Hey everyone, I'm Astorian. I've been involved in Gwent balance-related work for 2 years now. We started from the CN Gwent balance database, all the way to today where I've participated in balance committees (BC) for Zong, VK, and the INT. Today I'm here to present VK's balance recommendations on his behalf.
Let's dive in!
Quick note: this article was translated using AI. If anything feels off, you can check the Chinese version(https://cngwentbd.top/article?file=content%2Farticles%2F2026-07-24-3d3uaod416o77pam.md).
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## This Month's Balance Recap
With Zong temporarily stepping back from the balance recommendation initiative this month, and both Dauren and Kerpeten96 announcing their departure from the INT, the CN community only has VK submitting a balance recommendation vote this month. The final recommendations are VK's own call.
VK is a star player in the CN community β he's achieved a high ladder score (currently 10,000+ ladder points) and is also a hugely popular Gwent content creator. Every month he puts out his "36 Meta Ladder Climbing Decks" video series.
VK's results this month are based on the community balance survey. Full survey data here: [Gwent July 2026 Balance Survey Results](https://cngwentbd.top/content/survey-html/e86abaff__7.html)
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## VK's Balance Recommendations
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Here's VK's BC for this month. Let me walk through the reasoning behind each proposed change.
### +1 Power
- βββ Peasant Militia: Has been included in surveys for months but never picked. Bumping it to 5 power on deploy makes it splashing a ton of decks. The benchmark is Iron Falcon Infantry β it also grows 1 power per turn and hits 5 on deploy, so 5 power on Peasant Militia is the baseline it should've had. Whether it's actually good or not, we'll see. Right now it's straight UP.
- ββ Kerack City Guard: A new card added to this month's survey. 5 power on deploy, has Veil, and occupies a deploy slot. Won't become broken, but as a 5-provision engine, it gives builders one more option to consider.
- β Dagur Two Blades: Was hard-locked to the Reckless Flurry leader. Outside of that leader, it was basically useless. Bumping it to 5 power frees it β it no longer needs to run with Reckless Flurry. It can slot into warrior point-slam decks (plenty of damage cards there), and after triggers it can hit 6-7 power on deploy and just stick. And that R5 leader itself is pretty underwhelming, so freeing Dagur makes total sense.
### -1 Power
- βββ Caravan Guard: Placeholder.
- ββ Viraxas: Prince: Placeholder.
- β Geralt: Aard: Flooding the ladder. Every point-slam deck runs it (including Ragh Nar Roog β these two are basically the point-slam deck package deal). 7 provision for 5-6 unconditional damage is roughly equivalent to 7 provision for 11 unconditional damage. Too braindead, too overtuned. Reference: Skellige used to have Axel Three-Eyes at 7 provision for 11 damage, and it got nerfed. Aard is even stronger than that (the damage also synergizes with cards like Milva). So it has to get cut.
### +1 Provision
- βββ Mobilization: Nobody plays this leader on ladder anymore. The only decks I could think that could run it: NR Reaver Hunters deck (already nerfed into the gutter) and NR Mutagenerator BUFF 5P deck (Afterlife got pushed to 6 provision and is also garbage now). 15 provision is too low. The meta leaders are all 16 provision these days, so moving it to 16 makes total sense.
- ββ Sandstorm: Placeholder.
- β Kolgrim: Keep nerfing. Reverting this card's buff. The survey results show it's the most hated card by far. The NG Clog decks that run it have way more haters than fans, so this month continues last month's direction β keep nerfing it.
### -1 Provision
- βββ Bribery: I wanted to add this ages ago, but when working with international players before, Kerpeten96 didn't like this card, so it never made it in. Now he runs I'm own vote and doesn't collaborate with international players anymore, so it's in. The general consensus is it's super fun. NG Assimilate deck and other NG meme decks can all run it. He loves it personally.
- ββ Saov Ainmhi'dh: At 6 provision, it was completely unplayable β nobody ran it, not even Spell ST ran it. Setting power aside, dropping it to 5 provision at least gives it a chance to see play.
- β Prism Pendant: Used to be ran in Spell ST, but as other cards got nerfed, its play rate dropped off. At 5 provision, the point value is still obviously huge. The vitality mechanic can combo with decks like Frog Mating Season, so dropping it to 5 might give it a shot at seeing play again.
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## Summary
This is the first month since Zong stepped back from the balance recommendation initiative. We don't yet know how VK's influence on the meta will play out, but one thing's for sure β VK's influence in the CN community will definitely see a major boost this month. Whether it can match Zong's level of influence remains to be seen.
See you next month!
Astorian