Introduction
In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch October 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 15th 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
Ladder experience was good when it comes to the decks faced – very little binary decks and matchups at high MMRs, decent variety, many close games. Small complaints can be made about lack of innovative decks and overall competitiveness of pro ladder. The quality of ladder top not only dropped when Gwent esports finished, but also gradually creeps down with time. It can even be seen in Top100 faction winrates, just compare this season graph with the one from the previous season review – average winrate is clearly lower, the %wr advantage of Top100 over ladder mainstream is smaller.
When it comes to faction balance, it was pretty good, but Northern Realms and Scoia’tael clearly had most solid options available, which is also reflected in winrate and the listing below (what I mainly faced on pro ladder at 2500+ fMMR):
MO | Tatterwing, Koshchey
NR | Mobilization 2xRoche Mutagenerator, Shieldwall Engines, Melitele, Pincer Cursed, sometimes Zeal Temple, Uprising Witchers
NG | GN Alzur Hyperthin, Enslave 6, midrange decks with Ivar / Sandor + Ciri + Abduction combo, Aristocrats
SK | Patricidal Fury Warriors, Renfri Rain, Renfri Blaze of Glory, sometimes Selfwound GN, Pirates
ST | Non-Devo Symbiosis, Guerilla Tactics Schirru, Harmony Quarixis, Elves Traps, Dwarves, Precision Strike Dwarves Swarm
SY | Off the Books Midrange Sesames, OtB Sigi: Mastermind
My peak decks:
– NR Devotion Knights
– ST Harmony Nekker Fables
– MO White Frost Elder
– SY Cove Gangs Doadrick
Balance Council Results
(++) great change
(+) good
(/) acceptable
(-) bad
(–) very bad
Nerf Brackets
-1 Power Decreased
Ihuarraquax (2 -> 1)
(+) Explanations
Living Armor (2 -> 1)
(++) Completely harmless.
Lord Riptide (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanations
Iris von Everec (5 -> 4)
(/) A placeholder nerf. Iris gets usually discarded, so the power nerf doesn’t matter… unless we lowroll in draws rng.
Generally harmless change, doesn’t move the game in any direction.
Sandor de Baccalà (5 -> 4)
(/) Understandable nerf. While I think that putting this card at 4-power would make it too easy to control with damage removal and a nerf to combo with Abduction + False Ciri is not necessary yet, Sandor power nerf likely has to be done sooner or later because the list of natural power nerfs is very short.
This nerf would be impactful because the difference between 5 and 6 power deploy engine is huge for its survablility.
Corrupted Flaminica (2 -> 1)
(++) Explanations
Albrich (4 -> 3)
(+) Explanations
Master of Puppets (4 -> 3)
(+) Probably okay impact change. Random MoP rolled from Create cards would be easier to answer but 1 point higher ceiling. Golden Nekker MoP + Petri’s Philter decks which are seldom on ladder in pure form (usually some Mill hybrids) would get a small buff.
Messenger of the Sea (4 -> 3)
(-) Understandable nerf, but at the same time hits hard the whole Rain archetype mainly for the sins of Renfri Rain netdeck and Kraken at 3 power.
I’d prefer a nerf to Corrupted Flaminica or Kraken +1 power instead.
Shady Vendor (5 -> 4)
(/) Understandable nerf. Shady Vendor is viewed as a strong card mainly due to ability to generate extra copies of Open, Sesame! or Pulling the Strings.
I don’t fully agree with this judgement and I’m afraid Vendor may be instantly reverted back to 5 power, especially if other, engine oriented (Firesworn Scribe…) decks would be more prevalent in the meta.
Personally I’d prefer to test Sesame/Pulling The Strings at 6-cost and Shady Vendor at current stats. Guaranteed 5-cost pool compensates for removing two current main targets and thematic decks based on Witch Hunters + King of Beggars (Purge) or Salamandras (Stolen Mutagens) become possible without annoying rng. Also Payday becomes a 5 removal at wish and games no longer come down to highroll/lowroll on Vendor. Sesame is then in a relatively weak state, but it has to happen, or Sesame would be abused on the red coin for carryover for ages.
