Introduction
In this article I’d review Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Community Patch September 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
Third season in a row I played over 500 Gwent games and got a good recognition of decks played on high ladder. The nationality of my opponents was more diversed than last season, but still Chinese were most represented.
Ladder experience was a bit better than in the previous season, because the decks with most binary matchups: control SY and Spellweavers got nerfed. Selfeaters to 6-power and Vernon Roche revert to 9-cost had the highest impact on high ladder meta. Selfeater buff didn’t make Relicts outstanding in terms of winrate, because whole archetype is too reliant on this card alone. Therefore Relicts were mainly problematic for decks low on control. It is common motif of power buffs to engine threats – same decks with efficient control are flourishing every month, while decks lacking such tool or not having equally greedy engines are pushed out.
MO | Carapace Relicts Golden Nekker, Relicts with other leaders (overall Monsters didn’t end up popular at high mmrs at the end of the season)
NR | Mobilization 2xRoche Mutagenerator, Priestess Mutagenerator, Mobi Golden Nekker Mutagenerator (very popular last days; Mobi Muta decks got a boom in the 2nd half of season)
NG | Renfri Tactical Decision, Formation Shupe, Enslave 6, Constructs TD
SK | Blaze Of Glory Renfri, Selfwound Nekker, sometimes Selfwound Svalblod, Pirates, Warriors, Renfri Rain
ST | Guerilla Schirru Devotion and other variants, Nature’s Gift Non-Devo, Elves, sometimes Precision Strike Dwarves Swarm
SY | Cove Gangs, Bounty Nekker, Jackpot/Cache with Seductress, Firesworn (neither too popular at high mmrs)
My peak decks:
– ST Guerilla Nekker Movement Poison (vod)
– MO Devotion Wild Hunt
– SY 2xScenario Cache Consistency Focus
– NR Uprising Devotion Meve Odo (vod)
The most important event of August 2025 in Gwent is the discovery of a fundamental programming fault which is likely sewed in the game for many years. It was possible only because of Balance Council changes which reduced the pool of 5-cost crimes to 4 (Sesames to 6, Eavesdrop to 4). It appeared that Pulling the Strings is full guaranteed from Shady Vendor, 100% rather than 75%. I’d elaborate more on the issue in a dedicated article that will follow soon, but the bug is of general level, obeys for all Create cards and the smaller is the pool of target cards, the more odds differ from uniform.
Balance Council Results
(++) great change
(+) good
(/) acceptable
(-) bad
(–) very bad
Nerf Brackets
-1 Power Decreased
Lara Dorren (4 -> 3)
(++) 3 power Lara gets killed by a single Red Riders if played turn after, which is important for non-Tatterwing Lara decks. Interesting buff.
Dettlaff: Higher Vampire (7 -> 6)
(++) A natural revert – Dettlaff playing as 21 for 10 in decks running at least 2 consumes is not necessary.
Living Armor (3 -> 2)
(+) Placeholder, harmless. Impedes meta changes but also lowers the chance of reverts due to overnerfs.
Ivar Evil-Eye (3 -> 2)
(-) Ivar plays as 2x power of the target unit – own power. Due to 4=>2 buff in recent patches, Ivar from weak becomes absolutely pathetic and game losing when played on Adrenaline (6 for 10 rather than 8 for 10). This change may have a negative impact on gameplay experience, because Ivar is one of very few enemy boost cards which can be played for surprise value. Also quite often Henry var Attre games are decided by Abduction into Ivar.
Iris von Everec (6 -> 5)
(/) Because Iris is a discard target this nerf is a harmless change, comparable to Living Armor (unless you meme with Iris + Arachas Queen Monsters). The context though is that Iris von Everec is a natural provision nerf target for Renfri BoG and TD. I’d prefer immediate real nerf for more meta shakeup, but that’s a matter of taste.
Cerys: Fearless (4 -> 3)
(++) Explanations
Nauzicaa Sergeant (4 -> 3)
(-) I’m not a fan of Nauzicaa (3⇔4) cycle in vacuum; I’d prefer Sergeant to stay at the good state of 4/6 so that brackets are not blocked (cycle stopped 23 cards from being changed so far). But in this patch our coalition supported the cycle as a reaction to stop Seagull Coalition from harmful 6=>5 provision cost attempt, which would have made the whole NG spam this card. Given recent patches, Nauzicaa Sergeant cycle feels relatively harmless.
