All the New Info about Mass Mutation, Keyforge's 4th Set!

Well fellow Keyforgers, we got exciting news today. The 4th set was announced, and it is called Mass Mutation! The info brought to you today came from the livestream and then an article released on the FFG website. Watch and read them for the info, but here is the rundown for your ease. Also check out the ongoing spoiler list for the new set here:

1. Numbers - The set gives us 422 cards, 250 of which are new. The set is going to be released in May, although there is not an exact date yet. We have been told that the set will NOT be legal for Worlds, but should be soon after. It's possible it will release around the same time, but there is an 11-day hold after a set's release before the decks can be used in Archon tournaments.

2. Sanctum in, Brobnar out - We have known about this for a little bit, but it's nice to get some official word. Brobnar is out after an abysmal showing with World's Collide, and Sanctum is back. In the livestream, Sanctum was described as returning to make the board more resilient, aid in capturing amber, and healing. They will be smaller in power similar to Age of Ascension rather than Call of the Archons, but they will also be more aggressive. A good example of this is the change for Bulwark:

 

Instead of giving his neighbors +2 armor, he is now giving them +2 Assault. Also note that he is a Mutant Knight, instead of a Human Knight. We were also told that Sanctum is not too keen about the Dark Amber and the Mutations, and that is shown in the flavor and mechanics of their house, with cards like Gizelhart's Wrath specifically taking out Mutants.

I am glad to be rid of Brobnar for this set. I love their theme, but they have been near the bottom of the barrel in terms of competitive play, with an exception for Sealed play in Age of Ascension. They have been awful in Worlds Collide, and I think it's time for a break. When I first heard Sanctum was coming back, I was a little disappointed, only in that it seemed like Mars would be a better fit for Mutations, and I wanted to see Mars go against Star Alliance. But oh well, some day. But, with this announcement, I really like Sanctum's theme of hating mutations. That sounds cool. I am still wary, however, of how competitive they will be. Their targeting of mutants will do nothing against previous sets. I also think the have a crisis of identity. They had resilient creatures who captured amber, both things Saurians seem to do better. They manipulated the board and comboed off each other, something most World's Collides houses, especially Star Alliance, already does well. I was encouraged by them talking about Sanctum and how they have changed a bit, but I hope it comes across well as a unique identity, and one that is still competitive and fun.

3. Dark Amber Mutations - This is the main theme of the set. We were told that high in the mountains, two Archons battled, and the victor opened a vault, only to discover that it contained blue/purple/black Dark Amber. Once unleashed, it spread and mutated countless creatures in the Crucible. This mutation finds its way into the mechanics of the set in that we will get mutated versions of creatures we know. An example given was the new card Rad Penny, which is what has befallen our poor Bad Penny. She is similar, but a little different (and much better in my opinion). We will see many cards that have changed in this set.

 

I love this. This is a great way to introduce story, as well as make the set feel new without making it overly complicated. Older fans will remember how Bad Penny was, and will revel in her change, while new players will just enjoy a decent card. I can't wait to see how the mutations have affected the world, and in turn how that will affect gameplay.

4. New Keyword called Enhance - This is the biggest change in the set. This also follows the theme of mutations, but this affects how the decks are arithmetically generated. There will be many cards with the new keyword, Enhance, and these will randomly modify some of the cards in your deck in the form of icons. With previous sets, the only icon (found in the top left of a card), was bonus Amber. Now, cards with Enhance can add icons to any of your cards that also come in your deck. There are 4 icons that can be added (bonus amber, capture amber, damage, and draw a card). Multiple Enhancing cards can add even multiple icons to the same card, resulting in some crazy combinations. When it comes to crazy combinations, the main article mentions a Star Alliance card, but I was more excited about how in testing, they got a Gateway to Dis with a damage icon, which allowed the already good card to take out a Warded creature, which is huge! The possibilities are endless! They did mention that the Amber icon is more rare than the others, so don't expect to get a Key Charge with 5 bonus Amber icons to be run-of-the-mill, although get ready to get excited about getting the only deck in existence with certain combinations.

This is the thing I'm most excited for! I was so excited about Anomalies in the previous set. I thought that was really unique for Keyforge, and I love how FFG keeps trying to bring something new. This takes it to a whole new level. This is such a simple addition, with very little need in rules explanation, but it allows for near infinite variety. That is special in the world of card games. The unique deck shtick has been the draw for Keyforge forever, but I feel this is the first time it will really be true. Depending on how common these cards with Enhance are, you could be getting brand new cards in every deck, even though they have the same title. Have fun with that, cube variant lovers!

A couple of things about Enhance:
a. Any card can be an Enhancer, whether it's a creature, artifact, or action
b. A card can have up to 5 icons on it.
c. Each Enhancing card will Enhance a deck in the same way, so Armory Officer Nel will always enhance a deck with 1 draw-card icon, although itself could then be enhanced by itself or others.

