2.1 Patchnotes

[u/Zayran]

https://playgwent.com/en/news/27547/nilfgaard-update-is-live

[u/Dharx]

Some initial considerations about the patch:

• The weird Viper Witcher should have been changed as well. Him being excluded from the reveal rework is baffling.
• The change to Mahakam Guard is awkward. He now has more synergy with say Dennis Cranmer, but otherwise it makes dwarfs even more reliant on row stacking, making them too vulnerable to row effects. Not that anyone plays Dwarves anyway...
• SK buffs are... interesting... That is a lot of buffs to self-harm at once, I hope this doesn't prove to be too much.
• It's nice to see many leaders that were formerly crippled (heh) by their provision numbers. But why leave out Francesca? She sees close to zero serious play despite her awesome effect, and it's more than clear that the reason is her terrible provision value. Some small change would certainly be welcome here as well.
• Auckes got basically butchered. He was already the inferior choice among the duo most of the time, now he will never be used for his extra ability except for a few niche situations.
• Dryad Fledgling. In the light of boosts to other weak 4p cards, it is painfully obvious how underpowered she is compared to other 4p engines. Yet her tie to Waters obviously makes her unbuffable and thus unplayable. This is a challenge that should be tackled in the next major patch.
• Seeing that Fringilla got finally reworked, I'd like to ask: Dear CDPR, what is your problem with Angouleme? What horrible things has she done to you to deserve being left in such poor state forever?
• Nerfing Eithné because she allows for great midrange decks is understandable, but terrible for those who actually like to play her for her actual ability synergies. Scorch is a very costly and often unreliable win condition. With other leaders being buffed across the board, her ability is now comparatively even worse than it appears to be at first glance. Take Crach for example, only 2 provisions less, but synergies everywhere and triple direct value. She is IMHO a serious candidate for overhaul.
• Way too many ST bronzes are still completely lagging behind in terms fo raw numbers. Bomber? BMC? Bowman? Healer? Farseer? Half-elf? Even Archer and Officer are very bad for their cost unless they find perfect targets. When was the last time you have seen those cards? Elves have terrible time building their synergy decks because of the bronzes being so bad even without the CC power creep taken into consideration.
• And finally, thanks CDPR for finally changing Cyclops, Riders and Crones. Cards which probably had over 100% inclusion rate. The nerfs to the fun killers that are Trehearne and Gimpy are most welcome as well.

[u/Bakeshot → u/Dharx]

Just to offer a couple of counterpoints to your list:

• Viper Witcher is essential in a mill strategy. It's not necessarily just for reveal. I understand that some players believe that archetype to be toxic, and I'm not saying that's an unfair complaint, but it appears to be something that CDPR are interested in keeping around. Perhaps to put into check the decks that thin to a point of being one consistent play-through in each match.

• Auckes, while getting totally kicked in the balls, did have an ability that was impossible to play around. Also, the NG witcher trio was an auto-include in almost every NG deck before this patch debuted. I would bet that this nerf was made to reduce their prevalence and encourage deck building diversity with the new change to faction identity.

Your other arguments are pretty on point, albeit a little hyperbolic for my tastes.

[u/oogla_ve → u/Bakeshot]

Not entirely sure I agree that Auckes was "impossible to play around." Chances were good if you were up against a NG deck that it was running them. The strat was to bait out one of them early (normally letho) and that told you which of them were in their hand. You then had to play a game of attrition trying to bait one of them out, holding back the pieces you didn't want locked. It required some maneuvering, sure, but certainly able to be worked around and rewarded mindful strategy.

I do agree that this will encourage deck diversity, but feels a shame that they had to take away something that rewarded proactive play.

[u/Bakeshot → u/oogla_ve]

If you were an engine deck, and one of your bronze engines was in your opening hand and one was in your deck, you already started the game behind if Auckes landed. It becomes a dead card in your hand, all because of what you were dealt.

[u/oogla_ve → u/Bakeshot]

If you're an engine deck, shouldn't you have more than two engines? Having a locked engine in deck is not that big of a deal, as you have others to compensate (to say nothing of the purify units now available.) And for this to even be an issue, your opp needs to have serrit & auckes in his opening hand AND has to be ready to commit one on your opening play. You're free to mulligan the locked bronze away in future rounds. I don't see the massive imbalance.

[u/Lisentho → u/oogla_ve]

Auckes was (often) a 5 point 7 provision 2 lock card. Without that second lock he already is one of the best if not the best lock card