Tournament this weekend. Need help with keeper build.

[Eddie]

After not participating in any T1 tournament for 6 years, I though now might be a good time to start again. I've been playing casually that time. I've been playtesting my keeper build, and it feels like something is missing.  I play alot in heavy aggro metagames and use 2 morphling as kill and the abyss instead of humility. But the tournament environment will be a lot more competitive (I'm the only player that has some power over here).

Here is the decklist I plan on using (or something very close):

[Mana] (26)
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring

 (19)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Brainstorm
2 Cunning Wish
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Stifle

 (8 !!)
1 Balance
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Decree of Justice
1 Humility
1 Dismantling Blow

 (4)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth's Wil
1 Skeletal Scrying

 (2)
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Fire/Ice

[Brown] (1)
1 Isochron Scepter

[Sideboard] (15 duh))
1 Swords to plowshares
1 Fire/Ice
1 Blue elemental blast
3 Red elemental blast
2 Coffin Purge
1 Disenchant
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rack and Ruin
2 Damping Matrix
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 COP: Red

I don't own a Jet, so can't include that. It feels I need more drawing power. Do I include a skeletal in the side? Add a Tundra and remove an underground or volcanic due to the number of white (although I didn't have mana problems). Drop a swords and but the sided Fire/Ice main (nice with humility!). I've been playtesting all these things and none seem to give me the power the morphling/abyss build did. Maybe I'm testing against the wrong decks all the time.

This weekend will be a good lesson for me I hope. Maybe I should just go with this deck and see what happens instead of tweaking and testing hours against myself...

[jazzykat]

Well what are you most afraid of, you mentioned non-powered but I know a few "non-powered" decks like mud with shops, dargon with just bazaars, and Big O with bazaars that may cause you serious head aches. More about your meta and then maybe we can help you better. Humility + decree is a hillarious way to go 1 for 1 with their real creatures and your dorks.

[Green Knight]

I don't like to Dismantling Blow MD at all. I would cut that in a heart beat for a Skeletal Scrying. You have the disenchant SB and wish's MD to get it, no need for that much artifact removal MD IMHO. Then again I don't know your Meta, but still SS > DB.

Edit:

Do you really find the Matrix to be good in your SB? You are running Humilty MD and that basically does the same thing. I would advocate cutting these for another Humilty if you really want this effect (it's just as good vs. a Tog or Dragon) and maybe a Rack and Ruin (assuming you are going to face a lot of artifacts as the MD D. Blow suggests).

[Jönsson]

Having a Dismantling Blow in the maindeck isn't a bad alternative at all if you expect Workshop Prison to show up in major numbers. I've found it to be a nice tutor target, since you don't always have the time to wish for a R&R or Disenchant or the like locked under a sphere or a smokestack. Though I've long since swapped it for another Cunning Wish, it's really comes down to wheter you like it or not. Anyone's Keeper is a personal build and adapted to suit one's metagame, not a be-all, set-in-stone type of deck.

You mentioned you feel your deck lacks some drawing power, and from the looks of it, I can only agree. Though having Fire/Ice or Brainstorm imprinted on a scepter is a blast to play with, it's inconsistency would probably warrant a second look before it deserves an inclusion. Since I swapped my 'chronics for a pair of Scryings, I've never missed them.  

[Eddie]

I expect at least some workshop decks. They are quite popular at the moment. Dismantling for scrying is on my list though. Seams all of you agree on a second scrying MD. And decreasing the number of white cards MD is not a bad idea.

Humility is more difficult to cast than damping matrix. And damping shuts down some artifacts as well (mindslaver, karn). Maybe I should drop the humility. Going back to the abyss at worst (decreasing the number of white). I think I'll have a quick look at the playing field before handing in my decklist.

[slicer]

If you stay with Humility (which I would suggest) than drop an Undergound See for Tundra and a Volcanic Island for City of Brass.

