Every KeyForge deck consists of 3 of the 7 houses that are part of a KeyForge Set.
The original houses introduced in Call of the Archons were Brobnar, Dis, Logos, Mars, Sanctum, Shadows and Untamed. The same houses were in the game's second set, Age of Ascension. The first two new houses were Saurian and Star Alliance, both introduced in Worlds Collide. Mass Mutation brought back house Sanctum, while Brobnar was rotated out. Dark Tidings introduced the new house Unfathomable, replacing house Dis. Winds of Exchange introduced house Ekwidon, Grim Reminders introduced house Geistoid, while Æmber Skies introduced house Skyborn. Additional new houses could appear in future sets, replacing old ones which can then come back in a later set.
Each house in KeyForge has a very distinct look, theme and style of play. While most mechanics are shared among multiple houses, each house excels in a different aspect of the game. However, as each new set introduces more than 50% new cards, house identities also evolve over time.
Brobnar
Brobnar
Brobnar is the fighting house, thematically inspired by Norse mythology and warrior culture. It features Giants and Goblins, along with powerful effects that enhance and reward fighting and destroying enemy creatures. Unlike many other houses, Æmber control is primarily achieved through Æmber destruction (instead of capturing or stealing).
With limited potential for Æmber gain and Æmber control, Brobnar wasn't a powerhouse in the earlier sets, but later on with cards like Brikk Nastee and Hallafest it became much more competitive.
Dis is the disruption house, with an infernal theme embodied by Demons and Imps. Preventing players from choosing a house, from drawing or playing cards, giving chains, discarding and purging cards are all common ways Dis can control the game.
Inspired by scientific and technological themes, Logos is the efficiency house. Drawing and archiving are the most prevalent mechanics in house Logos. Along with deck manipulation and allowing playing cards not from the active house, it brings consistency to decks more than any other house.
Drawing from classic pop culture depictions of Martians, this is the most insular house in KeyForge, with many effects that synergize only with other Mars cards. Examples of typical Mars cards are “John Smyth”, Mothergun, Mars First and Xanthyx Harvester. A secondary theme is abducting creatures into their opponent's archives, with cards like Collector Worm and Uxlyx the Zookeeper.
While traditionally regarded as the weakest house in Call of the Archons, it proved to be more competitive in Age of Ascension, especially with the Martian Generosity + Key Abduction combo decks. Mars was rotated out after Age of Ascension, but returned stronger than ever in Winds of Exchange.
Sanctum is a contrast to the demonic Dis: a house of Monks and angelic Knights. Sanctum's primary themes are board control through powerful creatures with armor, capturing Æmber and healing. Secondary themes are stunning and Æmber burst. Notable examples are cards like Bulwark, Virtuous Works, Doorstep to Heaven and Sir Marrows.
With a unique mix of Greco-Roman culture and dinosaurs, Saurian was one of the new houses in the game's third set, Worlds Collide. Exploring the theme of hubris through the exalt keyword that was introduced exclusively with Saurians, big creatures with high risk / high reward effects define this house: Senator Shrix, Cincinnatus Rex, Saurus Rex, Gargantodon and many others.
Secondary themes include steal-hate, capturing and warding. Saurian immediately proved to be both a fan favorite and a competitively successful house.
Bait and Switch was largely considered to be the best card in the game, until it was errata'd and its power considerably lowered.
As stealing is arguably the most impactful mechanic in the game, Shadows has proven to be by far the most competitively successful house across the game's first two sets.
Introduced in Worlds Collide alongside Saurian and inspired by classic sci-fi tropes, Star Alliance is thematically the opposite of house Mars. As the primary mechanics are allowing playing and using cards outside of the active house, Star Alliance brings cohesion and efficiency to decks. This is exemplified in cards like Captain Val Jericho, Com. Officer Kirby, United Action and Commander Chan.
Star Alliance also has more upgrades than any other house, including a unique Blaster for each common creature in Worlds Collide, as well as Robot creatures that can also be played as upgrades. Just like Saurian, Star Alliance is considered one of the best houses in Worlds Collide.
House Unfathomable features aquatic creatures and a deep-sea theme. Taking the place of house Dis in Dark Tidings, it aims to slow down and control the opponent, primarily by exhausting their cards and preventing them from playing or using cards.
Storm Surge, Kiri Giltspine, Kaupe and Brain Drain are all examples of this theme.
Untamed is the house inspired by nature and wilderness, featuring animals, plants, humans and other lifeforms. Untamed's primary themes are Æmber burst and recursion. Dust Pixie, Hunting Witch, Witch of the Eye and Key Charge are some of the cards that made Untamed the house with the best Æmber generation in Call of the Archons.
The comparative strength of houses within a set varies across different sets. One way of assessing this strength is through competitive success in KeyForge Organized Play. For this purpose, this includes all decks with power level 4 and above.
In a perfectly balanced set, each house would be on average represented in 3 out of every 7 decks (~43%). In reality, some houses are often much more successful than others within a set.
Vault Tour Success
The following graphs depict the house breakdowns of all decks that reached the top cut of a Vault Tour.
Note: For the sake of simplicity, decks can be counted more than once for this data if they reached the top cut of multiple events.
House Breakdown of All Top Call of the Archons Decks
share
27%
60%
44%
21%
27%
78%
43%
59%
48%
