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?
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.
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?
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!
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