Gwent Patch 6.1 Review

April 4, 2020 wusubi — No Comments

Geralt: Igni
Rating: 3/5

New keyword: Initiative - trigger ability if using this card is the first action during your turn.
Geralt: Igni ability changed to: Deploy, Initiative: Destroy the highest power unit(s) on an enemy row with a total of 20 or more power.
Geralt: Igni provision changed from 11 to 10.

While the card has lost its ability to be set-up with Order cards or leader abilities (specifically Precision Strike) in the same turn, at 10 provisions you can regard it as a cheap removal that gets ridiculous value if your opponent doesn't play around it. The provision cost makes it easy to just put Igni into your deck as a value card.

That said, the fact that you cannot Royal Decree into Igni because of the Initiative keyword is a major hit. The card sees diminishing value with respect to the round length and it can be bricked in short rounds, which is why losing the ability to tutor it is pretty significant.

There will be more random Igni friends on the ladder regardless, so now is most likely the time to start expecting (not respecting) this card.

Scorch
Rating: 1/5

New keyword: Initiative - trigger ability if using this card is the first action during your turn.
Scorch ability changed to: destroy the highest power unit. Initiative: destroy all highest power units instead.
Scorch provision changed from 13 to 12.

Absolutely horrific. At 12 provisions, it's extremely unlikely to see any play. If the opponent is clearly trying to set-up Scorch for the following turn, you can easily deny it. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. In memoriam, Scorch (2017-2020).

Hanmarvyns Blue Dream & Renew
Rating: 1/5

Hanmarvyns Blue Dream ability changed to: Play a unit from your opponent's graveyard with provision cost 9 or less and give it Doomed.
Hanmarvyns Blue Dream provision changed from 13 to 12.
Renew ability changed to: Play a unit from your graveyard with provision cost 9 or less and give it Doomed.
Renew provision changed from 14 to 12.

Hanmarvyns Blue Dream was far from being played to begin with. Downing the provision cost to 12 doesn't in any way compensate for the cap of 9 provisions when replaying cards. A prime example of beating a dead horse.

The main appeal of Renew was the ability to replay your extremely valuable top-end gold cards, as we remember from the dark triple-Siege era before the Caretaker rework, and even then it was considered a niche at best.

We doubt that these changes are going to make any crazy combos more affordable and hence Renew is shelved right next to Blue Dream in the "unplayable tier" section.

Unicorn & Chironex
Rating: 3/5

Chironex provision changed from 9 to 8.
Unicorn provision changed from 9 to 8.

The provision buff definitely helps these two, especially since now we can easily see how broken Etriel & Muirlega used to be. Jokes aside, we don't think the ponies will start seeing play. 16 provisions is too much for most factions to pay for a duo of tempo cards, whose abilities are tied to having access to both of them, while one of them has to stick to the board.

Garrison & Germain Piquant
Rating: 2.5/5

Garrison provision changed from 11 to 10.
Germain Piquant power changed from 4 to 5.

Garrison finally plays even for its provision cost. Due to its Tactic tag, its easier to fit into Nilgaard Hyperthin decks. But outside of that, the card is most likely still meme tier.

The faction that has been infamous for its Swarm archetypes (Monsters) has access to much better swarming tools such as Plague Maiden. It's unlikely that the minor power change will affect the play rate of poor Germain Piquant.

Golden Froth
Rating: 4/5

Golden Froth provision changed from 5 to 4.

A potent buff. Going from 5 to 4 provisions gives Skellige another great choice for Alchemy cards in their arsenal. Combined with the buff to Crow Clan Preacher, Golden Froth can play for 10 points when you have two Preachers on the board. In reality, you can play 1 copy of Golden Froth as a cheap fodder for Ermion. -Minuano

Uprising
Rating: 5/5

New leader ability: Uprising - Order: boost an allied unit by 1. Charge: 4. Once all Charges are used up, Spawn and play Lyrian Scytheman.
This ability adds 14 provisions to your deck's provision limit.

Uprising brings a lot of flexibility to Northern Realms, as it gives freedom of choice in when and how you want to utilize the 4 charges, while spawning a Lyrian Scytheman once all charges are used. It works well for both engine and Midrange archetypes.

Vissegerd and Lyrian Scytheman are auto-include with this leader ability. Cards that have the Inspired tag such as Prince Anséis and Bloody Baron will perform exceptionally well in Uprising decks. Feel free to tinker around with more engines, Anna Strenger and Reynard Odo can make for incredible additions if the meta is short on removal.

Reynard Odo
Rating: 4/5

Reynard Odo ability changed to: Deploy: Boost adjacent units by 1. Whenever you play a unit, boost it by 1.