[Phele]

I really like your decklist, especially because my build in the moment is more less the same. I play in Dülmen and the metagames isn't just aggro heavy in the moment, there is even a lot of creature based combo (dragon, madness dragon (!), food chain) which got all totally shut down by Humility. Nice side effect: It helps against sui, madness, stompy .. either. This is what I'm running (just exchange the jet for a land if you don't have him):

Black Lotus
Mox Sapphire
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby

1 Mind Twist
1 Yagmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Skeletal Scrying

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical
1 Fire/Ice
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Stifle
2 Cunning Wish
4 Brainstorm
4 FoW
4 Mana Drain

1 Humility
1 Balance
2 StP
3 Decree of Justice

1 Gorilla Shaman

4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic
1 City of Brass
1 Island
1 LoA
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:

2 REB
2 Coffin Purge
2 Damping Matrix
1 Disenchant
1 StP
1 Exalted Angel
1 Cop: Red
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Fire/Ice
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Vampiric Tutor

About the single Choices:

Humility is as stated a great goodie in my meta and should seriously thought about in general as a more flexible, and quicker substitute for The Abyss.

2 Skeletal Scrying give you the drawing you need. But I'm thinking about exchanging one for some less life instensive drawing. Sometimes, especially with City of Brass main, I hurt myself too much. I think about putting one scrying side ane one Future Sight or Stroke of Genius main.


3 Wastelands are in because I like a stable manabase with 17 blue sources. Before putting one colored source out I would add the fourth Wasteland as the 61th card.

The 1 Fire/Ice + 2 StP combination is something I'm still thinking about. StP gives you a better shot against Negators, Dreadnoughts, Togs.. on it's own. Fire/Ice is more flexible, can be great card advantage against weenies and kills everything under Humility. Some advice on this case would be really nice.

2 Damping Matrix belong in the sideboard, in my eyes, not an additional Humility. They are more flexible and can support Humility as well as shutting down scepters, Null Brooch, Mind Slaver....Nothing to add main, just my opinion, but a great sideboard choice.

1 Exalted in the sideboard is something surprising especially in the mirror. It fits with so many white manasources (11) and does some good against Sui and Goblins either.

Scepters will be always on top of discussion. When I played them they were great as often as they just sucked. It's a really great controling melement, not just a one spell shot, but leaves you more vulnerable. In the moment I'm fine without them.

3 Decree is the way to go. Without scepters you can't fire opponent to death so you would risk much by just using a pair. They are great against any control either and fit perfectly in the Humility concept.

[Toad]

I stopped reading your decklist when I saw "3" in front of "Brainstorm".

[Phele]

Well,
there are so many threads about removing Mystical, Time Walk...and even maindecking again Timetwister. Just take this as another sin

Seriously, as mentioned: I didn't like cutting one Brainstorm but I was looking for space for the Disenchant.

[Toad]

Brainstorm > whatever else.
If you want to fit in a Disenchant, then Brainstorm should be the last unrestricted card you cut.

The MD Disenchant is really unneeded though.

[KboT]

Skeletal Scrying are good for draw. I'd take out a Swords and add in a Chainer's Edict (Just in case of any Morphlings..).

[Eddie]

I stopped reading your decklist when I saw "3" in front of "Brainstorm".

So I guess you strongly recommend adding a 4th   . Brainstorm is a nice fixer. I just hate brainstorming in 2 other brainstorms... Saying this will probably move this thread in the newbie forum.

I'd take out a Swords and add in a Chainer's Edict (Just in case of any Morphlings..).

I will not add a chainer's main. I don't see morphling anywhere anymore. And you'll need counter backup anyway (meaning I'd rather force something else through than chainer's). If morphling does hit the table (and is not turned 1/1 with humility already there or I have damping in play, in which case the other would be *mad* to drop a morphling) I'll lose no matter what. Swords is so much better in spot removal in my opinion.