5. Gigantic Creatures that spread across 2 cards! - Oh boy, we are getting dual card creatures now. Probably borrowing from Magic the Gathering's Melding cards, Keyforge now will get 2 parts of a gigantic creature, both of which are needed in order to play. However, once you do, the creature will be a force to be reckoned with. FFG's design team has at least thought of the contingency of the giant creature getting removed right after being played (which sounds very difficult since you need both parts), and so each of these giants all have powerful on-play effects. Deusillus was the example, and he seems really powerful. We were also told that there will be cards that allow you to grab the parts of the card you need, so hopefully it will be relatively consistent to get these things on the board. We were also told that cards like Regrowth would only grab one half, and that you could play both halves on the first turn, since it comes into play as a single card/ one creature.

This is also really exciting. I'm highly doubtful this will be competitive, only in that it is a huge cost to be holding onto cards every turn, and each half of these gigantic creatures is completely dead without the other. But, from a fun factor, this is awesome. This is exciting and I can't wait to try them out. Weekly sealed events will be ripe with crazy stories of these gigantic creatures making it onto the table and turning games. I hope. But maybe there are going to be lots of fetching cards in this set that will make it easier. One can also Archive these while waiting to draw the other part. I wonder if some decks can have double creatures, which would make them drop more often, which is awesome in theory.







6. Various little factoids

     a. Focus on story - we were told they are really trying to tell a story with the cards and mechanics,           far more than previous sets.
     b. No new Anomalies, although the anomalies from Worlds Collide shall be returning
     c. No new tokens, and very little new mechanics, done on purpose to make it easier for new                     players to get into the game. (This is great, I was getting worried after World's Collide released)
     d. Enrage was not really present in World's Collide, despite being new. We were told that Enrage             will be explored in a much more real way in this set.
     e. We were told that if we liked chasing Four Horsemen decks from Cota, just wait until we see               the Seven Sins. Eeeee!!!!

So that's it for the new stuff. Keep an eye on this blog, as I will be starting my Mass Mutation updating Spoiler list again, as I have for previous sets. What excites you the most about this new set? What are you looking forward to? I hope you enjoyed this article and join me in the hype train that always accompanies a new Keyforge set! Thanks for reading and happy gaming!

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

What is your favorite format to play Keyforge?

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is next for you?

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


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

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

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

Keyforge New Houses? Rampant Speculation!!!

Thanks to a spoiled new deck box design with accompanying house stickers, we have been teased at the possibility of new Keyforge Houses. When the game first came out, we were told that we would be getting new houses at some point, but we did not know when. Now, with this news, we may be getting them sooner than expected. My guess is we'll get the announcement at Gencon in August. But until then, let's speculate! Here are some of my thoughts/wishes/guesses as to what we might get.

Screenshot from Wossy Plays video, here

First, let's loosely look at the Houses we currently have and their color scheme, theme, and mechanics:

Brobnar - Orange background, Yellow foreground - Big creatures with giants and goblins. Bombastic. Lots of power. Amber generation is done by fighting.

Logos - Silver/White/Gray background, blue foreground - Small creatures. Robots and scientists. Card draw and archiving.

Shadows - White/Silver/Gray background, Black foreground (possibly a little purple or dark blue in those "eyes") - Very small creatures. Stealing and Elusive.

Sanctum - Blue background, Yellow foreground (or vice versa) - Solid creatures with armor. Big board states using armor and capturing amber. Spirit Knights.

Mars - Green background, Purple foreground - Martians with UFOs and laser beams. Relies on in-house synergies for everything and can do a little bit of everything including stunning, direct damage, amber generation, amber control, card draw, etc.

Dis - Black background, Pink foreground - Demons and insect like look. Disruption of all kinds whether through hand size and card discard, board manipulation, key cost, etc. Inflicts pain on themselves for benefit. Antithesis of Sanctum in theme.

Untamed - Green background, Orange foreground (or vice versa) - Lots of creature synergies and great amber generation. Naturalistic tree hugging with ferocious beasts.

So, with that in mind, let's look at the possible color schemes, themes, and mechanics of possible new Houses.

Color Schemes

Right now, we can easily identify each of the new Houses based on their color scheme in their logo. Now some of the colors have been duplicated, but I think this is a good place to start when thinking of something new.

1. Using pink/purple in the background - Dis has pink as their little dots, currently, and Mars has purple in the eyes, but I think we could get a house that uses pink or purple as a primary background color. I think that would serve as a very eye-catching new house.

2. Using Red anywhere - Some how, they have not used red yet, which I find crazy.

3. Using Brown/Tan anywhere - Probably not as eye catching, but it is a color they haven't used yet.

4. Using metallic colors - I am thinking this is for much later, but they could go the Pokemon route and start using metallic colors for houses.

