Essay:Diving Down the Rabbit Hole Introduction

Introduction

In this series, I intend to look at some of the cards in KeyForge and assess and create lines that would improve or harm the card's potential in a deck. The goal of this inquiry is to start to open players' minds and help them see the value of playing decks and not relying on SAS numbers or community opinions to see how their decks operate and how good they are.

KeyForge has too many variables for the game to become an all-in conceptual player. The game is dynamic and moves with every decision, and it rarely plays out the way you map it out. There is value in every bit of experience, and these tools are great to get you moving in the right direction, but they are not the end-all of what makes a deck great. That comes with time and effort. After all, we are here to play the game.

Some of the terms I will be using I am going to define so that you understand my thought process:

• Dynamic: I take this as an aspect that is fluid and forever changing.
• Static: I take this as an aspect that is stationary or unchanging. Synonymous with passive effects.
• Attrition: This is a loss in value usually caused by playing or activating a card. This word is the opposite of the term Gain.
• Gain: This is to state that there is a positive value to a line of play made.
• Meta: This term refers to the most common archetypes that shape the games play.

Sorry for the long introduction. I wanted to make sure we are on the same page moving forward, and I will be glad to clarify anything that I write terminology wise if you reach out to me, I am almost everywhere on Discord and Facebook.

The Idea of this narrative will be to talk about cards in a vacuum, how other cards empower them, and then what type of deck they will most effectively be played in the scope of the meta.

The scope of the content will be shaped as follows:

1. I will introduce the card that we are going to explore.
2. I will break it down in a vacuum and present a value based on my scale:
   • My scale is based on the Gain/Attrition state to the game-winning conditions.
   • Æmber gains or loss will be +/- 1 respectably.
   • Abilities tied to the game state will be valued based on the advancement of the game state and how it swings the Æmber lines in relationship to each player's Æmber pools.
3. Lastly, I will look into the best synergies and the worst anti-synergies that the card has for a full look at the card value.

The Idea for this process is to help open up the way you look at the game, and in no way is this the only method to approach evaluation, but it is a start. In the end, you will need to find what works for you and what style of the game comes most comfortably to you. I hope that you will enjoy the series, and I will be open to inputs as I hope to grow in this breakdown as well.

First Card on tap will be my favorite, Control the Weak. So stay tuned in to Archon Arcana and support all your KeyForge content providers. We do this out of love, and all we ask is that you share!