Le Gwentleman Suprême: Worst dad ever and other things (including rage-quitting like an Isengrim)

Per hinted by the title, this post will involve me talking a bit about Fergus var Emreis and whether I'm considering rage-quitting Gwent for good upon reaching rank 20. To be honest, living a life without a future or tomorrow means you're bound to have plenty of time for things my fellow Singaporeans would call pointless. So here I am blogging like a Duny, just that my dad was never a Nilfgaardian. I'm very sure this post would be much shorter than what I used to write. Then again, I'm no Xiaxue because this blog is nothing more than a rage room intended for personal expression. That's the PC way of saying I'm using this to scold people like Oda Nobunaga, Ikoma Kitsuno or no Ikoma Kitsuno.

Be responsible, don't do a bailout (unless you're Minamoto no Yoshitsune)

Bad news for those who care for me but nevertheless unable to understand me: I noticed a long time ago that I can use my ATM card for Steam walletting because it happened to be a debit card as well.

If there's a way to teach impressionable kids how to be irresponsible, my mutant ability to learn fast through the risk of getting hanged would be it. Simply put, it's called money spent purchasing the card kegs. If there's a reason behind this, it'd be a 30% off on specific factions. If only the discount applies to ore burning as well. Of course, we all know CD Projekt Red won't do that. They're not running a charity. If only my mutant ability was like that of Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, Vesemir, or even Letho and his bros. But that'd mean Singapore would have to be part of the Witcherverse and as someone understanding the moral (?) nature of dark fantasy, it's anything but positivity. Note that I said positivity, not blind positivity. Now if you'll excuse me for a while...

I really need to do some planning ahead. This is due to me playing Everquest 2 as well and there's no way I can do a two-timing here. Am I rich enough to pull this off? No. Am I poor enough to make a decision? Yes. And this is why I said I got the mutant ability to learn fast through the risk of getting hanged. Seriously, it's nothing good to boast about because one might as well say living a life full of foes and strangers is a good thing. No, it's not. Because this was the life I was forced to live from primary school to ITE.

So what I'm going to do now? I believe I've spent enough on four factions out of six. My current challenge on the scale of Gaunter O'Dimm would be trying to get my Northern Realms deck working. The theory has been fuzzy with the practical side yet to be proven. Just because I burnt 800 pieces of cloth scraps for Dandelion's girlfriend doesn't mean I got the combination right for a formation usage+charge building deck.

Note: Will I be burning ore and cloth scraps in an attempt to create a decently average Skellige deck? I don't know because I need to make sure of certain things involving my Scoia'tael deck. Interesting times ahead?

Add note: No Syndicate deck for me. Building a La Cosa Nostra like a Pacino or De Niro is too costly and I don't want to set a bad example like a merchant from Novigrad. Now if you excuse me for a while again...

Nigh rage-quitting and worst dad ever

It was a recent wretched run at the highest order a week ago or so. The reason why being that going on a losing streak like a local loser was never the best way to train your mental fortitude. Just because I'm as mentally calloused as Isengrim Faoiltiarna, Iorveth, or Emhyr var Emreis doesn't mean the pain would go away. Thanks to persistence on a witcher's scale, I realise how real the danger of a Nilfgaardian nerf can be.

No one ever said Fergus var Emreis was a good dad. In fact, the Nilfgaardian culture is so pro-Darwinian, it makes the East Asian dog-eat-dog education model look like... well, a dog. There are certainly shades of wartime Japan, something which I believe was a case of unintentional consequences considering the fact I've played against Korean gamers and there seems to be a Skellige version of the Korean Flash in the top 25 of Asia.

Heed the advice of Dr Carl Jung Shin-Ri because moderation isn't an obscenity.

So what am I talking about in terms of persistence? To be honest, things came to a boiling point where I actually contemplated the rage-quit option. The reality of dealing with rank 20 and above is that...

1. You have a good enough deck in terms of the number of gold cards.

2. This means the same for others.

3. Chances of getting owned instead of owning would increase, perhaps even exponentially.

4. That's because every opponent's deck is of actual strategic quality instead of just decent, hence resulting in opposition of higher tactical quality.

5. Chances are that the opponent is smarter than you at least for 2-3 rounds' worth of time.

6. Got a sub-optimal hand? Might as well pass two rounds in a go and throw it.

So what occurred was that the opponent who did that happened to be a fellow Nilfgaardian player. In Gwent, you learn things faster by playing against better opponents on the same faction basis when it comes to deck building. The reason why being that disjointed synergy is the cause of every defeat unless the opponent clearly has more gold cards than you. But that'd only mean anywhere from unranked to rank 21 at the very most. Long story short, the other player actually played a blinder synergy involving spying units. More specifically a spy conversion game. This was where the worst dad ever came in. This might even be the closest thing to Tokugawa Ieyasu versus Takeda Shingen. Come to think of it, Ieyasu never had a good dad as well.