+1 Provision Increased
👑 Toussaintois Hospitality (15 -> 16)
(/) Bad direction. Hospitality leader ability is good enough in comparison with other leaders at the same cap – it offers a bit higher raw point ceiling, but requires running specific cards and goes tall. This buff defends self a bit only because of simultaneous Sandor and Ivar Evil Eye nerfs, but still wasn’t really required.
Tainted Ale (14 -> 15)
(++) Placeholder and discentivize for Armor Exploit Onslaught at the same time. No downsides to this change at this point.
Torres var Emreis: Founder (14 -> 15)
(/) On one hand Torres is a high ceiling card, winning some matchups on the spot and therefore deserving a nerf just like similar cards of this kind (Temple of Melitele…). On the other Assimilate and other Torres decks didn’t stay out in high ladder meta.
Nevertheless, something has to be nerfed – who has better ideas, cast the first stone.
Siege (13 -> 14)
(+) Explanations
Ivar Evil-Eye (10 -> 11)
(++) Great change. Ivar Evil Eye swaps power with a chose enemy unit, which gives 2* enemy_power – ivar_power value. Due to reckless power buffs (-1 power in this context) in previous balance councils Ivar became inclusion in most successful midrange NG decks. The ceiling on this card is well over 30 points and playaround usually means losing points, which is troublesome especially when unsure if Ivar is really there.
Provision nerf discourages using this card outside dedicated archetypes where it can get stable value. Moreover one of clown fiesta moments which is getting Ivar target for Abduction with Henry var Attre would be no longer the case, as Abduction can tutor cards only up to 10-cost.
Sticky Situation (8 -> 9)
(+) Explanations
Seagull (6 -> 7)
(++) Great change. Seagull at 6-cost still felt unfair due to huge carryover possibilities. At 7-cost it would become more reserved to Patricidal Fury where value is guaranteed.
Likely alternative was -1 power, which would have made Seagulls not only unplayable, but at the risk of ping-pong every month.
Open, Sesame! (5 -> 6)
(/) Standalone an understandable change. At 6-cost Open, Sesame! becomes a mediocre card, while at 5-cost is troublesome due to doubling down on red coin Syndicate carryover capabilities.
Taken together with Shady Vendor power nerf though, Off the Books netdeck likely got hit one time too much in the community opinion. None of these two cards will likely avoid reverts and we would have to wonder what to do next in two months. Note that we are back to 4-card pool amongst 5-cost crimes, so that Create bug would manifest self again in the strongest form.
Highland Warlord (5 -> 6)
(++) Great change. Highland Warlord increases the damage of Raid cards at the expense of extra provision cost and low tempo. Raids and Warlords are joint at the hip. Persistent reverts to Warlord provision nerf to 6 resulted in Primal Savagery provision nerf in the past – P Savagery became unplayable alone. Similarly Blood Eagle is visibly overcosted and never played without enhancement from Warlords, while very important for possible non-raid Warriors decks.
Locating the nerf exactly at Warlords paves the path to make raids considerable standalone and to improve the variety of tools accessible in Skellige. So that the Raid cards are considerable for many decks, but there also exist all-in Raid decks equivalent to current Patricidal Fury or Blaze of Glory netdecks. Only 6-cost Highland Warlords make it possible.
Cost nerf is better than power nerf because of coin polarization – power nerf wouldn’t matter for red; also points on resurrected Warlords would feel undeservedly low.
Revert to 5-cost again would be a disaster – for this reason mutual buff to Blood Eagle was proposed by Ofir Coalition.
