The June Balance Council Is Wild! (Tier List)

What do you guys think?

[@xWhiplasher]

Juggling Nauzicaa Sergeant's power, episode 1836572. And I also can't stand the decreased provision of Highland Warrior. I hate raids, very repetitive.

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Agreed

[@mahdizn2025]

just a wild guess you play Scoia'tael a lot especially traps?

[@zagaant7233]

You can t say raids without aids

[@xWhiplasher]

@@mahdizn2025 Almost. Scoia'tael is my favourite faction, but I don't usually play traps. Now this will change. 😏

[@Froggitbaba]

Some of the changes doesnt make sense like defenders in every faction should have the same provisions

[@M3t4M4ng0]

I totally agree. At first I wasn't liking the changes to 10 provisions for the defenders. I think that if all the defenders are at 10, the game would be better because it's harder to protect binary combos that if you can't answer, you instantly lose the game. Wdyt?

[@er4din903]

I dont think that’s true - like I see your point at the surface level, but the different factions use the defenders for different things - and in some cases their decks are entirely dependent on them. Look at the SY defender for instance

[@er4din903]

Just to be clear - I don’t have a set opinion on the value of the defender status, but I just want to acknowledge that the different defenders have different value in the various factions they’re played in. SK defender is much less valueble than SY defender.

[@xZFeroxZx]

Yeah I'm gonna instant-forfeit every game I play against Raids now... I won't bother, as you're dead against it if you don't play meta decks. Overall this BC contains only changes I either strongly love or strongly hate, I'm so conflicted! XD

[@stepansvabenicky1638]

so i love playing raids, but 5 provisions is mental, this is for sure getting reverted next bc

[@xZFeroxZx]

@@stepansvabenicky1638 do we know who tf voted this to be set to 5 prov? Who's idea was that? Like... No offense but whoever wanted this never played Gwent in his life. I think Raids are a fun archetype - but with this it's literally unplayable and will make for what feels like 25% of all played decks XD

[@stepansvabenicky1638]

@@xZFeroxZx not set to, 5 cards in the deck got a 1 provision buff.

[@platinumpatrol2964]

@@xZFeroxZx I don't think anyone in particular called for the Warlord reversion. I think a lot of the Raid players didn't like having their deck hurt and voted to revert it on their own.

[@mayankagrawal4648]

Ppl are nerfing nilfgaard af and making it unplayable. Ffion doesn't deserve to be a 10 prov card. All the defenders of other factions cost 9 prov. Really don't understand what ppl are thinking. Nauzica getting a one power upgrade makes sense cuz any 6 prov card should give atleast 10 points. Otherwise it doesn't make sense

[@platinumpatrol2964]

They did overnerf the Rot Tosser deck but the other top NG decks like Shupe Henry and Enslave 6 didn't get touched while Enslave Ivo got buffed. And the other defenders aren't all 9p anymore - Cave Troll and Donmir are 10 too and they're all getting nerfed to 10 eventually from what I understand, not that I'm a fan of it. The Nauzica debate is that it's not just 10 points - the armor can get value fairly often and it triggers engines like Assimilate and other cards can copy it. Personally, I think this 4 power Nauzica and Slave Driver at 6p is where it should be, but I doubt it will stay that way.

[@mayankagrawal4648]

@@platinumpatrol2964 oh.. I didnt know about nerfing of all defenders.. I just played a curse of corruption, korathi heatwave and magic compass skellige deck. Wonder how to tackle such a deck where whatever unit you deploy/spawn is mostly done for

[@MegaJcarlson]

Living armor I suppose could be seen as being an extremely niche support for northern realms since it is a boosted unit on deploy. But I absolutely agree it's a pointless nerf. This and things like setting reavers power to 1 are sad to see and is taken as a joke.

