Introduction
In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch October 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 28th 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 September Season 2026 I played over 400 games on Gwent Pro Ladder, distributed almost evenly between all 6 factions, which has given me a good view on ladder meta at 2.5k+ fMMR.
The characteristic feature of September Season 2026 ladder experience were strong bronze engines buffed in the balance council: Elven Swordmaster and Peasant Militia (Militia 2 months ago). At high pro ladder Scoia’tael was clearly the most played faction, but with a variety of different decks and far from winrate dominance of NR with Golden Nekker Moblization from the preceeding August Season.
GN Moblization luckily got nerfed enough to drop from high ladder meta. Similar decks were still seldomly met and I’ve done quite well with an updated version around 2.5k mmr. Very interesting fact is that in the previous season with a clearly broken deck, NR had lowest playrate in Top100! Nevertheless you’d still meet streaks of GN Mobi opponents at high mmrs because of how elevated in MMR it was. NR remained least played in Top100 in September, but this time I indeed met it very sporadically.
The most distinctive scores of September season have been:
- 2700 with ST Dragons from deserta77
- 2693/2683 scores from 乖巧芒种鸭 and 优柔寡断的司徒空 reportedly with NG Sihil Assimilate (general list)
2.5k+ pro ladder meta (especially relevant decks in bold):
MO | Fruits Midrange, Tatterwing, Koshchey, Vampires, Relicts
NG | Sihil Assimilate, Enslave 6 Damage, TD Constructs (1st half of season), Soldiers, Enslave 6 Assimilate, Aristocrats
NR | Shieldwall Midrange (1st half), Melitele (1st half), Blue Stripes, Pincer Temple Siege (Bilibili deck)
SK | Eist Warriors Engines, Eist Raids, Patricidal Fury Raids, Pirates, various Otkell decks
ST | Harmony, Precision Strike Dwarves Swarm, Quadruple Harvest Simlas, Midrange Gift, Elves, Dragons
SY | Pockets Crimes
My peak decks:
- NR | Falibor Knights (vod)
- SY | Hidden Cache 1x Scenario
- ST | Golden Nekker Spella’tael
- NG | Sihil Assimilate Renegade
- SK | Protectors Otkell Lugos Ursine (vod)
- MO | Arachas Lara RnR
Balance Council Results
(++) great change
(+) good
(/) acceptable
(-) bad
(–) very bad
Nerf Brackets
-1 Power Decreased
The Acherontia (5 -> 4)
(+) Lined Pockets with Acherontia were the main competitive Syndicate deck in the September season. Due to threat overload, Acherontia was usually free to get triggered more than once and play for above 20 points. Plausible nerf.
Auberon: King (6 -> 5)
(-) Generally I’m neutral when it comes to evolving cards placeholders, but this month there were actually pretty decent -1 power options in my opinion (Imlerith, Yago, Peasant Militia, Kikimore Worker to nerf Hive Mind and improve Sabbath into Kiki Warriors…). Power nerfs to evolving cards are generally harmless, but for very slight negative effect of lower R1 playability.
Rience (7 -> 6)
(/) Rience is a threat card with a decent deploy value, possibly high against tall units or threats. Rience + Rico combo costs 14 and value depends on matchup, but would be about 25 if unanswered.
Rience nerf is justified by this card being included in Renfri Tactical Decision or Constructs and considerable as midrange inclusion in many others. We will see how it feels at 6-power; I can imagine Rience being a bit too easy to answer to return provision cost.
Jacques: Miracle Child (6 -> 5)
(-) (look at Auberon comment)
Vilgefortz: Renegade (8 -> 7)
(–) This nerf doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve seen basically none Vilgefortz Renegade above 2.5k MMR. Moreover power is practically irrelevant for abusive V:R decks like Imperial Practitioner spam, while vital for decks where V:R is played in R3.
