Another vault opened in Dallas, Texas. To learn it’s secrets, 83 brave Archons crossed arms on the battleline across three action-packed days of gaming and competition. The love of KeyForge was strong in the Lone Star State with each of the main tournaments running concurrently to support the number of players signed up.

At the conclusion of the event, two new champions were crowned and each awarded the top prize of $3,000—one for the Archon tournament and one for the Alliance tournament. The two runners-up in each tournament received a $1,000 prize and the third and fourth-place finishers in both tournaments walked away with $500 each. The top two finishers in each tournament who didn’t already have invitations to the 2023 KeyForge World Championship received invitations in addition to the cash prizes.

The Archon tournament featured 58 players. Nearly all of the Crucible’s offerings were utilized, but there was one stand-out favorite: Winds of Exchange, with 36 Archons trusting the set on the battlefield. None of the other sets broke double-digits, and Dark Tidings was sadly absent entirely.

Clear favorites emerged among houses, with Brobnar and Mars battling for the top spot at 25 appearances each. Shadows stole the last spot, only showing up in decks. Here is the complete list in order:

1. Brobnar (25 decks)
2. Mars (25 decks)
3. Ekwidon (24 decks)
4. Saurian (16 decks)
5. Unfathomable (16 decks)
6. Star Alliance (15 decks)
7. DIs (12 decks)
8. Logos (12 decks)
9. Sanctum (12 decks)
10. Untamed (9 decks)
11. Shadows (8 decks)

The top 12 cards that appear most frequently in Archon decks were:

1. Brikk Nastee (21 total)
2. Ironyx Vatminder (21 total)
3. Berserker Slam (19 total)
4. Closed-Door Negotiation (19 total)
5. General Ză-Orhă (19 total)
6. Befuddle (18 total)
7. Rant and Rive (18 total)
8. Rowdy Skald (17 total)
9. Generous Offer (16 total)
10. Kelpminder (14 total)
11. Myx, the Tallminded (13 total)
12. Scoop Up (13 total)

292 different cards appeared only once across all Archon decks.

Alliance saw 25 players ask the question “Who will forge the strongest alliance?” As was the case with the Archon tournament, Winds of Exchange took the top spot for set representation at nine alliances. Mass Mutation was the second most at six. Even Vault Masters 2023 appeared with one alliance.

Logos and Star Alliance were the favorites among alliances, with the rest of the houses having a mostly even split.

1. Logos (14 decks)
2. Star Alliance (12 decks)
3. Dis (7 decks)
4. Untamed (7 decks)
5. Brobnar (6 decks)
6. Mars (6 decks)
7. Ekwidon (5 decks)
8. Saurian (5 decks)
9. Shadows (4 decks)
10. Unfathomable (4 decks)
11. Sanctum (2 decks)

The top 12 cards that appeared most frequently in Alliance decks were:

1. EDAI “Edie” 4×4 (14 total)
2. Stealth Mode (11 total)
3. Infurnace (10 total)
4. Daughter (10 total)
5. Brikk Nastee (9 total)
6. Chronus (7 total)
7. FOF Transponder (7 total)
8. Infomorph (7 total)
9. Shock Herder (7 total)
10. “Bubbles” (6 total)
11. Eyegor (6 total)
12. Rant and Rive (6 total)

A total of 252 different cards appeared only once across all Alliance decks.

Archon Results

Champion: Sith of Angmar* playing Faythe B. Troptogram, the Center from Winds of Exchange

Runner-Up: Frozen Tauntaun* playing Pyschorubios Gaard-Viville, Thrall from Winds of Exchange

Top 4: Cocathey playing Kucor Boost, Store Leader from Worlds Collide

Top 4: Flaming Hobo The Redoubtable Buccaneer from Winds of Exchange

Top 8: Drazkor playing The Ooze that Trains All Three Houses from Winds of Exchange

Top 8: Drsheep playing Adm. Inslang, the Pink Fraud from Call of the Archons

Top 8: LQDsquash playing Badkind the Mind-Numbingly Long-armed from Winds of Exchange

Top 8: Franke.n.stein playing Draphantom Moion-Chapman, Reporter from Winds of Exchange

* Received an invitation to the 2023 KeyForge Archon World Championship Tournament

Alliance Results

Champion: Gorlami** playing playing an Alliance of Untamed, Logos, and Dis from Mass Mutation

Runner-Up: AV8R* playing an Alliance of Mars, Logos, and Untamed from Age of Ascension

Top 4: Dave C.** playing an Alliance of Logos, Star Alliance, and Untamed from Worlds Collide

Top 4: Big Z* playing an Alliance of Dis, Star Alliance, and Logos from Mass Mutation

Top 8: The Noble One playing an Alliance of Star Alliance, Dis, and Logos from Mass Mutation

Top 8: Zach Legweak playing an Alliance of Brobran, Ekwidon, and Unfathomable from Winds of Exchange using Prospector as the token creature

Top 8: Strawman playing an Alliance of Mars, Unfathomable, and Ekwidon from Winds of Exchange using Grunt as the token creature

Top 8: Ewok Jr playing an Alliance of Dis, Logos, and Untamed from Mass Mutation

* Previously invited to the 2023 KeyForge Alliance World Championship from a past tournament

** Received an invitation to the 2023 KeyForge Alliance World Championship Tournament

Dallas Archon Top 4 Players (L to R): Cocathey, Frozen Tauntaun, Sith of Angmar, Flaming Hobo

Dallas Alliance Top 4 Players (L to R): Big Z, AV8R, Gorlami, Dave C.

Second Æmber

On Saturday, 36 players participated in the Second Æmber tournament after they were eliminated from a main event. A total of 34 Second Æmber games were played, earning a wide range of participants chances to win various prizes including sealed KeyForge decks, metal key tokens, card sleeves, or playmats. Dallas’s most dedicated Second Æmber player was Soed, who played in seven matches throughout the day.

But that’s not all! Throughout the weekend Archons were challenging the Keyraken, launching groups for Sealed fun, playing casual side games, and even challenging for one of the Tabletop Royal title belts floating around the community!

THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH

We’d like to extend a special congratulations to all of the finalists, and hearth-felt thank you to everyone who attended the Dallas Vault Tour. We felt welcome in your corner of the Crucible, and we hope to see you out there again at a Vault Tour or KeyForge Celebration.

We would also like to thank our streaming partner Claymore with Prime Cut Games. Claymore participated in the Friday Night Sealed, and then provided streaming for both main tournaments on his Twitch. You can check out the archived footage on his YouTube by clicking on the video here. Thank you, Claymore for your help!

OPEN THE FINAL VAULTS

You still have chances to compete in KeyForge Vault Tours this year! Visit the links below to learn more information about each of the upcoming events.

Las Vegas, Nevada is September 29-October 1

Florence, Italy is October 6-8

The tour concludes with the 2023 KeyForge World Championships hosted at KeyForge Celebration in Roseville, MN. Get your tickets to Celebration today by following the link below!

KeyForge Celebration in Roseville, Minnesota is November 10-12