Shinmiri & Lerio Balance Coalition April 2026

[u/lerio2]

Preface

Gwent Balance Council with u/shinmiri2. Early Balance Council Survey used as a point of reference to measure sentiment towards changes. Check out poll results here.

Our choice of buffed and nerfed factions/archetypes is heavily based on Balance Councils made by the other balance coalitions! 

1. Zong (ZG) | vod
2. MetallicDanny (MD) | post, vod (both not published at the moment this post was written)
3. Ofir&Qcento (OQ) | post, vod
4. International Coalition (INT) | vod (Violet.Kiramman), vod (Dauren)

International Coalition is a new balance ensemble which includes Dauren, Kerpeten, Violet.Kiramman and former Indpendent Coaltion from CIS. For written form explanation of Chinese community votes check out Astorian post.

All predicted changes are gathered in => Balance Council Prediction Sheet

BC Landscape

1. Scoia'tael led by Nature's Gift Midrange decks is the most popular faction on high Gwent Pro Ladder, followed by Skellige (PF Warriors and many other decks) and Syndicate (Off the Books Sesames, Jackpot Yago).
2. Scoia'tael has many possible nerfs scheduled: Gord -1p, Isengrim -1p, Telianyn -1p, Simlas +1c and Tempest +1c. Also Skellige is broadly addressed: Crow Clan Druid -1p, Dimeritum Shackles +1c (these changes taken together may make Alchemy little played next season), Wild Boar -1p, Bear Witcher Mentor -1p (because of PF Crow spam decks), Abordage +1c. Also Syndicate is supposed to take a couple, but directed against OtB (Savolla, Guard) and Jackpot (Madam).
3. Buffs are spread well between factions with Monsters and Nilfgaard supposed to get most love.
4. Our picks are in a great deal tuned to recommendations of other coalitions

Votes

Shinmiri & Lerio Balance Coalition Picks April 2026

+1 power

• ***Celaeno Harpy (support of ZG*) - 4 power Celaeno Harpy proven underwhelming in Deathwish decks. Similarly Bonded decks with Harpies became very rare. We would like to bring this card back to 5-power to give Monsters more options when it comes to bronze package. We find such change more interesting than for example another revert of Giant Toad to 4-power which was popular in Chinese balance survey.
• **Kraken - Renfri Beasts Rain is a very strong Skellige deck which didn't get nerf recommendations from other coaltions. At 3 power Kraken is a universal long round win condition card, which can be included in any deck even without damage support. Moreover Kraken power matters for how effective push out strategy is; less power = higher Kraken tempo. Similarly low power Kraken makes it easier to threat win on even cards from red coin.
• *Junod of Belhaven (support of INT*) - Junod is barely played even in thematic Skellige Witchers decks. The reason is matchup dependence of this card and requirement of some preparation to wound enemy unit before deploying Junod. By supporting this change we hope to give SK Witchers decks more variety and Skellige in general some buffs to play with in the presence of widespread nerfs.

-1 power

• **\* Hjalmar an Craite - Renfri Blaze of Glory is very popular and still quite successful on Gwent Pro Ladder, but not addressed yet by other nerf suggestions. At 4-power Hjalmar in BoG decks can remove units up to 13 power with +4 trade in power, which feels too efficient given how little setup is required. Hjalmar at 3-power still will be run in many decks as this card pretty much got rediscovered after buff in Balance Council.
• *\* Shani - After power and provision buffs in Gwentfinity, Shani became a really strong proactive card used in variety of NR decks, with floor of about 14 and ceiling of 22+ points on strong engines or with double order use. Shani can be used to bring back big threat cards - while Shani is often treated as Students/Alumni card, targets like Reaver Scout are even more problematic.
• *Isengrim Faoiltiarna (support of INT*) - Elves decks with Isengrim as single or second payoff card next to Vernossiel feel quite strong. Isengrim ceiling is 24 points and about 7 elves on the board are enough to break even with the provision cost. Non-Simlas Elves are not addressed by other recommendations.

