Introduction
In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch March 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 and for the influencers suggestions before patch check out Vote Map by A_Reveur here.
It was the 8th council we formed Coalition with Shinmiri and published our 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
(new Top10 fMMR panel added last month to GwentData, it brings lots of complementary insight to %wr data).
According to %wr stats Nilfgaard was the weakest faction in February 2025 season. It isn’t that much seen in fMMR highscores though. Best NG score was achieved by Mya-mon with his own take on Aristocrats. Also Enslave 6 Ivo and Formation Soldiers were popular during the season.
5th strongest faction according to stats were Northern Realms. Sergo93 and Le_Eblan played Melitele (Pajabol’s list from last season I believe). 优柔寡断的司徒空 played… Zeal Mages with Vernon Roche and Hanmarvyn Blue Dream.
4th faction in stats were Monsters. This faction felt absolutely average, hard to get a cutting edge. My peak score was achieved with Vampires Nekker and I also climbed a lot with Fruits Microdeathwish, Pajabol played Midrange Arachas and Narutoto White Frost Devo Wild Hunt.
3rd came Scoia’tael with Guerilla Tactics Schirru Artifacts being the most common pick at high fMMRs (Pajabol, Myamon).
2nd faction was Syndicate. Myamon played Off The Books Vice and got both highest fMMR and highest winrate in Top100 of Pro Ladder. I played Classical Bounty. Also Golden Nekker Bounty was popular and successful for many players. Sometimes also Hidden Cache with Forgotten Treasures was met.
The strongest faction in stats was Skellige, which can’t be surprise in the season of Seagull power buff. All Top10 scores are above 2600. Various Rain Beasts, Warriors or Pirates decks with Seagulls were popular and succesful. It worth noting though that also normal Self-wound again proven very strong (Ilovebears, Valstrias).
My peak decks:
– MO Vampires Nekker
– SY Classical Bounty
– ST Handbuff Dana
– NR Mobilization Revenants
Balance Council Results
Nerf Brackets
-1 Power Decreased
Crowmother (5 -> 4)
(-) I can understand where this change comes from as Crowmother carryover ceiling is high, she often is used to enable Axel into Crows transform and fits well with tempo burst Compass+Aerondight decks. That being said, 4-power Crowmother was completely unplayed and no reason for it to be any different in the current game state. Why to invest provisions in very conditional 8 points of carryover (if you draw Crowmother and R2 push is beneficial for any side), when you can just use these 6 provisions to play one or more good R3 cards instead?
Vernon Roche (2 -> 1)
(/) Balancewise prolly not great; Priestess / Hyperthinning Melitele are not that bad, but can be addressed with direct nerfs if necessary ; otherwise Vernon is also not so bad standalone, just unplayed because requires decks a bit tuned for topdecks (like NR Mages with Vernon and Blue Dream which apparently got best NR score last season). I’m fine with this change for variety, but may require revert in the future if sth really broken appears.
Avallac’h: Sage (2 -> 1)
(++) Common complaint on this change is not it being undeserved, but “changing nothing”, while provision nerf is the obvious way. It is partially truth, but 1 point should never be underestimated and anyone who has a bit of experience with finding 10 power nerfs knows that if you find a balancewise deserved change which makes the card still playable – just go for it!
Eudora Breckenriggs (2 -> 1)
(++) Explanation
Corrupted Flaminica (3 -> 2)
(++) Explanation
Whispess: Tribute (2 -> 1)
(+) Explanation
Nauzicaa Sergeant (4 -> 3)
(-) In 1025AD Boleslav The Brave, the first crowned King of Poland passed away. The month was June, so Nauzicaa Sergeant must have been 4-power back then.
Deranged Corsair (3 -> 2)
(-) A small minus, because in my experience Deranged Corsair didn’t warrant a nerf. The ceiling of this card, especially combined with Abordage is indeed high for its cost (12 for 5, 14 for 6 + thinning with Abordage), but the dependence on board state/setup tools, bad scaling into very short rounds and delay of full value (3 turns of Cataclysm) compensates high ceiling well enough in my experience.
Ard Feainn Heavy Cavalry (4 -> 3)
(-) Nerfed because of the interaction with the Crystal Skull. I can confirm it being very annoying, but it is not like Heavy Cavalry is unplayable otherwise – I’ve seen it being a decent asset in later rounds in combo with War Council and Nauzicaa Sergeants in Soldiers decks.
Seagull (2 -> 1)
(++) Just a blink and you don’t see gulls.
