If B2B is weak, MUC is weak.  B2B is the deck's bomb; if that doesn't outright win a lot of games, you are far better off splashing for Yawg Will, Welders and other off-color winners.

 

Gifts can be inserted into an existing TPS skeleton with pretty much zero rebuilding and still be amazing.  EoT Gifts for Demonic, Mystical, Vampiric and Lotus often just says "I untap and win."  There are as many choices for solid Gifts piles as there are bombs in the deck, and that's a lot.

I don't see Merchant Scroll as a good fit, however.  A sorcery-speed tutor that costs two needs to fetch any card in the deck to be worth the space.  TPS is already tight enough.

First, I would up the Welder count to 4.  The little goblin that could is a must against Stax and really helps the control match-up.  Throw in another Trike or two and he just gets better, so in my opinion that's what Memnarch and DSC want to be:  Triskelions 2 and 3.  For the extra Welders, I would drop a couple of Spheres, since Chalice already provides good combo hate.

Also, how is Jar treating you with only two Welders and a full set of Spheres?  Jar and Wheel/Twister might be your first cuts toward a set of Thirsts, and unless you run into a lot of Null Rods, the extra Trikes could let you part with Fire/Ice to slip in the other two.  So, that would leave my take at:

-2 Sphere of Resistance
-1 Memnarch
-1 DSC
-1 Jar
-1 Wheel
+2 Goblin Welder
-2 Fire/Ice
+2 Triskelion
+4 Thirst for Knowledge

I'm also not so hot on the Spheres, but you seem to really like them so we'll leave that alone.  Good luck with the deck!

(Edited 'cause I'm an idiot.)

I notice that the more popular Type I gets, the more it needs saving.  Interesting correlation.

Future Sight is great when it resolves; setting up the 3 blue to cast it in a timely manner is the problem.  When R&D has a really good collective acid trip and prints a blue ritual, Sight will be the next card in my TPS deck.  Until then, I'll just leave it in my binder.

I agree that there's no need to stretch your manabase to include red, but losing Recoup doesn't mean losing Gifts.  As long as YawgWill is in there I'll have Gifts along to set it up.

Consider Echoing Truth.  It's solid against Dragon and Oath and can be useful in the mirror for bouncing Welders, either to protect yours from removal or to get opposing ones off the table for a crucial turn.  I would at least try it in place of Gorilla Shaman and maybe C. Wish.

If Trinisphere, Dark Ritual and Goblin Welder all get restricted, you'd better add Mana Drain to that list.  We're headed back to the days of Tog and the Fish that prey on him.  From ten or fifteen viable decks back to two:  now that's progress.

Respectfully, that is a piece written by a budding lawyer rather than a statistician or scientist.  Could you possibly have chosen your data set more selectively?  Europeans don't know how to metagame, and the only tournaments that matter occur in the Northeastern US.  Restrictions would have global ramifications, but let's only examine data from one distinct geographical area.  I think not.  Duelmen and the larger Italian tournaments leap to mind as being worthy of analysis and having readily available data, but they are glaringly omited.

You also take for granted that everything hinges on your own definition of "distorting" and on the logical contortions necessary to make Mana Drain acceptable.  Drain is ok because people like playing it?  It seems people like playing Goblin Welder, too.

I agree with your assessment, Nazdakka, and in fact I see it as the major reason no restrictions are called for.  If Control Slaver is such a force, why does Europe have varied metagames largely made up of Stax and combo?  If Stax and/or combo are so unstoppable, why is Control Slaver the flavor of the month in New England?  As long as we have multiple strong decks capable of balancing each other, the format is fine.

If Stax dominates a European metagame for months, it must be because those stupid Europeans don't know how to metagame.  If Control Slaver "dominates" New England for like two weeks, "OMG it's crazy stupid borken and I <<<<3 it!!!!1!!!!11"  Everyone panic together on the count of three.....

Ten minutes ago, Crucible and Trinisphere were ruining the format.  Now I see it's Goblin Welder's turn in the barrel.  Oh, and Tinker and Thirst for Knowledge and, of course, Dark Ritual.  There are probably ten or twelve more cards on the chopping block that I don't know about because I haven't shelled out for premium membership at SCG.  I hate missing out on all the whining tech.

Tog fell from grace because an underpowered tempo deck came along and knocked it off.  The big bully was all but pushed out by a collection of guppies and fairies.  Should we really believe that Control Slaver, or most any deck for that matter, can't be beaten with the cardpool at our disposal?

