4Game

I just had a game where I played SY vs. NR. And yeah, I know. But I was doing rank 1 to pro and after losing nearly every game I played last night with other more 'fun' decks running into the same lists over and over, I swapped. The ladder is what it is.

They were a Zeal Patience/Shani list. I had red, so they could barely stick anything, but they played hard to force my pass and then went down a card to bleed me so I couldn't Drill. Then in r3 they managed to trigger Shani 3 times (Priscilla and 2x Winch). I had some good counterplays (opened with just coins so they wouldn't have a good target for a Zeal-Ban Ard, and then Philippa'd it) but they also counterplayed those (not bringing up their highest patience target first to bait my initial removal).

Overall, I really feel like I should have lost. I felt like I was losing until the last card. I was even raging a little when they played the 2nd Winch, because wow, exact correct hand much? (Shani, Priscilla, Viraxas, Winch x2). They had everything they needed. Got Hubert out for some make-up tempo vs. the missing card. Played every card as well as they could.

But SY still won. Freakshow stuck, because they had to use their duels to tempo past my r1 red abuse. And that was enough to recoup bounties and just keep the damage rolling.

This game felt like a microcosm of everything wrong in Gwent. Blue Coin matchups that are about as much fun as being kicked repeatedly in the genitals. Outdated engine design where some cards have to survive ridiculously long to generate value that still falls short of faster tempo plays with removal components. Boring gameplay where the biggest combos barely pay off, but crap like Mamuma is somehow justifiable. I don't even know how to characterize the SY situation, because the faction is either garbage or god tier. None of it feels good to play.

So if you're out there, an extra GG and I hope some other games went better. And I hope CDPR eventually gives us a game where complicated synergy matters and pays off appropriately. Not holding my breath, though.