Spy conversion can be insane when it comes using a pure Nilfgaardian deck. The Devotion aspect of Master Mirror means pure faction decks become a viable option, not to mention as well motivation. Ask me how I view a spy conversion deck and my opinion would be this: Go pure, not hybrid unless you don't mind using the worst dad ever to spy convert only one target.

Of course, this isn't the entire story. Saying that is like a politician telling the people one side of the coin without talking about the other. You need to maximise the usage of status inducing. And that's the fun part about using Nilfgaard right now. You have units that lock, poison, and spy-convert. You have units self-boosting via debuff effects. Thirsty Dame at power 4 goes +1 every time an enemy unit got a status effect. Master of Disguise can be a decent tactical option at power 3 which goes +1 per turn end so long there's an enemy locked unit. Playing spawn units or from-the-deck summoning ones (actually, only Impera Brigade would work in this context) may well be that decision making life easier for me. Either way, any first-turn deployment would always carry the risk of getting an alpha strike from the opponent depending on the unit played. That's a given, so tactically correct foil units are important. Mass spy-conversion and play a democratic aristocrat afterwards? And that's not to mention The Usurper having Veil status since the term "enemy unit with spy status" also applies to your Disloyal units. A reverse deployment order involving one foil unit>Seditious Aristocrat>The Usurper+total recall is 100% doable. In fact, assuming the guy got locked during an opponent's first turn was the dumbest thing I've done so far. I never got my agents back. Deploy him between two units or at the same row as a Defender status unit to prevent an Assassination takedown. Do this right and you can set the pace in three turns. That's assuming the opponent doesn't have Vincent van Moorelehem because we all know what's going to happen next unless there's a Defender unit covering the row (i.e. imo better not try this against a fellow Nilfgaardian because Vincent's autokill can target any unit with any status unless it's an Invulnerable unit). Playing fast has never been so insane since Jürgen Klopp inexplicably mentioned a broomstick (it's a long story, don't ask). Apart from a hand containing the correct van Moorelehem, if there's an actual weakness to this deck (and there is for every because playing Gwent means you're never in the position to play God like a puny god. The powers-that-be would ban you for that), it'd be the question of whether you can effectively manage the boosting in a pace slow enough to ensure no unit gets a power value of 9 or above. This means having a combination of democratic aristocrats and Lestat de Lioncourt's thrice-damned cousins thrice removed can result in an auto-destroy at the hands of Geralt of Rivia or Leo Bonhart. In fact, that happened to me once. In this aspect, such a strategy can be the Nilfgaardian version of Deathwish plus the Overwhelming Hunger leader ability. Minus, of course, the more insane boosting pace.

Note: Philippe van Moorlehem can be an effective alternative to a buff-centric status deck so long you deploy him during the middle third of the round. You wouldn't want to risk getting him sniped just because you don't have enough units to cover him. Ever heard of sniper tactics? I'm sure the likes of Ah-Hean, Ryan, Patrick, Frontline Bro, and my cousin KJ would know. Unlike me, they never went PES E because they never lived my kind of life.

Add note: Personally speaking, any spy-conversion deck should involve no more than two types of statuses. Spying and *fill in the blank*. Please understand that I don't earn commission like a social influencer, hence it's 100% possible that I'm wrong here.

The Great Escape

This is now possible in two ways instead of one. The typical manner is a matter of card draw probability. But there's a problem: You're subjected to the element of luck in the sense that how the opponent plays his tactics would decide whether you can pull off a Geralt of Rivia or Leo Bonhart. Effective boost management means you'll end up with a dud in hand. Trust me, I did that before more than a few times.

Before Master Mirror, there's no such card as Oneiromancy. Not only is this an actual card now, but it's also an actual word all the while, believe it or not. The process doesn't involve seven cows or seven heads of grain, only a reversal as unavoidable as the reprisal of Fragarach according to the words of Irish gods and Mór-Ríoghain. The moment the reversal comes out, that's it. You're dead, nailed to an oaken tree where you shall feed the crows and wolves.

This results in additional unpredictability in the current expansion where reversals are no longer subjected to a case of chance. Instead, one more possibility of chance would be involved due to the obvious mathematics dealing with whatever probability algorithm enforced. Got that card in hand and the correct card in your deck? You'll need another type of correct card. Got Oneiromancy in hand and two reversal cards in your deck?

Note: Oneiromancy is a neutral card. This means you'll be running a major risk if you're to use cards like Auberon and Usurper where Devotion is a vital ingredient to efficiency. That is unless your strategy is to use such cards in the first round.

