My Top 4 Richmond Vault Tour Report

Hello again, it's another Vault Tour tournament report from yours truly, a Team Fuzzy Gruens member. This was my 4th VT, and my 3rd AoA Sealed VT (Which seems to be the format majority anywhere near me). I finished in the top 4, which is the best I've done (tying with top 4 at Columbus, and beating my top 16 in Sealed at Gencon Indianapolis and going 4-2 in Archon at Gencon). There were some really interesting things that happened during the tournament that I want to mention, as well as the obligatory deck assessment part, which is probably everyone's favorite. So let's get going!

Fuzzy Gruens logo created by Brice Hutchinson, a local player

So I entered in a side event since I had some free tickets, and got to play a Sealed Survival tournament. I used a nifty 4x Plague Rat/3x Dharna deck to beat Rachael Trimble, who was as friendly and gracious as can be, but nonetheless it still felt great to beat such a high caliber player. :) After that deck lost due to me playing a Plague Rat and then my opponent playing their own Dharna for 6 amber, I went with a Grump Buggy deck that allowed me to win my last 2 games and I went 3-1. It was a fun time and a good warmup for the main event. I went back to my Airbnb apartment across the street from the Convention Center, and proceeded to hardly any sleep due to it being around 85 degrees in my room for some reason that I couldn't fix.

 

Anywho, I met up with my two local friends and teammates for Team Fuzzy Gruens, Nick and Charles, and we excitedly waited getting our choices for the Sealed Vault Tour. Once again I felt a lot of pressure, since I had managed to make it to Day 2 in both of my previous Sealed VTs, plus I wanted to make a good showing for Team Fuzzy Gruens, but mainly I was trying to pad my standing on the VT Leaderboard. I was #39 on the list and every VT I dropped several slots, and I knew that pretty soon I would really start to drop hard as I got further down. FFG had recently announced that the top 100 would receive Worlds invites, so I really wanted to help cement my chances.

As I usually do with Sealed events, there were a couple of things that I mainly look for when choosing a deck:

Amber Control - This has always been huge for me. If I don't have amber control, then my opponent can do whatever they want and I run the risk of just losing to any little burst of amber. And of course the best amber control is stealing, so keeping my eye out on Shadows is a big thing. Along these lines, I really like to look for the big amber control cards, ie the ones that can get my opponent's amber down from any amount, such as Doorstep to Heaven or Too Much to Protect (or a Legacy Effervescent Principle in the case of my Gencon Sealed deck, lol). But really, I feel like a deck NEEDS some kind of amber control, especially with there being so many good AoA combos.

Creature Count - This has become almost the most important thing for me in Sealed events. It wasn't always so, but in AoA I just found that a large creature count could win me a ton of games. Board wipes are hard to come by in AoA, and so a big board can frequently allow you to do what you want. You don't have to worry as much about action card burst amber as much as you did with CotA. But controlling the board and getting your amber that way is a very legitimate way to win in AoA.

Creature Control/Board Wipes - And piggybacking off my last point, if creature count is important, then creature control is just as important. I have found that most good sealed decks need a get-out-of-jail-free-card, which in AoA is usually a board wipe of some kind. Sometimes your opponent flops down 5+ creatures, and if you don't have a way of answering that, you can lose. And with this format needing to be 5-1 to make it Day 2 (and with it being single-game matches), you cannot afford to have that happen often.

Raw Amber/Big Amber generating combos - I still count the number of raw amber pips on my cards, since that can really help how quickly you get to keyforging, which is the name of the game. I also look for big combos that can really help me win such as Binate Rupture/Interdimensional Graft, Ganger Cheiftain/Drummernaut, Martian Generosity, etc.

Artifact Control - This has also become very important in my eyes. There are a lot of important artifacts in AoA that need to be addressed. Proclamation 346E in Sanctum, Grump Buggy in Brobnar, Redacted in Logos, Lash of Broken Dreams in Dis, etc. I have found that games are won and lost depending on if a player has these or doesn't. I also look for these artifacts in my decks as well.

So, with that in mind, let's look at my options:

Silverhand of Supermanor

Ok, I wish that I had DoK (Decks of Keyforge) available while looking at my decks, lol. But this pic at least shows a little better at what a deck can do. In my eyes in just looking through the deck, I looked at my parameters:
Amber Control - Not really seeing a lot. Cuttthroat Research is the only thing that allows me to affect my opponent's amber. Not great.
Creature Count - 20 is very decent. I typically want to see 16+. Anything less than that and I'm almost always pitching it, unless it has some insane card combos.
Creature Control/Board Wipes - No solid board wipes such as Coward's End, but it does have some good stuff with Lava Ball and First Blood in Brobnar, as well as a Poke for Duskwitch. And Mars has some Motherguns, Orbital Bombardment, and Destroy Them All!, so not too bad. Plus, those King of the Crags can really help against a mirror match.
Raw Amber/ Amber generation - I am counting 8 pips, which is awfully low. I am also not seeing a Drummernaut in Brobnar, to team up with Ganger Chieftain, and I'm not really seeing any other burst options.
Artifact Control - This has a Destroy Them All!, which I really like. This is a really good removal card.

Batzorig "Cannonade" Engikrieg

I see Shadows, so that already gets me excited!
Amber Control - I am seeing a lot of good stuff here. Doorstep to Heaven is one of those cards that let me get rid of any amount of amber, not matter how big.  Isee an Aubade the Grim, Maruck the Marked, and a Bordan the Redeemed, all which are pretty solid amber control cards, and we haven't even gotten into Shadows yet! Technically Anahita  the Trader as well, but with only 1 artifact that is not really going to realistically happen, and I've never seen it happen before so I basically ignore that (foreshadowing!). Shadows has a double Nerve Blast, which is an awesome card, and a Brend the Fanatic with 2 Life for a Life, which is awesome amber control as well as creature control! And there are a couple of other cards that can steal as well. Untamed doesn't have anything, which is a shame, but Glimmer can help me get stuff back if I need to.
Creature Count - 20 is another solid number
Creature Control/Board Wipes - I'm not seeing a lot here, unfortunately. I have the Life for a Lifes and Throwing Stars, Curiosity (which only pays off against Logos), and a Smite, along with a ocuple other little things. I don't have any real big board wipes, so it looks like I would have to depend on my creatures to destroy everything. That being said, this deck has some really solid options with that ridiculous Untamed board, 2x Abond the Armorsmith for protection.
Raw Amber/Amber generation - 11 is not awful. It's no 18, but it's competent enough to get by. I usually want to see at least 10. I'm also not really seeing any burst abilities besides Soldiers to Flowers, but I have to be careful with that since it can benefit my opponent as well.
Artifact Control - I have 2 Rustgnawers. Not the best removal but it is at least removal, and I have a lot of protection for them with the Abonds and Grovekeeper and especially Anga Panpaca.

Norberg of Nighthell Museum

Ok, despite not having Shadows, this House combination has a lot of potential.
Amber Control - Crap. A single Charette?! Seriously? Where is my Lash of Broken Dreams, where are my Nyzyk Resonators, where is my Shatterstorm? This does not bode well.
Creature Count - 16 is on the low end, but it is still manageable. I really wish I had more Brobnar creatures, though. I'd totally remove the Into the Frays for some creatures.
Creature Control/Board Wipe - Oh boy this has everything! Coward's End and Unlocked Gateway and even Carpet Phloxem provide the hard board clears (with Lifeward being an awesome combo to go along with them), and we have tons of little removal for Duskwitches and Sutterkin removal and such. That 4x Collector Worm has me really excited as well, especially because it looks like I don't really ever have a need to collect my archives. I have removal for days. Nothing is staying alive for long. This is looking real solid. I suppose that is why I only have 16 creatures.
Raw Amber/Amber generation - 14 raw amber is very decent. Not a lot else when it comes to amber generation though. I suppose Neffru could work with so many boardwipes, but I'd be afraid of helping my opponent too much, and with so little raw amber, I'd probably be too afraid to do it.
Artifact Control - Yeesh, not seeing any. That could be really rough. Some of those amber control artifacts could really mess me up like Lash of Broken Dreams and Proclamation 346e

Alrighty, here are my options, and I had 15 minutes to decide. I decided pretty early on that I did not want Silverhand. That lack of amber control really had me not liking it. And looking at it now I see that it has lots of creature control, but at the time I was more looking at big board wipes. In retrospect, I think this deck could have been as debatable as my other ones (and probably better than the one that was contending with the one I went with), but I don't regret my decision. My biggest debate was between the other 2. I really loved the creature control of Norberg along with the raw amber, but that lack of amber control really had me scared. On the other hand, I loved the amber control and amber generation of Batzorig, but the lack of a board wipe made me really scared. After going back and forth for several minutes, I ended up going with Batzorig. This deck is my only option with amber control, and I just think that if you want to go far, you have to have something, and the other decks just didn't have that.

 

After I picked my deck, I started to formulate my plan to win each game. I knew I had the amber control to keep my opponent's off key, so that was nice. My main plan as I was looking at my deck, was to help against the lack of board control. I knew that if my opponent were to get a large board, there was little I could do to get rid of it. So I would have to really dig for all my creatures and establish my own board, so I could dictate play that way. In terms of little reminders, I knew that I would be looking for Life for a Life to go with Brend the Fanatic. But other than that, I felt I was as ready as I was going to be. I did not feel super confident. I figured my lack of board control was going to get me some losses, and I especially thought that would be the case the further I got into the tournament, but I felt confident enough in thinking I'd go 3-3, which would be good enough for me. I resolved myself to my deck, and concentrated on getting my mindset to just enjoy the tournament and have fun (because I can get pretty competitive).

Here is where my mind goes fuzzy. I really wish we could take notes during games. I don't recall most of my early games. I stuck to my gameplan and just flooded the board with creatures. I used my amber control to keep my opponents off of their keys, while using my board to generate amber and control the board. I remember realizing pretty early on how powerful my Untamed board could get. Panpaca could make it quite ridiculous, and my double Knox were tearing things up and never dying. I luckily did not face a lot of board wipes or Brobnar or Sanctum in those early rounds. But I was waiting for the ball to drop as we got further in. After round 3 I was 3-0, while my teammates were both 1-2 I believe, which was quite sad as that meant they could not make day 2. They had some pretty rough opponents with both of them facing some of the best players from the various teams that were there. Their decks had similar issues to mine, and fell victim to large boards. After lunch we hurried back (although I did not get to start eating my lunch as we only had 30 minutes).

In round 4 I faced someone who just literally came sprinting in from lunch. He also lost his deck in between the rounds and so was a little flustered after finally finding it. I think a lot of this changed the game. I did what I normally did and flooded the board. My opponent played some amber control and creature control, but I remember several turns where he only played 1-2 cards per turn. I don't know what his hand looked like, but I can't imagine that was the right play. And these weren't big single card turns like a board clear or a Swindle or anything. I got a huge board out and used my control to deny him a key, and managed to win 3-0 on keys.

I felt pretty good going 4-0 so far, and knew that I just needed to win one more game to make it to day 2. But if I lost the remainder that would still be ok as I would have more wins than losses. My opponent in round 5 was Ben Wallace from Team SAS. Just the kind of person I did not want to run into, lol. I knew he was a very skilled player, and he had recently trounced my teammate by flooding the board with Brobnar while controlling amber with Shadows, so I knew I was in for a struggle. I actually resolved myself to a loss before starting, which I know I shouldn't do, but I was trying to be realistic. He was playing Brobnar, Logos, Shadows, which is an amazing House combination to get in AoA. I lost the roll to go first, and interestingly enough, I had gone second in every game so far. This, I think was really good for my deck, since I really need to establish a board early. Well I established a board early and Ben promptly wiped it with Coward's End. He then dropped a bunch of Brobnar creatures including Ganger Chieftain, and I got worried. I quickly dropped a bunch of Untamed creatures, and used Brend and Life for a Life to get rid of the Chieftain (before Drummernaut could get down), as well as getting him off a key. I wiped most of his board and was sitting pretty with a ton of amber.

 

I had I think 10 amber, and I was really afraid of Ben playing Too Much to Protect. He also had his own Brend the Fanatic out, and I didn't want to get decimated. So, thinking I was so clever, I actually killed his Brend, allowing him to steal 3 of my amber, and so hopefully helping me to avoid a huge TmtP play. Well, he then goes into Logos, plays Binate Rupture, increasing my amber to 14, then he plays a Helper Bot that allows him to play Too Much to Protect to steal 8 amber, lol. He plays some other stuff that gets his amber to more than 20 I think, but I'm still standing there dumbfounded. It was an amazing play. I forged my first key and my mind snaps back. I now have 3 turns to fix this or he is going to win. I already played my Brend the Fanatic, but I haven't played my Doorstep to Heaven yet. I know that is my only chance. Boy, that would have been amazing to play DtH right after he did his play, lol. He might have quit right there, lol. But alas, I did not. I began dumping whatever house had the majority of cards and tried to get to my DtH. I think I still managed to generate a decent amount of amber, as well as control the board with my Untamed, but I knew it would be for naught without DtH. He gained his first 2 keys easily before I finally hit it when I was almost out of cards. I breathed a sigh of relief. I believe I forged my 2nd key around this time. Now, I just had to figure out how to get my 3rd key.