+1 Provision Increased
👑 Force of Nature (15 -> 16)
(/) Force Of Nature is above all a Koshchey leader, in second order it supports greedy Selfeater decks. Raw leader value is low and justified only by synergy with mentioned cards. Koshchey decks used to be popular and easy to play, but to me have been lately less met on ladder, so this change may be good for variety.
👑 Congregate (17 -> 18)
(+) Explanation
Melitele (14 -> 15)
(+) A justified change given performance of Melitle NR in the current and previous season. That being said, I preferred power nerf, just because its more limited bracket and a bit overtuned performance of Meltiele in a short round can also be addressed this way.
The Mushy Truffle (10 -> 11)
(/) Mixed feelings about this change – on one hand it trims some unpleasant multi-location decks. On the other hand, Truffle nerf seriously limits playablity of many archetypes and alternative versions of decks.
Schirrú (10 -> 11)
(++) Explanation
Figgis Merluzzo (9 -> 10)
(+) Figgis was the least abused Defender, but no reason for him to be excluded from 10-prov treatment, especially when cards like Francesca are buffed.
Terror of the Seas (7 -> 8)
(-) I don’t understand the point of this nerf, because its pretty much equivalent to Onslaught -1 provision cap. In my opinion this card has to be decent, maybe a bit better than other cards at the same cost, because it is Onslaught leader payoff. If there is no real payoff, then how to justify playing a 6 raw points leader? Overnerf, which might be reverted in the next patch.
Highland Warlord (5 -> 6)
(++) Warriors don’t have to be Raids, but with 5-cost Warlord they would be everytime. This exact card deserves 6-cost. I don’t like revert buff on this card; it already made Primal Savagery taking a hit as a proxy.
Aen Elle Aristocrat (4 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
Crow Clan Preacher (4 -> 5)
(/) On one hand it was a very high ceiling engine for 0-cost in top performing SK deck, on the other, Preacher is the payoff card of the whole archetype and good Alchemy cards are mostly Artifacts (Truffle, Ale Of Ancestors, Dwimveandra) which are already on nerf shortlist from community. Portal + Otkell versions of Alchemy weren’t much played due to Kaer Trolde + Dracoturtle instead being too efficient removal and Portal being low floor value. With Preacher at 5p, Portal surely isn’t justified, so other ways of stabilizing Otkell will be welcome for classical Alchemy (Discard, Troubadour?).
Buff Brackets
+1 Power Increased
Renfri (2 -> 3)
(/) I could also seen not doing this revert.
Forest Protector (5 -> 6)
(++) Forest Protector was understated compared with Filavandrel at this point. Now he should be picked a bit more often in Symbiosis decks, maybe combined with late Aucwenn for replaying Naiad from graveyard.
Lord Riptide (9 -> 10)
(–) 2nd most supported change in +1 power bracket. Somehow the idea of 10 power Riptide because of “MO needs efficient control” and Might keyword aesthetics is very strong in the community in spite of Lord Riptide being almost autoinclude even at 9-power. It signals that next time provision nerf rather than power nerf should be suggested by coalitions.
Skjordal Drummond (3 -> 4)
(++) Explanation
Pugo Boom-Breaker (11 -> 12)
(++) Very good buff, giving an alternative pick to “Big Bois” Monsters with Ozzrel, but also possibly decks running Penitent buffed in this patch. It is a dual faction card, but impact for Syndicate would pretty sure be negligible due to lack of synergies.
Johnny (4 -> 5)
(++) Thanks to damage effects Johnny can be combined with damage specials for extra removal. Considerable round opener card for decks running many specials, like Spella’tael or Tactics Nilfgaard.
Renfri’s Gang (5 -> 6)
(/) Renfri’s Gang proven too weak at 5p/6c. It would have been more interesting to try 5-provision direction perhaps; now this path would take too much time.
Slave Driver (3 -> 4)
(+) Explanation
Siege Support (4 -> 5)
(/) Mixed feeling about this change. Siege Support was already a played bronze, so a buff would likely make it an auto include in some decks, for example those who would like to guarantee full Radovid value. At 5p and zero cost this card is more efficient and outshines Ves.
Back-Alley Chemist (4 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
-1 Provsion Decreased
Jan Calveit (12 -> 11)
(+) This change happens from the independent community in spite of the joint effort of MetallicDanny and CN coalition to buff Calveit by power and stop ping-pong. I lean a bit more towards 11 than 12-cost, but I lean even more to 8 rather than 7 power (no matter cost), which makes Calveit decks very prone to red coin pressure.
