Soft 'Combo Keeper'; You are going to think "?"

[Metabubbles]

First off not to be 'too' hard nosed, but the main build is there, I know 2 skeletal scryings, 3 maindeck decrees, stifle main, who is 'morphling, etc... they are good and some not so good.  But what I need help with is the board, what really should I look out for? The next question you ask is what is the environment? This month it will be more casual type 2 players, and next month hard core type 1 players. So I need something for a bit of both, preferbly the hard core players.


Artifact (1)

1xZuran Orb

Black (2)

1xDemonic Tutor
1xYawgmoth's Will

Blue (22)

4xMana Drain
4xForce of Will
4xBrainstorm
2xCunning Wish
1xAncestral Recall
1xTimeWalk
1xMystical Tutor
1xFact or Fiction
1xMorphling
1xPower Artifact
1xBraingeyser
1xFuture Sight

Gold (1)

1xFire/Ice

Red (1)

1xViashino heretic

White (5)

2xSwords to Plowshares
1xBalance
1xMoat
1xDecree of Justice

'Mana' (29)

6xSoLoMo (no Emerald)
5xFetch Lands(3 flooded strand, 2 polluted delta)
4xTundra
3xVolcanic Island
3xUnderground Sea
3xWasteland (my favorite)
1xIsland
1xTolarian Academy
1xStrip Mine
1xLibrary of Alexandria
1xGrim Monolith

Board (HELP  )

3xRed Elemental Blast
1xShattering Pulse
1xRack and ruin
1xBlue elemental Blast
1xStifle
1xStroke of Genius (kill condition)
1xSwords to Plowshares
1xDismantling Blow
1xCircle of protection; Red
2xPowder Keg
1xVampiric Tutor
1xEbony Charm

The most common comment I get is the deck is too spread out, I should focus on decree's or the combo.  While I don't necessarily disagree this deck works to my skills (or lack thereof) and surprises pretty much everybody.  Besides its 'keeper', 'the deck', 'the restricted list', 'Combo Keeper' all rolled into one "ready for anything" deck.

Controversial choices;
1. Viashino Heretic.  3 casting cost, hits all artifacts, and deals damage.  Since it is keeper it is also a kill card and can block most weenie's.
2. Zuran orb.  Honestly I had; fastbond/future sight/zuran orb, that engine never really worked.  But the life gain is huge against Mono-Red and weenie beats, allowing me to set up control.
3. Moat.  Yes moat is counter productive with the decree, however Suicide black and mono-red (yes I fear this deck) is totally neutered.  I hear it helps against TOG.
4. No main deck Gorilla shaman.  Unless someone drops all moxes early (then I probably lose anyways) he knocks em out one by one.  Hey so does my Heretic.
5. Combo.  I like it, I can't explain it too much its just that I like knowing no matter what I have a chance.  This should also explain the main deck Braingeyser (for the kill), and Stroke of Genius in the board (for the kill).

Board; Except for the Stroke it is pretty straightforward, I really hate the kegs, but they seem to work fairly well.  In fact I actually copied the sideboard from another deck, adding stroke and stifle.  I also would like more rack and ruin's, and possibly graveyard hate.

   I appreciate 'ALL' comments on this deck, but I am really requesting help on the Board.  Let me know what you think.

[Daniel_112]

Were is your mind twist? And I think your vampiric tutor is better main. If you fear red decks, why don't you play more fire/ice instead of a StP? Because it's very good against red and black decks. And you could fetch it for a FOW

And I suggest SB:
2xFire/ice
1xRack and ruin
1xBlue elemental Blast
2xStifle (very good against dragon)
1xStroke of Genius (kill condition)
1xSwords to Plowshares
1xDisenchant
1xCircle of protection; Red
1xSkeletal scrying
1xEbony Charm
3xREB

I think you haven't got enough of drawing in your deck, maybe 1 or 2 scrying. You really need them to find answers.

And I do think mox monkey is better then Viashino heretic. If mox monkey comes through, he just eats all moxen. With VH you can't eat anything till your next turn. So your opp had got one turn to deal with it.

[Metabubbles]

Quite honestly that is the best reply I have seen in awhile.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for 'decent' board choices.  I still think dis blow is technically better (I get a lot of land in play, so the 1 extra isn't too big of a deal) than disenchant.

