Red Shop Aggro almost gets there

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.