Meet House Ouboros

Published On: September 26, 2025
Agorim slumbered, for within Limbo, there was little else to do. While he slumbered, he dreamed.
 
The Psion had once again touched Agorim’s mind and stoked the fire in his heart. The preparations were nearly complete, and the world was ripe. The Darkness had once again begun to seep into the Crucible, and their ancient enemies, the Architects, were desperate. It was only a matter of time before the Architects fulfilled the prophecy and broke the seals of Limbo, which would allow the Ouboros to return.
 
The Darkness would purge the land, then the Ouboros would bring a new dawn…
Ouboros is the latest house to join the Crucible, making its debut in the set KeyForge: Draconian Measures. They are an ancient society of powerful dragons—the only true dragons—who once dominated the entire Crucible. In a long-forgotten age, they saved the Crucible from certain destruction by an inter-dimensional force known only as the Darkness. After this triumph, the Ouboros, in their hubris, challenged the Architects for control of the cosmos. They failed, and the Architects banished them to Limbo for all eternity. That is, until the Darkness returned…
Let’s take a look at some of the cards coming to the house and detail new keywords coming in the set.

New Keyword: Entrench

Most KeyForge players want to ready their creatures any chance they get to be able to use them as often as possible. However, KeyForge: Draconian Measures turns this into a more nuanced decision with the new keyword, Entrench.

Creatures with Entrench allow the player to decide whether to ready them or keep them exhausted during their ready cards step. This can be useful as some creatures gain power from those exhausted around them. Noxious Ionox demonstrates this well. Despite being a threatening 4 power creature, it can be destructive even when exhausted. If it is exhausted at the start of the player’s turn, they can destroy an enemy creature. Making it a constant threat to their opponent. It can also work nicely with cards like Prime Authority, giving the chance to ready them later in exchange for the potential of Æmber gain.

New Mechanic: Overwhelmed

KeyForge: Draconian Measures also brings with it a new mechanic, Overwhelmed. When an opponent has more creatures than the player, the player is overwhelmed. This is a game state that cards within the set will interact with causing different abilities to trigger, similar to the Haunted mechanic introduced in KeyForge: Grim Reminders. The Ouboros cards Lay Lines, Ashwing Protocol, and Clawcloak Swipe are a few that interact with this mechanic. Some of them rely on the game state to exist to have the ability trigger, like in the case of Ashwing Protocol and Clawcloak Swipe. While, Lay Lines sees the ability change depending on if the player is overwhelmed or not. Managing the battleline to get the most out of this mechanic will be important across the set.

More Dragons to See

The best players know when to time their card play to get maximum value. Using cards like Cyn Dynasty at the right time could see the opponent pay extra to forge their key and give value in return with additional Æmber and card draw for the coming turn. A timely play of Glittering Horde could also see a big Æmber steal help the player on their quest to forge a decisive third key. Beware though, Glittering Horde could also backfire against the wrong opponents, like house Skyborn, that may thrive in having different key colors forged across the battle.

These are just some of the many cards surfacing in House Ouboros. KeyForge: Draconian Measures will see the other houses taking advantage of Entrench and Overwhelm as well. Visit the campaign on Gamefound now to support it by grabbing a pledge!

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