[@er4din903]

No this is very specifically done because a part of the community believes there are no changes needed - more specifically that there aren’t any desirable power nerfs

[@DeagleLas]

Exactly, I also thought it was a an absurd change, but it makes sense to nerf power of a card you can't nerf it's power because of the mechanics, as a way to prevent further power changes. I thought it was a waste of a vote, now I see it as a really intelligent way to avoid further power nerfs. I may be voting for it on next patch, if able.

[@martinofastora9949]

Slighty counters bloodthirst and pirates too since they need one more ping to make the Unit damaged, pretty dumb change tho

[@jasv49]

If I understood the Living Armor issue correctly, I disagree. If they think changes aren't needed, why should their opinion be less valuable than yours?

[@platinumpatrol2964]

I have 2 major issues with that approach: 1. It's not a sustainable long term solution. There are only so many cards they can nerf like that and then what? They'll have to either nerf cards that are already bad, spend their votes reverting everyone else's buffs, or pick cards to be constantly nerfed/unerfed each patch in a cycle like Nauzica. It'll waste a lot of the slots we could use for cards that actually need changes. 2. They are actually nerfing cards that are fine and even if the changes are minor the cards will be worse in some situations when it's not deserved. Living Armor isn't terrible but the other ones that didn't go through nerfing the evolving cards will make decks with them worse in R1s they have to win.

[@M3t4M4ng0]

I see a lot of people hating some of the changes, particularly highland warlord. While I agree that is not a good change, I want to point out that your tier list looks like a normal distribution graph but skewed to the positive side. There are so many more good changes than there are bad ones. Slowly, but surely Gwent is becoming a better game.

[@BernardoFlor_Krio]

In 2 months every nilfgard bronze will be 9 provisions at this rate

[@cantbeseriousfr]

It's truly pathetic.

[@RustCohle072]

The living armor nerf made me wonder if a Russian streamer got salty after losing to an armor deck once, and put it into their vote line-up, because Russians mostly control the BC. Truly an eye-roller.

[@Tokuru]

Yeah, but it was a Chinese community change, wasn't it? Also it's not a nerf, it's still 10p on deploy.

[@nikitavalshin3516]

What a clown. You have no idead how Living Armor works

[@tomrowell1558]

It was something the Chinese community wanted to vote for, because they feel like we should have more buffs than nerfs, and nerfing living armour doesn’t change its actual power once it’s on the board - whether you agree with it or not, thought did go into it

[@THMCTerracraft2]

I haven't really played gwent in like a year or more, but i'm mildly interested in what people are doing in this funny case study of a council and clearly democracy is democracy.

[@dhama5804]

I'll be curious to see how far I can push Harmony with these buffs. Water of Brokilon was a card I eyed ages ago but couldn't make fit before, it makes slotting in Abandoned Girl as a 4p Human tag feel great. Dryad Fledging is a bit insane but I expect it to be reversed if Harmony becomes a menace this season. Had to cut Pavko which felt bad as when the matchups are good Pavko pulls weight but is often non-viable in some matchups; whereas Water has been swinging for more points and creating two engines is just really strong.

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Yeah, I had to cut Pavko as well but he's just not great in some matchups. Fledgling will almost certainly get reverted, but I hope Water it wasn't played before.

[@M3t4M4ng0]

I have mixed feelings about Whisperer being 4 power. Like you, I never really found it to be oppressive as it rarely popped off. And the difference between 3 and 4 removal is not a big problem. Overall, I think it's better back at 3.

[@lamalol9954]

This balance council was total BS if you want to nerf rot tosser then nerf that don't nerf teleportation witch kills other decks potential pirates were over nerfed Syndicate was over nerfed especially with the brawler The nerfs to the defenders is just annoying and it ruins the potential for meme deck's sk harmony is disgustingly brain dead way to play the game the provision buff to hand buff is pointless the reason hand buff is bad is that you have to win round 1 so you can have last say(its totally luck dependent) Ng changes are stupid Nr didn't have any decks in pro rank now it doesn't have any decks in rank 3 to 1 And mo basically got no changes This balance council's are getting more and more stupid nerfing not the right annoying cards instead nerfing support cards(like the teleportation and defendrr nerfs instead of nerfing rot tosser) And buffing already good cards that don't need the buff (like warlords) basically pointless dumb changes

[@Jazzarus_]

Where do you guys see the results of the Council? I can't find them anywhere, if it weren't for video like this, I wouldn't know what changed.