He was threatening to forge his last key, or at least very close to it, and I wasn't sure if he had a Nightforge or anything. I really wanted to try and threaten to forge a key, but I was having trouble figuring out and I believe I was sitting at 2 amber, but then I saw it. Stupid Anahita the Trader was on the board, and I had my one artifact in hand, lol. I played my Sigil of Brotherhood (3 amber), I reaped with Anahita (4), then gave my Sigil to Ben, forcing him to give me 2 of his amber (6). He did not have the amber control to stop me, and I won, lol. It was a crazy game, I couldn't believe I won, especially after his brilliant play to gain tons of amber. It was one of those games that I wish was on stream, because it was very exciting. Ben played a great game. I wonder now if playing Coward's End on turn 2 was the right call, especially considering the board I had later on, but who knows. I was now 5-0 and guaranteed to make day 2.

In the final round there were 3 5-0s, and I got matched up with Alex Carroll from Archons of Atlanta, while I believe Nathan Starwalt got paired down. We were on stream, so you can watch the game here, but of course I would not personally recommend it, lol. Ugh, I never do well on stream. But anyway, at least the match didn't decide on if I would make day 2 or not. I mulliganed into a bad hand with a bad house split, and spent the first couple of turns catching up. Meanwhile, Alex did his thing and slowly gained amber. I think he got 7 amber before playing Martian Generosity, which gained him 14 cards. Yeesh. You can watch the stream, but I was in a lot of trouble. I actually managed to get to 9 amber with 1 key already. My opponent had a huge board, and he had just shuffled Martian Generosity back into his deck. I was afraid of amber control, and I was afraid of him taking me off a key or just outracing me. He had enough amber to forge his second. I had Nightforge in my hand. I decided to play it to forge my second key, and I was hoping for a miracle to get me to 6 amber before my opponent could reap out. I forged my second key and he ended up just easily racing me for the win. I did have some creatures on the board. If I had just played Nightforge and not forged, he would have forged his second and then gained some amber. If he did not threaten to forge a key then, I would have forged my second key and had at least 4 amber. If he did not kill my creatures, or even if he did, I might have been able to gain 2 amber to threaten my 3rd, and it's possible he would not have the answers to take me off. In retrospect me forging a key was definitely the wrong call, as it almost guaranteed me the loss. If I had just sat there and logically thought the game out I should have seen the conclusion. But alas, now I know better.

I was 5-1 and ranked #4 going into Day 2. This surprised me, because after round 3 I think I was #4, but then after I won, I dropped down several spots, and then after that I dropped down even more after winning. I figured some of my early opponents had dropped from the tournament, and that was hurting my strength of schedule. So I thought my loss in round 6 would have caused me to be in the bottom of the list, but I suppose losing to the only undefeated person left, along with Ben winning his last game, allowed me a much higher place. This was good, because it meant I was getting a first round bye on day 2, which meant even more leaderboard shards automatically, lol. Charles, my one teammate, managed to win the rest of his games and ended up 4-2, which is very respectable. We ended up playing in the team event, which was a ton of fun. We did well, and went 2-2 I think in matches, but the last match was a questionable.

My friend's opponent was playing a Heart of the Forest deck (booo). My friend forged 2 keys before HotF was played. My friend had no artifact control, but he did have a dominant board with his opponent having no way to remove it, and my friend having lots of amber control in his deck. He felt confident that he could stall his opponent until time (and the time clock was visible). His opponent accused my friend of slow playing, and said that since he played HotF, my friend had no win condition since he had no artifact control, and therefore he automatically wins. He said it is illegal to play to time and that is not a win condition. Time eventually ran out and my friend won easily on tie breakers. The other guy complained for a while. We eventually just gave them the win because it was just a side event and we were hungry. But afterwards we thought about it more and were a little agitated. The next day we would go ask a judge how they would have ruled it and they said they would have ruled in our favor. The slow-playing would simply be timed to 1 minute turns, which my friend was perfectly fine and claimed he didn't even go that long. The judge said that time is definitely a win condition. Not only that, but the regular win condition of the game was still in effect, since the opponent could always accidentally generate too much amber and just get to 2 keys, allowing my friend to win (something the opponent said would never happen because he was too good, lol). So anyway, we probably should have won the match. The only reason I care more is because I hate Heart of the Forest. It is an awful card that never should have been printed. It leads to an awful game experience and stupid situations like this. What was my friend supposed to do? He had 2 keys, could generate an infinite amount of amber, and could stall his opponent until time. He had no other choice, his opponent forced him to do that. All because of a stupid card. Hopefully Worlds Collide and all the Dis purging just eliminates those dumb decks from competitive play.

We all went out to a wonderful BBQ place that evening and I managed to get a little more sleep than the previous night, although I still had to contend with whatever random flatmate was putting the heat on so high.

So after my first round bye I find out that I am playing Asher Knopp, who I had actually played in the last round of the team event. He was a very nice player and we had an exciting game, especially since we had almost identical Archon decks. It was an interesting mirror match that I eventually won. Luckily, neither of us talked about the sealed event nor even realized who we were playing. So this was the top 8 match for day 2. I started out going really fast right away, and never really looked back. I dominated the board and kept him off of his keys for several turns. I must have taken him off a key 5 times I think? Everything really worked out for me. I got a huge board out and my opponent just couldn't do very much against me. He stalled me using the same Charette like 4 times in a row by using Exhume and Glimmer, but I was never too concerned about it. An Angwish came out but Life for a Life answered that. I eventually won 3 keys to none. I felt bad, as I did get some very good draws, and Asher had several key cards that were at the bottom of his deck, but I suppose a win's a win. He was very nice and gracious and I wish him well on future events.

 

I then moved on to the top 4 match...and saw that I had to face Alex Carroll again, lol. Oh bother. It was a best of 3 match, and not even adaptive. We were not on stream thank heavens. The games we had did not feel close. I think I lost 3-2 and 3-1 in keys, but they felt worse. He just waited out until he got Martian Generosity, and then dominated after that. He had enough creature control and a huge board presence to slow my deck down, and Bouncing Deathquark was huge in doing that. I managed to pull off some sweet Curiosity turns by one-sidedly sweeping his board, which felt cool, but I didn't really think I stood a chance. It was a very bad matchup. In retrospect, it is possible I could have won a game or two if Bouncing Deathquark and Martian Generosity were at the bottom of his deck, and if I started off strong with a large board and controlled it from there, but I think it is a long shot. He also had Redacted, which got him his first win I believe. And besides, I got 3 chances at doing this and failed every time, lol. Oh well. I lost in the top 4. Alex would go on to play a sort of mirror match in the finals against the eventual winner Nathan Starwalt from Tabletop Royale, who also had a Martian Generosity deck. I have not watched the stream yet but I heard it was very exciting and Nathan won 2-1.

So I ended up getting another top 4 finish, gaining another 255 shards, and catapulting me from #39 on the leaderboard, to #20. Hopefully that should keep me in a good position, because I'm not sure how many more Vault Tours I will make before the season is over. I think my deck overperformed. Looking at it now in the new SAS, it is rated at a 63, which is very average. I think it had just enough of everything that I needed to succeed. With a lot of luck in the games, and definitely some humble experience and skill, I was able to do well. I hope that continues, but who knows. This next set looks daunting. It looks awesome and I can't wait, but it looks difficult. I have not had a jump start to it like others have, so I'm not putting my expectations high for the new sealed play. I also feel like I finally was getting a handle on AoA, and now it is rotating out of sealed events, so that makes me sad. I shall have fond memories of sealed play with AoA, and I hope WC holds up to the high bar in my opinion.

The Richmond, VA Vault Tour was a really fun event, and the people at Yeti Gaming did a wonderful job. They were energetic, fun, joking around, and yet serious enough in their craft and pulled off a very smooth event with no issues that I'm aware of. It was a great experience and I highly recommend anyone in playing in a Vault Tour. Also, I know there were several people there whose this was their first Vault Tour, and I know at least one first-timer made it to day 2. So be inspired, anyone can do well! Thanks to all the competitors at the Vault Tour, it was so nice meeting you, and many of you meeting in person for the first time. I feel like my connections and friends in this game grow exponentially at each VT. I apologize if I forgot anything. Thanks for being such an awesome community, thanks for reading this far, and as always, happy gaming!

Q&A with another 2-time VT Winner, Jakub Nosal

Today, we have another special treat: We are talking with the second 2-time Vault Tour Winner in as many Vault Tours! This is Jakub Nosal, joining us to answer some questions about his Keyforge experience.

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First of all, congratulations! You won the Nurnburg, Germany Vault Tour, and now in Madrid, Spain! You are the second 2-time Vault Tour winner that used the same deck to win both. With the recent news regarding Keyforge Worlds, you are all but guaranteed to get an invitation, so congratulations on that as well! How do you feel?

Feeling ecstatic! It's an amazing feeling to know you've found something you enjoy and are actually genuinely good at.


Your deck, Adm. Inslang, the Pink Fraud, has now proven itself to be quite the powerhouse. Was this a random deck you discovered or did you purchase it through a secondary market. Also, when you first saw it, did you have any inkling of it being something special?

 

I bought the deck and I picked it up because I thought it had some fun synergies; LART (at the time), Library Access Reverse Time, 2 Battlefleet+Key Abduction, 2 Routine Job. I had no idea it would be as powerful as it's proven itself to be since.


When Library Access and Bait and Switch were nerfed, it was only a little bit before the Nurnburg Vault Tour, did those changes make you hesitate using this deck?

Not at all, the nerfs actually made me all the more confident. Before the nerfs the only actually bad matchup for the deck were LANS combo decks that could play without using AEmber and thus blank all my steal. With that gone, my chances of winning actually went up.


What makes your deck so good? Or is it more how you play it? What is the ratio of skill:deck in Keyforge in your opinion?

I'd say 50-50? The deck needs to be good but a bad pilot can only get so far even with the greatest of decks.


Both formats of the Vault Tours that you won were Archon survival, which means that you bring 3 decks, you choose the order in which you play them, and then you keep playing with one until you lose, then you have to advance down your line until you win it all, or have no more decks. What order did you choose and why did you choose that particular order?

In both Vault Tours I decided to put Pink Fraud as the third deck, putting my 2nd most powerful deck as the first one in order. That way I had the maximum chances of going to day two where I could let my superior deck shine through.


What is your opinion of the meta we are in where we are seeing some of the same decks at multiple high level events. Not that anyone can blame you for wanting to use a winning deck again, but what is your opinion on how that affects competitive play? Is it good or bad? Do you think decks should be retired or power-leveled out after winning a big tournament, or at least out until something like Worlds?

I see no reason to do anything like that. Punishing players for doing well will just lead to players less likely to want to do well. Why would I want to win a vault tour if it would mean I can't play my favorite and most cherished deck at another one? It would lead to players conceding the final game of a vault tour to preserve the ability to play with their deck. And additionally, why would the same decks appearing at multiple tournaments be a detriment to anyone? The only ones that would benefit from this forced rotation would be FFG because it would mean top tier players would need to purchase more decks to stay competitive. Just like with Vault Warriors...


What is your play testing regimen when it comes to preparing for a Vault Tour?

I... mostly just play a lot. I don't really have a specific preparation in mind before a Vault Tour. I usually actually chill out, put Keyforge away for a week or so, playing other games in the meantime to not overburn myself on the game.


What is your opinion of the recent news regarding the Vault Warrior tournament series? Do you think introducing a cash league is good for the game? Along those same lines, it seems as if that league is introducing a pseudo-rotation in that older sets may not be legal as we get more expansions, what do you think of that? In your opinion, does that go against what FFG originally said when Keyforge came out saying that your decks will never be rotated out?

I believe the series is a great idea that will greatly benefit the game as a whole and very competitive players such as myself in particular. What I am worried about though is the competitive cost of keeping up with the game, which increases by a huge amount due to the pseudo rotation, potentially making Keyforge the most expensive card game in existence to keep up with... Which is definitely not the intended result...


Do you play a lot of Keyforge locally at the store level? Are you excited about Store Championships and the upcoming Store Leaderboard kits with the alternate-art-cards-in-a-deck for a prize? Do you think FFG should be doing more to promote the game at the store level?

I do play locally and I can't seem to ever do as well on a local level as I do internationally. Nobody's a prophet in their own town I guess. I'm pretty excited for the local support and I really appreciate all FFG is doing for the local communities, which is sure to expand with time rather than otherwise.


