For completeness sake, I'll post this tournament report. I finished 3-1; I didnt bother to check what place that was, but it couldnt have been too bad.
I'm going to be very short in describing the games, you'll see why once you see the matchups. [note: OK, it looks like I wasnt very short. And did I mention I am playing German Tubbies again?]
Round 1: Nathan; a little kid playing in his first sanctioned tournament ever. Not much to say here; hopefully he had some fun. I spend about half the time just chatting with him about what "T1 tournament" means.
Rounds 2: Round 2 was a RG speed deck tilted a bit towards the fat side. I saw Bolts, Boas, Rancor, Kird Ape and Call of the Herd and Juggy.
My first hand is very creature heavy and includes the Workshop. I start dropping Juggernauts and he starts Bolting them. My last creature is the Masticore; which is a nightmare for RG decks. I am Masticore locked, but a 4/4 that Regens and can do 3 points of damage a turn is just too much.
Sideboard time. I hadnt seen any fast RG in the last two weeks, so I took the Kegs out of my sideboard for Disks (and made a MonoB as my backup deck, using these Kegs.) This week, there were two Slighs and this RG. I end up looking at my side full of ReBs, Emerald Charms and Blood Moons and decide I have absolutely nothing for this matchup. He actually sides in about 6 cards; all of which turn out to be things like Shattering Pulse. Eeek!
In the second game I get an early Survival going which means I am able to do Triskellion->Anger->Welder tricks and throw a Trike into play before he can Bolt the Welder. I next fetch Masticore with Survival. He makes me nervous by repeatedly asking my life once I get down to about 12; can he have Bolt-Bolt-Fireblast-Fireblast? Not with only two Mountains in play.
Round 3: Eddie, Dragon. Eddie is a long time Keeper player, but I sit next to him in Round 2 and discover he is running Dragon. Eeek! Fortunately, he loses Round 2 to Keeper (as he should) and I thank the Keeper player for sending my worst matchup into the 1-1 bracket.
Unfortunately, I get paired down. Oh, how I would have preferred a shot at the Keeper player.
The first game is short and not really influenced by me. Ritual+Buried Alive. Animate Dead. Win.
Sideboard time. I also took my Tormods Crypts out of the sideboard since I hadnt seen any Dragon in the last two weeks. I side in 2 Disks, 2 Emerald Charms and 1 more Lyrist. I side in 1 ReB which is a mistake since this version doesnt play Whispers.
In the second game, I get a Disk down and have a Welder and a Juggy. He brings his Keg up to 4, Ghitu Fires my Welder and goes off. The Disk isnt really optimal here since it comes into play tapped; but it did stall him for a couple turns.
Ultimately, because of his quick disruption (Duress, Unmask) I'm not sure what to do to even the matchup. Probably lots of Tormods Crypts. Certainly Emerald Charm is a problem, because it just gets Durressed/Unmasked. Crypt cannot stand against 4xKeg either. Lotus, Ivory Mask?
Rushing River!
Root Maze might be better than Charm since it cant be Kegged. Its also possible to reconfigure the deck by changing the Land Grants back for Cities to try and widen the sideboard options. Maybe Jesters Cap? I have many thoughts about this; none have coalesced into a definite plan yet.
The keys to beating this deck are either disruption (MonoB) or a good chunk of counterspells (Keeper). Eddie did not seem worried about the MonoU matchup, but I am not quite sure why; though I am sure he has played more Dragon recently than I have.
Round 4: Ricky, playing Highlander. By losing to Dragon, I am at 2-1. There are plenty of good decks in the 2-1 bracket, but I get paired against Ricky who is 2-1 on the strength of pairings and playskill and, sadly, not his deck. I roll him quickly; the high point being him Control Magic'ing my Masticore with Hanna the Enchantment Returning Legend on the board. This is not enough, as an Anger-ed Trike and Lyrist take care of both of these problems when my turn rolls around again. Tubbies sure can look flashy when its firing on all cylinders.
So there we are. The Keeper deck wins the tournament; I believe he ran a relatively tough field to do it - I know his first two matchups were Keeper and Dragon.