Add note: The irony involving the risk of getting auto-destroyed in this manner? Vincent van Moorlehem.

Trying to get the Nordling machine working

Test running my Northern Realms deck has to be the weirdest experience ever. I don't recall a time where total defeat never resulted in frustration. That was until I did a trial-and-error on my Northern Realms deck. The entire scenario was quite funny. There I was building a deck with more gold cards than my other three matured decks and yet nothing positive came out. In my most bizarre moment of playing Gwent so far (this was really weirder than forcing a draw against an opponent with superior deck quite some time ago on a 10-10 third-round score), the deployment momentum felt smooth despite having little to no synergy from start to finish. It's like a wagenburg moving safely along the path minus the driver. It's that weird. Uprising may not be the leader's ability for me, though. Mobilisation? TBC.

Note: Before self-proofreading this post, I decided to go one level up since Wednesday=Gwentsday. Latest match score? Draw with 41-41 in the first round and 18-18 for the second. And my opponent was a rank 18 compared to my 19. This actually sets the current Guinness record for my weirdest moment in Gwent so far.

Trying to make sense of Isengrim's counsel

Originally, I didn't feel like using Isengrim. After tweaking my Deadeye Ambush deck and trying to make some tactical sense out of a multi-racial deck, I decided to say rage-quit it like Trey Gowdy and Bill Haslam. I settled for a dual-racial deck, as untypically Singaporean I may sound here (wait, who am I trying to kid since no sane Singaporean would ever play Gwent without playing Witcher 3 first?). Using Isengrim means an ethnic supermajority was needed. By the way, this statement shouldn't be an excuse to condone racism and moral bias.

The tricky part lies in deciding when to use his self-boost ability. +1 for every allied elf unit played afterwards? Sounds good until there's a need to make a tactical call since he boosts every other allied elf units by 1 upon being played. Either deploy him during the start or at the very end? The only way for me to make sense out of choosing between two options apart from a unit card with Defender status would likely be Isengrim's Council. That's provided you draw this guy and use him with a +2 self-boost. The only catch? It'd make less sense to use Water of Brokilon and more sense to use Feign Death instead. Again, a racial supermajority. If you're gunning for a 50-50 or 60-40 majority, then maybe you'd want to deploy the Mahakam brigade first.

A Crucible's Lore: Sellswords

Well, it's been a long time since I last wrote something under this label. Right now, viewership for my blog has been dropping. Does it matter? Actually, the answer is no. The reason why is that what I've written so far was merely and solely intended for self-expression purposes. Am I a fighter? Yes because of the Darwinian sins of my country. I no longer bear grudges against the sinners of this nation, but I'm still raging at the hypocrisy within us all in hope of someone noticing my struggles. To be honest, I have no faith in sane-minded words because I don't expect the normal to understand the abnormal. As a result, I realised a long time ago that I never regretted writing A Requiem From Winter Past where I unwittingly flushed so much of myself into Aeravor. Of course, there were moments of juvenile insanity which I truly regretted in the process. My decision to use Park Shin-Hye as the physical blueprint for Irelia Eliaden was effectively the beginning of madness and I'm not about to play a game of moral hardball. Seriously, one such episode involving the second English alphabet is more than enough grief. Don't know what I'm talking about? Better you don't. Know what I'm talking about? Enjoy below the most accurate portrayal of the situation then.

"Be the man the self-righteous hates and every captive envies. This is how you've lived, right? Fighting and pleasure as if the next dawn will never come. Laughing at death like a mocker retaining his pride till his final breath. Farewell, Aeravor dies Steelborn. Farewell to the man I love. Farewell to the world we cherish and curse."

-Kagetsu no Ji'Yeon

"The world has never accepted you because you're too kindhearted. That's why you died. I will be your sword. I will become an enemy of this world in your place. But I won't destroy it because that's not what you want."

-Aeravor

Soldiers of fortune:

Every person has a price, every price its pride. Such is the story of every sellsword's life. Male or female, each will gladly do another man's work so long the fee is right. Rape, murder, or arson, every foul deed is fair so long the payer is generous enough to be wise. Granted morals do not dictate scoundrels, but it takes a fool to believe there is no honour among them. Play even a single card wrong and you may just get a sword stuck at the throat.

The world beyond fortifications and walls is never a haven. In fact, it is debatable whether gods exist in a world where monsters and demons seem more commonplace than actual saints. Mercenaries don't just do the dirty work for others but also more gladly for themselves. Ignore the seemingly intelligent telling only how much they charge per blade in hand. It is either that or one is better off conned by an honest whoreson. They raid villages. They attack caravans travelling unprotected because there are those too miserly to save their own lives. Woe to every man, woman, and child in different ways depending on which.

