I decided to try Shops for the first time this weekend and loved it. I tried Car Shops, specifically Nick Dijohn's 75 from Eternal Extravaganza 5 , as I was told it was a solid list to test out.

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13802&d=281428&f=VI

I went 3-1, made a bunch of mistakes a long the way. However, I've been trying to debate continuing to try Car Shops out or if I should go down the TKS Shops route. I want to stay with the aggro variations on Shops as that is more my style, then the STAX hard lock style. I do enjoy playing with creatures and I love Eldrazi, but it was interesting the nuances of the deck with the cars. I ran into needing more land to play some of the cars out when I had too many Thorn's out, but that probably came down to sequencing errors and honestly, forgetting I had a land in my hand on one turn (major mistake).

What I'm wondering ,what are you feelings on both decks (pros and cons), the long term potential of both, and/or anything you else you feel may be pertinent?

I thought I was a Painter player, but I feel I've gotten a bit rusty after this weekend.

@mdkubiak Car shops is real. Nick took 2nd (or was it first? god getting old sucks) in a 24 man tournament over the weekend at Deal Me In Games in Boyertown. Top 8 had 2 (maybe 3) car shops lists in it. Car shops seems to give the agro gameplan a big boost. Getting a turn 1 or 2 cruiser down - that haste really puts pressure on blue mages to find answers NOW.

@Khahan said:

@mdkubiak Car shops is real. Nick took 2nd (or was it first? god getting old sucks) in a 24 man tournament over the weekend at Deal Me In Games in Boyertown. Top 8 had 2 (maybe 3) car shops lists in it. Car shops seems to give the agro gameplan a big boost. Getting a turn 1 or 2 cruiser down - that haste really puts pressure on blue mages to find answers NOW.

And people wonder why I'm so high on Mantis Rider. It's actually really funny how slow players are to accept a new paradigm in Vintage. The aggro paradigm has always been there, but players have been too stubborn or cowardly to truly go for it. Kudos to those who have the balls to make it work.

-Storm

Get too hard in the aggro route and combo will crush you. Vintage metagame is always in an equilibrium, but it shifts from ome point to another depending players' feelings and sideboards. If people play grudges and hurkyl's maindeck MUD suffers a bit, REBs hurt blue and bolts/swords hit aggro.

And moons hits all of them

always in an equilibrium, but it shifts from one point to another

These things are literally antonyms. And I think the idea that aggro is ascendant speaks mostly to the diversity of the metagame, and not to an inherent competitive advantage of aggro strategies at the moment.

You are right, I didn't expressed me well. I meant that for any successful deck, there is another that can win it, so there is an equilibrium that prevents having an absolute dominant archetype. On the other hand the point of equilibrium shifts depending on how people prepare their decks against others. If people want to punish blue decks, non-blue decks will improve. Same for other cases.