Sideboard


If you have any foils that I don't have marked in this deck, I want to trade for them. plz. thx.


Primer

Tron is the big mana deck of the modern format. Big mana decks usually aim to ramp up their mana production in the first few turns of the game, then start spitting out fatties and haymakers way above curve in order to overwhelm the opponent with threats that their on-curve answers cant deal with. Most decks in modern have one particular interaction or game plan that they like to follow (usually what the deck is named after), and in the case of Tron we are looking to assemble the UrzaTron by turn three and cast a Karn Liberated. If ton is able to pull this off, that game is usually a win because Karn makes it incredibly difficult to lose once he resolves. To get to turn three tron, we use a lot of card filtering and searching in the early game. This means that we generally give the opponent a full two turns and sometimes a third if were on the draw to get their game plan going. This means that fast, low to the ground decks like burn, infect, and zoo are some of our worst matchups. Tron plays a variety of answers to help mitigate some of the beating that it takes before the third turn, and if we can make it out alive theres usually no coming back for the opponent.

Card Type Breakdown

The biggest things to mention while deconstructing Tron are obviously the Tron lands themselves, Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine, and Urza's Power Plant. Together these three cards tap for a collective mana, which is just a staggering amount to have access to in the early game.

The deck obviously has to play more than 12 lands, though, so it also packs a full set of Gx lands. These will vary depending on which variant of the deck you are on, which is basically determined by what you expect to face in your local meta game. Grove of the Burnwillows , Razorverge Thicket , or Blooming Marsh . These lands are chosen because they are essentially free. They dont cost any life to play which is huge when were giving our aggro opponents three free turns, and they come into play untapped usually so we arent putting ourselves behind.

The deck also runs some number of Sanctum of Ugin . This slot was once held by the now banned Eye of Ugin, and is just a value land slot now to help solidify wins in the later game. The deck will also usually run some number of Ghost Quarter as well to help fight the mirror as well as the random utility lands from other decks such as Inkmoth Nexus and Desolate Lighthouse. The number of cards in the utility slot shouldnt exceed 3.

Lastly, Forest. Most players choose to only run 1 copy as a concession to Ghost Quarter, though some versions play all the way up to 3. Between Path to Exile, Ghost Quarter, and Blood Moon, theres definite reason to at least jam 2 copies the way that things currently stand.

Tron as a deck is extremely redundant, and this is because it has access to the best green card advantage spells that modern has to offer. Ancient Stirrings is the real lynchpin in the filtering package as it can be used to dig for a missing Tron piece or nab a win condition in the later stages of the game. Basically any hand with a tron piece, a green source, and a stirrings is keepable, though we will go over opening hand situations later on. The deck also plays the best land tutor in modern, Sylvan Scrying. While it seems like a pain that the card only goes to the hand instead of into play, scrying is ideal because it allows us to fix ourselves however we need to. Missing a tron piece? Only have one threat and want to grab a Sanctum? Scrying is the best piece of search that we have access to.

Were an almost entirely colorless deck that runs very few colored sources. For this reason, we include full sets of Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere. These little baubles allow us to dig through to find missing pieces, and fix mana at an extremely reasonable cost. Its fairly common that the Tron player will outdraw their blue-deck opponent over the course of the game between the number of baubles and the green spells that they play. Whether searching for Threats, Lands, or Removal, this suite will get you what you need with extreme reliability.

Modern is a format dominated by cheap efficient creatures, and in order to get to the point of the game where we want to be, we need a way to survive those first few turns. This generally means removal in some capacity. Fortunately Tron has access to one of the best board wipes in the format, Oblivion Stone. Its an answer for literally anything that can also dodge blowing up our own threats. Ideally, this card is used as a backup for whatever splashed removal spell is being used, but it is nothing if not reliable. Even if were being choked on tron pieces, the stone can still come down turn three and tick off turn five if were being forced to fight fair.

The other pieces of removal that deck will play come with whatever color is being splashed. Red has access to Firespout and Lightning Bolt. The Spout is generally used though there have been cases of people jamming four bolts in to deal with select little guys. However, if dealing with little dudes is the idea, then white and black have better answers with Path to Exile and Fatal Push respectively.

One of the best things about tron most players opinions is the fact that the deck just doesnt lose. This is something that most other decks cant claim, but between Karn Liberated and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, tron has an extremely difficult time losing the game. Karn basically says that the opponent isnt allowed to have good cards anymore, and if something gets out of hand then he can just restart the game. Ugin is both a repeatable board wipe, win condition, and ultimate blowout if allowed to sit on the board. Having either one of these dudes out basically ensures that you will not lose the game, and having both of the tag team champions on the board will almost surely secure a victory.

Most decks also rely on some number of Spellskite to both protect the decks real threats and throw some decks like Infect and Bogles off balance.

Tron has access to approximately 100,000 colorless mana over the course of the game, and as everyone knows the best thing to do with that sort of resource is jam Eldrazi Titans. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is the main threat because it disrupts the opponents field just enough to secure its time on the field to swing in, and when it does it attacks the opponent from two different angles. However, if good ol Ula-daddy isnt enough to get there weve also got big-momma Emrakul, the Promised End to count on. Taking the opponents turn is generally enough to mess up their plan so much that they are forced into submission, and if it isnt then they have a giant 13/13 flyer to contend with. Lets just say that any game with a resolved Emrakul is a game in Trons favor. Even better though about these titans is that their abilities are on cast, which means that even when your Jesper control opponent counters the titan you will still get some sort of tremendous effect out of it.