Drawing; well I believe the 4xBrainstorms w/5xfetchlands is plenty to find answers, also I really hate removing cards from my graveyard, especially if there aren't any there.  But I agree I would like more drawing.  

Mind twist and Vamp Tutor.  I was hoping somebody would forget them actually, if I could make my deck 63....  I am indecisive, I want to take a fetchland out and add 'Mind twist', I also want to take a brainstorm out and add Vampiric Tutor, I totally agree it should go in Main, but it is hard to lose the drawing power.  What do you think, should I drop the fetch and brainstorm?  Thanks again for replying.

[Abhorsen105]

While it might be a bit hard to get out against Sui, i think humility would be a good sideboard choice. It helps out a ton with aggro, and also is a must-counter against Tog. Additionally, it doesn't conflict with either of your main kill conditions, and Viashino heretic could be boarded out.  

For more drawing, Impulse could fill that spot. I think 29 is too much mana, with the brainstorms 26 should be more than enough. I don't know which sources you want to cut, but that would make room for mind twist and 2 impulse.

[Metabubbles]

I agree w/too much mana, how about -1 fetchland, and add Vamp tutor, then add enlighten tutor to board.  That should help feed my combo.

I love humility, but I still play morphling and only 1 decree.  If I take out the kegs, what should I add?

Thanks for replying.

[Daniel_112]

But brainstorm/fetch inproves the cardquality in your hand. Skeletal's scrying give you a new hand. And there are always cards in your yard, from opposing duresses, early fows, drains, stp's, fire, ice, fetch, brainstorm, wastelands.

If you really don't want to play them, you should cut the LoA because you haven't got enough drawing power to come back to 7 cards.

And it's true 29 is lots of mana, 26 would do the job.

If I've got more time next time I'll suggest lots of other things. I think your deck is really going to work  :lol:

[EchoBoy]

Moat stops TOG and your guys.
Maze of Ith stops TOG and NOT your guys.

Which is better? :X

[ELD]

This is very similar to a list I ran a couple weeks back.  Here are some cards to consider.  

Humility is probably better than moat here.  It allows your guys to attack, and makes fire/ice really good.  

Merchant Scroll- If you're having problems getting the combo off, I recommend more tutors. Merchant scroll can get Ancestral as early as possible, Gush once fastbond is out, or in a pinch, force to protect the combo.  Heck, it can even get Fire/Ice if need be.  

Enlightened Tutor gets fastbond, future sight, trade routes, grim monolith or power artifact.  It can also get Zuran orb, and once future sight is out, you can always get a mox to shuffle and see a new card.  Of course it can also get a bomb after sideboarding.  

Trade Routes is another card that gives you a different way to combo, but is good by itself.  It can keep a good future sight turn going, let you cycle extra lands, and counter act LD.  No card was more welcome game one vs sui than trade routes.  It is like a meddling mage naming wasteland, strip mine and sinkhole.  It is also amazing with Fact or Fiction, making the extra lands in the "bad pile" even better.  

I think you'll find that with more tutors, you won't need a back up plan like Morphling.  Cunning Wish can get a kill card as well, either stroke or flamming gambit.  

Artifact (1)

1xZuran Orb

Black (2)

1xDemonic Tutor
1xYawgmoth's Will

Blue (25)

4xMana Drain
4xForce of Will
4xBrainstorm
2xCunning Wish
1xAncestral Recall
1xTimeWalk
1xMystical Tutor
1xFact or Fiction
1xPower Artifact
1xBraingeyser
1xFuture Sight
1xTrade Routes
1xGush
1xMerchant Scroll

Green(1)
1xFastbond

Gold (2)

2xFire/Ice

White (5)

1xBalance
1xHumility
1xDecree of Justice
1xEnlightened Tutor

'Mana' (26)

7xSoLoMo  
4xPolluted Delta
3xTundra  
3xUnderground Sea
2xVolcanic Island
1xTropical Island
1xCity of Brass (or Undiscover Paridise if back to basic's is around)
1xWasteland
1xTolarian Academy
1xStrip Mine
1xLibrary of Alexandria
1xGrim Monolith

