In KeyForge: Call of the Archons each deck you buy is completely unique.
Also, if you’re VERY lucky, it’ll have a funny name.
You are the Archon leading your company. You will use the creatures, technology, artifacts, and skills of a chosen House to reap precious Æmber, hold off your enemy’s forces, and forge enough keys to unlock the Crucible’s Vaults.
KeyForge: Call of the Archons Summary
There are quite a few 1v1 card games available.
The most obvious is Magic the Gathering which has the same designer. MTG is known for being ‘pay to win’ despite the same players winning consistently over people who have also paid to win.
Keyforge is also accused of this as people keep saying you can keep buying decks until you get the best one. I can guarantee if it falls into the wrong hands it will do no good against a better player.
Epic Card Game is also a good option. The cards in boxes and packs are set so there is no collectable aspect at all. The game plays well even if you grab a random deck of cards and start playing.
Finally, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn is a really good game. The art is phenomenal and once more there is no collectable aspect other than buying expansions.
MTG and Ashes, especially MTG, are quite difficult to teach, there are a lot of rules. Epic is on par with Keyforge in my opinion.
Game Play
So the gimmick of the game is the ‘unique deck’ thing. Every single £8ish pack is different. It also contains different artwork with a different deck name on the back of the cards.
As there is no deck building there is no ‘chase rare’, there is no ‘net-decking‘ and there is no pay-to-play.
Even if a card IS more powerful it probably isn’t accompanied by the 29 perfect friends in the random deck. That will devalue its ability greatly.
The combination of houses in a deck is good and helps with strategy. Each house has its strengths and they both do and don’t work together.
Depending what you draw in the game will depend on which House you use and how you’ll be able to use them. So this adds to the replayability.
No need to buy a new deck after playing one a couple of times. The way the cards are drawn and the way the houses come out of the deck will change how you play.
All this and I haven’t even mentioned the game. It’s good and not having to win by taking your opponent to 0 health is a plus.
Jesta ThaRogue