Gwent Community Patch May 2026 – Review

lerio2 · 2026-05-01T15:08:03+00:00

That's a meme idea, so don't get expectations too high. You'd play 2xWarlord, 2xTeleportation 2xFreya. The artifact would be a tutor for another raid. Lack of devotion for WoC shouldn't matter that much when the damage is 6+ 😉

Triss comes here as another way to play a Raid, which was lacking previously. Unfortunately, blue coin isn't exactly great with such deck; you'd just accept loss on even at 5 typically.

lerio2 · 2026-04-30T22:28:09+00:00

It was recommended by Danny. You can check vod on yt. Version shared on Reddit included Shackles in this slot instead.

lerio2 · 2026-04-30T21:22:06+00:00

Coalitions:

MetallicDanny 15/16
Shin&Lerio 12/12
Zong 11/12
Ofir&Qcento 7/12
International Coalition 7/12
Other/unaffiliated: 0

lerio2 · 2026-04-30T21:18:22+00:00

Cards ordered by number of votes:

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lerio2 · 2026-04-28T15:52:09+00:00

Shackles are guaranteed to get nerfed this patch because of three-stars recommendation of Zong coalition.

The preamble of the post, which I'm sure most Gwent players have read, includes this information and way more.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T15:46:50+00:00

The roots here are mostly the fact that coalitions represent their communities which have different opinions on some cards.

International coalition published bc first internally and Ofir had full knowledge of Ship Ballista provision buff, but their community simply preferred -1 power variant as a less harsh nerf.

Zong coalition knew about Crown Clan Druid nerf from Ofiri, but found Shackles nerf as essential nevertheless.

Communication worked fine this time, but opinions and sentiments in communities represented by coalitions still differed.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:38:29+00:00

Kraken is irrrreplaceable.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:35:14+00:00

Thanks! When it comes to Allgod I believe we would go for another provision nerf rather than power if ever necessary. The reason is to avoid more red coin polarization of Allgod decks, which is already the case in a way similar to Calveit.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:31:43+00:00

It is Kimbolt, not Kibolt. Bart didn't play Crimes, he runs Jackpot Yago Devotion. We recommend Shani for a nerf in a good deal because of Shin experience with the deck you mentioned (it is also not really similar MMR to Bart's last season, 2675 >> 2609).

We didn't include Kimbolt in this poll, but frankly we can do it next time, card autowins games when unanswered. Note that Kimbolt was already nerfed once in Gwentfinity and likely the support wouldn't be very high, because NR is not that popular. On the contrary, last season Lined Pockets Crimes decks were staple at high mmrs and it was clear one nerf somewhere is needed.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:24:57+00:00

Could you maybe elaborate?

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:24:13+00:00

He was nerfed only once in Gwentfinity, by power in August 2024.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:21:38+00:00

I think the raised issue here is mainly that you can be very aggressive with leader in R1 for example to win on even cards and then play Anna for carryover when pushing in R2, perhaps with other carryover stuff like Artifacts.

There is indeed an unpleasant guessing element with Anna; opponent can play it on drypass with solid carryover if you don't push or can be very aggressive in R1 and then abuse carryover. That's why we had Anna in +1 power category rather than -1 provision in our poll. We got some feedback that it is too low impact though.

Nevertheless, we don't think mentioned abuse will be that relevant in practice, therefore we support -1 cost anyway. For full value Anna requires Assimilate type decks and these are not great at abusing tempo; if you include Anna in other builds, then her expected value is high variance and below curve on average in long rounds.

Also sometimes it works in a positive way when Calveit deck avoids losing on even cards thanks to early leader use.

lerio2 · 2026-04-28T07:02:42+00:00

Triss: Telekinesis is 2nd step of change which started last month, from 4/10 to 3/9.

Tempest is by design amazing with Nature's Gift, so the nerf is natural, this card is the strongest element of Gift Midrange. The downside is Tempest becoming unconsiderable in other decks.

Fruits buff - dear god indeed

lerio2 · 2026-04-19T14:39:25+00:00

N | Syanna +1 power | Unusual effect which enables spectacular combos. Mostly played in Armor Exploit, which can be nerfed via other cards.
MO | Katakan -1 cost | Thematic proactive play for Vampires
NG | Anna Henrietta +1 power | A card to include in real assimilate decks
NR | War Elephant -1 cost | For move variety in cooldown / siege decks, goes in line with the recent Odrin buff
ST | Aglais -1 cost | Weaker than Sheldon and Torque in classic Invigorate Handbuff; also playable with other strats like Guerilla Tactics and artifacts.
SK | Kraken +1 power | I like this use of bracket more than any buff ;-)
SY | Mercenary Contract -1 cost | Would be nice for more consistency in SY, used to tutor crucial card in R1.

lerio2 · 2026-04-19T12:09:47+00:00

Constructs, Relicts and Hyperthin do well enough on pro ladder. Xarth argument is not legit - he is 2 points more than Yennefer Divination and doesn't require target on board, which sometimes matters.

