Why I will add Keyforge Menagerie decks to my pledge

 I am back from the Keyforge Celebration, home of the first Keyforge World Championship. My Counselor Latus Saurian cosplay outfit is back in the closet. This was my first outing, and although it was probably my worst competitive Keyforge showing ever, I still had a ton of fun. I highly recommend anyone to attend if possible. I think my highlight was being able to play with the new set in the Nightfall Sealed Tournament, but one thing I never thought I would say was that I thoroughly enjoyed the new Menagerie set and event. 

When this set was first announced, I was mildly interested. There was a mystery as to what it was, and it pointed to the new campaign which would explain in greater detail. Then, we unlocked Menagerie as a stretch goal and we were treated to what it was, and I was...less interested. The concept was cool: a set filled with pods of thematic packets, chase rares, combos, and bundled up in a wacky and crazy circus-themed set. However, there was the HUGE caveat in that these decks were not tournament legal. I suddenly had flashes of the Unchained set flash in my memory. I could almost hear my several Unchained decks that I received for free from the last campaign practically laughing at me, sitting there unopened, gathering dust in a box in the corner. Not another set that is practically useless! I have no interest in opening my Unchained decks, and I'm even less interested in trying to play even a friendly tournament with them. I would always rather play with tournament legal decks. So I planned on going to KFC basically ignoring Menagerie, content knowing that I could always play in sealed events during the day. 

"Menagerie would make for a great new player experience"

When I received my cool KFC grab bag, a Menagerie pack was inside. We were told that throughout the weekend, we needed to randomly play people with our Menagerie decks. Every 2 wins would get us a ticket that could be used to access a prize wall, and every 2 losses we would get a ticket that would allow us to purchase another Menagerie deck (to a max of 3). It sounded like a fun enough format, but I still wasn't all that interested. However, while waiting in line to register for the last chance qualifier, I overheard and then saw Keyforge's favorite personality, Sydnie Steele, hyping over her Menagerie deck. I then heard several others excitedly open their packs in amazement. This set had the new Geistoid House in it! This new set has a previously unknown Keyraken House in it based off of the Keyforge Adventures co op game! Well, I had to open mine now.

The new Keyraken House!

Although I was not treated to either of those two new and exciting houses, I was treated to a really spicy combo deck. Down at the bottom of the Archon card listed the 2 packets I got: GenKA and Rad Penny. To add further excitement those 2 houses-with-combos were joined by a Logos pod with Auto-Encoder. I got really excited. This looked like a really fun deck to play! This looked like I would do really well in this event! All of a sudden I was flipping my badge to the Menagerie side like Roxanne putting on her red light. I was ready to get down to play.  

Although my deck was probably higher than average, and a ton of fun to play, it was by no means overpowered compared to my opponents'. I lost to a giant creature Menagerie deck that had tons of Brobnar giants that sat their menacingly, happy to murder everything on the board and then reap for the win. I lost to a much better version of my GenKA pod that had their Martian Generosity card with 3 amber pips!!! I got annihilated by a Dis pod with several Maleficorns in it that pinged everything to death. Every game was pretty exciting, and it was really fun to see what crazy combos my opponents had. I even had fun losing because that meant I could go back and try my luck with a new deck. 

After several games I was itching to try a new deck. I had opened another fun looking deck whose Menagerie packets were Mars Abduction and Kelifi Dragon. Kelifi Dragon is a pretty bad card, but it does grace the front of the Menagerie packs, so that's cool. However, the Mars Abduction pod was insane. It had the new Curse of Disappearances card from Grim Reminders, and boy that card packs a wallop, or is "fire" as the youth say. If I got that card out, it was really hard for my opponent to do anything of value. I shall be looking closely at any of my Grim Reminders decks that has this Curse card in it for sure. While playing with this deck, I got to check out someone who had the Keyraken House. And that was really cool. I don't think the Keyraken pod is all that great in terms of competitiveness, but it was really cool to see in action and the art is amazing. It happened to be an awful matchup because I Scooped up the Keyraken as soon as it dropped, and then all the tentacles had to be played to archives for the rest of the game.

Although I didn't get to play a lot of games with it, my last Menagerie deck had the new House Geistoid in it with the Clocks packet! I grew up with a lot of clocks in my house, so many that my parents are lovingly called Grandma and Grandpa Clock by my children, so it felt pretty special to me. I don't think the clocks are terribly competitive, but it is fun to put so many time counters on them. Tick-Tocks are actually pretty decent and easy to pull off, and I even got to take a second turn with Ancestral Time-Keeper. 

Throughout the weekend, as I excitedly played new people, and got to see their decks and combos, something occurred to me: Menagerie would make for a great new player experience. If you are anything like me, you have probably tried to share Keyforge with new players. It can difficult finding good decks to show them. Although I like the new starter mini decks that help teach new players, they lack the punch of seeing what a full deck can look like. With Menagerie I think it gets closer to that. This is especially true for decks that have pods like my GenKA deck, but having a deck with good synergy and combos feels fun to play and pull off. Seeing an opponent play a cool combo is also exciting, especially if it is in a friendly format, with no money attached. I felt a very similar feeling to when I play a new set: A sense of wonder and excitement, that makes me want to open more packs to find better combos. It makes me want to buy more. I'm addicted like a crack addict, except I crack open new packs. I think Menagerie does a great job of showing new players what Keyforge can be. See how fun it was to pull off a GenKA turn? You can find those combos in real decks too! Like that Ganger Chieften/Drummernaut rule of 6 interaction that feels like you're cheating? Well, you can find that too!