Viraxas: Prince (6 -> 5)
(-) (look at Auberon comment)
Prince Stennis (6 -> 5)
(-) Explanation
Whisperer of Dol Blathanna (4 -> 3)
(++) Explanation
Dol Blathanna Archer (2 -> 1)
(+) Explanation
Elven Swordmaster (5 -> 4)
(++) As expected, Elven Swordmaster proven too strong and universal at 5-power. An alternative was provision nerf; not very clear if that would make ES more playable. ES at 4-cost is sometimes played in Dragons, where helps to setup Milva: Sharpshooter and kill units for Saesenthessis: Blaze carryover.
+1 Provision Increased
Mobilization (15 -> 16)
(–) Mobilization is a leader which can duplicate a bronze soldier engine and protect both of them, playing for 10 raw points + protection + extra threat in one turn. In many matchups in a longer round Mobilization plays for ~20 points thanks to engine overload. Subpar value happens rarely in decisive rounds, therefore the usual strategy is bleeding out Mobilization leader ability just as we bleed long round cards. Due to the character of Mobilization decks, which is usually engine overload, such a strategy can be very effective. Yet winning R1 is not easy against engine overload, especially from red coin, which makes many matchups binary and hopeless. Harmful, absolutely unnecessary buff. (copied from 2 months ago)
Tainted Ale (17 -> 18)
(+) Generally harmless placeholder and a nerf to Armor Exploit Onslaught. In the last season an unusual strategy to make use of the high provision cost of Tainted Ale got popularized: Sandor + Mentors combo. So far such strategy though seems to be nothing more than a gimmick, far less toxic than Armor Exploit with Syanna + Operator into Heymaey Protectors for ‘infinite’ armor from Onslaught.
In Search of Forgotten Treasures (14 -> 15)
(/) Explanation (okay real nerf suggested by us and Evil Coalition, but not my favorite)
Ard Feainn (13 -> 14)
(+) Explanation
Baccalà (12 -> 13)
(++) Explanation
Sihil (10 -> 11)
(/) This nerf is justified balancewise given last season scores with NG Sihil Assimilate along with this month Braathens power revert. As Sihil is a neutral card and not really troublesome in other factions (Skellige Sihil is decent, but no high scores so far; others are niche), probably a direct nerf to the NG Assim version was more legitimate. Hard to pick any card from it though without controversies.
Kolgrim (9 -> 10)
(+) Kolgrim is a ping-pong card for a couple of seasons. The revert to 10-cost got through from the last slot with no major coalition support. I prefer Kolgrim at 10-cost so that no direct abuse with Renew is possible and I could see buffing Kolgrim by power next so that he doesn’t die to An Craite Longship or Naval Supremacy.
Sandstorm (8 -> 9)
(/) Possibly playable after buff to 4-cost, but instead picked as placeholder and dead.
Bountiful Harvest (5 -> 6)
(+) Bountiful Harvest was a card with a high ceiling which could be included in pretty much any Scoia’tael deck. As a carryover card it could be used in R1 to sharpen the hand for later rounds.
Both the possibility to roll high value Elf along with extra +2 boost (direct value) and high playability combined with carryover value when played in R1 were good reasons to nerf Bountiful Harvest to 6-cost and see what happens. The decisive factor in this season was probably the abundance of Quadruple Harvest decks.
We will see how Harvest and decks for which its essential (e.g. Devo Symbiosis) would feel now as nobody could say for certain given how many balance council changes happened since BH was unplayable at 6-cost. I leaned towards 5-cost Harvest, but this change is understandable and worth seeing. Would strong BH or BH on the weaker side of playable cards be better for ladder experience?
Eternal Eclipse Deacon (4 -> 5)
(–) Personally I haven’t met that many Cultists in the September season and almost each one I’ve met failed in some way. This change in my opinion is unjustified balancewise, but what is even more important – terrible politically. The sentiment to rebuff Cultists probably would be strong and I’m afraid that instead of the sane direction of provision buffs, the big gun of power buffs to bronzes would be used to make them strong immediately.
