I've gone to the last 5 "Power" tournements...

[Star]

I've gone to the last 5 "Power" tournements in my area and have seen a large variety of decks being played as well as quite a few people playing keeper in various incarnations to not much success. It seems that keeper needs to evolve from its older forms.

From my testing with Keeper I was unsatisfied with its draw capabilities, its slow game plan, and with Isochron Scepter. Unless keeper gained control really early in the game other controll decks could simply outdraw it and move on to victory and also because of the slow game plan Keeper would have to keep controll throughout the entire game, both of which are hard to do with any consistency. While testing Scepter I found that when Scepter came down early with a decent imprint (Brainstorm, Impulse, Fire/Ice, etc.) it was akin to Library where you would win the game if the opponent didn't deal with it soon. However a good number of times the scepter would sit in my hand and do nothing while my opponent was winning.

Based on my testing with and against keeper as well as watching a few matches involving Keeper. I have come up with the following decklist:

Counter:  11
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Duress

Utility:  10
3 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk

Draw:  13
2 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Deep Analysis
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall

Win Condition: 2
2 Decree of Justice

Mana Base: 24
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

The only testing I have done with this build is on Magic Workstation, so if the deck doesn't actually perform as I expect then maybe some ideas I suggest here can be used in further version of keeper. As stated above I wanted to improve the draw engine of Keeper, I took what is regarded as one of the better controll draw engines (Hulk) and worked it into keeper. However the sheer number of card drawers in the deck required the removal of Cunning Wish which I think may be somewhat risky, however in the little testing I have done it has worked out well.

Any suggestions, constructive critisms and addition ideas would be helpful.


Thanks


Star

[BrokenDeck]

24 mana sources is a bit risky with all of the ld running around in the form of five strip effects.  If a mox monkey comes out, you are potentially losing 10 of your sources over the course of the entire game, which really hurts.

[Star]

Stifle can take care of Wastes and you can deal with the Monkey, either by countering him or by playing around him till you can kill him. Also with all the card draw you will draw into lands more easily so 24 isn't as risky as it seems.

[PhOeNiX]

Twenty four mana sources is really sketchy. Although you have Stifles to help stop opposing Wastelands, it may not be there for you all the time. It's really not worth the risk. I usually run twenty seven mana sources in mine, but twenty six should be fine with four Brainstorms.

Running two Islands is really something I'd stay away from. Keeper is a deck that really needs likes to see coloured mana aside from Blue. This is especially the case seeing that you're running three Duress. Although the colour issue is less of a problem in IsoKeeper building, seeing as it requires colourless mana to cast and activate, it is still something that must be considered when developing your mana base.

On the topic of Duress, you really need to have Black mana in your opening hand for it to be really effective. If you fail to draw Black mana early in the game, you're in trouble. Workshop decks will deplete their hands off a Metalworker by turn two. Combo decks can win as early as turn one or two. Even Control decks are depleting their hands much quicker now due to Isochron Scepter. You really want to nail their key cards as soon as possible; the strength of Duress diminishes the more you get into the game. I'd run no less than four Underground Seas or perhaps 3 Underground Seas and a City of Brass.

I don't see any maindeck Gorilla Shamans so running two Volcanic Islands seems alright. I assume you're running Red Elemental Blasts and Rack and Ruins in your sideboard, correct?

I'd be very frightened to walk into a tournament with only 3 Strip/Waste effects. Especially now with Dragon running rampant. I don't really know what's in your metagame, so my following statement may not be completely accurate for you, but I would personally run 1 Strip Mine and 4 Wastelands in addition to the Stifles. Mana disruption is critical right now in Type One.

I'll just comment on the mana for now.

[Star]

24 mana sources was a consideration, however with the increased draw and the protection of Stifle, I'm pretty sure you can get away with it.

I don't think mana denial is as much of a premium as most people think. Wastelands are a product of Keepers slow game plan, I went a different route instead of trying to slow my opponent I built a "faster" deck. Its answers all cost 1 and the card drawing is cheap.

The two islands are there from a previous build that ran Cunning Wish in order to combat Blood Moon, which looks like it will be very prevelent in January. They could be taken out for other duals, but I wouldn't be comfortable without some outs if an opponent resolves a Blood Moon.

I also disagree with you about Duress, I don't think its affectiveness is lowered at all later in the game. Duress allows you to force through key spells later in the game.

"Workshop decks will deplete their hands off a Metalworker by turn two."
I have three comments on this:
1: Workshop decks do not play Metalworker consistently on turn 1. I've played the match-up a few times and have only seen a turn 1 Metalworker once and I Forced it...
2: You can Stifle his activation on turn 2... Hmmm... Thats the second mistake I've made with Stifle. Oh Well, I guesse you just have to swords him before they activate him. Or Counter him.
3: Duress isn't strong in the Mud Match-up anyway, most of the time they welder back whatever you Duressed.

If a control deck depletes its hand early I should be able to take control and Duress will still grab key spells. If they deplete their hand I will be able to resolve key spells on my side. Also as another side note you can Stifle Scepters Imprint then Duress them later.

The only reason the Volcanics are their are for REB's, Rack and Ruin, and possibly Shamans the sideboard isn't finished yet.

Why are Strips so critical to the Dragon match-up? This deck has 3 Swords and 3 Stifles which kill the combo along with 8 Counters and 3 Duress, plus 3 Strip effects... It seems like that should be enough against Dragon.


Star

[Lunk]

I can't even begin to claim to have the knowledge to comment on the various keeper builds.  However, I did want to point one thing out.

Quote 2: You can Stifle his activation on turn 2...

Taken from the CrystalKeep rules database regarding Metalworker:

Quote This is a mana ability. It does not go on the stack and cannot be responded to. [DeLaney 1999/06/08]