Heymaey Protector (4 -> 5)
(++) 2-step plan of 5/5. Great change. Heymaey Protectors are a unique effect bronze card, which sadly right now is mainly used in Armor Exploit Onslaught deck. In this binary deck the power of Protectors is irrelevant (unless made unplayable) because all points come from armor generated in an infinite loop. Making Protectors more expensive would further discentivize Armor Exploit by forcing some cuts to consistency and tech cards.
Outside cure for cancer approach, Protector at 5 power would be more interesting and relevant as an engine. Right now it doesn’t have a place – too weak for R3, too conditional and requiring build around for R1. It can scale really well and be combined for example with Otkell wounding self on deploy.
Buff Brackets
+1 Power Increased
Ciri: Dash (5 -> 6)
(+) Interesting, but risky change which was doomed to be tried at some point. Ciri: Dash is a threat type card which adds extra card to hand when timer reaches 0. This way for example we can effectively reverse the coinflip from blue coin, or gain last say in the decisive round.
Ciri: Dash last time to shine was back in the days of Keltullis. I also experimented with this card and vanilla Ciri with some success in Handbuff / Aglais, where last say is very important. Ciri: Dash is a quite binary card, especially the R1 coinflip reverse effect can decide the game on the spot. Ciri: Dash would work best in threat overload decks with efficient tutors.
Ciri (5 -> 6)
(/) Awkward buff, but perhaps the only way for this card to become noticed enough. +1 power buff improves point value and survivability, but at this point also clearly becomes +1 power carryover for the next round if Ciri gets through – she becomes a bit better than average topdeck.
Ciri should be run mainly in decks which want to push out the opponent’s win conditions in R2, but preserve the last say. There is also a nice trick with Ciri + Summoning Circle, which you can check out here.
Affan Hillergrand (4 -> 5)
(–) Bad impact change. Affan Hillergrand is a card thinned from the deck at the time of the last leader use, which on top of its base power has the order effect of buffing all allied armored soldiers.
Affan Hillergrand wasn’t very popular in Nilfgaard, but nevertheless I’ve met him a couple of times especially in… Tactical Decision with Ragh-nar-Roog. Coming from the deck at 9-provision cost Affan effectively adds value to cheap cards which replace better golds in the deck. A great deal of midrange NG decks right now works in this way – instead of genuine NG golds with rich effect such decks run Joachim + Coup, Sunset Wanderers, Locations etc., effectively adding points to decent bronze cards like Alba Armored Cavalry, Soldiers package, Albrich package etc.
Assuming for example replacement in hand as 8 points and Affan value as 7 points (order), Affan plays as ~15 for 9. Imperial Formation leader ability and building the deck around armored soldiers isn’t even necessary. Moreover this buff aligns with Nauzicaa +1 power…
Unnecessary overbuff, justified only by card not being very popular. Would have a negative impact overall, further “midrangizing” and “poinstlamizing” ladder NG decks.
Madman Lugos (4 -> 5)
(++) Great change. Madman Lugos is a high bloodthirst payoff card, which goes especially well with Patricidal Fury leader.
Madman Lugos is unplayed because of being not reliable enough when decoupled with Patricidal Fury leader or when the opponent’s deck doesn’t go tall enough. At 5 power Madman is more of a real payoff. Maybe at 7-cost and possible combo with Blood Eagle Madman would have been even more interesting, but also riskier and less differing for SK high-ends.
Ves (6 -> 7)
(+) Explanations
Roderick de Wett (4 -> 5)
(++) Great change. Roderick de Wett is a coin generating engine, with an option to click order to immediately spawn Flaming Rose Footman.
At 5 power + 1 armor and veil, Roderick de Wett would be very hard to remove, but due to the limited ceiling shouldn’t feel oppressive. Card would become very playable and pretty good opener for R1 where depending on circumstances can accumulate coins for later rounds/Redanian or provide them for immediate use. Roderick also can support Townsfolk as a more reliable Tax Collector. Indirectly also early Damnation into 2-power token becomes better.