[ELD]

I've been running a combo keeper for the last month or so.  I find that running 2 main deck Fire/Ice and no Swords to Plowshares has been excellent.  It elimintates the usual problem of dead cards in the control mirror.  Icing mana sources can create havoc in the early game as well.  Also, there are not that many real problem creatures that Fire can't remove.  Negator, Juggernaut, Arrogant Wurm, Wild Mongrel and Dreadnaught are the only two that come to mind.  (You're not going to be removing a good tog players tog with swords anyways)  Against some decks(goblins, sligh, mud) it's removal ablity is just stronger.  Also, against most aggro strategies, you're going to want to drop humility anyways, and Fire/ice is amazing there as well.  

There are some key differences when not going combo though.  Combo means tapping a dreadnaught or tog could buy me enough time to win.

[Necrologia]

Negator, Juggernaut, Arrogant Wurm, Wild Mongrel and Dreadnaught are the only two that come to mind.

I count 5 things in that list. Even then it's missing some other pretty important critters, like Worldgorger, Karn, and Sui-Chi. Unless you're in a really scrubby meta, I can't imagine running Keeper without at least a single StP maindeck.

[Phele]

I agree. I'm fine with two StP and one Fire/Ice in the moment. I also updated the list. Now a fourth Brainstorm is in, even I still think it's something that could be cut when you really need space. I also added the fourth wasteland so it's now a 61 card build, don't kill me for that That's the way I would try the build Eddie.

[Matt]

The original post's deck is pretty kosher (given the lack of Jet). The only standout things of note are:

--3 Brainstorm, which has already been touched on.

--Dismantling Blow, which is a worse choice than almost any other "disenchant effect" (Seal of Cleansing, a third Wish, and old man Disenchant himself). Scrying is also a defendable choice for that slot, but Brainstorm #4 is your first priority. I might definitely run the Disenchant main, because the decks against which you most want a MD Disenchant are the decks where every mana counts.

--With so much white you'd REALLY rather have the fourth Tundra than the fourth Sea. This remains true even assuming the Blow turns into a Scrying.

[ELD]

Negator, Juggernaut, Arrogant Wurm, Wild Mongrel and Dreadnaught are the only two that come to mind.

Yes, I should have edited that.  I went back and added in the Juggernaut and madness creatures after I though a little more.  Please disregard the Bushism.

I think it best to look at each archtype and see how much better Fire/Ice is than Swords.  Here's my take on it

Better to see swords
Madness
Suicide
Spoils Mask

Better to see Fire/Ice
Sligh
Ninja Mask/FEB
Goblins
Any aggro setting up with birds or elves
Any control deck
Almost all combo decks

Either one will do
Dragon (the tempo boost and it can kill swarm)
Welder Decks (It can't kill the fat, but it kills Welders/Metal Worker)

Another note, I just can't see not running Aura Fracture in any keeper sideboard.  It is a permenant solution to blood moon, back to basics and any bombs like Future Sight or Compulsion.  Also, if you're worried about dragon, this card is game over.

[Matt]

Either one will do
Dragon

Wait, how is Plow not a LOT better against Dragon than Fire? You know, seeing as how it keeps them from going off AND kills Swarms, as opposed to just killing Swarms.

[Eddie]

I'll have to agree with you Matt. Testing showed that a Tundra for the underground is great. The second scrying is great. I'm drawing 4 to 7 cards from it middle / late game while it's easily cycled in the first turns. I've also been trying a 5th fetch land. I always seem to be topdecking land, which is very frustrating. It is dangerous of course, with all the stifles around nowdays.

Speaking of stifle, I liked them the first time I tried them, but I don't lately. Maybe I should cut them. They are great against fetchlands and wastelands. But that's about it. Sure, you can use them occasionally for other purposes. But I think it's honest to say that you only use them on fetch and waste 90% of the time. And they stink against budget.

I've also been thinking of lim-dul's vault. But adding the 4th brainstorm should be better.

