The idea of playing GW instead of GR is not new to Tron players. The main reason has been Path to Exile. Get a powerful spot removal spell instead of Pyroclasm - should work well in certain metas. Timely Reinforcements also was a staple in the GW Tron decks. This is noticeably missing in Tom Ross's list.
As the author of the Modern Bible of RG Tron I have never advocated GW Tron. Today, I might have changed my mind.
The answers are all in the sideboard. Rest in Peace seems a much more powerful answer to Dredge than Relic of Progenitus. Blessed Alliance also swings the troublesome Burn Match in a way the older sideboard cards just never did.
Also, it helped that Blood Moon decks are very popular. Contrary to popular belief, Blood Moon is not very effective against Tron decks with Oblivion Stones, Ugins and Karns.
Amazing deck choice, Tom! One day I may even consider playing Warping Wail which I am still on the fence about.
We sat out to try to learn as much as possible about RG Tron. I started this series on Feb 22 this year. At this moment the chapter one article has 6311 views. That is far more than any MTG thing I have ever written, even more than the original Pauper Gauntlet announcement which was the old record holder. I hope you have appreciated the series. The quest to master RG Tron is neverending and will go on from here. If you want to follow that quest please subscribe to my YouTube channel MagicGatheringStrat. That is also the best place to ask me questions regarding the deck - just comment on any RG Tron video on the channel (there are 100+ Tron videos).
So these are my closing words on the Tron subject for this time.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon I still think it is wrong to replace a cheap spell such as Spellskite or Relic of Progenitus with an 8-drop. However, the power level of Ugin is just too high not to include him. I am currently playing two and will probably go down to one if I test Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.
My current Tron list Right now I am playing the Modern League with RG Tron on Magic Online. This is the list I am currently using.
1 Tendo Ice Bridge 1 Eye of Ugin 1 Forest 1 Ghost Quarter 4 Grove of the Burnwillows 4 Urza's Mine 4 Urza's Powerplant 4 Urza's Tower 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre 3 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Spellskite 4 Oblivion Stone 4 Karn Liberated 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 4 Sylvan Scrying 4 Ancient Stirrings 2 Relic of Progenitus 3 Pyroclasm Sideboard 4 Nature's Claim 3 Slaughter Games 1 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Relic of Progenitus 2 Spellskite 1 Boil 1 Pyroclasm 1 Rending Volley 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn As you can see it is basically the list from chapter 5 of the Bible adjusted for Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and with some metagame dependent sideboard changes. Mono Blue Tron I get a lot of questions about Mono Blue Tron. I don't have any experience with the deck but from what I have been able to gather the two decks are extremely different. RG Tron is the ultimate midrange deck, defending itself against the aggro decks and having a better endgame than the control decks. Mono Blue Tron is more of a pure control deck - perhaps the closest Modern comes to such a deck. Fortunately I know exactly the guy to ask about Mono Blue Tron: Pierakor! Pierakos is a frequent player of Mono Blue Tron who streams on twitch.com/magicgatheringstrat and who has been kind enough to put together a Bible (!) for Mono Blue Tron here: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/09/mono-u-tron-faq/
The very last closing thought RG Tron is a metagame dependent deck. I do think that every Tron player should have a secondary deck that has different strengths and weaknesses from Tron. If combo, affinity and burn are out in great numbers you should probably play that other deck. If I do a second Modern Bible (nothing has been decided yet) I will be looking for such a deck.
We do these leagues every other month and everyone is welcome to join. They are free to enter and Cardhoarder sponsor us with 75 tix in prices.
Short summary of Modern Silverblack: The format is Modern. Only commons and uncommons allowed. Expedition Map and Intangible Virtue are banned in addition to everything that is banned in Modern.
I want to play Tron, of course. I played Tron last time we did this in 2014.
3 Sowing Salt
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Back to Nature
3 Pyroclasm
1 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Timely Reinforcements
I think there are a lot of things wrong with this list. Also new cards have arrived.
However, this list is extremely established. The player run free tournament site gatherling.com used to run Modern Silverblack events every week.
You can find decklists here: http://gatherling.com/eventreport.php?format=Modern+SilverBlack&series=&season=&mode=Filter+Events
These events ended on August 30th, 2014.
RUG Tron was a very established part of the metagame. Every list was very similar to the one above.
I do have a lot of questions.
* Why are there so many double-green casting cost cards in a deck with 12+ lands that produce mana of no color?
* Why is Brutalizer Exarch worth playing? It seems that for six mana you want something that can stabilize (see below) such as Wurmcoil Engine in Modern or Fangren Marauder in Pauper. Exarch produces a mediocre body and a choice between super-expensive tutoring and a Creeping Mold effect (as there are no planeswalkers). That seems underwhelming. If we reach six mana we probably have Tron and could do bigger things.
* How do we survive a fast creature rush or just direct damage? We have zero life gain. Both in Pauper and Modern Tron tends to reach the 1-3 life level before stabilizing (often through life gain) and then winning by going over the top
* What new cards make the list? Frontier Bivouac seems like a given but what else? Bane of Bela Ged? Rolling Thunder seems like a good card for that deck too but can we really afford double red? Blighted Fen and Blighted Cataract looks tempting.
