Interview: Bart933

Come and read our interview with the best Kelly player in the history of Gwent – Bart933!

What do you think about the new expansion system?

Overall I like it more, it makes sense to release the expansions with smaller time gaps and minor card pool, it should make balancing easier and creating unplayable cards less likely, I just hope it won’t cause community to feel deficient.

What is your favorite and least favorite card from last drop and why?

My favourite card for a long time was Cleaver but things got changed in the latest patch where it got nerfed quite hard, make it much more vulnerable to removal, the card was extremely strong and was carrying the crime archetype almost single handledly so it didn’t surprise me but now because of that I think I like Brouver the most, I just wish in the nearest future we can see the buffs to those lacking archetypes these leader cards were supposed to carry and they won’t just revolve around very specific cards. My least favourite card is for sure Eldain as it really encourages quite unfun no-unit gameplay and I always hate when something like this is being added to the game.

Which was your toughest opponent in the Open?

My touchpad 😊 but seriously, obviously it was Paja as I lost to him in quite a sad way which if would have been possibly to avoid most likely would came down to imprisonment gift matchup so now I can just speculate what would have happened then.

What character would you make the new Journey hero?

I have 3 characters I would really like to see with a journey: Cahir, Vilgefortz, and Leo Bonhart.

What gamemode would you add to gwent?

I don’t think any new gamemode is necessary but I wouldn’t mind Blitz mode being added permanently. Anyway I feel like CDPR should just focus on expanding and making it interesting to play draft mode.

How long did you have to play Gwent before achieving the skill level required to comfortably finish every season of Gwent in Top 64?

I have been playing Gwent since Closed Beta so I’m quite an old player that started playing in some less casual format only since 2nd season of Masters so for like a year I think I have been improving the most and it has been my road from the casual to the pro in a way.

Are you still surprised by really strong and innovative play or deck constructions when playing the ladder, or is it just mostly copy-paste decks with minor differences?

On high MMR level there is only meta with some minor techs, nothing else really, of course it happens from time to time queueing into some random pile but the players making them usually aren’t really reaching impressive results so I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by some innovative decks most of the time while playing.

How do you mentally deal with ladder anxiety?

I’m usually taking a break after the end of the season for at least a week to just focus more on IRL stuff and in gwent only to keep up with the meta by watching some streams. While playing long sessions on ladder I’m very often listening to some music and it also helps me a lot with staying cool and collected.

What is your favorite leader skin?

Yennefer.

What is better approach for preparing lineup for tournament? Going for top meta decks? Meta decks with techs? Or just going for decks that best fits you?

It depends I would say. I really like just bringing meta decks with which I’m most comfortable with when it comes down to qualifiers as I feel like I don’t need to surprise most of my opponents in order to win but just do it by a solid gameplay and friendly RNG. For the tournaments where the stakes are very big and the competition pretty even I’m trying to tech a bit in order to take some advantage of the meta and make my chances bigger.

What’s your daily/weekly routine of playing Gwent, and how does it evolve during a season.

I’m usually playing during nights but I don’t really have a schedule of it. As mentioned before, when I feel a bit bored or tilted from the game I’m just taking breaks for few days in order to always have some fun while playing and not force myself to do it. Of course it’s always better to invest more time into the game at the end of the season so I’m usually trying to accomplish it aswell.

What playstyle do you most dislike/avoid?

I dislike roping even thought I feel it’s a good way to try to avoid making misplays, anyway I can’t force myself to do it as within few turns I’m forgetting about it and again starting jamming the cards.

Which character of Witcher universe is your favourite?

Cahir by far, I feel very sad by the fact they butchered him in the netflix series 🙁

What’s your opinion on net decking? Are you rather a creator of decks, or follower of the strongest?

Usually I’m also a netdecker so for me it’s a natural thing of card games but very often I’m tweaking the strongest decks with some nice techs for the ladder meta for example and sometimes also I’m trying to experiment and build something myself when I’m in the mood.

Have you ever had a “Fuck it, I had enough” moment?

I can’t even count how many times, I think every competitive player has these kind of moments in which it’s just the best to take a break.

What’s the most broken card/combo you’ve played so far in Year 3?

I don’t really think there has been such a combo or a card by which I felt it’s crazy strong but some of the leader cards added in the recent drop are definitely above the normal power level.

Which 3 cards should be reworked in your opinion?

Viper Witcher Alchemist, Ihuarraquax, Geralt: Yrden

Honest opinion about Yrden?

Very cheesy card, that most of the time just revolves around surprise factor, I don’t like it and I wish it wouldn’t work like that.

If you could only play a single faction/deck for the rest of your career, which one would that be?

Keltullis of course 😊

What archetype would you like to be buffed so that it is reasonably competitive?

NR engines, vampires and harmony. In the past these were my favourite archetypes which got powercrept hard but I feel like they don’t need much attention to at least make them playable even now.

Do you think in the current, fairly well balanced state of Gwent, coming up with a true meta killer is still possible?

Of course, very recently we’ve had quite a big patch which changed a lot and I feel like there is still much to discover which will probably happen during upcomming qualifiers and most importantly Masters Season 1.

Please take us through the dynamics of the season. Which part is the most difficult? Do you often see decks you play against rapidly changing over night? When is grinding most efficient?

The most difficult time to climb is start of the season when everyone has very low MMR so you get small amount of it after winning and you lose more when you lose. Also the start of the season after big patch can make you feel that you are queueing into new deck every game so it’s also hard to adjust to such a meta environment. The end of the season is the best time to climb when meta is stable already, most of the pro players are already very high in leaderboard and the incomes of MMR after wins are much bigger.

Which archetypes are very close to being meta, but need a final touch to get there? What would they need?

As mentioned already I feel that it touches the most harmony which probably just needs better high end golds and vampires which on the other hand need better bronzes and also some kind of answer to the veil. NR charges need to not heavily trade down to removal which is the case right now.

Do you believe that it is possible for someone to make a living from playing Gwent, streaming it and making any other Gwent related activities?

Depends on what is enough for a particular person but I don’t think so you can rule a wealthy life only by living from playing Gwent.

Coaching in Gwent – have you coached/been coached? Have you seen benefits of it?

I haven’t been coached but I’ve helped some people in a way you can name it coaching but it haven’t been paid. Of course there are benefits of such a thing, it can for sure help a coached player improve much quicker but being in a team is much more helpful I would say as it’s a pernament thing.

Which other player has earned most of your respect?

Tailbot and Pajabol, I look up to them and they are both my good inspiration as well as luckily good friends.

Life is not only about Gwent, right? What are your other hobbies, and do you have enough time to play other games?

My other big hobby is swimming and whenever I have an occasion I like doing this activity. Of course I have time to play other games but usually Gwent is already too much and I don’t have much will to do so, but when some big game is coming out like Cyberpunk for example I’m more than happy to take some break from Gwent and spend some good time in it as well.

What do you think about the direction of Gwent development?

I feel the direction is rather positive, the game has improved a lot since 2 years, I would just like seeing rather than adding the new archetypes spending more time on improving already existing ones as I think we have enough of them already and also investing some time on trying to reduce RNG impact by adding some tutors and also buffing bronzes to not be much weaker than the golds currently.

Would you like the Faction Challenges coming back?

I don’t really care myself, but of course any type of activity for players is always welcome.

If you’re playing any other card games, what mechanics would you import from them into Gwent?

I feel that Gwent is a great innovation compared to any other card games and I don’t think importing mechanics from other card games is a good idea. I want Gwent to just keep going its own direction.

Thank you for your time, good luck on ladder!