SB
1xAura Fracture vs BtB Blood Moon etc...
1xFlamming Gambit
1xStroke of Genius
1xC.O.P. Red
2xCompost(If you're having problems againts sui, I recommend boarding out the Grim/Power combo for this.  Trade Routes is key anyways, and the card advantage from this is ubsurd.  Think Balance with no cards in hand)
1xDuress
1xR.E.B.
1xShattering Pulse
1xCoffin Purge
1xMisdirect
1xRack and Ruin
1xFire/Ice
1xVamp Tutor
1xDimantling Blow

[Metabubbles]

I keep hearing this humility thing, I really don't disagree, but for some reason my deck stalls out against the rush and I really don't want to take 'ANY' damage.  However there is a local tourny I may have to try humility out.

Wow, trade routes, what in the world do I say to that, 'the card sucks'; nope it definitely rocks vs wasteland which everybody plays, 'it's mediocre'; nope it will either always save my land or draw a card, How about 'it rocks' but what do I take out for it?

I usually never have 'trouble' getting the combo off, I just usually kill with something else.  Some tog decks are packing the misdirections, that is why I haven't put an emphasis on 'combo' just more of a backup plan.  That is also why I haven't been putting Mind Twist in.

Nice Board also, you really thought that out, compost, I love that card, but I decided I wasn't playing green    .

On the prior post 'Maze of Ith' I love that card, should I play it main, or just board it.  I could simply remove a land (i have 29 mana sources), let me know what you think?

[ELD]

As for what to cut for trade routes.  It saves your lands, you won't need so many of them.  Also understand, if you have trade routes in your deck, you can easily combo with Fastbond/Trade Routes/Academy.  It is usually how I win with Combo Keeper.  Even though it is 3 pieces, they are so cheap and seemingly random.  Who's going to force of will a first turn trade routes?  Even if they do you can always Yawgwill it back.  And yes, I'm going to keep pushing green like the tobacco company pushes cancer sticks to middle schoolers.  Come on, you only need 1 or 2 lands that can make green.  You can fetch it out whenever you want.  It's gotta be better than a basic island.  And what goes better with Yawg Will than sacing all your lands to zuran orb and playing them all back again?  

Also I look at decree like it's fireball or something.  When I cycle decree, it's for more than enough to kill, because of a combo.  

I have a firm belief about Maze of Ith, and any other card that does absolutlely nothing unless a tog is out.  It has to do with the nature of the control match up.  I play tog more than anything (and there are times that I'm playing in 5 type 1 tournaments a week).  When I play against control, I know I'm going to drag them into the deep end of the pool and drown them.  The card advantage of Deep Analysis and Accumulated Knowledge is so great that if the game goes the full distance I'm going to win every time.  So, I'm not going to try and kill quickly.  If I draw a tog in my opening hand, he's getting shuffled back in with a brainstorm.  I will wait until they're so far behind, that they can't possibly win.  The other reason I can do that is because of cards like Swords to Plowshares, Maze of Ith, Cursed Totem etc... which are dead until I drop a tog.  The combination of my inherent card advantage (superior engine) and Keeper's card disadvantage (dead cards) is too overwelming.  

The only "hate" card I recommend against tog then, is R.E.B.  It allows you to play in the game from the get go.  If someone does try and kill you quickly, you still have a spell that wins the game after they waste their resources and berserk.  If someone is smart and tries to win via card advantage, you have a fighting chance, as now you've got the counter magic to stop things like intuition, as well as win counter wars.  

There are two ways to beat tog with control in my view.  First you can out draw them.  Second you can force them to try and beat you quickly.  If you can get a tog player to go aggro on you, your combat tricks become game ending.  For me, the only way I've been able to force a player to try and beat me quickly is to get ahead in card advantage.  They feel they must do something or I will gain total control of the game.  Perhaps, you have some players who will naturally try and be aggro, this will work to your advantage.  

As for the overall match-up, I really believe card drawing must be used to create parity with the tog draw engine.  I would up reccommend skelatal scyring as a place to start.  Unforturnately, you can only run so many of theses and they will probably need to be suplemented with other card drawing.  Such as-

A card that's good against control, but sucks against anything that can dump it's hand is Scrying Glass.  It is not a solid with all the brainstorms flying around, but in a slow game, it will turn the tide much like L.O.A.  

