If you hate people... Play this deck
Modern
SCORE: 188 | 292 COMMENTS | 35888 VIEWS | IN 88 FOLDERS
Changing to a "Purer" Form of Control —June 19, 2016
This deck has needed a remodeling for some time now... I have had some time off from magic and coming back into the game I had a chance to look at the deck in a different light. The first problem that I had to address was the fact that mono U tron and Control Decks in general have always had terrible matchups against aggressive decks such as infect and burn. Previously I had decided to just except this fact and try not to ever play those aggressive decks. Unfortunately with aggressive decks such as those making up almost half of the metagame I realized that I could not do this. This prompted me to make some changes to the list (more on that later) but more importantly it made me analyze the way I played the deck and see if there was anything that I could do about my own habits to make those aggressive decks easier matchups. The first step in this analyzation process was to look over some of the replays from Cockatrice and Untap.in. My conclusion was that I was not countering the most important stuff and thus would counter Goyfe instead of holding back on the counter and instead countering there much more dangerous Liliana. Sure I was taking more damage this way however this stopped a much larger threat in the long run. Now with the deck that I was previously running I would never get to that "long run". I would die much sooner than that. So with that in mind I went to change the deck. What I decided was that if I wasn't going to counter their earlier threat I would have to have some other form of removal and/or bounce. Dismember and more bounce in the form of another Repeal and a Cyclonic Rift were my answers to this. With the addition of these spells, my Infect matchup goes up considerably and my already solid matchups against midrange decks got even better. The one problem that I still had was Burn. My solution to this was 2 Bottle Gnomes in the SB. These additions, I feel, make the deck a lot stronger overall. Not only do these changes help out with the new mindset that you should playing this deck with (only counter the real threats and mop up the semi threats later with bounce and removal) it also makes the aggresive matchups better because they will generally have threats on the board before you ever have permission up. The extra bounce and removal will help because you can get rid of their threats after they come off the stack.
A quick side note.
With these large changes to the deck, I feel like I need to make it clear that the play-style of this deck also needs to be changed. No longer should you be tapping out on turn four to cast your defensive Solemn Simulacrum. Often times I realized that I had had to do this play because I would die next turn. Hopefully with the addition of the onboard removal and bounce this will no longer be the case and instead you can cast it on turn 6-7 with some permission in hand.
Changes:
-2 Treasure Mage, -1 Wurmcoil Engine, -1 Solemn Simulacrum, -2 Aetherize (removed from the SB).
+2 Dismember (moved from SB), +1 Repeal, +1 Cyclonic Rift, +2 Bottle Gnomes (added to the SB), +1 Batterskull (added to the SB), +1 Dispel (added to the SB).
I will update the primer ASAP.
Yep, just the one... I actually haven't played it yet, and I just ordered a Batterskull. Probably a bad idea to play for the first time in a tournament, but I may just try it anyway ;) Should be able to get some games in over the next few days. This deck I can tell will not be so easy to master, where the first time I ever played GR Tron was at a modern night and I won.
February 2, 2016 8:04 p.m.
IzzetFanatic says... #3
@Slowgod: nice. Goodluck. Maybe we can playtest on cockatrice.
February 2, 2016 8:19 p.m.
Sure, I need to get that up and running again. Only played on there a few times so still need to learn how to play it a bit faster. I also just bought everything I was missing for an infect deck, kind of spur of the moment thing, but the deal was too good to refuse :/
February 3, 2016 10:07 a.m.
IzzetFanatic says... #5
@Slowgod: lets set up a time to play some cockatrice and I can help you learn the hotkeys.
February 4, 2016 7:16 p.m.
bloodredChili says... #6
What do you think about adding Cyclonic Rift to the sideboard? Seems pretty good against the aggro matchups, ain't?
Besides this: I've seen a Urzatron deck on MTGO Top-8-ing on 4th place against affinity, eldrazi aggro and jund. The deck ran Platinum Angel three times. Do you think this is a valid strategy against an aggro-based meta?
February 12, 2016 7:04 a.m.
Dredge4life says... #7
Was this mono U Tron w Mindslaver and Wurmcoil Engine or was it countermagic? There's a version running around that's sole purpose is to protect Platinum Angel. Personally, I think it's viable, but IzzetFanatic can probably give you a more accurate evaluation.
February 12, 2016 3:05 p.m.
bloodredChili says... #8
It's only creature is Platinum Angel - but three times. It runs one Mindslaver in the Main and one in the side. Here is the list.
I think you just try to stay alive by sustaining Platinum Angel until you can release the Mindslaver-Lock.
February 12, 2016 3:34 p.m.
I really like that list, I just offloaded all of my G/R Tron stuff, and unfortunately sold my Chalices at 50 a pop, but I still have just about everything to make up a nice U Tron deck. Seems like it could actually be well positioned against a meta not expecting a boatload of counter spells.
February 12, 2016 5:23 p.m.
Dredge4life says... #10
Interesting. Definitely not traditional U-Tron, but it's also not classic Angel Tron, but rather a mix of the two. If you were to build this list, I highly recommend Pact of Negation for protecting the platinum.
February 12, 2016 10:24 p.m.
My only question is why aren't you playing a one of Cyclonic Rift, I think the card is really worth the spot in the deck. I know it isn't the best when you don't have tron, but its still a solid bounce spell when you need it, and if you have the mana it becomes a wiper. Also I would love to play test against you in cockatrice, my user name is the same.
February 22, 2016 9:21 a.m.