I think it would be a great idea to market Menagerie in that light: as a way to showcase what Keyforge can be. I highly recommend someone grabbing several of those packs, and then use them in a friendly new player tournament. I am sure that new players would get really excited about their decks, and I feel as though it is more likely they will find fun combos with this set than taking a chance on a random deck. 

I teach at a small, private school, and I fully plan on using my Menagerie decks as tools to teach kids the wonderful game of Keyforge in after-school gaming clubs. I encourage you all to do the same. In order to do that, I will need some more. And so I will gladly be adding Keyforge Menagerie decks to my pledge. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Untamed Reprints from Dark Tidings

We are at the end of this little series. Unfathomable is too new to have reprints (other than Valoocanth), and I doubt we'll get a House that alphabetically comes after Untamed for a while. If you are just joining us, please check out the other Houses in the series: Logos, Sanctum, Saurian, Shadows, and Star Alliance. We are looking at Untamed's Top 5 Reprints from Dark Tidings! Here is the list of reprints we are getting back, along with their card number and rarity.

Blossom Drake - 379 - R

Chonkers - 380 - R

Creed of Nature - 381 - R

Eldest Bear - 383 - R

Fertility Chant - 384 - R

Fuzzy Gruen - 385 - R

Lupo the Scarred - 386 - R

Piranha Monkeys - 388 - R

Punctuated Equilibrium - 390 - R

Stampede - 392 - R

Word of Returning - 395 - R

World Tree - 396 - R

Bumblebird - 399 - U

Fangtooth Cavern 401 - U

Gebuk - 402 - U

Growth Surge - 404 - U

Instrument of Silence - 405 - U

Kangaphant - 406 - U

Mushroom Man - 407 - U

Ritual of Balance - 409 - U

Floomf - 417 - C

Keyfrog - 419 - C

Persistence Hunting - 423 - C

The Fittest - 425 - C

I haven't been this excited about Untamed since Keyforge first came out. I feel as though the previous 2 sets at least have been well below the power level of the first 2. I say this even with my top WC deck having Untamed in it. But I think Untamed is coming into their own in this set. I really like how Untamed is starting to carve out their identity niche with +1 power counters. I feel as though they've had it, but this set really starts using them in interesting ways. Hopefully Brobnar and Mars can figure themselves out by the time they return to Keyforge. I do think that Untamed has some of the worst reprints in the set (looking at you Gebuk and Kangaphant), but it also has some really awesome ones that will really help their playstyle and identity. Let's get into it!

#5 The Fittest

Like most of my #5s, I had some trouble narrowing this down. I liked Growth Surge for the power counters, I really like Persistence Hunting for it's synergy with Unfathomable, and I Piranha Monkeys for a possible soft board wipe. However, I decided on The Fittest since it only gives friendly creatures +1 power counters (unlike Growth Surge which technically you'd have to choose an opponent's creatures if you had none). It also hit all friendly creatures instead of just friendly Untamed like Bumblebird. I think there are a lot of really good creatures in this set with great abilities if you can manage to keep them alive. This card helps with that, and gives you an amber bonus. +1 power counters are also very important to Untamed in this set, with a lot of cards using them. 

#4 Fangtooth Cavern

This is a very hit and miss kind of card. It can be amazing, but it can backfire horribly and only hurt you. I think it is a little more consistent in this set, though. There looks to be lots of really good low power creatures in this that you'd like to be rid of if your opponent has them. Untamed also gives you access to lots of  +1 power counters, which seems like you should have an advantage in power over most decks. And with the lack of direct damage and removal, I feel as though any amount you can have could really help a deck.

#3 Keyfrog

Not my favorite key cheat in Untamed's arsenal, and less likely to have the wonderful double damage pip bonus icons thanks to fewer enhancement cards in general, but Keyfrog nonetheless can help close out games. There seems to be a lot of amber burst potential, especially for Untamed, in this set. When that happens, you want key cheats to use it before your opponent can do anything about it. Keyfrog can help that happen. You will most likely need another card to help you quickly remove it, but there are a couple in the set that could help you. With massive card draw and combos being a somewhat common sight in this set, I think the few key cheats we have will make a big difference.

#2 Punctuated Equilibrium

I love this card. I smile every time I see a deck with it. It almost always pays off positively in my favor when I play it. It's a wonderful feeling to play a bunch of cards, and then play this and get a chance of playing some more. It's an even better feeling to play this card after your opponent has a ton of cards in their hand after an awesome combo they pulled off on the turn before. Nothing will wipe off their smug look of inevitable satisfaction faster. I don't like to be a killjoy, but I make an exception with people that get to draw tons of cards in Keyforge. I'm jealous, and if I can't have it, nobody can. And it seems a lot more likely that massive card draw is going to be a pretty common place in this set.

#1 Word of Returning

As much as I love Punctuated Equilibrium and believe it is even more potent in this set, I feel as though Word of Returning is just as impactful. I remember when WC was first spoiled, and after looking at the new Saurians, I immediately began scouring my collection for decks with Word of Returning. I searched online for good deals on decks with the card, and although my budget did not allow for a spending spree at the time, I was pleased at recognizing the importance of this card so early. I don't think anything has changed since then. Actually, it may even be more useful in this set. Although we don't have tons of wards in this set like WC, it does seem like the vast majority of amber control is based on capturing amber. This is where Word of Returning shines, giving all that sweet amber back to you, no matter the protection. Also, this set doesn't have the board wipes like we're used to, thanks to Dis's Disappearance (hahahaha get it?! Never gets old!). So Word of Returning actually has a good chance of destroying stuff as well. 

