This is the second part of our Christmas Eve double-header. This pod had the unusual result of three decks advancing and one deck being sent to our Worst of the Worst bracket. The last pod had a lot of games that were slowly won, while this pod might have been one of our fastest pods ever.

We did experience a few interruptions due to our internet’s performance. Some of the VODs were chopped up as a result.

Part 1 – First Part of the Video is part of Pod 15
Watch Holiday Special Keyforge Tournament of Champions Pod 15/16. Part 2 from tabletoproyale on www.twitch.tv

Pod 16 Start is Here

Part 2 – Picks up in the middle of game 2 and is a little choppy to start
Watch Holiday Special Keyforge Tournament of Champions Pod 15/16. Part 3 from tabletoproyale on www.twitch.tv

Deck Lists:
Heartly of Shallowporten Sepulcher
Planter, the Misfit of The Martians
Kalibum, Farazan Warleader
Mathletic “Snake Oil” Adara

Match Results

Game 1 – Heartly vs Planter

One Sentence Summary: As one commentator put it, watching this game was like watching an experienced player beat on a new player.

Card of the Match: Pit Demon
Pit Demon stayed in play for the whole game, and while there were probably other cards that had an equal impact, the persistent threat of stealing aember every turn affected how Planter had to play. Just existing on the table meant that Planter would have to end the turn with 7 aember to get around just what was on the board.

Notable Event: Heartly had 6 aember captured at one point in this game. After Planter finally got that aember back, Heartly had a Bait and Switch ready.

Winner: Heartly
3 Keys to 1

Game 2 – Kalibum vs Mathletic

OSS: A close game got a lot less close in the last few turns.

COTM: Cleansing Wave
Both decks were in a dead heat, until this card was played. On a congested board, this card will just create an avalanche of aember. This was the deciding factor in this game.

NE: A late game Phosophorous stars probably backfired on Planter, since the deck lost shortly after it happened.

Winner: Kalibum
3 Keys to 2

Game 3 – Heartly vs Kalibum

OSS: One deck was prepared to use all of its creatures the turn they came into play and the other deck was not.

COTM: Speed Sigil
Heartly did some gross stuff with Speed Sigil in this game. Uxlyx, Umbra, Mindwarper and the list just goes on.

NE: An early double Battle Fleet put Heartly extremely far ahead and Kalibum was playing catch-up the whole time. A mid-game Bait and Switch punished Kalibum.

Winner: Heartly
3 Keys to 1

Game 4 – Planter vs Mathletic

OSS: Planter demonstrated the power of a fully dysfunctional Mars side.

COTM: Annihilation Ritual
This is not a card for every match-up, but when your opponent has a Witch of the Eye, you are glad that you can remove creatures from the game.

NE: Mathletic had such a stranglehold on the board that it was able to activate two Pit Demons three turns in a row. There was also a sweet Neutron Shark play where it destroyed Mathletic’s own Annihilation Ritual.

Winner: Mathletic
3 Keys to 2

Game 5 – Heartly vs Mathletic

OSS: Mathletic’s aember disruption proved to be too much for Heartly.

COTM: Doc Bookton
Doc Bookton was left alone, partly due to the number of other priority targets. Doc Bookton and Mother are similar in the way they generate value, and in a vacuum, Mother is better. In this game, Bookton drew cards and generated aember, which is the best you can hope for from your cards.

NE: A combination of Lash of Broken Dreams and Effervescent Principle stopped any chance of Heartly from forging the second key.

Winner: Mathletic
3 Keys to 1

Game 6 – Planter vs Kalibum

OSS: Planter showed up to this game late, and was too far behind to ever have a chance to win.

COTM: Ganymede Archivist
Two of these hit the field and set up a brutal Brobnar turn to win the game. The archive is a good place for cards like Coward’s End or Smith, and the Archivist is a sneaky card that isn’t always targeted first when there are other creatures on the board.

NE: A Save the Pack and a Jammer Pack kept Planter in this game after Kalibum’s Sanctum creature dominated the early game. However, a Coward’s End and a Smith put this game out of reach.