Nauzicaa Sergeant (3 -> 4)
(/) Pong.
Deranged Corsair (2 -> 3)
(–) Unnecessary revert to strong 12 for 5 state of Deranged Corsair, which buffs Patricidal Fury Abordage decks no less than Onslaught Pirates. Nothing interesting and wrong balancewise.
Firesworn Scribe (4 -> 5)
(-) Bronze threat overbuff. Firesworn Scribe is an engine which provides coins whenever unit(s) are spawned. The ceiling of this card is limited by board space, but can quickly reach +8 value in combo with Grand Inquisitor Helveed. Scribe is mostly recognized for “printing press” combo with Helveed and Lonely Champion to clear the row.
While still counterable with damage if not tributed or with movement, Scribe also strongly improves Cyrus Hemmelfart value. Fallen Knight is no longer needed, Scribe will come down at 5 power, immediately being a big points threat with Helveed or Cleaver.
I suspect Scribe would be more of a buff to new forms of Off the Books and Lined Pockets decks rather than Congregate, but the latter will also get stronger. While powerwise and engine vs control balance questionable, this change should at least bring new decks to ladder meta.
Terror Crew Axe-wielder (3 -> 4)
(++) Explanationser
-1 Provsion Decreased
Temple of Melitele: Congregation (17 -> 16)
(–) Bad revert. Temple of Melitele first form is played for carryover, creating 3 legendary NR units and moving a unit of choice to hand with ~9 points boost. It helps to polarize and pointslamize any Northern Realms deck. The variance on this card is high; it can win the game on the spot or play a bit below provision cost if nothing worthy is created. Most usually Temple feels just good.
Temple is regularly seen at high fMMRs, in September 2025 its main netdeck was Pincer Maneuver Cursed.
If the community cannot accept clearly high tier decks and its troublesome cards getting nerfed, then we can’t move anywhere in the Balance Council.
Golden Nekker (14 -> 13)
(-) Uninteresting revert. I predicted Golden Nekker to get reverted and it happened, but wasn’t really any necessary. GN decks are playable (GN Hyperthin, Harmony, Movement Poison, Vampires, Selfwound…) and making them stronger globally doesn’t bring anything new.
Masquerade Ball (14 -> 13)
(-)
– Hey, Myamon-style Aristocrats without Ball are doing best! We need to buff Ball!
– Doesn’t Ball play for like 20 points?
– If it was really good, then it would have been played in any Aristocrats!
Blood Eagle (12 -> 11)
(++) Great buff (combined with nerf to Highland Warlord). Blood Eagle is a thematic tutor for Warriors, with Bloodthirst requirement for 8+ cost Warriors and possible damage removal combos.
Blood Eagle standalone is a bit overcosted card outside all-in Raid decks, which limits deckbuilding possibilities or forces using other tools like Discard package or neutral tutors.
Unseen Elder (12 -> 11)
(/) Okay buff. Unseen Elder sees plays in thematic Vampire decks, which however are not competitive. I run it in my 2620 White Frost list, but just as a variety rather than a crucial piece of the deck. At 7p/12c Unseen Elder felt a bit overcosted compared with meta cards, but not terrible with regards to the whole card pool.
The downside of this buff is that Unseen Elder is an autonomous engine – buff wouldn’t just “help Vampires”, but if you dare also more engine oriented Fruits decks etc., where it would be rather tasteless “I don’t trade down to control” card.
Jan Calveit (12 -> 11)
(–) In the general picture of 120 provision nerfs supposed to happen in a year of Gwentfinity, Jan Calveit pretty sure belongs to 12-cost. One can debate whether 11- or 12- feels better at the moment, but there is no long term reason to revert.
Nerf barrier is real – if a card is really popular, it can’t be nerfed long term and it is hard to shake up meta by nerfs. Jan Calveit -1 cost was the most voted for change in its bracket.