Shoutout to Fuzzy Gruen

I would be remised if I didn't mention Fuzzy Gruen. For those of you that don't know, I am the very proud captain and creator of Team Fuzzy Gruens, our local Keyforge team (we have stickers and everything!). We are very small, but have had great showings at top level events in the past. And although Covid has put a stop to OP, I can't wait to get back into it eventually. That being said, it's always been nice to see Fuzzy Gruen all over the place in Keyforge (I don't have the plush yet, since they didn't have them in time for my last Vault Tour). In this set, we get not just one, but two Fuzzy Gruens! I will eternally be disappointed that the newest one isn't named Fuzzsea Gruen, but whatever. FFG did make it up to us by making it common, giving us a chance at more Gruens in our decks, and arguably better than the original!

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I think an argument could be made for switching my final #1 and #2 cards, but I feel pretty good about both of them being highly desirable reprints in this set. I know I personally would love to have one/both of them in every deck I open. I would love to hear that you agree (please, I crave the reassurance). If not, that's ok, I'll choke back the tears and debate vigorously over the internet. I invite the discussion! I hope you enjoyed this little series. I had fun making it, and I believe it will help me prepare for when I start opening my own Dark Tidings decks. I look forward to writing some more as we approach everyone around the globe having access to Dark Tidings. Until then, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Star Alliance Reprints from Dark Tidings

Ok, rounding the final turn of my look at the Top 5 Reprints from Dark Tidings. If you need (as I am sure you do as the hierarchy of needs according to Maslow goes physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and finally small Keyforge content creator articles written badly), check out the previous Houses, Logos, Sanctum, Saurian, and Shadows. Today we are looking at Star Alliance. Below is the list of all the reprints we are getting along with card number and rarity.

Z-Force Agent 14 - 252 - R

Z-Particle Tracker - 253 - Fixed with Z-Force Agent 14

Z-Ray Blaster - 254 - Fixed with Z-Force Agent 14

Z-Wave Emitter - 255 - Fixed with Z-Force Agent 14

Book of IeQ - 257 - R

Captain Val Jericho - 258 - R

Commander Dhrxgar - 260 - R

Crash Muldoon - 261 - R

Doctor Driscoll - 263 - R

Encounter Suit - 264 - R

Forging an Alliance - 266 - R

General Order 24 - 267 - R

Matter Maker - 269 - R

Plasma Nozzle - 270 - R

United Action - 273 - R

Away Team - 275 - U

CXO Taber - 278 - U

Force Field - 279 - U

Lay of the Land - 280 - U

Mutagenesis Researcher - 281 - U

Stunner - 285 - U

Universal Translator - 288 - U

Xenotraining - 289 - U

Lieutenant Khrkhar - 295 - C

Light of the Archons - 297 - C

Sci. Officer Qincan - 301 - C

Zap - 305 - C

Star Alliance has some really good reprints in Dark Tidings. They aren't all game breaking or combo monsters, but most of them are very solid. I actually had a really hard time narrowing down my top 5. A ton of cards vied for the #5 spot. I feel pretty good about the top 4, but the 5th could be any number of the reprints.  

#5 Crash Muldoon

As I said above, any number of reprints could have gone into this slot. I could have had a tie between the bonus amber upgrades, which are all great (especially Light of the Archons). I could have had some of the other creatures that allow for cross House shenanigans. I decided on Crash Muldoon, simply because he allows for instant access to other creatures on your turn. This can be a lifesaver when you need to do stuff from both houses, such as capturing from Sanctum (to prevent a key), but also play a bunch of Star Alliance to empty your hand, or whatever. There are tons of applications and combos for Crash to exploit and use, and this set looks like it has those in spades.

#4 Matter Maker

This is a little more reliant on deck composition, but having Matter Maker around can make the speed of your deck so nice. You can filter through your deck at blistering speeds if you have this out with a lot of upgrades. Every House in this set has at least 1 upgrade in it, so it's possible to be utilized by everyone. But if you have tons of Star Alliance upgrades, this is the perfect tool for you. This makes an already fast House even faster.

#3 Captain Val Jericho

Oh captain, my captain! My personal favorite of the leaders in Keyforge. Some say Zenz is better, but I always found Jericho to be more consistent. It is pretty easy to get her ability to work every turn just from careful creature placement. She is hard to get rid of with decent power and armor as well. She is the prime and leading example of Star Alliance speed and out-of-active-House playing. You can more easily empty your hand, play crazy combos, go through your deck, and get yourself out of sticky 2/2/2 hand situations better with this card. Look for her making a difference in every deck she is in.

#2 Lay of the Land

Who doesn't love this card? There is no way this is a bad card to get. It is both fun and competitive. The ability to scry (sorry MTG haters), is hugely important in any card game, and this is better than most. Not only do you get to look at the cards, you get to rearrange the order, and then draw a card on top of it! Plus, it gives you an amber bonus to boot (it would still be amazing even without it). I love this card (I only wish there were more enhancers in the set so I could get copies of it with more bonus icons). This is an awesome card to get in any deck, and in a combo heavy set, it will be invaluable. 