I've been thinking about dismantling. Problem with this card is indeed the extra mana cost (although wishing for disenchant is an equal problem). But destroying something weak and paying kicker midgame is not that strong. I'd much rather have a skeletal in hand instead of the dismantling.

2 Stp 1 fire/ice build is great, even with main deck humility. You need a quick answer against TNT, vengeur, dragon. Fire/ice only stalls the inevitable against these decks, and that stalling is often not enough.

Tonight I'll do some more playtesting. I'll post how I did at the tournament Sunday evening if anyone is interested.

[Phele]

I'm really interested in the results.

Cutting Stifles is something I really would think about. They don't only serve as LD and protection of you own lands but also helps a lot against other bombs like Mind Slaver, Pernicious Deed, Decree of Jusitce... They just give your deck the often needed flexibility. When you cut them I would reccomend an additional Fire/Ice and one Disenchant in their slots. So your Deck would be really focused on aggro, but this is a difficult matchup for you anyway.

Good Luck on the tourney!

[Matt]

I could DEFINITELY see Lim-Dul's Vault being in here, with all your bombs - Twist, Humility, Balance, Will, Shaman, Scepter. While the obvious comparison to draw is Vampiric Tutor, LDV might make a better maindeck card because it's blue (solving the biggest complaint against Vamp), and often the card you're looking for is in the top ten cards anyway, so it takes less life, which may be important with two Scryings plus fetchlands maindeck.

[Zherbus]

Actually, the biggest complaint about running Vampiric Tutor maindeck is that it makes too many card-disadvantage tutors for the deck. The issue with Lim-Dul's Vault maindeck is that it doesn't change that aspect and is still inferior to Mystical Tutor.

[Rico Suave]

I think it best to look at each archtype and see how much better Fire/Ice is than Swords.  Here's my take on it

Better to see swords
Madness
Suicide
Spoils Mask

Better to see Fire/Ice
Sligh
Ninja Mask/FEB
Goblins
Any aggro setting up with birds or elves
Any control deck
Almost all combo decks

Either one will do
Dragon (the tempo boost and it can kill swarm)
Welder Decks (It can't kill the fat, but it kills Welders/Metal Worker)

StP is a lot better against Survival Mask, since it hits Dreadnoughts and Shapeshifters that Fire/Ice doesn't touch.

StP is a lot better against Dragon.

StP is a lot better against TnT, or any artifact deck with fat creatures.  

And ultimately, StP is better than Fire/Ice because Fire/Ice is twice as much mana.  

The only reason I see to play Fire/Ice is if you want your deck to be almost overreliant on Isochron Scepter.

[Matt]

The issue with Lim-Dul's Vault maindeck is that it doesn't change that aspect and is still inferior to Mystical Tutor.

That may be so but it's not fair to compare it to a restricted card you're already running. It's like saying Scrying isn't as good as Ancestral - it doesn't help because the two aren't in contention.

Your point about too much card-disadvantage is sound, though.

[Eddie]

This is the tournament report and analysis. The tournament was for a Time Walk. Organised by Outpost in Antwerp (Belgium).

First, here is the decklist I used:

[Mana] (26)
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
3 Underground Sea
4 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring

 (19)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Brainstorm
2 Cunning Wish
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Stifle

 (7)
1 Balance
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Decree of Justice
1 Humility

 (5)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth's Wil
2 Skeletal Scrying

 (2)
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Fire/Ice

[Brown] (1)
1 Isochron Scepter

[Sideboard] (15 duh)
1 Swords to plowshares
1 Fire/Ice
1 Blue elemental blast
3 Red elemental blast
2 Coffin Purge
1 Disenchant
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rack and Ruin
2 Damping Matrix
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 COP: Red

Yes, that's right. Still no 4th brainstorm maindeck. I had to chose between brainstorm and skeletal and selected the latter.

I'll go very fast over the reports. Not much detail cause I didn't write much down.