How many of them are out there? Scholars estimate their numbers to be no less than a few scores of thousand within the borders of Hallenia alone. Sceptics scoff and claim no great number of knaves could ever survive in a vicious realm. Regardless of opposing views, it takes an insane sage to try counting them all.

Code of the Sword:

Knights swear by their status and ladies fair while the clergy swear by their gods and buildings. As for intellectuals, they swear by their merit and sellswords do the same. What is meritocracy to every mercenary? There are three codes of merit, none of them related to how many heads claimed or how many maidens deflowered.

Merit of Loyalty refers to the belief that once someone entered a life of the purse and sword, there is no retreat. Cowards are not merely unwelcomed, they will be killed on sight. Many are those retired only to expire somewhere down the road. Loyalty is not about profession alone, but also family. Blood ties mean nothing unless one's parents happened to be sellswords. In this case, that makes their children sellswords. Mercenaries band together for life, every organisation big or small thriving and perishing under the yoke of lifelong allegiance. Hence, betraying one's brethren for another group shall not be given mercy. The sentence is the same as how Teutonians deal with treason: Hanged, drawn, and quartered with the sole difference being the verdict applying to both men and women.

Merit of Respect does not mean acknowledgement like how others do. Warriors of the coin may spit on a fellow scoundrel's beliefs or character, but they consider every alliance sacred, every such foe respected. Any woman can be ravished, but not one from the same trade. Any life can be slaughtered, but torture reserved for a fellow mercenary is a taboo unless a need for information arises. Every child of sellsword birth below fourteen must be given the choice between life or death. Anyone intentionally killing an infant or even an unborn life belonging to one of the same must be executed after a trial involving at least two or three witnesses, the one wielding the sword being the first who saw the act. Anyone guilty of false testimony shall be put to death upon convicted, the punishment nothing less than being riddled alive with arrows while tied to a stake. If there is no way to reach a conclusion, then trial by combat will be the final resort.

Merit of Feats is one which every such fighter takes most seriously. Loyalty cannot be revoked. Respect is a right given to any and all. But it is the number of battles and duels won defining greatness, victories earned proof of glory. Alas, fame is a double-edged sword. Not only does it inspire awe and recognition, but it also conceives hunger akin to the want in bringing a pantheon down.

Conflicts, booty, and bounty:

There are two ways to obtain land and resources: Either raiding hamlets and villages or attacking each other. The former is both the easier option and more dangerous one. After all, there can only be this much minor losses incurred before the authorities start to act. Moments like this do exist with smaller bands trampled by organised military better armed and armoured. Thus, battles fought between sellswords and sellswords happen more commonly than one may imagine. At the same time, it is possible for two or more mercenary factions to reach an alliance for greater gains. In this case, the Merit of Feats would be invoked where the loot must be split accordingly.

Another way of earning wealth is bounty hunting. In this case, evidence has to be given if the target has joined a mercenary group. Once displayed, a duel to the death between the hunter and hunted will commence. Due to this involving the least hassle so long the information provided is correct, bounty hunting becomes a common way of earning gold and even Merit of Feats for smaller bands.

The Confederation:

Out of all mercenary companies, three of them stand out as the most exceptional ones: Knightroses, Men of Redmarch, and Swordcloaks. Instead of engaging in outright competition, the three decided to enter a peculiar alliance dictating no conflict between them in terms of lands and resources under each faction's control. However, it allows military engagement between each other so long the hirers belong to opposing ends. Due to this, the trio is also collectively known as the Confederation of Swords or the Confederation for short.

Knightroses:

What makes this faction stands out from the rest is not its strength and influence but rather this is an organisation entirely made up of women. When and how the Knightroses was founded remains a mystery not even its current members know. One thing could be sure, however: The founder went by the name Brynheildr and this would become both name and title of every leader taking charge. Upon entry, the new members must undergo perhaps the cruellest rite of passage. That is the gouging of every left eye. And this is not including the need to drink a chalice of childsbane juice unless the novice already drank it against her will.

Those of the Knightroses do not believe in a rigid hierarchy of roles but every individual's worth defined by how well she performs in every aspect of mercenary life. Those proving themselves capable in certain tasks can be trusted with more of the same. Because nobody can be an expert in all trades, its senior members are known throughout the mercenary world as some of the most capable taskmasters.

Their manner of recruitment is seen as daring to some and utterly brazen to others. Not only are recruiters common in small settlements, but the frequent sight of them in places like slave markets and bordellos have become every gossiper's favourite pastime. Money, threats, and even more than a few bloodied noses if necessary. Such is the daily life of lightly armoured women armed with short blades visibly belted.