Selfeater (6 -> 5)
(++) Alternative idea was to nerf Selfeater to 6-cost. In my opinion direct revert is better, although net is a bigger nerf to Relicts. 5-cost makes it easier to replay Selfeaters with Incubus without Operator combo. Relicts would be playable but niche, just like before the last patch, and Carapace would be by far the leader of choice (rather than Force of Nature or Fruits of Ysgith). For a proof that Relicts were playable before buff, check out for example my old vods (1,2)
Traveling Priestess (3 -> 2)
(++) Explanations
Sly Seductress (5 -> 4)
(/) I didn’t really play enough with Sly Seductress to have a clear opinion whether power or provision nerf is better. I’d rather lean towards provisions because with power nerf indirectly Passiflora, Adriano and Mushy Truffle got weakened, while Eventide Plunder remains more random.
+1 Provision Increased
Temple of Melitele: Congregation (16 -> 17)
(++) As I say in each patch review, Temple Of Melitele with its high variance and ability to polarize the deck should preferably be put in a state where genuine NR high ends start to be explored more. Temple is a ping-pong card now; I don’t see what provision buffs to Temple achieve but for improving already figured out decks.
Renfri (14 -> 15)
(++) Explanations
Golden Nekker (13 -> 14)
(-) I don’t think Golden Nekker provision nerf was necessary at this point – this card was already priced on equal footing with expensive golds; obviously powerful, but adds deckbuilding restrictions and RNG factor involved in playing cards from the topdeck. I think provision nerf to GN at this point would reduce variety while not improving balance.
Tainted Ale (13 -> 14)
(+) Placeholder nerf which is meant to discentivize Armor Exploit Pirates. Okay.
Baccalà (11 -> 12)
(++) Explanations
Jan Calveit (11 -> 12)
(+) Shupe Soldiers were one of NG most popular and successful picks on ladder and Jan Calveit is a natural nerf target there. Another part is Jan Calveit is often disliked because of repeatable gameplay scenarios. Understandable change which shouldn’t be followed up with another nerf. This card is very popular and very likely we would see a revert in the next patch.
Schirrú (11 -> 12)
(++) Schirru decks were very popular and successful on ladder in August 2025 season. Schirru is a win condition card for long rounds which can also be used as a pointswing when defending R2 bleed. Justified change, which however will come with many complaints on how a “skillful” card is nerfed while midrange boring pointslam [insert deck name] not.
Mutagenerator (9 -> 10)
(++) Explanations
Jotunn (8 -> 9)
(/) Jotunn was net worth 15 points for 10 cost (8 self +2 from Ice Giants), but as a massive pointswing card often got extra value from utility, for example when threatening win on even cards or setting up Sabbath. Pure balancewise this change doesn’t feel justified and moreover Jotunn is supposed to get weaker with time because Ice Giants should become weaker compared to 4- and 5-cost bronzes in each iteration of Gwent Balance Council. Not the worst nerf nevertheless.
Coën (6 -> 7)
(+) Coen was one of the cards mentioned in every Balance Council for many months as a possible nerf and indeed it sometimes plays for absurd points in Travelling Priestess or NR Witchers decks. Coen nerf was surely catalyzed by Travelling Priestess Mutagenerator decks; Witchers weren’t strong enough to induce it in the past. It is worth noting though, that Coen isn’t an essential Priestess card, while in weaker Witchers deck it is the main win condition. While Coen nerf was bound to happen sooner or later, probably the impact for the next patch wouldn’t be positive.
Buff Brackets
+1 Power Increased
Dandelion: Poet (4 -> 5)
(+) I prefer provision buff as more impactful, but likely both are needed. 5 power Dandelion may trigger extra thrives. Dandelion Poet potentially can also for example make Inspirational Ballad faster or play a card set up on top with Naglfar.
Lord Riptide (9 -> 10)
(–) Ping pong buff. Making a good card better while wasting a buff slot again.
Vysogota of Corvo (3 -> 4)
(++) Vysogota had many synergies (Tridam Infantry, Vissegerd + Onager…) but too low floor. At 4 power it still has many counters, but trades better with removal and other counters. Good change, worth testing.
Pavko Gale (5 -> 6)
(+) Pavko wasn’t much played, but at 6 power he can be played pretty much anywhere – 6 is hard to remove and Pavko can scale +3 per turn while removing opponent threats with a bit of damage support. Surely would be run in alternative versions of different decks.
Greater Brothers (10 -> 11)
(++) Explanations
Redanian Secret Service (1 -> 2)
(+) Explanations
Seagull (1 -> 2)
(/) Some voters are a bit of scientists themselves – let’s see how it plays out again at a more fair cost.
Fortune Teller (4 -> 5)
(++) A tech card against The Flying Redanian, Madoc or Crowmother, but also support for niche cards like Will-o-the-Wisp or Gaunter O’Dimm.
