Despite it originating from The Witcher 3, the Gwent of today has undergone so many changes it's almost an entirely different game. The alpha version brought with it a fresh take on The Witcher 3's ideas, the beta expanded upon them and then subsequently made a bit of a mess, and with the somewhat recent Homecoming update Gwent once again reshaped itself from the ground up.
Thankfully, that period of turmoil has come to an end, and Gwent is now finally looking towards adding a steady stream of content over simply changing the existing one. And what better way to start the process than by adding a bunch of new leaders to mess around with: Gernichora for the Monsters faction, Ardal aep Dahy for Nilfgaard, Queen Meve for Northern Realms, Eldain for Scoia'tael and Arnjolf the Patricide for Skellige.
If you're wondering what all of them look like in-game, as well as what their abilities are, you'll find the answers you seek in the Leader Spotlight playlist on Youtube. For now, allow me to share with you the one for Queen Meve:
Besides the new leader, the update has also brought in a variety of balance changes and quality-of-life tweaks. The most important of these tweaks is the simple fact that matches now flow in a much smoother manner, with less waiting for unnecessary animations to be completed before you're allowed to play again. You can read more about this, as well as find the full list of balance changes, over at the official website.
Have fun!