Being on Team SAS, you are no stranger to the team game in Keyforge, what are your thoughts about the format for Worlds being team oriented? Do you think that is more inclusive, or exclusive? Have you played any Keyforge team events before? With all of the high-level tournaments so far being single player, do you think adding a new team aspect at the highest level is good for the game, or is that too incongruous?

I'm extremely excited for worlds being a team event. For one it allows us to cooperate rather than compete, which is always awesome. For another, it gives us a huge competitive edge, having some of the best players in the game being able to combine into a single team. For yet another, it allows to compress best of three games into the time of just one, allowing us to play a lot more matches than we otherwise would be able to due to time constraints. All in all, I'm super happy with that decision.


What got you into Keyforge to begin with? Also, what got you involved in Team SAS?

I was looking for a new card game to get engaged with once I got burned out of Gwent when it stopped being as skillful as it once was. I stumbled onto the game on my facebook feed, where a local shop announced a small triad tournament. I came in, bought three decks and immediately got hooked.
As for Team SAS; before the team got formed I already engaged with Nathan on basically daily basis, arguing about the game and the card ratings on his site. So when they formed the team at the first VT in US he invited me in, valuing my expertise.


What is your favorite House? 

It's a tossup between Mars and Shadows. Mars because it has so many powerful interactions that are amazing when they come to fruition. Shadows because... Shadows wins games, as simple as that.


What is your favorite card and/or combo in the game?

I'd say my favorite card in the game has to be Reverse Time. It has so many interactions and plays and fun things it can do it's just crazy. Probably one of the strongest cards in the game but extremely underappreciated.


Which of the new Houses coming in Worlds Collide (Saurians or Star Alliance), are you most looking forward to?

I'm mostly looking forward to Star Alliance, because as fun as Saurians look they seem to be high risk high reward. But Star Alliance has its own slew of really bad cards, so overall I'm skeptical.


How do you think the new set will change the tournament meta of the game, if it will at all?

I think it will... introduce new decks into the metagame. I disbelieve the doomsayers spelling the end of steal meta, as the steal-countering cards will be far too few to impact the meta in enough force to bring that on. Overall I think it will just be a new and interesting thing that will appear on the radar that existing decks will have some trouble dealing with, but nothing disastrous.

What card(s) are you most looking forward to from the new set?

I can't wait to see how Quixxle Stone can impact the meta; it's probably the single most powerful card spoiled in that set. 

Do you use custom pieces to upgrade the look of your Keyforge components (ie custom keys, plastic instead of cardboard tokens, etc)? And if so, what are your favorite?

I use Luxury Playstyle tokens. They're amazing in both looks and the perfect weight. Them being the sponsors of Team SAS-LP, it'd be unreasonable to use anything else anyway. 

What is next for you?

Well this year there's no more Vault Tours in Europe, but I'm planning to get to a few Grand Championships to get myself that paid for travel to worlds. Without one such... it might be hard for me to justify the costs of getting to worlds.

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Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk, Jakub. Congratulations again and good luck in the future! Thank you, readers, for making it this far. Do you enjoy these interviews? Are there questions you'd like answered that I did not ask? Please let me know in the comments! Thanks again, and happy gaming!

Q&A with 2-time VT Winner, George Keagle!

Hello fellow Keyforgers! Welcome to another Q&A with a Vault Tour Champion! This is a special one, as I got to ask some questions from George Keagle, who is the the FIRST person to win TWO Vault Tours, both with the same deck! So thanks in advance to him for taking time to talk to yet another person about his experience. So let's dive in!

So, first of all, congratulations! Not only have you won a Vault Tour, but this is your SECOND victory! You are the first one to do this, so the bar has been set. How does it feel to win twice and to sit at the top of the Vault Tour Leaderboard?

It feels great! I've been fighting for that number spot all year, and it's a great accomplishment for me. I was able to prove Gasoline still has the competitive edge, as well as win without Shadows or a combo.

I have heard that your deck, "Gasoline" Maximiliano, Dungeon Keeper, was your second deck you ever opened? What were your initial thoughts upon seeing it? Did you know you had a powerhouse in your hand? Were you aware of the Library Access/Nepenthe Seed combo yet?

 

I didn't have much initial thoughts as the game had just been released. My only deck before that was from a prerelease. I didn't know about the combo, but it happened naturally in playing the deck against friends, and showed itself to be better and better the more KeyForge, and decks, I played. People hated whenever I played it, so that was a very good sign.

So your first Vault Tour win, Chicago Adepticon, was in the days before the LANS errata, what were your thoughts on those erratas and how did it affect your view of your deck and Keyforge on the whole?

I'm used to decks getting banned from Magic, and as being a combo player. I was against it, but the majority of players were for it, and rejoiced when it was announced. It didn't effect my view on KeyForge at all honestly. Things like that are bound to happen in a card game like this. Maybe players coming from a board game background aren't used to that. It will happen again surely. Be ready for it, and you won't be surprised that much. I do think it's slightly different in KeyForge as you can't ban a specific card, as it would do a wave of decks that people own that get banned because you can't change your deck at all. Erratas are much more likely in my opinion.

So what made you decide to use your same deck again, and can you explain what makes it competitive, despite not having Shadows (which has been considered to be the most competitive House so far) and it being in a post-errata world?

 

I don't buy into the concept that you need Shadows to win. Having aember control is definitely great, but I think Shadows best cards are in the removal anyway. I like to play my decks to see which ones are the best and how they play. Gasoline has been my best deck by far since I got it. What makes it so good are its insane tempo plays. Cards like Control the Weak, Restringuntus are obvious, but Teliga, Skippy Timehog, and Library Access are all extremely strong cards that either deny my opponents the lines of play they WANT to make, or increase my own powerful turns. Almost every card in the deck either slows my opponents down or speeds me up in a huge way. Even the Ancient Bears pull strong weight in fighting down opposing board states, clearing the way for a Restringuntus lock.

What is your routine when it comes to preparing for a big tournament? 

Number one is making sure I have good sleeping arrangements. Getting a full nights rest is important. I always buy bottled water to put in my bag to stay hydrated. Specifically Smart water, because I like the tall skinnier shape for my bag. Granola bars of some kind, beef jerky, and typically some kind of mixed nuts/trail mix are there for not getting too hungry. Gameplay wise, I try to fit in as many games as I can to get ramped up. If Archon, you need to play your specific deck to be as familiar as possible.

What is your favorite format to play Keyforge?

Archon (Solo) and Sealed (Solo). I think Sealed is the best way to get new decks. Play them rather than only open and look at the list. I love Archon because I get to play my favorite decks, or at least decks that didn't get a fair shake either because I opened it not in a Sealed event, or I did horribly in the Sealed event because I didn't know the nuances of that particular deck yet.

 

What initially got you into Keyforge, and what has kept you interested in Keyforge? What excites you the most?

A friend texted me when he was at GenCon. I didn't think this type of unique thing could be mass produced at a cost efficient level. That was enough to sink my teeth in. Once I started playing I new this game was something special, but FFG does a great job making games. I'm excited for the possibilities this game has to offer. They keep coming up with new ways to make it even more unique, like the Anomaly decks. How neat is that concept?! I think the older this game gets, the harder Archon format will become, which is actually a good thing to me. When everyone is playing with decks from different sets, the games are going to be extremely interesting and unique experiences. This game has so much going for it. I hope it has the longevity there as well.

What are your thoughts about the Keyforge competitive scene? Do you think it is in a healthy state? Is there anything you would like to see implemented? 

I think it's great actually. I know some people are upset about teams and the same people being on top, but that generally means that they are the best players, when they can get those results consistently. I think it adds something to look up to if you want to get better at something. Come take us down! I'd like to see it get MORE competitive, honestly. I want to go to some $1k's or other big cash events that aren't Officially sanctioned Vault Tours. These types of events generate hype for the game and get peoples attention to check the game out. Get's more players into the game and grows the community, as well as is an awesome, fun time.

What do you think is the most powerful House in Keyforge? What is the most powerful card right now? What is your favorite card in the game and why? What is your favorite combo right now?

I think that is a loaded question. The obvious answer is "Shadows", but I think Shadows is the most consistently good house. I think Dis or Logos might be the most POWERFUL house. Dis can win a game on its own, and Logos makes a deck run smooth as butter regardless of what else. I think it's mostly irrelevant as decks are unique, so it's better to look at an individual list than say "Shadows is best, Mars is worst". You can have the best Mars and worst Shadows and it doesn't matter anymore.

 

Restringuntus wins more games by itself than any other card in the game I think, so best and favorite. My favorite combo right now is GenKa, but I don't have any Martian Generosity deck. I'd like one with Nepenthe Seed ideally.

What are your thoughts about teams in Keyforge? Are you on a team? Are you planning on joining/creating a team?

It makes sense and gets attention. Most card games that are played competitively get that. Maybe people didn't expect or were surprised by it. FFG is more a board game company, even though they do make competitive card games. KeyForge crosses both together. Overall I think it's good for the game to grow mechanically, as well as community. Most people probably interact with their friends as a team would and don't realize it because they don't wear matching shirts.

Not on a team officially. I am writing for Reapout, so if any team it would likely be them. I think I'm a guest right now, like Spider-Man on the Avengers. They are doing a great job creating content, and that's what I would like to do and be a part of.

I would love to create a team, but the people I'd like didn't seem into it. They are still secretly my team though.

What are your thoughts about the various rating systems Keyforge has? Do you value one over another? Are there specific aspects of a deck that you look for (ie amber generation, amber control, combos, etc)?

I think they are generally near the mark, but vaguely? Like a horoscope. They can say your deck is an Aries, but what does that mean really. You need to play your deck to find out. I think all types of decks, and ratings, can succeed, and the rating systems can't inherently measure the combos the game has. It can give a value to each card, and maybe even say card A+B is worth MORE points, but when you get to combos that are 4+ cards deep, or overall extreme synergies, I think the ratings fall flat.
I value them all equally. Each is trying to put a different measurement on decks to try to be more accurate than the others, which is good for competition in that arena of trying to be the best rating system. I love combo decks, or decks with high synergies. I don't care much what TYPE of deck it is, as long as it's interesting in that way.

What are your thoughts about Age of Ascension, when it comes to the competitive environment?

Not enough of it is opened. People want to say that AoA is worse, but in really it's 300k AoA decks versus 1 MILLION CotA decks. If cream rises to the top, 1 million is going to produce a lot more cream than 300k.

Other than that the theme of AoA, which is Fighting/anti-reaping, is so prevalent that I think the decks FEEL less Unique than CotA decks, but maybe we're all getting used to the game and it's blurring together.

Power wise I think AoA is on point. I haven't had any problems in that regard. Certain houses powered down, and others powered up. There's just less AoA decks in the wild overall. When the NON-CotA decks outnumber the CotA decks, things will get very interesting.

What are your thoughts about Worlds Collide so far? Do you have any cards or strategies you are most looking forward to? How/if do you think the set will affect the meta?

Saurians and Star Alliance are going to shake things up in a big way. I think Exalt is powerful. Ward is going to be very annoying. Imagine when I get to Ward my Restringuntus! I'll have to see the whole set before I start looking forward to strategies or deck combos. Right now I'm excited for dinos and space, two things I love. I think and hope people will be excited for new houses and buy a ton like the did CotA. Likely not 1 million, but it would be cool. The more people buy the more it will effect the meta. Ward sounds strong enough that people will probably jam a ton of it. It feels like the amount of Fight forcing and anti-reaping in AoA may have been a preemptive counter to the hard to kill stuff we've seen in WC. It may counter and make AoA more popular than it was.

What mechanics, theme, or strategy would you like to implemented in a future Keyforge set?

I think FFG needs to chill with the more tokens, but that likely won't happen. I want to see some key color matters stuff happen since they kinda hinted at it. I'd love to see a full on tribal theme. Like Mars/Logos has a ton of scientists and robots. Dis/Sanctum could combine with some Knights action as there are a few demon knights. They could make more. Beasts are maybe too generic. I think cross-house special rares would be cool. I started thinking if I got to be a card, what would I want, and imagine if there was a card like Time Traveler that tutored up a Dis card, and then you play it on your Logos turn. Something like that. There could be a special character or something that came with a special artifact type thing. If Archimedes is Quixo's companion, it's a missed opportunity to me to not have every Archimedes come with a Quixo etc. They've shown that the algorithm can do things like that. The more things like that, the more decks feel unique to me. Maybe they secretly do that in the algorithm and we just don't know about it though.

What is next for you?

