I never said variance is a bad thing. I was specifically talking about that much variance on a 4p bronze card also based around RNG.
It's not random. It's the top card of the opponents deck.
I think you want to argue that having different types of tactics is a good thing but here you are saying people should never build decks around a powerful finisher or a powerful engine. Doesn't that limit the game? Yeah you have other gold cards but you put that one in the deck for a reason and it's silly that a 4p bronze can go into your deck and get rid of it. It's not a clever tactic, it's just a bad RNG card.
I didn't say that. And besides, Vipers does not really prevent a single card based strategy or some particular ending engine. In most cases not. And if players only have one strategy for their deck, that's their fault. If one card can be taken out and it's an automatic lost game, then their deck is not good enough. But sure, people should be allowed to base their whole deck around a single card, but at their own risk. I don't think the game should reward them for doing so.
I don't have that many decks, but I have none that are fully dependent on a single card. I think that's a silly strategy. The Vipers does not also get rid of a card of choice, it banishes the top card only.
It's not a clever tactic, but I don't play Vipers to be clever, I play it for disruption purposes and/or sabotage. And those are not the only cards I use for that purpose, that's just my overall strategy for my Usurper deck, and Vipers are just 2 of 6-7 cards I use for that purpose. It's not a hugely powerful deck either TBH, it's just a tactic style I found fun for a while, and I don't think it should be removed. I'm moving away from it now, but my deck will still be there for me to pick up again when I feel like it. I think it is a tactic/strategy that belongs in the game. It's quite unique, but it's not in any way very powerful. Vipers is just part of that mix of things.
I've had Vipers used on me, and I don't mind it at all. Even a few times they took away one of my top 3 most important cards, and I was like, meh.. I can play some other way with my deck,
The player clearly forfeit based on the viper witcher play. It won the game.
Like I said, that was not due to Vipers, but a weak player with a weak deck. If I play Demavend, do I forfeit if someone takes out an important card like Dandelion? No, I play on. If I forefeit, the 4 damage card you used did not win the game, I gave the game away because I'm a bad player who forfeited.
That isn't true at all. What happened was clear. I played one card which banished their win condition so they didn't feel it was worth even playing the game at that point.
Yeah, because it was a bad player with a bad deck. I've had plenty of games where important cards have been taken out in various ways. I don't forfeit as soon as that happens.
Well you have been arguing against some tactics here like building around one or two powerful win conditions. How about old imlerith sabbath which could come back in a different form at some point. People built around that card all the time. But one viper could win against that deck. Vipers are the worst kind of "tactics" you can put in a game. It's pure chance.
Nah, Vipers isn't pure chance. It is a reasonable counter to decks who over-rely on single cards, and even against such decks, it's not a strong card. 1/22 chance and then 1/21 chance.
Vipers is also a great counter to people using "fisher" or other cards to put some card on top of their deck. No other card can counter that play in the same way. Sure, some other cards can counter that in some way or another, but not directly.
RNG is already built into card draw. Who plays first and second. Deck match up. Injecting more RNG unnecessarily gets bad fast. I didn't start playing this game to play flip the coin and see who gets heads.
I think I've said it many times, randomness belongs in card games. Despite this, Gwent is mostly down to skills and strategy, but there is still randomness to it, which is a good thing. Randomness is needed, it's a core part of the game, a core part of any cardgame, and it's there to stay.