The Modern Bible of RG Tron Chapter Four - The Bombs

This week we will talk about the bombs - the cards that win you the game. You have assembled the Tron and defended yourself using the stuff in your engine. Now it is time to reap the rewards.

Your plan is always to assemble the Tron and then play huge effects that are just bigger than anything your opponent is trying to do. This week we are talking about these huge effects.


Karn Liberated
Make no mistake, RG Tron is a Karn Liberated deck. We must always play four Karns (even though he can sometimes be sideboarded out). Some people would have included him in the engine section (chapter three) but read that ultimate again. Yes, that is true, Karn is a bomb. Karn wins you the game single-handedly. He provides inevitability even against opponents gaining infinite life, as he can just restart the game.

You must learn how to play Karn properly. He is the most important card in the deck. That is why I have dedicated chapter 21 to playing Karn.

Wurmcoil Engine
Often overshadowed by the larger creatures, the engines are your bread and butter. Often, you need no other big creature to win the game. In fact, in many sideboarded matches you will play no bigger creature as they are too slow to affect the outcome of the game. The resiliency of Wurmcoil combined with the Lifegain is essential to the deck.

Wurmcoil sometimes becomes the victim of Path to Exile. A very common sideboard strategy is to hit your own Wurmcoil with Nature's Claim against aggressive decks when they try to Path it or when it is tapped out because it was attacking.

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
This Modern Masters 2015 all-star is the most powerful creature in Magic.  Playing one copy of her and searching for her with Eye of Ugin ensures that RG Tron has the most powerful lategame in Modern. Yes, more powerful than anyone else. It is not often that playing Emrakul does not win you the game outright. It can happen but not very often.

In Chapter 24 I will make a strong case that we don't even need this giant she-beast in the deck (in fact our build in chapter 5 will banish Emrakul to the sideboard), but that is for later. For now, rest assured that her presence makes sure that no control deck can control us.

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Ulamog might look weak compared to Emrakul but is primarily used in two ways. The first way is a bridge between assembling Tron and casting Emrakul. Emrakul often comes down on turn six or seven, which may be too late against many decks. To be able to cast an Ulamog on turn five and get the benefit from the Vindicate effect might be enough to rescue you. The second way to use Ulamog is as the ultimate finisher of the deck. His only weakness is Path to Exile. If he is not Path to Exiled, he will often win you the game. Annihilator 4 and Indestructible goes a long way. If the opponent somehow manages to remove your Ulamog, you can often just search for him with Eye of Ugin and recast him (against Counterspells mostly).

Sundering Titan
What has been said for Ulamog can often be said for Sundering Titan. They shine in different matchups though. Against decks that rely on many colors of Mana (such as Abzan or Scapeshift) a resolved Sundering Titan can often win you the game.

If you include Sundering Titan in your deck, it is very common to also include a Cavern of Souls (as discussed in chapter two) to make sure you can resolve him against control decks (that are often devastated by the Titan's ability).

Sundering Titan and Ulamog are mutually exclusive, as they occupy the same spot in the deck.

I was very dismissive of Sundering Titan in my early Tron career, but lately I have learned to love him.

The builds in chapter five-seven
In the coming three weeks I will present three builds of the RG Tron deck, each one focusing on Emrakul, Ulamog and Sundering Titan.

Which build is the best? Well, that depends on your metagame. We will address this question later.

Huge creatures that you do not need
Kozilek, buther of Truth
Blightsteel Colossus

These (and other) giant fatties are not what you are looking for. In fact, you want to play as few bombs as you can get away with. You just need the inevitability and to survive. These creatures do not help you survive well enough to motivate their inclusion.

Do sideboard out the bombs
You often sideboard out your bombs. I will discuss this further in chapter eleven.

Emrakul, especially, is often way too slow to make a difference against fast decks such as Infect or Burn.

NIn the coming three weeks I will present three sample deck lists of RG Tron.

For a full list of the chapters of The Modern Bible check out this link: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html