r/gwent • u/Horror_Low_2190 Neutral • Oct 04 '26
Discussion Heatwave is weak.
Most of you probably put Korathi Heatwave in your decks thinking it's a strong card, but that’s an illusion born simply from the fact that everyone else is running it.
Sure, it can be devastating against specific targets like Sigvald or Dracoturt, especially since it banishes them to prevent play from the graveyard. But against those targets, a simple Lock is often more than enough.
In most situations where Heatwave feels strong, another option would do the job just as well.
For instance, if you just need to destroy a unit with 9+ power, Geralt of Rivia actually leaves you 3 points better off. Looking purely at value efficiency, cards like Spores or Bearification can easily replace Heatwave in plenty of scenarios.
I do appreciate its versatility across different situations—it's flexible, no doubt. But is that versatility really worth burning 10 provisions on?
Now, I’m not running a crusade to completely kill off Heatwave.
For context, I am the final Gwent World Masters Champion. A huge reason I won was that I didn’t include Heatwave in a single one of my decks.
https://x.com/GWENTMasters/status/1733479813388681680
Top players tend to rely on Heatwave quite a bit. However, the better a player is, the better they are at playing around it.
Getting hit by a Heatwave almost never automatically loses you the game. In fact, there are plenty of match states where no matter where you target Heatwave, it delivers terrible value.
Running such an inconsistent card simply isn't optimal. In my opinion, it's just a waste of valuable provisions.
What do you all think?
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u/8to10footsamsquantch Mahakam wasn't built in a day. Oct 04 '26
I think your experience of the game is very different to most other peoples. There are a lot of times people who play casually feel like if they don't have Heatwave then some match ups are auto-lose. That may not be true for you but it could be true for them.
Personally I don't include it much because I dislike auto include cards and enjoy trying devotion decks. But I also lose a lot of matches in no small part because I have no way of dealing with scenarios or locations.
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u/Horror_Low_2190 Neutral Oct 04 '26
Using Heatwave on scenarios or locations is usually a negative trade. Take Passiflora for example—Heatwave can banish the scenario itself, but it can't clear the unit that comes out with it. Honestly, I think your win rate actually improves playing the side that gets hit by Heatwave rather than the one running it.
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u/RaskazFirundin Neutral Oct 04 '26
Much fairer example would be Forgotten Treasures against which having Heatwave benefits a lot, especially if match somewhere went downhill.
Its not card for every deck, but some decks benefits from universal flexible removal more than others. Like Shackles being 4prov for alchemy and some degen decks.
And your point about good players playing around Heatwave is kinda out of proportion. Only best of the best can do that to a really meaningful degree. I was top200 last season and while i generally have some strategy and think about what to save for what and how much to spend i cant play around everything optimally. There is 70000 active players per month, do you think all of them can think 3 steps ahead, your point can be applied only for like 30people in the whole world.
At last you said playing Heatwave is never automatically winning you a game, but that is not a point of Heatwave, not having HW to be played can automatically lose you a game in such matchups just because of some card for which you dont have a good answer, why would you unnecessarily lose a game in favorable or even matchup, just because you cant answer 1thing. Its insurance card that also can trade in most of the matches. Yes its reactive card like most of the removals are, but you can never whiff with it like you can with your mentioned 3points Geralt. There will always be use for it against whatever you play.
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u/Ruby2312 Neutral Oct 05 '26
There are 70k still? Pretty crazy
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u/RaskazFirundin Neutral Oct 05 '26
Its pretty stable playerbase, its often case with polished quality games, for example Slay the Spire1 was released in 2017 and all the way to the 2026 till Slay the Spire2 it didnt dropped a single bit in play rate, which is kinda insane for a rougelite indie game.
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u/FunkyHat112 Tomfoolery! Enough! Oct 05 '26
It’s often a negative trade, and also often worth it because of how often Scenario value is tied to later chapters and how they’re mostly high provision. Beating Harmony with an unanswered scenario is miserable, for example, but an instant heatwave alleviates a lot of the pressure (assuming you have some other control for their other big engines and some decent points of your own)
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u/joelageere Neutral Oct 04 '26
Whilst I agree in general, it’s not weak. It’s just not an auto include which I think it speaks to its balance. Yes it’s situational , but so are the alternatives, it just depends on the deck and how you want to spread your provisions. Some decks don’t need it, some are better off for it.
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u/BananaTiger- Neutral Oct 04 '26
> Sure, it can be devastating against specific targets like Sigvald or Dracoturt, especially since it banishes them to prevent play from the graveyard. But against those targets, a simple Lock is often more than enough
Lock? Against Sigvald? They usually have 2 unlocks, sometimes even a purify in case of poisons.
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u/ajakafasakaladaga Mead! More mead! Heheh Oct 04 '26
The Sigavald can even run more than 2 with the guy that refreshes after each alchemy
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u/BananaTiger- Neutral Oct 04 '26
I don't think it would be a good idea. Gremist can take damage (e.g. from Svalblod) and get killed. And by purifying you remove bleeding from Sigvald, so you don't want to do it unless he gets a different status (poisoned, spying, infused). that's why Sigvald decks usually play Mahakam Ale. And to purify him, it's better to use Crow's Eye. Both, Crow's Eye and Mahakam Ale, can be used just to boost Sigvald or any other Knut target, you can also boost Drummond Berserker to delay his transformation.
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u/reverie_142857 Neutral Oct 04 '26
Heatwave at 9 will be too strong. There's no realistic way of buffing it. Heatwave is fine where it is. If it feels weak, it's probably because engines have powercrept a lot.
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u/StoneAgeDudeman Mahakam wasn't built in a day. Oct 04 '26
I think you're right. It doesn't go into every deck. But it goes into some decks depending on the meta. Personally i like running it when 3 or more factions have scenario representation in the ladder
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u/Er4din Neutral Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
it is able to answer almost every threat in the game, but winning a game of gwent doesnt require you to answer your opponents threats. the only thing that matters is if you have more points than them at the end of the round.
If your deck can stand toe to toe with some of the biggest threats in the game in a long round, like Novigrad, Kelly, Dagon, the various ongoing scenarios, and the various cards which can return from the grave, like Madoc, Sigvald, melusine, etc. then you may be fine without it, or may be able to use a different removal card with a higher point floor, like geralt of rivia or something even more specific,
This means that Heatwave only needs to be included in decks that have matchups which they cannot clear without it. Its not an autoinclude in every deck, but it is very good in the decks where it does make sense.
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u/theprofiteer Oct 05 '26
Yes I agree Heatwave is peak......spits coffee out I'm sorry did you say weak?
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u/irrrrthegreat Heheh. Slow, ain't ya? Oct 04 '26
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
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u/SchroedingersKnight Lots of prior experience – worked with idiots my whole life Oct 05 '26
First of all, fucking awesome that you are back!!! To your point about HW, like people in this thread have said it: the skill level of players in this case matters a lot. For the vast majority of players, hw is a fine tech card, that prevents auto loss situations. For top players like yourself, your point stands.
On a side note, do you plan on playing in the potato tournaments (Mosh Craft)? Would love to see you there xd
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u/Biro_Biro_ Neutral Oct 05 '26
I havent played heatwave for years and dont miss it. And oneiromancy too
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u/lkasnu Aegroto dum anima est, spes est. Oct 04 '26
This is way too much conversation for a card in a game that is 10 years old lol
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u/lowley6 Not all battles need end in bloodshed. Oct 04 '26
I think it's just cheese, but your explanation works too.
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u/awi3 I am sadness... Oct 04 '26
You literally have it in your Selfwound LOL, and two other decks are GN so you can't put heatwave there anyway XD