Vault Tour Indianapolis in November. Hopefully I get to go to World's even though I wasn't able to make it to any of the National events. I'm getting married next year, so the closer we get to that, the less things I'll be able to do.
I want to write content about more advanced strategy things to help players get better at the game. I want to produce other content as well, but I am very unsure on what I want to make. I considered doing a YouTube video reviewing "Gasoline" Maximiliano and how I do things with it. Let me know what you would like from me as well! Deck openings and reviews, videos, podcasts, articles whatever! I want to grow this game I love!


These questions were great! Thank you for the opportunity to put my thoughts out there!

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Well, you heard him, folks! Let him know what kind of stuff you'd like to see from him! Give him some ideas in the comments! But congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, maybe you can get your spouse in on some Keyforge! And thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat with the community! We all really appreciate it. Me, like you, want to see this great game grow, and it's open people like you that really make it work! Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you and how you do at future events (but don't beat me, please), lol.

I hope you all enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Thanks for reading, and as always, happy gaming!

Keyforge: Worlds Collide Spoiled cards so far! (Updated 10/4 with 70+ new cards and a change log!)

Woohoo, it's spoiler season again! It was announced at Gencon that the new Keyforge set, Worlds Collide, will be dropping Q4 of this year. This is the biggest change to Keyforge as we are getting 2 new Houses! This also means that 2 existing Houses are leaving us temporarily. Goodbye Mars and Sanctum, you'll be missed. But hello Saurian Republic (Roman Dinosaurs) and Grand Star Alliance (Star Trek Star Corps)! There are new tokens and new abilities. Real quick, we are getting Enrage tokens - some cards allow you to enrage a creature, which means they have to attack if able, and then they lose the tokens. There are also ward tokens - When a creature would be damaged or leave play, you instead remove a ward token. Right now I am not 100% sure if purging the card is a way around warding, or not. And then, exclusive to the Saurian Republic, is exalting. When you exalt a creature, you place 1 Amber from the common supply on the creature, but it usually is for a great benefit. This is a risk/reward mechanic introduced in the new set. There are also "anomalies", which are extremely rare cards that can appear in any House.

*Change Log*

Added 10/7/19

Anomalies - Timequake, Orb of Wonder, The Red Baron

Added on 10/4/19 at 11 AM

Saurian Republic - Sow Salt, Livia the Elder, Brutodon Auxillary, Library of Polliasaurus, The Callipygian Ideal, Auto-Legionary, City Gates, Grimlocus Dux, Imperial Forge, Saurus Rex, Spartasaur, Tertiate, Triumph

Grand Star Alliance - General Order 24, Uncharted Lands, Operations Officer Yshi

Dis - Borr Nit's Touch, Noname

Logos - Mimic Gel, Groupthink Tank, Quantum Fingertrap, Reassembling Automaton, Hyde, Scientifical Hack, Universal Recycle Bin, Velum

Shadows - Manchego, Into the Night, No Safety in Numbers, Spike Trap, Finch Cloak, Gambling Den, Hunter or Hunted?, The Quiet Anvil, The Shadow Council

Untamed - Xenos Bloodshadow, Toad, Vineapple Tree, Bramble Lynx, Gebuk

Brobnar - Barn Razing, Gravelguts, Power of Fire, Ragwarg, Shattered Throne, Slimy Jark, Guji Dinosaur Hunter, Igon the Green, Igon the Terrible, Kaloch Stonefather, Nogi Smartfist, Old Boomy, The Floor is Lava,

Anomaly - Valoocanth

Added on 10/3/19 a little later at 11:30

Anomaly - Memolith

Saurians - Cincinnatus Rex, The Golden Spiral

Logos - Hapsis, Universal Keylock, Zenzizenzizenzic

Added on 10/3/19 in the morning

Saurian Republic - Tribune Pompitus, Legatus Raptor, Praefectus Ludo, Thero Centurion, Ancient Power, Stomp, Imperial Road, Exile, Centurion Stenopius, Good of the Many, Tribute, Crassosaurus, Saury About That, Senator Bracchus, Primus Unguis, Rhetor Gallim, Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus

Grand Star Alliance - Tactical Officer Moon, United Action, Khrkhar's Blaster, Stealth Mode, Armsmaster Molina, Book of IeQ, We Can All Win, Medic Ingram, Plasma Nozzle, CXO Taber

Shadows Brobnar Plant, Fidgit, Inky Gloom, Weasand, Kymoor Eclipse, A Vinda

Brobnar - Chieftain's Brew, Gron Nine-Toes, Ballcano, Overrun, Ragnarok, Warrior's Refrain, Narp

Dis - Buzzle, Impspector, Infurnace, Borr Nit, Lilithal, Gleeful Mayhem, Malison, Soul Fiddle, Obsidian Forge

Untamed - Mab the Mad, Molephin, Eldest Bear, Instrument of Silence

Logos - Wormhole Technician

Anomalies section added - Lateral Shift,  Ghostform, Infomancer

I managed to challenge Josh Massey to a friendly game using some of the new cards and they feel awesome. I think it's really gonna shake up the game in a good way, hopefully. The pics spoiled so far are mainly from my phone when I was able to watch Josh Massey and Alex Watkins play a friendly game using the new cards, although there are some from the various livestreams, articles put out from FFG, and other people. Hopefully I can gather them all. There are group photos at the bottom, so don't forget to check those out. If I missed some, please let me know. Anyway, let's dive in, enjoy!

Saurian Republic

Philophosaurus - This is a great name, lol. I am loving this art, it's no wonder this will be one of the new playmats. I also love the flavor text, although I think it should have been "All I know, is that I know all". The card itself is fairly decent, with a nice 4 power and a great Eyegor-like ability. Although if you manage to do this, it's actually better than Eyegor since you get to add 1 to hand as well as archive 1.

Paraguardian - Solid 6/1 body, with an insane Reap ability to ward its neighbors. This is going to be quite powerful. I'm not quite sure what is going on in the picture, but it looks like a party I want to attend.

Axiom of Grisk - Ooo this seems powerful. No raw amber, but it looks like it should be pretty easy to set up a 1-sided board wipe, especially with the Saurians being able to exalt and manipulate amber around the board, not to mention the free ward.

And here is the alternate art version from the store leaderboard decks. I definitely like the alt art more.

Phalanx Strike - A raw amber with a decent targeted attack that can be repeated as long as you exalt. I think this will be a fun combo card. Removal is always needed, and with the Saurians being able to move the amber around, this card could set up some game-winning combos. Check this card out with the next one, Senator Shrix. This removal could also get through a warded creature by knocking the ward off, then repeating the effect. I also like that it's flexible to be able to target your own guys, like Brend the Fanatic :)

Senator Shrix - This is going to be a huge combo card. Exalt this guy, or pile on the amber, and then use it! As I said above, use this with Phalanx Strike for a possible combo to forge a key on your next turn! Now we have to wait and see if these Dinos get any Phase Shift-like cards.

Chant of Hubris - I like this a lot. It's very simply. Gain 1 raw amber, and move 1 amber. Note that you can move it to your own guys like Senator Shrix, or you can move it to an opponent's character.

Imperium - Man, these Suarians are knocking these cards out of the park. I really like this. Again, you get some raw amber, and then you get to ward 2 friendly creatures! Warding is going to go a long way in protecting your battle line.

Tricerian Legionary - Another solid creature. 5/1 with Taunt and the ability to ward a friendly creature, most likely himself. Yeah count me in. Sweet art too!

The Colosseum - Ok our first key cheat of the set! You will be adding tokens on yours as well as your opponents turn. Think of this like a Key Charge that you don't have to hold in your hand. Be wary of artifact stealing or destruction, but this could be a great way to close out games. Plus, being an Omni ability, means that you can do it on any of your turns. So look for some Brobnar help I'd say. :)

City-State Interest - A very solid on-turn amber control. If you can get a wide board, this card can get your opponent out of forging in most scenarios. Plus, more amber on your Saurian creatures mean more to manipulate.

Draco Praeco - Besides sounding like a name that Saurians use to make fun of each other on a playground, this card has a very interesting ability. This sounds like a lot of fun to use on creatures that have your captured amber, or if your only target to attack is one with taunt and hazardous, lol.

Orator Hissaro - This looks pretty decent. This allows for a bunch of activations of creatures. You will just have to decide if you want all that amber being around for your opponent to claim.

Gargantodon - Wow. That is a lot of power. At least it only deals 4 while fighting because this is pretty crazy. And that second passive ability is a big middle finger to Shadows. If your deck is lacking in stealing, then this sounds like a great card. If not, I'm thinking this will be too much of a liability. This thing isn't going to be easy to get rid of.

Favor of Rex - This seems pretty good. Raw amber and a choice of a play effect. I suppose it could backfire on you if there is no choice with play effects, but in general this seems pretty good.

Regrettable Meteor - This is a wonderfully themed card. This could be ok, especially against Brobnar, opposing Dinos, as well as Voltron Star Alliance buffed up creatures. However, considering how much exalting there is with the Dinos, this seems like a card that would backfire most of the time. At least it gives an amber.

Imperial Scutum - Well, this is begging to be mispronounced, lol. But this card looks really good for the Dinos. You can exalt like crazy, and then you can put this on, give it some armor, and then make sure that your opponent doesn't get that exalted/captured amber! Pretty sweet.

Odoac the Patrician - I am loving the variety of Dinos with this house. This is an amazing card. Very decent power with amber control, AND an amazing passive ability to prevent amber from being stolen. Plus, being a Saurian, Odoac will have access to Exalting even if you don't happen to capture anything. This is a perfect anti-Shadows card.

Terrordactyl - Gargantodon gets a rival, and one that I personally like better. I don't like passive abilities that my opponent can benefit from, and this doesn't have that. This is a great card to help clear the board, and perfect against Taunt. Plus, the art is amazing. Playmat-worthy for sure!

Tribune Pompitus - I love this house. These names, lol. This seems like quite the amazing creature for the Saurians to have. There is a ton of exalting going around, and this really adds a lot of survivabiltiy to them. Also note that it is +2 power  for every friendly creature, including himself. 4 power to start out isn't amazing, but that 2 armor will go a long way, and before the fight you can decide to exalt to add at least 2 more to him. Obviously, only time and playtests will tell you how often you should exalt. But if one wanted to exalt in this game, this card would definitely be one I'd want.

Praefectus Ludo - Oooo, another dino I'd want in my exalting deck. There's too many! This is a great failsafe when you are exalting. Sure, you are getting into a Archimedes-like situation where your opponent will just eliminate Ludo first, but still. 5 power is a lot more than the 2 Archimedes has. But if you can get this card with some capturing in other houses like Dis, this will be a must-have.

Thero Centurion - And just when I said we needed some capturing to combo with Ludo above, here we go. This is a very simple, but awesome, creature. 6 power and 1 armor means it will last against almost any fighter and come out on top, and when it is played, and after it fights, you get to capture. This is really solid card that I can't wait to get multiples of.

Ancient Power - This card conveniently has a combo piece to go along with it. Even without knowing of this combo, this is still a great card. It gives a raw amber, and can ward your own guys. This wards everyone that has amber, so capture away! I will be looking for this card in every Saurian deck I see, let alone along with City-State Interest.

Legatus Raptor - This isn't new, but this is a better picture than the one I had in the group photos, so I decided to put this up here. I still like this. I will have to be extra careful when exalting, but this could definitely be comboed with lots of creatures.

Stomp - Dealing 5 damage to a creature and getting a raw amber sounds good to me. You also have to exalt a friendly creature, which could be good or bad. However, if you play this when no friendly creatures are on the board or if it doesn't destroy the target, you don't have to do that part.

Imperial Road - This is a cool location. We'll have to see how detrimental it will be for the creatures to enter stunned, but in theory on a Saurian turn you will just be unstunning them rather than playing them normally, meanwhile you will have freed up space for another card sooner. Sounds pretty good to me.

Exile - This looks like fun. Exalt and move amber onto a little guy, and then play this, and then kill them. Sounds like a sweet combo for the Saurians.

Centurion Stenopius - I love that 2 armor. I also really like the flexibility of being able to choose whether or not to exalt. That being said, this guy gets to be quite huge when you exalt. I can see this getting carried away. Opponents are going to have to rely on board wipes and bounce effects to get rid of some of these dinosaurs.

Good of the Many - This could be good, although it will require a lot of reading and it will be hard not to telegraph that you have this card to your opponent when you keep asking about traits, lol. I really wish it had some raw amber.

Tribute - I always like more amber control. Taking away 4 amber from your opponent and putting it on your most powerful creature, who then will hopefully be able to manipulate it from there, sounds real good. The raw amber is a nice touch. Man, I hope I get a Maverick key cheat with the Saurians.

Crassosaurus - "Any combination of players"?! Are we getting multiplayer? I knew we were getting team events but this sounds crazy! That being said, this card seems really hard to use in a 1v1 game. I am thinking most of the time this will be a dead card. It's definitely possible for it to actually make it into play, and if it does, it will be quite epic, but I doubt it will happen often.

