GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

After yesterday's mulligan patch the game took a huge turn for the better. Now all we need is more balancing and more cards with unique dynamics. The game already rewards you with very fast progression compared to probably every other f2p card game out there so that's also a plus.

First off, let me say that many of the negative reviews were submitted within the first few days of official release. A lot changed from open Beta to the official game, and many people (including myself) had the knee-jerk reaction of 'What happened to Gwent?!'. But after playing it for a while, I have to say that the core characteristics that made Gwent a great game for me, are still there. Here they are in no particular order: 1. Amazing card art/soundtrack - Seriously, no comparison in my opinion. 2. The world of the Witcher - I love the characters and feeling of the Witcher universe. Gwent really captures the atmosphere of both the games and books. There's all the characters and lore, but also the humor and grit we know and love from the series. 3.Best-of-three round system - In other cardgames, a bad opening hand could really mess you up for the rest of the match. In Gwent you aren't punished nearly as badly. For example. you can choose to let one round go in order to play for the other two rounds. Or you can build a deck that revolves around going for certain roundlengths. There are a bunch of strategies to consider! 4. Low RNG/Deckbuilding - This was more the case with all the tutors in Beta Gwent, but Homecoming Gwent still has a lot less match-defining RNG than most other card games I've played, which ties in neatly with being able to build a cohesive synergetic deck, instead of randomly dumping points on the board. 5. Great devs - Even if it's not perfect right now, the devs are constanty trying to optimise the game and they really listen to community feedback and ideas. 6. No pay-to-win - There's more than enough ways to build up your card collection for free. Conclusion: If you're into strategic cardgames and/or the Witcher universe, be sure to give Gwent a try!

See title, not much else to say.

It tries to be a balanced game after the Homecoming release, but it isn't. Still binary solutions (like Defender <> Purify, last say <> no last say) mar the gameplay. Arena mode is a meme (a bunch of random cards with little synergy).Training mode is a meme (one deck with stupid AI that offers no challenge). Provisions system is really annoying – it kills creativity with deckbuilding. Many card descriptions are still misleading or simply incomplete. Cumbersome menu system (too much clicking, loading screens, going back and forth). Syndicate faction? Simply OP. The point (coins) accumulation is an absurd mechanics, which is always abused in the 3rd (usually decisive) round. Especially mediocre experience for the beginners. Lots of rewards in scraps/mostly weak cards, but matchmaking in casual is terrible – you are often faced with top rank veteran players or decks worth 6-7k scraps, which you cannot afford at this point. I've seen a lots of new players ragequit already. Ofc, the gfx and music is great, but it doesn't matter in the long run. All in all, I cannot recommend it.

The game used to be fun because most of the decks used to be (somewhat) fairly balanced and the game came down to two factors: how you use the cards in your deck and the different matchups (obviously some decks did better against others, that's how card games go). You could be creative with deck building, have fun, and still win matches. However, the game has changed from smart deckbuilding and planning your matchups into having the newest cards crammed into your deck. I don't like using new cards because they tend to be overpowered and cheap, promting everyone to use them so for the next few months; all you will play against are the newest cards until they get nerfed or better cards come out. Even the pro's on twitch/youtube admit that the only way to counter the new cards is to use them. I used to love this game and play for hours due to the creative deck building and the wide variety of cards. I even considered buying the premium pass but lost interest as gameplay devolved into who had the new cards; I don't see the point in spending money on this game. In summary: Pros: - cool card designs - game is user friendly - fun gameplay mechanics - developers are heavily involved in the game, they are actively updating and coming out with new patches, cards, decks, etc. - deckbuilding is fun - game is very beginner player friendly Cons: - new patches result in everyone building the same decks; no deck creativity - pro-tournaments are boring to watch; everyone brings the same deck builds - winning is based on having the newest cards - gameplay becomes boring quickly as everyone resorts to using the same few cards that basically guarantee wins over those who don't bring them - no incentive for building creative decks - no incentive for using older decks - boring to watch most pro twitch/youtubers promoting the game. With one or two exceptions, most of them aren't fun to watch and come off as toxic at times