There is absolutely, positively, and categorically no card that requires restriction, banning, bending, spindling, mutilating or ritualistic burning at this time.  The biggest problem facing Type I: we have a bunch of distinct regional metagames and a corresponding bunch of shameless netdeckers that cut and paste decklists, then show up and play without adapting them to their unique metagames.  That, however, is for another discussion another day.

There is some key game state information missing that would help, but here are some broad strokes based on what you've provided:

A.  Unless you have to win right frickin' now, I'd say go for Ancestral, Mystical Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Duress.  Now you're set to go off next turn or shortly thereafter, since you'll  either have Duress and something good to follow up with, or Demonic with a blue card to pitch for Force so you can cast it with backup.  If you have to win right now, (or feel strongly that he can't counter) replace Duress with Rebuild since the first choices just get you handed Ancestral and Duress with no way to fetch Yawgmoth's Will.  This way, you get Demonic and something else and just go off, or you get a topdeck tutor along with Ancestral or Rebuild to put Yawg Will from the top into your hand.  Then you just Will into the win with Rebuild floating around to up your storm count with those four moxen.

B.  Three tutors and Rebuild.  Play an exciting round of "pick up the artifacts," cast the Will that you tutored for, and win.  If you don't get handed Rebuild you can tutor up your other one with another tutor in hand to get Will.

C.  See B above, or the latter part of A.

Having C. Wish in your deck would open up some more cool possibilities, but this is how I think I'd play it with the build that you listed.

Of the decks you have listed, I would definitely pick FCG.  It's very versatile in that it can play the beatdown or just go combo, and as a R/G deck has much the same sideboard options that you list as a plus for R/G "hate" decks.  If it hasn't made an appearance in your metagame for a while, people have likely forgotten their sideboard hate for it.  That's when it can sneak up and do really well.

I recently won a small local tournament with a TPS build using three Gifts Ungiven.  I started out with two, and quckly decided I wanted more of them since resolving one generally just wins.  I eventually tried going up to four of them, but having played with three for a while in between I found that the deck just seems to flow more smoothly without the fourth one.  With three, I tend to have one in my hand when I want it.  The fourth Gifts has become a second Cunning Wish, and I find the added flexibility to be well worth the slot.  I never have it in hand with no use for it.

That being said, I'm completely with you concerning the power of Gifts Ungiven in a storm combo deck.  It might as well have "win target game" in the text box.  I prefer playing without the fourth copy, but that's likely just play style.  I can easily see why you would want it as a four-of.  Nice job on the deck.

Hmmm, this is a tough one.  If Type I were gutted, would I play Yu-gi-oh or Pokemon?

I have been trying a single Frantic Search, but it just feels weak and situational to me.  Untapping lands as it resolves provides some cute tricks (get an untap under Tangle Wire as Thug pointed out, for example) and ramps up the storm count, but I find that it just doesn't dig deep enough.  It really sucks as a topdeck, as well.  The card keeps cropping up in a lot of lists, though, so somebody must be seeing something that I'm missing.  Are others really finding Frantic Search to be a strong choice?  MaxxMatt has been pushing a second Gifts Ungiven, and I'm thinking that this is the slot for it.

Ankh of Mishra doesn't own Dragon, it just irritates them a bit.  They have to get around it by going off during YOUR turn with Necromancy.  It does nullify a good portion of their animate effects, but it's hardly game over.

I think the Angel is finding a lot of converts because of the huge advance that it provides in the Tog matchup.  Angel puts a fat butt in Tog's way and then runs up your life count.  Trampling for the win is much harder.

That's pretty basic and far from an earth-shattering observation, but I'd say its accurate nonetheless.  Tog is still considered the deck to beat by a lot of people, so improving that match-up is a good argument for the Angel.

Purge has to be countered twice, Cremate only once.  Advantage: Purge.

Yeah, let's throw Brainstorm out there to be considered for restriction.  Brainstorm/Fetch is TEH BAH-ROKEN draw engine.  

Seriously, good call from the powers that be to just leave Type I alone.  If it ain't (too) broken, don't fix it.  Control Slaver seems to be the current Mindslaver deck of choice based on what I've been seeing, and Stax, Stacker and 7/10 are certainly not jumping out in front of the field, either.  Letting us keep playing with our Workshops is a no-brainer.

I agree with you in principle, Covetous, but in my experience they aren't wasting a wish to nuke the chalice.  They're dropping a hungry monkey and letting him snack on it.

As to the number of red sources, I tried the manabase in the link that Thug provided, removing Shivan Reef for Flooded Strand.  That leaves fewer red sources in the deck.

My Serrated Arrows comment wasn't meant seriously.  I assumed the emoticon tech made that fairly obvious.

