Screw Sphere of Resistance! Workshop Aggro at its Finest

[yespuhyren]

First things first.  This is a shop aggro deck.  This is not modelled after any deck currently built or being played, but an ever changing deck since 2004/5.  I hate Sphere of Resistance, have ALWAYS hated the card, and is not up for discussion about being added to the deck.  There are 9 sphere decks out there, this is Shop Aggro.  This explains the card selections as well.

Thanks to the printing of Phyrexian Metamorph, we now have a Sculpting steel that is a Clone + Sculpting steel, neither affected by Thorn, Trinisphere, or Lodestone Golem.  Due to this, I argue that it is possible to go the more aggressive route and sideboard out Sphere of Resistance.

In this list, you never look at a hand with an early sphere and worry about locking yourself out, because for the most part you don't affect any of your own stuff..  Surprisingly low mana curve, surprisingly unaffected by Null Rod (only mana artifacts).

Blitzkrieg - (AS OF JULY 12 2012)

Lands (19)
4x Mishra's Workshop
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Wasteland
4x Mishra’s Factory
1x City of Traitors
1x Strip Mine
1x Tolarian Academy

Artifact Mana (9)
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
1x Mana Crypt

Creatures (16)
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Precursor Golem
4x Wurmcoil Engine
4x Phyrexian Metamorph

Lock Pieces (16)
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Thorn of Amethyst
4x Tangle Wire
3x NULL ROD - (Replacing Orb of Dreams)
1x Trinisphere

SB
2x Relic of Progenitus
4x Grafdigger’s Cage
2x Crucible of Worlds or Duplicant
3x Steel Hellkite
4x Phyrexian Revoker

[Twaun007]

Have you observed in your testing Tangle Wire to be a bit sub par with the absence of Goblin Welder and Smokestack? I've also found Tangle Wire not really effecting blue decks with the Gush Draw engine that much.

What have you been testing against so far?

[madmanmike25]

So no more Hellkite?  I like aggro and all, but if a creature has the ability to off cards like Oath or ANYTHING else it seems he would be a good fit.  How has this been testing?

[Bill Copes]

I'm in love with the maindeck, as it has been goldfishing some quick pressure (as you said, it is an enjoyable deck to pilot).  I made some minor changes.   I run 61 cards and don't own Rishadan Ports.  I have 3 Ghost Quarters in their place.  Extra strips are generally good against the decks that rely heavily on non-basics (Dredge + Shops).  I also don't mind hitting duals in control decks, to cut them off a specific color.

A couple of questions:

Is metalworker necessary?  I haven't found drawing them to be very exciting at any point, as you have to wait a turn to activate the guy.  There are many times where you see several metalworkers and not enough business, which can be disappointing when one more lock would have won the game for you.  On turn 1, I'd rather drop a thorn or a chalice on X, than rely on a metalworker that may not stick around long enough to do his thing.  Since the mana and threat bases aren't much effected by our own disruption, we have the ability to drop 1-2 locks a turn, sans metalworker.  I'd like to play some events with and without to see how the experiences vary.  I just wanted your thoughts on it before I do so.

I might (go against the point of the thread) and try spheres of resistance in place of the Metalworkers, but I'm not 100% sure whether or not that is the way to go.  Spheres are the natural foil to gush and control strategies, but as you stated, removing them ramps up the deck's speed and ability to not cave in on itself.

How have your matches been against the Neo-Tezz decks that are designed around maximum artifact acceleration (Grim Monolith/Mox Opal)?  Do you miss having null rod, if they don't make it into your sideboard?  At the last Stratfordbury, I ran a list that had 4 Null Rod in the main deck.  I was not at all disappointed with them.  Metamorph wasn't printed yet, to explain the omission.  Here's a link to the list:  http://morphling.de/printview.php?c=1419&d=2

[Mr. Type 4]

Have you observed in your testing Tangle Wire to be a bit sub par with the absence of Goblin Welder and Smokestack? I've also found Tangle Wire not really effecting blue decks with the Gush Draw engine that much.

What have you been testing against so far?

dude, you're on crack.  Tangle Wire is possibly the best lock piece in the deck.  its at least in the top 3 with Lodestoner and Chalice. 

[Twaun007]

Have you observed in your testing Tangle Wire to be a bit sub par with the absence of Goblin Welder and Smokestack? I've also found Tangle Wire not really effecting blue decks with the Gush Draw engine that much.

What have you been testing against so far?

dude, you're on crack.  Tangle Wire is possibly the best lock piece in the deck.  its at least in the top 3 with Lodestoner and Chalice.  

