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.

-

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!

2 Dark Tidings Keyforge Spoilers!

Hello again fellow gamers, it's been a while! Quite a crazy past year. It was looking pretty doom and gloom for Keyforge but I am so encouraged and enthusiastic for the future now! First, we got an updated rulebook, which really should be enough for the doomsayers to know they are wrong. But then we got reports that the OP group is gearing up and excited about the future, and now, FFG has contacted content creators and given them spoilers for the new set, Dark Tidings! This is a very exciting time to be a Keyforge fan!

Yours truly was extremely thankful and excited to get an email from Evan Johnson, the Marketing Manager for Fantasy Flight Games, about the prospect of spoiling 2 cards from the new set. So thanks so much for thinking of me and giving me the opportunity to share this with the community!

So, the quickest of recaps: This fifth new set, Dark Tidings, is adding 250 new cards into the mix. There is a new House called the Unfathomable, Dis is rotating out to make room, a new mechanic called Tide (which we will get into later), and the concept of Evil Twin decks (we will also get into).

So, without further ado, let's get into it! Our first card today is Ol' Paddy!

Ol' Paddy, this moonlit beast fisherman, not relying on his animalistic instincts, but rather depending on good ol' fashioned Crucible ingenuity, is reaping for your opponent's creatures! He has a decent body, and I'm not just referring to that beautiful art! The ability is also very interesting. A Reap ability that lets me flat out destroy creatures? Yes please! I like that it can technically work even if the tide isn't with you. Since you will be discarding from your opponent, it is less likely you will be forced to destroy one of your own creatures, which is nice, but nonetheless you should be mindful this could backfire, especially if you share houses with your opponent and you have the tide! But either way, it's a pretty solid Reap ability to have. I am thankful in this instance that Dis is not in the set, because discarding creatures is something that Dis never minds. This guy is also an Evil Twin, which means that somewhere in the world, there is a deck with the more agreeable and morally attuned Paddy. 

Here is our regular Ol' Paddy:

But that brings up a good point: "What does high/low tide mean again, and I need reminded as to what being an Evil Twin really means!"

I'm glad you asked, random citizen! As is mentioned in the Dark Tiding reveal article by FFG, the Tide mechanic works as follows: Each deck in Dark Tidings will come with a Tide card. It begins the game outside of play, but comes in as soon as either player raises the Tide. The Tide can be raised by either player simply by paying 3 chains as the Omni ability on the Tide card. It can also be raised by abilities on various cards found in Dark Tidings. Once in play, the tide will always be high for one player and low for the other. As is evident by Ol' Paddy, it can be useful to have high tide in your favor if you want to get the most out his Reap ability. 

Ol' Paddy also mentions on his card that he is an Evil Twin. This is the new way that FFG is shaking up the deck-making algorithm of Keyforge. As FFG stated: "For example, you may open a deck that's entitled Speaker Domitia's Evil Twin. This deck is an exact copy of Speaker Domitia, a real deck that has been printed and can be found by another player out in the world. The crucial difference is that in an evil twin deck, many of your creatures look a little different."

As you can see by the Undagnathus example, they differ in both art, graphic design, and abilities! I think I prefer the evil twin in this case. That art is just too awesome!

But wait, again I hear from the crowds, the shout for justice: "You said 2 Dark Tidings Keyforge Spoilers!!! You have showed us but one! We demand restitution!"

That seems a bit extreme, but I guess I'll do what I said I'd do:

Oh my, that is some pretty art. This rare beast/ship amalgamation may start out as an Artifact, but in times of great need (and help from some Untamed crew), it can become quite the monster taunter. Time will tell how worth it it will be to exhaust your creatures rather than Reap or Fight, in order to get a creature with Taunt anywhere in your battle line. But I really like the theme of this card. In theory, you could get it quite huge as well. You do need a minimum of 1 Untamed creature to get this thing moving, but maybe it is worth it to protect a really important creature on your battle line. I just really love this art! The colors, the concept, everything! Although I do hope The Mysticeti is ok, I doubt it's simply balancing that boat on its head. Maybe it's just a fashionable and practical hat?

