DISCLAIMER:
This deck was inspired by Mike Porter's third place performance at an SCG IQ in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania on 5/16/2015.
INTRODUCTION:
After experimenting with G/r variants, I concluded that Pyroclasm wasn't exactly cutting it for me, and I ended up siding it out multiple times before wondering why I'm not playing a single color. I then happened upon Mike Porter's deck (more information above) and fell in love, as black is my favorite magic color. A bit of testing confirmed this deck as one of my modern mainstay decks of destruction.
For those unfamiliar with the strategy, Tron (aka UrzaTron) looks to assemble the three Urza-land combo of
Urza's Power Plant
, Urza's Mine, and
Urza's Tower
. These three lands will together produce seven mana, and allow you to start dropping haymakers by turn three. It's important to note that they aren't legendary, meaning you can play multiples and watch your mana supply skyrocket. Literally. In the meantime, it acts as a sort of control/tempo deck, buying time in order to assemble the three lands and cantripping with artifacts as well.
EWD (Evil Weapons of Destruction):
Wurmcoil Engine--Still not entirely sure why a wurm can be a goddamn machine, but whatever. Deathtouch and lifelink is excellent to have for a deck that's trying to stabilize for its haymakers. Luckily, this card stabilizes and is a haymaker at the same time!
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn--Behold, the terrifying spaghetti monster itself. Any deck that wants gigantic creatures on the battlefield quickly look to either this or Griselbrand, which this deck can't really support. It should be noted that this deck is equipped to handle fifteen flying squirrels.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth--This was a recent addition. Most of our card advantage comes from either board presence or cantrips. THIS is card advantage. Keep in mind that if this gets countered, you still get the card draw, similarly to Emrakul's time walk trigger.
Karn Liberated--Need something gone? This card will do that pretty well. He's especially important in a mono-black deck that doesn't handle opposing non-creature permanents very well. Also, you haven't lived until you've restarted the game with Emrakul right off the bat.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon--Great in standard, and proven to be just as good in Tron strategies. Why run All Is Dust when this boss-ass dragon is all that and even more?
Batterskull--Grab the Germ-X. While this card is easily the weakest of the haymakers in the deck, it's still vital to have due to the lifelink and the rebuy ability, giving it resiliency in a deck that can admittedly fold to the right cards. Also, one of my dreams is to one day equip Emrakul with it.
THE GEMS OF POWER (Other Artifacts):
Expedition Map--A staple of all tron decks, no matter what colors they play. Without the three tron lands, tron can't operate at the level of efficiency required to actually compete against other top-tier modern archetypes.
Druidic Satchel--Kind of an oddball. The idea is that, upon hitting a creature, you get an important chump blocker; on a land, equally important ramp; on something else, equally important life-gain. This is one I'm kind of unsure about still, so let me know what I should replace it with, if at all.
Ichor Wellspring--Allows us to cantrip, accelerating through our deck, and create card advantage upon getting hit by mass artifact hate like Creeping Corrosion. It's also great in combination with our secondary theme: sacrificing artifacts for what we in the Magic the Gathering industry like to call "value".
Trading Post
--Speaking of value... This card does so much for the deck, rebuying maps, drawing cards, granting life-gain in rare cornercase scenarios; shit, it even makes goats. GOATS. All hail the 0/1 white Goat token.
Solemn Simulacrum
--This Commander format all-star is finally granted an appearance among the likes of Delver of Secrets
,
Tarmogoyf
, and Siege Rhino. This card coincides well with the post and helps us find crucial black mana.
Mind Stone--There's a reason this card sees heavy play alongside the sad robot in Commander: mana ramp early in the game, and a good way to dig for something spicy early on when mana isn't an issue.
WAIT, THIS DECK HAS COLORED CARDS?:
Dismember--This card is commonly seen as a
Splinter Twin
disruptor, but in this deck we will oftentimes be using it as a traditional removal spell. Gotta stop the opponent from doing stuff somehow; sometimes a 15/15 with literally every ability known to mankind isn't enough.
Go for the Throat--See Dismember. Also, every time I read the name I just feel vicious.
Beseech the Queen--As close to Demonic Tutor as we can get. It allows us to search for literally anything we want (given the prerequisites of land count), be it an Urza-land, a metal thing, or an Eldrazi. Additionally, even though the triple black looks intimidating in a near-colorless deck, keep in mind it can always be cast for 6 colorless if absolutely necessary.
Damnation--Because boardwipes. It may or may not be one of my favorite cards of all time.
The mana base is relatively self-explanatory.
Phyrexia's Core
goes great with the wellsprings and simulacrums, and
Eye of Ugin
allows us another way to tutor for a haymaker. And then, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Because swamps are the solution to all problems.
Let me know what you think of the deck! Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!