I didn't say it was garbage. I'm just saying it doesn't turn off the Gush engine as effectively as SoR's do. Plus, with Gush having a million cantrip spells, Tangle Wire doesn't stop your opponent from going Land 1cc spell.


We've all seen opposing Blue Mages wait out Tangle Wire by countering SoR's, playing permanents, and then combo out on the Workshop player. I've just found Tangle Wire to not be the lock piece I'm looking for unless you toss Goblin Welder and Smokestack into the mix.

[TheShop]

Have you observed in your testing Tangle Wire to be a bit sub par with the absence of Goblin Welder and Smokestack? I've also found Tangle Wire not really effecting blue decks with the Gush Draw engine that much.

What have you been testing against so far?

dude, you're on crack.  Tangle Wire is possibly the best lock piece in the deck.  its at least in the top 3 with Lodestoner and Chalice.  

I didn't say it was garbage. I'm just saying it doesn't turn off the Gush engine as effectively as SoR's do. Plus, with Gush having a million cantrip spells, Tangle Wire doesn't stop your opponent from going Land 1cc spell.


We've all seen opposing Blue Mages wait out Tangle Wire by countering SoR's, playing permanents, and then combo out on the Workshop player. I've just found Tangle Wire to not be the lock piece I'm looking for unless you toss Goblin Welder and Smokestack into the mix.

Tangle wire is a great lock piece for keeping a blue player from hitting you with a drain, but has the draw back of never stopping them from floating mana and casting a h-recall/racknruin/rebuild/claim on upkeep...it's not to say it isnt good, just doesn't prevent the single spell a workshop player most needs to prevent in order to win.

[doggue]

Have you observed in your testing Tangle Wire to be a bit sub par with the absence of Goblin Welder and Smokestack? I've also found Tangle Wire not really effecting blue decks with the Gush Draw engine that much.

What have you been testing against so far?

dude, you're on crack.  Tangle Wire is possibly the best lock piece in the deck.  its at least in the top 3 with Lodestoner and Chalice. 

I'd even say Wire is way more powerful than Lodestone. Tangle Wire is the card that make players submit.

[Twaun007]

I'd even say Wire is way more powerful than Lodestone.

Wat!

[Bill Copes]

I played this list at an 8-man over the weekend.  I ended up going 4-1 on the day (I took it down).  I don't own Rishadan ports and  prefer not to proxy, so I ran Ghost Quarters in their place.  They ended up not being incredibly relevant during the day, but I wouldn't discount them immediately.  I need to play more matches with the deck.  I didn't really feel the loss of SoR at all.  The deck is much more aggressive than previous versions, so you don't necessarily have to cut off your opponents' mana as much as you used to.  Wurmcoil engine was great in just about every match (shop mirror, bomberman, trygon tezz, gush storm).  A turn 1 wurmcoil engine is very difficult for even a vintage deck to deal with (this even won me a match).  I am running a multi-sided, transitional sideboard, at the moment:

Package A:
2 Lightning Greaves
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Blightsteel Colussus

Package B:
3 Null Rod

Default Stuff:
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Crucible of Worlds

This effectively allows us become 3 different decks at will (default-aggro Mud, forgemaster combo, null rod mud).  Boarding into the Kuldotha deck allowed some much-needed resilience against removal.  The protection from Greaves alone allowed me to win a game that I shouldn't have. (the opponent was holding multiple ingot chewers, but was unable to hit relevant targets.  The extra speed of running 4 tinkers also helps with the lack-of-spheres plan.

The rest of the stuff wasn't too relevant during the day.  I brought in Null Rods against my bomberman opponent.  I had a good lock going during game 3 (null rod on the board vs. his 800 moxen, tops, spellbombs, etc), but was unable to topdeck any mana sources that would allow me to cast my 7-card hand full of golemns, wurms and wires.

I'm sticking with this deck until it fails me.  It's good stuff.

[madmanmike25]

I played this list at an 8-man over the weekend.

Which list, the one in the first post?  Did you run 4 Metalworkers?  I see your previous post says you don't feel you need them, so I am curious.

[Bill Copes]

Sorry about that:

4 Precursor Golem
4 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Metalworker

4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere

4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
3 Ghost Quarter
2 City of Traitors
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault


Sideboard:

2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Null Rod
2 Lightning Greaves
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster

[yespuhyren]

Hey guys, sorry I've been absent for a while, but rest assured that won't happen again

To answer questions:

Regarding the deck: For the people who don't know me, this isn't a list I came up with as a deck, but is a deck that has been evolving since about 2004.  So there is no specific testing I've done with this list, the deck has changed a card or two at a time.  Shop aggro has always been my favourite deck, and I have won many tournament matches in under 10 minutes with the deck.