The closest thing to a ranking system would be a four-tiered one with the leader at the very top. As Brynheildr, she is entitled the total freedom to involve herself in any task from menial chores and smithing to recruitment and training. However, she must be at the forefront in any battle directing the troops, for leadership and bravery remains her creed and deed, life and death.

The second tier belongs to the Valkyrs. Well-armed and heavily armoured, they are the elite of martial capability said to rival the Homm'Nua and Homm'Eot. Serving as Brynheildr's personal bodyguards and brigade at her disposal, they are the ones protecting their mistress, many an exploit involving rearguard action and cavalry charge credited to them. Often there is a saying "A well-equipped woman walking around in plate armour is likely a bloody spinster Valk". In fact, rumour has it that either an unlucky or foolhardy Relentless One fell beneath their blades and spears during a verbal exchange gone awry. While the denizens of Gastony dismiss such talk as trivial lies, elven informants leak word that one of their kind is known to laugh with the current Brynheildr over "some kind of retarded idiot".

The third tier would be the stalwarts. They are the senior members of the faction. Not only do they perform the same roles as the rest, but they also oversee the delegation of tasks.

The last one goes to the ones called soldiers. Covering every manner of work possible, they form the faction's backbone.

Tactically, Knightroses favour the phalanx approach comprising of medium infantry in ranks of four. The first rank would be armed with swords and round shields while those in the second carry spears and bucklers. The third rank belongs to the ones circling around to execute flanking manoeuvres armed with axes while the final row comprises of crossbow users riding steeds and raining down mayhem of steel. Skirmishers are in charge of reconnaissance and taking out the ranged units through any means available, be it bombing, sniping, or sabotage. Cavalry wise, riders of mail have earned the nickname Death's Maids for their daring charge and fearless approach. Granted they would only attack if there is a weak link to exploit, but that does not prevent bards from telling tales of blaring horns, bloodied spears, and the trampled dead.

Men of Redmarch:

Founded during the year CA 230 in the aftermath of a failed rebellion in what would be called The Bloody March, an event named after the manner which those convicted were executed while their women, children, and elderly folk looked on as naked corpses impaled on spikes. The Men of Redmarch originally intended themselves to be freedom fighters, those who thought better to run and fight the next day than die. Sadly, liberty was nothing to gold and precious gems. From their beginning as slaves to their status as freedmen, this has always been a faction where every member is a male. The rationale behind this was that wives and children are a fatal burden, a lesson painfully learnt in the past. Never trusting in chivalry with constant mockery directed at the honourable hypocrites, they have gathered for themselves notoriety as opportunistic whoresons. Indeed there is a saying that goes "Better to be killed by a Knightrose bitch than to be conned by a Redmarch whoreson". The methods they employ to recruit new members are also anything but above reproach. Bully a respectable merchant family into giving up their sons? Permissible. Taking in a beggar boy from the streets only to make him just as bad as his oppressors, if not worse? It always happens. Violate a woman, forcing her to conceive, and leave her be all alone unless the baby is a girl? This is why they are regarded as whoresons. A knife across a member's throat once he is of no use, be it old age, an accident, or plainly not good enough? That's called mercy.

Needless to say, other mercenaries are leery of them at best and displaying outright contempt if one is talking about the Knightroses. Yet, their ability with daggers wielded or thrown is feared throughout the industry. This also results in hearsay of assassinations carried out in the most professional fashion, a claim these scoundrels of scoundrels mysteriously brush off as "make-believe fairy tales lying to those poor little children" despite a penchant for boasting from how much gold swindled to how many whores bedded in a single night.

Unlike every other sellsword company, the Men of Redmarch do not engage in what they call above-ground activities. While they respect the need to shed blood, these conniving knaves understand the value of information. To quote the famed Yaguryeo military strategist Heihou no Tae'Guk, "Battles can be won by might, but wars are lost because of not enough known". In fact, the Men of Redmarch would commemorate every fifteenth day of every month to him. This is despite no self-respecting Yaguryeo not calling this the highest blasphemy. No one knows exactly how they exact information. Some say through bribery, others speculate the usage of threats. Then there are whispers pointing at dealings with Histalonia, a plausible theory considering the Island of Dreams being either a deceptive nickname or sarcasm gone unintentionally wrong. No matter where the truth lies, one thing is sure: None would ever divulge the secret to their success.

The manner of their wealth and influence is nothing short of unorthodox. Instead of smithies, barracks, and stables, they focus on establishments within the safety of walls and guards. From banks and guilds to inns and brothels, no place is free from their grasp so long money can be earned and recruits obtained. As a result, it is difficult, if not totally impossible, to fathom a guess on their actual numbers.

