Keyforge news has been crazy today, with a livestream showcasing the new set called Age of Ascension, along with the official announcement on the main FFG page. This set will be released in Q2 of this year, so preorders will be up soon at local retailers I'm sure. Here are some highlights:
This new set "mixes up the cardpool with 204 brand-new cards, joining 166 cards first introduced in Call of the Archons to create an entirely new pool of 370 cards and billions upon billions more Unique Decks for you to discover, learn, and master". Some cards are "rotated out" from the first set, although they can sometimes show up in a maverick sort of way as "legacy" cards. So, the first set will have some cards in it that the second doesn't, and vice versa. This set is not really an expansion, or replacement, but rather an extension. So the decks you have already bought are still usable, as are the new ones, as are future ones. They all work together and we have been told they should be balanced with each other. Also, more commons and uncommons were replaced in the new set, rather than the rares, so getting a new deck in the new set should have you seeing a lot of the new cards.
With the new set are a couple of new keywords, although nothing too crazy:
First we have Deploy, which allows you to play the creature with the keyword anywhere on the battle line, rather than being forced to play on a flank. I would assume all of these creatures have neighboring buffs such as this new card.
Next, we have Alpha and Omega, which simply mean that they have to be the first, or last, cards to be played on a turn.
It was also said on the stream that none of the new cards will interact or deal with the colors of the specific keys. They have mentioned that one day they will, though. Also, there are no new houses yet.
There will be a new starter set, priced much better at $25, that will include all of the tokens/keys/chain trackers/wound markers, etc needed to play, along with 2 unique decks. So no starter decks, which is for the best, as well as actual tokens for power and stun markers instead of cards, which is so much better in my opinion. The starter set will also come with paper playmats.
I am very excited to hear about new stuff for Keyforge, and I can't wait to delve into some of these new cards and strategies. If you want to check out some more of the new cards, check out the various Facebook groups for the game as they are posting the spoilers. Stay tuned for more information as it comes out, but let's get excited! Thanks for reading and happy gaming!