Regarding Tangle Wire: If you've played shop aggro for any amount of time this is self explanatory.  Trust me.

Regarding Metalworker: Metalworker was too often the wrong, unnecessary, and greedy play.  I was never happy with him.  I have replaced him with Juggernaut for a more aggressive list.  Not only does this increase the amount of live draws (as often metalworker was dead late game), but now Null Rod becomes an instant sideboard card.

Regarding Steel Hellkite:  There is no question he is good.  Against aggro, he is generally not needed.  Against combo, Oath, or almost anything else, Jester's Cap will be equally/more effective.

Regarding Forgemaster:  The card is incredible, transformational sideboard is a risky (albeit not unreasonably so) option

Regarding the Sideboard: I honestly don't use a standard sideboard, as I feel they are stupid until you've registered for a tournament.  I'm going to list it my way from now on and people can deal with it

We've all seen opposing Blue Mages wait out Tangle Wire by countering SoR's, playing permanents, and then combo out on the Workshop player. I've just found Tangle Wire to not be the lock piece I'm looking for unless you toss Goblin Welder and Smokestack into the mix.

This happens in Stax, where they have "dead" draws like SOR that can be waited out.  If you look at this list, there is 5 spheres (including trinisphere).  Now that I've gone full shop aggro once again, I have no doubt.

[Daenyth]

Have you considered panthers over juggernauts?

[yespuhyren]

Have you considered panthers over juggernauts?

For quite some time.  If they were red creatures and NON-artifact it would have been for sure.  In my eyes, with the 4 Wurmcoil they have the same cost, but for now, the 2 toughness is two much of a risk for me. Zombie Tokens/Bloodghasts should not trade 1 for 1 with hardcast fat in my opinion.  I personally think either would be equally effective depending on your meta.

In a planeswalker heavy meta vs Fish/Aggro/Ichorid I would opt for the Slash Panther.
One could argue Phyrexian Revoker being the correct card for that slot and playing that.  It has been re-written into the first post.  I've also decided to call it

[yespuhyren]

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:26 pm

Triturator
// Lands
4  Mishra's Workshop
8  Mountain
4  Mishra's Factory (1)
2  Shivan Gorge

// Creatures
4  Juggernaut
4  Su-Chi
3  Razormane Masticore
4  Goblin Welder
2  Triskelion
4  Synod Centurion

// Spells
1  Mox Sapphire
1  Mox Ruby
1  Mox Pearl 
1  Mox Emerald
1  Mox Jet
1  Mana Vault
1  Mana Crypt
1  Sol Ring
1  Black Lotus
4  Pyrostatic Pillar
4  Ankh of Mishra
4  Browbeat

// Sideboard
SB: 3  Duplicant
SB: 4  Chalice of the Void
SB: 3  Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3  Viashino Heretic
SB: 2  Lava Dart

[d0rsal]

For quite some time.  If they were red creatures and NON-artifact it would have been for sure.  In my eyes, with the 4 Wurmcoil they have the same cost, but for now, the 2 toughness is two much of a risk for me. Zombie Tokens/Bloodghasts should not trade 1 for 1 with hardcast fat in my opinion.

i'm sure this was just an oversight, but bloodghasts cant block

[madmanmike25]

No, but they do attack and if Panther blocks it trades 1 for 1 as stated directly in the post.

[yespuhyren]

As far as extra creatures being added,

I'm currently loving the idea of Adaptive Automaton (In place of Orb).  While it is a 2/2 for 3, if you pick golems it beefs up Lodestones to 6/4 and Precursor Golem becomes 3 4/4's.  There sure are a lot of golems in the deck .  If you do it on Wurms, then Wurmcoil becomes a 7/7 and wurm tokens become 4/4's..  I'm not happy enough with a measly 2/1 in Phyrexian Revoker however, so I need to find something (ideally in the 3 slot) to do the most amount of damage as a creature.  Juggernaut is good, but the 4 mana and up slots are too heavy, so Ideally curving down one or two mana would be the best idea.

