I would love to go, but unfortunately this is also conflicting with a Legacy GPT at TJ's Collectibles. I look forward to more Vintage tournaments over the summer though.

You mention you would have nothing floating after dumping your whole hand into Ad Naus, but the way I see it you're left with either a blue or black floating which makes things much better. Sea, Mox imprinting Ponder, Ritual (BBB), Infernal for LED (B), LED, LED, tap Mox for U (UB), cast Infernal, sac both LEDs in response (BBBBBB or UUUBBB), cast Ad Nauseam (U or B left). Or if you boarded in Ill-Gotten Gains then you just find that and win for sure.

Love the multiple Workshop fails.

$36 entry is completely absurd for any sort of NORMAL prize structure, but 34 people were actually willing to pay that entry with a Pearl for first and boosters for 2nd-4th??? The customers, for being willing to pay such entry, are just as much at fault as the owner in this case though.

Well yea I was that Aggro MUD player. Apparently I'm the only one in eastern Mass or something.

So does this mean there will continue to be zero Workshops again until I come home in May? Cool. Enjoy playing your Moxen and Forces for 0 while you can.

Add me (Scott Blumenthal) to the pre-reg list.

If we're starting at 8, I MIGHT be able to make it tonight. I'm scheduled to work until 8 in Boston, but maybe I can be out by 7:40 or so.

Take the Red Line to Davis Square. YMG is maybe a 5 minute walk down Highland Ave from there.

I may be showing up for this tonight. Any idea on an expected turnout?

EDIT: I just got called into work until 8. No Magic for me tonight. Weak.

We had a solid turnout last night (12 or 13 people, I forget) for 4 rounds of Swiss with a wide variety of decks (Slaver, 2 Painter, 2 Tezzeret, 3 Shop decks, UW Artifact Aggro, Storm Combo, BW Fish, Erayo Fish). Top 4 was:

1st ELD with Painter
2nd James Tamulevich with Tezzeret Control
3rd Jeremy Blumenthal with Mono Blue Shop Aggro
4th Scott Blumenthal (me) with Mono Red Shop Aggro

Preregister me, I will definitely be there.

-Scott Blumenthal

So judging by the sideboards of the numerous Top 8 decks here, the consensus is that Leyline is a necessary SB inclusion? Based entirely on theory, I feel like Leyline backed up no real draw power outside of Bob, who takes until at least turn 2 to get active, forces aggressive mulligans that might put us in a tight spot if Leyline is answered. For those who have done real testing, have you found the combination of Jailer and Crypt/Relic/Extirpate to be inadequate?

Manamorphose costs 1 / to play, which means it has a replicate cost of 1 / granted by the Djinn. Let's say you have 3 available. You cast Manamorphose and have enough mana to replicate it twice. The end result is that you now have 6 mana of any combination of colors in your mana pool and you have drawn three cards. There is no infinite draw combo here. The replicate cost is only paid once, when the original spell is played. You can't pay 2 to play and replicate Manamorphose once, let the replicate copy resolve, then choose to replicate again.

Monday Night Vintage deck breakdown:

1 Mana'd Ichorid
1 Red Workshop Aggro w/ Bazaar/Uba
1 Control Slaver
1 4c Workshop Fish (homebrew that my brother and I have been working on, plays 3 Shops, rainbow lands, TfK, Welder, Gorilla Shaman, artifact fat, tutors, Chalice/Trini, Duress/Seize, StP. It's really weird.)
1 Mono Blue something (Drain, Meloku, Phid, but I think I saw Volcs too)
1 Stax
1 U/B Confidant Tendrils

I was playing Tendrils and went 3-0, pretty much running over the 3 Workshop players I faced. Rebuild is insane, letting me do stupid stuff like winning through quadruple Sphere or Trinisphere + Chalice at 0 and 1.

How many here plan on attending? I kinda want to show up but my Magic budget is very limited this month, so for $25 entry I want to be certain the prize pool will be worth my while.

I checked the information at the website, and it says "$25 entry, 12 proxies". Here it says 15 proxies. Which is the correct number? Also, for $25 entry, I'd like to get some idea of what the rest of Top 8 can expect for prizes before committing to it.

I hope to be attending these over the summer, assuming my work schedule allows it. With unlimited proxies I might even be able to convince some of my non-Vintage playing friends to show up.

Eric, from my limited testing, I can say that no matter what you do, Tyrant Oath is going to be a difficult matchup, just because of the multiple ways it can win. As you saw, all the Oath hate in the world can't touch a turn 1 EtW for 8. It takes a very solid draw for me and a mediocre one for Oath for me to win. Practically every game I've won vs. Oath has come on the back of some combination of Magus, Waste, and spheres. I guess the vulnerability is inevitable when you play an almost entirely proactive deck. I'm toying around with some stuff now though, and hope to reclaim my top 8 spot at your next event.

