Mana (16)
Cantrips (12)
Business (9)
Search (12)
Removal (8)
Utility (2)
Sideboard
Other (15)
Maybeboard
Current Tournament Records:
Games Won / Lost / Drawn: 80 / 43 / 0
Rounds Won / Lost / Drawn: 37 / 17 / 0
R/u/G version can be found here.
So why play Blue-Green Tron?
Don't let those Gitaxian Probes fool you, this is really a mono-green Tron deck that goes for as much consistency as possible. Mono-blue Tron doesn't play Ancient Stirrings (which is basically "G: Draw five cards") or Sylvan Scrying. Both of these cards lead to powerful turn three plays, allowing to be more aggressive.
But what about R/G Tron? It's probably the strongest build you can make for Tron. However, it doesn't prey upon metas the way All is Dust and Sundering Titan do. It's playing red mainly for Pyroclasm, which stops a lot of the aggressive aggro decks in the format (such as Affinity). However, Pyroclasm is a dead card against control and quite a number of combo decks.
As for playing Tron in the first place, it's one of the stronger midrange decks in the format. Its turns three and four are absolutely devastating. It then puts your opponent into an unwinnable situation with powerful creatures, specifically Eldrazi. Tron does this by playing lands that cheat. Having access to Mishra's Workshop and City of Traitors in Modern is just dirty.
Mainboard:
Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, Mishra's Bauble, Gitaxian Probe
Our cantrips. These are all played to filter through cards and help set up search cards. By playing so many cards that replace themselves or cost no mana in the first place, you're playing a deck that's essentially under 60 cards. This means the chances of drawing important cards and assembling the full number of Urzatron before turn four is higher than normal. With this, the deck is allowed to play a lower land count, while never missing its land drops.
Ancient Stirrings, Sylvan Scrying, Expedition Map
The main reasons we play green in this deck are Ancient Stirrings and Sylvan Scrying. Along with Expedition Map, these ensure we have all of our pieces on the table or in-hand by turn three or four. Some Tron decks, namely mono-blue, will play counter magic until it draws into each piece. Our goal is to rush everything together. We can't do this without four copies of each of these cards.
Our board wipes and card advantage. Since the first two turns were spent looking for Urza's Tower, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Mine, our opponent has had time to establish board presence and play threats. We punish them for over extending and will often trade our one All is Dust or Oblivion Stone for two, three, or four of their creatures/enchantments/etc.
You know what's fun about playing Tron? Turn. Three. Karn. On the play, he's often enough to win the game by himself. We drop him on turn three, exile one of the opponent's lands, and then gut their hand. You: planeswalker and seven mana on turn three. Them: one land, maybe a creature or something (hah!). If the game stalls or it looks unwinable, Karn Liberated starts setting things aside out of our hand or even excess Tron pieces that are in play, then restarts the game.
Two of the most painful cards to sit across from, these two bad boys offer a lot of disruption. Sundering Titan blows out combo and control. Turn three Karn Liberated into turn four Sundering Titain leaves them with zero lands while having to deal with a planeswalker and a 7/10. A resolved Spellskite causes horrible problems for decks like Splinter Twin or Infect (thanks for the Giant Growth, scrub). These are also easy to move around with cards in the sideboard, but they're a lot stronger when you're going in blind.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Wurmcoil Engine
The main win conditions. If any of these resolve, that's pretty much game. Even if they Mindbreak Trap Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or counter Kozilek, Butcher of Truth the extra turn/draw four cards still happens. Aggro simply cannot race Wurmcoil Engine with twelve point swings each turn. Decks relying on Grapeshot really don't like it when they have to cast six more spells to catch up to the life gained.
Lands
Four copies of Urza's Tower, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Mine are essential to this deck. Some old-school players might remember the days where you ran 4/4/3 of each piece, since decks would have to play a plethora of regular lands. That isn't the case in Modern where we access to a plethora of search cards and cantrips. We can safely run multiple colored cards without having a ton of basics.
Breeding Pool or Yavimaya Coast are used for utility to activate Spellskite, pay for Gitaxian Probe when needed, or playing Academy Ruins, Remand, and other metagame calls. Either one is acceptable, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. Breeding Pool gets hit by Sundering Titan, but doesn't ping you repeatably. Yavimaya Coast comes into play untapped, and you may never need blue mana during a game, so the damage isn't much of a downside. At the same time, there are situations where you're low on life and can't afford to take anymore damage.
Eye of Ugin digs up threats when we've played our hand out. It's an essential part of the deck. It also functions as a pseudo-Tron piece, since it counts as two mana for playing Eldrazi. Bottom line, it can tutor up relevant threats and make sure you don't run out of gas.
