EDIT: This was moved from a separate thread to better utilize the new system. Feel free to make separate threads to address specific questions
I mentioned in the "DTB Workshop Aggro" thread that I am interested in shops, but I feel a dearth of information on historic lists, and why things have changed. So I reached out to some members of Team Serious who have been playing shops for many many years, and asked them some questions that occurred to me so that I could write down the answers.
Please anyone out there with domain knowledge of these decks feel free to argue. I am going to write these out as potentially controversial "TRUTHS" of the archetype as it stands today. As well as some questions that I have, primarily rooted in the past of vintage. Mostly for that reason, because I want to stir up some conversation.
Truths about Shops
- Shops decks should be running at least 26 mana sources, you need a good reason to have more than 27 (in the main). Of those 26+ the following are locked in are 4 shops 4 Tomb 5 Wasteland/Strip Mine 1 Tolarian Academy
- Shops decks should have 4 Thorn 4 Sphere 4 Phyrexian Revoker 1 Lodestone Golem
- Most successful shops decks have 4 Ravager and 4 Ballista, and you need a good reason not to run them.
- Forgemaster is no longer playable for a number of reasons including but not limited to: swords becoming more popular, the printing of dack fayden, the commonality of arcbound ravager, and the number of decks running 4 Phyrexian Revokers
- People are either running Tangle Wire or Precursor Golem you are a person so you should be in this camp also
Questions about shops moving forward
- Can Metalworker Staff be a thing again?
- Is going big (more duplicants, wurmcoils, steel hellkites) or going small (more chief of the foundry, steel overseer, animation module, memnite) viable?
- What about Stax? Can we make a version that makes non-ravager, prison builds keep up with the aggro builds?
- What about colors in shops?
- Is any draw card worth it in shops (meaning Coercive Portal, Sea Gate Wreckage, Staff of Nin, the staff half of Metalworker Staff)?
- Is there any weird combo-y deck with all the new weird artifacts that have been printed lately? I am thinking about Aetherflux Reservoir, Scrap Trawler, Animation Module, KCI, Genesis Chamber and some other things that people have been playing around with in modern as possible avenues.