I've been playing Gwent since Closed Beta. I lost interest following the Midwinter Gwent patch of Dec 2017 and decided to give it another shot when Homecoming released. This is by far my favorite version of the game. Never before in the history of the game have so many different kinds of decks been viable. With the provision system, deckbuilding feels like a real challenge instead of feeling like the Beta decks that practically built themselves. RNG is down, which makes the player feel in control of the game. The three card draw system combined with the lack of cheap tutor/thinning options means that we're at the sweet spot of consistency where a well built deck can execute their strategy consistently (unlike much of Closed Beta Gwent) but every game plays out a little differently (unlike late Open Beta Gwent). I was initially skeptical about the removal of one of the rows, but it hasn't hurt the games complexity at all (in fact row placment means more now than ever before) and one less row means the card art can be seen in all it's glorious detail instead of the tiny stamp versions from Beta. I never thought Beta Gwent was ugly while playing it, but after about a week of Homecoming Gwent I can't even watch old clips without cringing at the board style. It's so much better now. I'm very pleased with the state of the game and I'm happy to see CDPR committing to updating it regularly. Can't wait for the March expansion!
