Don's In SD

'Twas the night before Christmas Eve, and all through the town, not a creature was stirring... Except for a few magic players. 6, to be exact. At least, that's all that showed up for the T1 at Balboa. The poor turnout was disappointing, but I suppose it was to be expected, with the holidays and all. Still, the 6 people in the tournament were all good players, and it was a tough fight.

Somehow, playing a Keeper variant, I managed to go 3-0 against 3 tough matchups. I'd like to thank the Orange County boys for letting me beat them, I really appreciate it.

Keeper.Mike

Counters
4xForce of Will
4xMana Drain
1xMisdirection

Drawing
1xAncestral Recall
1xFact or Fiction
1xStroke of Genius
1xSylvan Library

Tutoring
1xDemonic Tutor
1xVampiric Tutor
1xMystical Tutor
1xMerchant Scroll

Recursion
1xYawgmoth's Will
1xRegrowth
1xTimetwister
1xHolistic Wisdom

Removal/Answers
1xBalance
1xSwords to Plowshares
1xChainer's Edict
1xFire/Ice
1xPernicious Deed
1xThe Abyss
1xTormod's Crypt
1xDismantling Blow

Critters
1xMorphling
1xGorilla Shaman

Misc.
1xZuran Orb
1xTime Walk
1xMindtwist

Arifact Acceleration
1xBlack Lotus
1xSol Ring
1xMox Diamond
1xMox Emerald
1xMox Jet
1xMox Pearl
1xMox Ruby
1xMox Sapphire

Lands
3xUnderground Sea
3xTundra
2xCity of Brass
2xTropical Island
2xVolcanic Island
2xWasteland
1xStrip Mine
1xLibrary of Alexandria
1xTolarian Academy
1xFlooded Strand
1xPolluted Delta

SB
3xRed Elemental Blast
1xPeacekeeper
1xCursed Totem
1xFire/Ice
1xEnlightened Tutor
1xCarpet of Flowers
1xScrying Glass
1xCoP:Red
1xMasticore
1xAura Fracture
1xGround Seal
1xHibernation
1xPerish

A friend put the mana base together, and I kinda threw the sideboard together at the last minute, which is why it has some filler in it like Ground Seal, Hibernation, and Perish. I'd like it to be running a Light of Day and a Glacial Chasm, not sure what the third card needs to be.

Anyway, with only 6 people, we only played 3 rounds, which was disappointing, and only T2 got cash. Round 1, I was paired against U/G Oath(Chris), which is a rough matchup. I lost game one to Masticore(Main deck...), simply couldn't resolve any answers. Abyss is kinda weak against Core... Game two turned out much better, about 7 turns in, he Extracts me, and takes Morphling. Two turns later, after a counter war, I resolve Holistic Wisdom, and 5 Wisdom activations later, he scoops. Game three sees a turn two Extract on his part, taking Holistic Wisdom. He shuffles, and I topdeck... Morphling. I drain a Naturalize targeting my Carpet of Flowers the next turn, and between Drain and Carpet, I have a free Morphling. He takes 20, and I take the match.

I just beat the city's best Vintage player, for the second week in a row, I might add, in the same bad matchup. So pretty full of myself, I move straight to round two(we were the last game of round 1). Now James usually plays TNT, so I keep my opening hand, which would have been great, if that's what he was playing. First turn Swamp, Duress pulls my Mystical Tutor. Second turn, I Drain an Illusionary Mask. Of course, now I know what I'm playing, but that doesn't help. I burn on the Drain mana, and with just a Force in hand, and not enough mana for it, my hand is eaten by Ritual, Mindtwist. From this point, I draw nothing but lands and counters, and he draws 3 factories. A deed slows the beats and Zorb means I've got a little time, but he whittles my life down slowly and surely, and having failed to draw anything of value, I end up losing.

Games two and three turned out much better. First turn, I drop Jet, City, and Diamond, pitching Volc. I DT for Recall and Recall. He drops lotus, duresses me twice, uses the third mana for a sol ring, drops a swamp, taps the ring, and plays Tainted Pact. 3 cards later, Pact fetches Necropotence. Suddenly, I'm playing from a huge hole. He resolves necro the next turn, and EOT, I use the Dismantling Blow that I peeled to eat it, no kicker of course. I end up vamping for Peacekeeper, drop it out, and with no way to remove it, he scoops. Game 3 sees more fun, he's playing first, and my opening hand has Library in it, definitely a keeper. He plays first turn Duress, and I don't get to Library until turn 2. Library stays active the entire game, and after he consults for Yawgmoth's Will(it was the 7th card down) and sees it Drained, I vamp eot, get Holistic Wisdom, and with three cards in hand(Yawg Will, Volcanic Island, and Mana Drain), I proceed to Wisdom for Recall 4 times, and he scoops.

At this point, I stop for a much needed cigarette break. My third round opponent comes out and bums a grit off me. He's playing turboland, and faced with an ugly matchup, I ask him if he wants to ID. He declines, and I sit down with a heavy heart. My game record is terrible(4-2), which puts me at a disadvantage for making T2 if I lose. Game one, he just can't find any counters, and after countering three horns and dropping Tormod's Crypt, the game is pretty much locked. I get Morphling and beat for the win. Game two, I drop out a third turn Aura Fracture, but Horn resolves on his side. He drops out fastbond, and plays 4 lands before I decide I've had enough and eat it with my Volcanic, leaving me with an Underground Sea and a Pearl. I peel the second REB and immediately feel like a jackass for losing my only source of red. I use Carpet of Flowers and Scrying Glass, activating off the Burning Wish and the REB in his hand for like 4 turns, drop a deed and a crypt in this time. He ate the Fracture, Regrew Fastbond, and after a brief counter war, resolves it. He starts going off, and when I realize that he is most definitely going off and is not going to lose any steam, I blow the deed for 5(Academy mana), eating everything on the board. I'm at 17, and he doesn't have enough mana to Sickening Dreams for the win. After he draws 20 cards off gushes, recall, fact, impulses and brainstorms, he runs out of drawing, and scoops(I crypted him first, and regrowth was in the graveyard from regrowing fastbond). I somehow managed to win 2-0 against TurboLand. After three rounds, I was the only 3-0, somehow, and in first place. Go me...

Once again, thanks to the Orange County boys for losing to this pile, and to Chris, for proceeding to lose to Keeper 2 weeks running. Just thank god it's not rated Chris, or you'd be hating life.