[@platinumpatrol2964]

In the game there's the little bell icon on the bottom for news. The balance council votes show up there when they're live.

[@Jazzarus_]

@@platinumpatrol2964 Thank you

[@stefanospatola7724]

Hi friend a question for you Can you create one or two gwent decks to complete the Summer cycle 2024 really really fast? Especially way of the witcher faction (also with adrenaline) and Crimson curse faction. Thanks bye

[@shalak001]

For future videos of this type, could you please say out loud the specific changes made to each card when you start ranking it?

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Yeah I meant to. I'll remember to do it for all of them next time

[@thh8985]

May was the first month since December that I played Gwent and it was fun to climb back to rank 1. One of the reasons to return to the game was the absence of annoying warrior raid decks. Now they will be back. Also the power change to Saskia: Commander is just terrible. People seem to forget very quickly .... I will test the changes but annoying warriors might lead to another extended break from the game.

[@DennisJeppesen]

this is just a bad joke this time. Shield maiden great! nerfing NR mages when everyone kept talking about it needed a massive buff! just shows it does not matter what we vote. Nerfing Nr knights! such a beautiful weak deck and they decided to nerf it. I was a massive melitele relic player but she almost died, but i managed to make one deck that worked! now because of teleport she is dead! And they still go around nerfing Defenders! that has always been 9 provision and HAS to be 9P so we can play GN more safely now we are just not gonna see GN so much, of course we have some whiners that dont like GN but dont begin to make it non playable. Oh an NR cant even pull a defender anymore with Amphibious Assault SK didnt take 1 single hit that really hurt them ! where is an craite!? he need to be out of melusine reach! This is horrible. I dont even know why i vote anymore i have 4 accounts and not one single of my votes is here. I was hoping to see a massive buff all around all the factions for non played cards. I am greatful you are making this every month but honestly you just end up ruin my evening ( i know its not your fault but you get what i mean) every time it is BC time i dont wanna log on my accounts.. Maybe i am exaggerating but i have played gwent since the beginning and its tough to see such a great game being worse and worse every month,

[@platinumpatrol2964]

NR Mages have a design problem where I don't see a way they will really ever be balanced - either they're too safe to play and steamroll the opponent or they're too weak and the deck doesn't do anything. The Knight deck definitely wasn't a weak deck, it was the best NR deck other than Temple Demavend, but I wouldn't have voted to nerf it. The Teleport one I don't really like, and I agree about the Defenders, but at this point there's not really a point arguing against it since like all of the thinning buffs they're going to go through. I disagree pretty hard about SK not getting a meaningful nerf. They lost 4 provisions which is a huge deal. The Russian community and to a lesser extent the Chinese community pretty much dictate the entire council outside of a few changes each patch. They're good at coordinating the changes they want to go through within their community so we can keep expecting to see their changes implemented. I think they have a tendency to overbuff/overnerf certain decks in an effort to force the balance faster while I think changing only 1 or 2 cards per deck per faction would be better. I don't think the game is getting worse though. Although the overbuffed decks are annoying there have always been top decks and I've seen more variety since the balance council started than before it even if some of their decisions are questionable.