Other card options that I want to playtest out of curiosity (for this and other workshop variants):

Porcelain Legionnaire (The white guy).  3/1 first strike for 2 mana + 2 life.  Probably the most promising if there were more creatures added
Norn's Annex: 4 Life and 3 colorless/workshop mana, Artifact: Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 life/W per creature

[yespuhyren]

Metalworker has been replaced with Orb of Dreams due to it's ability to stop quite a lot of things.  Without Crucible recursion and Slash Panther in the deck, none of my creatures are compromised by coming into play tapped.  It is arguably one of the strongest lock pieces that is only difficult to use due to it's painful symmetry.  I'll see if it is too painful to use.  A further option is removing one of the 4 Orbs for a 3rd Rishadan Port or Mox Opal

[Bill Copes]

I'm not happy enough with a measly 2/1 in Phyrexian Revoker however, so I need to find something (ideally in the 3 slot) to do the most amount of damage as a creature.

Etched champion, perhaps?

[yespuhyren]

Etched champion is nuts.  I love that guy.  I just can't decide if he's MD worthy quite yet, as the disruption of Orb seems stronger than 2/2 who is usually Pro-colors.  I am going to put my "Possible Cards" list back up in the original post, as I seem to have deleted it from my middle post.

[yespuhyren]

I'm not happy enough with a measly 2/1 in Phyrexian Revoker however, so I need to find something (ideally in the 3 slot) to do the most amount of damage as a creature.

Etched champion, perhaps?

Thoughts after today:

- Updated list is at the top.
- Wurmcoil Engine: I don't know what to say.  Deathtouch kills anything that tries to stop him.  Lifelink replenishes pain from Tomb/Metamorph.  That, and when he's blown up or killed he makes more.  The standard 5/6 Goyf (Artifact, creature, land, instant, sorcery) can't do anything against him.
- Etched Champion is fantastic in theory.  That being said, no one cares about a 2/2 pro colors, because they can sit and take the 2 damage
- Orb of Dreams is stupid.  Every time I got it, I wanted more.  It is symmetrical or better, as a first turn Orb can destroy a hand with fetchlands.  Coupled with Rishadan Port and Wastes for a soft lock, and it's insane.  The only reasons NOT to run this are Slash Panther (if you want to run it) or Crucible.  I don't play either.
- Metamorph is hands down one of the best cards in the deck, and copied Oath creatures, my creatures, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and more.  
- Rishadan Port was a house every time I drew it, especially when opponent's are backpedaling against Orb of Dreams.  

I will be working on a series of in depth matchup information.

@Dave, in case you weren't 100% sure, this is my account on here  Great games, and let me know how the SB stuff works out for you or if you want to test sometime.

[Pitlord]

I like the direction the list headed, especially with Orb Of Dreams, which I've often advocated for in the past.

One card that I think has potential in a list like this is Sword of Fire and Ice. I've never been the biggest fan of the card in the past since it was neither a lock piece or a threat on its own, but the protection it offeres seems like it could be very important right now. With the rise of Jace, Lightning Bolt, and Ancient Grudge in almost every blue it seems as though it might be difficult to keep a threat on the table at times. Sword helps solve that problem and provides a good way to kill Jaces that isn't Slash Panther. Of course, the extra damage and card draw is just gravy. The issue of what to remove is probably the harder question to answer, and I would currently suggest removing perhaps a single Tangle Wire and going down to 2 Orb Of Dreams since it seems fairly bad in the Workshop mirror.

[yespuhyren]

I like the direction the list headed, especially with Orb Of Dreams, which I've often advocated for in the past.

One card that I think has potential in a list like this is Sword of Fire and Ice. I've never been the biggest fan of the card in the past since it was neither a lock piece or a threat on its own, but the protection it offeres seems like it could be very important right now. With the rise of Jace, Lightning Bolt, and Ancient Grudge in almost every blue it seems as though it might be difficult to keep a threat on the table at times. Sword helps solve that problem and provides a good way to kill Jaces that isn't Slash Panther. Of course, the extra damage and card draw is just gravy. The issue of what to remove is probably the harder question to answer, and I would currently suggest removing perhaps a single Tangle Wire and going down to 2 Orb Of Dreams since it seems fairly bad in the Workshop mirror.

Ever ounce of me wants to use SOFI in this deck, but the problem I have is that it does nothing on its own.  If your opponent has any of those, not only can they use them in response to the equip, but it is a dead card on its own.  Regardless of what you have in play, Orb of Dreams is devastating to fetchlands, slows down fastbond/gush, buys time against hasty oath creatures, and does a lot more.  First turn Chalice+Orb is devastating.  If your opponent can keep creatures off the board, then you have a dead card sitting.  

Lightning Greaves is probably a better option as it gives MORE protection and gives haste, costs less, and equips for free.

