Would this be tier 0?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

This seems to prove my point that it's not exactly easy. You're specifying a race (Gray Elves are a decent race, but hardly head and shoulders above other Wizard races),

Grey Elf gives a whopping +1 to spellcraft relative to any race without an INT penalty. It also provides another use of metamagic effect, and elven generalist pairs well with Incantatrix, which is why I chose it as the base race. Would you rather human, for a 50 spellcraft?

using Dragon Magazine material twice,

So are we talking about something being difficult, or a DM banning certain methods and making it difficult? Also, see the last part.

giving up resources worth 8 points of initiative (a Feat plus familiar selection, which if you use the Dragon Magazine issue with moths could be a hummingbird),

I honestly don't see this as a huge cost, especially for what it gives. And if you think initiative is so precious, you're probably taking Improved Initiative either way. The cost of taking Shape Soulmeld is whatever feat you'd actually give up to get it, i.e. your worst feat.

assuming availability of some masterwork Spellcraft tool

Really? I mean, the dragon stuff I can see criticizing, but this?

and assuming that a Spellcraft check is the sort of thing your familiar can Aid Another with (Aid Another includes a DM arbitration clause, "In many cases, a character’s help won’t be beneficial...").

The familiar is actually really good at spellcraft as well, and it's practically an extension of the caster. Give me a good argument as to why it shouldn't be able to aid another.

Sure, you managed, but by using basically every resource but homebrew and variant rules, and at significant cost (the +8 initiative delta).

I didn't just "manage." I beat a DC 39 (your listed challenge) by 12 without using a competence item, or a cleric buddy, or just UMDing wands. In fact, that was my point - so that if you wanted to nitpick a particular part of how I got a particular bonus, you could in fact just throw it out entirely and still beat the DC.

Edit: For comparison, the Psycarnum Metamagic trick uses five feats (Wild Talent, Psycarnum Infusion, Midnight Metamagic, Improved Essentia Capacity, Easy Metamagic), one of which can come from race selection. Incantatrix costs one (Iron Will) plus a school of spells (more valuable than a feat) and the above optimization costs the equivalent of three (race, familiar, actual feat). Psycarnum Metamagic does come online a lot later, but it lets you make literally as many persistent spells as you like, so call that a wash.

1. No more complaining about dragon magazine material.
2. Five feats is a lot.
3. You can buy Iron Will.
4. This comes online once you can put 4 essentia into a feat normally, that is, level 18.
And, drumroll...
5. It only affects one spell per day.

Spoiler

Show

Once per day, you can invest essentia into this feat and choose one or more spells that you know (and have prepared, if you prepare spells) to apply the effect of a metamagic feat that you know. Each spell to be affected requires the investment of a number of essentia equal to the normal spell level adjustment required by the metamagic feat (minimum 1 point of essentia).

Emphasis mine.

If you're going to say Incantatrix is lame, at least use Anima Mage as a comparison.