Perhaps the most infamous practice they indulged in is charging an informant's fee three-tenths of every bounty's price. Considering a different head would command a different price, this is a difficult pill to swallow. But swallow it a bounty hunter must. Compounding to the exasperation is that their findings would be worded in such a way that reward and difficulty become mutual synonyms. Their argument of justification? If mercy is worth one-tenth of a fee, then justice should be worth more than twice.

Swordcloaks:

Masters of guerilla strategy and tactical movements fooling even the most experienced commanders, the Swordcloaks have a rightful claim to be called the Scourge of Men. Eschewing the tried and proven way of attrition warfare, lack of knowledge merely contributes further to awe and fear, the latter more apparent. Some say they know magic with arrows of blue fire loosed from finely-crafted bows, others claim their skill in steel able to fell three men in a stroke. If true, one can be forgiven in shuddering to think whether the Homm'Nua has sent their finest for a reason.

Nothing is known about their agenda or even if they are here on a certain mission spanning untold years. Elves do have a long lifespan and one can be sure those who were among them are still alive and ever skilful. Yet, the Swordcloaks do not just take in full-blooded members. Half-elves are also part of them although a curious soul would wonder whether it's possible for a lucky bastard to bed an elven maid or an equally fortunate human lass enjoying a night of tryst with her elven prince.

One thing is common knowledge, though. And that is their leader's identity: Ioin dies Bladefort. The reason behind this is twofold. The first is that he is the second and current Armslord, a title reserved solely for whoever leading them, after Esca vron Findersbriar was recalled back to the elven royal court. The second? His reputation as a master duelist terrifying even the most hard-hearted fighters. From slaying demons to killing fully armoured knights with nonchalant ease, there is only this much perceived myth can be scoffed before it turns into something else altogether. Eye-witnesses testify to someone who can only be best described as a living dead, his eyes of emerald green betraying nary an emotion, let alone fear and wrath.

In a song now regaled by travelling minstrels of elven blood, there was this meeting between the Confederation. Attended by leaders and a selected few, the reason remains a mystery. However, one part of it never fails to snare the audience like a sorcerer playing his pipe.

A single stride and silent step, a graceful son of Homm'Nua became a wall. His back faced an enraged Brynheildr, for she did nothing unworthy. His visage faced Deigas Wagens, for his lewdness threatened to mock a meeting between the gods. Hand never departed from the pommel of a sabre forged from best elven steel, this was the only way. Ioin dies Bladefort, Armslord of Swordcloaks, his dead eyes of emerald piercing the soul of a shameless leader from Redmarch. A moment passed, an eternal pause. Then the Ghost of D'Aubens spoke, his voice smooth and lyrical, tremors coursing down every listener's mortal spine.

"End your jape, Deigas. Brynheildr, cease your rage. If it is a fish you want, a dead one will be what you get."

His shoulders slightly tensed, this was Ioin's threat. The one facing his back had no reason to test her luck, the one facing his visage laughing off the words. Alas for the prideful fool, all could hear a coward if he was to make a sound five leagues off.

How true is such a tale? This, no one knows. But one may be able to glean something from the reactions. For it is said that the Knightroses are now known to give a toast to "that elven dead fish who taught a living fish a lesson" while the Men of Redmarch would never ever bring the moment up again.

Le Gwentleman Suprême: g.o.d isn't just for the Koreans

When the last time a bard's fiery soul was ignited though none ever beheld its beauty? This is the question in my head right now. I'm no Dandelion since I'm no ladies' man unless someone has been carrying a torch for me. Nah, doubt so.

Recently, a spark went off inside. This resulted in some sort of secular revival where my blogging is concerned. And by blogging, I mean including A Requiem From Winter Past albeit the only way for people to know my work would very likely be Neil Gaiman proclaiming, "I've seen a genius from Singapore and his name isn't Kevin Kwan". I swear it's far more possible for J.K Rowling to get herself into trouble by breaking character.

I don't know how long this fire can be sustained, though. But for now, I'm going to allow myself to bask in the warmth of its sparks. Not the one defined by Taeyeon but the other one defined by Miura Kentaro.

That include the likes of Mr Lee, Dori Dori, and Miss Tang.

Sadly, it means I'm unable to be like them.

g.o.d isn't just for the Koreans

When people talk about g.o.d, they're not talking about whether it's right for CNN to spell God as god (Note: The link is effectively a lengthy read). Rather, they're most likely referring to 지오디. When I say g.o.d isn't just for the Koreans, I'm not referring to accusations of Korean appropriation but rather Gaunter O'Dimm.

This post is all about my opinion after days of playing the Master Mirror expansion. But before I start smashing the mirrors like a Gwynbleidd, allow me to play a couple of videos.

The reason behind the first video is that no longer will we be hearing an epic main menu theme. The reason for the second video? This is the new main menu theme. So what are my thoughts for the new score?