The card which hasn't seen much play even in the glorious days of Royal Inspiration can finally get in the spotlight. Thanks to the change into his current form, Reynard no longer has to be afraid of being moved to the Ranged row and hence rendered useless.

As a base 8 for 9 on Deploy between two units with the upside of boosting every additional unit played by 1, he fits perfectly into engine-oriented decks, as well as into Midrange decks. If left unchecked, he might run rampant and set-up an exceptional Vissegerd and Lyrian Scytheman.

Donimir of Troy
Rating: 3/5

Donimir of Troy power changed from 6 to 7.

At the first glance seemingly one of the most oppressive Defenders, Donimir has received a buff to his base power. Despite escaping the range of Geralt: Professional, you still have to watch out for the cheeky Tesham Mutna Sword. Jokes aside, this card is susceptible to Purify effects. Overall a solid consideration for engine-heavy decks.

Cintrian Envoy
Rating: 3/5

Cintrian Envoy power changed from 3 to 4.

A staple card in erstwhile charge decks got a slight buff to base power in hopes of giving more of a punch to decks utilizing Order units. Not a bad card, but its archetype has been put to shame by the more efficient Draug.

Cintrian Royal Guard
Rating: 4/5

Cintrian Royal Guard power changed from 4 to 5.

After the buff to base power, this card is now a 5 for 5 on Deploy, reaping the benefits of playing as many copies as you possibly can. Offering the natural synergy with the likes of Queen Adalia and Reinforcements, we believe that Cintrian Royal Guard completements the faction-wide idea of playing a lot of boosted units. Moreover, it helps the faction with keeping up in points, as it's easy to slam it for 8-11 points with minor support. -Jagdulf

Mahakam Forge
Rating: 2.5/5

New leader ability: Mahakam Forge - Order: spawn and play Tempering. All Dwarfs in your starting deck get 1 Armor.
This ability adds 15 provisions to your deck's provision limit.

While offering synergy with the buffed/reworked Dwarf cards, this leader ability seems to be rather average, if not underwhelming overall. The +1 Armor passive doesn't achieve as much value as you would expect it to, leaving you with a measly Tempering, which is meant to be used on Yarpen Zigrin or Dwarf Berserker.

Miner ability changed to: Order: Boost an allied unit by 2. If it's a Dwarf, also give it 2 Armor.
Miner power changed from 3 to 5. Miner provision changed from 5 to 4.
Paulie Dahlberg ability changed to: Deploy (Melee): Move an allied unit to other row. Deploy (Ranged): Give an allied unit 2 Armor.
Paulie Dahlberg provision changed from 8 to 6.
Pyrotechnician ability changed to: Order: Damage a random enemy unit and self by 4.
Pyrotechnician power changed from 3 to 4.
Sheldon Skaggs ability changed to: Deploy (Melee): Damage an enemy unit by the amount Sheldon is boosted.
Sheldon Skaggs power changed from 3 to 6. Sheldon Skaggs provision changed from 9 to 8.
Xavier Moran ability changed to: Melee: Whenever you play a Dwarf, gain 1 Armor. Barricade: at the end of your turn, boost self by 1.
Xavier Moran power changed from 4 to 5. Xavier Moran provision changed from 9 to 7.
Yarpen Zigrin ability changed to: Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 3.
Barricade: At the end of your turn, lose Armor and boost self by that much.
Yarpen Zigrin power changed from 3 to 5. Yarpen Zigrin provision changed from 8 to 9.
Zoltan Chivay ability changed to: Resilience. Deploy: Boost adjacent Dwarfs by 2.
Zoltan Chivay provision changed from 9 to 10. Zoltan armor changed from 0 to 4.
Dwarven Mercenary ability changed to: Deploy: Damage self by 1 for each non Dwarf unit in your hand.
Dwarven Mercenary power changed from 3 to 7.
Dwarf Berserker power changed from 2 to 3. Dwarf Berserker provision changed from 4 to 5.
Munro Bruys power changed from 7 to 6. Munro Bruys provisions changed from 11 to 12.

Miner went a long way, from the never-seen Harmony card to a solid Dwarf support, allowing you to squeeze extra value from Dwarf Berserker and Yarpen. The provision nerf to Dwarf Berserker is questionable, but at least he was compensated with 1 extra power. In Mahakam Forge decks, Yarpen Zigrin plays as a solid 9 for 9 on Deploy and can generate extra points with his Barricade ability.

