Gameplay on Day 1 - Atlanta Keyforge Vault Tour
So excited about this novel experience, I arrived at the Omni Atrium just after 0800 Saturday morning. There were a dozen staff members setting out table tents and starting up computers. Around 0900 the registration desk opened up, and I checked in that I was here for the sealed Vault event.at 1000. We were called to order at the appointed time and seated so that they could count us off. One hundred and twenty-eight of us were there, many having registered beforehand and a few taking up no-show slots. I was given three decks:
After much agonizing at leaving Shadows on the table, the Archon I picked was Austere "Old School" Ludvig, a Logos/Sanctum/Dis deck with good card churn
from Logos, a lot of capture from Sanctum and some creature removal and
artifact control from all three. One specific flaw in this deck that I
overlooked was the presence of Three Fates in a deck with so many large
creatures, but more on that later. The other structural flaw (or undocumented
feature) that I discovered as play progressed was the significant number of
gambling cards involved. My play style tends to be a little chaotic, throw
stuff together and let’s see what happens, but even for me there were more
cards in the deck than I was comfortable with that were adding extra
uncertainty into my strategy.
The first round game was a nice random start with a guy that
was polite and enthusiastic. (I’m so sorry, but I only remember one name from
Saturday because he went 6-0 and I could look up his information later.) We
played at Table 7. (By random chance, I sat at single-digit numbered tables for
every game I played.) The game was a leisurely start to the tournament, as we were both getting used
to our decks. I was able to get a good number of cards drawn using Logos and
that provided the advantage I needed to win a close but fun game.
For the second round, I was assigned to table 5 with the
only woman opponent I faced that day. (I believe her name was Patricia but I'm
not certain.) And that game was brutal. On one turn with Library Access, I was
able to Wild Wormhole, Foggify to keep my creatures safe for a turn, reap with Dextre and Doc Bookton
(gaining an extra card to play) and draw into a Phase Shirt that permitted me
to Mind Barb one of her cards. Like I said, it was brutal. We had both
forged only one key each at that point but after that turn she never recovered.
This game was memorable because during that Logos turn in particular, I learned
a rules nuance that I had never previously encountered. Discarding the top card
of the Draw Pile does not trigger a reshuffle of the discard pile if you have
no cards left in the Draw Pile. In other words, if there is no Draw Pile, then you cannot discard the
top card of your deck. I learned this technicality because I tried to play Wild Wormhole and went to play the top card from my empty Draw
Pile. I figured that simply meant I now reshuffle and subsequently archive the
top card of the new Draw Pile. However, a Judge informed us that without a Draw Pile from where one can discard the top card,
no action happens. As per the rules, only when you are required to draw a card
into your hand and the Draw Pile is empty do you reshuffle the Discard Pile. So
nothing would have happened. My opponent allowed me to take back that play, and luckily I could still reap with Doc
Bookton before playing my Wild Wormhole and get a new Draw Pile that way.
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| Neutron Shark doo doo, do do do |
For the third round, I started gaining a cheering section
from some fellow Floridians whom I had met before the tournament started. They
were down to their last two undefeated members and so threw their support
behind me too. (We had made similar sartorial selections involving purple.) Going
undefeated was exciting and not yet stressful. My opponent at table 3 was in
the same boat and we played a friendly if earnest match where I forged my third
key just after he forged his second. The trick I learned from this game was the
combo involving the Neutron Shark and Dextre. By accident, I choose Dextre as
my second card sacrificed to the Shark’s feeding frenzy. Playing carefully
through the steps, I realized that Dextre would be destroyed and returned to
the top of the Draw Pile before the instructions on the Shark directed me to discard
a card from the top of the Draw Pile and check which house it belonged to. Since I can guarantee that the next card discarded is Logos, that shuts down the Shark's effect. That combo let me limit how much damage the Shark would do to my half of the board,
and I was able to use that combo in two of my last three games.
The fourth round was where the pressure really started
getting to me. Seated at table 2, I really felt like I had a target on my back.
Additionally, every Archon card that I could see now had Shadows on the back,
reinforcing the metagame. In this game, I was lucky in that not only did I
forge keys promptly after getting the requisite amount of Aember, I finally got
both Succubi and both Mothers onto my Battleline. His deck had very strong Shadows cards, but he lacked strong creatures or direct damage to thin out my
line. Soon, my ability to hold eight cards to his four was too much of an advantage. Additionally, my Sanctum cards showed up in a big way to steal his Aember with
double Francus, a Sequis and Take Hostages. By the end of the game, I held
nearly twenty Aember on my creatures. I was nervous that he had some way of sending
creatures back to my hand or off the board without relying on combat, but if he
did, he never drew those cards. Eventually it was just a matter of time before
my third key was forged.
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| This devil is willing to make a deal... |
So with four wins in a row, I sat at table 3 across from Grant. He was playing almost a mirror copy of my deck, but with Shadows instead of Dis. He had Bait and Switch and plenty of Urchins to steal Aember. At one point I had three Aember and played Truebaru only to have Lights Out send him back into my hand without gaining any Aember. To be fair, I was too frazzled from the pressure to focus and play well. Grant won easily on his way to an undefeated showing on Day 1. However, if I was going to make it to day 2, I would have to win my last game.
While my record was no longer spotless, it was still strong enough that I was at table 9 for the last round. We both had slow, methodical decks, and he played cards granting him more Aember early. He had two keys forged first, but by that time I had built up my Sanctum Battleline and started capturing Aember. My Hallowed Blaster meant that I could also heal any damage inflicted, keeping that captured Aember safe. I finally gained enough Aember for the win by playing Three Fates with Truebaru on the board. Not only did that combo net me five Aember, I played Schooler on the flank next to a Staunch Knight, reducing the knight's power back to four and letting me target an enemy creature for removal instead of my own. So with my head back in the game, I pulled off a narrow come from behind victory. Finishing the day at 5-1, I was invited to return for Day 2 of the main Vault event.
At this point, I thought I might retire for the day, but I wandered up to Registration just as they needed one more player for a Reversal Pod. I figured that Reversal referred to where you swap decks each round, but I was wrong. Reversal is a kind of White Elephant contest, where everybody picks their worst or most temperamental deck and your opponent plays it. Since I had not prepared for this kind of tournament, I let my opponents play with Steev, the Virlburg Mathlete. While Steev wins pretty consistently in my hands, that deck went 2-2 for the tournament. It was fun playing decks with unlikely combos and poor synergy. I even used what I learned earlier in the day. I was playing a mess of a Brobnar/Shadows deck with lots of creatures out but my Evasion Sigil would possibly prevent them from fighting. Except that I had drawn the last card and currently had no Draw Pile! Playing a Brothers in Arms, I spent the turn pummeling his Battleline mercilessly without worrying about what card I discarded and won shortly thereafter.
So with enough Aembershards, I bought two sets of metal keys and headed back to my hotel room for a good night's rest before facing Day 2.
See you at the next Vault.
Steev
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