No distro. I mean the next LTS version of the kernel. On Gentoo I can choose my kernel version, but it general I like to be on the stable LTS. But recently I needed to choose a more recent version for better compatibility of the amdgpu driver for the one game I am playing.
I used that combination, too. But I have settled for only the useless gaps extension for now. PaperWM was behind Gnome version too long and now I have seen there is Niri getting better and better. I will switch someday, I guess. It has the same concept as PaperWM, but is a scrollable/linear WM from the ground up.