#1 Book of IeQ

This is one of those cards that you can really abuse if you have the right pieces. There are a number of cards in this set that allow you to filter your deck in a way to know what card is next, with the best being in Star Alliance! Playing Lay of the Land to set up a double House turn really is a beautiful feeling. Plus, you can always give it a try even if you don't know 100% what card is next, just make sure you are done with Star Alliance first. I can't tell you how many times this has allowed me to basically take two turns in a row. With the amount of card draw in this set, I expect this card will be even more amazing. I can't wait to crack this open alongside Logos and Untamed for card draw, amber generation, and key cheating!

Honorable Mention - Mutagenesis Researcher

I wanted to mention this card, just because it is my biggest gripe about the newest set: There aren't enough of these kinds of cards in the set. The bonus icon enhancers are the best thing to come to Keyforge. Nothing encapsulates the unique deck selling point like what we got in MM. This little innovation truly can make decks unique in no other way we have seen so far. I know they develop sets in advance, and they tried to add a couple of these cards to the set because of the popularity, but it's not nearly enough. I really hope they realize how awesome the bonus icons are, and they add more to each set going forward. Until then, cards like Mutagenesis Researcher will hold a special place in my heart. Not necessarily because it's an amazingly competitive card necessarily, but because of what it gives Keyforge as a unique game.

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So there we have it, my top 5 Star Alliance Reprints from Dark Tidings. I am very curious to hear of people's opinions of this House. I am very excited to see what they can do in this set. They seem quite good and have a lot of really fun combos to try. Do you agree with my list? Any changes? Criticisms? Interpretive dances? Please let me know. Thank you for reading and happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Shadows Reprints from Dark Tidings

Let's take a look at my Top 5 Shadows Reprints from Keyforge's newest 5th set, Dark Tidings. If you are just joining me, you can check out previous analysis of the Houses, Logos, Sanctum, and Saurian. I shall start as I always do with a list of all the reprinted cards Shadows gets in Dark Tidings, alongside their card number and rarity. 

Deipno Spymaster - 194 - R

Finch Cloak - 197 - R

Finishing Blow - 198 - R

Mack the Knife - 199 - R

Mastermindy - 200 - R

Master Plan - 201 - R

Mole - 202 -R

Ring of Invisibility - 204 - R

Sack of Coins - 205 - R

Scowly Caper - 206 - R

Smiling Ruth - 207 - R

The Shadow Council - 209 - R

Booby Trap - 212 -U

"Borrow" - 213 - U

Brend the Fanatic - 214 - U

Little Niff - 217 - U

Miasma Bomb - 218 - U

Old Bruno - 220 - U

Ransack - 221 - U

Whisper 226 - U

Francis the "Economist" - 228 - C

Mug - 236 - C

Seeker Needle - 240 - C

Shoulder Id - 241 - C

Ok, sneaking into the Shadows to take a better look at Shadows reprints. In general, I think most people agree that Shadows hasn't been the same since AoA. They got hit pretty hard with the nerf hammer in WC, and they haven't really recovered. I think they have improved a little in this set, but we'll have to see how consistent the Tide mechanic is to keep these guys competitive. But, for now let's look at the reprints Shadows gets. I was tempted to put in Brend the Fanatic, as I love that little guy, but without some good self-killing cards or copious amounts of Hazardous creatures, he is more unreliable in this set. But I do think there are some solid reprints to look out for. I also debated on Masterplan, but I liked other cards, and I felt like Masterplan was never as good as just archiving, which this set has in spades. But anyway, onto the list!

#5 Mug

Like the drinking receptacle that houses some delectable hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold, winter's night, this Shadows' version of Mug takes us back to when Shadows ruled the land. We may not have all the same toys that we had back then, but Mug has always felt pretty close. Moving amber rather than capturing or stealing, gets around a lot of annoying cards. Dealing 2 damage can be useful to remove something, but it mostly was good at getting rid of wards. The amber bonus however pushes this card nicely into amber rush territory. You can also play it on your own creatures in a pinch to prevent your opponent from getting back their captured amber. This is a card that I always welcome in my decks.

  

#4 Scowly Caper

I will probably get some flak for this placement, but I think Scowly Caper could be an invaluable tool in the Shadows arsenal. I think board control will be very important, and between Unfathomable exhausting and Sanctum stunning (or giant creatures in Saurian and Untamed), it's very possible Shadows could find themselves unable to deal with an opponent's board. Luckily, Scowly Caper is here to sabotage an opponent's plans. I don't like giving my opponent a free amber every turn for reaping, but I've seen Scowly single handedly win games due to my opponent never being able to get a board going. If they don't have self removal (no Pawn Sarifice of Life for a Life), or you don't have a bunch of creatures with Hazardous, your opponent will actually find Scowly hard to deal with. I remember I almost lost in Day 2 of a Vault Tour against former team member Team SAS's Erich Taylor due to stupid Scowly. Luckily I had a ton of creatures in my deck. But still, he can win games, and I expect him to be very good in this set.

#3 Miasma Bomb

I think I will always prefer Miasma, but if I can't have that, Miasma Bomb is a fine substitute. I do like the bonus damage icon and the fact that it is an artifact and therefore won't clog my hand. Having this around to buy yourself time, especially in the end game, is quite frequently game deciding. Just hope your opponent doesn't get rid of it or steal it themselves. But I will take that risk if it allows me to have this in a Shadows deck.

