Part I: Keeper and the Metagame

When Keeper is THE Deck to Beat

When Keeper is the best deck in the format, it gets caught up in hate from all directions. One such period in Vintage history where was king and all else was second-rate was right after Accelerated Blue (or BBS) had its key card draw spell restricted. During this time Keeper had Suicide Black starting to pack Null Rod, Sligh ran Price of Progress, mono-blue (now Ophidian-based) ran Back to Basics, and even the mirror utilizing Blood Moon in some cases.

Even the backbone of most decks was reflective of a Keeper dominated metagame. Keeper itself ran light on creature removal so as to keep the potentially dead cards in the mirror at a minimum. Sligh ran creatures not meant for combat such as Jackal Pup and Goblin Patrol. Likewise, Suicide ran the ever-risky Phyrexian Negator.

What did this mean for the overall well-being of Keeper players? In some areas, Keeper won with regularity. In others, Keeper went from being the dominator of Top 8’s to losing to decks aimed to beat it.

When There is Another Definitive Deck to Beat

Two of these periods come to mind – The domination of BBS and the domination of Gro-a-Tog. The darkest times to play Keeper, since you’re doomed to second-rate status until the imbalance are fixed. However, this is basically true no matter what else you play. When Gro-a-Tog and BBS were left unchecked, there wasn’t much standing in the way of them winning any given tournament outside of the mirror match.

When the Metagame Has Balance

Any given netdecked Keeper stands a poor chance. It’s during these times that a Keeper player must exercise his skills in properly metagaming and being familiar with all possible matchups. Taking a metagame full of Workshop-based prison decks and Isochron Scepter with maindeck Damping Matrix or a heavy control metagame with Chains of Mephistopheles, are both good examples of smart metagaming.

Keeper cannot exist without constant evolution. What was once a deck that could keep the same list over the course of many new sets, is now forced to change before every tournament that it plays. Type 1 as a format grew from stagnant and uninspired, to constantly evolving and unpredictable. In this respect, Keeper should be a reflection of its format. No longer should a Keeper player look over the spoiler lists to see only what possible additions to the deck there may be, but the Keeper player needs to look over all potential cards that may impact Type 1.

Side note or Semantics

Why do we call it Keeper? It doesn't 'keep' anything. If it needs a cute name, we should call it 'Clinger'. It just hangs on through all metagame changes like the best of stubborn dingle-berries; Clinger: The Turd That Just Won't Flush. I'm guilty of participating in the Keeper name torch-passing, but from here on out, I refuse to call it Keeper... well; I'll try not to at least.

 

Part II: The structure and components of Clinger

 

Clinger Components - Mana

Dual lands - It should go without say that only blue producing dual lands need apply. However, it's a common newbie mistake to think it's cute to throw in lands like Scrubland or Plateau to 'smooth' out the coloring balance. The only instance that comes to mind when this was a good idea was where in the first runs of Paragon Keeper, where we worked in Celestial Dawn to hose the hosers.

Fetchlands - It really makes no difference which Island seeking fetchland you use as long as there's no obvious requirement such as running a basic Plains to support a heavy white element. Either Flooded Strand or Polluted Delta will find your duals and basic Island. I personally run 4, because there is such a heavy mana-denial element in the format that I want to shy away from minimizing the number of real land sources available to me.

Wastelands - Combined with Strip Mine, you have up to 5 1-for-1 landkill cards which come in handy against any multi-color, man-land, or Workshop dependant deck, especially when they run fewer sources than yourself and therefore would be easier to screw with a Wasteland. Sometimes, in certain match-ups, you want even more mana denial tools such as Gorilla Shaman and Dust Bowl.

Basic Lands - As mentioned above, sometimes you need to devote a heavy color element to handle the decks you'll face. Adding a basic Plains for white support allows you to run Humility easier, for instance. Adding a basic Island allows you to work around a Blood Moon easier via Cunning Wish and Blue Elemental Blast.

Library of Alexandria - An old staple that many people view as a card that's outlived its usefulness. It was never good against aggressive decks and is often mediocre in a combo match-up, but many metagames are still heavy enough on control match-ups that it’s still worth the slot. Often times, it’s better than the alternatives which may include another dual land, fetchland, or Island. One thing I've toyed with replacing it with is Dust Bowl, which really wouldn't change the usefulness of that slot to any degree.

Artifact Mana - As seen below, it's typically this spread of 6 mana artifacts. In addition to jewelry, Clinger (see, I didn't say Keeper!) is kept out of the hands of a budget player due to the cost of Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and Mana Drains. There are really no viable substitutions for these power cards.

Clinger Components - Counterspells

 

Force of Will and Mana Drain - Without these two, control wouldn't be holding the format together. These 8 slots do not deserve much in the way of explanation of explanation.

