New Keyforge Set Announced: Age of Ascension!

Keyforge news has been crazy today, with a livestream showcasing the new set called Age of Ascension, along with the official announcement on the main FFG page. This set will be released in Q2 of this year, so preorders will be up soon at local retailers I'm sure. Here are some highlights:

This new set "mixes up the cardpool with 204 brand-new cards, joining 166 cards first introduced in Call of the Archons to create an entirely new pool of 370 cards and billions upon billions more Unique Decks for you to discover, learn, and master". Some cards are "rotated out" from the first set, although they can sometimes show up in a maverick sort of way as "legacy" cards. So, the first set will have some cards in it that the second doesn't, and vice versa. This set is not really an expansion, or replacement, but rather an extension. So the decks you have already bought are still usable, as are the new ones, as are future ones. They all work together and we have been told they should be balanced with each other. Also, more commons and uncommons were replaced in the new set, rather than the rares, so getting a new deck in the new set should have you seeing a lot of the new cards.

With the new set are a couple of new keywords, although nothing too crazy:

First we have Deploy, which allows you to play the creature with the keyword anywhere on the battle line, rather than being forced to play on a flank. I would assume all of these creatures have neighboring buffs such as this new card.

 

Next, we have Alpha and Omega, which simply mean that they have to be the first, or last, cards to be played on a turn.

It was also said on the stream that none of the new cards will interact or deal with the colors of the specific keys. They have mentioned that one day they will, though. Also, there are no new houses yet.

There will be a new starter set, priced much better at $25, that will include all of the tokens/keys/chain trackers/wound markers, etc needed to play, along with 2 unique decks. So no starter decks, which is for the best, as well as actual tokens for power and stun markers instead of cards, which is so much better in my opinion. The starter set will also come with paper playmats.

I am very excited to hear about new stuff for Keyforge, and I can't wait to delve into some of these new cards and strategies. If you want to check out some more of the new cards, check out the various Facebook groups for the game as they are posting the spoilers. Stay tuned for more information as it comes out, but let's get excited! Thanks for reading and happy gaming!

Epic: The Card Game Pantheon new set examination (1)

At Origins 2017, we were introduced to the new Epic: The Card Game expansion called Pantheon. It will be another 60 card set similar in the vein of Tyrants and Uprising. Several cards were spoiled for us and this is what my article will be talking about.

Steel Titan - 13/9 1-cost Sage. Untargetable. Unblockable to champions with strength less than this card's strength.

My first thought is here is another card in the steel/titan category that I will inevitably confuse with the originals. As if I did not already have issues. I am looking forward to some better pictures but I can already tell I'm gonna love the art of this card. It is suitably epic. The card also seems quite awesome. I am unsure how much play time it will see in constructed, but my mind is already racing with using this card with Surprise Attack or Final Task, in order to attack with it sooner. Right now, the only champions that can actually block this guy without help are Burrowing Wurm, Kong, Mythic Monster, Rampaging Wurm, and Steel Golem I believe, That is a short list, and being Untargetable certainly makes things more difficult. Luckily he is very slow, but he will be a very strong pick in Limited I would imagine.

Steed of Scara - 6/7 1-cost Evil. Airborne Blitz. Loyalty 2 - Deal 5 damage to target player. Players damaged by Steed of Scara can't gain health this turn.

When I first saw the art I thought we might have our first Evil dragon, but oh well. Still, this card is hopefully the first of many anti-Kark cards in the new set. This has many similarities to Strafing Dragon. The 7 health will really help its longevity, and although I miss the Ambush, the secondary ability of no health gain could be a difference maker against Kark. The loyalty factor will hurt its use in Limited, but I feel as though Airborne Blitz will always have a place, and I never mind going into Evil in Limited.

Elf Shaman - 5/5 0-cost Wild. Blitz - Opponents cannot gain health.

Now this is the kind of anti-Kark card I was waiting for. This is the exact ability I have mentioned several times that we need against Kark, and I am so glad it was made. I may not even attack with it. Just having it around and forcing my opponent to play a sweeper should be game changing against Kark. I think Wild has a decent chance at beating Kark already, so this should be able to be easily placed in a deck. You would have to invest a decent amount of Wild cards in order to get 3 in a different color since it's a 0-cost card, so that will have issues. In terms of Limited, this will definitely see play. A 5/5 0-cost Blitzer is always a welcome addition to a Limited deck. I really hope this isn't the only card that does this in the new set, though. I think thematically, an Evil card, maybe a 1-coster, with the same ability, should also be in this set. We shall see.

Will of Scara - Evil Event 1-cost. Draw two cards - or - If it is your turn, target player breaks a champion they control if able. You gain 1 gold that can only be used to play an evil ability or card.

This is the first event that we've seen. I love cards that allow you to play additional cards on your turn, and I love cards that encourage thematic decks. You will want to play a lot of Evil cards in order to get the most out of this card. There are a lot of fun tricks one can use with this, too. For one, it's a good way to get rid of the above Steel Titan. You can also use this to break your own Soul Hunter and still have gold leftover. I am sure we will see some other awesome combos with this card. As a removal and draw two option, this will definitely see Limited play, even without an Evil investment. I love the Evil faction, so I am looking forward to making some decks using this card.

Battle Angel - 7/7 1-cost Good. Airborne Blitz. - Tribute - You may return a good card from your discard pile to your hand.

Our first Good card from the new set, and it is of course another angel. I am not sad about this, as I love the angels, and the the art is pretty fantastic. I can practically see the drool through the internet from Tom Sorenson, as this will fit right in with his favorite faction. The 7/7 is a great statline, and having Blitz and Airborne are solid abilities. I really like the ability to grab my favorite 0-cost Good events like Blind Faith and Brave Squire and replay them. I am hoping we get some more Good support in order to have a more consistent aggro Good deck. Besides Kark being the most dominant deck in Epic so far, there really aren't any other representations from Good decks, which is sad. This is also a solid Limited pick, although without a strong Good investment (which is usually a bad idea), this card loses a lot of its merit. But hopefully that will change.

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Well that is it for the spoilers so far. I can't wait for more to roll out. I think we've seen some awesome cards so far. Considering the title of the new set, I would imagine we will be seeing at least some names, if not the same characters, that we have from the kickstarter variant cards. I always have liked the Greek-god-like theme, so I'm looking forward to seeing what White Wizards can come up with.

I hope you enjoyed this article, I hope to be making more as more of the set is revealed. I am sorry for the long drought of articles, but getting a new job has taken more time out of my schedule. Have a great week and happy gaming!