In case the Eldrazi plan is a bit too slow, Tron also has access to Wurmcoil Engine and World Breaker to jam in the early game. Every non-white aggressive deck struggles against wurmcoil because its just so hard to deal with and the lifelink is enough to dig out of any situation. World Breaker is mostly for the mirror, though it grants a lot of utility that the deck wouldnt normally have access to. Sniping a pesky Blood Moon or Batterskull or something is great, the ability to block Lingering Souls tokens is awesome, and the recursion is primo when your opponent is really good at dealing with your threats.

The Play

Tron is extremely redundant, so piloting it is usually pretty straightforward. One of the biggest things that you need to consider is your opening hand. There are a great deal of hands that dont look keepable but are actually fantastic and many that look great but should be put back.

Lets look at one example hand:

Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Mine, Karn Liberated, Chromatic Star, Expedition Map, Forest, Oblivion Stone

This hand is 10/10 A+ keepable. Not only is it a Turn Three Karn hand, but it also has the o-stone as a backup in case of emergency, and the capacity to dig a bit deeper to find even more things.

Urza's Tower, Ancient Stirrings, Sylvan Scrying, Firespout , grove of the bunrwillows, Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Sphere

This hand is about 50/50. You have a shot at getting to turn three tron, but if you do you dont have much to do with it. Id probably keep this on the draw in a game two against a slower deck or something like merfolk, but thats the only time id keep it.

Urza's Tower, Ancient Stirrings, Urza's Mine, Sylvan Scrying, Spellskite, Karn Liberated, Wurmcoil Engine

This hand is extremely tricky. If youre feeling confident, are already up a game and have room to gamble because its a favorable matchup, theres no problem keeping this hand. If this is game one, id probably ship this hand back because theres no green source. Hands like this often look great but you get to turn two drawing another fatty and another green draw spell, and you feel really bad about your choice.

Like most decks, recognizing good and bad opening hands comes with experience. Generally you dont want to keep a hand without a tron land in it, as well as some kind of threat and / or multiple filtering cards.

There are several combinations that you should always keep, and all of those lead to a turn three tron.

2x Urza lands, Expedition Map, Karn

2x Urza lands, Sylvan Scrying, Chromatic piece, Karn

1x Urza Land, Sylvan Scrying, Chromatic piece, Expedition Map, any other land, Karn can also get there and is usually keepable even though you may only have one Urza piece. Sometimes you get lucky, other times a turn 4 Karn is just as good.

Red

Access to more board wipe in Firespout . Access to Crumble to Dust in the sideboard. Access to Sudden Shock out of the board. Grove of the Burnwillows always comes in untapped. Red is the traditional choice for Tron decks. Most players today have moved away from it in favor of single targeted removal or better sideboard options. Better against go-wide strategies due to the higher percentage of board wipes, worse against aggressive matches and combo matches than the others.

White

Access to Blessed Alliance and Path to Exile main deck. Access to Leyline of Sanctity, Rest in Peace out of the sideboard. White is played generally for open fields where the meta could actually just be anything. Its sort of the generic go-to for when you dont know what you could be playing against. Not particularly better against any specific strategies, but generally good against all strategies.

Black

Access to Collective Brutality and Fatal Push main deck. Access to Ravenous Trap, Leyline of the Void, more Fatal Push out of the sideboard. Black is the deck for the highly aggressive meta games. When you are planning on facing burn, infect, or dredge every round you play black because Collective Brutality is the bees knees against these aggressive strategies, as well as combo matches like Ad Nauseam. Weaker against the bigger decks of the format like the mirror or Valakut decks, and wide creature strategies.

I've come up with a rough budget list as well, which turned out to be largely mono green for the sake of not running duals.

Paper budget list:


Paper Budget Green Tron

Modern DevoidMage

SCORE: 7 | 15 COMMENTS | 1003 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


MTGO budget list:


MTGO Budget Green Tron

Modern DevoidMage

SCORE: 11 | 24 COMMENTS | 3218 VIEWS | IN 10 FOLDERS


Sideboard and Matchups to come

Suggestions

Updates Add

So I decided on a whim to put chalice of the void in the firespout slot, and it seems pretty good. not having a second color allows for more basics, which is great vs all of the ghost quarters and paths that are seeing play, plus the ability to consistently chalice on huge costs really just demolishes some decks.

Last three weeks FNMs, 4-0, 4-1, 3-1. Loses were to Ad Nauseam, just couldn't land enough haymakers quickly enough.

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Revision 60 See all

(7 years ago)

+1 All is Dust main
-4 Chalice of the Void main
-1 Crumble to Dust side
-1 Emrakul, the Promised End main
+2 Ghost Quarter main
-1 Grove of the Burnwillows main
+1 Jester's Cap side
+1 Rest in Peace side
-1 Sanctum of Ugin main
+1 Thragtusk side
+4 Walking Ballista main
-2 Warping Wail side
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #29 position overall 9 years ago
Date added 9 years
Last updated 7 years
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.

Rarity (main - side)

15 - 1 Mythic Rares

7 - 7 Rares

19 - 4 Uncommons

16 - 3 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 3.07
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink
Folders decks to check out, wqrewgtd, Cool Decks, grixis discard, Modern-Combo, decks, decks, Mordern, Modern staples, Modern
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