Welcome, Archons! I’m Tygir and I want to share some insights into Keyforge and how to kick butt in sealed. Part one will focus more on how to figure out your own deck, while part two will focus on your opponent. With that preamble knocked out, let’s get to it!
Keyforge is distinct from other card games because it uses procedurally generated decks. Some stores may let you buy two decks and pick between them, but otherwise what you pull is what you play! With no deck building, the key to success in sealed is quickly evaluating what it takes to win with your deck. This leads us to our first point:
Know the Cards!
Knowing what each card does and its likelihood of appearing is essential to any card game, and Keyforge it’s no exception. You need to be able to look at your deck list and understand what each card does at a glance. Check out the card list here! After getting a grasp on what cards are out there, you’re ready for the next step.
Know your Strategy!
Since you aren’t building a deck with your own goal in mind, you need to decipher what your deck is good at and make a masterplan. Start to break down your deck using these questions:
How many cards does your deck have that instantly give Aember?
How many ways do you have to control your opponent’s Aember?
Does your deck have options to destroy or overwhelm the board?
Does your deck have any notable interactions that give it an advantage?
Getting a sense for what that means takes research and experience. To help with that, let’s take two decks that beat out the sealed competition and break them down with these questions in mind.
Looking at our Fjord Watcher, she has 10 cards that provide aember, of which Dust Pixie provides two. On top of that there is a Hunting Witch and several ways to draw extra cards, enabling those instant pips (cards with printed aember generation on them). Generating about 10 aember across 36 cards is about average to begin with, so Sallustia is slightly above the curve there. She kinda wants race.
Her aember control on the other hand is not that impressive. Three Sequis are handy, but don’t immediately remove aember when played. Neither does the Batdrone. Only Neuro Syphon has an immediate stealing effect and taking one often won’t cut it. Since you don’t have cards that can immediately stop your opponent from getting their keys, you’ll want to rush the game. Take an early lead and maintain that lead.
Where our Watcher really shines though is on the board. While she has removal options, the bulk of that power comes from 21 creatures which is well above the average 16 or 17. A good chunk of that is in Sanctum creatures, including a Grey Monk and Bulwark who buff the sturdy armor of your allies even more. This deck wants to go wide with its board and can beat other creatures effectively, leaving the armored survivors to reap later.
Lastly Sallustia brings a powerful synergy to the table. Chota Hazri is already an amazing card, as forging a key out of step is strong ability with few ways to interact with it. It denies most forms of aember control while simultaneously making your racing faster. Being able to recur Chota is just nasty, and with World Tree you can do it every turn. A developed board guarantees a key each turn without having to wait to see if your opponent can disrupt you. Word Tree also creates a huge toolbox of options with our 21 creatures to better handle what comes our way and makes trading by fighting always favorable.
With that in mind, our goal with Sallustia becomes clear. Swarm the board as quickly as possible, not being afraid to trade creatures so long as we keep the lead. All the while, dig as much as possible to generate pips, find World Tree for its advantages, and Chota to cheat out keys.
Looking at Marsh Wolf, we have a somewhat different story. His aember generation is well above average, with 15 cards that make pips on the play. That before you consider the burst of Veylan Analyst, Flaxia, and the bonuses of Lifeweb, Vigor, or Interdimensional Graft. This deck can easily generate 18 aember going through its cards without reaping once. It doesn’t need an amazing board state. The wolf is good at racing.
Aember control is not a problem for Aboliover either. While Bait and Switch is the most notorious offender, it has plenty of ways to steal aember both on the play and over multiple turns. It even has options to steal in Untamed with Lifeweb and two Ritual of Balances. Miasma also effectively denies a key for a turn when needed. Taking an early lead isn’t as much of a requirement for this deck.
Board wise we get a little odd. With only 13 creatures, your probably aren’t going to go wide with your army. However, with 11 cards that work as creature removal, some of them mass creature removal, you’ll be able to keep your opponent’s battleline in check. You’re fine keeping the board clear.
As for some unique interactions, the fact that Untamed has solid stealing options is unusual. In addition, since Aboliover’s Ritual of Balances stay on the board threatening more steal, your opponent must play around it making Bait and Switch even scarier. Speed Sigil is tricky in a low creature deck but turns Mooncruser into a high value draw and Neutron Shark into a board wiping bomb. Overall this deck just has a lot of artifacts that provide solid advantage and pressure.
Aboliover is about control. He wants to keep the board clear of creatures, steal aember, and set up his artifacts. All the while almost half his cards make pips so he is fine just playing actions in between his thieving.
You’ve opened your Archon and gave them the one over. You then went ahead and figured out what your deck is good at, great at, and where it falls flat. You’ve made a masterplan. In part two, we start to factor in your opponent’s sealed deck. Get ready to anticipate and retaliate!