Winner: Kalibum
3 Keys to 1

Final Results

Heartly of Shallowporten Sepulcher – *Advancing*
Any Mars decks with two Battle Fleets will have some nutty turns, and this deck is no exception. Heartly is missing a Squawker or Soft Landing and relies on Speed Sigil to get immediate value with its Martians. Mass Abduction, Psychic Network and Deep Probe are all strong cards that can lead to a blowout. 8 Dis creatures is a solid amount, and Arise! for Dis will always pull back enough to feel good. Annihilation Ritual is probably a dead card and Pandemonium could be hit or miss in this deck. Succubus and Tocsin provide ways to interact with the opponent’s hand. The Shadows side is quite disruptive as expected, but Carlo Phantom only has a few artifacts to work with. Two Bad Pennies is probably too many, but a Seeker Needle does provide a nice way to get value from them. This is a solid deck that will require a little experience to know when to play certain cards or when to discard them.

Kalibum, Farazan Warleader – *Advancing*
This is a bizarre deck, but managed to qualify, so I guess that means it is capable of winning games. The strength of this deck is the ability to use cards cross-faction. Two Inspirations, Gorm of Omm, Potion of Invulnerability, Sergeant Zakiel, Transposition Sandals, Experimental Therapy, Brothers in Battle and Follow the Leader is quite an impressive list, and really feels like the glue that kept this deck together. This deck is short on creatures, but does have a lot of ways to stun opposing creatures. The Logos in this deck is quite adept at setting up powerful turns, and Foggify is good to keep your small amount of creatures protected from immediate harm. Blood of the Titans is a good card for this deck, since most of the creatures in this deck are small. There is some aember burst available in this deck: Virtuous Works, Cleansing Wave and Smith. Fortunately, just playing cards the other cards in this deck can generate a lot of aember. This deck is weak against other aember burst, however, since Champion Tabris, Neuro Syphon, Bumpsy and Grenade Snib are all that stand between your opponent and winning.

Mathletic “Snake Oil” Adara – *Advancing*
Mathletic’s Dis is quite consistent, since it has 2 copies of 4 different Cards. The Terror’s text is blank quite often, but Charette pairs with him well. The Logos is a little less consistent, but potentially more powerful. Scrambler Storm is an excellent card, and Foggify pairs with it nicely. Dysania can ruin opponents’ long term strategies or liberate some abducted allies, but is dead in a lot of match-ups. The Mars in this deck requires a little bit of finesse, since EMP Blast will blow up the Motherguns this deck wants to keep in play. Tunk will do most of the fighting in this deck, unless Zyzzix is left alone. Tendrils of Pain and Ammonia Clouds can help if this deck falls behind, but playing them will usually result in killing many of your creatures, due to their small size. This deck doesn’t particularly stand out in a crowd and seems to struggle with aember generation. There is enough disruption to stop opponents from running away with a game, and as long as your opponent hasn’t won, you have a chance.

Planter, the Misfit of The Martians – *Relegated to WotW*
Misft is quite the accurate name for this deck. On paper, it doesn’t look like it would play terribly, but the Brobnar in this deck is such a mess that it really drags the rest of the deck down. The Martian portion of this deck has some play, and there is probably a dream turn with Ammonia Clouds and Martian Hounds that will only happen once in this deck’s existence. The Untamed in this deck has a lot of issues. Lifeweb has a lot of upside, but if the opponent has played three creatures, they have probably outnumbered your guys. Briar Grubblling is a good Target for Jammer Pack, but that is about the extent of his usefulness. This deck feels like a fun house mirror version of Kalibum. Both deck have a comparable number of creatures, but Kalibum has aember generation and its creatures have a larger impact when left on the board. This deck struggles to generate keys, and, uh, that’s the point of the game.

Known Errors: It can be easy to forget to draw the extra card for Mother after the turn she is played. You can also clear a stun even if you are not allowed to fight.

Meta Info: Justin routed Nathan in this pod with five wins. This made up some significant ground, Justin now has 47 wins to Nathan’s 49. First and Second split the wins. First has 45 wins and going second has 51 wins.