Paulie Dahlberg is now a 6 for 6 with some utility, empowering your Barricade cards or re-enabling Xavier Moran. Speaking of Xavier, the rework makes him more playable, since he comes down as a 6 for 7, threatening to keep growing if he doesn't get moved. The randomness of Pyrotechnician makes him a bad card that won't see play. Sheldon Skaggs is going through an identity crisis and likely won't see play either, since the handbuff cards are extremely slow and have fallen out of favor.

While the reworked Zoltan Chivay plays for 8 points on Deploy and offers 4 points of carry-over, he's weak to Purify and Seize effects, which makes him below average as a 10 provision card. Dwarven Mercenary is now a wholesome 7 for 5 Pointslam card for Dwarf decks. And finally, the pre-emptive nerf to Munro Bruys keeps him in line after the base power of Dwarf Berserker has been increased.

The Dwarf package offers a decent amount of points, but over the last couple of patches, it lost its control options. Dwarven Mercenary used to be an engine which damaged an enemy unit by 1 and gained 1 charge each time you played a Dwarf. You could spawn 2 copies (4 with Mystic Echo) in the same turn with the old Novigradian Justice, creating a threatening damage engine.

Morever, Zoltan Chivay was able to destroy a unit with power equal to the number of allied Dwarf units, serving as very efficient removal. Without such tools, you're left with nothing but moderate Pointslam, which just isn't good enough to compete with the best decks out there. -Wusubi

Isengrim Faoiltiarna
Rating: 4/5

Isengrim power changed from 6 to 4.

Isengrim used to play for way too many points with little set-up, making the 2 base power nerf more than deserved. He's easier to remove, but still offers a round-winning Deploy swing for Deadeye Ambush.

Eleyas
Rating: 4/5

Ele'yas ability changed to: Deploy: destroy an allied unit, then Spawn 2 Elven Deadeyes in this row.
Ele'yas power changed from 5 to 6.

This new ability finally makes Eleyas playable, giving you another good addition to Elf swarm. While you can treat Elayas as a 9 for 9, his ability can be used on Scoiatael Neophyte or any allied unit which was damaged to 1 power, increasing his value to 10 and 11 points respectively. He makes your pay-off cards like Isengrim and Yaevinn better, while also improving Vernossiel's Melee row ability. -Andasama

Blaze of Glory
Rating: 2.5/5

New leader ability: Blaze of Glory: Order: Move a Skellige unit from your deck to your graveyard, then damage an enemy unit by its power.
This ability adds 15 provisions to your deck's provision limit.

This ablity doesn't support any of the prevalent Skellige archetypes from previous seasons. However, it introduces some much-needed support for a couple of forgotten cards. It can be utilized in a variety of means. You can take the control route to make use of cards like Hjalmar an Craite, while using ships to help you set-up Bloodthirst for your pay-off cards. Otherwise, you can revisit the self-wound archetype with Gedyneith as an additional finisher.

All in all, the leader doesn't seem to be on par with the likes of Second Wind or Ursine Ritual (which goes well with Cerys an Craite) but there might be some merit to experimenting. The following deck is at the theorycrafting stage and thus unoptimized. It's intended to give you a general idea of what strategy you can go for.

Cerys an Craite
Rating: 5/5

Cerys an Craite ability changed to: Deploy (Melee): Spawn a Drummond Shieldmaiden in this row.
Deploy (Ranged): Spawn a Drummond Queensguard in this row.

Cerys now spawns a copy of Shieldmaiden instead of summoning it from your deck. This makes her an incredibly valuable card, especially when combined with Ursine Ritual and Lippy Gudmund, where you can play her twice for a ridiculous amount of carry-over. As it stands, it appears that Cerys is only held back by the fact that she basically forces you to play Ursine Ritual, which possibly isn't the best Skellige leader.

Dracoturtle
Rating: 3.5/5

Dracoturtle ability changed to: whenever Dracoturtle loses Armor, boost it by the amount of Armor lost.
Barricade: At the end of your turn, gain 1 Armor.
Dracoturtle power changed from 6 to 5. Dracoturtle armor changed from 6 to 5. Dracoturtle provision changed from 11 to 10.

While with the recent change Dracoturtle still plays incredibly tall and is therefore very prone to tall punish, the new Barricade ability combined with the provision buff might just push it to the brink of playability.

Vabjorn
Rating: 2/5

Vabjorn power changed from 5 to 6.

This card wasn't even close to being playable at 5 power and we doubt this minor buff is going to push it to viability. While Vabjorn isn't a bad card per se, his main drawback is being somewhat unreliable outside of Onslaught decks, which is unforunately one of the worst leader abilities.

Crow Clan Preacher
Rating: 3/5

Crow Clan Preacher ability changed to: Whenever you play an Alchemy card, boost self by 1.
Bonded: Boost self by 2 instead.