A singleton Ghost Quarter is played to deal with problematic lands, such as Inkmoth Nexus and Celestial Colonnade. In game two after sideboarding, it can protect you from getting blown out by Sowing Salt by killing one of your own lands in response to the target.
Two basic Forests are played so that Ghost Quarters don't turn into Strip Mines and Path to Exile isn't some kind of uber Smite. They also help cast Sylvan Scrying and Ancient Stirrings when you're in a pinch.
The Sideboard
Additional copies of All is Dust and Oblivion Stone are included as additional board wipes. Against Rock and Collected Company variants, you'll bring both in. Against Splinter Twin or any match you expect to see Blood Moon, you bring in Oblivion Stone. Against aggro decks like Zoo, Infect, or Maverick, both cards are fantastic since they commit multiple cards to the board. All is Dust is a dead card against Affinity, so only Oblivion Stone is brought in.
Back to Nature is played against Hexproof variants or decks that you expect Stony Silence and Suppression Field to come in from the side. Nature's Claim is a catch-all for Daybreak Coronet, Cranial Plating, Splinter Twin, and other problematic artifacts/enchantments.
We bring Defense Grid in against any deck that plays permission, such as American Control or Delver. Spell Snare is usually boarded out against us, meaning we can slap down a Defense Grid on turn two and have every spell we cast resolve for the rest of the game.
Graveyard hate is mandatory in Modern, which we use Grafdigger's Cage. Not only does it shut down Goryo's Vengeance, Past in Flames, and Snapcaster Mage, but it also stops Collected Company. Usually, we board out Spellskite for this.
Because Grafdigger's Cage doesn't stop Living End and can be killed by Ancient Grudge, Shattering Spree, etc., it sometimes isn't enough to stop graveyard shenanigans. Thus, Surgical Extraction is brought in, replacing two Gitaxian Probe. It is also effective against burn decks, because you can hit their Lightning Bolts, or against control decks relying on Snapcaster Mage. In the Tron mirror match, Surgical Extraction is brought in because it can hit non-basics. You Sylvan Scrying or Expedition Map for Ghost Quarter, hit one of their Tron pieces, then exile all four copies with Surgical Extraction.
Torpor Orb is absolutely devastating against Splinter Twin, Faeries, and other decks that rely on enter the battlefield effects. Torpor Orb replaces Sundering Titan when boarding (note: Sundering Titan is much better against 3+ color aggro decks because of their greedy mana base). Torpor Orb still allows Podless Pod to go infinite with Viscera Seer and any persist creature (it actually becomes easier for them to go infinite because they don't need Melira, Sylvok Outcast), so we have to be careful boarding it in for that matchup. Otherwise, you run the risk of them digging up an answer to Topor Orb and stacking their deck.
Combo is problematic for Tron, especially when we're on the draw and can't disrupt them before they go off. Witchbane Orb protects us from Grapeshot, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and works double duty against Thoughtseize, Liliana of the Veil, and Inquisition of Kozilek. Against combo, we board out All is Dust for Witchbane Orbs. Against Jund and B/G/x control, we board out Spellskite.
Wurmcoil Engine replaces either Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn against three color aggro decks (like Zoo), or they replace Sundering Titian against mono-color or decks without basic lands types, such as Affinity. Wurmcoil Engine is extremely difficult for aggro decks to race. Twelve point life swings each turn are devastating and will run them out of gas quickly unless they kill it with Path to Exile.
Lastly, our sideboard is filled out with a combination of Platinum Angels and Platinum Emperion. Platinum Angel stops you from losing to poison counters, while Platinum Emperion is an absolute brick wall against any kind of aggro. Both cards stop infinite damage from decks like Splinter Twin. While Platinum Angel is usually the preferable choice, her small toughness in comparison to her mana cost means she can easily be killed by double Lightning Bolt or even Celestial Colonnade. Platinum Emperion is much more difficult to deal with, since he has eight toughness. It should be noted that Platinum Emperion prevents you from paying life to Gitaxian Probe, Breeding Pool coming into play untapped, and Spellskite. Be mindful of when you play him so you have access to blue to pay for these costs.
Conclusion
That covers pretty much everything there is to know about U/G Tron. If you have questions or suggestions, leave them in the comments below. As a closing statement, I'd like to add that the recent banning of Deathrite Shaman has taken away our best match ups (the Tron mirror and Jund). Be careful taking this deck to major events since there's more U/R/x decks running around with Snapcaster Mage.
Thank you for taking the time to read my deck tech!
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| Date added | 12 years |
| Last updated | 1 year |
| Legality | This deck is not Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 13 - 3 Mythic Rares 8 - 7 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 5 Commons |
| Cards | 59 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.22 |
| Tokens | Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink |
| Folders | Constructed Decks, Eldrazi / Tron, intresting, MODERN DECKS, Favs, cool stuff, Modern, Favorites, Tron, Tron Options |
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