Vabjorn condition ridiculously easy

+
So, why give Skellige a destroy card that is better than both Leo and Geralt? I mean, it puts 5 power on the board and destroy any unit which is damaged.

That's a super Leo/Geralt card which can fetch value in pretty much any scenario, not restricted to above 8 powered units, AND it puts 5 power on the board, 2 more than Leo and Geralt, AND it is 1 less provision than those 2 cards. The condition to destroy a damaged unit is ridiculous, way too easy. 1 longship and you can destroy a 15 (??) provision card like Old Speartip plus put 5 points on the board.

I know the gwent developers favour Skellige and must give it any single ability that any other faction has, but isn't this a bit overboard? Not only did you add huge units to Skellige, but also their very own giant destroyer. Why? Or has this card been like this the whole time? At worst (with exceptions) this card is a 9 point swing for 9 provisions..

Anyways, comparing this card to any other destroy cards its the better one of them all, which is not right. It is by far the most versatile and it never bricks, plus it puts 5 points on the board unconditionally, which is a rare score for any card to put on the board, and just below the top tier ("regular") board scorers with 6 points.
 
people must stop thinking in single cards. cards are always part of a deck, so while some single cards might be extremely powerful it doesnt help alot, when therefore the rest of the faction cards is weak.
 
so while some single cards might be extremely powerful it doesnt help alot, when therefore the rest of the faction cards is weak.

While I agree that you shouldn't judge a card in a vacuum, it's still a poor reason to make one card more powerful just to compensate for the weakness of other cards. This argument could only work when comparing faction specific cards with other factions. A good example in beta was Shani (NR) vs Sigrdrifa (SK). They had the same ability, to ress a card, but Shani was gold, while Sigrdrifa was silver. This wasn't imbalanced because SK was the resurrection faction and should have easier access to the graveyard.
 
people must stop thinking in single cards. cards are always part of a deck, so while some single cards might be extremely powerful it doesnt help alot, when therefore the rest of the faction cards is weak.

Couldn't let Monsters have the big unit. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have Slave infantry. Skellige needed that too.. (but cheaper gold card version)
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have swap power. Skellige needed that too.. (but better version)
Couldn't let Northern Reals be the boosters. Skellige needed that too.. (but better version)
Couldn't let Monsters and Nilfgaard be better at graveyard. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Northern Realms be good at damaging opponent. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have the only non-neutral giant destroyer.. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let monsters and vampires have bleeding. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let ST have healing. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Skellige not have wildcard (gerwin, skaggs) damage (graveyard) of its own.. Skellige needed that too..

The list goes on, but then don't forget about Skellige archtypes and own abilities..
Deploy damage
Self damage
Discard/deck manage
Added bloodthirst
Added berserk

Where is the focus with Skellige? The faction is all over the place. I wouldn't mind one overpowered card if Skellige didn't steal all the abilities from all other factions, but that's not the case. Vabjorn is questionable in itself, since it's a better version of Geralt and Leo, but cheaper and does not even brick.

Worst case with Geralt, you put 3 points on the board. Both Geralt and Leo have fewer/worse conditions than Vebjornand puts less points on the board, and they are more expensive in provisions!!

Seriously, I'm starting to dislike Skellige in this game. And it's quite a shame, because it was my favourite part in the Witcher 3. But this faction need some focus and have less abilities like all the other factions. Shame that the last faction added to Gwent need to be by far the best one.

If you can't beat them, join them? Well, that's not really a good alternative. Factions need to be balanced. I was looking at the ranks yesterday, and I saw quite an equal division of factions that people play, and I was surprised. But then I discovered I was browsing the regular ranks and not pro-ranks. Doh..

Pro ranks is dominated by people who play Skellige. Just have a look.

Anyways, this thread is about Vabjorn, but my Skellige rant is ofcourse related to this. Point is that I'm hardly considering this in an individual card vacuum.


Post automatically merged:

If you have a boosted unit, Vabjorn is useless, while Geralt and Leo can still snipe it.

That's a very good point ofcourse. I didn't quite consider that.

On the other hand he is a worst case scenario in a normal game (any units on board with 5 power card), a 9 value for 9 provisions, while Geralt and Leo is 3 for 10 provisions.
 