Themes

1. Military - I am thinking just like Sanctum vs Dis, we could have Martian vs. Military. Classically, I am thinking 50s US or USSR military, leaning towards the US since we seem to be more obsessed with UFOs and aliens. They could also go a little more sci-fi and make it like Halo UNSC, Gears of War Cogs, Star Trek, etc. I'm not saying to actually use an existing IP, I'm just thinking general theme. Could definitely use the red/brown/tan unused color scheme.

2. Eldritch - They could jump on the Cthulhu bandwagon, which I am always for. Eldrazi/ Lovecraftian cosmic entities.

3. Horror - They could also go the horror route with ghosts, skeletons, zombies, necromancy, vampires, werewolves, possessed trees, etc.

4. High Fantasy - We have steampunk giants/goblins, and sneaky cyberpunk elves and some forest elves already. But we could get more fantasy stuff. Dwarves and dragons and wizards and witches. Orcs and ogres. Any other alliterative options? More like a pure magic faction, rather than magic + technology.

5. Coyboys/Pirates/Samurai - These are other common gaming tropes that a lot of games use, and avenues that could be used for Keyforge.

Mechanics

With Age of Ascension, we got a couple of new keywords, and I'm sure we could expect maybe a couple more with this set as well. I hope they are limited, or at least, flow easily into the rules like AoA did for the most part.

1. Maybe a house that uses more purging? This is a fun mechanic that has only been used sparingly by a few houses, but maybe we could get a house that really specializes in it. And not only purging opponent's cards. The house could purge its own stuff, manipulate the purge pile, and use it as a kind of resource. I think direct purging could be an interesting strategy for players to have. You can get rid of specific power cards from your opponent, or get rid of cards in your own deck to make it easier to draw your best cards.

2. New win condition? - We have key cheats, but perhaps they could explore alternate win conditions. This is a tricky road, since it could easily be broken, but it's a design space most card games go to at some point.

3. More tokens and token manipulation - We could have power/armor -1 tokens. We could have a faction that manipulates those negative ones, perhaps the magic or horror house? They could also have more cards that use tokens, similar to what they did in AoA with cards like Wretched Doll.

4. A vehicle/ship/mount mechanic - We could get upgrades that function like vehicles. Like you put a creature in it as a pilot. Maybe they are upgrades that just go into play in the battlefield like a creature, but do nothing unless they are piloted (but can still be damaged maybe?). Or maybe they are just upgrades and require a creature in play first. They could boost stats, give special abilities, protect creatures, etc. You could have an AI artifact that makes it so all your vehicles can work without pilots as the AI controls them or something. This could also be a good mechanic for the military house I mentioned above. But, what I also like about this is that every existing house could get these kinds of upgrades and it would make sense. Horses for Sanctum, UFOs for Mars, flying cards for Shadows, etc.




5. Token creatures - A lot of card games use token creatures. It would be preferable to get actual cards to use as tokens (and it would be great as alternate art prize support), but anything could be used in a pinch. These could be zombies/skeletons for the horror house, cultists for the eldritch, generic troops for military, or they could be used in existing houses like goblins for Brobnar, drones for Logos, etc. These generic creatures could be used in swarm decks, or creature generation, or Dis sacrifice fodder, or whatever. There are a lot of mechanics that can spawn off of this.

Tokens from Epic: The Card Game

6. Creature/Action/Upgrade/Artifact... fall mechanic - Similar to Landfall in Magic the Gathering, we could get cards whose abilities go off when a certain card enters play. Maybe a creature that has Artifactfall (insert better name here), where "this creature captures 1 amber when an artifact is played", or something like that. There is a lot of room for design space here.

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So that's all I got. I am very curious as to what you think will be added? Are there themes you'd like to see? Mechanics? Are these new houses going to be added to the list in an expansion or will they replace houses and the game will go in a rotation each expansion? Do you like my speculation? Let me know in the comments, and as always, thanks for reading and happy gaming!

Origins 2019 Keyforge Vault Tour Top 4 Finish

Alrighty, Origins is officially over. A new Keyforge Vault Tour champion has emerged (Congratulations Ben Wallace!), and I am safely at home with my loving family. I wanted to take the time to reflect a little on my Keyforge experience, as well as my thoughts and analysis about my deck. I managed to finish in the top 4 on Day 2, out of an original of 185 participants. My final record with my deck was 8-2, and my finish helped me win a total of 255 Aembershards over the course of the 2 days, and making me tied for 38th out of 1,221 in terms of Vault Tour participants (I think that is how it works). All in all I am extremely proud and thankful of how far I got. I doubt I could repeat this feat if given 100 more times, so I will relish this while I can.

Origin's Vault Tour this year was a Sealed format, which meant that we were each given 3 decks, then 15 minutes to pick one of those decks, and that deck is what we would use for the entirety of the tournament. Day 1 would consist of 6 rounds, with only 5-1 records making it to Day 2. Day 2 would be single elimination rounds until the final, which would be the Adaptive format. Adaptive meant that you would play the first game normally, then in the second game you would switch decks with your opponent, and then the final would consist of bidding chains for which deck you want. Day 1 was split into two groups: a and b, because of the expected high numbers and limited room. Day 1a (which was my day), had 89 players, while Day 1b had 96, which gave us our total of 185.

