Rumors of mysterious, darkly-colored Æmber have started to spread across the Crucible, with whispers of things changing in unexplainable ways. Are these two things linked, or are they just examples of the unpredictable nature of the world we live in? Maybe we will find out at the KeyForge World Championship.

From May 7–9 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, players who have earned their team an invite will gather from around the globe to compete for the coveted title of KeyForge World Champion. And, as this is the Crucible we are talking about, this event will be a little different from any other World Championship that FFG has hosted. In fact, we will be crowning four players with the title of KeyForge World Champion.

“But… but … how can there be four World Champions in one year?”

Well, that’s part of what makes this World Championship so special.

On day one, players will be competing as a team of three against other teams of three. The Top 32 teams after the swiss rounds will qualify for Day 2 where the elimination rounds begin until we have one team remaining. Those three players will be crowned World Champions of the Crucible!

“But you said there would be four World Champions this year!”

Correct! After the swiss rounds have concluded and we know which 32 teams have qualified to Day 2, we will look at the individual performance of players whose teams did not make it to Day 2. The Top 32 individual players will compete in elimination rounds on Day 2 until we crown our fourth World Champion of 2020. Only in the crazy ever-evolving world of the Crucible can the title of World Champion be bestowed upon more than one person.

“So, it is a team event. What does that mean for invites?”

Each player with an invite is able to bring two more players with them, whether they have an invite or not. Only one member of the team needs to have in invite.

“How do you earn an invite to the KeyForge World Championship?”

You earn an invite for finishing in the Top 100 players on the Vault Tour leaderboard. On February 12, we took the Top 106 (there were ties) from the Vault Tour leaderboard and took note of their username. Those players have now been awarded an invite for the World Championship and will be able to claim that invite here. What's more, any player who manages to break into the Top 100 on the leaderboard between February 12 and the World Championship will also earn an invite. The leaderboard will then reset for the next season after the World Championship.

Invites can also be won at KeyForge Prime Championships and Grand Championships, where the winner and Top 4 respectively are awarded an Invite. If you have earned an invite, you can claim your seat now using this link! The deadline for claiming earned seats is April 17, 2020.

“What if I really, really, want to go to the World Championship, but neither I nor my teammates have an invite?”

All are welcome to the KeyForge World Championship as long as we have space. On Thursday, there will be a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) team event where teams of three can compete to earn a place in the main event, which starts on Friday. We will hold back a set number of seats in the main event for the top teams in the LCQ, but we will also fill the main event with more players from the LCQ once we know how many invites have been claimed. Each invite that is not claimed is another seat handed out in the LCQ.

You can purchase tickets for the LCQ here! LCQ ticket sales will close on April 24, 2020.

“Wow, that's really cool! But what if I travel all that way and I don't earn an invite at the LCQ? What do I do then?”

We have got you covered! There will be side events running throughout Friday and Saturday that you will be able to compete in. You will also have access to the Prize Wall that all the other competitors have access to. There will also be some limited-number and exclusive items that will only be available here, at the World Championship! Some new items debuting at the World Championship will appear at future locations around the world, but not all of them.

"What's the format of the KeyForge World Championship?"

The overall format is Team Archon. However, each player on your team will be playing a separate variant. One player will play Triad, the next player will play Adaptive, and the third player will be playing Solo Best of 3.

For more information on the main events and side events you can look forward to on each day, check out the infographics below!

Join Us in May

We can't wait to see you all at the KeyForge World Championship and for those who unfortunately cannot attend, we will be streaming on FFG Live over the three days of the events, so please join us there to watch all of the excitement unfold!