Stifle - Covered in 'Clinger Components - Metagame Solutions'

Counterspell - This original is what the poor and down-trodden use, which means they aren't using Mana Drains, which means they shouldn't be winning. Aside from that, some people like to add 1 of these as Mana Drain #5 which is something I've never been impressed with - at least not since around 2000/2001.

Misdirection - This is often included as a Cunning Wish target or as Force of Will #5. This is another tweak I find to be arbitrary, whereas in the same slot you can run something to insure you draw a real Force of Will. Also, Force of Will is there to serve one primary function - to stop what you normally could not stop when mana isn't available. If you're running anymore than the standard 4, you're generally trading 2-for-1 much too often which a draw component that is often lesser than the competitions.

Red Elemental Blast - Covered in 'Clinger Components - The Sideboard'

 

Clinger Components - Search

 

Brainstorm - Running as few cards as possible, while being able to cram in all the card drawing, removal, and 'I win' cards that you'll need is a basic function that makes not only any control deck viable in Vintage, but this works for all competitive decks on some level.

Cunning Wish - This card has probably revitalized control more than any other card since Mana Drain. It allows you to run the most potent, but one-dimensional solutions without fear of drawing something dead. There isn't much need to go into depth on why you should run this card, but the issue you will need to work through is how many will you run.

Mystical Tutor - In addition to any other reason why a tutor is considered one of the best cards in the game, this particular tutor is good for setting up plays against decks packing discard especially. In older version that ran Timetwister, it was the ultimate foil to Mystical for it after having your hand ripped apart by Hymns and Duress.

Demonic Tutor - The king of all tutors and the second biggest reason we run black.

Vampiric Tutor - This tutor often fights for the same slot Mystical fights for. In such a control heavy format, Mystical only wins out because of its color. Because Vampiric cannot pitch to Force of Will or run off any dual you may fetch, Mystical wins the choice in many people’s decklists. Also, this card seems perfectly suited for a sideboard option where we can use it to set up if we are ready, or simply bypass it for a card to help stabilize.

Impulse - Slower than Brainstorm, this works better as additional search than replacement search. One exception is the synergy that it has with Chains of Mephistopheles.

 

Clinger Components - Draw Spells

 

Skeletal Scrying - Because of reasons detailed below under ‘Accumulated Knowledge’, you typically run fewer draw spells than decks like Hulk or Landstill. Those decks can throw out an AK and not worry too much about it resolving, because more are on the way. This deck wants to treat each draw spell as if it were his last. Skeletal Scrying generally has the best chances of resolving because it can’t be affected by Red Elemental Blast and Misdirection, as well as being an instant. Casting Scrying doesn’t always have to be a heavy drain on your life total, especially when aggressive decks are involved. A Scrying for 2 is minimal damage to your life, but an excellent boost to find what you’ll need.

Fact or Fiction - Fact or Fiction is especially good not only because Clinger has the mana to support it, but because it digs 5 deep to dig out those solutions you’re under pressure to find.

Ancestral Recall - See my write up above under ‘Artifact Mana’.

Accumulated Knowledge (AK) - Clinger is a true control deck, which means it needs to run solutions to control the game. Decks that aren’t really control, but fall under that label because they run counterspells likewise don’t need to use slots for removal. While AK is great for a deck that just wants to find ways to win before you do, it’s not for Clinger. It’s just better suited for Isochron Scepter based decks and Hulk.

Deep Analysis - It’s a poor maindeck selection, especially when you factor in its slow sorcery speed. I use it in the sideboard of my deck because it’s generally good in slower control matches.

Braingeyser - This won’t make the cut against the top tier decks of the format because it’s a sorcery. Going balls-out during the mainphase is very hit or miss in the control match-up especially; often times more miss than hit.

Stroke of Genius - Originally left out in the cold when most card draw that could be misdirected were far too risky to run. It hasn’t made it back into the deck because of its severely high casting cost which also translates over to the much higher speed of the format in today’s common metagame.

Clinger Components - Utility

Mind Twist - The only times this left my list was during the dark days of Gro-a-Tog and the period of time where Chalice of the Void was included.

Balance  - There is no excuse in not running it. If you’re thinking about this as a board sweeper for aggressive match-ups, then you aren’t looking at it in the correct scope.

Time Walk - The only thing worth mentioning is that this is probably the least important of the power9 that you’d include in the deck. While potent and game-breaking, you can go many games without seeing it and still win, unlike say…Ancestral.

Yawgmoth’s Will - This card will win more games than whatever win condition you may run on its own. Again, there is no point in discussing this.

Timetwister - While good in a slow control match where you can make a profitable trade-off with a superior board position, it’s generally very risky to run where decks can explode off a fresh hand like that.

Duress - Trading 1-for-1 is often good, but Clinger is slow and it would be arbitrary to take something from an opponent that they can easy get back within a few turns.

Clinger Components - Removal

Gorilla Shaman - Shaman is one of the older tricks that Clinger has used to control cheap artifacts. In the current decks theme, he goes well with the mana denial as well as keeping Goblin Welder from being able to have free roam of the format. 