I was very excited for this event. Firstly, because it was my first Vault Tour. Secondly, because it was still early with the game's first expansion, and I had spent a decent amount of time posting spoilers and analyzing the new cards. And thirdly, because Sealed is my favorite format for Keyforge. I haven't had the best luck opening top tier decks, so Sealed helps level the playing field a bit. Plus, I really like the idea of having card analysis being a skill on the fly, with a lot of it being about how well you can figure out if a deck is good or not, and then having the skill to carry you into winning. I also really like how the games are always surprising since you can't view your opponent's decklist before the game (unlike in the bring-your-own-deck Archon format).

Before I get into my decks and analysis, I also wanted to comment on this new set (Age of Ascension): I have really been loving Sealed in this set, even more than the first set (Call of the Archons). I think this new set is more balanced between the Houses in general. I think the set allows for decks to be more consistently evenly matched (ie making for closer games). I think each deck has way more little combos, rather than just big swingy cards, or massive game-ending combos from the first set. I also think that this set helps create really interesting board situations and tough choices, and moreso than the first set. And although I would currently say that the top tier decks in the new set are no match for the first set, I will concede that it is still early, and that we may just need to find those top tier decks still.

So anyway, onto the tournament itself. I went into this tournament with a couple of strategies and thoughts:
1. I thought Dis was consistently the strongest House in AoA, and I was going to pay special attention to any decks that had that.
2. Amber manipulation is extremely important in AoA, maybe even moreso than the first set, because it is found in fewer numbers. Shadows were still my top pick for that.
3. Board wipes are extremely important in AoA, because there seem to be way more creatures in the decks than the first set, and the creatures have a lot more crazy interactions and ways to win than in the first set, on average.
4. Raw Amber is still very important. AoA has probably a lower raw Amber count than CotA, so that makes higher raw Amber counts much more potent in AoA vs AoA matches.

With that in mind, let's look at the decks I was given:

Force the Stacatto - I like the House combination, so far so good. Immediately I get extremely sad as I see 3 Aember Imps in Dis. I hate that card. It will screw you over just as much as your opponent, and now having 3 of them taking up space in my beloved Dis is making me nervous. The rest of the House is pretty decent, including some of my favorite Dis cards in Exhume, Charette, Dust Imp, and Shooler. But then there is a Tolas, another card I hate for the same reason as Aember Imp: It hurts you and your opponent. Also, no Lash of Broken Dreams, which is a huge Dis card. But let's see the rest of the deck. Sanctum only has 4 creatures, that really hurts. It has some good cards, but it is missing Doorstep to Heaven, Aubade the Grim, Gatekeeper, or any number of other Amber control, or even Amber generating cards. I am not impressed. Shadows is looking much better. Miasma is always solid, and this has 2! Sucker Punch had me intrigued, and Dusk Chronicles and Furtive Investors gave me some good Amber generation, with Brend giving some good control, if I could ever kill him. 18 Raw Amber I count, with it being higher in the game due to generation cards. That is some serious Amber generation that could allow me to just outrush other decks. I don't really like the Amber control, and no board wipes is a huge red flag to me. Only 15 creatures also feels a little low, especially with that number including 3 Aember Imps. But that Amber generation still has me intrigued.

Dee, the Unfortunately Undulating - Great name, lol. I'm not liking this House Combination as much, but it does at least have Dis. This Dis is looking pretty solid. Still no Lash, but I love Binding Irons, and Tezmal can cause some serious hurt. The 3 Tentacus seems quite good, although that is a lot more reliant on my opponent having artifacts to use. But it's still a solid House that could work. Only 3 Sanctum creatures?! Man, take away my above average creature count for AoA decks thought. At least it has some decent cards that allow me to use other House cards on my Sanctum turn like Golden Aura, and Healing Blast could give me some good Amber generation, but probably only if I heal opponent's creatures. The 3 creatures it does have are very good, so that is something to think about. Untamed has a board wipe with Save the Pack, so that is huge. Plus, it has complimentary cards that allow me to wound multiple choice creatures before playing it like They're Everywhere and Piranha Monkeys. Dharna could be good, Fanghouse gives some good board control, and Glimmer and Regrowth both allow me get stuff I need. 12 raw Amber doesn't seem that bad in AoA, and I have a decent amount of generators. I have decent board control as well, which is important. I really don't like the Amber control though, and I feel that is very important in this set.