[@DennisJeppesen]

@@platinumpatrol2964 but that is just how mages are, you have to be patient and very lucky and if you are really lucky all of that patient pays off and you can actually win the game. But the road to it is long and very hard especially against control decks. Which is why they deserved a buff not a big one just 1 power all around. You really think knights are strong? I Mean sure if you don't play with them in pro they are great, and they are good for new players to quickly gain some nodes. But EVERY TIME I play just knights I get my ass handed to me, I am forced to mix my knight deck for it to survive. I expected them to get a buff especially cintrian knight no reason he shouldn't be a 4 power unit. SK lost 4 provision over the wrong cards except for the 2 bronze units, I went into my SK pirate deck spend 15 seconds and it came out just as strong as before and I still have the nerfed cards in it. It was the wrong cards that got nerfed. And yes the Russian community is controlling balance council and it is not fair that a few streamers control what we get buffed and nerfed just because they can use their influence to vote. It is killing gwent. I am the last Danish guy from what I know that still plays gwent, we were a big group that played and they are all gone it is sad. But I get it. i am also tired that every single month I have to change every deck for every faction over 4 accounts cause they nerf so hard and so extreme. It is gonna be the end of gwent if no one with Influence will try and fix gwent. Or we will just end up with a bunch of Chinese and Russian players and the rest of us gone.

[@DennisJeppesen]

@@platinumpatrol2964 but no point in keep arguing around it, I just hope that someday all of you guys with influence can do the same as they do but actually use it for the better. You got great ideas and it would make much you controlled the BC with the other big and good once. 👍

[@iorvet_chmorvet]

how can be browler be good nerf if every syndicate deck is out of good 4p cards now. every deck except no-brain-jackpot and pirates cave is dead now

[@platinumpatrol2964]

I don't think they're out of good 4p cards

[@ArchangelMJZ]

I pushed harmony close to 2600 with little resistance last season with waters in my list, it’s going to be completely busted tier 0 at this point so dumb

[@platinumpatrol2964]

I think that will depend on how does it do against Raid Warriors but it definitely got over buffed

[@user-mw1ye6gr9m]

Hey man. I watch all of your stuff. It's great. I'm pretty tired of playing MO and thinking I'll try SY. Which deck do you think is easy enough to pilot but still pretty competitive?

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Jackpot is probably the easiest while still being pretty good. It mostly removes the coin consideration and isn't hit by the Brawler nerf.

[@ArchangelMJZ]

Probably fireswarm, but include a couple control options like wh*reson junior. Has a lot of points and didn’t get hit with nerfs

[@10503.]

The living armor and evolve cards are meant to be wasted nerfs because the chinese balance council also has that stupid no-nerf philosophy.

[@platinumpatrol2964]

I know and I think that's dumb. They are still nerfs, especially the evolving card ones because you do have to play them R1 sometimes.

[@henriquefozzatolima573]

and SK again changes from the Pirate faction to the Warrior faction. Shieldmaiden should be 4 provisions, increasing it's power is a bad idea for lippy. For pirates, smuggler should go back to 3 power but change it to 4 provisions makes more sense. The nerf on dimun pirate was overnerf as it was compass. Waters of Brokilon didn't need double buff, but only one of them was fine to have. Bare Knuckle Brawler buff to 5 power next and then the card is set. I hate teleportation nerf, as it got hit only because of one deck basically (it also nerfs the 11 provision mage from NR) Not sorceress that should've been nerfed but Immortals who is too good. Except those highly questionable changes and the usual overnerf on a deck thanks to popular voting the new buffs looks interesting to work with

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Yeah there are some interesting things among the more dubious changes. I just hope Highland Warlord raids won't dominate everything again and suppress trying all of the new things

[@henriquefozzatolima573]

@@platinumpatrol2964 They will as will Harmony. They got lots more than they should

[@polo2796]

bruh say what is changed at least

[@platinumpatrol2964]

Sorry I meant to but I must have forgotten to on some of them

[@arthurvandelay.]

This is perhaps the worst BC in history. Gwent players have some "special" neural capacities, particularly those who blindly follow those Russian streamers.

[@cantbeseriousfr]

This game is dead af. There's only three factions left: Skellige, China and Russia. 🙄