Keyforge has exploded onto the tabletop scene powered by $10 procedurally-generated, ready-to-play decks with crazy mad-libbed names like The Woman Who Headbutts Sharks and Justworth, the Jailer of Nerds (both actual deck names!).
Last week saw the 500,000th deck registered to The Master Vault. Keyforge is all kinds of hot right now. In fact, if you don’t already own a deck, you should very seriously consider buying at least one just to fit in at this point.
Whether you’re readying to forge your first key or you’ve claimed your 1000th vault, I’ve rounded up a few worthy sites to keep on your radar as you add decks to your collection. In fact, each of these sites is worth a visit every time you buy a new deck.
Keyforge: The Master Vault
If you own a Keyforge deck, you 100% need to create an account over on the official Keyforge website. Here you can:
- Register your decks
- View the cards within each of your decks as well as ANY registered deck in the system
- Find official events nearby
- And soon you’ll be able to track stats like wins, losses, and chains.
You also score an æmber shard for every deck you register, with 18 shards earning you a key. The keys right now don’t do anything, but they promise to soon be redeemable for prizes and access to special events!
Keyforge Compendium
This next stop on our list shares some similarities to The Master Vault as it lets you search for and through every registered deck to view cards. It adds an evaluation and comparison mechanic, though, that is worth checking out.
Search for a deck on Keyforge Compendium and it will tell you how many Creatures, Actions, Artifacts, and Upgrades it has. It will also measure it across 5 metrics:
- A (Æmber) – How much æmber your deck will generate with minimal effort.
- B (Board) – The deck’s ability to affect battle lines (based on Creature counts, the ability to deal damage to opposing Creatures, and Artifact control)
- C (Æmber Control) – Measures your ability to Steal, Capture, or Destroy æmber.
- E (Efficiency) – Your ability to play, draw, or use increasing numbers of cards per turn as well as any effects that limit those same options for your opponent.
- Consistency – This goes undefined on the site, but I’m guessing it has to do with the deck’s chances to play similarly game to game.
The Compendium also lets you do a side by side comparison of two decks, which is a fun addition. As with The Master Vault, you can look at every card in the game if you wish and even track your deck’s performance by creating a profile. There’s also a FAQ section that deals with rulings for play and even specific cards.
Keyforge Deck Analyzer
Burger Token’s analyzer gives you a very different view of your deck. At a glance, it’ll break your deck down in the usual ways; showing you Houses, Creatures, Actions, Artifacts, and Upgrades. In addition to all that, it:
- Shows a Global Deck Comparison bell curve to get an at-a-glance visual idea of how your deck measures up to all registered Archons.
- Breaks down metrics like Æmber Control into the cards that give you those abilities (Steal, Capture, Destroy) during play.
- Adds a few other neat categories for consideration like Key Cheating, Healing, House Cheating, Artifact Removal, and more–all broken down, like Æmber Control, into the cards that comprise the categories.
- Gives you an idea of Synergies within your deck (think: possible combos).
This site also sells token sets if you missed out on the Starter Box!
But everyone knows the best way to ascertain the strength and consistency of a deck is to actually play with it, so let’s move on to the next item on our list!
Keyforge: The Crucible Online
While not an officially licensed or endorsed site, The Crucible allows you to play your decks online against others or even spectate on ongoing matches. It isn’t perfect, but it hey, it works and definitely beats the tricksy ordeal of playing against yourself! (Trust me…I know.)
I super wish Fantasy Flight Games had delayed the launch of Keyforge for a couple months; long enough to launch The Master Vault with all of its functionality in place and an official way to play online. But the folks behind The Crucible stepped up and delivered a workable solution – even if it’s just for the interim – and that is awesome!
You can arrange for private matches that require passwords to join, or jump in and play a stranger looking for anything from a casual game to something a bit more competitive.
I’ve also seen folks on Twitch streaming matches from The Crucible, so there is yet another way you can benefit from this offering: Tune in and keep an eye out for combos and strategies that might serve one of your decks well!
I’m a relatively intelligent dude, so I can usually ascertain the strengths of a deck by giving the cards a thorough read through. However, with every new deck, I drop in on each of these sites just to see what I might have missed or not considered. Add to that the ability to play whenever I want, and you’ve got a winner. I’ve also found several helpful communities on Facebook and Reddit; a quick search on either platform is all you need to plug in.
I will also shamelessly plug a series that is developing on our site called Open House where our resident MtG and Keyforge expert, Alex, delves into the lore and some noteworthy cards from each House!
Add this page to your Favorites or Reading List for a one stop shop to these resources, and hit me up on Twitter with any others that I need to be aware of!
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