Saury About That - Removal is going to be very important in this set, and this gives you that. No raw amber and giving your opponent a free amber really sucks. Also, this is especially bad against ward since you only get to remove the token. However, with how huge creatures can get in this set, this might be necessary. Also, great pun, lol.

Senator Bracchus - A better version of Senator Shrix! This guy allows you to spend it on any friendly creatures! Anything that captures amber really loves this card. This is a huge shame it is rare. Or maybe it's for the best. Expect some of the best Saurian decks to have this card for sure.

Primus Unguis - Oh man, these Saurians just keep getting bigger. Decks without board wipes beware! Each and every friendly creature gets +2 for each and every amber on him, including himself! This will be another sought after rare. And 5 power and 1 armor is already big enough to deal with most of everything in the game.

Rhetor Gallim - Alright, a creature version of Lash of Broken Dreams, I am cool with that. Plus, it's an on-play ability, unlike Lash. Plus, it's also a repeatable effect that also gives you an amber, as long as the creature stays alive. But this seems like a real good creature. And it being a common (along with so many other key cost manipulators in this set), means that everyone is going to be forging keys at a higher rate.

Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus - Roughly translated to "thus always to Tyrannosaurus", this portent of doom plays as such. This is an amazing combo card for the Saurians. This gets all of that exalted amber off the scary board (where your opponent might get it easily), to your pool, where it is slightly safer. You have to destroy your own creature, but it might be worth it. This is especially nice if you captured amber, but it still has to be from your most powerful creature. I really want to use this on Crassosaurus, lol.

Cincinnatus Rex - Wow, Saurian rares seem to be much better than other house rares. These are consistently very good. This is a pretty big negative, but if it triggers, that probably is still a good thing since that means your opponent has no board presence. But that Fight ability is insane. You can get to ready everything?! Combos galore!  Make sure you notice that it readies every friendly card, not just creature. That includes all your favorite artifacts! Also, 6 power and 4 armor?! This guy is not getting killed normally. This is a top card that deserves the cover of the set. Very fun.

The Golden Spiral - You have to exalt, but you get to ready and use that creature, and it doesn't have to be Saurian. This will come in handy quite a bit I think.

Sow Salt - Meh. I like the raw amber, but I feel this ability is already on plenty of creatures, and this has the alpha restriction and it stops you from reaping as well.

Livia the Elder - This is pretty fun. I will most likely prefer the fight effects turning into reap effects, but the flexibility is nice.

Library of Polliasaurus - This is quite nice for the Saurians. My biggest fear is getting a Saurian House component with lots of exalting, but not enough using that amber and then I just risk my opponent getting it for nothing. This can really help mitigate that somewhat.

Brutodon Auxiliary - Once you exalt and gather tons of amber on your guys, you need to protect them, and this guy will be good at that. I like the natural Hazardous to deal with creatures that have Poison, lol.

The Callipygian Ideal - Ok, and the other thing about Saurians was that I was worried that if you don't get the guy who lets you spend the amber on your guys you could have a crap deck, but then we got another guy that does that, and now this! I really wish this had a raw amber, but I'm more glad this is common.

Auto-Legionary - Oh this is fun! I really hope we see more artifacts that turn into creatures. I always liked the Landfall mechanic in Magic. I wish it had a way to go back as an artifact though. But this is still really powerful since it belongs to all houses. Hmmmm, does this help trigger cards that need to spot other Houses? I wonder. Forging an Alliance with this card could be a great way to key cheat.

City Gates - So much amber manipulation in this set. This is a great controller, especially since it's not restricted to Dinos, although it's much better with them, especially if you have their other combo cards.

Grimlocus Dux - Yikes, this guy is going to be difficult to deal with. I love that flavor text, get it? This seems pretty good, too bad it's a rare. There are too many rares I want in each deck!

Imperial Forge - Wow, is this really the first time I'm seeing this? I'm angry this is rare. This seems like a must-have for a competitive Saurian deck. This is a huge combo piece that will win many games for players. I gotta get my hands on this.

Saurus Rex - And this guy can get you exactly what your Saurians need. Another rare?! Dang it. This will also be really good.

Spartasaur - I was wondering when we'd get some connection to Sparta. Shame there's no flavor text. What's with these rares!!!? If you can get a big battleline of Saurians with this guy on it, you are just continually being able to board wipe, and with 6 power and 1 armor, it will be hard to deal with. Not to mention that sweet fight ability.

Tertiate - Ha, what a great reference to decimate. :) Hilarious art too, lol. But this will be really annoying too. Nobody wants to do division in a card game, lol.

Triumph - Yet another rare card. Do Saurians only come in rares? This is another possibly huge combo for the Saurians. Combine this with Spartasaur for some instant key forging. Crazy stuff.






















Grand Star Alliance

Captain Val Jericho - A solid body, and although it might take some finangling, if you can keep her in the center of your line, her ability is amazing. Being rare will hurt seeing her in action though.
Com. Officer Kirby

Force Field - We are going to see a lot of upgrades with the Grand Star Alliance. Be ready for some "fat" or "voltron" decks. This is really good upgrade, with 1 raw amber and an awesome Reap ability. I won't mind seeing this in a deck.

Com. Officer Kirby - Amazing card. Just like Phase Shift and Helper Bot, except this creature is beefier, and it can repeat it's effect on future turns. Keep in mind it cannot be a creature, but still, I think it's a fair tradeoff.

Explo-rover - Our first robot creature that can be used as an upgrade. This is a theme that the Star Alliance has. Time will tell if these psuedo-creatures fare better as upgrades or just as another creature. This one, for example, I am initially guessing would be better served as an additional creature, but I'm sure it will greatly depend on what else the deck has.

Light of the Archons - And here is the catalyst for the "voltron" and "fat" Star Alliance mechanic. This will quickly let a creature get out of hand. In the game that I played against Josh, this card was used to great effect. I was just lucky to have a board wipe before the creature got warded. I think the creature was like at 9 power, 5 armor, skirmish, with a bunch of reap effects. It was crazy. This card is solid by itself though. I wouldn't mind a deck with a couple of these so I could stack the effects.

First Officer Frane - I always love on-play amber control. These cards can stop your opponent from forging, which can sometimes be the difference between a win and a loss, between day 1 elimination and day 2 in a vault tour. Plus, this is repeatable and on a hard-to-kill body.

Helmsman Spears - If this card is allowed to survive, you can do some crazy things with it. Josh Massey used this to filter through his entire deck and play every Star Alliance card in like 3 turns. It was an impressive board state. Look to kill this thing quickly.

Lieutenant Khrkhar - A simple, but effective taunt creature. This will be very helpful to protect your voltron. Plus, I like the introduction of other alien species into the House. Very Trekky.

CALV-1N - Okay, where is my HOBB-3S to go along with this? This is a solid creature and/or upgrade. I like the armor, and the ability to draw cards is always nice.

Chief Enginner Walls - This is great. Keep in mind all of the Star Alliance creature/upgrades are robots. So you can grab either. Combine this card with Logos, and you have an on-play creature that can grab any upgrade as well as a lot of creatures from both Houses. Plus, it's repeatable! At least he has Elusive, because that 2 power isn't staying around long.

Forging an Alliance - And here we have Star Alliance's key cheat. It's pretty good. You will be able to get a decent discount at most points in the game, especially with Star Alliance's ability to play and use cards outside its House. It's interesting that they have a maximum on it, perhaps hinting at future possibilities of having more than 6 Houses on the table at a time? The 1 raw Amber will also help out a lot. Expect to see this card a lot on high tier Star Alliance decks.

Quadracorder - What's a Star Trek homage, without some fun little gadget? This is another amazing upgrade, making your opponent's keys cost more. I love those more than just amber control. You will have to make sure you actually get some creatures in Star Alliance, on which to put all these lovely upgrades, lol.

Nurse Soto - I'm loving the diversity of all the crew members for the Star Alliance, which I'm sure is on purpose and in-theme. This is a nifty deploy unit, although not spectacular. But who knows, it may save that all-important creature from dying. The repeatable effect almost seems silly, but then again, maybe you will want to keep attacking with the neighbors.

Sci. Officer Morpheus - Oh boy, this is crazy. Double on-play effects?! So...Charette captures 6, Helper Bot plays 2 cards out-of-house, Ronnie steals 4?! The list goes on. This card is nuts. I can't wait to pull off some crazy combos with this card. This is a must-kill creature if you are on the other side of the board.

Zap - Free amber with removal? Sounds good to me. You can hit your own as well which is nice for flexibility.

Transporter Platform - Thanks to Jason Shearer from Reapout for this spoiler! I really like this artifact. Raw amber is very nice, and this looks like it will have lots of synergy with the Star Alliance. Have a pesky Mars or Shadows upgrade put on your guy from an opponent? Send their upgrade to this discard pile when it is removed and replay your now-safe creature. Want to redistribute the Star Alliance upgrades, or use them to flood the board with creatures? Want to psuedo-heal someone? Want to use a Play/Fight/Reap ability, and then do it again? There are a lot of cool combos one can do with this card. My only complaint is that the flavor text isn't an onomatopoeia of a Star Trek transporter.

Navigator Ali - This is pretty awesome. Like Eyegor? This doesn't allow you to filter through your deck as well, but it does help in planning. It can also really help when combined with Helmsman Spears, when you need to grab certain cards.

Sci. Officer Qincan - Interesting ability. This feels really Dis. Although I think I initially read it wrong, this actually seems like a really good card, allowing you the chance to steal amber even on your opponent's turn. Your opponent will need to keep this card in mind when playing against the Star Alliance, especially since it is common.

Information Officer Gray - I like this a lot. I love freeing up my hand, and this is so much better than those Dis Yurks. Plus, this is repeatable! I will definitely be looking for decks with multiples of these!

Cloaking Dongle - This seems pretty decent, especially if you are trying to protect your Voltron creations. Gaining an amber along with Elusive is a pretty good thing.

Xenotraining - Amber control with amber generation, what more could you ask for?

Red Alert - Ah, what a great game this was. his is a pretty decent creature-removal card. The worse the board state is for you, the better the wipe will be. I'm assuming this will be very good at at least removing wards. It should be easy to deal 1 damage to everyone, and that will be good enough.

Tactical Officer Moon - I don't like this. Not because it's a bad card, but because it is going to make games take much longer. It looks like boards are going to be huge in this set, and this card allows you to do whatever with everyone. Combine this with a ton of synergy the creatures have, in order to play this right, it will take time to look at every option and consider a lot of things. This will make for a very long turn when it's played with a big board. It's probably a really good card though.

United Action - Ooo this is a great hand clearing card, and really great against Restringuntus and Control the Weak decks. It's a shame you can't use any cards, and I'm sure that will be an issue from time to time. But being able to play everything from your hand and getting a whole new hand is going to be really good. This is especially good in the early game, to either establish a big board, or to fix a 2/2/2 house split in your hand. Really good stuff. Shame it's a rare.

Khrkhar's Blaster - This is an example of a type of card we will see new to this set. The Grand Star Alliance creatures have a chance to get their own blasters in a deck. And these upgrades do bonus things if they are given to their owning creature. Pretty cool and thematic stuff. I believe all of the blasters do at least the first part.

Stealth Mode - Simple card, but it seems good. It's a great way to disrupt an opponent, especially in the late game, and especially in an Archon format where you know what your opponent is playing.

Armsmaster Molina - For a house that likes to sit back and do its thing, this card will be helpful. I would most likely want a card that helps me combo more, but this is definitely not bad, and could be a huge thorn your opponent's side. I really dig that art though.

Book of IeQ - This looks like an amazing ability. I'm pretty sure, although not positive, that if you end your turn from this ability, you do not get to ready nor refill your hand, so there is definitely a risk attached to this. However, it seems like a really good ability, especially since Star Alliance helps other houses do stuff, which means you could probably set it up to work whenever you use it. Plus, Navigator Ali and Helmsman Spears can really help in filtering your deck to make sure that happens. I also can't wait to steal this with Sneklifter while I have no Star Alliance in my deck, and therefore get to use it every Shadows turn, lol.

We Can All Win - This is interesting. It gives you a raw amber and gives you a very decent key discount, at the cost of letting your opponent get a turn with the discount as well. You will have to be careful with this, especially if your opponent has key cheats, but this could be very good. Also note that it lasts until the end of your next turn, so you get two turns to use it. Very nice with key cheats. I can't wait to get multiples of this with key cheats. :)

Medic Ingram - Now this is a medic I like. I don't care that much for healing, although when combined with some of those ridiculous creatures in the Saurian Republic, so I might eat my words. But with warding I am all aboard. And since this is a play/fight/reap, I hopefully will get to use it multiple times. Also, that little croc in the pic is adorable.