The Eternal of Colocorner - All red backs, eh? I hope that is a good sign. I see Shadows, which I like, but no Dis. Logos can still be decent though, and maybe it's a Timetraveller x2 deck! ....And it isn't... Oh well. But let's take a look at the rest. 1-2 Punch and a Tremor I really like. Bingle BangBang can be good if he survives. Brammo with 2 Drummernauts is great for hitting the board, although no Ganger Chieftain, so no on that combo. Coward's End is the best board wipe in the set, so that has me happy. Blood Money is good for a little Amber generation, and 2 Screechbombs are amazing for Amber control. Although I would maybe prefer some beefier Brobnar guys, this really doesn't sound too bad. Oh boy, this Logos is looking good. A Legacy Effervescent Principle?! That alone might be worth playing the deck. Nobody would expect it. Cutthroat Research can give some control, and Helper Bot and Screechbombs can help to make sure I can play it to get my opponent out of key range. 3 Hexpions sounds like a lot of archiving, and a lot of fun. The Z.Y.X. guys are extremely good, especially in conjunction with each other and Hexpions. Crazy Killing Machine is also great because that gives me access to artifact destruction, which is always rare, and if I have to hit myself, I can always go for the Hexpions. This feels like a really good Logos component. And we get to what I assume would be the best with Shadows. Furtive Investors for generation and catching up, Life for a Life with Bad Penny and all those Hexpions for some great board control with little drawback. Swindle is a game saving card in itself. Bulleteye is always awesome if he can stick around, and 2x Routine Job for more Amber manipulation. This deck is looking great. 7 Raw Amber?! Oh Nooo!! That doesn't sound good at all. However, I have an absurd amount of Amber control and stealing, and I have a feeling those Hexpions will give me some monstrous turn setups. But that raw Amber, when compared to the other decks, is a little scary. 18 creatures is fine with me, especially with 3 being Hexpions. But I'm not 100% sold on my first look through anything.

Ok, so it was decision time. I had plenty of time to think this through. I went through each of the decks several times as I just wasn't sure. Force had insane Amber generation, but several of my most hated Dis cards, and no big board wipes, both of which were huge turn-offs. Dee had the board control, and okay Amber generation, but the Amber control wasn't great, and it just didn't have a lot of those good interactions that I love in Keyforge. I really liked what I saw in Eternal, even though the Amber generation was awful. I ended up choosing The Eternal of Colocorner because of that Amber control. That Effervescent Principle is so good, especially since it is a Legacy, and so not expected. I also loved all of the little combos I could do in Logos and Brobnar. I knew I would have to be very careful of my Coward's End, since it was my only big board wipe, but I figured I had enough creatures and decent direct damage stuff to survive. I was really fearing outside key forging decks though, because my generation was dependent on my opponent gaining Amber. If they just used Key Abduction or Redacted, I would be in trouble. I sleeved my deck, checked it in, and I was ready to go.

I came into this tournament along with several local friends. We all played locally against each other quite a lot in Sealed tournaments, and we all seemed to do well, with each of us winning events from time to time. We talked strategy and even have our own Facebook group. I wanted us to be a team, but we never formalized it. I wanted to call us the Fuzzy Gruens, but that never caught on, despite me also making a very good fruity alcohol drink called the Fuzzy "Fizzy" Gruen. We should have all just worn Mr. Nice Guy Games shirts, since that was the amazing local gaming store in which we typically played (as well as its owner being one of the best players), but that was never finalized either (Sorry, Ron, maybe next time?). Shout out to Mr. Nice Guy Games though because they are awesome. Easily the biggest game store I have ever seen or heard of, and full of very nice and fun people. I love our local community. Anyway, there were 4 of us competing on Day 1a, and 4 of us on Day 1b I believe? So we were hopeful that we wouldn't have to play each other and eliminate one another.

I was hoping that I would do well enough to make it to Day 2, but having to be 5-1 leaves room for very few mistakes, and the randomness of Sealed, as well as the number of players, makes for some very tough competition. My background in competitive gaming is that I usually do pretty well, but never well enough to win it all, with a few exceptions. I was also intimidated by a number of other teams that were there. I heard Reapout was there, but I unfortunately never found anyone or just completely missed them. I was definitely sad to miss out on meeting them. Maybe sometime at Gencon? There was also a very large team from Indianapolis called The Key Chargers. I sat and chatted with several members before the tournament, and ended up really enjoying every interaction I had with them. They were awesome. If I didn't already have a local group, I would have totally asked to join their team, especially after the tournament, as they were all very supportive and nice. Back to the tournament, I was hoping to at least break even with my wins/losses, have a fun time, and hopefully be a good sport throughout all of it.