A lone Isocron Scepter is very similar to the Scrying Glass.  I understand that it isn't popular anymore, but I believe it is because it was used in decks that were playing out like bad combo decks.  They wanted to "combo" asap, but they were a control deck.  The real problem is, unlike your combo, a stick with a fire/ice isn't game over.  It's much like a casual deck trying to get some wacky combo, and then it loses.  It's alot of work/tempo/cards committed to doing something that isn't game over, and it's done right at the beggining of the game. This sets them back so far that if the stick doesn't let them recover, they never will.  In your deck, you would wait until mid/late game, and use the stick as a bomb.  If things are all even and this thing resolves it will win for you.  Plus with the Humility/Fire&Ice thing going on, you have more options for the stick.  Stick w/Fire&Ice is so much better than Maze of Ith.  

Deep Analysis is very good, but if there is alot of Mis'D around, then probably not as good as Scrying.  

Trade Routes does draw alot of cards.  I say it evens out with a single Deep Analysis.

[jshields]

Maybe its the fact that there are about 25-30 standstills in our area from tons of people suddenly choosing to play fish and landstill, but I had been tinkering more and more with the idea of using white for decree of justice until I realized that I really was running keeper without the black.  With a few extra dual lands, I realized what a good deck keeper really is and would like to make sure that I am doing things right with my own keeper design before going back to my old u/r standstill design.  Also, I tried using green for Oath of Druids, but the deck sucked royally.



~~~~~Edit~~~  There are also lots of Welder MUD and Dragon players where I live




Keeper-thing-a-mabob

3 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Strip Mine
2 Wasteland
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Chrome Mox (I only own a Library of Alexandria for power cards)
1 Mox Diamond
1 Sol Ring
3 Mishra's Factory

1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Eternal Dragon

3 Decree of Justice

4 Mana Drain
4 force of Will
2 Stifle
1 Misdirection
1 Divert

2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fire/Ice

1 Damping Matrix
1 Chalice of the Void
2 Isochron Scepter

4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Cunning Wish
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Balance
1 Mind Twist
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor


Sideboard:
1 Dwarven Blastminer
2 Chalice of the Void

1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Ebony Charm
1 Orim's Chant
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Stifle
1 Divert
1 Vampiric Tutor

[ELD]

This thread has really got my interest, so I played the list I posted at the local type 1 last night.  I made the following changes.  

-1 Underground +1 Volcanic (reb, artifact hate and Fire/Ice being so important)
-1 BrainGeiser +1 Deep Analysis(Cunning Wish/Decree is enough for kill, This card rules the control match up)

in the board i went
-1 Misdirect +1 Skelatal Scrying
-1 Duress +1 R.E.B.

It was a small tournament, but I played against 3 fully powered decks.  Mud twice and Keeper once.  

The Mud matches were great.  Game 1 I lost to a broken start, with double tangle wire keeping me from ever resolving my balance/humility in hand (so very close)  Game 2 I out controled him, resolved a humility and Fire/Ice killed his guys.  Game 3 I drew terribly but still should could have won.  I made the complete tard move of (on a jar turn) forcing a chalice for one, by pitching a cunning wish.  I should have cunning wished for vamp and vamped for Future Sight.  It was retarded, but I dealt with it as I hadn't played keeper in a while.  

My second opponent I played much better agianst.  Once I just crushed him with a first turn fastbond, lands, demonic, mystical, gush, ancestral go.  Than a turn two Future sight.  The other I stayed in control, got out a humility, used my decree cycling to kill his two attackers and leave some for myself.  I had a shattering pulse to handle his welder for most of the game.  

Final Round against keeper, I swept.  I was fully used to the deck again by this point.  The main deck deep analysis was huge here.  Much better than brainstorm in this case.  The fact that fire/ice is never dead and can pitch to force was also much better than swords to plowshares.  I put lots of pressure with the combo pieces, and then out drew him with deep analysis/future sight.  Having 2 fire/ice and 1 humility to take out for 2 reb and 1 scyring was great.  I could even board out the grim/power combo and keep in the fire/ice because they're probably more useful.  