#2 Old Bruno

I remember when Old Bruno was very good, but not broken, probably due to how amazing the rest of Shadows was. Then I remember Old Bruno getting better when Saurian came around, throwing wrenches in stealing strategies. And so I continue to remember that Old Bruno is an amazing card to have in one's deck. He is truly getting old 5 sets in, but old age isn't diminishing his returns at all. 

#1 "Borrow"

I feel pretty good about this pick. Artifact hate has always been important to Keyforge, and Shadows has had the best cards for that. I am sad that we don't also have Hock or Sneklifter, but Borrow is a fine substitute because it is Sneklifter but with a bonus amber! Artifacts seem to be just as important, if not moreso in this set than others. There are some really scary combos out there that rely on Artifacts, and if you can remove them or use them yourself, you will have a serious advantage. I have felt like most of my best decks, if they are missing something, it's usually in the realm of artifact hate. The only "hate" that is harder to come by in Keyforge I feel is archiving. Borrow is something that could easily turn a lackluster Shadows component, into something competitive.

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And that's it for Shadows. Although I think Shadows got some really good reprints, I still think the House overall is not as good as some of the other Houses, and it doesn't hold a candle to Shadows as it was in the first 2 sets. I do think they will be better than the previous 2 sets, so it's a step in the right direction. Do you think I missed the mark, or have I finally created a list that people agree with? It's fine if you don't agree though. Actually, I'd love to hear how I'm wrong, so please feel free to inform me in the comments. Thanks for reading and happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Saurian Reprints from Dark Tidings

Okey dokey, today we are delving too deeply into the Saurian House, looking at my top 5 Reprints from the new Keyforge set, Dark Tidings. For those of you just joining us, you can check out the previous articles with Logos and Sanctum. As usual, we shall start off with a list of all the reprints along with their card number and rarity:

Scylla - 131 - R

Charybdis - 132 - R (fixed with Scylla)

Crassosaurus - 153 - R

Diplo-Macy - 136 - R

Good of the Many - 139 - R

Grimlocus Dux - 140 - R

High Priest Torvus - 142 - R

Imperial Forge - 143 - R

Imperial Road - 144 - R

Primus Unguis - 146 - R

Saury About That - 147 - R

Tertiate - 149 - R

The Colosseum - 150 - R

City-State Interest - 155 - U

Gladiodontus - 157 - U

Hedonistic Intent - 158 - U

Humble - 159 - U

Paraguardian - 160 - U

Senator Quintina - 163 - U

Siren Horn - 164 - U

Terrordactyl - 165 - U

Consul Primus - 171 - C

Cornicen Octavia - 172 - C

Faust the Great - 175 - C

Spoils of Battle - 181 - C

I think our neighborhood friendly dinos also suffer from a couple of subpar reprints, but I feel as though the Saurian reprints have their worth modified the most out of the Houses we've looked at so far, for better and worse. For example, Grimlocus Dux is worse off since Senator Bracchus and Praefectus Ludo are not in the set. Actually, all the Saurian House is worse off without those two, lol. I know they get a new common senator in Medicus Lacus (Spelling?), but he is dependent on having high Tide, which is not as ideal. Overall I think House Saurian has fallen far from their initial showcase in WC, but we'll see once Dark Tidings hits (also, Saurian in WC was OP). But I still have at least 5 reprints that I'm excited about (*sorry, with which I am excited).

#5 Faust the Great

I'm a sucker for on-play amber control. I'm also a sucker for increasing key costs, especially against combo decks. Enter in Faust, that devil-dealing-dino, increasing key costs since...well whenever you play him. There is a lot of capturing in Dark Tidings, so there's a good chance this guy will get help from nearly every house. Faust is also common, so he is going to be a great and easy way to stop your opponent from forging keys.

#4 Terrordactyl

It could have just been my experience, but Terrordactyl lives up to its name if you get to use it. If I don't have a big answer to it, it routinely wiped my boards of squishy Star Alliance, Logos, Untamed, and Shadows. There are a ton of very impactful low-power creatures in this set, so I am expecting this thing to do some real damage for me...if I can use him. With Unfathomable making their debut, however, with all their exhausting and Sanctum with their stunning, and various other bounce effects, Terrordactyl could be in for a rough time. But if you don't have an answer for it, it will crush you. Plus, it looks awesome.

#3 City-State Interest 

You know I love my amber control. And while this is not quite as good without the good cards to spend amber on creatures like Senator Bracchus, or stuff like Ancient Power to ward everyone, or Axiom of Grisk as a board wipe, it still gets the job done as a decent amber control card. I've always liked that it's only cap is how many creatures you have. As I mentioned above Saurian does get Medicus Lacus to help out with spending the amber, it's just not quite as good as what we've had before. This is still a high impact amber control card that can save you in a pinch.

#2 Primus Unguis

If you want a large board, Primus Unguis can get you there. He created truly monstrous boards that were impossible to deal with outside of direct removal. I expect he will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. If you combine him with Untamed power counters, and Sanctum armor, you can get ridiculously powerful creatures, lol. Thankfully he is rare and he doesn't put amber on himself when he comes in, but still. There are a lot of powerful decks out there that count on him, and I think that will continue in this set.

