turn engines, too. They can quickly get so many points passively per turn while playing specials that mess your strategy up. I think they're just really un-fun to play against even when they're weak, let alone when their power level is equal or higher than the other factions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say they're 'tier 0' or anything like that, just that they've got a super versatile tools to deal with you regardless of what you choose to play but you often need very specific cards to deal with their stuff.
Nah man, SY may be versatile on a quick read but you won't get far being jack-of-all trades on gwent.
NG has better control, NR and MO and SK do better point slams etc.
Philippa can't wipes boards, it's a one time seize that requires you to spend coins and to obtain coins you are required to play coin generators; meanwhile NG can just seize, lock and shit over you without much setup if any at all and that's the true weakness of SY. It requires too much setup to do things other factions can do way more easily and with better results.
The Coin limit sucks, many cards, gold included, do not have any semblance of sinergy between them and some are simply too expensive.
At higher ranks you won't find many, if any, SY decks simply because in its current state the faction is so much worse than the others.
TLDR; SY needs a serious rework because it's a waste of scraps right now
NG has better control, NR and MO and SK do better point slams etc.
Philippa can't wipes boards, it's a one time seize that requires you to spend coins and to obtain coins you are required to play coin generators; meanwhile NG can just seize, lock and shit over you without much setup if any at all and that's the true weakness of SY. It requires too much setup to do things other factions can do way more easily and with better results.
The Coin limit sucks, many cards, gold included, do not have any semblance of sinergy between them and some are simply too expensive.
At higher ranks you won't find many, if any, SY decks simply because in its current state the faction is so much worse than the others.
TLDR; SY needs a serious rework because it's a waste of scraps right now
I think SY's lower play rate has more to do with how tricky the faction is to properly evaluate. Often times later in seasons SY lists pop up by competent players and subsequently gain traction. The set-up Syndicate has to deal with can also work in its favour. Because SY set up consists of gaining coins (which isn't hard) and coins cannot be interacted with.
The thing with Philippa is it's extremely difficult if not implausible to play outside of her range.
When she seizes a card like the Beast or Anna Strenger you take +2 per turn from the opponent and gain +2 simultaneously. That's possibly the craziest swing in the game. Granted, she doesn't board wipe you, I referred to Ewald for that. Ewald is one of the few cards that can adequately deal with cards like Ethereal for example. Syndicate is definitely a jack-of-all-trades faction, but a good Gord list can specialize in control and the hidden cache list in pro activity while not losing that versatility.
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While the SY player play a coin generator the other player may ramp against you or simply shut the generator istantly, even Imke is easily dealt with ( only exception may be pickpocket) . Both the Philippa and the Ewald example are out of touch with reality; to istantly deal with 2 etheral on board you need 8 coins and i repeat 8 and this is assuming there is not a defender around, in that case GG. Same thing you can say about the anna seize, you need a minimum of 4 coins but more realistically you are looking at 5-6+ coins. That's what I am talking about when i say tedious and too much setup even for a simple seize or removal.
Well, SY is in a better spot than SC right now, so I'm back in shady buissness. Still not grate, but despite SK-Warris I find good matchups all around with a pretty standart Passflora list. I have to mention that Jackyboy is a really good R3 card. Finally a versatile Genarator and Spender with a good P/PP ratio and value on his own. Won me a couple of games along with good timed Phlillipas.
SY is my favorite faction in Gwent, and I was pretty disappointed with the treatment it got in July, when the MM expansion was released. While it did receive a decent Congregate build, it wasn't an improvement over what the faction could do before this expansion got released.
The last update though revived Hidden Cache and I have been on a winning streak with it, pretty much against all faction. It is still vulnerable to SK if you rely on one engine only, and it suffers against NG lock down when it blocks your leader ability, but otherwise it is very powerful against the other factions.
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SY is too tricky to play and requires quite a lot of planning ahead, that is maybe why it ain't that popular. For me though, this makes it more exciting.
I do kinda disagree with many of the things you mentioned. SY is a decent faction, but it rarely holds itself against SK or NG even now. Unless players playing SK/NG suck or have a bad hand, probability of winning against them is rather low. Only the Congregate decks can somehow pull it through, if you are lucky enough that your opponent does not play Wild Boar + GS. SY has decent control, but SK and NG are even better in this regard.
Ewald is a bit overrated IMO. His 2 dmg for 2 coins is too few and not really a deciding factor in playing matches. It is a waste to use 8 coins to remove Ethereal with him when you can keep those coins and use engines like Saul, Peaches or Jackal for boosts, which denies points advantages to MO players that make use of Ethereal. Lieutenant von Herst + Saul is another good combo. Tinboy is by far a better game finisher, particularly against Ethereal MO decks.
The last update though revived Hidden Cache and I have been on a winning streak with it, pretty much against all faction. It is still vulnerable to SK if you rely on one engine only, and it suffers against NG lock down when it blocks your leader ability, but otherwise it is very powerful against the other factions.
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SY is too tricky to play and requires quite a lot of planning ahead, that is maybe why it ain't that popular. For me though, this makes it more exciting.
I do kinda disagree with many of the things you mentioned. SY is a decent faction, but it rarely holds itself against SK or NG even now. Unless players playing SK/NG suck or have a bad hand, probability of winning against them is rather low. Only the Congregate decks can somehow pull it through, if you are lucky enough that your opponent does not play Wild Boar + GS. SY has decent control, but SK and NG are even better in this regard.
Ewald is a bit overrated IMO. His 2 dmg for 2 coins is too few and not really a deciding factor in playing matches. It is a waste to use 8 coins to remove Ethereal with him when you can keep those coins and use engines like Saul, Peaches or Jackal for boosts, which denies points advantages to MO players that make use of Ethereal. Lieutenant von Herst + Saul is another good combo. Tinboy is by far a better game finisher, particularly against Ethereal MO decks.
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Ewald depends on your options to increase his reach in a turn. comboed with some leaders like bloodmoney, off the books or jackpot, it is a great option to remove threats like ethereal or old WOB.
Time to edit the title: SY is utterly playable again (after the nerf after the nerf of SK)
Time to edit the title: SY is utterly playable again (after the nerf after the nerf of SK)