Sunday, July 19, 2015

Modern Bible of RG Tron chapter 22 - Tips for playing the deck

I will soon be going into specific matchups (chapter 25) but before that we need to talk about why this deck would ever lose (chapter 23), if we really need a 15-mana creature (chapter 24) and some general guidelines for playing the deck (this chapter).

If you want to see some specific matchup covered you need to say so in the comments. 




This deck is all about playing Karn Liberated on turn three. For some tips on playing Karn correctly, please refer to the chapter before this. Here is a link for your convenience: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/07/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-chapter-21.html

General tips for playing RG Tron in Modern


  • Never for fall the temptation to play 19 lands.
  • Relic of Progenitus is metagame dependent. If it really does nothing, you can probably cut 1-2 Relics.
  • Cracks egg only if you want to dig that very turn
  • Saving an egg for when you need colored mana is OK but remember that it is a tradeoff - you are one turn behind compared to if you had cracked that egg.
  • If you don't need to crack an egg right away consider cracking the egg at the end of opponent's turn to get around sorcery speed discard effects (Liliana of the Veil, Thoughtseize etc)
  • Tend to play Urza lands before any other land so you have the option of lucking into Tron on turn three. Remember that as soon as you play a non-Urza land on turn 1 or 2 you are giving up the most powerful play in your deck; Turn 3 Karn!
  • Karn Liberated is the most powerful card in your deck. Never forget that. Your deck is a Karn deck more than it is an Urzatron deck.
  • Use Boil at the end of the counterspell player's turn to force a counterspell if you have a good play on your own turn. They can't counter both and they HAVE to counter Boil.
  • If you are in risk of dying tend to play Wurmcoil Engine before Karn Liberated. Otherwise always play Karn if he will survive until your next turn.
  • To kill a Tarmogoyf first cast Pyroclasm, THEN crack Relic. Think about it.
  • Sideboard out Emrakul against anything fast. Your 15-mana creature will not make a difference against fast aggressive decks. 
  • You probably need 2-3 Nature's Claim in the 2nd duel if there is any risk of a Stony Silence or any other decisive sideboard hate from the other deck. This is especially true for any white deck that will probably have Stony Silence in the sideboard for Affinity.
  • Stony Silence is the #1 card you fear after sideboarding.
  • Never take out Ancient Stirrings
  • Never take out a land unless it is Eye of Ugin against fast matchups.
  • Learn the mulligan guidelines. http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/04/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-chapter-ten.html  Mulliganing correctly is very important when playing RG Tron.
  • Never try to use sideboard cards that are only good against sideboard cards. That will dillute your deck. Remember that your deck is built to find the lands it needs. Cards like Crucible of Worlds are trap cards.
  • Our worst matchups are combo decks.
  • Having two basic Forest in your deck protects you from making Path to Exile into Swords to Plowshares and Ghost Quarter into Strip Mine. Your first forest will often be in play or in your hand.
  • Consider playing your map/Sylvan Scrying last. Often you will have 1-2 Urza lands and can cycle into a missing piece to get the last piece with your targeted search.
  • Against a very diverse metagame RG Tron becomes a better choice as this deck thrives on rogue decks of any kind (as long as they are not combo decks).
  • The success of RG Tron is very metagame dependant. If RG Tron is a poor choice (Splinter Twin is currently dominating, for example) you are probably better off playing an entirely different deck than trying to tune your sideboard to a anti-tron metagame.
  • Mono Blue Tron is an entirely different deck. Do not assume that lessons you learn about this deck applies to Mono Blue Tron. They do apply to GW Tron, though.


If you have any tips to add to list list, please let me know in the comments.

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

4 comments:

  1. Hey got any any tips for the grixis delver match up? My metta is brimming with them and i figure you would have some useful tips 😀

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, I missed this comment. Comments are really hard to keep track of in this interface. If you want to reach me quicker, please comment on any RG Tron video on youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat.

      Having said that I have not played the new Grixis Delver list and really have no insight in the matchup. The old Delver decks were easier as everything died to Pyroclasm BUT that is not the case anymore, is it. I have a hard time seeing an aggro tempo deck being much of a problem for us ... but on the other hand Merfolk is definitely a problem matchup and this could very much be like that.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, I missed this comment. Comments are really hard to keep track of in this interface. If you want to reach me quicker, please comment on any RG Tron video on youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat.

      Having said that I have not played the new Grixis Delver list and really have no insight in the matchup. The old Delver decks were easier as everything died to Pyroclasm BUT that is not the case anymore, is it. I have a hard time seeing an aggro tempo deck being much of a problem for us ... but on the other hand Merfolk is definitely a problem matchup and this could very much be like that.

      Delete
  2. Ty dan. Your videos and this blog have been a gigantic help for me as have just finished my tron deck. Keep up the great work man!

    ReplyDelete