Buff Brackets
+1 Power Increased
Braathens (3 -> 4)
(-) My chat on Twitch in polls firmly prefers 20 real nerfs each month and 240 real nerfs in a year. Whoever shares the same view shouldn’t vote for Braathens revert unless could come up with 120 more justified power nerfs 😉
I expected Braathens to get reverted and hence rated power nerf low in the preceding month. Indeed, Braathens was Top1 most voted power buff this month. Given how well Sihil Assimilate performed in September as well as my last season experience with E6 Assimilate which has done fine enough, it’s hard to view the Braathens rebuff as justified balancewise. Half of the community wants Enslave 6 Assimilate to be strong as always and the second half loses to Enslave 6 Assimilate.
Hefty Helge (4 -> 5)
(-) Honestly I don’t know what to think about this change. In spite of nerfs to Helge, Enslave 6 Damage was one of the decks I faced most in the September season and many games were challenging. Hence its a buff to a decent enough and popular deck – same kind of tunnel vision as in the case of Braathens – known archetype got nerfed, hence we buff it back rather than look into hundreds of less played and more deserving stuff which wouldn’t straight oppose what a part of the community wanted to see in the preceding month.
5 power Helge will be harder to answer with damage, but if answered would still trade down by a lot to common control tools. Right now Helge exactly breaks even in cost with Heatwave and oftentimes HW is the only possible answer when Helge is protected with War Council order or buff from Joachim de Wett. If extra protection happens though, then HW starts to trade up. Single lock on the other hand would often fail to Imperial Diviner. Decks not running proper control tools need to “just bleed it out or lose”, which is not very healthy.
We will see how it goes, for ladder variety or balance I don’t think this buff was needed as E6 Damage was still very popular at 2.5k+. For Helge alone maybe.
Aguara (7 -> 8)
(–) Aguara was maybe not very popular, but definitely played in a variety of decks: Fruits (could unlock Ethereal), Beasts (could unlock Messenger) or Koshchey (could unlock guess what). An unnecessary buff to one-shot control/purify card.
Reynard Odo (8 -> 9)
(/) I think 9-power is a step too far as Odo is already a decent card and 8 could conveniently be buffed to 12 with Kerack Marine. Nevertheless maybe overbuff is necessary for Odo to get enough recognition and promote decks with him. Then we just get a good power nerf target.
Greater Brothers (12 -> 13)
(+) Greater Brothers insanity is used in combo with Arena Endrega and Blindeye Apothecary. This +1 power means that GB could reach 12 rather than 10 wound; +2 to both of the mentioned cards. Still removal or lock on GB is the bottleneck and I’d prefer Apothecary/Endrega buff in this context.
Greater Brothers also become more playable standalone, mainly as 13 points of reach and possible finisher.
Vreemde (4 -> 5)
(+) Deserved buff overall, but I don’t like how most likely Vreemde would be used: just 13 tempo in decks running Daerlan Soldiers.
Vreemde is supposed to support Slave Infantry spam decks, but for the whole strategy to be worth it, Slave Infantry would likely have to be at something like 6/6 or 6/7 stats. Less thematically it’s also possible to run Vreemde in Illusionists spam.
Éibhear Hattori (6 -> 7)
(+) Explanation (I think it could be a slight overbuff actually, but good for recognizing this card)
Giant Boar (4 -> 5)
(++) Explanation
Kaedweni Cavalry (4 -> 5)
(+) Explanation (may be wrong, but while wholesome I think Kaed Cav would still see little play)
Vrihedd Sappers (4 -> 5)
(-) Already playable card; not amazing in Elves, but pretty fine in Harmony. Also possible highroll from both Backup Plan and Bountiful Harvest in certain circumstances. Nothing terrible, but I think there were more deserving cards to be buffed. And Dana + Sappers R1 Harmony strategy shouldn’t really be incentivized.