I finally got a full U Tron deck together, gonna give it some play testing today. It's quite a bit different and I will probably add some Ratchet Bombs which I traded for, but they haven't arrived yet. Any thoughts? Not really Budget U Tron
February 22, 2016 10:42 a.m.
IzzetFanatic says... #13
@Zulama: I'd love to playtest against you. The reason I don't run Cyclonic Rift is because it does not provide the cantrip aspect that Repeal provides. And it's overload cost is too much. Against the aggro decks out there it's overload doesn't do enough even if I do manage to hit it. And otherwise it is a bounce spell. They can just play it again. Repeal does the same except for it helps you dig for an answer as well as slow them down. I will test your idea (I already have tested it a bit). If I were to make the change, what would you recommend taking out? Thanks.
February 22, 2016 9:18 p.m.
Thanks for your quick reply, I really think that having Fabricate is not really worth it unless your also running a Batterskull, so cut that card for a Cyclonic Rift. I am not a huge fan of Fabricate because it doesn't really come with a 2/2 creature. Also I think you should have another Island over a Talisman of Dominance, as it will help fixing your mana a bit more. Also i don't really think you need more then 3 copies of Repeal, but its really up to you. I also think that your sideboard could add additional removal. Oath of the Gatewatch added a really good removal card for this deck which is Spatial Contortion. Add me in Cockatrice so we can talk more later about this.
February 23, 2016 4:24 p.m.
Pheardemons says... #15
IzzetFanatic - First off I just wanted to say thanks for the primer and great detail of the deck. When I got into Mono-U Tron I found your deck and used it as my basis. I did have a question for you though. I am probably going to take my blue tron deck "Counters, Wurmcoil, Titan, then Ugin. Beat that." to GP Charlotte within a month and was wondering, 1) could you take a look and tell me what you think of my version? (I tried to tag it but it kept saying error. Will try to fix it and maybe come back to tag) 2) How do you think this deck does against the newest control deck Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry ? I have yet to be able to playtest against it, and where I live there isn't much magic so I probably won't be able to playtest until the day of or before the GP.
April 21, 2016 3:12 p.m.
IzzetFanatic says... #16
@Pheardemons: I am very sorry I have not responded. I had other commitments that made MTG less of a priority. Because of this I am very out of the loop. 1) I looked at the deck and I like it a lot. I do have a couple questions though. Are Kozilek and Batterskull really worth it. I have tested with both and decided I did not like them do to the fact that wurmcoil is almost always better instead of Batterskull and Kozilek is too much mana (it only ever is castable with tron which is not something I can rely on enough). Also how do you like Cyclonic Rift? I have always favored a third repeal because of the draw but I would like to know what you think. 2) I don't think you will run into that deck to be honest. In the unlikely scenario that you do run into it, don't let the Foundry resolve at all costs. You will not be able to deal with all the tokens. Overall I think the deck is a really interesting take on my deck and I'd love to hear how it did/ does. Good luck if GP Charlotte hasn't happened and I hope you did well if it did already happen. Once again I am very sorry I did not respond sooner. I hope you can understand. Thanks
May 3, 2016 10:18 p.m.
Pheardemons says... #17
IzzetFanatic - It's all good man. People have lives outside of magic.
GP Charlotte is the weekend of the 20th. I'll let you know how it goes if you like.
Cyclonic Rift has actually played very well. I wasn't so sure at first because it almost requires tron to be active, but I've gotten the overload more often than not. Also if I need to stall or just get their board clear the overload is amazing. I plan on keeping it.
Kozilek, the Great Distortion has actually played pretty well. Granted it does suck to leave in my hand, but late game (if it resolves) it wins the game, or gives me a full hand. I am possibly considering taking it out, but I haven't found anything I'm willing to replace it for yet. It was just to take Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger's place in the deck, but I may switch in between them to playtest.
Batterskull I agree I probably do need to replace. Playtesting it has always been situational. I'll most likely put in the third Repeal.
May 3, 2016 11:52 p.m.
Pheardemons says... #18
Another question for you man. Why do you play both Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge? I've had problems with blue colors, granted I only play three Talisman of Dominances. I've actually been debating on switching to Tectonic Edge, I just don't like the fact that my opponent gets to keep 4 lands. Granted Ghost Quarter gives them a basic, but in a tron matchup it helps. I don't know if I want to keep it at all. I usually don't like seeing it.
How do you feel about Chalice of the Void mainboard? Honestly it is a little expensive for me right now, but one mainboard and one or two sideboard could be a good way to try and slow down those aggressive decks that win against me game one, with Tolaria West as another possible fetch for it and Academy Ruins or any of the tron lands. Any thoughts?
May 4, 2016 midnight
I'm new to modern, and so I started to make a budget infect deck, however I really like this deck! Afterwards I might try to acquire all of the cards for it.
Thank you for helping me to discover what looks to be an amazing deck I would want to play. +1.
May 16, 2016 7:47 p.m.
amazingdan says... #20
Do you think you could clear the comments? There are quite a few from a while ago and it's pretty annoying for us mobile users to scroll down that far.
As far as the deck, could you tell me why Cyclonic Rift isn't included? You've probably already considered it, which is why I don't suggest it outright, but I would like to hear the reasoning. It seems like a very powerful effect(although not quite as good as it is in Commander).
May 16, 2016 8:08 p.m.
Luckyguyjack says... #21
There is no reason for this deck to be mono-blue. It just feels like RG Tron minus the consistency and inevitability. It would be fascinating to know why you made this decision.
IzzetFanatic says... #1
@Slowgod: im with you for the Batterskull. Does your list run Fabricate?
February 2, 2016 6:50 p.m.