Make love, not Waifu Wars!
They say “Make love, not war.” and yet with this month’s challenge CDPR went for something special instead of the usual faction challenge: A waifu war between Team Yen, Triss and Shani! You can fight for lots of reward points, a special title and most importantly – for the honour and glory of your waifu! This event is accompanied by a sale of card backs for each of the three ladies.
We totally understand that the own waifu is the best waifu. That is why we will only evaluate the looks of the card backs according to our own preferences. Not the waifus themselves. You can put away your torches and pitchforks. Especially the pitchforks, please mind poor Geralt.
You can click the card names to see their premium versions.
All card art and premiums were taken from The Voice of Gwent.
The three card back’s overall composition and design is similar: Each of them mimics the clothes and style of the three women as shown in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt game. The backgrounds reference their actual clothes: The colour and structure of the fabric and their adornments. The centre of the card depicts a symbol which is typical for the person behind it: The necklaces for Shani and Triss and a raven skull as symbol for Yennefer.
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Shani card back
What I like the most when it comes to Shani’s card back is the composition of the different textures: The woven light green fabric with the floral ornaments even has some shadow and depth to it to let it appear a little rumpled. The same goes for the white fabric which appears to be thinner, as it has even more creases. I like the imperfect look of those fabrics and the visual depth to make them look less flat. Both fabrics are divided by the border which combines both fabrics’ colours in a very beautiful way. The ornamental embroidery adds another layer to the overall pleasant composition. The ornament hovering over the card back looks a little odd, though.
While we are at the ornament – this is what outright kills the card back for me. While I also like the fabric, the ornament is just… wrong. It’s the caduceus, the staff carried by the Greek god Hermes and is a symbol of balance in trade and negotiations – a winged staff with two snakes intertwined around it (☤). What should be there instead, is a Staff of Aesculapius (⚕) . He would be the Greek god of healing and his staff (with one snake intertwined around a staff, no wings whatsoever) the correct symbol in accordance with Shani’s profession. Sadly she wears the wrong symbol in the Witcher games as well, but maybe it is different in that universe…
Yennefer of Vengerberg card back
I think they did a great job with all the feathers. Despite them being 2D they look very fluffy and I kind of want to touch them. The feathers are part of Yennefer’s alternate outfit. And yet the whole card back looks too dark for my taste and the skull is even scary.
The skull is what I like the most. It appears to be made from crystal – in fact even more so that the actual Crystal Skull. It is polished enough to see reflections, even though it is impossible to tell what or who is being reflected due to the distortion caused by the shape. The fabric behind the skull is taken from Yennefer’s standard outfit as depicted on the Gwent card.
In contrast to Poppy, I like the dark and somewhat mystic touch the card back has to it, they even thought of a darker frame colour.
Triss Merrigold card back
First of all: This turquoise colour is downright gorgeous and makes such a nice contrast to the pearls. The pseudo-3D effect of the pattern is a real eye catcher as well. Triss Merrigold’s amulet as a whole blends really well into the card back, whereas they stand out more in the other two card backs. I wonder whether there is a meaning to the symbol or whether it is just meant to be pretty. The latter is most certainly the case!
I am fonder of the embossed leather in the centre, even though I dislike the stitches at its sides. The texture of the leather itself is already very detailed. The added ornaments of leaves add yet another layer to it. I also like the pearls and how unique each of them looks when you take a closer look.
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Final verdict
I don’t really care, but Yennefer’s card back is probably the best option, because it is dark and scary.
Don’t be such a killjoy, Easha. I like the Triss card back the most. Its intense colours and the pearls make it look elegant and regal and the overall colour composition pleases the eye. The second place goes to the Shani card back. I like Yennefer’s the least, for the reasons Easha mentioned.
And now please excuse me, have some hugs and Trisses! But I have to farm Meteorite Powder for this super pretty Dana skin. I want it so badly!