Gwent Community Patch November 2026 – Review

Introduction

In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch November 2026 generated by democratic voting via Balance Council tool. I’d sketch the situation before the patch, analyze the changes one-by-one and then provide summary and a general review.

Check out the discussion of balance changes on Reddit.

It was the 29th council we formed Coalition with Shinmiri and published our balance suggestions on Reddit. I also welcome you to check out ‘Balance Council‘ page on leriohub if you haven’t yet – there is a lot of practical information and my Council philosophy. There is also an analysis of how Balance Council works in practice: What Gwent Balance Council Does? Successes, Failures and Democracy Analogies

Before Patch

In the October Season 2026 I played almost 400 games on Gwent Pro Ladder, which give me a good view on ladder meta at 2.5k+ fMMR.

The first dominant feature of 2.5k+ mmr Gwent pro ladder in October Season 2026 was high fraction of Fruits of Ysgith decks of various composition, most often of Pointslam + Control character. The control tools used were hard to exactly predict, for example Hen Gaidth sword became quite popular.

The second feature is the return of Temple NR as the most popular competitive archetype. NR was clearly the best performing faction in Top10 fMMR charts – the only one with 2.6k or more as 10th score.

Variety was okay, but sadly no new really interesting decks with buffed cards appeared at high ladder – mostly old stuff or new builds which abused known high value cards like Phoenix or Temple of Melitele.

2.5k+ pro ladder meta (especially relevant decks in bold):

My main decks:

Balance Council Results

(++) great change
(+) good
(/) acceptable
(-) bad
(–) very bad

Nerf Brackets

-1 Power Decreased

She Who Knows (12 -> 11)

(++) Explanation

Jacques: Miracle Child (5 -> 4)

(++) I learned that this nerf is more than just a placeholder. The lower base power Jacques is, the lower the damage from Tatterwing, and the lower damage is retained

Braathens (4 -> 3)

(–) In the neverland where people just accept 20 real nerfs a month and move on, Braathens would be rated as (/) and Assimilate gradually becomes relatively stronger with nerfs to other, perhaps more successful ladder decks. In reality though, this nerf is terrible politically – everyone knows it would get reverted, the hostilities which I’m already deeply bored with will arise (LOL, have you seen this new MetallicDanny insult? Repeated: 5986986). The scale of counterreaction is hard to predict (random overbuffs?), it may also prevent the Jan Calveit 2- or 3-step plan which I really like.

Azar Javed (5 -> 4)

(-) Not sure about this change – I don’t love Defenders, but compared with Cave Troll or Donimir, Azar is rarely seen on the ladder and harder to abuse for carryover. The 2x Salamadra cheese which I meet on ladder is always Golden Nekker. I think this nerf is bad for variety and at this point I don’t mind that much long round Salamander decks with Azar – I don’t regard it that toxic compared with other options.

Hefty Helge (5 -> 4)

(/) The only change which cannot be associated with any main coalition. Quite surprising for me – I rather expected a Helge buff from Evil Coalition to go through. A situation where a part of the community wants to buff a certain card and the other wants to nerf it at the same time is not very healthy.

Casual players felt hopeless against Enslave 6 Damage decks, spontaneously decided to revert Helge and outnumbered the lovers of the same deck.

Helge is a frequent guest in the patch reviews and it probably wouldn’t change next months.

Nenneke (5 -> 4)

(-) It’s imaginable to pick a worse placeholder than this starter set card, but a real nerf (there is a few options this month) was better. I’d even prefer the continuation of Stennis power nerfs over marking Nenneke as a new placeholder.

Reynard Odo (9 -> 8)

(/) Odo would still be played at 8 and felt strong at 9. Maybe another month of strong Odo state wouldn’t have been better for more recognition, but its fine.

Imlerith (4 -> 3)

(++) Imlerith raw value is base power + the value of topdeck. More effective points could be gained if for example Ozzrel is set up via consume from hand.