Before You Play:
Keyforge is distinct from other card games because it uses procedurally generated decks. Some stores may let you buy two decks and pick between them, but otherwise what you pull is what you play! With no deck building, the key to success in sealed is quickly evaluating what it takes to win with your deck. This leads us to our first point:
Know the Cards!
Knowing what each card does and its likelihood of appearing is essential to any card game, and Keyforge it’s no exception. You need to be able to look at your deck list and understand what each card does at a glance. Check out the card list here! After getting a grasp on what cards are out there, you’re ready for the next step.
Know your Strategy!
Since you aren’t building a deck with your own goal in mind, you need to decipher what your deck is good at and make a masterplan. Start to break down your deck using these questions:
How many cards does your deck have that instantly give Aember?
How many ways do you have to control your opponent’s Aember?
Does your deck have options to destroy or overwhelm the board?
Does your deck have any notable interactions that give it an advantage?
Getting a sense for what that means takes research and experience. To help with that, let’s take two decks that beat out the sealed competition and break them down with these questions in mind.
Sallustia, Fjord Watcher (3-0 Sealed Tournament Winner)
Looking at our Fjord Watcher, she has 10 cards that provide aember, of which Dust Pixie provides two. On top of that there is a Hunting Witch and several ways to draw extra cards, enabling those instant pips (cards with printed aember generation on them). Generating about 10 aember across 36 cards is about average to begin with, so Sallustia is slightly above the curve there. She kinda wants race.
Her aember control on the other hand is not that impressive. Three Sequis are handy, but don’t immediately remove aember when played. Neither does the Batdrone. Only Neuro Syphon has an immediate stealing effect and taking one often won’t cut it. Since you don’t have cards that can immediately stop your opponent from getting their keys, you’ll want to rush the game. Take an early lead and maintain that lead.
Where our Watcher really shines though is on the board. While she has removal options, the bulk of that power comes from 21 creatures which is well above the average 16 or 17. A good chunk of that is in Sanctum creatures, including a Grey Monk and Bulwark who buff the sturdy armor of your allies even more. This deck wants to go wide with its board and can beat other creatures effectively, leaving the armored survivors to reap later.
Lastly Sallustia brings a powerful synergy to the table. Chota Hazri is already an amazing card, as forging a key out of step is strong ability with few ways to interact with it. It denies most forms of aember control while simultaneously making your racing faster. Being able to recur Chota is just nasty, and with World Tree you can do it every turn. A developed board guarantees a key each turn without having to wait to see if your opponent can disrupt you. Word Tree also creates a huge toolbox of options with our 21 creatures to better handle what comes our way and makes trading by fighting always favorable.
With that in mind, our goal with Sallustia becomes clear. Swarm the board as quickly as possible, not being afraid to trade creatures so long as we keep the lead. All the while, dig as much as possible to generate pips, find World Tree for its advantages, and Chota to cheat out keys.
Aboliover, the Sqaulid Marsh Wolf (3-0 Sealed Tournament Winner)
Looking at Marsh Wolf, we have a somewhat different story. His aember generation is well above average, with 15 cards that make pips on the play. That before you consider the burst of Veylan Analyst, Flaxia, and the bonuses of Lifeweb, Vigor, or Interdimensional Graft. This deck can easily generate 18 aember going through its cards without reaping once. It doesn’t need an amazing board state. The wolf is good at racing.
Aember control is not a problem for Aboliover either. While Bait and Switch is the most notorious offender, it has plenty of ways to steal aember both on the play and over multiple turns. It even has options to steal in Untamed with Lifeweb and two Ritual of Balances. Miasma also effectively denies a key for a turn when needed. Taking an early lead isn’t as much of a requirement for this deck.
Board wise we get a little odd. With only 13 creatures, your probably aren’t going to go wide with your army. However, with 11 cards that work as creature removal, some of them mass creature removal, you’ll be able to keep your opponent’s battleline in check. You’re fine keeping the board clear.
As for some unique interactions, the fact that Untamed has solid stealing options is unusual. In addition, since Aboliover’s Ritual of Balances stay on the board threatening more steal, your opponent must play around it making Bait and Switch even scarier. Speed Sigil is tricky in a low creature deck but turns Mooncruser into a high value draw and Neutron Shark into a board wiping bomb. Overall this deck just has a lot of artifacts that provide solid advantage and pressure.
Aboliover is about control. He wants to keep the board clear of creatures, steal aember, and set up his artifacts. All the while almost half his cards make pips so he is fine just playing actions in between his thieving.
What’s next?
You’ve opened your Archon and gave them the one over. You then went ahead and figured out what your deck is good at, great at, and where it falls flat. You’ve made a masterplan. In part two, we start to factor in your opponent’s sealed deck. Get ready to anticipate and retaliate!
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