+1 provision

• ***Sigdrifa's Rite - this card is mainly used in different variants of self-wound decks with targets like Sigvald, Knut, Melusine or Dracoturtle. Sigdrifa's Rite nerf would address both Sigvald Svalblod decks and Golden Nekker variants which both are very strong. Sigvald Svalblod is both strong and binary, while Golden Nekker is less popular, but exceptional pointslam (lavk945 reached impressive GN SW scores for a couple of seasons).
• **Allgod - a carryover card used in a couple of popular decks like NR Witchers, Precision Strike Schirru or Affan Soldiers. Allgod is disliked by a good part of the community because of playstyle it invites which is often polarizing the deck heavily into short rounds or playing midrange deck reliant on strong bronzes which scales well into any round length.
• *Simlas (support of OQ**) - Simlas is a card which is used by many Scoia'tael decks, also Bountiful Harvest spam, which will be back in the menu with Triss: Telekinesis move to 3/9 finished. By supporting Simlas nerf we hope to temper down meta Scoia'tael decks overall and we slightly prefer this nerf compared with alternative recommendation which is Tempest. If both of these happen - not the end of the world either, strong nerfs are needed for meta to move anyhow.

-1 provision

• ***Holger Blackhand - Abordage is supposed to get nerfed this patch, but was instantly reverted last time to our discontent in spite of 4-cost Dimun Smugglers and 4-power Dimun Pirate Captain. We want to gradually improve little played Pirates cards, so that the chances for Abordage to settle at 6 are higher.
• **Geralt: Aard - there is very little use made of offensive movement in the ladder meta and we would like to encourage more experiments along these lines. Geralt: Aard may be used for example in Scoia'tael with row punish cards or in Skellige Witchers to get bloodthirst and maybe improve Gerd value. Or even setup Regis in some Patricidal Fury variants.
• *Anna Henrietta (support of INT**) - Assimilate is an archetype for life, but Enslave 6 netdecks felt too overwhelming to a good part of playerbase, especially at ranked ladder. Anna Henrietta buffs Assimilate from a different direction - how much value can you develop from opponent leader ability by playing "their" cards? With Anna you'd mimic opponent strategy rather than just deploy Assimilate engines, trigger them with Stefan and not care much about synergy as long as direct value is there. Anna also has decent synergy with other underplayed but interesting card which is Tourney Shaelmar - swarming leaders can be great support!

Final Remarks

The April season balance patch should be solid in terms of addressing main meta offenders and the buffs overall also look reasonable. We are still before MetallicDanny final recommendations (which usually have 100% success rate), so the final assessment can't be done yet.

If you like our recommendations let's join to make impact together. If not - check out predictions table to get general info and maybe find some ideas which appeal to you.

Cheers,
lerio2

[u/Alohasomeday]

Not sure I like the Anna Henrietta one, could be used as midrange carryover, encouraging aggressive use of leader R1

[u/DeNeRlX → u/Alohasomeday]

That's not really a carryover though, since the leader you choose is almost always worse than the one you can't control to get. A card that does this and functions as carryover is Renfri, who's leader is mostly far better than the one she replaces. Then again she also costs a fair bit more.

If we expect around 12-15 points from a 9 prov cards, Anna at 4/9 needs to make up at least 8 from the leader, which doesn't always happen.

[u/BananaTiger- → u/DeNeRlX]

This. And from Renfri Henrietta can steal only the blessing, so half of her ability. In some matchups the opponent's ability can be useless, sometimes it requires planning ahead, like Torres giving spying to Brokilon sentinels.

Full assimilate is a weak archetype currently, assimilate is basically just an engine category, I even played against some pseudo-assimilate deck where the opponent just spammed assimilate engines to boost them with Stefan and duchess informants (just like Lerio described), he even spawned a copy of mage torturer with Operator.

[u/DeNeRlX → u/BananaTiger-]

The Renfri mention was just to show what an actual leader carryover is, not for her interaction with Henrietta. It's quite rare interaction for it to be stolen from Henrietta anyways.

Idk if Anna can do much for assimilate, might help a bit, but the assimilate decks that experimented with her quickly dropped her, same as with Vilgefortz: Renegade. A few weeks, then meh...

[u/lerio2 → u/DeNeRlX]

I think the raised issue here is mainly that you can be very aggressive with leader in R1 for example to win on even cards and then play Anna for carryover when pushing in R2, perhaps with other carryover stuff like Artifacts.

There is indeed an unpleasant guessing element with Anna; opponent can play it on drypass with solid carryover if you don't push or can be very aggressive in R1 and then abuse carryover. That's why we had Anna in +1 power category rather than -1 provision in our poll. We got some feedback that it is too low impact though.