Well, I'm sorry to say that's all I have for you today. Write to your local congressman and voice your wishes for me to get more cards to spoil for you. If not, enjoy the many cards spoiled by all the amazing Keyforge content creators. I don't think I will be doing a running spoiler list, as I see that our friends over at Archon Arcana are already putting up quite a nice list. So check it out, I know I will. It will be a fun weekend and next week I'm sure. I'm so happy FFG is going this route in spoiling the new set with content creators. I really hope we get a nice steady stream of spoilers, unlike previous sets where we got a little trickle, and then dumped on thanks to a distributer breaking protocol. But I hope you join me in the excitement to come. New Keyforge is on the way, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Thank you so much for joining me and reading this far. Hopefully this will spark all of us to get back into the swing of things, and as always, happy gaming!

My Journey to Get More Healthy

I am taking a break from my normal gaming blog, to talk about something a little more personal. I decided to try and get more healthy during this quarantine, and this has been my journey so far. I am not a personal trainer, nor do I have one. I am not being paid to do this, and I'm not advertising anything. I am simply an average dad, unhappy with my physical health, and I wanted to make it better. I haven't been perfect, but I think I have made forward progression in general, and that's something. Always moving forward, even if that means I take it slow, or that I'm not always perfect. I also hope this little quarantine workout could maybe inspire someone else to try their own. I wish you luck, you can do it! And thanks for reading! For those of who want to see my (spoiler warning) 20-pound-loss-results before reading a tome, check out the bottom of the page first for pics. :)

Goals

For a while now, I have been unhappy with my physical health. Here are 10 little things that bothered me that I wanted to change. These are in no particular order:

1. I was always tired.

2. I didn't like the way I looked. I hated being so out of shape. I felt as though I was just helping the "gamer-bod" stereotype.

3. My wife told me I should do some exercise and try to get more healthy. Plus, I want to be more desirable for my wife as well.

4. I wanted to be a better role model for my boys.

5. My doctor told me to lose weight, and looking at any health chart I was considered "obese".

6. I have stomach issues. I have seen doctors about it, but they have never been able to diagnose me. I do know it is tied to what I eat though, and I knew that the more I eat, the worse it gets.

7. I ate way too much bad stuff. I was always eating snacks. I noticed how hypocritical of me it was when I would criticize my young sons for wanting and eating treats as often as they did, when I ate way more, frequently after they were in bed sleeping.

8. I am supposed to be an image bearer for Christ. The Bible talks about taking care of yourself, and I couldn't honestly say I was doing that. If anything, I was being self destructive.

9. I have issues with depression, and adding body issues only helped me stay in ruts longer.

10. I wanted to get back into sports, but I was in no shape to even start.

Routine

So I finally decided to try to get back in shape and hopefully lose some weight, feel healthier, and look better. I knew the most basic thing about getting healthy is simply to exercise more, and eat less. So that's where I decided to start. I was not interested in going to a gym, or spending exorbitant amounts of money. I wanted some small, simple life changes that could improve my life. I also figured that if I started small, it would be easier to get going and to continue to do it. I was inspired by those "Do 100 pushups a day" workouts I've seen around. That seemed possible to do. I decided I wanted to do 100 pushups a day and a good amount of crunches/situps as well as my bare minimum, and go from there. As my gym teachers could tell you, pushups were never my forte. That was always one of the hardest things for me to do for the Presidential Fitness Tests we had in school. I struggled to even do 10. So although 100 pushups sounds like a lot, if I can do them, starting slow and with few reps at a time, anyone can.

But first, let me tell you what my old routine was:

1. Exercise - I would play with the kids, but that would be it. And what I did, I hardly ran around, and mainly sat in a chair or on the ground and played little games that required no movement. I didn't play any sports anymore, partly because I recently had shoulder surgery, partly because money is tight, but also partly because I was lazy. Also the quarantine didn't help.

2. Eating - My diet was in the air and it consisted of anything and everything.

a. Breakfast -In the mornings I would eat a big bowl of cereal, with half the time it being some sugar infused kids cereal, so not very healthy. I would also frequently have coffee with a lot of creamer in it.

b. Lunch - I would usually eat some leftovers, and lots of them. I followed that frequently with a little sugar treat

c. Dinner - I would eat what my wife prepared for the family, but I would have huge portions and frequently go for seconds.

d. After dinner - At night after the kids went to bed, I would usually snack. Sometimes it was chips and cheese/salsa, almost always it was accompanied with sugar treats like candy left over from Halloween/Christmas/Easter/Guilt purchases, etc. I would eat a lot. I'm talking several candy bars or gummies, or a big bowl of ice cream.

e. Randomly throughout the day I would snack here and there. It wasn't consistent, but the little snack was always sugary.

d. All of this adds up to me getting tired when I brought groceries up the stairs for example. Well, getting tired when I did anything physical, really. I was 230 pounds, with most of it being unhealthy fat. I had no muscle tone, with the generic, dad-bod gut.