OMG Hatchman you're right. I never thought that second line of text would be relevant in any Vintage tournament ever. Thanks for pointing that out.

Up until a week before this tournament, I hadn't touched my deck since ELD's Mox in January. Casual browsing of these forums showed me the rise of Tyrant Oath following Rich's trouncing at TMD Open, Mana'd Ichorid, and the new Reveillark kill for Flash. All this added up to a sad day for Workshops. Nevertheless, Red Shop Aggro is the only deck I feel comfortable playing in a tournament setting, and so I set my sights on the Lotus and got to work. In my two previous tournaments I had piloted similar lists to 3rd (2 Duplicant, 1 Karn) and 8th (3 Magus of the Moon), but the current meta demanded both Duplicant and Magus in the maindeck. A week of intense MWS "testing" and some last minute brainstorming led me to the following list, finalized about 1 minute before deck registration forms had to be in.

// Lands
    4 Mishra's Workshop
    4 Wasteland
    1 Strip Mine
    1 Tolarian Academy
    2 Ancient Tomb
    6 Snow-Covered Mountain

// Creatures
    4 Juggernaut
    4 Goblin Welder
    4 Solemn Simulacrum
    2 Triskelion
    2 Duplicant
    1 Karn, Silver Golem
    3 Magus of the Moon

// Spells
    1 Sol Ring
    3 Sword of Fire and Ice
    4 Sphere of Resistance
    1 Mana Crypt
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mana Vault
    1 Trinisphere
    4 Thorn of Amethyst
    1 Mox Pearl
    2 Chalice of the Void

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 3 Jester's Cap
SB: 2 Spawning Pit
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 Rack and Ruin

I came to the tournament with a Chalice-free list, but decided I really wanted the 2 I had run in the past so I cut my 3rd Trisk and ran a 61 card list. It pained me to have to run 4 practically uncastable Leylines, but apparently every Shop player there had come to the same conclusion that they were absolutely necessary to stand a  chance in the Flash and Ichorid matches. Rack and Ruins had been Viashino Heretics in the past, but after being decimated by "instant speed kill your fat attackers" over and over again in testing, I made the switch. Caps absolutely dominate the current meta. I almost want to play a couple maindeck, just for the random "oops I win" they provide. Anyway, on to the report:

Round 1 - Aaron Davis w/BW scrubby thing

This kid looks no older than 8 or 9, I guess he was there with his dad. Game 1 he wins the roll, plays Scrubland and Duress, sees my hand of Mox Ruby, Sol Ring, Sphere of Resistance, Magus of the Moon, Mountain, and 2 irrelevant cards. He takes Sphere, I play turn 1 land, mox, Sol Ring, Magus. He never plays another spell the rest of the game. Game 2 I get down an early Welder and Thorn of Amethyst but get stuck on 3 mana with a hand full of big dudes. He proceeds to cast Voice of All followed by Hymn to Tourach. I discard Triskelion and Duplicant. Thank you very much for the free discard. I'm gonna weld out my useless Chalice at 1, Dupe your guy, and go crazy.

(1-0 matches, 2-0 games)

Round 2 - Sarah Yarrington w/2 Land Belcher

Game 1 she wins the die roll, goes turn 1 Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Belcher, activate it. She hits a Bayou after 13 cards and I proceed to play out a hand with multiple sphere effects and win at my leisure. Game 2 I think she goes off turn 1 again but actually kills me this time. Game 3 I get an aggro heavy draw and manage to win despite not 1, but 2 savage misplays on my part. Turn 1 I have 6 mana, but I mess up by playing Sphere of Resistance before Juggernaut, so the Jugg costs 5 and I have to wait a turn. Way to give Belcher an extra turn. She stockpiles Spirit Guides and casts Seal of Primordium to hit my only Sphere, then casts LED and Tinder Wall. The next turn she should have to block with Tinder Wall to survive my double Jugg attack, but that first turn misplay cost me, so she takes 10 to go to 5. Time for misplay number 2. She has 1 card in hand, which I should assume is a Belcher. I cast and activate Jester's Cap, but for some inexplicable reason take Yawg Will, EtW and a Belcher, instead of Lotus which if she draws lets her play and activate Belcher. She of course draws Lotus, Belches me out, and hits a Bayou on the 14th card again. I had no business winning this match.