I'm glad I got to test out the sideboard vs Mud.  I found that the combination of 1 shattering pulse, 1 rack and ruin, and 1 Fire/Ice boarded in made a huge differance.  Also of note, the Humility was so superior to either moat or abyss in this situation it was amazing.  It shut down metal worker and welder and just crippled the deck.  I also cut the duress for a reb after going down to just 2 underground seas.

[Metabubbles]

Wow, humility is some good.  If I actually put in humility, should I take out the morphling.  I am scared of mud and with the fore-mentioned info humility seems pretty good.  Especially if they 'kill' with Karn and friends.

How did the factories do for you?  Also what about the eternal dragon you used any good?

The final player with keeper, do you remember his kill?  Was there anything obvious he was playing?  Can you break down his deck basically.

Thanks and congrats on a well played (except for 1 hind sight play) tournament.  I will get to a tournament next wed. and hopefully will post my results.  Thanks again.

[ELD]

I would definatley not play morphling in the same deck as humility.  You've confused my decklist with jshield's.  The Keeper deck I played in the final round had an AK engine and killed with Decree or wish/flamming gambit.  One card I'm considering for the Sideboard is Dampening Matrix.  It is like humility, only it stops charbelcher, cursed scroll, isocron scepter and a hand full of other common cards.

[Daniel_112]

Eternal dragon fix an problem with humility, you can find your white mana early. If your planning to play one, you should play 4 tundra and maybe if your meta is full of wastelands you could even add a basic plains. I think it's a good way of dealing with lots of aggro. You could even play Pulse of the field in your sideboard. That's a good way to make a comeback against aggro decks, it gives you 4 lifes each time you cast it! I think it's a solid wise target.

[jshields]

well, I first tried doing the w/u/b control like you mentioned, but in the end, I realized that I was better off with semi powered keeper than something that lookes more like eon blue apocalypse.  well, after a few games, this is what I can answer for your questions

1.  Mishra's Factory: Let me tell you what a pain it is to go against Welder MUD now that the local person here runs Jester's Cap.  When you lose your Decree of Justice followed up by Monkey and Dragon removal, these are really important if you plan on winning.  However, in my unpowered situation, these are often my primary win condition and give me a good way to spend unused Mana Drain mana, create chump blockers, and get under that single stifle that stops the decree for 4-5 soldier tokens.  Fan darn tastic card and very much a good plan ever since I saw my old buddy running these in his deck

2.  Eternal Dragon: I have yet to win with this card, but it does help me to gain a slight card advantage by getting a plains or tundra.  If anything else, this is viewed to me as an additional means to deal with Blood Moon (Boo Hiss!) and the fact that Null Rod tends to stop many powered decks from working.

3.  If this helps, my old friend used 4 Mishra's Factory and 1 Morphling a year ago in his keeper, but then again, it could be worse - one of this person's friends used a Serra Angel and Fireballs as his win condition (talk about old school!  Too bad I was addicted to my Super Nintendo games when Magic came out)

[ELD]

I just ran the list I posted in a small, tournament around 22 people.  I played against Oath/Keeper, Hulk and Hulk/w in the swiss.  In the Top 4 I played against a UW landstill and in the finals I played against Parfait.  I didn't lose a game all night.  When I needed to be control, I did so.  When I needed to win quickly I was able to.  When I got broken hands, I went totally nuts.  It was fun to play, and it can win from nearly any situtation.  

Certainly the build is solid enough to win small tournaments.  I'm not sure if I'm going to run it in a power tournament.  Though I've won with worse (see oath-a-tog)  Here's the list again for referance.

Artifact (1)

1xZuran Orb

Black (2)

1xDemonic Tutor
1xYawgmoth's Will

Blue (25)

4xMana Drain
4xForce of Will
4xBrainstorm
2xCunning Wish
1xAncestral Recall
1xTimeWalk
1xMystical Tutor
1xFact or Fiction
1xPower Artifact
1xDeep Analysis
1xFuture Sight
1xTrade Routes
1xGush
1xMerchant Scroll

Green(1)
1xFastbond

Gold (2)

2xFire/Ice

White (5)

1xBalance
1xHumility
1xDecree of Justice
1xEnlightened Tutor

'Mana' (26)

