O KeyForge, what a Celebration of you we had!

Ghost Galaxy would like to give a hearty ‘thank you!’ to the nearly 200 brave Archons who expended their time and treasure to attend KeyForge Celebration 2023. We began festivities early on Friday with our Last Chance Qualifier, ran the very first World Championships and Open tournaments ever, and finished on Sunday with Finals, Awards, and a Q&A with the Ghost Galaxy team. If you didn’t get the chance to attend, check out our recap video of the event and read on!

Several major tournaments happened across KeyForge Celebration including our Last Chance Qualifier, Alliance Open, Alliance World Championship, Archon Open, and Archon World Championship. Across all of those events, we had 20 players make the Finals of each and crowned no less than five champions. Truly, these battle tested Archons forged honor and glory in the fires of the Crucible!

As is tradition at this point, let’s go over the tournament statistics of each of these and celebrate our champions as well as their winning decks.

Last Chance Qualifier

Otherwise known as the Sealed Alliance Open, our Last Chance Qualifier tournament was a high-level Sealed event using Playstile 2LO with a Top 8. A total of 137 Archons played to determine how to divvy up the remaining slots for the Alliance and Archon World Championships to follow the next day.

Players were expected to bring sealed Winds of Exchange product, which we thoroughly inspected and scanned to a control sheet. We’re proud to report that efforts found no detection of any method to attempt to reseal packs, and that our deck control was successful!

We don’t have the information to give you detailed house breakdowns, token selections, or top cards used. We’re not that advanced. We can, however, report that 100% of the decks were Winds of Exchange!

We’re still showing you a pie chart here because who doesn’t love delicious pie? 9 out of 10 Sanctum agree, it’s superior to cake!

LCQ Results

Champion: Harmed, Already Qualified

Runner-Up: Pinne73, Qualified for Alliance World Championship

Top 4: CodyKraz, Qualified for Archon World Championship

Top 4: Dorian11, Already Qualified

Top 8: Lokekar, Qualified for Archon World Championship

Top 8: Quickdraw3457, Qualified for Archon World Championship

Top 8: Kokujin87, Already Qualified

Top 8: J.Candika, Already Qualified

Additional Qualifiers, Archon:

• Jens0902
• MathAndLove
• OddMonster
• Isawa_Mo
• felixxtheviking
• tiredguy

Additional Qualifiers, Alliiance:

• Splendives
• Miggy9001
• BlvdBlake
• Ellimacten
• Orion0497
• Srwilly77

Alliance World Championship

KeyForge Celebration was filled with many firsts, and one of them was the very first KeyForge Alliance World Championship! World Championships were capped at 32 participants, but 11 in Alliance started with a first-round-bye.

Winds of Exchange was the way the winds were blowing for the field as 13 decks were of the set. The next highest set was Age of Ascension with a total of 6.

Logos has long been a favorite in Alliance, and this tournament was no different with 18 total instances of the house. Untamed and Unfathomable were undoubtably tied for second favorites. The full house breakdown is such:

1. Logos (18 decks)
2. Unfathomable (11 decks)
3. Untamed (11 decks)
4. Star Alliance (10 decks)
5. Dis (9 decks)
6. Mars (9 decks)
7. Ekwidon (8 decks)
8. Saurian (8 decks)
9. Shadows (5 decks)
10. Brobnar (4 decks)
11. Sanctum (3 decks)

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

1. Befuddle (23 total)
2. Legionary Trainer (20 total)
3. EDAI “Edie” 4×4 (12 total)
4. Helper Bot (11 total)
5. Labwork (11 total)
6. Eyegor (10 total)
7. Generous Offer (10 total)
8. Longusaur Lector (10 total)
9. Martian Generosity (10 total)
10. Abyssal Sight (9 total)
11. Auction Off (9 total)
12. Daughter (9 total)

Archon World Championship

Archon also saw its very first World Championship and some altogether unexpected results! World Championships were capped at 32 participants, but 12 in Archon started with a first-round-bye.