Couldn't let Monsters have the big unit. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have Slave infantry. Skellige needed that too.. (but cheaper gold card version)
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have swap power. Skellige needed that too.. (but better version)
Couldn't let Northern Reals be the boosters. Skellige needed that too.. (but better version)
Couldn't let Monsters and Nilfgaard be better at graveyard. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Northern Realms be good at damaging opponent. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Nilfgaard have the only non-neutral giant destroyer.. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let monsters and vampires have bleeding. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let ST have healing. Skellige needed that too..
Couldn't let Skellige not have wildcard (gerwin, skaggs) damage (graveyard) of its own.. Skellige needed that too..

The list goes on, but then don't forget about Skellige archtypes and own abilities..
Deploy damage
Self damage
Discard/deck manage
Added bloodthirst
Added berserk

Where is the focus with Skellige? The faction is all over the place. I wouldn't mind one overpowered card if Skellige didn't steal all the abilities from all other factions, but that's not the case. Vabjorn is questionable in itself, since it's a better version of Geralt and Leo, but cheaper and does not even brick.

Worst case with Geralt, you put 3 points on the board. Both Geralt and Leo have fewer/worse conditions than Vebjornand puts less points on the board, and they are more expensive in provisions!!

Seriously, I'm starting to dislike Skellige in this game. And it's quite a shame, because it was my favourite part in the Witcher 3. But this faction need some focus and have less abilities like all the other factions. Shame that the last faction added to Gwent need to be by far the best one.

If you can't beat them, join them? Well, that's not really a good alternative. Factions need to be balanced. I was looking at the ranks yesterday, and I saw quite an equal division of factions that people play, and I was surprised. But then I discovered I was browsing the regular ranks and not pro-ranks. Doh..

Pro ranks is dominated by people who play Skellige. Just have a look.

Anyways, this thread is about Vabjorn, but my Skellige rant is ofcourse related to this. Point is that I'm hardly considering this in an individual card vacuum.


Post automatically merged:



That's a very good point ofcourse. I didn't quite consider that.

On the other hand he is a worst case scenario in a normal game (any units on board with 5 power card), a 9 value for 9 provisions, while Geralt and Leo is 3 for 10 provisions.

Now you understand why people liked the Beta game so much, and got upset after they started blending all the faction's mechanics.


Shame that the last faction added to Gwent need to be by far the best one.

Wasn't Nilfgaard the last one added? Its been a few years now, but I swore Skellige was already there when they unveiled Nilfgaard.
 
Skellige was added in the blood and wine DLC, before that it was monsters, nr, ng, st.

In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: yes. In Gwent: The Witcher Card Game: no. In the online version NG was the last faction added...as I know (I did not play CB, I play from Day 1 OB...so I might be wrong).
 

DRK3

Forum veteran
I'll focus on the original topic, as it seems the OP is letting his frustration drive the thread into a general SK hate thread.

I've been using Vabjorn every since his addition, and he was never OP. In fact for a while in Open Beta, he was even a joke, completely unplayable.

Then, still on OB, he was changed to this iteration - destroy a damaged card... and guess what? He's still played very little. In this particular meta, he's definitely not better than Leo and Geralt, since most units that go beyond 8 pts - at least the ones ive seen so far - are boosted, Tibor and Old Speartip are great targets but they're less common now.

Having a 5pt body makes up for the fact he bricks often, specially vs boost or consume decks.
 
I'll focus on the original topic, as it seems the OP is letting his frustration drive the thread into a general SK hate thread.

I've been using Vabjorn every since his addition, and he was never OP. In fact for a while in Open Beta, he was even a joke, completely unplayable.

Then, still on OB, he was changed to this iteration - destroy a damaged card... and guess what? He's still played very little. In this particular meta, he's definitely not better than Leo and Geralt, since most units that go beyond 8 pts - at least the ones ive seen so far - are boosted, Tibor and Old Speartip are great targets but they're less common now.

Having a 5pt body makes up for the fact he bricks often, specially vs boost or consume decks.

How can he brick when he can destroy ANY damaged unit? Anything else is just a bonus. Most of the time he should be able to destroy a 3 or 4 point damaged unit. Which makes a worst case scenario 8 or 9 value for 9 provisions. The risk is simply VERY low, unlike any other such cards, and the bonus is very high with a silly condition almost not even worth having there at all.

Alot of players include 5-6 point units in their decks, which makes this card a win, even in those situations. I think this should be one of the cards they need to remove from Skellige alongside others to make Skellige a more focused faction with its own abilities, not just any abilities from any factions. And remove that Skellige slave infantry copy at the same time, let some other factions have something special for themselves.

if you want to make this card reasonable, make it a bloodthirst 3 card that can destroy any damaged enemy. That would fit the Skellige archtype. Haha. Just kidding, Skellige has no archtype, it has almost all archtypes.
 