Forktail (4 -> 5)
(+) Deserved buff, but i’m afraid Forktail wouldn’t be played much still. The little unit MO archetypes like Keltullis feel a bit too powercrept.
Cockatrice (3 -> 4)
(++) Explanations
-1 Provsion Decreased
Tyr: Slayer of Yngvar (15 -> 14)
(-) Tyr at 15-cost doesn’t feel so strong, but neither weak enough to warrant a revert either. This change does little harm, but just stops new stuff from being introduced into the game.
Ragh Nar Roog (13 -> 12)
(/) RnR was little played and at 12 cost it should be more considerable. The ceiling on this card is good: 12 + 5 + 9 = 26 points plus removal value from 5 damage. The problematic part of RNR is to get full value Cataclysm and sadly surprise value is most helpful here in practice. That’s why while the change is okay, losing games to surprise RnR may be frustrating at times.
Keltullis (13 -> 12)
(++) Explanations
Cleaver (13 -> 12)
(++) Absolutely justified revert; worth ~12 points on deploy and easy to answer Cleaver isn’t a 13-cost card.
Uma’s Curse (10 -> 9)
(+) Not on my priority list, but a fine change for memers and RNG enjoyers. Joining GN range, Uma can also bring more spice to Alzur decks.
Ornate Censer (10 -> 9)
(++) Cool card which invites combo plays. With Censer in Golden Nekker range you can for example play Imagawa combo: first play Dragon’s Dream, a turn before DD trigger follow up with Golden Nekker into Vaedermakar to… lower count on DD and instant trigger damage for Ornate Censer which comes next from GN. Of course you can also play Censer from Arcane Tome or Land of a Thousand Fables. Censer also has Alchemy tag and may be combined with Battle Trance, Ale of Ancestors and Mushy Truffle clicks for a ton of damage.
Sabrina’s Inferno (8 -> 7)
(+) Unplayed card, but not high on my priority list because Inferno makes use of Specter rather than the Cursed tag.
Doadrick Leumaerts (8 -> 7)
(++) Explanations
Armored Arachas (8 -> 7)
(++) Explanations
Open, Sesame! (6 -> 5)
(/) I haven’t met Sesame or Vice opponents in August 2025. Foreseeable revert. Also 5-cost crimes pool becomes 5 cards now and Create bug no longer would make Pulling The Strings guaranteed.
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 September 2025 Gwent patch is surprisingly good and reasonable! In the light of awkward overbuffs in previous patches and BC recommendations from Seagull Coaltion (Meditating Mages +1 power, Kikimore Warrior +1 power, Sergeant -1 cost…), Seagull to 2 power is far from the craziest change which may have got through.
Seagull Coalition got only 2 changes through in this patch and both are in nerf brackets, which are generally least competitive between coalitions. It is relatively easy to squeeze in a buff to leader ability (Rage of the Sea from Dauren last patch, disloyal card (Kraken, Rainfarn) or other effective buff (Ivar from Seagulls now) there. Somehow such changes are more appealing to the community.
Ofir joined forces with Qcento and immediately proven impactful with 12/12 recommended changes getting through. This coalition generally follows the results of democratic voting (last season poll as example), which has the advantage of little bias and representing community sentiment.
Also thanks again for supporting the suggestions of our coalition with Shinmiri – 12/12 recommendations got through!
What New To Try?
MO | Non-Tatterwing Lara Swarm, Deckbuff Poison MO, Plague Maiden Poison MO, No-unit with Forktail, Keltullis Dragons and Classic, Penitent + Armored Arachas
NG | Enemy Boost with Ivar, Affan decks with Doadrick, Hyperthin with Doadrick
NR | Golden Nekker Shieldwall with 2p RSS, Onager + Vissegerd + Vysogota engine swarm, Vernon Roche / Golden Nekker + Ornate Censer combo, 5p Fortune Teller + Griffin Witcher combo
SK | Seagull 1, Seagull 2, Seagull 3, Seagull 4, Casino Shupe with cheaper Uma, Alchemy with Ornate Censer, RnR + Patricidal Fury combo (instant trigger of 1st chapter and 5p removal)
ST | Ragnarok Precision Strike Swarm, Harmony and Schirru with Pavko Gale, Alzur Golden Nekker with Uma’s Curse spice
SY | Insanity Jackpot with Greater Brothers, Sesame OtB/Pockets, Dodarick as consistency tool
Closure
September 2025 Gwent Balance Patch looks really good on paper with meta top nerfed and many interesting buffs. Let’s see how it would play out! As said in the Before Patch section, an article on a very important bug which got discovered in the last season is coming soon to leriohub.
See you on ladder!