I should have written down the names of everyone I played, but I unfortunately didn't. My first opponent was a lovely lady who first turn played a Timetraveler. I managed to eventually wipe the board and kept the board low on creatures for most of the game. It was a pretty quick game, but close if I remember correctly. I ended up generating a bunch of Amber on my last turn, in hopes she didn't have a Doorstep to Heaven in Sanctum, and luckily she didn't. 1-0

 

I don't remember very much from my second game, but I think it was against Regan Retzloff? I believe things got rolling with my Hexpions and I regularly had tons of cards grabbed from my archives. The Z.Y.X. guys really kept putting stuff in archives and then allowed me to play them that turn or the next. The Researcher was especially nice in allowing me to play Effervescent Principle, and then immediately get it back into my archives once I played him. I think maybe a Swindle finished the game for me? 2-0

I was feeling really good, but as usual, I am knocked down to size. I played against the awesome veteran, Jay Schelke. He was the guy, who at a previous Vault Tour, voluntarily called a judge over because an opponent's card was left in is deck, and he was kicked out of tournament for doing so. He was very courteous, nice, and great at the game. I thanked him for his service and he crushed me, lol. It was by far the biggest beating I would receive in the tournament. His deck was just too fast for me. I managed to wipe the board, but he just flooded it again and played action cards that added amber. I managed to draw all of my delaying stuff but I just couldn't keep up. 2-1

Now, I was just one game away from being eliminated from Day 2. At this point I was figuring I was not going to make it, but I wanted to try and finish with more wins than losses. My next opponent, I believe, was a Key Charger young member named Foss Williams. I believe I got a very wide Logos board, and kept playing Hexpions (I think I probably played that card 9+ times in the game). I kept choosing Logos and reaping for several amber, and drawing tons of cards from my archives. It worked very well in my favor, and I managed to pull off the win. I was glad to hear my opponent managed to get one more win later one, as he needed the shards to get something from the prize table. 3-1

 

Things were coming down to the wire. I needed two more wins, and I knew I'd be matched up with a good opponent. I think I played Tom Allen maybe, but we had one of the most exciting and close endings I had in the tournament. I feel like I really controlled the beginning of the game. I controlled the board, or I controlled the amber, and slowly built my own. I think I forged my first key pretty easily, and controlled some more to get back up to 6+ amber. Then my opponent played Binate Rupture and Interdimensional Graft on me. I forge my key, but my opponent got like 12 amber. I had already played my Effervescent Principle, and I was far from reshuffling my deck. My opponent forged his first key, and then his second. And now the game got tight. We had many turns where both of us had 6+ amber, but we would always get each other back down. I believe he played a Redacted, but I managed to get rid of it with my Crazy Killing Machine. I generated a bunch of amber on a turn and thought I got him, but then he played Wild Wormhole and top decked a Gatekeeper! I couldn't believe it. It was very exciting, but boy was I annoyed at the time, lol. We kept going back and forth, and I think it might have been the combination of a Screechbomb, along with a Swindle, that managed to put me far enough away to get the win, but it was an exciting game. Kudos to my opponent for sticking with all the control in the beginning in order to set up a massive comeback. 4-1

 

I ended up being matched up with yet another young Key Charger named Eli Nichols. I ended up winning the match, but he wanted to play the rest of the game to see if his combos would go off. We played for fun while the round ended. He showed incredible sportsmanship and kindness during play, and I enjoyed our conversations during and after the game. His dad was also playing in the tournament, and I made sure to congratulate him on raising such a fine young man.

I was now 5-1, which was good enough to qualify for Day 2.

Somehow, I also managed to have quite a good strength of schedule, and was the #2 seed for Day 1a. Now I got to relax on Saturday, watch my friends compete in Day 1b, and go and check out the Epic Championship stuff as well.

So these were the standings going into Day 2 after day 1b played. As you can see, I was the 5th seed, right behind CorayThan, the owner/creator of SAS. None of my friends qualified for day 2, but 3 of them went 4-2 I believe, and others went 3-3, so I think we had a really good showing overall. We were told that on Day 2, they wanted to narrow the pool of 22 Day 2 players to the top 16, so that meant that the top 10 got a first round bye. I was very happy about that. Free shards! Plus, I didn't expect to make it very far in Day 2 so anything beyond this point was a gift. Then, we got paired up for the top 16 and I saw that I was going to play Eli Nichols again, but this time, it was for elimination. 6-1

He knew about all my tricks, so I felt like I was at a bit of a disadvantage. Honestly, I was going to be fine if I lost here. It would have been perfect justice. His deck was very fast, and I knew my deck would have trouble with that. I was going to try my best, but I would be fine either way. Our game was very good. Eli started out very strong, controlled the board and my amber. I think he might have extended a little too far when he dropped tons of Sanctum creatures out while already having a strong Logos presence, but hand filtering is good too. I Coward's Ended his board and really reset everything for me. I started getting my Hexpions out and was helping clear the board, while setting up good turns with archiving. I believe I forged my key first, and it was several turns before he finally caught up. I believe I got my second key, and then he got his right after. So it came down to the wire. I played Routine Job twice to get him out of check, as well as Effervescent Principle at least 2 times with the help from the Z.Y.X. Researcher. I finally forged enough amber to get into check again, but this time Eli just didn't have the control to stop me. He conceded. After shuffling his deck a little bit, he said he remembered that he had a Routine Job in his hand, which would have stopped me from forging, and gotten him to check, but people around him said he didn't have anything else, and I would have played Swindle the next turn for the win. So hopefully that misplay would not have mattered on his part, but that goes to show to make sure you check everything before you concede. 7-1

