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:
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.
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.
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
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!