I have to point out that I used to believe both halves of the music were actually two different themes. The reason why was twofold: The fact that the previous expansion(s) didn't have a piece of starting music at the starting screen and the main menu music for Master Mirror expansion actually took a different turn halfway through.

The first half was hauntingly Gaunter O'Dimm. When I first heard it by logging onto the game, it was...

The tune haunted him unto no end, its rhythm ten icy fingers closing around his neck. 'Twas a frigid caress, a cold hard grip it could easily be. The devil has played his hand, the debtor facing his due.

Come the second half, it took a melancholic turn as if the story was now about Olgierd von Everec and his beloved Iris.

A song of tragic love, a tale of noble love warped into a dirge. How cruel fate could be, its whims in the form of a devil's pact. Gone was his soul of flesh and blood, a heart of stone the usurper. And what of his most beloved lady love? Only anguish conceived by choices made and a merciless world.

Opinions so far...

I'm going to be straightforwardly blunt here: Gwent has never been this good before. If you think the game was good enough, you should know what I'm talking about here. Here's hoping no one's ego would be stoked considering Mr Lee's positive view on my analytical ability.

The most notable change in Master Mirror wasn't about the new card mechanics (seriously, no one can blame you if you can't make Jennifer Lawrence's Symbiosis mechanic work). Rather, it's the revamped seasonal ranking system. Previously, seasonal rankings did include certain rules. These rules do have the ability to make or break a match depending on your hand. This was especially painfully obvious in Season of Magic where a double cast Water of Brokilon together with Deadeye Ambush ability can produce some kind of unit deployment horror show. If hitting a point score of 14 in your first turn didn't mean something to you, it means there's something severely wrong with you or the way you play the match.

As we all have seen, seasonal rules were a decisive factor in telling you why there's no way you can progress beyond rank 29. In the current seasonal ranking system, ranking up has gotten... well, easier. The reason behind this was that instead of seasonal rules, the seasonal ranking format now doesn't have rules. This resulted in an easier time going from unranked to rank 25 or 24. Beyond that? I'm going to talk about this later.

Then you have the second format. Namely, non-seasonal ranking with seasonal ranking rules. Right now, it's called Power Shift, but I won't be surprised if this used to be Season of the Griffin which is now currently ongoing.

As if two changes were not enough, I noticed something weird going on within the first 24 hours of Master Mirror going live.

Will the real Hua Chong Insitute student please stand up?

If someone having what it takes to be a foreign talent in Singapore could bang his head against the keyboard while playing Gwent, I won't be surprised if it'd say a lot on our JC and university students. Not that they're stupid but rather there has to be something terribly right about my brain which the education system had ignored. After all, I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually told me dogged determination alone won't do the trick if one decides to play the game without first going through Witcher 3. I suspect Mr Lee didn't realise the full extent of his statement when he praised my analytical DNA. Recently, there was some sort of hullabaloo over Hua Chong Insitute's stance on discussing politics on social media. While this didn't mean someone is insulting the intelligence of potential local talents like the typical jerk from Owari (seriously, no one seemed to be able to reign in Oda Nobunaga except for a woman), this made me wonder whether more Singaporeans should be playing Gwent. Or maybe it's the education system's fault that I'm now able to start winning games. 

So what's the deal about whether highly educated Singaporeans can champion meritocracy through a game of Gwent or two? Within 24 hours of Master Mirror's release, Gaunter O'Dimm decided to have a laugh. When I decided to get my feet wet in Season of the Griffin, I never expected the auto-matchmake to pair me up with players with inferior deck. Not occasionally but consistently. This was the reason why reaching from unranked territory to at least rank 25 has gotten easier.

Something clearly didn't make sense. It's like someone telling me and everyone else in the same room his fiancée's name was a girl named Shufen only for me to realise later that the other half was another girl, that Shufen was clearly a non-existent dummy. Under such a situation, I'd definitely question the person's intention because he's clearly lying to me since infidelity is clearly NOT a possibility. Because there's no way for one entire room's worth of people being had.

Less than 10 million but still a lot: How CD Projekt Red managed to outdo the PAP

I don't want to know whether Singapore can get 10 million people to populate the nation, never mind whether there's a need to import the Ainu from Hokkaido. It's clear from the start that there's an explosion in new player population in a way more insane than the current infection-fatality ratio in Japan (Miyagi and Okinawa being two classic examples of illogical mathematics).

The only way to explain this would be some kind of stealth sales tactic. What this means is that spreading the word of Gwent being more new player friendly was already underway before the current expansion went up. I know this is as farfetched as me saying an Ainu woman conceived a time bomb in Mount Alvernia Hospital and I happened to be that time bomb due to my eyes resembling an Ainu. But was that really impossible?