Swords to Plowshares - In Clinger if you have to trade 1-for-1, then you have to use the best possible cards to do so. Swords is a thorn in the side of many of today’s best decks -not just aggressive strategies - but it’s always useful against lock-based decks like WelderMud or Slavery and ever preset combo deck Dragon.

Fire/Ice - This card is our way of running more spot removal, but not risking a dead slot on something less preferable in the mirror or other control match-ups.

 

Clinger Components - Win Conditions

 

Decree of Justice - A win condition that is never dead in your hand, short of an inability to cycle. Often times, you are able to catch an opponent by surprise as the tokens are hard to get rid of granted the various traditional strategies players use to defeat control. There's much to be said about a surprise clock when it was previously established that your opponent can take their time to win against you.

Morphling - While he was gold in the days of Moat and Abyss, his high casting cost and cost to maintain has made her lose out to Decree in a faster metagame. Drawing Morphling early generally means a dead card short of pitch-counter fodder. Morphling will likely stay second-string until the critical turn in most type 1 matches remains under turn 3.

Goblin Trenches - A win condition, who originated as a joke 61st card in NG New York, became taken more seriously before Decree's release. This was really only affected by enchantment removal which, for a time, was missing from the metagame. It loses it's attractiveness in light of Decree, but it still potent as a late game finisher as it's near impossible to find a proper solution to. If the metagame was fundamentally slower, I could see this taking over at least one Decree slot in Clinger.

Clinger Components - Metagame Solutions

Stifle - Not exactly a Counterspell, but it's close. It stops things like Storm, Cycling, and activated (and triggered) effects which other counterspells can't touch. A common use for this spell is to stop a fetchland from finding its land or countering a Wasteland's effect, effectively supporting your mana denial theme.

Damping Matrix - One of the cards that sent Isochron Scepter back to trade binders, Damping Matrix is a beast against many decks. Its maindeck material in many metagames, but in others can be considered too slow or too conditional. As a sideboard card, it's an excellent option to bring in against prison decks since it nabs the important artifacts and Goblin Welder.

Clinger Components - The Sideboard

 

Rack and Ruin - Against artifact based prison decks like Slavery, Mud, and Stax this card is a golden answer. It was worth more than it's weight in gold when Mirrodin was first released because it not only got around the average Chalice of the Void, but it tagged monstrosity’s like Isochron Scepter and Mind's Eye.

Blue Elemental Blast - This probably wouldn't even make the sideboard had it not been for Bloodmoon. It also serves as another spot removal/counterspell against Sligh and Dragon which only supports its case for the sideboard's 15th spot.

Disenchant - This is a primary Cunning Wish target that can be sided in to better support the early game against fast lock decks as well as TnT and Stacker3.

Aura Fracture - Once a major sideboard card, now almost forgotten now that Bloodmoon can be solved with a Blue Elemental Blast and Back to Basics is virtually gone entirely. It was also once a bomb to bring in against Enchantress which is another deck that's fallen into obscurity.

The Circle of Protections - These are often the best way to solve problem match-ups against any monochromatic deck out there. Its margin of usefulness varies, where against Fish, COP: Blue is mediocre in effect while against Suicide Black, COP: Black is usually devastating.

Humility - Against many decks, this card is a wrecking ball once it resolves. The keyword here is ‘once.’ At four mana, with WW in the casting cost it can be a challenge to get resolved before reaching an unrecoverable game-state.

 

Part III: Sample Decklists for the Common Metagames

List #1 - The first list is for a heavy control metagame, but low on decks featuring Mishra's Workshop.

//NAME: ZherbusControl.dec
// Mana
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Strip Mine
1 Island
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
// Draw
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
// Utility
4 Brainstorm
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Mind Twist
// Removal
1 Balance
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fire/Ice
2 Gorilla Shaman
// Tutoring
2 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
// Counters
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Stifle
// Win
3 Decree of Justice
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Deep Analysis
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Coffin Purge
SB: 2 Rack and Ruin
SB: 1 Disenchant
SB: 1 Vampiric Tutor
SB: 2 Damping Matrix
SB: 1 Blue Elemental Blast

List #2 - This is my list for a metagame often referred to as the online metagame, or the fantasy metagame.

//NAME: KillTheUpperTier.dec
// Mana
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Strip Mine
1 Island
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
// Draw
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
// Utility
4 Brainstorm
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Mind Twist
// Removal
1 Balance
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fire/Ice
1 Gorilla Shaman
2 Damping Matrix
// Tutoring
3 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
// Counters
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
// Win
3 Decree of Justice
// SB Instants
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Disenchant
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Coffin Purge
SB: 2 Rack and Ruin
SB: 1 Vampiric Tutor
SB: 2 Dwarven Miner
SB: 1 Gorilla Shaman

Next installment: There will be less standard fare and more commentary. Segments include the metagame considerations, sideboarding, and matchup analysis.