The Amazing Spider Tank

The Amazing Spider Tank
Spider-Tank, Spider-Tank. Does whatever a Spider-Tank does. Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a tank. Look out! He is a Spider-Tank!

Friday, October 25, 2019

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!




Monday, October 7, 2019

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.

-

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.

-

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!