Round1: Hero 't Mannetje - Control Slaver
First match is a big test to start with. Hero is a well known T1 player from the Netherlands. First time I played him, and a very friendly guy.

He owns me game 1 with welder / mindslaver tricks (he mulliganed 2 times!). I have no answer due to the lack of counters to begin with. And countering your own time walk is not funny   . I should have mulliganed, but didn't. Don't know if it would have made a difference cause his deck is running like a well-oiled euhm mindslaver.

2nd game is a lot better. I swordsed the platinum angel, and dropped a damping matrix. He wished artifact destruction and got rid of it. When I dropped the second one, he scooped. Apparently, he didn't have any answers left for the matrix.

3rd game: Hero mulligans 2 times again! Starts playing and get's total manascrew. One land drop in 5 turns! I kind of feel sorry for destroying that land, and wishing for disenchant to destroy his only mox at turn 7. 3 soldier tokens finish the job (slow and painfully).

1 - 0  - 0 / 2 - 1 - 0

Round 2: Hans Smit with Gro - A - Toch

Not much to tell here. He wins first game with a dryad. Second game I draw nothing but land and his psychatog is bigger than my collection of tundras. Hans wasn't paying much attention throughout all games though, and I helped him a little with duress targets. (Well, he was looking at my 2 land and force of will hand wondering what to choose).

1 - 1 - 0 / 2 - 3 - 0

Round 3: Some nice guy playing goblins
My deck is really running great first game. Cycling decree against attacking goblins is great! And fire/ice on scepter worked like a charm.

Second game is a lot worse. I managed to get COP: Red very fast, but his goblins where all over the place. I think I overdid it this game, and played to aggressive (see "who’s the beatdown"). Too little tournament experience I guess. I cast balance way to early. And with 10 goblins on the other side, I was 1 mana short of: wish for vampiric, tutor for yawgmoth's will, ice tap for will, cast will and balance. I used my wasteland 2 turns before when it didn't harm him that much. This is my only play error I can think of. Time was called with me at 3 life. So he wins this and we draw.

1 - 1 - 1 / 3 - 4 - 1

Round 4: some kid playing affinity - arcbound T2 with workshops
I saw this guy playing next to me, when I was up against the gro - a - tog deck, and he was giving a tog player a very hard time. This deck was really good, unlike some of you might think.

First game I play a first turn humility. Fire/Ice and soldier tokens (7) later we proceed to game 2.
This game saw him casting 2 frogmites and Myr Enforcer turn 2. Not bad. He smacks my but. Game 3 has me casting a second turn scepter / disenchant. He has no place to hide.

2 - 1 - 1 / 5 - 5 - 1

That's it. 10th place out of 30 or so people. Not bad for my first tournament in years, but not that good too. I should have kicked some goblins guy ass but didn't. And didn't do a thing against gro. The biggest problem was my lack of experience / playing skill. But this should go up .

Analysis
Main deck humility is not needed. It is too hard to cast against some decks, while totally irrelevant against others. It does kick but sometimes, against the right deck. So I think humility belongs in the side, not main. It was a good idea to try out, but it doesn't work. Cutting the humility for a brainstorm would be great. Yes brainstorm. 4 is indeed the best number. For some reasons the brainstorms didn't seem optimal in my testing, but they worked out tremendous in the tournament. Cutting humility also allows me to cut a tundra and put an underground back. I had some problems finding black mana sometimes, so this should solve the problem partially. I should really get myself a Jet.

The damping matrix in the side where also not tremendous. They worked out great against some decks, but I didn't need them most of the time. Might be worthwhile to check them further. I'll give it some though if I remove them from the side or not.

Everything else in the deck seems good. Even scepter managed to show up when needed, and stay away when not. I think scepter is great, but not if you use 3 or more of them, that’s way to much. For me, 1 is ideal. It allows me to have a flexible bomb.

