Introduction
Up to March 2026, 1161 balance changes have been done in Gwent Balance Council. Let’s see how these changes were distributed between factions. I will highlight different elements of a table I’ve made – check out the source table, where you can also find the explanation of each column. Also lookup the previous edition from May 2025 if you’d like to see original comments and compare how statistics changed on the year span.
Factions Vs Balance Council Brackets
Nilfgaard remains the most often addressed faction with 223 total changes, but the distance from other factions is lower than in May 2025. Especially Monsters raised from 81 to 145 total changes – this faction got a lot of more interest in a year in each bracket. Monsters net changes evolved from 63 (10 less than 2nd lowest Skellige) to 109 (4th highest). Also Neutrals rised from 79 net changes (ex-aequo 4th) to 133 (clear first). Neutrals now are the most net changed group! It is worth noting here that this number includes Living Armor (9) changes and Tainted Ale (8), which are placeholder cards.
The most often changed cards are Nauzicaa Sergeant (26, all waste!), Lord Riptide (18; 16 wasted, net +1 cost -1 power), Renfri (15; 10 wasted, net +1 cost – 4 power), Highland Warlord (15; 14 wasted, net +1 cost), Temple of Melitele (13; 8 wasted, +5 cost), Slave Driver (13; 12 wasted, +1 cost).
Net Buff / Nerf
Why net provision change doesn’t sum to zero? The answer is leader ability buffs. Each leader ability buff contributes -2 to total net prov as not gives extra provision to use, but also blocks a nerf. We can see that ST and SY remain the factions which net got most provision to use for different decks. Obligatory note here: don’t treat numbers as absolute truth about faction changes, because the weight differs between particular cards.
Interesting fact: no leader ability in Gwentfinity got a net nerf. The most buffed leader abilities are Jackpot (+4) and Invigorate (+3). There are 6 abilities back to initial state after Balance Council changes: Inspired Zeal, Enslave, Onslaught, Patricidal Fury, Imperial Formation and Shieldwall.
Monsters got most power buffs and you wouldn’t guess which card contributed most… it is Lara Dorren (+3), for which I count -1 power as a buff.
Both Nilfgaard and Neutrals have some nerf sponges, which makes Net_BuffNerf negative, while Buffed – Nerfed is positive – i.e. more cards were buffed than nerfed in these factions.
By Card
Skellige is the faction of the most “unclear” and “unchanged” cards. Let’s see what “unchanged” cards are by faction:
UNCHANGED (REVERTED)
- Neutral | Teleportation, Maxii van Dekkar, Radeyah, Shupe’s Day Off, Doppler
- Monsters | Dettlaff: Higher Vampire, Harpy’s Egg
- Nilfgaard | Nauzicaa Sergeant, Enslave, Imperial Formation, Vivienne de Tabris, Alba Armored Cavalry, Vilgefortz, War Council, Artorius Viog, Artaud Terranova, Ard Feainn Crossbowman, Slave Infantry, Duchess’ Informant
- Northern Realms | Inspired Zeal, Knight-Errant, Alumni, Reaver Scout, Shieldwall, Siege, Siege Support, Cintrian Spellweaver
- Skellige | Dimun Smuggler, An Craite Raiders, Onslaught, Patricidal Fury, Lippy Gudmund, War of Clans, Yustianna, Raiding Fleet, Dimun Pirate, Dracoturtle, Dimun Pirate Captain, Coral
- Scoia’tael | Brehen, The Great Oak, Frog Mating Season, Dryad Fledgling, Chameleon
- Syndicate | Open, Sesame!, Fallen Knight, Procession of Penance, Whoreson Junior, Witch Hunter Executioner
Conclusions
The interpretation of the showcased data is up to you. Caution: without enough insider knowledge conclusions like “let’s buff NG 40 times to keep up with ST/SY” may be not correct.
At this point of Gwentfinity, each faction and neutrals got around ~50 cards buffed and around ~20 cards nerfed (30+ for Neutrals and Nilfgaard). The view that Balance Council “changes nothing” is not justified at all.
Why there are more buffs than nerfs though for each faction, isn’t it powercreep? Not exactly, as the strongest cards are nerfed and the buffed cards do not exceed their power in 95% of cases (the remaining 5% is usually instantly reverted). That’s mainly the psychological “nerf barrier” effect, which I described in What Gwent Balance Council Does? Successes, Failures and Democracy Analogies. The natural point of reference for ladder players is Tier 2 and there is very few cards to nerf to this level, but hundreds to buff up.
In the May 2025 stats summary I said I hope for more Monsters buffs. Dreams became real and Monsters are on par with other factions in terms of buffs now. Stats are no different to reality here – I’ve started this month from uploading 5 vods of different MO decks gameplay.
Cheers,
lerio2