The new Bonded ability makes Preacher a force to be reckoned with when combined with the free copy that you get from Gedyneith. A nice buff, certainly playable as a 1-off over the second copy of Crow Clan Druid.

An Craite Warcrier
Rating: 2.5/5

An Craite Warcrier power changed from 3 to 4.

An Craite Warcrier now comes down as a 5 for 5 engine in Bloodthirst decks, making it less vulnerable to removal. Possible niche uses with Patricidal Fury or even control variants of Blaze of Glory and Second Wind, but otherwise doesn't seem too appealing, as your 5 provision slots are very tight in Skellige.

Bear Abomination
Rating: 4/5

Bear Abomination power changed from 5 to 6.

The 1 point buff to this token makes a lot of its associated cards play for decent value now, namely Svalblod Totem that can now play as a 12 for 10. Moreover, Primal Savagery can be an 8 for 5, which is an efficient use of provisions.

At 6 power, Bear Abomination, also improves Svalblod Fanatic, Arnvald and Ursine Ritual. Overall a great change, making the Svalblod cult much more relevant.

Heymaey Skald
Rating: 4/5

Heymaey Skald provision changed from 5 to 4.

At a mere 4 provisions, this card will definitely help the Discard archetype, which was already being experimented with last season. Other than becoming a staple for Sacrificial Vanguard, we expect Skald to see some play in decks with other leader abilities as well. -Minuano

Hidden Cache
Rating: 5/5

New leader ability: Hidden Cache - Order: Gain 3 Coins. On round start, refresh this ability. Your Hoards require 3 less Coins to trigger.
This ability adds 15 provisions to your deck's provision limit.

Hidden Cache enables coin carry-over and grants you 3 disposable coins in each round. Moreover, all of your Hoard abilities require 3 less coins to trigger, making cards like Saul de Navarette and The Flying Redanian much better.

One of the biggest upsides is that you can now play Passiflora Peaches as a 5 for 5 on Deploy, serving as the perfect replacement for Sly Seductress. It supports a more proactive gameplay, allowing you to contest Round 1 with ease. To top it all off, Sea Jackal is stronger than ever before. Abuse it while you can.

Sir Skewertooth
Rating: 4/5

Sir Skewertooth provision changed from 8 to 7.
Sir Skewertooth armor changed from 0 to 1.
Sir Skewertooth Tribute changed from 4 to 3.

Lowering its provision cost and the amount of coins you have to pay for its Tribute makes Sir Skewertooth a great addition to crime-heavy decks. The Immunity combined with a few crime cards enables non-interactive gameplay, which might put your opponent into a difficult spot at times. This card will most likely find its place in Gord decks.

Tatterwing
Rating: 2.5/5

Tatterwing provision changed from 8 to 7.

Useful in niche cases, for example it can consume a 1-point Savollas Frightener previously targeted by Vincent Meis. Could also work in combination with Igor the Hook after having used Igor's Insanity ability. Furthermore, Tatterwing serves as a counter to the opponent's last Poison. It can also devour The Flying Redanian, playing as a 9 for 7.

This card would have to compete with much better Syndicate cards in its provision range. As a dual-faction card, you can play it Monsters, however we don't find the 1-provision change any significant there either, as the faction has access to stronger (and cheaper) cards with Consume abilities.

Salamandra Assassin
Rating: 2/5

Salamandra Assassin ability changed to: Intimidate. Order (Ranged): Damage an enemy unit with a Bounty by 2.

Thanks to this change, you can now play Salamandra Assassin proactively and make use of his Order ability later by putting a Bounty on an enemy unit. The problem is that the 5 provisions slots are tight already and thus Syndicate can't really fit in a conditional card like this.

Keeper of the Flame
Rating: 2.5/5

Keeper of the Flame power changed from 3 to 4.

A 6 for 5 on Deploy, mainly intended for the Firesworn swarm archetype, as the Tribute ability can give you 9 points for 4 coins on a full row. While not the worst card, there are better options for 5 provisions. We could observe in the previous season that players who chose to play Congregate decks opted for a rather crime-packed deck, utilizing their leader charges to enable Whoreson Senior and playing crimes instead of swarming the board.

Payroll Specialist
Rating: 3/5

Payroll Specialist ability changed to: Intimidate. Tribute 2: move a unit to the other row.
Payroll Specialist power changed from 3 to 5.

Payroll Specialist now has 2 more power, but requires you to have at least 2 coins if you want to utilize his Tribute. It's a decent tech choice for the higher provision Syndicate leaders if the meta calls for it, giving you the ability to disable the opposing row-locked engines, or to re-enable Imke on your own side of the board. -Jagdulf

Gwent Patch 6.1 Review

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