I felt awful after this match. I was a wreck. I was going to try my best, I was going to make him earn it, but I thought he was going to beat me from the start. Eli took it well. He was a good sport about it. But that's rough. I hope he turns out ok. He played amazingly and showed great character. Some of the other members of The Key Chargers approached me and congratulated me and comforted me. They said not to worry about it and that Eli was a good kid and that even in losing this close was probably good for him. I still felt horrible but I was very thankful for their kind words. Since their team is from Indianapolis, they will get a good shot for revenge at me either way, so I wish them well.

 

Things were now getting very serious. I did some breathing exercises to calm myself down for the top 8. My next opponent was Colby Bernardo I believe? I was told he had a 3x Key Abduction deck, and was the person who took down CorayThan. So again, I kind of went into this game thinking it was probably over, lol. My deck relies on my opponent gaining some amber, and then me being able to steal it. I can't do a lot against a Key Abduction. My only hope was to keep his board clear, and hope he couldn't archive a ton for an easy Key Abduction. Early on in the game he drew a Lash of Broken Dreams, which is a card I always dread to play against, but also probably my favorite Dis card of all time. He slowed me down with that for many turns until I managed to get rid of it with my Crazy Killing Machine. He was forced to play 2 Key Abductions for the amber early on as well, which was great news for me, as that hopefully meant he wouldn't have them when he needed them. I think our match was recorded, so hopefully that can come out and correct my memory, but I believe we both forged our couple keys to keep the game close. He then brought out his weapon that really helped him beat CorayThan: Collector Worm. Oh, this horrible thing. I think he attacked and archived 6 of my creatures this way? Luckily, he couldn't get rid of my Hexpions that way, but still. I lost several Brobnar guys as well as several Logos guys to that dumb thing.

 

I made a couple of misplays as well, like attacking into his Storm Crawler with my Hexpion, thinking it would kill it, but the Crawler only deals 1 damage in a fight. I also neglected to use my Screechbomb before using my Crazy Killing Machine, and lost it. We were reaching the end of the match. I knew it was probably getting close to time, as we were the only match still going, and I had about 100 people all around me looking at our every move. I was trying to concentrate and not get concerned with that, but man, that is stressful, lol. Everyone watching your every move, judging it. Crazy stuff. We were in a bit of a stalemate for several turns. I kept getting into check, but in doing so I would stun any of my guys that reaped, thanks to Storm Crawler. And then on his turn, he used Mindwarper to capture my own amber, and then attack me with Collector Worm and get the amber and archive my creature. I was getting really worried about him drawing his final Key Abduction and beating me, but he wasn't drawing cards. I knew that he must not have any kind of amber control in his hand, and that he was forced to keep activating Mars to keep me from forging. So on my final turn I finally managed to draw my Helper Bot. I reaped for some amber to get me to check, played the Helper Bot, which allowed me to play the Tremor I had in my hand, and I stunned his Mars creatures. He did not have an answer for that, and I won. It was very close. I hope it was entertaining for those that watched. I probably made a ton of other mistakes, but it felt good to win. I now was moving up to the final 4. 8-1

I made it to the final 4. This was way further than I ever expected to get. I was set up to play Aaron Glance, and I heard his deck was insane. He was the #1 seed of the tournament. He had not been beaten yet. His deck was very fast and it had an incredible Logos component. This was going to be tough. Since we basically went to time in the last match, I did not get a break between this match and the next.












The game started out pretty fast. He dropped several creatures I had to deal with (like Timetraveler), as well as yet another Lash of Broken Dreams. I managed to clear away everything with Coward's End, and my Crazy Killing Machine took care of the Lash, although I believe I lost my CKM in the process. I believe he forged first, and then a couple of turns later I did. I was not drawing very well. I was constantly stuck in a 2/2/1 House spread hand, and I wasn't drawing my Hexpions. After I cleared his board, he did not play very much for several turns, and I believe if I had been able to play a good board then, I might have had a much better chance at winning. He kept getting me out of check as well, so that slowed me down. I kept accumulating chains from my Coward's End, as well as my Effervescent Principle. He also had 2 Binding Irons I believed, which also really slowed me down. I had Bad Penny in my hand and on the board throughout the game. I really should have discarded her when I had the chance, as she kept clogging my hand and was easy fodder for Aaron. He kept on generating very high amounts of amber, and I had to use every amber control I could to keep him down. I let him forge a key so that I could get into check for my own. I managed to get to 2 keys and the game continued to be very exciting. I believe he tried some Archimedes and Professor Sutterkin shenanigans on me, but I was able to directly kill them as soon as they came up. I could have been in big trouble if I did not have the tools to deal with them.