(2-0 matches, 4-1 games)

Round 3 - Bill Copes w/UR Stax

Hooray for Shop players. I beat Bill at our first meeting back in November and I'm looking forward to the rematch. Game 1 he wins the roll, leads with Shivan Reef and Chalice at 0. I play Wasteland and try to hit his Reef, but it gets Stifled. I fall horribly behind on mana and tempo, I think he draws Shops and Academy, I die a painful death to Triskelion. Game 2 I keep a hand with triple Welder and some mana. I get Trisk eventually, but he draws good lands again and out mana's me. His Trisk deals with my Trisk and Welders, my Duplicant on his Welder gets Stifled, I get run over. We talk a bit after the match and expect to see each other in the top 8.

(2-1 matches, 4-3 games)

Round 4 - Rodney Hannigan w/Storm Combo (not sure which exact kind)

This is my friend and I hate having to face him here, because the loser is basically out of Top 8 contention, I'm favored in the matchup, and he's feeling like crap which affects his playing. Game 1 he wins the roll, but doesn't really do anything relevant. I get nervous as I only play Simulacrums and Sword of Fire and Ice with no Sphere effects over the next 3 turns, but he draws crap and eventually Vamps for Hurkyl's Recall, but it's too late to save him. Game 2 is horribly anticlimactic, as I resolve turn 1 Sphere, turn 2 Thorn, and he gets stuck on 1 island.

(3-1 matches, 6-3 games)

Round 5 - Steve Houdlette (sorry if I butchered that spelling, I didn't write it down) w/Psychatog metadeck

Game 1 he wins the roll but gets stuck on 1 island for a while. I keep a slow hand (my notes have his life dropping by 1 each turn for a while, so I assume Welder beats) but have a sphere effect and eventually drop Juggernaut and Solemn. With him at 2 life after my attack, I go to tap the mana for a Trisk, but rethink and hold back, fearing a Drain. From reading his report I find out I'm right about the Drain. Hooray for not noobing it. Not much to say about game 2. He keeps a hand with Island, Brainstorm, but storms into no more mana. I have Strip for his Island, Thorn, and Jugg for the win.

(4-1 matches, 8-3 games)

Round 6 - Rich Shay w/Tyrant Oath

I'm in 5th after 5 rounds, but because so many matches had drawn earlier, I can't ID in and be guaranteed a spot because of tiebreakers. As luck would have it, I face my worst matchup piloted by perhaps the best Vintage player in New England. Game 1 he wins the roll (That's right. I lost every single die roll) and gets turn 1 Oath, followed by Vamp for Orchard. I have a Sphere-heavy draw so he can't combo, but he just beats me for 5 a turn to win. Game 2 I lead with Mox, Mox, Ancient Tomb, Chalice at 2. He plays Mox, Brainstorm, land, Lotus, EtW for 8 goblins, followed next turn by Thoughtseize for my Trisk. Crap. At this point he brings up the possibility of scooping to me. A pair of 12 pointers had drawn and were in top 8 if Rich wins. Rich wanted me in top 8 though, knowing I'm a much easier match for him than Flash. We check the standings and figure out he can't be guaranteed in if he scoops. Somehow in this whole thing we miss the fact that we can ID, get him in, and give me a chance on tiebreakers. I realize this about 2 minutes after we turn in the match slip with him winning 2-0. Of course, Top 8 pairings come out, I finish in 9th place with tiebreakers that would have put me 7th or 8th had we drawn. I'm disappointed in myself for missing that obvious top 8 chance, but overall I was happy with the deck.

(4-2 matches, 8-5 games)

Despite the deck's solid performance over the course of the day, most of my matches were so one-sided either way that it didn't give me much useful feedback as far as my debatable slots are concerned. I managed to dodge both Flash and Ichorid, never once boarding in Leylines all day. I really want to splash blue in here but keep it in an aggro shell instead of something like Bill's list. Thanks to ELD for another great tourney and to Still Point Comics for being a great venue. It's nice playing in a bright, open store after the dungeon that is Gateway Comics in Wareham.

You make our match (Red Shop Aggro) seem so boring. That probably was my least eventful match all day though. I just remember you Brainstorming into things that weren't mana sources and me going to town with spheres and big dudes. That's just the way it goes sometimes. Anyway, congrats on the finish. I would've been happy to join you in the Top 8 had it not been for a small oversight on the parts of Rich and I during our round 6 match. He couldn't scoop to me, I had to win to be guaranteed in, and in game 2 when I'm facing down turn 1 EtW for 8 we somehow both miss the fact that a draw guarantees Rich in and gives me a chance on tiebreakers. He wins 2-0, I finish 9th with tiebreakers that get me in Top 8 had we drawn. O well.