Imlerith points itself weren’t outstanding, but the temposwing with Yghern felt unhealthy; against opponents missing tall punish, a 20 points early play means a round lost on even or a lost position when defending R2 push. Plausible nerf. Other considerations were Ozzrel or Yghern which come in package with Imlerith.

Pavko Gale (6 -> 5)

(/) From my ladder experience it is clear Harmony needs at least one nerf, but it is hard to designate any card in particular. Scenario? A part of the playerbase would compare its cost to Ball and say its weirdly overcosted. Quarixis? “But there is also Guerilla Tactics Harmony and Quarixis is not that good when played with Relicts rather than Harmony”. Call of Harmony leader? “Its not that good and buff slot is wasted.”

Here we have Pavko, who was very good at 6 power, possible +3 per turn value plus control support. -1 power though means a ton for the survivability of Pavko. Would the high ceiling still keep him included outside Golden Nekker Harmony? We will see.

Peasant Militia (5 -> 4)

(+) Explanation

+1 Provision Increased

👑 Congregate (18 -> 19)

(-) Congregate is a leader ability worth in total 6 body + 3 coins, which requires Firesworn or Swarm payoff cards in order to justify self (leaders article). For example 3 Firesworn Zealots could be worth +6 on Saint Gregory or +3 on Dies Irae. Congregate is pretty much reserved to one archetype and less flexible than coin generating leaders like Off the Books or Lined Pockets (note that those when combined with cards like Helveed also effectively could spawn Zealots, while Congregate would struggle to play cards like Philippa or Moreelse), hence it got provision cap buffed to 68.

Provision cap buff to 69 is a step too far for two reasons. First – some synergistic cards still are unplayed and should be buffed first to see what happen (Sacred Flame…). Second – while not popular, Congregate Firesworn proven to perform well enough lately – check out Kerpeten’s perfect return to pro. I also tried similar list and did well at 2.5k+ mmr.

Tyr: Slayer of Yngvar (14 -> 15)

(+) Eist Warriors were amongst best SK options and PF Raids were very popular and solid as always. A nerf is logical.

Ocvist (12 -> 13)

(–) Ocvist is the most stable and strongest Dragon, considerable even standalone in some deck. Its logical then that it gets nerfed because Dragons felt too strong… Well, I disagree!

First – I don’t think Dragons were too strong in spite of the preceding season’s spectacular 2.7k score from Deserta. I played a lot of games with his deck in the October season and struggled to get past 2.5k mmr. Also only ST Dragons are any popular and successful and Ocvist is a neutral card.

Second and most important: even if a good deal of the playerbase is convinced Dragons are too strong based on their experience, Ocvist is not the right card to pick in my opinion. Being the only one from the neutral package who is considerable standalone in various builds like for example Dagur SK is an added value for deckbuilding. Now this consideration would be denied. A provision nerf to Myrgtabrakke instead would have opened very interesting possibility for the Land of Thousand Fables transformation of Oneiromancy into Allgod/Sunset Wanderers/Ocvist. Also power nerf to one of the Dragons would have been better imo as this bracket is more troublesome.

Jan Calveit (11 -> 12)

(+) In the world of real nerfs which lead to more variety, Calveit nerf must happen at some point. This change is designed as 2-step, with power buff to 8 next. The idea is to lower peak Calveit decks power from red coin, but as a compensation make them a bit less prone to loss on even from blue and enable more fight for R1 in general. I think that even 9 power would be welcomed to really improve this aspect and reduce coin polarization.

Portal (10 -> 11)

(++) Explanation

Sandstorm (9 -> 10)

(/) Better this again than a new placeholder.

Conjurer’s Candle (8 -> 9)

(++) Explanation

Caravan Guard (6 -> 7)

(/) Better this again than a new placeholder.

Siege Master (5 -> 6)

(++) Explanation

Fire Scorpion (4 -> 5)

(/) Unanswered Scorpion has a high ceiling (often more than 1 charge per turn and control capabilities), yet is prone to removal and trades down against control. At 1 excess cost would still be played in thematic damage engines Enslave 6, but omitted as a filler from Calveit builds. Damage Enslave was abundant on the ladder before, but Helge power buff made it even more popular in the October Season 2026. This change seems likely to get reverted by a part of the community, also given the context of unexpected Hefty Helge power nerf.