Plasma Nozzle - Ok, this is a decent ability for Voltron Star Alliance decks. I love Before Fight abilities, and this one allows you to possibly take out multiple creatures, which is always awesome. And it gives that all important raw amber, so I'm good with it.

CXO Taber - Yeah this seems good. It has to survive to use the ability, but it's a really good repeatable ability. Playing or using a non-house card each turn is huge.

General Order - I think this is a new trait for an artifact (Law), not sure if that will end up meaning anything. This is an interesting board wipe. It is rather slow, and it affects everyone eventually. This is definitely a great play after an opponent plays a bunch of creatures from one house, though.

Uncharted Lands - I like this. This is also a different kind of ability, but still somewhat familiar. This is a long term play, but should be pretty easy to cash in on eventually. Combining this with the amber manipulation of the Saurians should be fun.

Operations Officer Yshi - Hi there ex-Sanctum, I missed you! You look very good. 2 armor with 4 power and taunt, yum. Plus that ability given to the neighbors is awesome. Lots of amber control.























Logos

Hologrammophone - Gives me a raw amber, is an artifact, and let's me ward my creatures? Yeah, I'll take that. Good card.

Daughter - Awww, we are getting the whole family. I prefer the Mother for that big body (hahaha), but this at least has Elusive. And considering how well decks with Mother did at Gencon Archon, I expect there will be a lot of people trying to get their hands on decks with multiple copies of this card.

Tautau Vapors - Despite not having a raw amber, I will gladly take this card. Drawing cards and then archiving is always good, and we get both in a nice little package.

Quant - It only works with Actions, but this is a decent card as long as it stays alive. Odd name, though.

Babbling Bibliophile - Hey, it's my nickname from Church camp, lol. This is a nice Reap ability, but I can't imagine this will ever survive that long. Maybe if it's warded...

Academy Training - An ok upgrade, but I really like it's flexibility, especially against opponents who don't have Logos as one of their Houses, lol. But it's a rare, so I doubt very many are getting training.

Sanitation Engineer - This is different. A silly Hazardous amount, but the ability has you discarding from your hand, like some Dis creature. This will be helpful in clearing out your hand in a desperate situation, or while just trying to go through your deck.

Mini Groupthink Tank - This is a lot of repeatable damage. I will have to always remind myself to spread out my creatures in-House. This will wipe out boards pretty quickly if you are not careful.

Thorium Plasmate - A fairly complicated ability for what it does, but if you can pair this with the above Mini Groupthink Tank, you could have a nice combo. Nonetheless, this will be helpful to simply move some of those pesky Deploy creatures.

EDAI "Edie" 4x4 - This will be game changing. At a common, expect opponent's keys to be more expensive all over the place. With Logos archiving like crazy, this card will get ridiculous. Got multiples? This is a great on-play amber control card. This might be my favorite new Logos card. I hope Hexpion makes it.

Information Exchange - This is a decent card, especially in an age where I am guessing stealing is going to be toned down. But yeah, stealing 1 and possibly a 2nd without worrying about how much an opponent has is gonna be good.

Discombobulator - This seems like a great upgrade. I always loved Vaultkeeper from Sanctum in the Cota set, and this can be played on anyone, along with a free amber!

Titan Guardian - Yeah this seems good. It will at least make your opponent really have to think and plan to get around this. A couple of these with Archimedes and a board wipe is probably gonna be pretty good, lol. Even if this doesn't go off, the 5/1 with Taunt is decent enough by itself.

Code Monkey - Ooo I like this. Put away some of those amazing on-play creatures into your archives to play again later. Plus, this could boost EDAI key cost control as well! THEN, you may even gain 2 amber for it. Plus, I love the art. This is amazing. I am really liking Logos in this set.

Self-Bolstering Automata - Huh. This is different. I didn't catch it at first that this thing could stay around forever, getting bigger and bigger. That's pretty cool. Well, as long as it gets destroyed and you still have other creatures in play. Keep in mind that Destroyed effects trigger before a creature would leave play, so unless other friendly creatures have destroyed effects that would remove them from play, this card's ability should go off and get bigger. I look forward to seeing how big I can make this.

C.Ae.N.D.L.E. Unit - Uh, yeah this looks pretty good. 5 power and 1 armor has a lot of staying power, which is good, because it might be capturing a bunch. But even if it doesn't, it has an amazing passive ability to let you draw cards if an enemy creature reaps. That is pretty huge, as it helps you set up for big turns. I like this a lot.

Dataforge - Ooo another Key cheat. Mars who? Now Logos has a ton of card draw, but it's always little card draw, not massive card draw, so we'll have to see how many combos we can come up with. The above Candle Unit will be a nice card to go with it for sure. As would Timetraveler and Mother if either of them make it. The biggest card to go with it would probably be Binate Rupture to possibly allow for an instant key, and why not throw in an Interdimensional Graft to benefit from your opponent's amber gain as well? Logos also has tons of archiving so we should be able to put it away when we need it as well. Great stuff.

Wormhole Technician - These seems real good, as long as you get a chance to use this ability. I love archiving. My only reservation is that cards like this and Wild Wormhole could screw you over by playing the wrong card at the wrong time. But at least you will know that you will only play a Logos card.

Hapsis - I think I like this better than the other fight to draw a card. Sure, you have to destroy the creature, but you get to draw a card and ward Hapsis! And at 5 power it should be able to survive.

Universal Keylock - Huh. Fitting title. It gives a raw amber, which is nice, and if you are behind trying to catch up or just prevent a forge, this can really help. I especially like how it is a passive ability. So many times I get stuck staying with Dis just because I need Lash to make a key cost +3. This fixes that, although it hurts me as well. It's a rare so don't expect to see it very often, but yet again it seems that artifact control is very important in this set.

Zenzizenzizenzic - Besides being fun to spell, this seems like a really good card, even though it may be tough to pull off. That 4 power and 2 armor will make it last. Can't trade it with a Dis creature like you could against Mother. And if you can happen to get it exactly right, 2 additional cards is huge! Shame you won't be able to stack them like Mothers.

Mimic Gel - This could be pretty nice, especially in Archon, where an opponent is likely to have good creatures to copy. Things could get fuzzy if the other creature leaves the board and you have to remember everything the creature did, but hopefully that won't be an issue.

Groupthink Tank - This is a little more widespread, easier to pull off than it's smaller version. You will have to be wary of spacing for sure with this one, so that you can make it as one-sided as possible.

Quantum Fingertrap - A decent artifact that can really mess up your opponent's lines and synergies. This will be good, especially if you have some Groupthink tanks in your deck. :)

Reassembling Automaton - Ooo another one of these! This one doesn't get bigger, but it's still nice to get a creature back. Shame it comes back exhausted.

Hyde - I believe Velum always comes with Hyde. This is a good ability if you can get it to go off, but it seems a little hard to do. The destroyed abilities on both creatures are good at getting them back together though.

Velum - Yeah this is also good. If you can manage to use both in a turn this could get amazing, but they are pretty squishy.

Scientifical Hack - I like this as long as the deck algorithm makes sure you get a bunch of artifacts along with this card.

Universal Recycle Bin - Oh boy, this is just what Logos needs, lol. Is Library Access going to be in this? If not, I wonder how much one with a Legacy Library Access will go for. There seems to be a lot of purge in this set so this should still see some action, and if not, free raw amber!

























Brobnar

Irestaff - An artifact that gives a raw amber and allows you to enrage a creature and give it a +1 power token? That sounds like quintessential Brobnar to me, lol.

Fyre-Breath - This is a powerful upgrade in Brobnar's hands. This is just what they need. And you get a raw amber out of it. In the game I watched, this was placed on a Mugwump. A 9-power creature that deals 2 splash damage, and when it destroys something it fully heals and adds a +1 counter on it. It was great. And why not use this with the above Irestaff while you're at it? Great fun!

Berserker Slam - Another playmat-inspired card. I always like targeted removal, and this is no exception. You gain an amber, potentially wipe out an opposing creature, and cause your opponent to lose an amber. That is a good card.

Alaka - This is a new ability. It seems decent. It's at least very thematic for Brobnar.

Skoll - I like Assault, and this ability is decent, I just wonder how often you will be able to use it? I like the theme anyway.

The Big One - Another example of a card that makes me have random extra tokens in case I get this card in a deck. At least these don't go anywhere like that one doll. Although I really don't like this card. Despite the raw amber, I just don't like that the control of whether this goes off being able to be triggered by my opponent. No thanks.

Shorty - Not bad. That's a pretty hard-hitting Assault stat. Decent power. Keep in mind that it says in the rules that "if a card's ability refers to its own title, that reference is only to itself and not to other copies of the card", so no enraging other Shortys.

Stilt-Kin - I like this. Skirmish with 2 power isn't broken at all, but it is quite useful for Brobnar. Depending on what carries over from the previous sets, this could be the foundation of a lot of good board-clearing combos (with Drummernaut or Into the Fray), amber generation (Warchest or Warsong), or amber control (Pile of Skulls). I also this this will be quite useful against warding decks. Huh, this is pretty crazy with Ganger Chieftain. If you play Ganger Chieftain adjacent to Stilt-Kin, Stilt will get to ready and fight twice since there are two instances of "ready and fight" that will need to be resolved. That's pretty crazy.

Chieftain's Brew - Sure. Works for the theme, gives a raw amber, I'd probably prefer other cards but this could give some creatures some much needed health like a Duskwitch or something. *edit - this is also a procedural generated card, in that if you have this in your deck, it also buffs the card it references. For example, this made the Ganger Chieftain in this deck have +2 power printed on it.

Gron Nine-Toes - Another thematic Brobnar creature. 9 power is no joke though, he will be able to take out most creatures as long as he's damaged.

Ballcano - Hmmm, I like board wipes, and in theory this could wipe out opponents while leaving your Brobnar stuff alive, but I dunno. I do like how it's a slight variation on Gateway to Dis though, and it's definitely thematic to Brobnar. We'll have to see how well it does in practice. Creature removal should be very important though with all the warding and exalting in this set.

Overrun - A decent amber control card, and one needed in Brobnar. Very thematic, although probably pretty difficult to do outside of a board wipe, but at least it gives a raw amber.

Ragnarok - Such a thematic card. You can gain a bunch of amber, then board wipe. That being said, the more amber you gain, the more likely you would have not wanted to board wipe because that meant you had a lot of creatures on the board. But still, even if you only have 2 creatures that fight, gain 2 amber, then board wipe, that is probably worth it. It is worth noting that this has Alpha, and that it doesn't wipe the board until the end of the turn, so you can't get your own stuff on the board, which kind of sucks.

Warrior's Refrain - This seems pretty good. I'd probably prefer a Tremor, but I like how this has no ceiling, so if my opponent happens to have a ton of weenie creatures out, I get to stun everything. Interestingly enough, this is probably best to use against Mars, but they aren't in this set. Still though, there will be plenty of power 3 or lower creatures to stun. Plus, raw amber!

Narp - Not sure I like this. 8 power and 1 armor is very good, but I really don't like limiting my options, and this guy does that. At least you can put him on a flank and limit his limitations a bit. I do really love any reference to Hot Fuzz though, lol.

Barn Razing - A new take on an old ability. Instead of gaining amber, your opponent loses it. This is a little more situational than the gaining one, and therefore will probably be used less, but it could definitely help to get someone off a key while hopefully getting you in check. No raw amber hurts.

Gravelguts - This could get nice and big. A good, thematic card.

Power of Fire - Effervescent Principle as a Brobnar card, with an additional negative of having to sacrifice a creature. The amber control in Brobnar is definitely a welcome addition, but I'm sad it will usually be a worse version (barring dust imp or other good destroyed effect creatures).

Ragwarg - A good Brobnar take on an old ability. I like the raw amber, and this could really mess up the weenier houses.

Shattered Throne - More amber control for Brobnar, interesting. I wonder if they will still be able to generate lots of amber as well? The raw amber is a nice touch. Wait, this allows your opponent to do the same, ugh. In theory, your deck should be more equipped to fight, but I hate giving amber control to my opponent.

Slimy Jark - Meh. This could help trigger some artifacts and help action cards, but I'd much rather have a bigger Brobnar creature. I want to kill stuff I fight.

Guji Dinosaur Hunter - I love this themed card in this set, but it is also valuable for getting rid of captured amber creatures as well. Plus, it's a giant so it can do all the Brobnar giant shenanigans. Shame it's a rare.

Igon the Green - I don't like purging, but I do like getting other creatures back.

Igon the Terrible - This guy is introduced in the set and gets upgraded to a new version in the set, lol. It looks like these 2 will always show up in a deck together. This is a pretty big setback for this card, so make sure you get rid of his earlier version. Getting it discarded will be really rough.

Kaloch Stonefather - This is pretty scary for Brobnar, luckily it is hard to pull off and even harder to get this in your deck due to being rare.