New Routine 
This workout and regimen would be adhered to for 5 days a week, with me being "off" on weekends. No counting calories, no going to a gym, just keep it simple. I use 10 pound weights and a treadmill, but that's the extent of my collection that I use, lol:

1. 100 push-ups a day. I started out with sets of 10 because I didn't think I could do more.

2. 50 crunches per set of pushups, because building your core is healthy, and a good way to lose weight.

3. Curl 10 pound weights in sets of 10, after my push-ups.

4. Eat less - In general I wanted to cut back on the amount of food I ate, but also replace it with better food, and cut way down on the amount of treats I ate. Also, I wanted to drink more water.

a. Breakfast - A spoonful of peanut butter (for the protein) and a glass of water.

b. Lunch - Vegetables and fruit. It would vary as to the type                                                      carrots/broccoli/cauliflower/strawberries/apples/grapes), and I even allowed myself to have                  salad dressing with the veggies. Or, I would have scrambled eggs. More recently, instead of                eggs, I decided on some oatmeal with flax seed (to help with stomach issues), cooked with                  vanilla protein powder mixed with water (to help with taste and to give some protein), and then          sprinkle blueberries/raisins/dried cherries. Also, a glass of water.

c. Dinner - The dinner I didn't really change. My wife has tried to cook more healthy for us, and        to do something other than what the rest of the family did would be too disruptive, so I just try            to control my portions. I would have less food, not go for seconds, and also drink a glass of                  water with the meal.

d. Randomly throughout the day I would make sure I drank more water. I also chewed a lot of          sugar-free gum. It was something my doctor told me to do, as it can help a lot with stomach                issues. But it also helps curb an appetite in a pinch.

e. After I did my workout of push-ups and crunches, I would have a protein drink that was                simply 2 cups of protein powder mixed in a glass of water. I really don't mind the taste,                        personally, and it helped keep my protein up which in turn would help my muscles recover, help          with weight loss, and help curb my appetite.

f. Really cut out the snacks after the kids go to bed. The wife and I frequently watch TV or a            movie together, so it was always really easy to snack. I didn't completely eliminate the snacks,            but I cut it way down, and some nights I didn't have anything. I would chew my gum and drink          my water.

After the first couple of weeks, I began to try and shorten the amount of time it took to do the workout by increasing the reps, as well as add in some cardio and more weight training. It has been very gradual. I have tried and stopped a number of things. Some things were dropped or changed due to it putting too much stress on my surgery shoulder, but others just haven't been kept up because of time constraints. The thing that has remained consistent has been the push-ups, crunches, and light weight curling.

One note, was that I had to change up how I did push-ups because it was hurting my shoulder. I had always done push-ups by having my arms be parallel with my shoulders, as in my arms at a 90 degree angle from my body. I changed it to a 45 degree angle, as that is a more proper technique I've read. That has made it much better and easier. Just food for thought in case you were like me.

As of this writing, I have worked up to this (changing it incrementally each week or so):
4 sets consisting of the following:

1. 25 push-ups
2. 100 crunches
3. 25 curls

On Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays:

1. I have tried to add in some cardio by adding 1 lap on the treadmill to each set. With 4 sets this rounds up to a nice mile. I have been able to increase the speed in which I do the laps each week, and right now the total mile run is around 8 minutes (but remember I only do 1 lap at a time, so don't be too impressed, or think it is impossible for you).
2. I have also worked up to a set of 15 10-pound dumbell shoulder presses
3. A set of 20 tricep curls with the 10-pound weights. This one I've had to change form a couple of times because of the stress it has put on my shoulder. It probably means I'm not doing it right, but changing how I've done them has cut down on the pain.

Randomly and inconsistently:

I have tried a number of other exercises to target specific areas, but nothing has been added consistently. I'd be up for learning new and better techniques, and Youtube is helpful for looking up how to do things.