Also, 4x Tangle Wire, 3x Orb, 3x Rishadan Port is a lot of land tapping in addition to the 8 spheres/4metamorphs in the deck.

If bolts are being heavily maindecked to combat Precursors/Lodestones, then Slash Panther is going to get hit as well.  Darksteel Juggernaut sucks, but could be an interesting 5 drop and seems to range from a 4/4 to a 6/6, but it is indestructible.  For straight up aggro purposes Razormane Masticore is the best, and he also dodges Bolt (just not the artifact destruction).  Against some decks either may actually be enough to beat through.  Personally I think it'll be ok as I don't find myself stacking golems often, but if it does come up more I'd probably drop 2 Precursor Golem

[vaughnbros]

Have you considered Winter Orb? with a chalice at 0 or possibly the addition of null rod or ratchet bombs, your non shops opponent is going to take multiple turns to cast a single spell against you.

[msg67183]

Question for u. In this style deck which is better, 3 ports or 3 factories? I've won games with just factories sometimes. Also here's another question, which is a better 2 of for this deck, karn or winter orb? Karn can just win on his own with the mox eating and orb/ wire/ thorn animating. But winter orb adds to the lockdown style.

[msg67183]

Here is a list I have been testing and it has been great for me, very consistent and solid.

Lands (19)
4x Mishra's Workshop
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Wasteland
3x Mishra’s Factory
2x City of Traitors
1x Strip Mine
1x Tolarian Academy

Artifact Mana (8)
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Crypt

Creatures (16)
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Precursor Golem
4x Wurmcoil Engine
4x Phyrexian Metamorph

Lock Pieces (17)
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Thorn of Amethyst
4x Tangle Wire
4x Orb of Dreams
1x Trinisphere

Sideboard:
4x Relic of Progenitus
4x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Steel Hellkite
2x Crucible of Worlds
1x Triskelion
1x Pithing Needle

I decided to cut the revokers in the main for 4 Precursor Golems since he gives decks a problem very fast clock is better than a soft lock. Once I took the Precursors out of the SB I needed to fit 4 cards in that come in against fish style decks and also the mirror. I decided on 3 hellkites and 1 Trike so remove creatures and threats as well as act as dredge "hate". Overall I think the deck is a sucess and it will continue to play well.

[cvarosky80]

Here is a list I have been testing and it has been great for me, very consistent and solid.

Lands (19)
4x Mishra's Workshop
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Wasteland
3x Mishra’s Factory
2x City of Traitors
1x Strip Mine
1x Tolarian Academy

Artifact Mana (8)
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Crypt

Creatures (16)
4x Lodestone Golem
4x Precursor Golem
4x Wurmcoil Engine
4x Phyrexian Metamorph

Lock Pieces (17)
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Thorn of Amethyst
4x Tangle Wire
4x Orb of Dreams
1x Trinisphere

Sideboard:
4x Relic of Progenitus
4x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Steel Hellkite
2x Crucible of Worlds
1x Triskelion
1x Pithing Needle

I decided to cut the revokers in the main for 4 Precursor Golems since he gives decks a problem very fast clock is better than a soft lock. Once I took the Precursors out of the SB I needed to fit 4 cards in that come in against fish style decks and also the mirror. I decided on 3 hellkites and 1 Trike so remove creatures and threats as well as act as dredge "hate". Overall I think the deck is a sucess and it will continue to play well.

I am by no means a Shops expert, however, I built a somewhat similar build to this for one of my friends and teammates about 2 weeks ago and it is an absolute beast to face. The Wurmcoils are just so impressively dominant on the field as they just laugh at normal Shop hate like Ingot Chewers, Trygon Predator, Nature's Claim, and even Ancient Grudge for the most part as even flashing it back ultimately proves futile as there will still be one other token remaining while opening the door to just drop more Sphere effects and/or Tangle Wires. The changes in the list I built where -4 Orb, +4 Sphere, -1 Factory, +1 Mana Vault, -4 Precursor, +4 Slash Panther, but the real heart of the deck remains the same: Drop Wurmcoil as soon as possible to divert your opponent's attention from everything else you may do.

[serracollector]

Has Phyrexian Warbeast crossed anyones mind?

Its a 3 drop.  Its got 4 toughness so gets around 99% of fish/critters used in t1, and lightning bolt/fire/ice. 

Its drawback of saccing a land is rather crappy, but I think the card needs tested before dropped.  If you know they are on ancient grudges/ignot chewers you can always side them out g2.

Just a card I used to use back in the day with Juggernauts, so the idea came to me.