-1 Provsion Decreased
Shupe’s Day Off (13 -> 12)
(-) My chat on Twitch in polls firmly prefers 20 real nerfs each month and 240 real nerfs in a year. Whoever shares the same view shouldn’t vote for Shupe revert unless could come up with 120 more justified provision nerfs 😉
Even at 13 cost Shupe is a decent toolbox card of instant value. 12-cost is good for Shupe value between factions, while particular problematic Shupe decks could be addressed directly. In this patch there is a nerf to Baccala which is a part of Shupe Calveit decks and very welcomed in this context.
Cerys an Craite (11 -> 10)
(++) Cerys would play as 18 for 12 + double thinning with a pair of Drummond Shieldmaiden (for comparison Portal is ~16 for 10). In some decks it would also be possible to use the ranged effect although generally much less relevant. Cerys was mainly used in Lippy decks where each extra Shieldmaiden spawned becomes carryover. This card saw little play overall and in my opinion that’s a good change. If Lippy Cerys decks or Cerys tempo in particular become troublesome, then it could be easily addressed with power nerf to Cerys or Shieldmaiden 5p/5c => 4p/4c plan.
Eldain (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanation
Sigi Reuven (10 -> 9)
(++) Explanation
Ruehin (9 -> 8)
(++) Love to see it. Ruehin is a card with rich mechanics and lots of synergies; incentivizes creative deckbuilding. At the same time Ruehin buffed to 5 power in the past has proven to be too explosive even as an addition to pretty much normal Classic Deathwish Succubi.
Marching Orders (8 -> 7)
(++) Great consistency tool for specific decks, completely unplayed.
King Roegner (8 -> 7)
(++) I don’t regard King Roegner as particularly weak standalone, but the whole Shields archetype surely deserves to be incentivized. I had some fun last month with my Radovid version, while probably Golden Nekker is the strongest option.
Cyprian Wiley (8 -> 7)
(+) Ciprian Wiley was seen from time to time on the ladder in rather unsuccessful decks obsessed with controlling everything. The card itself got a little bit powercrept, especially when less engines right now are at 4 power. By the latter logic I see people suggesting buff to Toad Prince, but its very wrong – Cyprian is conditional, has about 9 for 7 practical floor now, while Toad Prince with 11 for 7 raw value would be an autoinclude, while already one of commonly used midrange cards in Monsters.
Cyprian would be played after buff and considerable especially in specific metas in decks with access to damage pings. Mostly non-thematic builds though.
Ixora (8 -> 7)
(/) Just like Acherontia, Tyr, Kimbolt and many other cards from last expansions, Ixora has the design flaw of an open-ceiling threat which autowins some matchups. Unlike the mentioned cards though, Ixora depends more on the opponent’s board, doesn’t generate unconditional value.
I dislike this card, but it has seen little play and a buff should be okay to recognize Ixora again.
Prophet Lebioda (7 -> 6)
(++) Prophet Lebioda supports Shield archetype by a little, but even more threat overload and duelers decks. I think Lebioda would be played in some annoying builds at 6 cost. Overall a nice buff to an unplayed card with unusual effect though.
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, 10 got through – thanks for your support! The missing changes are Dracoturtle -1 power and Stennis -1 cost. The most influential coalitions were MetallicDanny (18/20) and Violet.Kiramman (11/14).
It is interesting that none of the scheduled and quite likely SK nerfs got through in this patch: Hjalmar: Seawolf and King Bran from MetallicDanny (the only 2 recommendations which failed) and Dracoturtle with our and Ofiri&Qcento support. SK probably avoided nerfs due to relatively low winrate and lack of impressive highscores. I also personally didn’t like Bran (Draig is imo a better target, run both by PF Raids and Eist Warriors) and for Hjalmar I’d prefer power nerf if any. On the other hand Nilfgaard got mulitple nerfs, including Kolgrim revert to 10-cost from independent voters. NG is known for having most haters and lovers at the same time. Very likely NG ladder meta would shape around Enslave 6 decks due to Braathens rebuff and 5-power Helge.