Buff Brackets

+1 Power Increased

Ardal aep Dahy (7 -> 8)

(++) Explanation

Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen (5 -> 6)

(-) This card has been played more from Henry + Abduction than from hand, so why do I dislike the buff? At 6 power Shilard would be a consideration mainly in Renfri and other decks which don’t rely that much on synergies. Would play as ~12 for 9 most of the time, but autowin some matchups. There would be no gauge if the opponent runs Shilard or not, because accompanying cards are not required. Some archetypes like Handbuff or Adda:Striga would just be lost from the start without any agenda due to a low risk deckbuilding decision a midrange NG player made.

Rat Catcheress (9 -> 10)

(/) Very welcomed buff to this Relict – Rat Catcheress high base power carryover isn’t really utilized so far and there are some options (Sabbath, Triss: Meteor Shower, Ozzrel). The timing though may not be perfect as Golden Nekker Relicts are in a quite strong state right now.

Voymir (5 -> 6)

(++) Voymir is typically associated with Blue Stripes, but could also support for example some Kerack Frigate builds. Welcomed change which doesn’t matter much for the problematic part of Blue Stripes. Probably still wouldn’t see much play elsewhere, but nice for variety.

Werecat (3 -> 4)

(+) Werecat didn’t see any play after provision buff from 7 to 6. This change made perfect sense to get Werecat out of Penitent range. I think power buff to Werecat while balancewise justified, wouldn’t make this card much more played

Aretuza Adept (4 -> 5)

(++) Hard to long term assess this change, depends a lot on the plan for Mediating Mages. If they are supposed to stay in the same state, where they see little play, but at least don’t feel any problematic (MM decks used to be absolute cancer in the past), then Aretuza Adept power buff is pretty good.

Aretuza Adepts didn’t see any play from hand outside MM, only situational Runeword. It’s a win-more card for decks like Alumni with Students.

Brokvar Warrior (2 -> 3)

(/) Brokvar Warrior was a bit below meta level at 2/5 stats. After power buff this card is back in the menu, but unplayable from War of Clans, hence may still not see play in Raids deck. Would be welcomed for various Ulula decks though.

The most important side effect of this buff is a high value target for Feral Bond. That’s another reason why BW may see little direct play – if included in the deck then couldn’t be rolled from Feral Bond. So Raid decks would rather prefer to play them with extra +2 or +3 (Bran) rather than from hand.

Endrega Eggs (4 -> 5)

(++) Explanation

Hybrid (4 -> 5)

(++) Explanation

Deithwen Arbalest (4 -> 5)

(++) Deithwen Arbalest is an interesting bronze to buff – a card which joins Soldiers and Status archetypes. Great synergy with Alba Pikeman and already ubiquitous locks.

-1 Provsion Decreased

Ivo of Belhaven (10 -> 9)

(/) In my experience Ivo was constraining enough for the gameplan to feel a bit overcosted at 10. Sadly this buff would be an invitation to Quadruple Harvest and Enslave 6 Midrange netdecks, which are respectively highly variant and linearly uninspired.

Kolgrim (10 -> 9)

(-) Kolgrim itself doesn’t feel like a 10-cost card when it comes to average performance, but 9-cost enables binary all-in play with Renew (at 10 its still possible to recycle Kolgrim same way with Assire, but more complicated). We suggested power buff in BC35, which aims at buffing Kolgrim and making it not autolose to An Craite Longship or Naval Supremacy, but it lost to buff to 9-cost.

Ithlinne Aegli (9 -> 8)

(++) Explanation

Sacred Flame (8 -> 7)

(++) Sacred Flame ceiling is 21 points; nevertheless this card wasn’t played as there are stronger payoff cards for Firesworn (Saint Gregory, Dies Irae), which don’t require low tempo play. A welcomed buff. Should be strong enough now. Outside Classic Firesworn, Sacred Flame is essential for Golden Nekker Firesworn decks.