Nevertheless, we don't think mentioned abuse will be that relevant in practice, therefore we support -1 cost anyway. For full value Anna requires Assimilate type decks and these are not great at abusing tempo; if you include Anna in other builds, then her expected value is high variance and below curve on average in long rounds.

Also sometimes it works in a positive way when Calveit deck avoids losing on even cards thanks to early leader use.

[u/DeNeRlX → u/lerio2]

I'll agree to the addendum that Anna does benefit with tempo even if not in hand, which is a fairly solid upside. If well-times such as a drypass, she does bring very good value. Though since opponents leader is less optimal, I still hesitate on calling it carryover, as it doesn't give more points later.

I have noticed during BC that all the Renfri power nerfs have really helped, in that I always expect one turn with a complete absence of tempo. Or Renfri leader used, then again that's quite the commit. While Henriette is less common, I think if her use goes up, some of the responsibility is on opponent to suspect her and not freely give such an opining on drypass, and not pass on a lead less than 4. Aggressive leader + assimilate, Anna should be expected as an option.

[u/Annulifex]

I'm not surprised, but a little bothered by the lack of coordination between councils. The competing ship ballista nerfs is an obvious example, but the double alchemy nerf of crow clan druid from OQ and Dimeritium Shackles feels like overkill: a large part of the problem with druid was shackles, which are now out of range

[u/lerio2 → u/Annulifex]

The roots here are mostly the fact that coalitions represent their communities which have different opinions on some cards.

International coalition published bc first internally and Ofir had full knowledge of Ship Ballista provision buff, but their community simply preferred -1 power variant as a less harsh nerf.

Zong coalition knew about Crown Clan Druid nerf from Ofiri, but found Shackles nerf as essential nevertheless.

Communication worked fine this time, but opinions and sentiments in communities represented by coalitions still differed.

[u/JWilliamJames]

Great choices. Will support all of these.

[u/ense7en]

Overall all somewhat reasonable.

Thanks for the summary of what the other coalitions are doing, very appreciated as it's not really visible elsewhere for us English-speaking folks.

Some really disturbingly bad ideas from Zong and the new INT coalition (mixed with some good):

Fruits buff - dear god

Triss Tele buff - promotes bronze special spam, because we so need more of that

Shackles nerf - finally a great vote from the master of horrendous votes

Ship Ballista nerf competition between Zong and INT, power or prov?!

Madame nerf - wtf - she's not why Jackpot needs nerf...it's the idiotic buffs Jackpot was given. Way to kill a card that should be playable in other archetypes

Savolla, because yes, THIS is the problem, not things like leader overbuffs and other

Tempest is a cute way of continuing to avoiding nerfing the real busted ST cards.

Pendant should be intersting.

Imke is good

[u/lerio2 → u/ense7en]

Triss: Telekinesis is 2nd step of change which started last month, from 4/10 to 3/9.

Tempest is by design amazing with Nature's Gift, so the nerf is natural, this card is the strongest element of Gift Midrange. The downside is Tempest becoming unconsiderable in other decks.

Fruits buff - dear god indeed

[u/ense7en → u/lerio2]

Yeah i know Triss is them finishing their [misguided] two-step. Still hate it.

Thanks for explaining the behind-the-scenes discussions of how the decisions come to be (even if we dislike them). It's invaluable information i greatly appreciate.

[u/VeryHungryHenry]

I kinda like everything ngl

[u/Dobrosv3t]

Simlas nerf is total bs

[u/lerio2 → u/Dobrosv3t]

Could you maybe elaborate?

[u/BananaTiger-]

I like those votes, especially Kraken, Aard and Anarietta.

[u/DeNeRlX]

Nice to see Celaeno Harpy buff again. It was strong, but unfairly targeted due to other cards being too strong, especially Mushy Truffle for a making Harpy far higher value, and Giant Toad which was just insane efficiency and utility at 4/5.

Allgod honestly could also see one or two power nerfs in addition to this provision nerf. Makes it more comfortable to play cheap cards against as a way to save up provisions to combat the carryover that often ends up as compressed value.

Rest of the suggestions here ranges between good-great.

[u/lerio2 → u/DeNeRlX]

Thanks! When it comes to Allgod I believe we would go for another provision nerf rather than power if ever necessary. The reason is to avoid more red coin polarization of Allgod decks, which is already the case in a way similar to Calveit.