Deck changes:
+1 underground sea
+1 brainstorm
-1 tundra
-1 humility
SB:
-2 damping matrix ?
+1 humility
+1 rack and ruin

Props:
- The players. Everyone I played against was great. I did play a few sealed tournaments last month and you really can't compare the two. It was far more relaxed. Some great plays and everyone knew the rules. At sealed I had to explain a guy playing in top 8 that you cannot equip when damping matrix is in play. These things just don't happen in T1 I think. At least not today.
Slops:
- Some guy proposing deck changes to me (namely AK draw engine which is not that bad, but then he was talking about some other crap I can’t remember (well, because it was crap, anyway)). I love to hear all proposals, but please refrain if you know nothing about the deck. 1 fire/ice main and one in the side is great if you play humility main (the guy even wondered why I had one). Losing 4 times and killing yourself with your own pernicious deed destroying your 4 moxen when the other has 3 Disciple of the Vault s not smart (against the same guy I played Round 4). So please, don't suggest stupid things.

[Zherbus]

Nice report Eddie (you should really apply to me for full membership).

If you want suggestions, I'll go through your losses first since that's how I evaluate my deck.

Not much to tell here. He wins first game with a dryad. Second game I draw nothing but land and his psychatog is bigger than my collection of tundras. Hans wasn't paying much attention throughout all games though, and I helped him a little with duress targets. (Well, he was looking at my 2 land and force of will hand wondering what to choose).

Firstly, drawing nothing but land is really not something you can do alot about. My experience with GAT is that mana denial goes further here than in any other match since they can't protect their lands with Gush anymore. Do you mind elaborating on game one?

Second game is a lot worse. I managed to get COP: Red very fast, but his goblins where all over the place. I think I overdid it this game, and played to aggressive (see "who’s the beatdown"). Too little tournament experience I guess. I cast balance way to early. And with 10 goblins on the other side, I was 1 mana short of: wish for vampiric, tutor for yawgmoth's will, ice tap for will, cast will and balance. I used my wasteland 2 turns before when it didn't harm him that much. This is my only play error I can think of. Time was called with me at 3 life. So he wins this and we draw.

I think you analyzed yourself perfectly. Timing is huge with Balance and using Wastelands is near pointless except in the rarest off occasions.

2 - 1 - 1 / 5 - 5 - 1

That's it. 10th place out of 30 or so people. Not bad for my first tournament in years, but not that good too. I should have kicked some goblins guy ass but didn't. And didn't do a thing against gro. The biggest problem was my lack of experience / playing skill. But this should go up .

You Europeans and your crazy lack of top 8's. And only 4 rounds too. Had it been a 5 round swiss, and you got the win, it would likely have been able to sneak into the T8 (those with better records would have had more cancel each other out, while Keeper playing someone else with a similiar record is very doable). First times with Keeper are always rough. Even with a new build, I have to extensively play against every archtype I can get a hold of. In doing so, I always put my wins on the back burner and really examine my losses since more often than not, you can figure out how you could have played it differently.

Main deck humility is not needed. It is too hard to cast against some decks, while totally irrelevant against others. It does kick but sometimes, against the right deck. So I think humility belongs in the side, not main. It was a good idea to try out, but it doesn't work. Cutting the humility for a brainstorm would be great. Yes brainstorm.  


I had some problems finding black mana sometimes, so this should solve the problem partially. I should really get myself a Jet.

Humility is cute... that's about it. I'm sorry you learned the hard way, but at least others will see your report and learn through your err.

Also, 4 Brainstorms go a long way with mana flood/screw. I wouldn't ever imagine playing a Keeper (or Tog or GaT) without a list startign with 4 Brainstorm.

I would have played with another Sea or City if I didn't have a Jet, also.

The damping matrix in the side where also not tremendous. They worked out great against some decks, but I didn't need them most of the time. Might be worthwhile to check them further. I'll give it some though if I remove them from the side or not.

Against GaT and Tog, Matrix isn't all that. It's a monster against Slaver (as you saw), Stax, Mask (Devos was there), and decks packing Scepter (which we seemingly have more here, than over seas). I'd still advocate you using it in the board.