1. Leg Lifts
2. Squats
3. Wrist Lifts
4. Shoulder Shrugs with weights
5. Planks

Let's be real

Ok, the routine I laid out might be starting to sound like any routine you've read about, and quickly decided it wasn't for you. I know I read (typically in January), many such workout routines, and know that those kinds of New Years resolutions never seem to last. So let me be honest (which I feel is missing from most of those paid advertisement workouts):

1. I wasn't perfect. I had my routine, and I tried to adhere to it, but I wasn't perfect. I had dinners where I had seconds, or ate something completely unhealthy. There were nights where I snacked because I was going through a small bout of depression. Healthy meals were missed, extra workout things added were not done, snacks and sugar were eaten. When my family was going somewhere and we stopped at fast food, I ordered something. I went to the beach on vacation with my family and almost everything was thrown out the window for a full week. Life happens. You stumble on stuff like this. The important thing is to try. Get back onto it. It's not too late. When I got back from vacation I went back to my routine, even if it meant taking it a little more slowly since I was out of it for a week. It's ok. You are ok.

2. There are things I wish I would be doing more. I wish I did more cardio. I know that more cardio would mean being more healthy, and definitely more weight lost. But I hate cardio workouts. I always have. I could do it while playing sports because while you're playing, you don't notice it as much. And sometimes I can do cardio exercise while training for sports, because I want to do better. But just doing cardio throughout the day sounds awful for me. I don't understand those guys that just go for a run every day. So for me, I did single laps at a time. I listened to music while I ran so that it would distract me. I daydreamed while running so it would distract me. I figure even if I do just 1 mile, and split the laps up between sets, that's still forward progress. That's still good. Find something that works for you. Maybe you can do more cardio, I wish I did more. Maybe I'll find the discipline someday.

3. I wish I slept better. Some say that the most important thing when it comes to physical health is sleep. I think they say the average is 7-9 hours? I'm at 5-6, and it's disrupted sleep. I have trouble sleeping, sure. But the main thing is that I stay up late. I want to because I don't get time to myself or alone time with my wife until the kids go to sleep, and that whole process isn't done til like 9:30-10 at night. So unless I want to just go to sleep immediately when they do, if I want to do something I have to stay up. I would be doing better if I slept more, I know.

4. I still have depression. This comes as no surprise to people that have it, and I'm not as bad as many, but even having health doesn't mean that goes away. I still have bad days. But do I think my mental health is better since I started getting more healthy? Of course! Anything you can do to try and cut out the negative things that you dwell on during episodes will be better for you.

5. I don't know how much of this I will be able to keep up. That's always the catch for so many of these life changes. If it doesn't become habit, then you just go back to the rut. I think starting out small gives me a better chance at continuing. I can conceive of myself continuing on eating a more healthy breakfast from now on, at least on average. I think drinking more water and chewing gum is something that can be done long term. I think that doing 100 push-ups and 50-100 crunches with every set of push-ups is doable per day, especially if you keep it up. It doesn't take very long, especially when you've done it a bunch. I don't know if the cardio and the weight lifting will continue. I hope it does, but I doubt my schedule will allow to consistently work out for as many days as I can currently do. But I figure if I can continue to eat more healthy, and do even a little workout, I'll continue to make forward progress.

Results (Picture time!)

I apologize for the picture quality, I have never done this before and don't know what I'm doing, lol. I also didn't have a hard plan of what I wanted to do when I started this when it came to pictures.

 

 

I started this on May 15th. When I weighed myself I was 230 pounds. As of July 13th I am 210 pounds. I definitely have more energy. I don't know how to measure muscle gain, but I know I've gained muscle and tone. I think I look better. I still have a nice layer of fat over pretty much everything, and that will take a long time to get rid of, lol. I'm not sure I will ever be rid of it, but I am liking my progress. My abs are more tight and pronounced, and the same with my arms. I am actually getting back muscles around my shoulder blades, which I've never had before, so that's cool. My chest is also less saggy than it was. I'm unsure about how much more strength I have, as I have not been doing classical strength training, but I'm sure the pushups have helped. There are plenty of things where my shoulder hurts less than it did. Obviously, losing 20 pounds is really nice. I'd like to lose more. I am still considered to be overweight according to BMI and pretty much all standards, so it'd be nice to get that down some more. But forward progress!

So that is my journey so far. Thank you for lasting this long. I am proud of what I've accomplished so far, and hopeful that it will continue in the future. I wish you well in your health goals, and feel free to ask me any questions, or offer some tips! I'm always up for learning something new. Thanks again for reading, and happy gaming!