Many Archons decided that you can’t fight the wind and adjusted their sails for Winds of Exchange. It was the most popular in Archon, with 11 decks. Age of Ascension, Mass Mutation, and Worlds Collide tied for a 2nd at six decks each.

It seems you also can’t fight science either, as the analytical Logos was again the favorite house. Dis was a not too distant 2nd, while Untamed and Sanctum were wildly underrepresented. House representation was such:

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

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

1. Exhume (13 total)
2. Eyegor (11 total)
3. Ironyx Vatminder (11 total)
4. Befuddle (9 total)
5. Nerve Blast (9 total)
6. Wild Wormhole (9 total)
7. Infurnace (8 total)
8. Eclectic Inquiry (7 total)
9. Red Alert (7 total)
10. Steward Su-Uzyanĕ (7 total)
11. “Bubbles” (6 total)
12. EDAI “Edie” 4×4 (6 total)

Archon Worlds Results

Because the Archon World Championship was only 32 players and contained first-round-byes, it was run to a top four. A best-of-one was played to determine 3rd and 4th. A strange quirk of tournament math meant the last eliminated player in the 2LO phase took exactly 5th place.

Champion: Dorian11 playing Geir Tsong, Soldato di Cubonitido from Call of the Archons.

Runner-Up: Isawa_Mo playing Symbil, Spawn of Jonabaron from Winds of Exchange.

3rd Place: Ewok Jr playing Melandrach “Ayya Linguini” Leyton from Winds of Exchange.

4th Place: Ashitaka playing U. Ortiz, la charitable from Mass Mutation.

5th Place: DrSheep playing Adm. Inslang, the Pink Fraud from Call of the Archons.

Alliance Open Championship

For those that had not qualified for the World Championships, we had Open tournaments. The Alliance Open was 22 participants.

Winds of Exchange blew passed the other sets in this tournament as well, taking the top spot for most used set at 13. The next highest was Worlds Collide at 5. Dark Tidings unfortunately sunk to 0 decks at this one.

Logos was tied for the top spot, unable to fend off the competition from the merchants of Ekwidon. Shadows were mostly in the dark, finding themselves in only two decks. Full breakdown:

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

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

1. Auction Off (11 total)
2. Exhume (11 total)
3. Infurnace (11 total)
4. Befuddle (10 total)
5. Tautau Vapors (10 total)
6. Belligerent Guard (9 total)
7. Closed-Door Negotiation (9 total)
8. Legionary Trainer (9 total)
9. Ornate Talking Tray (9 total)
10. Moor Wolf (8 total)
11. Steward Su-Uzyanĕ (8 total)
12. Brikk Nastee (7 total)

Alliance Open Results

Because the Alliance Open Championship was only 22 players, it was run to a top four. There was no best-of-one to determine 3rd and 4th. A strange quirk of tournament math meant the last eliminated player in the 2LO phase took exactly 5th place.

Champion: Asas22 playing an Alliance of Logos, Star Alliance, and Dis from Worlds Collide.

Runner-Up: Stormstrong playing an Alliance of Logos, Saurian, and Dis from Worlds Collide.

Top 4: Shebazjenkins playing an Alliance of Logos, Shadows, and Mars from Age of Ascension.

Top 4: Brikk playing an Alliance of Star Alliance, Dis, and Logos from Mass Mutation.

5th Place: Player Hurp playing an Alliance of Dis, Logos, and Untamed from Mass Mutation.

Archon Open Championship

For those that had not qualified for the World Championships, we had Open tournaments. The Archon Open was the largest main tournament on Saturday with 65 participants.

You could call the set breakdown a whirlwind, tornado, or even a hurricane. Winds of Exchange fielded 44 decks while no other set broke double digits. All sets were represented, including Dark Tidings and Vault Masters 2023.