#1 Imperial Forge

I am going with a key cheat for my number 1, mainly because I have seen so much capturing in this set. I think you could easily get a House combination that will have lots of amber on your creatures, making it great for Imperial Forge fodder. I don't think Saurian is particularly strong in this set, and so they will need all the help they can get. But if you combine this card with Sanctum capture and goodness, or Untamed burst amber, then maybe Imperial Forge can become a reliable way to forge multiple keys on a turn.

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I was not as excited about Saurian as other Houses. A lot of that has to do with what I am seeing in the rest of the House in terms of new cards. On paper it is looking like Saurian will be one of the bottom Houses. They lost too many key cards that made them good (overpowered perhaps), and although they got back some of the good ones, they aren't replacing them with enough to be reliable IMO. But time will tell. Am I missing something? Are Saurians really good in this set? Did they get some monstrous combo using reprinted cards that I'm not seeing? Please let me know and inform me of your list or changes. Thanks as always for reading, and happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Sanctum Reprints from Dark Tidings

Welcome back to the second article looking at the Top 5 Reprints for Keyforge's 5th set, Dark Tidings. If you missed the last one, check out Logos! You back? Good. This time we are moving into House Sanctum. 

Here is the list of the 24 reprints that Sanctum will get along with their card number and rarity:

Charge! - 075 - R

Epic Quest - 077 - R

Lady Loreena - 079 - R

Lord Golgotha - 081 - R

Mad Prophet Gizelhart - 082 - R

Mighty Lance - 083 - R

Numquid the Fair - 084 - R

Orb of Wonder - 085 - R

Round Table - 086 - R

Sanctum Guardian - 087 - R

Seraphic Armor - 088 - R

The Vaultkeeper - 091 - R

Barrister Joya - 094 - U

Bring Low - 095 - U

Doorstep to Heaven - 096 U

Gatekeeper 098 - U

Gorm of Omm 099 - U

Haedroth's Wall - 101 - U

Radiant Truth 105 - U

Shoulder Armor - 107 - U

Bull-Wark - 109 - C

Cleansing Wave - 110 - C

General Xalvador - 111 - C

Staunch Knight - 120 - C

I don't think this list is quite as consistent as the Logos reprint list. There are definitely cards in here that I don't really care to get, especially when compared to others. Getting Charge!, Mighty Lance, or Seraphic Armor as a rare in your deck is a let down when you could get any of the others.

I feel far less confident about the ordering of Sanctum than I did about Logos. I feel as though you could shuffle these names and just pick one at a time out of a hat and the order would be just as valid. I am struggling with my own phrasing of "impactful". On one hand, something that is common is probably more impactful for an average game than a rare, simply because it is more likely to pop up. But if you have all 5 of the cards in the same deck, which would be considered the most impactful? Again, that depends on a few things, especially matchups or what the rest of your deck has. Or is it the card that everyone wants in their deck? Or the card that is a primary selling point when talking about why it is good or not. I think I'm going to veer towards the card that everyone should agree is an amazing card to have in their deck, and then secondly a card that would be a primary reason/selling point for why a deck is good or not. But, getting back to our reprint analysis, despite some lackluster cards, Sanctum does have some very strong reprints coming back, so don't let the chaff ruin your wheat (people say that, right?).

So let's dive in!

#5 Vaultkeeper 091

I always liked Vaultkeeper, especially in the early sets when Shadows was king. Stealing is a little less common these days, but Dark Tidings still has plenty of little steals in it, and of course the rest of the sets still have all their stealing so if you are playing Archon this will still be a really valuable card. Flat out preventing an opponent from stealing can shut down entire amber controlling strategies, and leave you free to gain amber as you want. Capturing is still pretty popular, but massive amounts of capturing is actually pretty limited in this set. I will always like seeing Vaultkeeper as one of the cards in my deck, and I think it automatically improves every Sanctum House component it is in.

#4 Gatekeeper 098 

Gatekeeper is another one of those cards with which I have always had a soft spot. Scaling amber control has always been very important in Keyforge. It helps keep those rush decks in control. Scaling steal was king for a while, but since that has been pretty nerfed recently, we'll have to go with scaling capture. Being able to take your opponent off a key check with a single card (no matter how much amber they have) is always going to be huge. You can win/lose games based on being able to do this, or avoid it. The caveat for this card is of course they need to have 7 amber, and not just 6, so it won't always work. But still, Dark Tidings seems to have very little scaling amber control of either kind. Most of it is limited to Sanctum, with only a couple of cards in other Houses. I think Gatekeeper is going to be another one of those cards that catapults any Sanctum House component into competitive territory.  

#3 Numquid the Fair 084

Ah Numquid, a horribly named character that didn't get a lot of love originally, but someone who sent us all digging into our collections when WC came out thanks to Saurians/Star Alliance with wards. With Keyforge moving into more complicated and wide board states, boardwipes were becoming more and more necessary. And with WC giving us Saurians and Star Alliance, who both gave copious amounts of wards on top of wide board states (actually so did Logos), a simple board wipe wasn't enough. In comes Numquid, not caring about wards at all. As long as you had fewer creatures, you could ping off every single ward an opponent had, and then start laying waste to their battle line. She is a game saving play. Now, there aren't as many wards in this set, but there aren't a ton of board wipes either. Plus, if you plan on playing Archon, there will most likely be WC Saurian/Star Alliance decks out there and you will definitely want this card for them. I still think she is a top tier card, even if only playing in this set.