Nogi Smartfist - I love how being smart gets you Logos abilities. Nice blend of theme and mechanic. This is a pretty huge negative though. This will rarely be helpful as the randomness I think will backfire more than help. I do not want this card, luckily it is a rare.

Old Boomy - Ooo this could be an amazing combo card for Brobnar. It's a little hard to control but the draw potential is insane! If you can happen to not draw a Brobnar card this could be potentially game winning. It's a real shame this can't be matched up with Mars and Key Abduction yet. I would expect decks with this card to be pretty valuable due to the ability and it being rare.

The Floor is Lava - Giving a nice raw amber and a potential ability to take away opponent's creatures. Nice. It's an odd name for a card that is supposed to be an artifact. It sounds like an action card.





















Untamed 

The Feathered Shaman - If she gets to go off, she will greatly help your line. Warding is sounding quite powerful in this set. Direct damage and board wipes and maybe purge will be very important.

Unnatural Selection - I like that it gives a raw amber, but unless the boards are insane, this probably won't do a lot. But still, it can really knock down a big board if you are behind by a lot. It's a lot better than Save the Pack I'll give it that.

Ghosthawk - This is really powerful. Deploy with the potential to double Reap the turn it comes in. Unless you have no board, this will always be good to have. Now, do those creatures have to be ready? I suppose they do. Hmmm, maybe this isn't as good as I thought?

Moor Wolf - No, more wolf. Shame that the previous set Panpacas are not listed as wolves. We'll have to see what new swarm this set will give us.

Deepwood Druid - I like Deploy, especially in this set, as there are several cards that depend on line placement, but the ability is fairly generic. It's not worthless, but there are so many other abilities that are better.

Imprinted Murmook - Oooooo, and I already loved Murmook, I wonder if it will also be in this set. A card that only makes your keys cost less, and in a House with a history of having the best amber generation along with the most consistent and numerous key cheats. If Key Charge and Chota Hazri are back again this could be huge. Heaven help us if Nature's Call comes back as well.

Giant Gnawbill - A much better picture than we had before (it was in the group photos below). We can now see that it is rare, so treat it as such. I don't much care for it as my opponent can benefit from it as well, not to mention that they get the chance to use it first. So yeah, this seems like a pretty garbage card unless you have no artifacts in your deck.

Musthic Murmook - More key cost modifiers! Although, unlike the blue Murmook above, this one affects both players' keys. This makes me doubt the original Murmook will make an appearance, but who knows! One could always hope for a Legacy version. This guy's on-play ability is quite strong as well. This card gives instant key modifying (which could prevent an opponent from forging, or at least make it so they have to pay more), it's a body on the board, AND it could remove a creature from the board. Be careful of playing this by itself though as it would kill itself. This is also a common so be prepared to see this a lot.

Harmonia - I like it. Simple Untamed amber generation. I know I typically felt like Full Moon was a card just wasting away in my hand, but this at least stays on the board and is active no matter what House you choose. We'll see how often its ability can go off, but it does seem pretty decent for a couple of amber.

Kangaphant - I'm not really sure what mix of creatures this is besides elephant, but I like it! This is more Reap-hate, but I don't like how it hurts you too. It's possible you could get some Dust Imps from Dis to go along with this, but in general, I think this will backfire on you as much as it does on your opponent, so I will probably pass.

 

Unsuspecting Prey - Apparently this is one of the cards that will be an alternate art card given out for the store leaderboard thing that was recently announced. I love the art for both, but since I am on Team Fuzzy Gruens, I gotta go with that first one. The card is decent. In general, I probably would prefer something like Twin Bolt Emission from Logos, because you can hit anybody, not just undamaged creatures, and that gives a raw amber. This does not, but you can hit 3 creatures, and it could really mess with Shadows stuff. Also, it actually really pairs well with Save the Pack, which is a pretty garbage board wipe right now.

Mab the Mad - This is pretty fun. Creatures with raw amber on them have tended to be pretty amazing. This has no protection, so getting its ability off will be tough, but getting it back after gaining 2 amber off of it with the hope of getting it again sounds like fun.

Molephin - Half mole, half dolphin (except it's a shark). Probably should have been called a Moleshark, but whatever. I like how anti-Shadows this card is, lol. Shadows can never attack it and kill it because of Hazardous 3, and if they steal from you, you get to probably wipe their board. This is a great passive ability. I will gladly take this in any Untamed deck. I'm thinking this will particularly be useful against ward decks, and will force your opponent to do suboptimal plays.

Eldest Bear - Assault 3 and while at the center of your battleline it gets a Before Fight trigger to gain 2 amber. Sounds decent.

Instrument of Silence - Boo, upgrade with no raw amber. It's a good ability to have with a creature, but I'd much prefer a creature with the ability, not just the ability.

Xenos Bloodshadow - Ha, well this has a lot of keywords, lol. A new player's nightmare. It seems pretty good. Very good at clearing a board, especially against stuff that is big and hard to kill. Very hard to deal with. Interestingly, the flavor text and art hint to a card that it is always connected to in a deck, which is coming next.

Toad - Poor Prince Derric, he stood no chance. And now he is the worst creature in the game. This is pretty hilarious, but I don't think I'd want this 2-card combo. But who knows, Toad is a Beast, so maybe he can get buffed by a Niffle Queen sometime.

Vineapple Tree - Oh boy, another random counter needed for a card. They need to make generic tokens that can be used on cards like these. They already make so many other tokens, why not a little more? But anyway, raw amber is nice. I don't really like cards that make it harder for you to win as well, but maybe there is a good combo that uses this. Heart of the Forest maybe in order to stop yourself from making a key too early? You still need to have some artifact control probably to get rid of this. I wonder how many games will go to time because this card keeps getting used and nobody is ever able to get enough amber, lol.

Bramble Lynx - This is a nice spin on an old ability. It's nothing crazy, but you should be able to have it come ready some of the time.

Gebuk - This seems pretty good, always nice to get another body on the board.























Shadows

Pestering Blow - Raw amber, direct damage, and the potential to force an opponent's creature to fight, or your own if you want to? Not awful. We'll see if that damage is enough flexibility to warrant a spot in a deck.

Breaker Hill - This seems really good. At least it doesn't have Deploy, because that would probably be too much. 1 power is low enough that most decks will be able to take care of him, although be wary in a Sealed tournament for sure.

Chain Gang - Oh fun! A combo card that will most likely appear whenever you get this card in a deck. Get ready for everyone to be hunting for Chain Gang decks! This also seems really good, especially if you have multiple copies of both.

Subtle Chain - And here is the rest of the combo piece. Yeah, this combo is insane. Man, I hope I get a deck with 3 of each. Stealing, raw amber, AND forcing your opponent to discard?! You better hope you don't run into someone with multiple copies of this. Looks like Shadows isn't going away anytime soon, lol. Interesting that Chain Gang is common and Subtle Chain is uncommon? Or are they the same? I need new eyes.

Hit and Run - Interesting card. No raw amber hurts, but the ability to bounce back those crazy on-play Shadows creatures (or whatever else), is pretty good, along with a fun removal action. Nice flexibility with targets.

Whisper - This is a fun, new ability. I like the risk/reward aspect of this. It will also help to play around certain cards that punish you for having too much amber. This is a quality new card.

Hock - Artifact control is so important in Keyforge. This card seems crazy. You get a raw amber, and if you destroy an artifact (yours' or your opponent's keep in mind), you gain an additional amber?! Yikes. And this is a common. Yeah, Shadows is looking crazy in this set like always.

Trust No One - Not bad. Usually I would probably prefer an Urchin, as that is a body on board, but this has some decent potential if you get board wiped or if you sacrifice your own guys on a turn. The potential to steal 3 without it being your whole turn (Like with Swindle), is pretty sweet.

Mug - Ok Shadows, we get it, you are really good at Keyforge. This sounds pretty insane. Sure, there needs to be some captured amber or someone exalted on the board, but I have found that to be pretty common. At bare minimum you are getting a raw amber, which is never bad. Sometimes I suppose you may have to hurt your own guys, but you could also remove an opponent's creature. A card that gives you 2 amber and removes a creature sounds insane. Being able to steal amber that you captured sounds insane. Making this common sounds insane. Yikes. Shadows is looking mighty strong in this set, even more in this set than the last.

Symon - 1 power with no evasion of any kind is gonna die really quickly. This could be nice for some soft removal, but you will probably never want to do this to an opponent's creature with an on-play ability. That being said, this does look decent against Saurians (with exalted amber), and Star Alliance (with tons of upgrades on them), and since this is a Fight ability, you don't even have to worry about damaging. This could be decent in practice, I'm just wary of tiny creatures with easy-to-remove stats.

J. Vinda - A tried and true Shadows ability. We've see something similar from Throwing Stars, Mack the Knife, and Seeker Needle. Although this more closely resembles Relentless Whispers, since you get to steal an amber if the creature dies, which is pretty cool. Elusive definitely helps a lot, and even if it doesn't go off, at least you get to reap. Small targeted removal is always nice, and I have a feeling this will be especially good against warding.

Brobnar Plant - Seems too situational. I wonder if there are a bunch of Shadow "Plants", and if you get one, you are guaranteed to at least have Brobnar in your deck. In that case, it isn't awful. I'd probably prefer plenty of other cards but it's a cool thematic card at least. *edit - There is a Shadows Plant for each house and they always come with the associated house.

Fidget - Cool art, I believe this was teased by FFG not too long ago. Shame a ton of cards were spoiled prematurely. This is an interesting amalgamation of Shadows and Untamed it seems. The Untamed faerie thief has turned its back on it's woodland kin and taken to a life of crime. It's a decent ability. This set looks like it will have some good archiving, and archiving has typically been a safe haven for your best cards, well not with this little thing around. In fact, not only is it discarded, if it is an action card you get to play it as if it were yours. Could be risky at times, but could be amazing.

Inky Gloom - Not having a raw amber really hurts this card. Yes, it can really disrupt your opponent, but most of the time it will only slightly inconvenience them. I'm sure there will be games where an opponent has a big board and you really screw them over, but a lot of the time you will play this card with little benefit.

Weasand - Interesting ability. Great if it goes off, but I doubt it will too often. But this set seems like it could create very large boards. With it only happening when someone forges a key, it probably won't happen very often, but it could allow you to get into check on your opponent's turn, which is pretty nifty.

Kymoor Eclipse - A very soft removal card that also hits your own stuff. It could be ok given Shadow's on-play abilities, and in a set with so much warding and exalting, it could be very helpful. I really wish it had a raw amber though.

A. Vinda - Not to be confused with her brother shown above, this has another tried and true Shadows ability, this time copying Subtle Maul. With more power, even without elusive, this creature will probably stay alive, and if she can do her thing each turn, you will be in great shape. I love Subtle Maul, and think it's a top level card, so any card that copies its ability is ok in my book.

Manchego - This is an interesting card. Never really had something like this. It seems a little difficult to pull off but at least the other ability can help with it. Stealing 2 is quite nice, but I'd probably rather have a Ronnie for the guarantee than this rare. But this could be really good if you can manage to stay low on cards in your deck.

Into the Night - This can be helpful for the little guys, but I'm thinking most of the time I'd rather have a creature or a card that gains me amber or denies my opponent.

No Safety in Numbers - This is an ok board wipe, but only for weenie guys. It will be able to take off wards though which might be more useful. The extra amber is nice.

Spike Trap - Ok. I like raw amber and omni abilities. I don't like hitting my own guys though, especially when I am already running Shadows, lol.

Finch Cloak - This is an interesting ability. I don't like giving to my opponent, but it looks like I at least gain 2 when I reap no matter what, so that's cool.

Gambling Den - I like that this is a "may" ability. Give the players a choice if they want to gamble or not. This is a pretty sweet ability though. It can be managed and cheated with a couple of houses like Star Alliance and Logos as well. Plus, always give it a try if you have 0 amber.

Hunter or Hunted - I love this. This is an amazing card. I can't tell what rarity this is but I doubt it's rare. This is going to be a very helpful card. It is always good.

The Quiet Anvil - We're gonna have to have an official doohicky that tracks the current cost of keys with this set, lol. This is great if you want to race to a key. This will be a fun little combo piece to have with the right deck. Again though, it is rare, so it will be tough to find.

The Shadow Council - Ok this center battleline ability is awesome. This is very powerful. This is also rare, like so many other amazing cards.























Dis

Dendrix - I get to fight and discard a card randomly from your pile. That is the kind of disruption I want in an Archon deck. I'll give it a try!

Harbinger of Doom - Interesting. I do like board clears, and I think they will be very important in this set. I do not like abilities that my opponent can choose to set off if he gets the chance. So I am wary of this. But I think there will be plenty of situations where this card will be invaluable, especially with cards such as Skullion making it back in this set.