...Some guy proposing deck changes to me (namely AK draw engine which is not that bad, but then he was talking about some other crap I can’t remember (well, because it was crap, anyway)). I love to hear all proposals, but please refrain if you know nothing about the deck. 1 fire/ice main and one in the side is great if you play humility main (the guy even wondered why I had one). Losing 4 times and killing yourself with your own pernicious deed destroying your 4 moxen when the other has 3 Disciple of the Vault s not smart (against the same guy I played Round 4). So please, don't suggest stupid things.

Well, I'd like to think I know something about Keeper...

4 AK is a no-no. That was probably Rudy telling you. Seriously, if you want that draw engine you need to play something with Tog and Intuition in it. The reason why it is poor in Keeper is because you need to afford 4 slots to it, and Keeper cannot afford the slots. Even if you tried, you'd have to cut FoF (which is better in Keeper than anything else due to the answers you need to dig for) and the 2 Scryings (which have a similiar early game advantage to AK and a better mid-late game advantage), to fit it.

I hope this was helpful.

[Eddie]

Nice report Eddie (you should really apply to me for full membership).

Lol. Well there is no need for me to go posting in the T1 forum (yet). I need to get some more experience first. I don't post anything unless I have something worthwhile to say, so I wouldn't post a lot...

Firstly, drawing nothing but land is really not something you can do alot about. My experience with GAT is that mana denial goes further here than in any other match since they can't protect their lands with Gush anymore. Do you mind elaborating on game one?

Well, sad thing is, that game is the hardest to remember   . I think I started with a hand that wasn't optimal. The guy outdraws me badly (he 's able to resolve ancestral and later on Yawgmoth’s will - ancestral). I lost every counter battle, and he attacked with a huge dryad. I hate the fact I cannot remember more details, cause now it is harder  / near impossible to evaluate the plays I made.

I think you analysed yourself perfectly. Timing is huge with Balance and using Wastelands is near pointless except in the rarest off occasions.

I was probably way to confident going into game 2. Problem was knowing I had a COP:Red I could cast and I overdid it. Great lesson to learn. I'm glad I did.

Humility is cute... that's about it. I'm sorry you learned the hard way, but at least others will see your report and learn through your err.  

Also, 4 Brainstorms go a long way with mana flood/screw. I wouldn't ever imagine playing a Keeper (or Tog or GaT) without a list startign with 4 Brainstorm.

I would have played with another Sea or City if I didn't have a Jet, also.

I think this is the only way to learn. Netdecking will not teach you anything. You have to know why a card is in your deck. Knowing why a card does NOT fit is also gold (humility, also see AK). I have learned a great deal today, which was my intend. I will also learn more next tournament. But I'll get there   . I also learned the brainstorm lesson today. Part of me just hates knowing the next 2 cards on my deck. But you just don’t want to see it that way. Brainstorm gets you the card you need right now, from the top 3 of you're deck. I added the 4th tundra because of the heavy white requirements. I don't need it anymore, and the 4th underground has been put back.

Devos was there

Was he? I didn't see him. But some other guy played vengeur...

4 AK is a no-no. That was probably Rudy telling you. Seriously, if you want that draw engine you need to play something with Tog and Intuition in it. The reason why it is poor in Keeper is because you need to afford 4 slots to it, and Keeper cannot afford the slots. Even if you tried, you'd have to cut FoF (which is better in Keeper than anything else due to the answers you need to dig for) and the 2 Scryings (which have a similiar early game advantage to AK and a better mid-late game advantage), to fit it.

My thoughts exactley. But it wasn't Rudy (TMDers know him best as MoreFling). He would have some interesting things to say, unlike that other guy.

I hope this was helpful.

Yes you where, it was nice to hear from you.  

[Matt]

I don't post anything unless I have something worthwhile to say,

Which is exactly why you'd make a good member!