#2 Orb of Wonder 085

This card was the one that I toiled over and revisited how I evaluated cards. Orb of Wonder originally was an Anomaly rarity card, which made it almost impossible to get in a deck. It was an incredibly powerful card and it's easy to see why. As long as it's out, you can use it's Omni ability (ie not have to have a specific House active), to get any card you want/need in your draw pile. That is very useful. The reason I don't have it number one is because its strength is still a bit situational. If you have a combo deck, it is a must have and an amazing card. If you need a specific card in your draw pile, this can get it for you. However, artifact stealing exists in this set, and the last thing you want is to give your opponent this card. Plus, in some decks you just might not need it as much. And lastly, it is a rare, so unlikely to come with the best cards available. It's still a card I will always want in any deck, and definitely deserves a #2 spot though. With other specific cards for combos, this could elevate a deck into Vault Tour winning territory. 

#1 Bring Low 095/ Doorstep to Heaven 096

For #1 I have a tie. I'm sorry, but both of these cards are just too similar and too good not to put them both here. I definitely couldn't demote Orb of Wonder to a #3 slot, but these two cards will be amazing in absolutely every deck they are in, whether in Sealed or in Archon play. As I said before, scaling amber control is vitally important to the meta. It is the only thing that keeps rush decks in check. Not even just rush decks, it makes people debate on whether to just gain as much amber as they can on their turn. They are slightly different in how they do things though. Bring Low enhances another card, which I love, and it captures all but 5 amber from your opponent only. Doorstep on the other hand flat out gets rid of the excess of 6 amber, but it can also affect you. Sometimes it can be better to capture amber, especially with Saurians! But other times, you don't want your opponent just getting the amber back by destroying your creatures. But both are scaling amber control, which is surprisingly rare in this set. These 2 cards are the most widely available, most consistent scaling amber control in the set, and so will be really important cards to get for any competitive deck.

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So that's it for Sanctum. It has access to some extremely powerful reprints as we can see (3 scaling amber control cards!), and this alone could put Sanctum as one of the top Houses of the set, but time will tell. This House gave me a lot of headaches, debates, deletes, and edits before I decided on my list. And even then, you could probably ask me next week and I will change up the order, lol. Am I missing something simple? Would this be a really easy list/order for you? Please let me know. Thank you so much for reading, and as always, happy gaming!

Keyforge: Top 5 Logos Reprints from Dark Tidings

Keyforge's 5th set, Dark Tidings, is starting to be released around the world. Although I won't be getting it for another month most likely, I can at least start looking at the complete set thanks to the work of the community and especially Archon Arcana, for compiling all the spoiler information! For this little series, I want to look at the reprints for each House, and talk about my top 5 most impactful ones. I plan on looking at all the new cards as well, but I want to wait until we get English versions of the card images. So let's dive into Logos!

Here is a list of the 25 reprints that Logos will get along with their card number and rarity: 

Hyde - 012 - R

Velum - 013 - R (fixed with Hyde)

Academy Training - 014 - R

Knowledge is Power - 019 - R

Library Card - 020 - R

Master the Theory - 021 - R

Mind Over Matter - 022 - R

Mobius Scroll - 023 - R

The Archivist - 026 - R

The Howling Pit - 027 - R

Universal Keylock - 029 - R

Vespilon Theorist - 030 - R

Zenzizenzizenzic - 031 - R

Anomaly Exploiter - 032 - U

Bouncing Deathquark - 035 - U

Brain Eater - 036 - U

Data Forge - 037 - U

Eureka! - 038 - U

Fila the Researcher - 039 - U

Novu Archaeologist - 044 - U

Positron Bolt - 045 - U

EDAI "Eddie" 4x4 - 051 - C

Infomorph - 054 - C

Information Exchange - 055 - C

Phase Shift - 57 - C

We have some very solid cards coming back, although I find it interesting that most of them are rare. That's not a bad thing, since it leaves more room for new cards, and it wasn't like you saw them in every deck in previous sets. But most, if not all, are cards that I won't be disappointed in getting in my decks. I wonder if Infomorph in particular was added late in development. We know that they have several Keyforge sets planned out in advance at any given time, and they are never sure if a set's mechanics will be popular. But after the amazing response of Mass Mutations bonus icons, I believe FFG said that they plugged in some of those "enhancers" as I call them, into this set. I wish they would have done it a lot more, as those enhancer cards really help make each deck completely unique, but I will take what I can get.

But anyway, there are a few cards that stand out to me. Read on to see my top 5 (really 6, lol), favorite Logos cards that are being reprinted in Dark Tidings:

#5 Positron Bolt 045

I actually originally had Bouncing Deathquark 035, as my #5, but changed it in favor of Positron Bolt. I love Bouncing Deathquark, but without Dis to be able to combo off Destroyed triggers, it isn't quite as good as it was in the past. Still a solid card, but Positron Bolt edges it out. It gives you a bonus amber, can ping off wards pretty cheaply, and if they are unwarded, can flat out take out creatures. And Dark Tidings seems to have a lot of high impact creatures that are at 3 power and below. I have a feeling this card will be greatly used as it always has been.

