Keyforge Dark Tidings initial react thread: This set appears to be very skill intensive. I found myself wanting to time my cards correctly more than just wanting to play a sheer volume of cards like Mass Mutations (though I did get to take a LANS-esque turn at one point).

Unfathomable might be one of the most titling houses to play against. I foresee myself ranting about several cards in the future. It does at least seem to be comprised of cards that can be played around, with a little experience. Getting that exp will be frustrating, though.

I had some reservations about the tide mechanic, but after getting some games in, it seems well balanced. Three chains is the correct price. The few decks I’ve played with so far only have a few ways to raise, and repeatable sources are few and fragile.

A lot of effects trigger off the raising of the tide, so just letting the tide stay low often seemed like the play. Once again, timing seems to play a role with the tide. It costs too much to raise the tide repeatedly, so it is often best to wait until you will get maximum value.

I don’t think it will be controversial to say that Star Alliance is the best house, at least my after everyone gets to play with the set. SA offers so many lines of play, and can make your deck so efficient, it almost feels better on average than WC, but I’ll need more data

The modal cards are fantastic, and I hope they stick around. Honestly, I wish a bunch of old bad actions could be turned into modal cards - Warsong, Phosphorous Stars, etc. Cards that were discards 70% or more really should have something else they can be used for.

The decks I opened all felt like they had wildly different personalities. This is probably just limited exposure to the card pool, but I could go on at length about how decks from sets can feel similar despite being unique. WC is probably the most guilty set of that.

Of the decks that I played, I only felt one of them was a true dud. Decks that will be good in DT vs DT play seem like they may not be the best in cross set play, but once again, I’ll need to accumulate more data. Ways to raise the tide matter less versus older sets

Wrapping up my scattered thoughts: Dark Tidings seems like a set with that is going to feel like learning the game again. I felt that MM was a step backwards from WC, despite having some cool interactions, but Dark Tidings seems to be pushing the game forward again.