If it's impossible, then it'd be impossible to explain why any player could easily get an opponent who was clearly new to the game from rank 29 to 26. If it's for real, it means certain factors were at work. Believe it or not, I can sense whether the opponent was cursed with an inferior deck or just new to the game. I'm not behaving like an elitist because I'm still in the process of getting slapped by players with a clearly superior deck (pretty sure I'll continue mentioning this like a broken Guinness record). Rather, I've been through that stage where the deployment aspect was clearly greenhorn level. So if something felt familiar, there should be a reason why.

Devotion, Symbiosis, and Jennifer Lawrence

Not only did Master Mirror give players a revamped format, but there are also new aspects of strategy and tactics. Right now, the most annoying part was trying to get Symbiosis work. By tomorrow, the Gaunter's Ultimate Challenge event will have ended. Out of three factions available to play in the event, I chose Scoia'tael. The reason why was that I only got two decently developed decks, one of which was Scoia'tael and the other Nilfgaard. Since the other two options were Skellige and Monsters, it should be a no-brainer. To complete the challenge, however, required spawning 20 young dryads for the second last quest and using Eithné to spawn 20 more for the final one. I'm pro-life, but this was clearly insane. Thanks to Mother Necessity. I had to burn 1600 cloth scraps. 800 for Water of Brokilon and 800 more for Eithné with the former intended to make life easier for me.

I have to say learning how to use Symbiosis was an interesting process. Although I doubt I'd go back to Mother Necessity (unless there's a part 2 to Gaunter's Ultimate Challenge), I actually enjoyed the process. Yes, I know the dryads are either stark naked or nine-tenths naked. But having a brain functioning like Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oai or no Oai, is not always a bad thing. The only catch? The reason behind this. It's a bit like Pep Guardiola tinkering with a system only to realise certain things were not meant to be.

The difficult part of learning to use Symbiosis lies in how many Symbiosis units I could afford to play per round. This comes to mind the hand draw probability and whether you can save Eithné for either the second or third round (third if you can utilise her Devotion property). More than many other decks, a Symbiosis deck may be more subjected to what cards you have in hand. A straightforward approach would be having no Symbiosis unit apart from her with a Plan B reserved for the first round (Note: If you lose the first round, chances are that you're done for). If you want to go full Symbiosis, then you really need to include every Symbiosis unit card possible and hope for at least two such units in your hand for each round (not including Eithné, by the way). As for the choice of ability, it has to be Mystic Echo.

At the end of the day, we're not talking about Deadeye Ambush where you can play 3 units totalling a power value of 9. And that's not considering other major factors like Waylay, Ele'yas, and Vernossiel. And yes, Feign Death. 3 Deadeye units spawned within 2 turns.

And one last thing before I move on: The reason why I namedropped Jennifer Lawrence was because of the title I got for completing Gaunter's Ultimate Challenge like the insane fellow I've been constantly ridiculed in school for. Namely, Mother. No, it's not a joke. It's really Mother.

Note 1: It's not cool to have a brain like Ieyasu considering the nature of his ruthlessness with Oai being the only one capable of humanising him.

Note 2: Scoia'tael faction doesn't have a good big numbers buff game, but that didn't prevent someone from demonstrating how to build a Symbiosis deck. Unfortunately, I'm not going to build that one due to the extensive resources and actual money involved. 11 Symbiosis units in total is definitely an ouch assuming a good hand in the first round and a better hand for the third.

Note 3: Using Eithné as my only Symbiosis unit did work decently well in ranked matches against opponents with a weaker deck. Against, opponents with a better deck, defeat remained a no-brainer. Evenly matched 50-50? That has yet to happen.

Note 4: Okay, Mother isn't the only title available for Scoia'tael for Gaunter's challenge event. Commando Leader sounds better to me.

Welcome to Area 24

On first glance, ranking up is now easier. At least it would be until you reach rank 24. This is the territory of players capable of playing 3-4 gold cards per round. Remember how players with a superior deck managed to defeat you no matter how hard you try? Yep, rank 24 territory is full of them. If you're a casual gamer, my advice would stop playing seasonal ranking once you hit rank 24. Otherwise, you're going to torture yourself with a fast levelling speed at Prestige level 1 being your only consolation. And besides, it's not as if anyone happened to be Date Masamune or Tokugawa Ieyasu when it comes to being bullied. Needless to say, I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't get a full fiver bummer on a consistent basis.

P.S: Trying to get my Nilfgaard deck to work in the current seasonal ranking has been problematic so far come rank 24. It should be very obvious why. The only thing I know is that maybe I'll need to change a few things although I still can't wrap my brain around the deck synergy part. And it didn't help that I was effectively playing a deck quality handicap 24/7.