7xSoLoMo
4xPolluted Delta
3xTundra
3xUnderground Sea
2xVolcanic Island
1xTropical Island
1xCity of Brass
1xWasteland
1xTolarian Academy
1xStrip Mine
1xLibrary of Alexandria
1xGrim Monolith

SB
1xAura Fracture
1xStroke of Genius
1xC.O.P. Red
2xCompost
2xPyroblast
1xShattering Pulse
1xCoffin Purge
1xRack and Ruin
1xFire/Ice
1xVamp Tutor
1xNaturalize(should be db or disenchant)
1xSkelatal Scrying
1xPlague Bearer

[Eastman]

I played with combo keeper this summer. It's a lot of fun. The Kroath combo is a wrecking ball.

I don't see it in either of the lists on this thread, so I'll quickly mention it:

Against any kind of aggro you side in 3-4 Oath of Druids and a Krosan Reclamation, siding OUT all your creatures. After they play a creature you activate oath, putting your entire library into the yard, and flashback reclamation targeting yawgmoth's will. You cast will, bringing back moxen+lotus and cast grim monolith/power artifact and stroke of genius/braingeyser as necessary.

It's an awesome aggro hosing SB conversion that I see as an auto inclusion in any deck running green and grim/power.

Also ELD, is the trade routes really necessary?

[ELD]

The oath sideboard is amusing, but in my view not needed right now.  To me, playing combo keeper means you should be beating aggro with the speed of the combo.  Not a huge deal, but I'd rather address the more difficult matches with my sideboard.  If I ever found myself randomly losing to some aggro deck than I would try it out.  I haven't tested against the Big O, but the oath would certainly own the green based aggro.  (Probably the only positive thing I can say about Oath-a-Tog)

As far as trade routes, I will board out the grim/power combo more often than not against control.  There's no reason to try and win quickly and lose card advantage in failing to do so.  Trade Routes gives me a combo win, while totally stoping an opponents LD.  It helps with drawing the combo, keeps future sight rolling and costs 1U.  It is a must play in my book when playing control with fastbond/future sight.

[ELD]

I've got to tell you, I'm really fighting for this combo keeper thing.  This research that I'm doing is not painless.  While I recieved alot of compliments on the craziness of trade routes, I recieved many more looks of disgust.  Not to mention a thrashing in the top 8.  I ran the version I posted in the mox tourney at Johnston RI.  It pained me because I feel tog is the best deck in the format, and I did eventually lose to tog in the top 8.  I do have some good news about the deck though.  I really did it to prove a point.  That this deck is capable of winning.  Here's a summary of matches.  I left the names out to protect the innocent (and I didn't take notes, so I don't want to offend the people that I can't remember)

Round 1 I played against the luckiest sui player EVAR.  He drew all 4 duress and wastes game one.  I believe he cast all 4 duess by turn 2 off a black lotus.  The same kind of nonsense followed in games 2 and 3.  I did manage to win the match though.  Game 3 he got out a planar void on turn 2.  I never had a graveyard and I still comboed out, after boarding out the grim/power combo.  Compost came up big in game 3.  Game 2 humility combined with yawgwill and 2 fire/ice in the yard stablized the game with me at 1 life.  This really does reenforce what I was saying about the oath sideboard.  Even with a sui player drawing like he's cheating, keeper still should win the match.  It's the other matches that the sideboard needs to be dedicated towards.  

Round 2 I played against Hulk and won.  I lost game one sadly.  Game 2 I got the nuts.  Mox, land, ancestral, timewalk, Gush, and I think force/fact.  It was way too good.  Game 3 I enlightened tutored and emptied my hand, then balanced with 1 card in hand and removed the xantid swarm.  Next turn I activated the grim power combo.  The following turn, with trade trade routes out, I pushed through a clump of lands, and ran into the stroke of genious for game.  

Round 3 I played against... Hulk again.  I drew well enough here.  I went combo game 1.  Game 2 I got down a future sight welcome to CGNU.

Round 4 I played against rich shay playing slaver control.  

I've only played rich twice with keeper.  Both times, I didn't even put enough cards on the table for him to know it was keeper.  Last time it was from gat.  He tends to play the best deck in the format, so I'm going to give welder control another look.  I dismissed it because it had never really given me trouble until today.  The game was over turn 2.  Game two was a little saner, but a turn 2 blood moon was too much to overcome with me not taking my own turns.  