Viraxas: Prince (12 -> 11)
(++) Good buff. Viraxas is a combo oriented card with extra passive ability. It was almost exclusively seen picked from Temple of Melitele to reenable Prince Anseis or King Demavend order effect. Least played out of all evolving cards amongst all factions.
Viraxas naturally supports especially decks making use of duel cards: Prince Anseis and Seltkirk, but more complex combos are also possible. With its passive ability Viraxas can establish engine advantage on board after duel. Other times playing Viraxas back row and waiting for the best duel value would be the best strategy.
Lilit’s Omen (11 -> 10)
(/) Okay buff. Lilit’s Omen is a card with relatively few uses discovered in practice, mainly setting up huge threats and tempo plays in one turn, like Mammuna + Gernichora, Koshchey + Kikimore Queen, or 2xDeathiwish unit for Overwhelming Hunger.
Provision buff would incentivize more experiments with this card, but also straight up more cheesy Fruits of Ysgith M+G decks on ladder.
Gezras of Leyda (11 -> 10)
(/) Okay buff, but Gezras was already a decent and high surprise value card. Gezras is supposed to support mainly non-Nekker Movement decks, which are very seldom. Also ST Witchers, which aren’t really a fully developed archetype are interesting.
In the ladder reality I’ve met Gezras mainly as a cheese card in Dwarves or Gift. At 6p/10c Gezras would be a good card, indeed considerable in whatever swarms and doesn’t have strong high-end options.
Morkvarg: Heart of Terror (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanations
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 October 2025 Gwent patch is of mixed quality in my opinion.
Plus:
Highland Warlord + Blood Eagle went through together.
Seagull went +1 cost rather than -1 power direction, maybe would settle.
Nerf brackets are fine in majority.
Minus:
Casuals nerfed Sesame on top of -1 power to Vendor. Aggressive buffs to midrange OtB netdecks would likely come next patch.
Many reverts are going back to the old ways in buffs: Calveit (most voted -1 cost), Golden Nekker, Temple, Deranged Corsair. Many changes are not driven by balance, but making stuff more popular.
Some bias for buffs to engines/threats.
The most important is how ladder meta would look like and here I assess the patch rather low. Reverts combined with buffs to threats would likely result in every season decks exceling at efficiently answering engines being prevalent (Enslave 6, Shupe Calveit, PS Control…). Well established decks + overbuffed cards like Scribe or Affan would probably make the meta.
The perspective for the future is quite dim, nerfs couldn’t be used for meta shifts if get immediately reverted. It is very possible that impact hunting (which is already visible in this patch) would be the approach of main coaltions. Picking exclusively changes which would make it immediately to the ladder meta, because everything else is “boring” and “irrelevant”.
Out of 14 recommendations we published with Shinmiri, 10 made it to the patch. Thanks for your support! Sadly only half of our original buffs got into Top10 (Barbegazi, Vissegerd and Mahakam Horn are out; especially Barbegazi is sad to me) and Lesser Witch two-step change is also out again. Looks like we have to give up on this card given neither we or Pajabol managed to advertise it enough.
What New To Try?
MO | Keltullis with Ciris, engine Fruits with Alpha Werewolf and vanilla Ciri
NG | Old decks, old decks with a gold swapped to Affan
NR | Inspired Zeal Duelers with Viraxas, Shieldwall with Ciri and Roegner
SK | PF Bloodthirst with Madman Lugos, Dagur Nekker with Morkvarg HoT, Selfwound/Pirates with Axe Wielder
ST | All-in Witchers with Gezras, Swarm with Gezras and Inspired Ballad, non-Nekker Movement with Saskia: Commander and Gezras
SY | Scribe + Hemmelfart Crimes, S+H Midrange OtB, S+H Firesworn, S+H “Printing Press”
Closure
October 2025 Gwent Balance Patch is worth trying even if some aspects are quite sad in the context of the future of the game.
See you on ladder!