Introduction
In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch December 2025 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 18th 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.
Before Patch
Again I played over 500 Gwent games, mainly on stream, and got a good recognition of decks played on high ladder.
As expected from the patchnotes, the season got dominated by Nilfgaard Midrange decks making use of ~11 for 4 Slave Infantry and 1-power Ivar. The most popular out of these decks was Tactical Decision Renfri. Slave Infantry swarm with Vreemde was very rare at 2.5k+ mmr – probably because it is hard to efficiently spawn this card enough times (Slave Driver into Slave Infantry is not that great). Another reason is that by introducing synergistic part midrange NG becomes less flexible – can’t go deep that easy if missing combo parts.
Other factions got overshadowed for a good part by NG with 2nd and 3rd choice of NG being arguably more common than any particular deck from any other faction. Out of my 100 last games 35 were vs NG.
MO | Tatterwing, Kikimore Queen Sabbath (shu34; 2615 mmr in ~300 games), Non-Tatterwing Lara, sometimes Vampires
NG | Renfri Tactical Decision, Formation Shupe, Allgod Affan Soldiers, Tactical Decision Constructs
NR | Mobilization Roche Mutagenerator, Shieldwall Midrange, sometimes Temple Zeal, Melitele
SK | Pirates, Flurry Lippy Shupe, Battle Trance “Selfwound”, various Compass decks
ST | Guerilla Harmony Gezras, Dwarves, Devo Guerilla Schirru, Guerilla 4xHarvest/Backup plan, various Invigorate decks, non-devo Gift, Quarixis Harmony, Elves…
SY | seldom; OtB Sesames, Saint Gregory OtB / Congregate
My peak decks:
– NG Imprisonment Clog Nekker
– MO AS Deathwish Lara
– SY 2xScenario Cache Consistency Focus
– NR Devotion Knights
Balance Council Results
(++) great change
(+) good
(/) acceptable
(-) bad
(–) very bad
Nerf Brackets
-1 Power Decreased
Aucwenn (5 -> 4)
(/) Understandable nerf to Nature’s Gift decks with Naiads. Aucwenn would be easier to remove, would require extra protection when used as a round winning engine. That being said, Filavandrel provision nerf was our favorite instead for this patch as it addresses more pointslam ST decks.
Dracoturtle (6 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
Vesemir: Mentor (4 -> 3)
(-) This change was quite popular and suggested by different communities, nevertheless I dislike it 😉 In my opinion Witcher archetypes are not very strong. The main context here are SK Witchers which are easy to play and popular but nevertheless seldom at high mmrs. In NR Witchers this change is supposed to be less felt because Vesemir: Mentor can be transformed with Griffin Witcher Adept, which is semi-truth.
What is most sad for me though is the context of less popular Witchers: NG and ST which are not really full developed as archetypes, but nice to try from time to time in different variants. V:M is weaker here, so all-in Witchers direction is heavily discentivized.
Iris von Everec (3 -> 2)
(+) Good placeholder, at this point Iris was already to be discarded rather than played from hand.
Philippa Eilhart (3 -> 2)
(+) In the context of the last patch which was dominated by midrange NG, mediocre Philippa value and OtB/Lined Pockets decks performing not good enough for Open, Sesame! to go back to 6-cost again, this nerf may be hard to understand.
Nevertheless as an offmeta player that’s a good nerf in my opinion; Philippa feels balanced amongst top meta where we deploy many threats and can answer the one stolen by Phil as well or just don’t play anything fragile to control. Less competitive oriented engine decks though often end up in “if there is Philippa I autolose” scenario. 2-power Philippa still would be playable, but its floor would be low enough to make her more of a meta call than regular inclusion in most midrange SY decks.
Vivienne de Tabris (5 -> 4)
(++) I wasn’t a fan of Vivienne power buff from the start. In practice Vivienne ended up as another deploy value card in Renfri NG with little interesting about it gameplaywise. Just take a guess whether the opponent plays Vivienne and if you should kill Renfri / Triss or not. If you couldn’t, Vivienne was 5+14 = 19 points on Renfri.
Winter Queen (4 -> 3)
(++) Explanation
Nauzicaa Sergeant (4 -> 3)
(/) Sad to see ping-pong getting started again, but frankly I don’t even mind a one month break from most pointslam NGs after Slave Infantry season.
An Craite Raiders (5 -> 4)
(++) Explanation
Slave Infantry (6 -> 5)
(++) So a season got sacrificed by Slave Infantry power buff meant as a multi-step change, just for the legitimately enraged community to revert SI back. It is still beyond my comprehension why provision nerf wasn’t the first step.