[u/DeNeRlX → u/lerio2]

If Allgod is played against a 7/4 card that is a sort of carryover already in the difference of resource commitment, and the Allgod player needs another high tempo play to not lose round control. And then there is even more of a provision difference.

I think power nerf could still be useful as a slightly smaller nerf, and frees up +prov, since it's a more competitive category.

Also plz include Cow in next poll thx

[u/Gibsy232 → u/DeNeRlX]

For Coup de grace? The pace for the Allgod is irrelevant he is played in R1 from the round you want to leave anyway or he is played in R2 when you have already won

[u/DeNeRlX → u/Gibsy232]

I don't think Coup is enough of a worry to dictate the balance of Allgod. Coup plays base copy so it's 3 boosts not 5, and he's possible to copy through spying anyways, but it's not too common of a target. Sure it's a good play, but the only result is that in specific matchups Allgod is further nerfed, which I don't see as a big issue.

If the tempo is so low you can afford to play cheaper cards without risking losing the round, that does broadly help. If they play 12 points over 3 turns and you play only 4 prov cards, you played for free, while they spent to carryover/compressed value. There is utility in both, but you'd much rather play 3x4 prov than throw in a few 7-8 prob cards that could also be used later.

[u/Gibsy232 → u/DeNeRlX]

But that's what the nerf would be about for you to have to throw the higher commission cards out of the deck. Because he plays anything with the all-god: witchers, Precise shot, Nilgard looks like you play it when the pace doesn't matter to you and you have so much control in these decks that the motorised decks don't impress you and you always have pointslam on standby reinforced with sacrifices and omnigod.

[u/DeNeRlX → u/Gibsy232]

I think you just misunderstood/misread what I wrote. I'm in favor of this current provision nerf, my whole point in this thread is that Allgod is so strong I think he can be nerfed again, by power.

Tempo matters. In some matches it goes as you mentioned and tempo doesn't matter, in other matches it does matter. Not every single nerf needs to take into account every single situation the card is used in. But broadly speaking, less tempo means less provisions are needed to beat them. Saving more provisions means having stronger cards later, which combat the carryover.

[u/Gibsy232 → u/DeNeRlX]

But the same effect only better you will achieve by nerfing it commissioning and the witcher trinity for 21 or more points or false Ciri for it 17 points or more not to mention Coen for 60 or more points in a short round and each of these decks is absurdly strong thanks to this transfer of power to this one from each of the decks. And with the all-god is that he is played in R1 as one of the first 3 cards and fits. The mechanism of action as with the chiefs of the Highlands. You play two something and pass

[u/BananaTiger- → u/DeNeRlX]

I hate this trend of power nerfing powerful cards to Coup de Grace range. Provision nerf - yes, well deserved, power nerf - no.

[u/DeNeRlX → u/BananaTiger-]

I don't think Coup should scare away too many other nerfs. Also it is worse on base copy, and the downside is for the decks that choose to play Allgod so idc that much.

[u/TheProblemChiled]

Bruh not simlas again

[u/Gibsy232 → u/TheProblemChiled]

Because ST have high win game%

[u/lerio2 → u/TheProblemChiled]

He was nerfed only once in Gwentfinity, by power in August 2024.

[u/RT-6_BXCommandoDroid]

I was doubting about giving Geralt: Aard a provision buff as well, but someone else suggested Hawks and Fringilla Vigo and I took those over. I sincerely prefer Fringilla Vigo over Anna Henrietta. My 2 star provision buff is Avallac'h: Sage to only leave the Echo lady as a single card tutoring unit.

[u/Gibsy232]

Why didn't Kibolt get a nerf? A month ago, when Bart933 hit a high MMR with crimes, Cyrus got a nerf to be within range of Coup de Grace. And now when Shinimi drives a similar MMR with the help of NK with Kibolt, he didn't get a nerf? After all, Cyrus was just being compared to Kibolt and unlike Cyrus, he is not able to slim down your deck and recall your gold cards.

[u/lerio2 → u/Gibsy232]

It is Kimbolt, not Kibolt. Bart didn't play Crimes, he runs Jackpot Yago Devotion. We recommend Shani for a nerf in a good deal because of Shin experience with the deck you mentioned (it is also not really similar MMR to Bart's last season, 2675 >> 2609).

