How I feel about the official errata

Somehow, Ghost Galaxy announced their official errata one day after I shared my article. This was purely a coincidence. As I mentioned before, I did not expect an official errata, which is why I spent time testing and developing my own. I had no intention of interfering with Ghost Galaxy in any way, but now that their errata has been released, I would like to share my thoughts on it.

FIRST IMPRESSION

Firstly, I think this is a good sign. Errata in KeyForge is something we should always try to avoid. However, we have reached a point where moving forward without errata is no longer realistic. We have had poorly designed cards before—some of them absurdly overpowered—but PV introduced an entire mechanic along with so many absurd cards that the game no longer feels like KeyForge anymore.

We have already seen players stop playing, or seriously consider not attending events as long as PV is still legal. In the upcoming Store Championships, if you walk around and talk to people, you will hear that PV is effectively banned in many places. That is terrible for the game.

Because of this, Ghost Galaxy deciding to work on an errata is a very positive sign. Previously, they only changed one card, and that was mostly just reverting it to an older design to reduce confusion. They have never truly admitted their mistakes—not only in card design, but in other aspects as well. So this step is important, and I am genuinely glad it happened.

So, let’s dive deep into it!

ASK AGAIN LATER

Ask Again Later now reads “At the start of your opponent’s turn, they must name a house on your identity card. Reveal the top card of your deck. If the revealed card does not match the named house, fulfill Ask Again Later.”

The original card text could lock a player into a House choice before the associated Fate triggered. This created a resolution window that could result in repeated turns of constraining effects. This change allows a player to pivot after a Fate lands, offering them more choice in how to react to damaging circumstances.

Firstly, contrary to many beliefs that this card was errata’d because it is too powerful, this is not a nerf. I think Ghost Galaxy made it clear from the start that these errata are meant as adjustments.

AAL remains as powerful and as random as before. Moving its timing to the start of the turn has its own merits. It can now be used to stop a key, and it can also be used for key cheating (with Prince Bufo). However, it is different in that it is no longer as devastating when a Disrupt effect hits after you call a house. You can now plan your turn after losing half of your hand.

I actually suggested this change before in here. The reason is that it avoids overlapping randomness: you get hit by a random mechanic, then by a random Disrupt effect, and you still cannot change your house call. Very often, this feels like a Time Walk effect.

This errata makes the card less absurd, but the prophecy itself is still extremely powerful. And you still have to do card counting every time a card is placed under AAL.

So there is not much more to say here. In many scenarios, you will probably find it even stronger. But you will be less frustrated when a Disrupt effect hits you. I have playtested this version a few times before during my own experiments, and it is a good change—though barely noticeable in practice.

ATROCITY

Atrocity will now read “Play: At the start of your opponent’s next turn, that player discards the top card of their deck. They must choose the discarded card’s house as their active house this turn.”

This turns Atrocity into a one-time effect akin to Control the Weak. As a random Play effect on a creature it is less effective than the Action version, but does allow for the recursion of the creature (and thereby the Play effect). Due to the diminished power of the effect and its inherent non-repeatable nature, we have eliminated Atrocity’s self-damage effect.

This is by far the biggest change. It completely rewrites the card—arguably in a good way, but also in a very strange one.

At this point, we all already know how absurd Atrocity is. It can win you the game, and it can also do absolutely nothing at the same time. Either way, when you play it, someone is going to be frustrated. It might be you, it might be your opponent. Sometimes it is both, and you start wondering why you are still playing this game.

With this errata, the card is effectively nullified. It is worse than any house-manipulation effect we have seen before, because it is random. And unlike action cards—which go to the discard pile and can be recurred later—Atrocity stays on the board. You now have to find a way to remove it yourself if you want access to its effect again. That feels very strange to me. It goes completely against the usual logic of card design, especially in KeyForge.

This might be the first time we have a creature that benefits from being destroyed without having any inherent “when destroyed” benefit. I suppose the effect is so random that you might not care much, but the design still feels backwards.

I honestly did not consider this change during my own errata playtesting, so I never tested it. In practice, it seems like a much weaker Control the Weak. And while Ghost Galaxy said that this allows for recursion of the creature, that argument is not very convincing—there are roughly as many ways to recur actions as there are to recur creatures.

Still, at least we are finally free from Atrocity. Just in the strangest way I could never have imagined.

COSMIC RECOMPENSE

Cosmic Recompense will now read “Play: Deal 3D to an enemy creature. If it is not destroyed, steal 1Æ. Repeat the preceding effect. Fate: You cannot play cards for the remainder of the turn.”

Complete denial of play, use, and discard was deemed excessive as it not only prevented response by card plays but also hindered decks by blocking any board effects or end-of-turn redraws. Essentially, it took away an entire turn. Restricting card play maintains the potency of the Fate, but enables players to respond using board and Scrap effects. Additionally, any cards that could have been played can now be discarded so a player can sculpt their hand for a better follow-up turn.

Cosmic is another absurd card that effectively Timewalks you, except it happens during your own turn—so it feels different from a simple “play” effect.

If you have played PV, you have almost certainly been hit by Cosmic before, and you know how miserable it feels. Ghost Galaxy seems oddly comfortable with mechanics that punish players by introducing absurb long turn—and now imagine having two consecutive long turns!!

