Help From Future Self: A Conversational KeyForge Podcast · Sydnie, Devin, Liam and Blake!

335 - New Year, New Halyards

·1 hr 11 min·4 clips

Five Vault Tour reimbursements shrink if official news stays silent past January 12.

Sydney opens with a New Year greeting and welcomes Liam into 2026. They swap holiday check-ins before settling into the episode’s KeyForge agenda. Liam says he went to bed early because his wife was sick, which turns into a quick, familiar holiday-germs detour. Sydney shares a long-running New Year tradition with friends that involves watching a movie and timing the ending so a line lands at midnight. This year’s pick is Air Force One, and the group cheers “get off my plane” right as the clock turns. From there, the conversation moves into reactions to the new set and sealed play expectations. They focus on commons, because commons are what players will see most often and what will shape the feel of a set. The hosts compare that reality to past sets that had especially strong commons. They sound cautiously upbeat about the set’s prospects for sealed, even while admitting some of the first looks are not very exciting. A lot of the energy comes from walking through specific cards and asking how their effects work in practice. Paranormal Palisade becomes a detailed example, especially around when it gains armor and taunt if it is exhausted. That leads into timing-chart logic and the question of whether you would ever choose not to ready a creature at the end of your turn. The hosts talk through narrow situations where that decision might matter, like protecting a creature with captured Aember. They contrast that with other exhausted-value cards, including Fading Apparition, and explain why some of those cases feel more fringe. The discussion keeps coming back to the same point: strong commons matter because they decide how often a set feels good to open and play. The tone stays half analysis, half table banter, with the hosts correcting each other and working through the answer out loud. Later, the episode shifts toward organized play and the practical side of tournament formats. They mention Crucible Clash, Triad, and the absence of Archon powers. One host jokes that Archon powers would have triggered a gigantic tantrum. The end of the show turns outward again to community logistics and promotion. They point listeners to Discord and Patreon in the show notes. They also mention where to find the hosts online, and they give a shout to Triad and a scholarship for getting people to a Vault Tour. The closing feels like a friendly sendoff from people who are not just covering the game but living inside its community.

As heard by us

Holiday banter settles into a sharp KeyForge rules and card discussion.

The episode opens with holiday stories before settling into a KeyForge strategy check-in that moves through new cards, timing questions, and what the set may mean for sealed play.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want New Year banter that folds into KeyForge rules talk, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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