Gezras of Leyda (12 -> 11)
(++) With Golden Nekker being the superior approach to Movement archetype, this change feels justified, incentivizing playing with full scale Movement and ST Witchers (like this one). A slight downside is the possibility to put Gezras randomly in some decks, like Symbiosis, just for surprise value.
Angus Bri Cri (12 -> 11)
(++) Explanation
Francesca Findabair (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanation
Affan Hillergrand (10 -> 9)
(+) Affan is just not a perfectly designed card, having anti-synergy with Battle Stations! and blocking flanking after Imperial Formation charges are used. Affan felt overcosted, now will be played as extra points asset, especially in NG Golden Nekker decks.
Sandor de Baccalà (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanation
Ele’yas (9 -> 8)
(+) Combined with power buff in the last patch, Ele’yas now becomes a really good card in Angus decks and a considerable option in specific metas (False Ciri…) in other decks.
Vandergrift’s Blade (8 -> 7)
(++) To my knowledge Vandergrift’s Blade so far was played only as alternative Artifact to Kaer Seren in Golden Nekker Shieldwall. Now it becomes a really good card, potentially trading up to different threats. It has Warfare tag and needs support of damage pings to be fully convenient, so I can easily see VB getting played as another Jan Natalis target in Zeal/Stockpile decks with Siege Engines.
Aelirenn (8 -> 7)
(-) Mixed feelings here, because Aelirenn in spite of obvious Elf synergy can be played in tempo micropackage with Feign Death scenario and for example Whisperers of Dol Blathanna. At 7-cost Aelirenn is clearly overstated compared with similar cards. I’d much prefer for example a buff to Toruviel or Milaen instead.
Penitent (7 -> 6)
(++) Penitent was unplayed; this change will invite new, more spicy Deathwish decks. Penitent has good synergy with Urn of Shadows (Radeyah….), Abaya or Weavess: Incantation.
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 March 2025 Gwent patch list is above all exciting, with many interesting buffs to explore scattered between different factions! Amongst nerfs sadly Golden Nekker Bounty and Self-wound got untouched and Pirates got overnerfed in my opinion (Terror Of The Seas, Deranged Corsair).
The recommendations of our coalition with Shinmiri got through in 12/12 amongst core and 3/4 amongst suggestions of support for other coalition picks (only Ferko -1 power didn’t get through), which gives 15/16 total. Thanks for your suppport! Retrospectively we should have probably supported Ignatius power nerf from CN Coalition, but we assumed it very likely to get through anyway with three stars support. Also picking Kaer Trolde as core suggestion over for example Aen Elle Aristocrat should have been better given than Self-wound is untouched and performed really well for many players late season.
MetallicDanny recommendations got 14/18 (Vivienne, Calveit, Istredd, Saber-Tooth Tiger missed).
China Coalition didn’t manage to get through a single original change in spite of China being the most represented nation in Top500 of ladder (Russia is most represented in whole; 112 to 110 in Top500 though). More alignment is needed for impact.
Be it for good or for bad, the impact of independent voters is not to be underestimated. In spite of only Kerpeten & Dauren coalition support at one-star, Seagull topped -1 power chart. Also Lord Riptide took second in power nerf bracket without support of any major coalition. Trust your local bro.
What New To Try?
MO | Deathwish with Penitent, Fruits Ogroids with Pugo, Force Of Nature Koshchey with extra provision
NG | Golden Nekker Sandor Abduction, Enslave Tactics with Johnny, Illusionists + Slave Driver Renfri, Formation Soldiers with Affan
NR | Stockpile / Zeal Siege Engines with Vandergrift’s Blade and Siege Support, Golden Nekker Shieldwall with VB, Engine Overload Mages / Revenants with Vernon Roche…
SK | Devo Veteran decks with Skjordal
ST | Elves, Francesca Golden Nekker / multi-Saov / …, ST Witchers with Gezras
SY | Classical and Golden Nekker Congregate, Self-poison Rayla Renew and Golden Nekker Salamandra with Back-Alley Chemists.
Closure
March 2025 Gwent Community Patch should be pleasant for deckbuilders and players waiting for new decks to emerge! There is no change as overtuned as Seagull in the last patch, so hopefully very few possibilities will be overshadowed by stronger stuff.
Good time to go back to Gwent if you took a break in the last season. See you on ladder!