I have played quite a few games today with the black splash for Will and DT, and I'm not too comfortable with the manabase.  I was often drawing Underground Sea when what I really wanted was red mana.  A smart opponent running Wastelands can cut off access to red easily enough as it is, so cutting the number of red sources and then progressively thinning them out with fetches doesn't feel so good.  Given the speed of Workshop and the artifact fat this deck packs, Welder isn't quite as necessary in the Shop Slaver deck as he is in the Control version, but it's still good to be able to cast him, not to mention all the red goodies coming in from the board.  I've always felt the Shop Slaver manabase isn't as solid as I'd like to begin with, so I'm not thrilled with tossing in another color and disrupting it even more.  Since Gorilla Shaman is screwing with our Chalices, I say we screw with Gorilla Shaman and replace Chalice with another artifact  bomb:  Serrated Arrows, anyone?  

I have been playing Shop Slaver because I like the "go broken and just win with fat" back-up plan.  In fact, based on my history with the deck Mindslaver is probably the real back-up plan, serving as spot disruption rather than a kill condition.  I hardly ever "combo" anyone out with the infinite slave loop.  I have tested with Atog Lord's Control Slaver, and it has a very different feel that belies the number of common cards that the two decks share.  I found myself relying much more on Welder and Mindslaver with that build, and yes I did love the FTK's in the board.

Chalice hasn't been everything I'd like it to be in Shop Slaver lately, but I've been hesitant to cut them outright since sometimes a Chalice does just shut people down.  Instead, I've been picking up the slack with 2 Cunning Wish (in the FoF and Time Walk slots) to add much needed resiliency against hate.   One of my pet wish targets is Chain of Vapor, and I'm loving it as much as you seem to be.  Another gem, surprisingly, is Firestorm.  I'm amazed at how often I've been able to sweep the board of 3-4 creatures and simultaneously set up my graveyard for welder tricks.  The draw-7's in the deck minimize the disadvantage nicely.  A Cunning Wish in a Jar hand is just too good to be true; wish for Firestorm and dump cards you would've been dumping anyway.  It's very nice against Madness, in particular, and it happens often enough to be a real advantage.

That being said, I'm looking forward to trying your idea of splashing black.  Without Chalice set at 2 counters as a major part of the game plan, Walk will have to find its way back into my deck as well.  Adding Will, DT and Walk should up the broken play quotient nicely.  Either way, though, I plan on keeping the Wishes.  They've been really solid for me.  I recommend giving them a try if you haven't already.

I would recommend against cutting Time Walk.  An early walk lets you develop board position much faster, and development is crucial for a control deck.  At worst, walk lets you draw another card and take another land drop.  Obviously, these are both good things.  

I also see someone recommended cutting Balance.  Don't do it.  Balance might sometimes sit in your hand and smile uselessly up at you when you're winning, but it will also single-handedly get you back into games that you should have utterly lost.  Against the fast aggro that is the bane of control decks, that card will just save your butt.  Balance is an MVP.

I am also curious about the sideboard listed.  Some explanation of the environment you play in and how you sideboard would help there.  Also, where is your maindeck Fact or Fiction?  It's restricted because it's good in BBS, so why not use the one you're allowed?  

BBS might fly fine in a small local tournament if metagamed right, but in general, I don't think BBS will hold up too well in the current meta.  There's too much explosive aggro, not to mention other solid decks with very high threat densities that can simply overwhelm it.

@GoblinGame:  Mana Leak, as you correctly guessed, is there to provide a first-turn counter with an island and an off-color mox.  It's probably better than Counterspell for that reason, although Leak does get kinda dodgy later in the game.

Cunning Wish won't get your StP back from the graveyard, it only fetches cards from out of the game, i.e. your removed from game zone or sideboard.

Charm vs. Purge is definitely a metagame call, as Phele said, depending on what you fear most: Dragon or Madness.  I haven't tested the Dragon match-up that much, but my limited experience shows that imprinting StP and then protecting the Scepter is pretty much game.    I therefore focus on that strategy against Dragon and go with Charms since I find them better against Madness, while also somewhat better in the Stax match-up that you mentioned as a problem.

I agree with the comment about going up to at least 25 mana sources, preferably 26, and cutting the Lotus Petal in the process.  I would say lose the 4 Duress to make room, and up the Tundra count to 4 if you want to reliably pay the kicker on that Orim's Chant in the sideboard.

Also, one way you can help yourself against Stax is by going up to 4 Fire/Ice maindeck to use with your Scepters.  They deal with Welders nicely, and when no Welder is in play, tapping a Workshop during his upkeep is a good idea.  Fire/Ice on a stick is also golden against those pesky weenie decks, and serves as an alternate win condition.