Tourney Report, with Keeper

Well, I have good news and bad news.

Good news: I won first AND had a lot of fun.

Bad news: My deck and bag of valuable cards were stolen.

So now I'm waiting to see if the cards show up again. If they do, good. If not, I'll have to start over. :-/

Anyway, here's the deck I used:

4 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Academy

1 StP
1 Balance
1 Dismantling Blow

4 Mana Drain
4 FoW
1 Mis-D
1 Teferi's Response
1 Ancestral
1 FoF
1 Stroke
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 M. Tutor
1 M. Scroll
2 Morphling

1 D. Tutor
1 Abyss
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Will
1 Mind Twist

1 Shaman

1 Sylvan
1 Regrowth

1 Fire/Ice

1 Zuran Orb

SB:
4 REB
1 Scrying Glass
1 CoP: Red
2 Powder Keg
2 StP
2 Pyroclasm
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Compost
1 Aura Fracture

Round 1 vs. sligh

Game 1-I mulligan to 6. He gets out a Vandal to eat my Mox, and Wastelands one of my U-land. I lose the game with a grand total of 5 mana sources drawn, 2 which were U-producing (and consequently destroyed).

SB: -Sylvan, Stroke, Timetwister, Misdirection, Wasteland, Edict, FoW
+ CoP: Red, 2 Keg, 2 Pyroclasm, StP, Aura Fracture (Blood Moon)

Game 2-On my 2nd turn, I Mind Twisted him for 3. On my 3rd turn, I layed CoP: Red. Fow a while I drew lots land (including all 4 City of Brass), but it didn't matter because he stalled and couldn't overcome the CoP.

Game 3-He lays several critters and I destroy them. We start topdecking with nothing really interesting happening, but he keeps burning me. Eventually he starts overcoming me with a Cursed Scroll that was forced through via Blast, but I fight back with a topdecked Zuran Orb to complement the Balance in hand. I gain lots of life, he loses Cursed Scroll ability. Later on I topdeck Yawgmoth's Will to recast Balnace, then I lay several eaten Moxen and replay my Wasted Academy to pump out a Morph. The game ends shortly thereafter.

Round 2 vs. mono-B Nether Void (he's using my exact version of the deck but without power, and coincidently he's using my cards I loaned him).

Game 1-He Hymns me and I Mind Twist him, but luckily I got out some quick mana before he got to my hand. It didn't really matter, because he started destroying my land. I was sitting on Morph in my hand for a bit, and I lay it all out when I draw Academy (I think I had 2 Moxen). He can't deal with it, so I STEAL GAME 1 FROM MY WORST MATCH! WOOHOO!.

SB: -Zorb, Fire/Ice, Sylvan, Shaman, Stroke, D.Blow,
+Compost, Ensnaring Bridge, 2 StP, Aura Fracture, Pyroclasm

Game 2-He gets a first turn Sol Ring+Swamp+Black Lotus+Nether Void, and I am without Force. He starts casting nasty spells a couple turns later while I sit there like a duck and never actually get enough mana to cast anything.

Game 3-I Mind Twist him for 4 first turn (Mind Twist owns aggro). He is mana-screwed, and I get LoA active. Morph shows up later with him unable to do much of anything.

Round 3 vs. Stacker2 (I was the previous owner of those Workshops).

Game 1-He lays out lots of junk, but I pull out random things to amaze myself and simultaneously kill his dudes. I eventually gain a pseudo-form of control (pseudo meaning I have Morphling on the table and counters in hand), but he has Winter Orb on the table. He overwhelms my mana with threats, and resolves Wheel (had Mis-D in hand) with me at low life. I was saddened because I just drew Shaman the turn before but had no mana to cast him, and now I lost him AND the Balance I was saving. I smile however, as my new hand consists of insane artifact mana and Yawgmoth's Will. He unloads his hand like he should, and I am forced to sac all but one land to Zorb in an effort to stay alive. Before I sacced them however, I tapped them and actually killed off my own Morphling. I untap, lay more acceleration than he did and play Will. He says I won't win, but I prove otherwise after Balancing from the grave, then replaying Academy (hardcore game-winner) and then Morph. He has no lands, no critters, and no untapped artifact mana curtosy of my Shaman. Morph takes it to him, and once again game 1 is MINE.