#4 (Tie) Library Card 020 and Zenzizenzizenzic 031

Ok, so for #4 I'm already going to cheat and make it a tie between the 2 best rares that Logos is getting back, Library Card and Zenzizenzizenzic. It is difficult to choose between rares because...well...they're so rare, so it's unlikely you will run into them a lot. But both of these cards will be very impactful. It's hard to argue that Z wasn't the better card in Mass Mutation. Those extra cards really help, and as long as you can maintain it being at the center, it just keeps on giving. The reason why I think Library card jumps up, and in my opinion even surpasses Z a little in this set is because of the combo options Logos is getting in Dark Tidings. There are several cards in this set that give you more for each card that you play in a single turn: Talmage Steelheart 007 and 062 (Translation?), Ruined City 024, Mind Bullet 043, Science! 059, and Keyforging Treaty 018 (Translation?). 

Keyforging Treaty 018, is probably the biggest since it's a key cheat that gives you an amber, then allows you to forge a key at +7 amber, reduced by 1 amber for each card you played this turn (including itself). So having the pseudo Library Access turn could really combo off if you have the right stuff. As a side note, could you imagine if someone gets Library Card and a Legacy Library Access in the same deck?!

#3 Data Forge 037

Here is another combo card. This card was good in previous sets, but I feel as though it was a hard combo to pull off. It was more difficult to draw tons of cards and archive them... at least when compared to this set, lol. I think at least 28 out of the 63 Logos cards either archive or draw cards, not to mention the ones that can add amber. Also, there is a lot of card draw and archiving in other Houses as well with the likes of the insane card 412 (name not translated) from Untamed where you destroy a friendly creature and draw cards equal to half its power rounded up! You can set up to have a ton of cards in hand in order to pull off a free Data Forge. Heck, you can use Phase Shift 057 to help you play card draw cards from other Houses on your turn! There is also a bunch of recursive cards in the set like Think Again? 047, where you get to play an action card from your discard pile and then purge it. So you could forge multiple keys in a turn! I can't wait to dive into decks that contain this card!

#2 EDAI "Eddie" 4x4

One of my favorite cards from WC, and arguably considered to be one of the best (probably behind Infurnace?). But it's an amazing card:

 

1. It has ongoing amber control on play (meaning you can take someone off a key on the turn you play it). Being ongoing means it will remain to be amber control until it leaves play.

2. You can make your opponent pay exorbitant amounts of amber for their keys if they do forge.

3. It pretty much forces your opponent to deal with it, which can sidetrack their plans for their own deck.

4. It protects against multiple key forges in a turn by just increasing the cost of keys. I know I kind of mentioned that above, but this deserves its own point, because combo decks can be devastating, and I think they are making a comeback with this set. Having this card (or multiples) in play really put a hamper in combo decks.

5. Being 3 power actually makes it more difficult to get rid of than you might think, especially with this set having a lot of weaker powered creatures. A lot of direct damage in Keyforge is in the 1-2 damage range, which won't get EDAI off the board.  

6. It can stack. If you archive more cards, or have multiple EDAIs, the value keeps getting better!

7. It's common, so it's pretty easy to get and get in multiples.

So yeah...look for EDAI in a lot of the top decks for this set, I'm calling it now.

#1 Phase Shift 057

You might be thinking it will be hard to top EDAI, especially after that glowing review I just gave, but I think this one edges even EDAI out. We haven't seen Phase Shift in a while, but it was considered one of the best cards in the game. It should be obvious, but a card that allows you to play outside your active House is really good. Let's go through what it gives you:

1. It allows for combos that wouldn't typically be allowed - I mentioned Phase Shift when I was talking about Data Forge earlier in the article. You can play Phase Shift in order to play 412 to allow you do draw a potential massive amount of cards (at least 50 cards if you get 321 on the table, lol). In the combo from the #4 card, playing Phase Shift (which allows for an out-of-active-House card to be played), results in 2 cards being played, which gets you closer to pulling off Keyforging Treaty 018. But there are combos everywhere in the set. One could write several huge articles talking about every single combo with which Phase Shift gives, but I will let you discover them yourself because that is way more fun for you. But playing out of House on your turn is a great way to combo in new and creative ways :)

2. It sets up future turns - Phase Shift allows you to drop that random creature/artifact/upgrade from another House onto the board, maybe allowing it to be activated on your very next turn. 

3. It gets you out of trouble - Sometimes you can get stuck because of how many cards you have from each House in your hand. If you have the dreaded 2/2/2 spread, you can normally only play 2 cards in a turn, which may or may not be fixed the next turn. Phase Shift allows you to turn an unfavorable 2/2/2 House card spread in your hand by allowing you to get rid of all the Logos cards, as well as 1 from another House. Now, thanks to Phase Shift, you could be going into your next turn with a 5/1/0 spread, which probably means an amazing turn for you. It is less likely to get stuck in a 2/2/2 rut again.

4. By helping to empty your hand, it helps you draw more cards - Going through your deck quickly is powerful in Keyforge. Card draw is not quite as important in Keyforge as other card games since you get to refill your hand, but a Keyforge deck that can cycle through all of its cards faster than an opponent's is probably going to win more often than not. It allows you to get to your best cards more frequently, and helps you get what you need when you need it.

Plus, Phase Shift is also common, so it's very possible to have it with multiple copies, allowing you for cross-House shenanigans all over the place. I love Phase Shift, and any deck with it is better for it, guaranteed.

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So that is my top 5 Reprints for Logos. Logos is looking pretty darn good in this set, and we've only talked about the reprints! Do you agree with my choices? Order? Please let me know in the comments, and join in my excitement as Dark Tidings grows ever closer! As always, thank you for reading and happy gaming!