+1 Provision Increased
Stockpile (15 -> 16)
(/) Balancewise not justified – Stockpile is an okay leader which supports Tier 2 level decks.
Blood Scent (16 -> 17)
(-) After Nekurat power buff Vampires decks are strong enough, no need for a buff. Leader buff helps Renfri decks with small Vampires package as much as full thematic Vampire decks, while the latter should be more of a priority.
Temple of Melitele: Congregation (17 -> 18)
(+) Okay change proven Temple would stick at 17 provision or a bit above in the long term. Temple is a high variance card which heavily polarizes NR decks. Nerfs to Temple are not only about balance, but also to incentivize thematic NR high-ends more than midrange builds with strong bronzes and value golds rolled from Temple.
Renfri (15 -> 16)
(+) Hard to say how much balance justification here is, but after November season with Renfri NG omnipresence I welcome this change to switch ladder fashion. Also with SK Witchers nerfs it would have been very possible many players switched straight to Renfri Blaze of Glory.
Hive Mind (12 -> 13)
(++) Explanation
Ivar Evil-Eye (11 -> 12)
(-) It is okay that Ivar got nerfed at all, but we preferred +1 power direction, which in our opinion makes more sense in the long term. It is discussed in our balance post.
Ivar -1 power is an example of “buff over nerf” which was harmful in the short term and the final destination 1/12 is worse for the game than initial 4/10 or 5/10.
Allgod (10 -> 11)
(++) Explanation
Kolgrim (9 -> 10)
(+) Explanation. Sidenote: nerf has nothing to do with my Kolgrim GN score which happened later; in fact it is quite wholesome clog version where one green punish vs Kolgrim is enough, but other cards also make points. Nerf is directed mainly against Renew + Defender abuse variants, which feel binary and frustrating to play against.
Kaedweni Revenant (5 -> 6)
(++) Good change – with +5 per turn potential Kaedweni Revenant is a win con almost on its own especially when coupled with Ronvid the Incessant carryover. Revenants still would be played, but the damage + Ronvid + Revenants package would feel less superior to other bronze suits than before.
Lesser Witch (4 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
Buff Brackets
+1 Power Increased
Svalblod (6 -> 7)
(–) “A good part of the playerbase regards Svalblod decks as overnerfed for a very long time even here on Reddit. We don’t agree with this sentiment. We have met quite a bit of Battle Trance variant with Portal current season at high mmrs. Outside of still being arguably the strongest SK, Svalblod decks are also very binary and should never be the main ladder option for SK. Otherwise it cuts out a ton of other archetypes from ladder meta, from Swarms up to archetypes lacking answers for Sigvald or Knut. We find Svalblod to be in an optimal spot for now.” ~ (balance post)
The Catriona (5 -> 6)
(++) Explanation
Lord Riptide (8 -> 9)
(+) Natural revert. According to plan, Lord Riptide should now stick at 9 power.
Seltkirk of Gulet (5 -> 6)
(/) Seltkirk of Gulet is borderline a payoff card for Inspired Zeal leader ability. +1 power on this card is effectively +2 if a unit taller than 7 is dueled after leader use. Moreover the removal reach is better – it is a bit harder to play around Seltkirk by buffing a unit very high. Seltkirk is now a very strong card, flexible range removal.
Nithral (6 -> 7)
(/) At 7 power Nithral is a really strong card which can go along with other damage cards to establish board control.
The Beast (4 -> 5)
(+) Explanation
Deranged Corsair (2 -> 3)
(–) Deranged Corsair was already played at 2 power. At 3 it is 12 for 5 ceiling, achieved more often than not. We would love to see other cards like Dimun Smuggler or Holger Blackhand getting a buff instead.
Kikimore Warrior (3 -> 4)
(+) Finishing the 2-step change. This card would be really strong in many decks like MO Fruits or SY with Flying Redanian – a follow up provision nerf seems likely. Strong and cheap Kikimore Warrior is meta shaping and favors only decks having efficient answers.
Eternal Eclipse Deacon (3 -> 4)
(-) Low power cards like Deacon or Initiate gave a very small chance for archetypes not having hard removal for Scenario to beat cultists. I don’t think the ladder experience is better with Cultists more popular and favored matchups more autowin. Two seasons ago there was a NG Cultist player met often at high mmrs – this archetype already was strong enough to achieve okay scores.
Tuirseach Bearmaster (2 -> 3)
(++) Very nice buff. Tuirseach Bearmaster has a unique effect which requires dedicated deckbuilding. It combines greatly with Ulula and if the opponent has limited control you can deploy Ulula in the same turn before using Bearmaster order.