DRK3

Forum veteran
How can he brick when he can destroy ANY damaged unit? Anything else is just a bonus. Most of the time he should be able to destroy a 3 or 4 point damaged unit. Which makes a worst case scenario 8 or 9 value for 9 provisions. The risk is simply VERY low, unlike any other such cards, and the bonus is very high with a silly condition almost not even worth having there at all.

Alot of players include 5-6 point units in their decks, which makes this card a win, even in those situations. I think this should be one of the cards they need to remove from Skellige alongside others to make Skellige a more focused faction with its own abilities, not just any abilities from any factions. And remove that Skellige slave infantry copy at the same time, let some other factions have something special for themselves.

if you want to make this card reasonable, make it a bloodthirst 3 card that can destroy any damaged enemy. That would fit the Skellige archtype. Haha. Just kidding, Skellige has no archtype, it has almost all archtypes.

He can brick - on decks that completely rely on boosts. For example certain Meve decks, Filavandrel decks or Monster decks with thrive can have all units boosted all the time.

In my opinion, SK has several cards now that are more problematic and might need a nerf.

And SK's archetypes have been since the very beginning: damage, self-damage, discard and ressurect. Actually, i dont think there was even discard at the beginning, that only came out later, if i recall correctly.
 
Vabjorn is terrible dude. Try him out yourself before judging the card. He hardly gets any value against most decks because most decks have small units. His condition still requires at least one other card or Crach.
 
Vabjorn is terrible dude. Try him out yourself before judging the card. He hardly gets any value against most decks because most decks have small units. His condition still requires at least one other card or Crach.

Deploy damage is an archtype of Skellige, so it hardly requires a two card play. Most decks has a 4 or 5 power card, and this gives at least instant minimum damage for Vabjorn of 8 or 9 for 9 provisions. The case is much worse for Geralt or Leo which actually often brick completely and only give 3 value for 10 provisions. Leo less so, since he can also hit Witchers.
 

rrc

Forum veteran
Opinions, not facts..
Yes, I agree. But even I share the same opinion and I believe a lot of people (who don't play/like) SK would share the same opinion (but it doesn't come just because of the hate. Even people who hate ST will not say CDPR loves ST and show favorism). Baseless and mostly out of frustration I am sure, but still the opinion is more common. The reason is simple. In every update patch notes, SK always gets the best deal. If one SK leader gets slightly nerfed, another leader will be buffed so much that for the next few months you have to face them a lot. It sometimes take more than couple of months to balance/nerf a SK leader, but other leaders if they get strong, they get nerfed the next patch. When Crach gets slightly nerfed Bran got godmode. When Bran gets nerfed hard, Svlablod gets godmode (so does Arnjolf and other cards too. ShieldMaiden for 5 provisions for 4 power? Seriously? Would any other faction ever get such a good deal? No way). Their treatment to SK seems unfair and special than other factions. I am 100% sure that there is a big picture which we will not know. May be SK gets played very less and CDPR wants all factions to be played equally and hence incentivize playing SK by giving better stronger cards. We will never know. But from a civilian point of view, with over 1100 hours into Gwent, I always feel that CDPR treats SK different than other factions.

(I am even ready to bet that, with the coming update, Svalblod will be nerfed a little but then Bran will be buffed. Just my hunch.)

I thought that the OP will be rrc... I am disappointed.
Was this personal attack necessary? NO
But did I deserve it? Probably Yes.


For the OP, Vabjorn is almost the same as Vincent. They both have -4 Point-to-Provision and can kill any non-boosted unit. In case of Vabjorn, with Crach it is easy to do and if not Crach, it will need another unit's help. Vincent doesn't need any other unit's help and on top of that he can synergize with Keadwini Revenant. A 5 point body is a bit too much, but he can brick in a very remote corner case. Of all the broken SK cards, this would not even be in my top 10 most-hated-SK card; this is coming from an avid SK critic.
 
Would it not make more sense if Vabjorn ONLY works with bloodthirst 3? It would make it more difficult, but certainly not impossible. Alot of people play to gain bloodthirst 3.

It would make the card more predictable and possible to counter.

Just any damaged unit is too easy a condition.
 
Top Bottom