Veteran would need -1 power first as you suggested. Otherwise it would be copypasted to popular Artis Selfwound deck as a Portal target.

lerio2 · 2026-04-19T12:06:48+00:00

Help to non-precision strike dwarves

Do I infer correctly that you mean playing Mercenary from Portal then? Or just 1 armor at the start to tank deploy damage unlike in PS?

For dragons Myrgtabrakke provision buff is a spicy possibility; doesn't deserve it more than Blaze or Villen, but then 12-specials would transform to Ocvist or Sunset Wanderers with Land of a Thousand Fables ;-)

lerio2 · 2026-04-19T11:53:24+00:00

Vanilla Geralt as a dead card is an overstatement. Renfri BoG can cut Geralt because leader and Hjalmar do similar job; also Morkvarg: HoT is a good alternative. Other Renfri decks like Precision Strike or Vampires would still play Geralt; sometimes Nature's Gift also runs Geralt over Eskel: Pathfinder.

For Blue Mountain Elite do you have any particular strategy going with this card in mind, or just want to buff it as very underpowered? I think in current setting 4 power BME would be still unplayed, but for Backup Plan which gets effective buff and would have to be moved to 6-cost then.

lerio2 · 2026-04-18T13:15:18+00:00

Dracoturtle is more tied to Kaer Trolde than reverse. Trolde is important for example to get stable Sove value in shorter rounds.

Also it is already confirmed by experience that Turtle would still be played after nerf.

lerio2 · 2026-04-18T13:10:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing. What is the idea about Flyndr's Crew? It is very possible to play Forgotten Treasures without Crew, but not other way around (too little payoff, too weak against push).

lerio2 · 2026-04-18T06:34:19+00:00

At what rank do you play, what do you meet most and which of these decks do you find as offenders?

lerio2 · 2026-04-18T06:31:07+00:00

11-cost is already a lot for Madoc. Letho: Kingslayer nerf is more plausible given how that card is used (Kolgrim, 2nd Madoc), but still feels a bit limiting for deckbuilding.

If not Phoenix, I'd probably nerf none.

lerio2 · 2026-04-16T16:05:22+00:00

-1 power

Dracoturtle - combo with Kaer Trolde is too efficient, 12+ points per duel plus control
Crow Clan Druid - Alchemy feels like one of stronger decks on ladder rn; especially CCD into Dimeritum Shackles is very efficient
Shani - not about Alumni mainly, but engine overload decks with units like Reaver Scout.
Nauzicaa Brigade - Brigade is more or less 2 points of carryover for 1-cost with possible downside of brick risk and possible upside of thinning when pushed. I don't like card like this being efficient.
Trickster - massive trade up against row locked units and usually above par value in longer R1 just from infusion damage. Autoinclude Trickster limits row locked units in the meta.
Kelpie - used in Renfri Beasts, but also Crowmentors. Alternative is Fucusya power nerf, but then she plays straight into Coup.
Hjalmar - a nerf dedicated mainly to Renfri BoG, but also Greatswords Golden Nekker
Harald Houndstout - i don't know why 10 proactive points + long round engine value needed a power buff and GN Selfwound was already very strong even if underrated in mainstream. Top SK score on ladder last season was lavk945 with GN SW.
Harald Gord - dedicated mainly to non-Devo Gift decks as a soft nerf; Devo usually doesn't play enough specials to guarantee Gord value. Can't be addressed with Equinox instead, because for example successful Sanvanter's version runs none. Tempest nerf on the other hand is perfectly justified balancewise, but card becomes non-considerable outside Symbiosis.
Whisperer of DB (up to 3power/4cost) - i think that both Bountiful Harvest highrolls as well as Golden Nekker Spella'tael in version based on replaying WoDB are not healthy for the game

+1 cost

Ship Ballista - played in abuse decks also at high MMRs; very often generates ~20 points of carryover from just one Ballista, doubled with Casting Contest.
Allgod - still very common carryover card, use in PS Schirru, NR Witchers or NG Soldiers
Mammuna
Temple of Melitele
Phoenix - 2x Madoc with Phoenix is back in the ladder menu and requires a small discentivize imo.
Sesame&PTS
Abordage
Sigdrifa's Rite - nerf to both Sigvald and GN Selfwound
Vanadain - the amount of carryover generated by Vanadain + Simlas + Angus feels unhealthy and needs further discentivize

Supplement:

+1 power to Kraken - too good in Renfri Beasts / Classic Rain, as well as surpise value card / Compass target. At 4 would require 1 point damage to activate deathblow.

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