 

He dropped a very big Dis board, including some Aember Imps, Charettes, and some Shoolers that also previously kept me out of check. I did not really mess with his board though, as that Aember Imp kept causing him to stun all of his guys as well when reaping. I started to pull ahead, and thought maybe I could squeak out a win, but he had 2 Miasmas. Those crushed me. 2 turns of having the win, but not being able to forge. I believe in the end he managed to get his amber to 11, which was just too far for my Swindle to handle, and I couldn't do anything, and my run was over. It was an awesome game. Aaron really played well. His deck was very good. I think I played well too, though. I think I really gave him a run for his money. I think he even managed to say that my matchup was one of the toughest he had all tournament, so that feels good. I might not typically beat his deck with mine, but there were many things that could have happened in our game that could have given me the win. So I feel like I really stood a decent chance. I was just probably outplayed, lol. Oh well. 8-2. Eliminated.

Aaron went on to the finals, where he lost to Ben Wallace in 3 games. Although I have not seen the stream, I have heard that Aaron bid 10 chains on that final game so that he could play with his deck, and that it might have just been too much for even that deck to handle. Above is the final standings. I managed to technically be in 4th place, due to seeding, but I feel fine about that. I did not originally think that highly of my deck, and I think most people agree that it went further than it should, but it did me well. I have heard that they will invite people to Worlds depending on how many shards they earn at these things. And I also heard they might invite other top players in the Vault Tour. So who knows, maybe in some crazy fortuitous circumstances I could end up at Worlds some day? One can dream.

 

 

The MVPs for my deck were easily Hexpion, Effervescent Principle, Crazy Killing Machine, and Coward's End. Those Hexpions were huge. I remember really liking the card, but having 3 in a deck is insane. They just keep staying around. These guys are the only reason I would want a Soul Snatcher in my or my opponent's decks. In fact, I will need to see if I can find a Soul Snatcher and Hexpion x3 deck anywhere (also Key Abduction). They can do so much. They were great targets for my Life for a Life and they could suicide attack enemies and clear the board, all the while just going back to my archives and giving me more cards to put in there. Not to mention they would go right back onto the board. They helped me set up monstrous turns, they synergized well with many cards in my deck, and they were constantly a thorn for my opponents. Coward's End was huge for me because it was my only big board wipe. Without this card, I would not have lasted in most of my games. It is the best board wipe in the set by far. My Crazy Killing Machine was also amazing. That helped me get rid of so many problematic cards. I got rid of Charettes with my captured amber, I got rid of Redacted and Lash of Broken Dreams, I got rid of Archimedes and my own Hexpions. It just did everything and was always a big key to winning in most of my games. And of course I have to give it up for my Legacy card, Effervescent Principle. It may not have been as big of a surprise later on, when everyone heard that I had it, but it was still a very big card for me. It got my opponent's out of check so many times. I also would play my Researchers right after playing it, just so I could get it back and use it again.

My deck was a ton of fun to play. I had so many decisions to make every turn. I could just activate Logos every turn because of all the fun stuff I could do in that House. My Shadows was great in generating amber, and it was very decent in controlling amber with Swindle and Routine Job. Even Brobnar got in the action with control with those 2 Screechbombs. Brobnar was pretty good at controlling the board, and that Tremor won me the game in my final 8 match. It may not be a competitive Archon deck, but boy do I like it. I shall cherish it forever.

My experience at Origins was a lot of fun. I didn't even talk about my time with White Wizards and their game, Epic, and all of those awesome guys that play it (check out that game if you haven't, it's amazing). But just in terms of the Vault Tour, it was worth it. Obviously it helps to make it to the final 4, but I really enjoyed almost everything about it. I got to meet tons of really nice people, and probably made friends I will keep for at least as long as I'm playing Keyforge. I think the Judges and the people running the tournament did a great job. I know people are talking a lot about the ruling on Archimedes. It was well explained to me and it seems like they have the ruling correct, even though I don't personally like it and I think it goes against what was intended. But I do think they got the ruling correct, and that is important. Everyone was great and supportive and very courteous. There were a ton of people playing and it seemed like everyone was having a pretty good time. I highly recommend giving a Vault Tour a try. Just enter and try it. Maybe you will get a ridiculous deck. Maybe you won't, and you will lose every game. You will get at least 30 Ambershards, and I guarantee you could make some new friends too.

I really wish I could have put a face to more people in the community, because I am sure I missed lots, but maybe next time at Gencon. In the meantime, I can't wait to read more from other players, watch some streams, and interact with our great community. I am still riding my high. So let me know your thoughts. See any mistakes? I'm sure I made many. I'd love to hear from anyone that happened to see any of my games and give me some tips/criticisms if possible. Thank you to anyone that made it this far. I hope you enjoyed reading this novella, and until next time, happy gaming!