-1 cost bracket looks pretty good, +1 power is mediocre: Braathens and Helge reverts will promote old decks, Kaedweni Cav is likely low impact; Sappers, Aguara are uninspired; Vreemde would likely be straightforward added to Renfri Tactical Decision with Daerlan Soldiers even though it couldn’t be tutored, Odo is an overbuff. Hattori, Giant Boar and maybe Greater Brothers are on the brighter side.
When it comes to nerfs, a revert sentiment is a threat amongst NG and maybe ST. I could try to convince you that balance should be done in at least a few months persepective and an ideal of 20 real nerfs in a patch mean that not only top of the top decks are nerfed (otherwise if there are 2 decks at the top, then they are supposed to catch 10 nerfs, or we make 6 nerfs and 14 placeholders). I could try to say that the equilibrium of ladder decks power lies below what is the common level now and if we don’t accept nerfs to Tier 2 decks the evolution of ladder meta is warped. But I know it wouldn’t succeed.
Ekhm… Revert Ard Feainn! Skillful archetype on the sea of midrange flop! SO UNDESERVED! Not even strong! Can’t even put in enough thematic Aristocrats! PLACEHOLDERS???? COALITIONS ARE GENUINELY DUMB TO SUGGEST THOSE! MAYBE START DOING STH ELSE, HUH? 20 REAL NERFS EVERY PATCH. 240 NERFS EVERY YEAR. Not Ard Feainn though, its just wrong. I can easily find 100 better nerfs. Let me post it on Reddit. Call for Ard Feiann revert 50 upvotes, nice. Everyone with a brain thinks like I do. List of 100 nerfs better than Ard Feainn 50 downvotes??? Where these come from? People are idiots. Fiend at 7-power would be unplayed? Who cares??!!!
I don’t like how exaggerated nerf reactions are. Mobilization GN proclaimed dead is still perfectly playable, just not broken after a quintuple nerf. Strong, established archetypes after a single provision nerf remain strong, especially if the point of reference is not Tier 1, but average deck. One could accept that a part of community wanted to see a card or deck nerfed and carry on, seek some unplayed stuff for buff. Instead nerfs are greatly focused on, assessed as “just” or “injust” and in the case of latter pitchforks are raised even if the deck is still very playable. Such approach is surely “injust” to a great number of cards waiting for buff. Somehow the contradiction between advocating for 20 real nerfs and overcriticism of nerfs is not recognized. Pick one, not both. Tolerate real nerfs and hate placeholders or flame disliked nerfs, call for reverts and embrace placeholders. Don’t pick the hate part from both baskets.
I’m surprised to not see Peasant Militia nerfed in spite of its omnipresence and Ofir&Qcento recommendation. It looks like there is a strong notion of this card being irrelevant when back at 4-power.
What New To Try?
MO | GN Consume, Deathwish Dagon and Arachas HM Necrotome w/Ruehin, Midrange Fruits with Aguara (wow), Shupe Adda:Striga
NG | Illusionists Spam with Vreemde, Slave Infantry meme with Vreemde, Ivo Tactics / Defender Helge Cringe with Marching Orders, Viper Mentors Ale
NR | Duelers with Prophet Lebioda, GN/Radovid Shieldwall with Reogner, Uprising Swarm with Reynard Odo
SK | Giant Boar Selfwound, Cerys Lippy and Cerys Compass
ST | GN Traps with Hattori, Shupe Create with Francesca
SY | GN and Yago Jackpot w/Sigi Reuven, OtB/Lined Pockets Threat Overload with Ixora
Closure
October 2026 Gwent Balance Patch probably avoids major flops even if some changes like Mobilization prov cap buff are clearly a step in the wrong direction. But for the nerf to Bountiful Harvest probably little really would change in the ladder meta. There are some cool variety options like Sigi, Eldain, Ruehin or Roegner, but in the absence of vital nerfs its hard to suppose these will challenge Enslave 6, Fruits Midrange, Harmony or Warriors in terms of ladder popularity.
See you on ladder!
lerio2