I would decide on a single kill for the maindeck and then try out the Goyf aggro plan in the board. If your opponent only has one of either Leyline or Needle, it's more likely to be Leyline, which stops both Flash combos equally. Both Flash kills take up the same number of slots, but Slivers aren't vulnerable to Needle or mid-combo Extirpate. I honestly don't see what's better about Reveillark combo than 4x Virulent and 1x Heart Sliver. Slivers can even be hardcast in a pinch.

I spend most of my time over at The Source, but I also browse the mtg.com boards when I'm bored and I lurk on LUE over at GameFAQs.

Ok so aside from Oath, the other very difficult matchup for Shop Aggro is Ichorid. The obvious SB choices are Tormod's Crypt and Leyline of the Void. Leyline is obviously the more powerful, but requires aggressive mulling as it's only castable off a Lotus if you draw one later. Crypt is less gamebreaking, but can slow down Ichorid enough for you to drop Trisk and start to control things. On the plus side, Leyline can't be hit by a turn 1 Therapy or Unmask and also doubles as Flash, Goyf, and Tog hate. Which does everyone prefer and why?

Might as well put my list up for discussion here. It's in a constant state of flux and will continue to be until my next tournament.

// Deck file for Magic Workstation

// Lands
    4 Mishra's Workshop
    4 Wasteland
    1 Strip Mine
    1 Tolarian Academy
    2 Ancient Tomb
    6 Mountain

// Creatures
    4 Juggernaut
    4 Goblin Welder
    4 Solemn Simulacrum
    3 Triskelion
    3 Magus of the Moon

// Spells
    1 Sol Ring
    3 Sword of Fire and Ice
    4 Sphere of Resistance
    1 Mana Crypt
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mana Vault
    1 Trinisphere
    4 Thorn of Amethyst
    3 Chalice of the Void
    1 Mox Pearl

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Duplicant
SB: 3 Viashino Heretic
SB: 3 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 3 Jester's Cap
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt

The main difference in my list from the others I've seen in the 3 MD Chalice. I haven't played enough to know if this is the right choice or not, but I have been happy in testing thus far. My love for Chalice probably has something to do with the fact that I'm primarily a Legacy player where I play Faerie/Dragon Stompy. Chalice just seems really good against anything not named Stax, Ichorid, of Goblins. As far as the sideboard, I've been least impressed with Pillar. I want to find room for a 4th Crypt but have no idea what to put in those other two slots. I'm really not sold on Spawning Pit since I don't run Factories, and an Oath player obviously won't continue to feed you Spirit tokens after you drop a Pit. Duplicant + Jester's Cap seems like the best defense against Oath, assuming they can get one to stick through Moon, Spheres, and Chalice.

For Shattering Spree to be as effective as Rack and Ruin under Chalice at 1 (common in my list since I run 3 Chalice at the moment), it requires you to have RRR available, which isn't likely to happen unless you have a Solemn Simulacrum-heavy draw. 2R is more easily available over the course of a normal game. Being instant speed is also quite nice. That being said, I run Viashino Heretic in my anti-artifact slot because it just wins games vs relevant artifact decks (Red Shop mirror match, MUD, or Stax). I've never lost a tournament match to the mirror or Stax when I got an active Heretic.

Mono Shop Aggro is a list fighting for every single slot. Tossing a Slaver in "just because" doesn't really work. Also, adding Badlands creates the problem of leaving our red sources open to Waste and reduces the effectiveness of Solemn Simulacrum immensely.

Anyway, as far as the Eon Hub vs. Jester's Cap vs. Gargadon debate is concerned, I'm inclined to side with Cap. Gargadon seems good vs Oath, but ONLY vs Oath. We are an aggro deck at heart so we'll likely want to be playing creatures to put Oath on a clock anyway. I think Gargadon serves its purpose (theoretically preventing Oath activations) decently, but as far as being an actual threat it seems unlikely to resolve. Against any other deck it's pretty much a dead SB slot. That leaves Cap and Hub. Oath can still win through Eon Hub by just tutoring for bounce at their leisure if you can't put them on a fast clock. A preemptive Cap activation is likely a win for you, unless they have a creature in hand AND you have no clock. Plus Welding a Cap back every turn just seems really fun.

Just a nitpick about my list (Scott Blumenthal, Red Shop Aggro), you put me down for 5 Wastelands and 5 Workshops. I obviously only played 4 of each. Good to see the lists up though, it was great to see such a diverse top 8 at the tournament.

Way to hit YawgWill on that desperation Mind's Desire in game 1 of our top 4 match and crush my Mox dreams. Words can't describe how awesome it would have been to win a mox in my first vintage tourney ever, after playing the format for about 3 weeks. O well. The tourney was great, congrats to my fellow Top 8 guys. Go Mono Red Shop Aggro!