The Evil Eye - This looks pretty good. With a raw amber, this can never hurt, and it could definitely help save you in turns. I hope there is some more Dis discard pile recursion that can abuse this.

E'e on the Fringes - A puntastic Dis card if I ever had the Displeasure (get it?) of reviewing. Actually, I'm a dad, so I love puns. I also love this art. I also really like this ability. Having amber control is so important, and filtering your deck is important too, and this card can do both. Have a Soul Snatcher that you hate? Well, I think you can discard it, and then purge it, AND steal an amber! Also, there is no cap, so if you desperately need to control some amber, you can discard, purge, and steal as long as you have the Dis cards. And if you go through your deck, you will grab your other stuff more easily since your deck is now thinned out. Awesome!

Snag - Oooo, more Dis control. I like it. If Snag fights a creature that your opponent stole (from Hypnobeam for example), I'm guessing they'd have to choose that House, even though they don't technically have it on their card? Or is this another Restringuntus situation? Still, I like the control.

Etaromme - For some reason this card name just really reminds me of saying "Harambe" and all of the memes that went along with it. And actually the ability is kind of apropos, lol. But anyway, this is a decently-powered creature with an ability that could be good or bad. Sometimes it will suck if you have to take out your own stuff. Although, sometimes that could be helpful if you have a Brend or an opponent's Scowly Caper, or if you have Dust Imps or whatever. Keep in mind that you take out a creature of the HOUSE with the most creatures in play, not your opponent or whatever else.

Demon's Bane - A Dis card that only destroys a Demon creature? Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems way too specialized. I understand that sometimes you want to destroy your own guys, but this seems like it will only be a negative thing most of the time. Sure, it can work against opponent's Dis, but usually you will have to target your own stuff, and unless you have some Pitlords or Truebaru or something, you will be just killing your own stuff. *edit - So there is a Bane for most traits, apparently. There is one for Humans, Beasts, Dinosaurs, Scientists, and Thieves so far. But I'm guessing this is a procedurally generated card, so we could get any trait.

Festering Touch - This seems like a decent creature control card. Pinging 2 creatures for 1 damage can be enough to kill them, especially pesky Shadows stuff and Duskwitches and the like. It will also be great against warded creatures. The bonus damage against already wounded creatures is also nice. It also has flexibility in allowing you to target your own stuff like Angwish. Plus, you get a raw amber out of it as well.

Draining Touch - Dis is doing a lot of touching in this set. Poor Fuzzy Gruen, makes me sad. This seems like a pretty decent creature removal card. No raw amber definitely hurts it, but this will be very nice against some of those huge Brobnar and Saurian creatures, provided they have no amber on them. It is a shame that my favorite times to do targeted removal is against creatures that have captured my amber, but I suppose I can't have everything.

Buzzle - I love this art, unsure about the ability. I don't typically like purging my own stuff. Maybe my opponent's Scowly Caper is on my side though, so maybe that'd be good. Skirmish is nice, and at least it is an optional ability.

Impspector - I was wondering how they would fit more imps into the game. This portmanteau opens up a lot of job-related options for the future. This seems like a really solid card. It definitely puts the "Dis" in disruption. This could really mess an opponent up, and that's why I love Dis. Also, did you notice it has a little Sherlock Holmes hat on? lol

Infurnace - I like this. It has decent power and it can permanently remove troublesome cards AND maybe take an opponent off of a key. Plus that art is amazing.

Borr Nit - Oooo, this looks real good. This is an archon-worthy card in a top level event. 5 cards is a big chunk of a deck, and chances are you can get rid of a card your opponent really needs. He has to survive though, and 3 isn't a lot of power. If this stays alive though, it's pretty much gg.

Lilithal - This is some wonderfully creepy art. I hope we get some more art so we can see more of her. This seems pretty solid. I would probably rather have a Pit Demon, but this serves a similar purpose. A lot of the time I have been more happy with a 5-power body than an ability anyway.

Gleeful Mayhem - Ok I think I understand this: For each house represented on the board, you deal 5 damage to a creature of that house. So if there are 3 houses represented by creatures on the board, 3 creatures (one of each), will get 5 damage. Plus you get a raw amber. Not bad, could hurt yourself, but Dis is usually fine with that. Like the art shows, having this in a deck with Brobnar could be fun.

Malison - When an Alison goes bad. I like this. 5 power means it will most likely get to fight. Then, you can manipulate the board (which is going to be very important in this set), AND do some amber control while you are at it. Good stuff.

Soul Fiddle - Enrage is a new mechanic that has not seen very much action in this set, which makes me wonder why they bothered at all, considering it adds another token to the board which could confuse players. However, I do think it could be a very useful ability, especially against some of these new cards we are seeing. It can really Dis-rupt an opponent. This doesn't seem like a bad card, although I really wish it had a raw amber. The designers must have thought that having an artifact with an enraging ability was strong enough.

Obsidian Forge - A Dis key cheat?! And an artifact at that! I like it. You will have to be wary of artifact control, especially Sneklifter, but this seems really good for Dis. I really hope there are Dust Imps in this set. :)

Borr Nit's Touch - Here goes Dis touching everything again. I like this better than Borr Nit. Sure, Borr Nit could do the ability multiple times, but only if he survives. This guarantees me doing it, as well as gaining an amber. This is a really good card and I would gladly take any number of them in a deck.

Noname - I like this. Purging cards is great, especially in Archon. I like the flexibility to target yourself to have better cards with which to draw. He probably won't survive long but it's a cool ability. Meh, I'd rather have a lot of other Dis creatures though.

Greater Oxtet - I prefer to purge stuff from my discard pile if I have to. But this is before you draw, so it will help in making room for more cards, and it can help clear your deck of crap. The power counters along with taunt is nice.

Harvest Time - I do like board wipes, and I really like purging my opponent's stuff, but I don't want to give them amber for it, lol. Still though, it's probably worth a couple of amber to get rid of some really good creatures my opponent has. So I'll take it.

Lesser Oxtet - Huh, I was thinking this would be very similar to the greater one, but this is quite different. I like that better than the Dis guys that discarded cards. Purging each card in your hand on a play ability sounds pretty rough, but maybe you can set up a turn where this is that last card you play. If you really want a new hand this is definitely a way to do it, lol. That Reap ability is very nice though, which probably justifies the cost and rarity.

Lord Invidius - Elusive with 5 power, eh? This is an incredible ability if you can make it work. It might be the best center battleline ability I've seen so far. This will be brutal, especially if you can manage to do it multiple times.

Snag's Mirror - Haha this is a great Dis-rupting card. This will make mirror matches very interesting.

Snaglet - Ooo I like this better than the mirror. Stuff that only helps me. This is a great mind games card. Great design. Similar, but different enough.

Dexus - I was hoping this was going to be the Dis version of Nexus, given the name, but oh well. I wonder if there will be a left version? But this is a nice little control card that will Dis-rupt your opponent. I always love that Dis 5 power.























Anomalies
-These are cards that act like Mavericks from the future, giving us a glimpse of future abilities and stuff!

Lateral Shift - This looks amazing. This will always be good, and will probably be game changing. This will mess up a lot of plans. Expect decks with this card to be highly sought after for many reasons.

Ghostform - Oh boy, these Anamalies are good. The only thing that can get rid of this are bounce effects or purging the creature it is attached to. Its ability is to try and force you to do somethign to the creature, and then you have to put it in your archives. Oh no, I get to replay it for the raw amber and choose a new target to never die, lol. This is going to be huge in decks. Can you imagine this going on a Duskwitch?! Anything with a good passive ability is going to be crazy with this card. Bounce effects and purging just got really important.












Grim Reaper - Here is the first Anomaly we were treated to, and this looks tame compared to the ones above. Still, in light of Ghostform right above this, this is actually a really good counter to that, lol. Removal is important, and this card will be good at that.

Infomancer - Oooo a new ability from the future! Grafting sounds really good. There are some pretty powerful action cards in Keyforge that I would love to to use repeatedly, lol. I really want to play this then put Ghostform on it to make it completely broken.

Memolith - Ok this is even better than Infomancer since it's on an artifact that is much harder to get rid of than a creature. Nexus, Sneklifter, and other artifact control cards are getting much more mandatory. Also, since you are just triggering the play effect, instead of actually playing it, I think this gets around the Alpha/Omega part of Swindle. Care to Swindle every turn, anyone?

Valoocanth - An Aquan creature, eh? Hint at an official sea creature deck? There were rumors of those when we first saw the Saurian symbol. That first ability is funny, but will probably just confuse newer players. Maybe it's a hint at a future ability, like Haunted is, we just don't know what changes the tides (Ooo there should be a moon card, ooo and then werewolves that interact with it too!). This is pretty good ability though. I always like disrupting my opponent's creatures.

Timequake - Ooooo another big combo card. I like this. There is quite the risk to go with it, since the bigger the payout means the bigger the board loss. However, drawing a ton of cards might just be what is needed at the time. If you need to draw a special card, it might be worth it. It looks like a fun card either way with hilarious art. Poor little guy.

Orb of Wonder - This card seems amazing. Nepenthe Seed lets you get any card from your discard pile, this one lets you get it from your deck. Both a very good abilities. This will almost always be useful. Yes, it can't be as easily used to abuse combos, but it can better help you get to the combo in the first place, and especially get a card when you need it. Amazing.

The Red Baron - Now this card does not seem overpowered or anything, but the ability is very exciting since this is the first card in Keyforge to make the color of the keys forged matter! I suppose I will have to get used to forging my red key last if I don't have this in my deck. I wonder if we will see any other color dependent cards in this set?
























Group photos

Hugger Mugger (Shadows) - Capture in Shadows, eh? I guess they are trying to nerf them. There is a nice catchup mechanic in this guy, but I have a feeling this will mainly just be capturing.

Medic Ingram (Grand Star Alliance) - I like this medic better than the last one. Healing and warding is a lot better than just healing. Plus it's repeatable.

Questor Jarta (Saurian Republic) - This is a great Reap ability. Hopefully it won't be too risky, but gaining 2 amber from reaping is usually a risk I am willing to make.

Commander Chan (Grand Star Alliance) - This is a card that looks pretty powerful, allowing you to use out-House creatures. That will be useful.

Mogghunter (Brobnar) - a good, strong body, and the fight ability is good if it goes off, but it seems pretty rare that will happen.

Legatus Raptor (Saurian Republic) - a 4/1 should be able to survive a fight, and if it does, you stand a good chance of doing some good stuff. I like it.

Sensor Chief Garcia - This card is amazing. I thought I got an individual pic of this but I guess I didn't. On-play key cost increase is awesome, and you can repeat it and stack it if you have multiple copies. This is also common. There seems to be a lot of key-cost increasers in this set. Be wary. I will always look for this card in a new deck.

Wall's Blaster - Our first character-specific upgrade. Seems pretty good, although I want to know what happens the turn after you play this on Walls? Do you get to use the fight/reap ability?

Hiding at the top is Tribune Pompitus - This seems extremely good for Saurians who like to exalt. His buff applies to himself as well, and with 2 armor, he will probably stick around for a while. I like it.

(Saurian cards)
Exile - Give control of a friendly creature to an opponent, and gain 1 raw amber. I want to exalt a Saurian a ton of times and play this, then kill it for massive amber gain. Such great politics.

Thero Centurion - On-play and repeatable amber capturing in a House that has tons of good cards to deal with amber on their creatures. Seems good.

Brutodon Auxiliary - Another simple taunt with hazardous creature with decent power. I'm sure it will be useful.

Imperial (something) - An artifact with an omni ability always gets my attention. I really don't like my creatures entering in stunned, but if they have passive abilities it's not too bad, and if it allows me to cycle my hand, it really isn't that bad. At least they get to use their Play abilities.

Etaromme (Dis) - Reap to destroy a creature of the house with the most creatures in play. Very situational, but it could be life saving in certain times.

Wormhole (something Logos) - A little safer version of Wild Wormhole in my opinion. Archiving is always nice, and it's a creature with a repeating effect. It seems like the designers like to give us old Logos cards turned into creatures. That's fine by me.

Shorty's Brew (Brobnar) - I hope this gives a raw amber, because just 2 +1 power counters isn't enough.

Giant Gnawbill (Untamed) - This seems really powerful. I like this better than Rustgnawer from AoA. Too bad it's rare. Also a shame that you can screw yourself over. Maybe it's better that it's rare, lol.

(Grand Star Alliance cards)

Tachyon Pulse - Seems rather self-destructive, but I suppose that is the point. I like artifact destruction so it will probably be worth it to get rid of that Lash. Raw amber is always welcome as well.

Universal Translator - Yep, solid upgrade, especially on a beefed up fat Star Alliance creature.

(something) Molina - Hazardous 3 and gives neighbors Hazardous 3?! Ouch. I'm glad it doesn't have deploy. This will be a good card for protection though.



More to come as I get them!