all your report are belong to us

I'm on vacation this week, so I actually get to partake in the T1 goodness at
C&J's. I sold most of my collection recently, so no TnT or GAT for me. Of
course, I'd be *crazy* to sell Keeper, so that's what I played.

My deck is just a few cards shy of Zherbus's and CrazyCarl's decks, as their
continuing work with Keeper has been solid. I'm running 5 fetchlands, 2x Future
Sight, 4x Brainstorm, 2x Morph, and 2x Keg in the side to reflect the greater
Sligh presence in this meta.

I'm expecting GAT's Last Stand, but instead it's the Return of Keeper! Very
interesting...

Round One: Emmanuel with aggro-Enchantress

Emmanuel is an excitable guy from the Berkeley meta. I usually see him playing
Dragon.

Game One: He opens with a Forest. I guess it's not Dragon today. My 1st turn LoA
draws many cards; so do an early Ancestral, followed a few turns later by Future
Sight. Early Duresses, Swords, and Wishes hold him down until my card advantage
takes over. I'm holding 7 cards to his one when he concedes.

Game Two: He plays land, Fastbond, but doesn't explode. On my second turn, I
play land, mox, mox, mox, Morphling. He plays Wild Growth on his Forest, which I
Strip on my third turn. Morph takes over.

Emmanuel revealed the cards in his opening hand, which he was unable to cast: 2x
City of Solitude and 2x Choke. Gah! He also kept 3x StP main, but didn't have
one when I tapped out to play Morph. I thought he would've sided those out! How
embarrassing would that have been? 

Round Two: Fishhead with Keeper

A Keeper mirror? Unbelievable. I lost to him several weeks ago in the MatchPlay
tournament, so I'm hoping to avenge my loss. I truly enjoy matching up against
Fishhead, as I know the games will be hard-fought to the last play.

Game One: I have a solid opening hand with 2x Brainstorm, jewelry, and other
goodies, but am unable to find a second blue source until the 12th turn or so.
Fishhead takes advantage of my mana screw, and is able to cast Ancestral and
Future Sight. He opens a good lead in mana development and hand size before I am
able to REB his FS. He summons Morph and things are looking grim. Somehow, I am
able to cast Balance, and it Wraths his Morph, Twists his hand, and Armageddons
much of his land. I feel like I'm back in the game when he lays his second FS.
After a few turns, I scoop.

Game Two: His early Duress takes my FoF, but I am able to fight off his
Ancestral a few turns later. We are reduced to topdecking into the mid-game. My
wonderful wife somehow psychically knows I'm hungry and stops by to give me some
In-N-Out burger and fries. W00t! She leaves to go shopping, get her hair done,
or whatever it is that women do for fun.

Things are looking good for me, as I'm holding FS and a counter, while he's
holding one card. I'm waiting for another land so that I can protect FS.

Fishhead Wishes for Gush, which I counter. He then plays FS. Great. Well, at
least I'm holding my own FS that I will play next turn. Of course, the next card
in his library is Duress. Doh! I guess I will have to wait until the next
MatchPlay tourny to avenge my loss(es)!

Round Three: Luis with BG Sui

This is Luis' first tournament at C&J's. I hope he had fun at our laid-back
store; the more T1 players the merrier. His deck splashes green for Deed.

Game One: Luis gets a ridiculous opening. Between Strips and Sinkholes, I am
Hymned three times. Negator beats me to a bloody pulp. Hmm, sometimes I miss
Mis-D.

Game Two: I get an early Morph out. Luis is reduced to blocking with Specters
and is not able to find a Deed in time.

Game Three: Again, Luis does not explode as fast as he did game one. Law of
averages, I guess. I am able to Twist his hand and lay Morph a few turns later.
The next turn, he plays Deed. However, I am able to prevent him from reaching
five mana, as I Waste a Bayou, Strip a Swamp, then Waste his own Waste.

Round Four: Brian with Keeper

Brian is incredibly fun to play against. As opposed to sporting a mean poker
face, he laughs it up and tries to have a good game. Maybe all that joking is
meant to conceal his real intentions? 

Game One: In the mid-game, I am able to Twist him for three, but he comes back
with FoF. He eventually plays FS and pulls away from there. He saw three early
Drains, and was otherwise able to counter most of my moves. Perhaps my offering
to the Keeper gods was inadequate?

Game Two: We go back and forth. I play a Morph and attack over the next three
turns. After a tremendous counter war, I Twist away his hand. Things are looking
good, and Morph needs just one more hit.

He topdecks Yawgmoth's Will and I have no counter! He Edicts my Morph,
Ancestrals, Walks, and tutors for Scrying. Time Walk turn, Scrying for five.
With an active LoA. How the heck did I go from Morph and Twist your hand, to no
Morph and opponent with a full hand? Gotta love the Will.

Round Five: Devin with UGR Survival Madness

Devin is playing after several months off. His deck splashes red for the
sideboard.

Game One: I resolve Ancestral and, a few turns later, FS. The card advantage is
too much, as he was never able to get Survival into play.

Game Two: I let my guard down, and have my Ancestral Misdirected, like the
little school girl I am. I actually write "Idiot!" and "Moron!" on my notes.

He gets Bazaar going, and creatures are popping up all over the place. I Waste
his Bazaar, only to face Teferi's Response! Sneaky one, this Devin is. Green
creatures pound me to dust, no Balance in sight.

Game Three: Devin plays an early City of Solitude. I play Ancestral, Morph, and
FS. FS draws many, many cards, and my position looks good. He plays Windfall
with no other cards in hand. Since I'm a derf and I have no counter in hand, he
draws seven cards! He starts to play creatures and get Survival going, but it's
too late as Morph has done too much damage.

Boy, I sure was sloppy games two and three.

Recap: I loved the 4x Brainstorms in Keeper, although I am undecided about the
number of fetchlands. I feel like I want 4 1/2. Future Sight is the bomb, and,
looking back, it was crucial in the mirror matches. I am also undecided about
Gush in the side. I'll fool around with it a bit more.

Keeper placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Unfortunately, I was the bad Keeper player that
finished 9th. Ugh. I believe all of the Keeper losses were due to the mirror,
except Saucemaster's loss to ABM. Moreover, none of the Keeper decks ran combo
this time around. Who said Keeper is dead? 

Congrats to NaClhv for the win, and props to Jeff for being the best store-owner
on the West coast.