SB: -Sylvan, -Timetwister, -Abyss, -Stroke, -Mis-D
+Ensnaring Bridge, 2 StP, 2 Keg (mistake, which I blame on my inexperience playing against tubbies)

Game 2-In the first 4 turns I dealt with 3 Winter Orbs. Then he proceeds to draw 3 Welders soon thereafter, but thankfully those are easier to kill than artifacts. It doesn't really matter however, as his 3rd one stays in play, revives a bunch of angry artifact men, and kills my Ensnaring Bridge by switching it with a Powder Keg in the grave. I only had 1 card in hand too. :-/

SB: -2 Keg
+2 Pyroclasm

Game 3-I kill a couple Welders early on, but he doesn't have much pure fatness to threaten me. That changes when he resolves Wheel with 2 REB for back-up. Luckily I draw into too much removal, and don't have enough targets for it all. Soon after I get Shaman and proceed to eat everything. Morphling cleans up what Shaman started.

Round 4 vs. Keeper

Game 1-I get heavily mana-screwed by my own deck, and my opponent's Wastelands (once tutored for, I believe) just nail the coffin shut.

SB: -Zorb, Fire/Ice, Abyss, StP, M.Tutor
+4 REB, Scrying Glass

Game 2-I get hardcore owned by Sylvan. Everything I do has an answer, and I'm simply overwhelmed by too many things to deal with.

Despite losing the last round, I still make it to top 4 in 2nd place.

Round 5 (top4 semifinals) vs. turboland

Game 1-I get my Ancestral Duressed, and Fastbond makes it's way out onto the board with no Force in hand. I draw a Mana Drain next turn, and find a good target for it in my my opponent's Horn of Greed. Things line up perfectly as I M.Tutor for D.Blow and sink the mana into killing his Fastbond (with kicker for style). He is unable to get any kind of combo parts out despite lots of Gushing, and Morphling eventually finishes him off.

SB: -Zorb, Fire/Ice, Shaman, Edict, Abyss, StP
+4 REB, 1 Scrying, 1 Aura Fracture

Game 2-We both take out times, but not until after Aura Fracture slips into play. We both abuse the Horn of Greed, but he can't abuse it as much as he should. He never gets any kind of combo started as I nuke Exploration, Trade Routes, and still have plenty of land left over for the Fastbond in his hand. That never hits play thoug because Morph beats it to the punch.

Round 6 (finals) vs. Keeper (same one from round 4)

Game 1-I believe it's my turn to pump up the mana-screw in the mirror. I get multiple Wastelands in the first several turns, and I get LoA for kicks. Teferi's Response not only protected LoA, but made it active ( ). I play Morph and meet little resistance.

SB: -Zorb, Fire/Ice, Abyss, StP, M.Tutor
+4 REB, Scrying Glass

Game 2-This game would've been a really good one assuming that I had some counterspells. I got tons of utility but nothing substantial and game-defining. I did get a REB and Mis-D later on, but that was only after Morphling was staring me down.

Game 3-I attempt a first turn Sylvan, but that gets Forced. I'm still enthusiastic however as I resolve my 2nd plan of attack: Scrying Glass. My opponent responds with LoA, but we have a slugging match with Mind Twists (I Twist for all but 1 card, and I miss picking the opposing Mind Twist). I end up pulling ahead afterwards though, and turn into monster-Keeper when I drop 2 Morphs and Time Walk. Next turn I tutored for Regrowth, then recast Time Walk. I win before my opponent can clear the Morphs with Balance, but I had counters to stop that anyway.

So all in all, the tourney itself was fun and I was very happy with the way the deck worked.

MVP's: Mind Twist, Academy
Not up to snuff: Fire/Ice, Mis-D

Any suggestions on the deck itself are welcome, just make them civil and well thought.