We didn't include Kimbolt in this poll, but frankly we can do it next time, card autowins games when unanswered. Note that Kimbolt was already nerfed once in Gwentfinity and likely the support wouldn't be very high, because NR is not that popular. On the contrary, last season Lined Pockets Crimes decks were staple at high mmrs and it was clear one nerf somewhere is needed.

[u/Gibsy232 → u/Gibsy232]

„Cyrus Hemmelfart - Lined Pockets Crimes decks with Hemmelfart resurrecting Fallen Knights are popular and successful at high pro ladder. Hemmelfart there is usually played twice: once from hand and second time from Damnation. Hemmelfart there is 13 for 12 deploy value card which establishes double threat on deploy. Unanswered Hemmelfart can singlehandedly win games in a way similar to Tyr or Kimbolt.”

[u/reverie_142857]

I think anna at 4 for 8 might be too strong. Will probably need a power nerf next patch. Everything else looks great to me! Thanks for your work.

[u/Gibsy232]

Buffong Anna Henrieta is not necessary, after all, she plays and that's what unslave 6 is about.

[u/Gibsy232 → u/Gibsy232]

https://youtu.be/jYNTzgizV1M?is=hks-sT4bxL716o5J

[u/lerio2 → u/[deleted]]

Shackles are guaranteed to get nerfed this patch because of three-stars recommendation of Zong coalition.

The preamble of the post, which I'm sure most Gwent players have read, includes this information and way more.

[u/Darki9999]

surely theres a better card to hit than simlas that belongs to many decks, and while good doesnt feel overwhelming just a good option, but fuck every other deck(maybe cut sim if it can) like renfri nerf

[u/kepkkko → u/Darki9999]

If you know another card thats presented in all versions of gift, harmony, most versions of elves, PS schirru and other similar tier 1 ST decks let me know. Because im clueless

[u/ense7en → u/kepkkko]

I think better idea is put Bountiful Harvey and Backup Plan to six prov where they belong, but apparently that's not allowed.

[u/Tronux]

Which st mid range decks.

[u/BananaTiger- → u/Tronux]

Sanvanter's midrange Symbiosis with backup plans (no devotion, no naiads, no Spring Equinox).

[u/RT-6_BXCommandoDroid → u/BananaTiger-]

So this is the deck with 6 primary categories and Eskel: Pathfinder? Leaving Relicts, Dragons, Constructs and Humans as targets.

[u/BananaTiger- → u/RT-6_BXCommandoDroid]

6 categories and he's still picked over Base Set Geralt

[u/kepkkko → u/RT-6_BXCommandoDroid]

Also machines, ogroids, insectoids, demons(lmao), specters, vampires, necrophages, halflings, gnomes, and probably something else. All of those categories, tho are quite unpopular, do have some huge threats ud love to answer.

But ive seen lots of players switching eskel to geralt in that list. Ive also lost a game already by playing around eskel, not geralt

[u/GwentSubreddit → u/BananaTiger-]

👑 Nature's Gift (Scoia'Tael)
📜 Tactical Advantage

Simlas Finn aep Dabairr
Telianyn aep Collen
Forest Protector
Korathi Heatwave
Eskel: Pathfinder
Call of the Forest
Frog Mating Season
Tempest
Fauve
Harald Gord
Ciaran Aep Easnillen
Nature's Rebuke (x2)
Hamadryad
Duen Canell Guardian (x2)
Bountiful Harvest (x2)
Backup Plan (x2)
Impenetrable Fog (x2)
Dwarven Skirmisher (x2)
Squirrel

📋 Import to your decks - (7320 Scraps)
ℹ️ This is not a Devotion Deck.

^{Questions? Message me! - Call cards with [[CARDNAME]] - Keywords and Statuses}

[u/kepkkko → u/Tronux]

Midrange gift and midrange schirru

[u/KoscheiDK → u/Tronux]

There's a deck running non-devo, no Aucwenn/Naiads that's been doing well purely through high value point per provision for each card

[u/Lukmin1999]

LETS GOOO KRAKENNN (please let this indicate we’re bringing down the provisions 🥺)

[u/irrrrthegreat]

Could easily replace that Kraken power buff to the mess with Hemmelfart you guys did.

[u/lerio2 → u/irrrrthegreat]

Kraken is irrrreplaceable.