Gauntlets

[Archae]

Given an arbitrary (or rather non-specific) meta, what decks should one be prepared to face? 
Or, to ask the question differently, what decks do/should you test against as a gauntlet?

Obviously, one cannot playtest against all incantations of an archetype, but what differences within an archetype will require different approaches?

Ideally, I'd like to start a list that I can update and get feedback on.

Here is the list so far:
Stax
Shop aggro
Turbo Tezz
Gush Storm
Oath
Dredge
Noble Fish

[Shax]

To play against any given metagame you need to be prepared. The most common deck types are Big Blue(various incarnations), MUD(various incarnatioins, Dredge(a few incarnations), and Fish(lots of different cards and incarnations).

Stax is seeing more play right now, so that is a good call just to say you have played Stax.
Shop Aggro sees alot of play, test against different versions of this.
Turbo Tezz does not see as much play, but can so it would be a good idea to test a match or two.
Gush Storm does not see play... because Rituals don't see play. Test a match or two.
Oath sees some play, so it is worth testing matches again.
Dredge sees alot of play, test alot and know if your deck can consistantly win.
Noble Fish sees possibly more play than Dredge. Expect to play 1-2 at a tourney. Test this matchup alot right now in this metagame.

Also test against Big Blue decks not packing Tezzerett. Those are the most common blue decks right now. They involve Trygon Predator, Jace, the Mindsculptor, Dark Confidant(not all), and Snapcastor Mage.

[boggyb]

yeah, seconding what Shax said. If you expect budget players, then also familiarize yourself with the key cards you'll need to disrupt in goblins, affinity, and elves! since those are popular budget choices and you don't want to be randomly losing to them. Also if you're going to a new place I'd just go to morphling.de and look for tournament reports from within ~150 miles of the place you're going to get a good idea of what to expect.

[Prospero]

My friends and I have a gauntlet built that we test against when we prepare for an event.  I have three of those decks built.  They are:

Espresso Stax
'Black Magic' (Empty Gush that won Bloomsburg/t4'd the last NYSE)
Cagebreaker Dredge

I'd definitely want to test against Noble Fish and other aggressive decks (U/B/W Wizards, various Stoneforge Mystic decks). 

I like the DeMars Bant Control list as well, so I'd probably want that too.