Round 5 I played against UW landstill.  The Heavy LD strategy was neutralized by trade routes.  Game 1 future sight was the game winner.  Game 2 I cycled a decree for 6 under his standstill with him at 18.  He had to pop his own disk, killing his standstill and chalice to remove the attackers.  During my second main phase I resolved will and he scooped.  I was feeling really good here.  I made alot of solid plays to win this match.  I really began to think I could be making it to the finals.  

Round 6 ID

Top 8 I was slaughtered by tog.  It was especially hurtful when he tried to merchant scroll for deep analysis.  It wasn't much of a match at all.  Duress stopped me from doing anything.  He out drew me the whole way.  

This brings me to the moral of the story.  It's not the "random" matches you need to worry about.  To win a mox, you need to beat the best decks.  Right now you need to beat tog.  You need to own tog.  Through deck construction.  Through playtesting.  Not just beating up your buddy who's no good with tog anyways.  You need to beat the best, when they're playing an optimal build.  With some kind of consistancy.  If this keeper deck is to do well, something needs to be done to reach parity with togs card drawing.  One option is to try and limit the card drawing, with something like planar void or chains of mephistoples.  The other is to have an enigine as good as thiers.  IMHO Intuition/AK/DA is the best engine in the game right now.  If I were to use it, I'd use it in hulk.  I can't really see it in keeper, as that would basically be playing tog with a crappier kill.  

I guess all that leaves is trying to neuter it.  I'll have to see how eastman's been doing with his chains build.  What I'm not impressed with is the mana curve issues of Brainstorm vs Impulse.  With Brainstorm, I've got UU open after turn 1.  Turn 3 I can brainstorm and have UU open at all times.  With Impulse, you don't have UU open until turn 4.  It can be difficult to hit every land drop when not using brainstorm/impulse as well. This means you're leaving yourself vulnerable to instant speed bombs like ancestral and intuition.  While they give you a window to drop a chains here(They tap out on thier eot), if you don't, the card advantage from the DA's in the yard is likely to swing the game for good.  The fact that Deed can remove anything meant to screw with a tog player, and in the process, create a huge loss of card advantage, is troubling as well.  Until someone can think of a way to swing the Keeper/tog match soundly in Keepers favor, I can't see how it will have a non "rogue" place in type1.  In fact, the only card that I can see right now that makes it worth playing keeper, is balance.  Deed is close, but really no card has so much game swinging power as balance.  

<begin stupidity>
In closing, I'd like to say a couple positive things to keeper.  I know it's been a rough stretch lately.  People have been trying to stuff you full of wastelands, and sticks.  You were king of the hill, but now.....  That punk phychatog's been making you look bad.  Wasteland doesn't matter to him.  His draw engine is so undercosted.  All you're doing is setting yourself back.  Try not to dwell on that.  Remeber, you can do truely broken things.  You can win from situations that hulk could only dream of fighting its way out of.  You can do things so sick that you've made countless people quit magic.  

I'm thinking it's time to reconsider things.  If you can't beat'em join'em.  I'll tell you what.  I'll build a 4 color tog deck.  I'll only run 1 tog.  People usually scoop to yawg will anyways.  I'll run deeds instead of the other togs.  I'll call that keeper.  Who's to argue.  It'll be a good time.  Maybe even fit a fire/ice or two in the main.  huh, what do you think, come on it'll be fun.  you just wait, you'll be winning moxes again in no time.
<end stupidity>

[ELD]

In a stroke of genius from a tournament buddy (pat, MD ninja?) I'm cutting the grim/power combo and leaving only the Fastbond/Academy/Trade routes combo.  Grim Power doesn't do anything with only one piece.  Every piece of the FAT combo is very useful on it's own.  This makes room for another underground and a main deck Skelatal Scrying.  I'm much happier with it now.  Infinte mana, is just not necessary.  You only need around 50-60 mana tops.  Not that you always need that much even.  Plus, the grimpower combo is very weak to welders.  Considering the only decks I've lost to with this deck contain welders(minus one tog deck), it just nice to not have to worry about them so much.  I'll let you know how it goes.