Ekwidon traded Logos for the top spot in this tournament, though they also tied with the Mars empire. Untamed and Dis were lost in the weeds, seeing play in only eight decks. Archon Open breaks down like this:

1. Ekwidon (27 decks)
2. Mars (27 decks)
3. Unfathomable (26 decks)
4. Star Alliance (25 decks)
5. Brobnar (19 decks)
6. Logos (18 decks)
7. Saurian (17 decks)
8. Sanctum (10 decks)
9. Shadows (10 decks)
10. Dis (8 decks)
11. Untamed (8 decks)

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

1. Befuddle (23 total)
2. Generous Offer (23 total)
3. Brikk Nastee (22 total)
4. CPO Zytar (22 total)
5. Fathom Reaver (22 total)
6. Ironyx Rebel (22 total)
7. Steward Su-Uzyanĕ (21 total)
8. Kelpminder (20 total)
9. Ornate Talking Tray (18 total)
10. Hire On (17 total)
11. Red Alert (17 total)
12. Ironyx Vatminder (16 total)

Archon Open Results

The Archon Open was the only tournament on Saturday to complete with a Top 8. There was no best-of-one to determine 3rd through 8th.

Champion: BenTheMonkey playing The Ooze that Trains All Three Houses from Winds of Exchange.

Runner-Up: Baqno playing Camvaz, Master of the Glacier from Vault Masters 2023.

Top 4: Cormac playing The Airy Eater Idealogue of Holomaa from Winds of Exchange.

Top 4: Sundy playing The Being that Outlives Moons from Winds of Exchange.

Top 8: Eric Waters playing Oddbiorn Z. Painyouth, the Mighty from Winds of Exchange.

Top 8: Jim Forgery playing Traditionally Sagacious Egor from Winds of Exchange.

Top 8: Medaps playing The Primes Cartographer of Steinfires from Winds of Exchange.

Top 8: Osramtaleka playing J. Soto, Voortdrome’s Turbulent Braggart from Call of the Archons.

KeyForge Celebration also saw many new and interesting things: The Fall of the House Gormangeist Nightmare Mode, a preview of KeyForge: Menagerie in the Join the Menagerie event, and a preview of KeyForge: Grim Reminders in the Nightfall Sealed Alliance event. The later two saw the participation of 163 and 152 respectively, with a total of 678 matches of Menagerie across the weekend. That’s a lot of games!

We would like to give special recognition to those who played Menagerie and Gormangeist. For Menagerie, the ringleaders were: DrSheep in 4th with 17 games played and 15 wins, Run Storm in 3rd with 21 games played and 18 wins, Logan P. in 2nd with 28 games played and 22 wins, and finally Big Z with 34 games played and 28 wins. For the Gormangeist adventure, we saw the Manchester Mavericks win with an impressive time of 10:43!

Before we go, thanks are due to several people.

First are our streaming partners. Thanks to Tabletop Royale, who followed Ghost Galaxy on many of the Vault Tour 2023 stops, and provided the majority of the KeyForge Celebration 2023 coverage on their Twitch. Thanks to Fudgenator as well, who also spun up his Twitch to provide additional KFC coverage. And thanks again to Prime Cut Games and 1 Star Peeps 5 Star Games for providing coverage on the tour. Many of these creators have YouTube channels, posting clips like the one we have here. Don’t forget to check them out!

We would also be remiss if we did not thank our fantastic judges who worked most of the tour: Gee Barger and Marcus D’Amelio. They love KeyForge so much they couldn’t help but travel all over the country with us just so you could play their favorite game in front of them. They took care in every decision, and made sure the sanctity of tournament play was paramount. Thanks, guys!

The end of KeyForge Celebration marks the finale of Vault Tour 2023 and the KeyForge 2023 Organized Play Season. We had so much fun. We are grateful to the brave Archons who took the tour with us, showed up at KeyForge Celebration, watched from afar, or did some combination of those things. You are why we do what we do, and your excitement for KeyForge only makes us want to keep making this fantastic game. So, last but certainly not least: thank you, KeyForge Community.

See you in the Crucible!