Vissegerd (8 -> 7)

(++) A payoff card to Boost Swarm archetype, which also has huge synergy with Onagers. I played some games with Vissgerd and felt a bit underpowered; on the ladder he was non-existent. A welcomed buff.

Egmund (7 -> 6)

(++) Slow, unplayed engine. Welcomed buff to Tridam Infantry decks.

Whisperer of Dol Blathanna (7 -> 6)

(++) Explanation

Mandrake (6 -> 5)

(+) Overall cool, but could be toxic / too high variance at times. The main downside is buff to abusive Defender decks, where Mandrake can “unpurify” Defender status.

Bountiful Harvest (6 -> 5)

(/) Independent voters can’t stop winning. In the preceding month we witnessed ABSOLUTELY OVERDUE nerf to BH, now a revert of an ABSOLUTELY NONSENSE nerf to BH. Preceding month half of the community was happy, this month the other half, so hopefully everyone is happy now. (BH revert was supported by VK coalition from the 4th slot, but it wasn’t decisive; BH massively won in their poll and it was clear revert happens with or without support; other card supported from 4th slot – Shani – didn’t get through).

BH playrate dropped by a ton after provision nerf. As I said in the last month review, Harvest is a card without perfect cost, but I lean more towards 5.

Dol Blathanna Archer (5 -> 4)

(++) Explanation

Summary

All changes ordered by the number of votes and attributed to factions and voting coalitions could be found in the BALANCE COUNCIL RESULTS SHEET.

Out of 12 changes we recommended with Shinmiri this month, 11 got through – thanks for your support! I’m especially happy to see high support for finish to 2-step changes. The missing change is Kikimore Worker -1 power. The most influential coalition was MetallicDanny (18/20).

When it comes to nerfs I think that Fruits of Ysgith decks which I’ve met in plenty at 2.5+ fMMR could have been addressed more directly. There is at least a power nerf to Imlerith and provision nerf to sometimes included Portal. I think though that the provision cap nerf to the leader is inevitable.

Temple of Melitele decks performed distinctively well in the October Season. While we recommended widespread Siege Master nerf for NR, maybe on top of that Temple also should have been addressed directly.

Enslave 6 Assimilate and Damage got double nerfed. For the latter one nerf was surely fine given widespread and community sentiment visible in Helge nerf from independents, 2 are rather too much in one patch. For the former a single nerf is acceptable, but none is necessary. As a concept in my opinion Fire Scorpion nerf was acceptable (nobody predicted Helge revert), Jan Calveit plan is very good, Braathens wasn’t any essential and politically is harmful.

Buffs overall feel quite good – there is no clear overbuff, some interesting cards are included. The tiny downside to me is that some figured out decks may get more popular: Quadruple Harvest / Enslave 6 Ivo, Classic Deathwish with Hybrid, Raids with Feral Bond into Brokvar Warrior, Relicts GN with Rat Catcheress, maybe Elves with buffed Dol Blathanna Archer, GN Clog. Note that in the case of 4xHarvest decks, the highroll possibilities would be a bit lower after Whisperer and Dol Blathanna Archer nerfs.

Skellige should have got one buff more – Brokvar Warrior is not innovative. Haern Caduch, Fulmar and Bride of the Sea didn’t made the cut – especially lack of Fulmar is sad to me, while no Haern Caduch is welcomed – it would have buffed GN Selfwound which was already arguably top SK choice.

What New To Try?

MO | GN Necro Tome Consume with Endrega Eggs / Hybrid, Sabbath Relicts w/Rat Catcheress, Madoc w/Hybrid
NG | Enslave 6 with Ardal, Status Soldiers with Deithwen Arbalest, Midrange NG with random Shilard
NR | Tridam Infantry decks w/Egmund, Boost Swarm w/Vissegerd
SK | Ulula GN with Brokvar Warriors
ST | Handbuff with Ithlinne, Damage Elves with Dol Blathanna Archer
SY | The Eternal Fire guides, the Eternal Fire protects!

Closure

Patch is good enough to play more Gwent.

See you on ladder!
lerio2