This change makes Cosmic slightly less absurd. Only slightly, though many people will feel that it makes a big difference. You can now discard cards to shape a better hand for next turn, or rely on your board instead.

However, the real problem with Cosmic remains. PV has a lot of recursion, and the prophecy mechanic naturally allows cards to be played out of turn. As a result, repeated Cosmics are quite common. Think of Corner the Market: in Ekwidon, once it is played, you usually cannot get it back, so you are forced to go to another house (unless you have house-enhance). And in many decks, Ekwidon is not even strong enough to call and properly benefit from CtM. CtM was never a serious problem because it was tied to a single house—this only changed slightly when AS introduced house-enhance, and even then it was rare. Cosmic, on the other hand, can hit you no matter which house you call.

I have playtested this version of Cosmic before. It helps a little, but again, the difference is barely noticeable. A well-timed Cosmic still hits brutally, and decks that can repeatedly lock you with Cosmic will continue to do so.

TRADE BLOWS

Should read:

Play: Deal 1 damage to a friendly creature and 1 damage to as enemy creature. If that enemy creature is not destroyed, you may repeat this effect.

Despite being labeled a “clarification” errata, this is not one. It completely changes how the card works, and Trade Blows has effectively become a much stronger board-control tool. I will explain why.

Previously, Trade Blows only allowed you to deal damage to enemy creatures if you controlled at least one friendly creature. Now, that condition no longer exists. In practice, its effect is essentially: “Destroy one enemy creature and set all other enemy creatures to 1 health.” You still have to deal damage to your own creatures, of course—but even if you have none, the card still functions.

This is also strange to me because it was presented as a clarification, when it clearly alters the card’s behavior. It looks more like a mistake than a true clarification. That said, Trade Blows was never a problem card before, and it probably will not be one even after this change.

I simply think this is worth pointing out, especially given how Ghost Galaxy framed the errata.

WHAT THE CHANGE WILL BRING

Now, what will these errata actually change? That is probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind. And my answer is…

Nothing.

Maybe a few decks with Atrocity will become weaker. Sometimes you will feel slightly less frustrated when hit by Disrupt. But overall, it does not change the power scale in any meaningful way.

If you hate PV, you will still hate PV. PV will continue to win events, and many locals will continue to ban PV. If you are avoiding Vault Tours because of PV, I am quite sure you will keep avoiding them.

They have not addressed most of the real problems with PV, including:

• How the prophecy mechanic itself acts as a speed engine for almost every PV deck.

• The continued presence of negative play experiences, especially from overlapping randomness caused by Disrupt effects.

• Single, extremely powerful cards such as Trenk’s Creed.

Except for Atrocity, I have playtested their versions of Cosmic and AAL, and the results are mostly the same as before. But as they said in their article:

After internal discussion, the following cards had their potency adjusted. These changes focused on those cards remaining as valuable assets in the decks in which they appear but reducing the negative play experience of the opponent.

In that sense, they did partially achieve their goal. There is still plenty of negative play experience, but they chose the three most annoying cards and tried to address them.

I understand why errata are difficult for them. Errata are already hard to manage in any paper card game, but they are even harder in KeyForge, since you cannot simply swap individual cards inside a deck. If there are too many errata, it will create confusion at events. I am already seeing people worry about how they are supposed to remember all the errata’d cards during tournaments. So I can understand why they may not want to go any further.

However…

I do not think they fixed these three cards properly. Atrocity, for example, could have been handled differently. I think it would have been easier for players if the effect made the opponent discard the top card immediately, instead of waiting until the start of their next turn. It would change the play pattern slightly, but simpler is almost always better.

Trade Blows also raises questions about whether the change was intentional or simply another mistake. On top of that, there is even a typo. This makes me doubt that these changes were thoroughly playtested at all.

If they are already going out of their way to fix cards, they should do it properly. It would be much worse if they had to fix them a second time. From my perspective, this suggests one of two things:

1. They still do not truly believe errata are necessary, and are only doing this because the community is angry.

2. They do not plan to issue a second round of errata or make any further changes in the future (at least for PV).

CONCLUSION

So, I still think their errata is a good sign—because it shows at least some willingness to change things. However, none of the wording in their article suggests that they truly understand the problem. It feels more like: “These cards work exactly as we intended, but people complain about them, so we will adjust them a bit.” There is no sense of guilt or responsibility.

That said, I do think the change to Atrocity—specifically making it no longer interact with Wounds into Wisdom—deals a significant blow to their design ego. So, in that sense, it is still better than nothing. More importantly, I think this makes it easier for them to continue issuing errata in the future. Maybe not this year, and maybe not for PV, but errata is now officially on the table as a real option.

As for me and my local group, we will continue using our own errata. I made it for a reason, and my goal is to address the root of the problem as much as I can. For official events like Vault Tours, I will keep focusing on the fun side of the experience rather than the competitive side—since everyone already knows those events will once again be dominated by PV.

If you are not familiar with it yet, here is my errata.

And if you haven't heard about Vietnam Vault Tour this year. Then it will be a big Keyforge Tour that lasts a week full of fun!!! Help us by doing this survey.

And now, we wait and see what the future brings.