-1 Provsion Decreased
The Heist (14 -> 13)
(-) “Heist Elves are on the weaker side of Elves archetypes now, but got there for a reason, being hated by a good deal of the community. The buff is probably deserved balancewise, but completely ignores the rationale of people who voted for the nerf.” (our balance post)
Fallen Rayla (11 -> 10)
(++) Explanation
Eredin Bréacc Glas (10 -> 9)
(/) This change looks like unjustified powercreep at the first sight, but it is not that bad at all, especially in the long term. Eredin is not great as a midrange card and still would be played only in Frost. The idea is to give an extra tool for Frost Nekker experiments. Frost as a whole can be balanced next very easily for example with Caranthir: Golden Child provision nerf.
That being said from what I recall the main problem of GN Frost wasn’t lack of cards like Eredin, but very bad scaling into short rounds (no Auberon, no chance for Frost carryover from Tir Na Lia).
Weavess: Incantation (10 -> 9)
(+) Extremely funky and presumably a silly change, but we live only once – would be sad to not ever try Golden Nekker Deathwish with Weavess: Incantation.
Card also becomes playable from Renew which may be interesting for some cheese decks.
Shani (10 -> 9)
(/) Shani was a card which seen play mostly in Alumni decks to summon Student from graveyard and develop higher patience. At 9-cost Shani may see play also in decks running other human targets (Rivian Pikeman + Stockpile looks spicy) and becomes playable in Golden Nekker variants of Mage threat overload.
Vernon Roche (10 -> 9)
(-) Vernon goes back to very strong state. I think that Vernon shouldn’t be considered only in the context of replay with Hanmarvyn’s Blue Dream. The card is very strong by itself in properly built decks. The power buff from 2 to 1 in the past ended up being counterproductive; 2/9 would have been an ok compromise for now.
Milaen (9 -> 8)
(+) A deserved buff. However more are needed if this card is meant to be considerable for competitive decks. Meanwhile you can run Milaen in Golden Nekker Harmony, where she is a decent utility for removal.
Prophet Lebioda (8 -> 7)
(++) Explanation
Highland Warlord (7 -> 6)
(++) Natural revert. Hopefully Warlord sticks at this cost as planned.
Barbegazi (6 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
Summary
All changes ordered by number of votes and attributed to factions and voting coalitions could be found in the BALANCE COUNCIL RESULTS SHEET.
The December 2025 Gwent Balance patch is marked by clearly highest impact of Zong and Chinese voters following him – each tug of war change (Ivar, Svalblod, Slave Infantry, The Heist…) got through. After a long hiatus, CN community is again the most influential in Gwent. Balance Council philosophy of Zong community differs with respect to most other balance coalitions, especially ours (source).
- They prefer to avoid real nerfs but for clearly dominant stuff (NG with Slave Infantry this patch), while we try to distribute real nerfs between many decks according to their power rank, sometimes also nerf binary/unhealthy strategies
- They want to provide more variety by bringing Tier 2 decks into Tier 1. We want to bring down Tier 1 and low Tier 2 / Tier 3 up.
- They want to have fixed power level of easy to play beginner friendly decks. We think such decks can hardly be a point of reference when top is meant to be brought down as a consequence of real nerfs. We also think that fixed points of comfort are not great for ladder variety – slight nerfs from time to time have positive impact if the deck is strong.
The patch is quite interesting to try overall, especially if you want to play engine oriented Monsters archetypes. Kikimore Worker, Weavess: Incantation, The Beast, Nithral, Eredin, Barbegazi are all impactful buffs which incentivize deckbuilding experiments.
Out of our recommendations with Shinmiri, only Ivar +1 power didn’t get through (11/12). Thanks for your support!
What New To Try?
MO | Engine Overload Fruits with Kikimore Worker & Ethereal, Consume Nekker with KW & Barbegazi, Deathwish Nekker with Weavess: Incantation, Frost Nekker with Eredin, Keltullis with Nithral & The Beast…
NG | Status NG with The Catriona
NR | GN Alumni with Shani, Duelers with Lebioda & Seltkirk, Stockpile decks…
SK | Blob was already there; Tuirseach Bearmaster + Ulula decks
ST | GN Harmony with Milaen
SY | Hidden Cache with Kikimore Worker + The Flying Redanian combo, Single Salamander with Fallen Rayla, Engines Firesworn with Prophet Lebioda
(in case you wonder, insanity doesn’t work with Shield; you’d lose coins without desired effect)
Closure
Advice: don’t try to establish any balance council principles or long term logic. It only leads to hair loss and increased blood pressure. December 2025 Gwent Balance Patch should be a decent entertainment, so just enjoy the gameplay!
See you on ladder!