* Four nine-mana spells? Even RG Tron in Modern can not afford that many giant bombs
* Why the LD subtheme in Acidic Slime and Brutalizer Exarch? Is Tron that big a part of the meta? It does not seem like more than 10% if you look at the stats. Or are there really maindeck noncreature artifacts and enchantments we fear this much?
* Some lists did play Ancient Stirrings and 1-mana removal (Lightning Bolt or Flame Slash). I do find the exclusion of Ancient Stirrings very troubling as that is perhaps the best card in Modern Tron AND in Pauper Tron
* 3 Sylvan Scryings just surprise me. Why? Do we not want Tron? Without maps this is the only way to ensure we find Tron
* There was a very varying amount of signets in the lists. I can understand the attraction of the signets but they see zero play in Daily Event tested RUG Tron lists in Pauper (ever) over a two year period. That is telling me something.
* Urza's Factory seems like a really slow lategame plan. I realize that it probably wrecks control but counterspells are so weak in Modern that I have a hard time seeing them do anything against Artisan of Kozilek cast triggers in the lategame anyway. Urza's Factory is just too massive a downgrade from Eye of Ugin IMHO. Even Haunted Fengraf looks better to me.
* Why the need for more lands than Pauper and Modern Tron?
* Why do we not run the full set of eggs? Don't we like our bombs and Firespouts and want to draw them more often?
What does Tron try to do in Pauper and Modern?
To understand what Tron tries to do we have to look at two well tested lists from Pauper and Modern that play somewhat differently.
We do lack a lot of tools from Modern RG Tron such as Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Karn, Emrakul, Ulamog and Wurmcoil Engine.
That probably means we have to play more like RUG Tron from Pauper.
In both Pauper and Modern the gameplan for Tron is simple.
1. Survive
2. Go over the top with a more powerful lategame and win
It is not more complicated than that.
Improvements to the Pauper List if we play it in Silverblack
So what cards do we gain access to that Pauper does not have. What good uncommons can we play?
Artisan of Kozilek: A significant improvement over Ulamog's Crusher.
Blighted Fen: Having a land that can kill a huge creature seems useful.
Sweepers: Pyroclasm and Firespout makes a world of difference.
Three Color Land: Frontier Bivoauc seems like a strong addition to the deck.
Timely Reinforcements: RG Tron playes in Modern were moving over to WG Tron for a while mainly because of this card. I think we need a white land in our sideboard to help us cast this. Otherwise it might not be timely at all.
So what does Tron try to do in Silverblack?
Looking at the list at the top of the article the goals of Tron seems to be very different in this format. When I changed to the list I will present below I got the comment that I had turn Tron into a grindy deck .... but I don't see it. I have turned it into a regular battle proven Tron deck as the deck is played in Pauper and Modern top level events.
Here is my first attempt at a RUG Tron list that I played in the first week of the League. I defeated a BG Rock-style deck 2-1.
Deck list
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Frontier Bivouac
1 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Chromatic Star
4 Mulldrifter
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Rolling Thunder
3 Firespout
2 Forest
2 Artisan of Kozilek
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Shimmering Grotto
3 Fangren Marauder
2 Acidic Slime
4 Prophetic Prism
1 Pyroclasm
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Gurmag Angler
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Back to Nature
3 Pyroclasm
2 Sowing Salt
4 Timely Reinforcements
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Firespout
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Acidic Slime
I have since made changes to the deck but here is the match on video for completeness. Gurmag Angler was the clearest mistake and he is no longer in the list.
I will continue work on the RUG Tron Silverblack list but I would be very happy for your input.
Only two weeks left, my friends. Next week we will discuss how to beat RG Tron when we turn traitors and play other decks. In the final week I will talk about playing Mono Blue Tron, my current list of RG Tron and anything else that I need to wrap up. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them.
Problem matchup videos Today we will illustrate some of the points we have been discussing recently. Here we go!
You can find many more RG Tron videos on youtube.com/Magicgatheringstrat (my community youtube channel) RG Tron vs Splinter Twin
Welcome to the most extensive walkthrough of a Magic deck ever attempted. In this series we will go deep into Modern strategy, examining the ins and outs of the RG Tron deck every Sunday. When you think we have gone too deep, we will go even deeper. When you can't stand me talking about RG Tron anymore, I will talk some more about RG Tron.
At the end of the series - 35 weeks in the future - you will know more than you have ever wanted about the Tron deck and be capable to pilot the deck confidently.
There will be an accompanying video series about the deck as well, including lots and lots of gameplay.
If this becomes popular, my intention is to make a follow-up series covering another deck and possibly put several series into a book.
This is a living document so I will come back to it and update it. This means that this article will, by the time we are finished in October, include links to all parts of the series.
We will present three different builds of the deck, build several sideboard and sideboard plans, allowing you know exactly what to sideboard out and in of the deck. We will discuss how to adapt to shifting metagames, evaluate new cards and examine every major matchup in detail.
Welcome to the first installment of the Modern Bible.
WARNING! This blog post contains spoilers if you have not watched all of the videos of the second round of the Pauper Gauntlet S02.
The second round is still ongoing. But we have casualties, despite the double elimination nature of the first and second round (the third round will be a bloodbath!)
The above link also contains information about how you can win free prizes (including an Elspeth, Sun's Champion and two foil Shocklands).
The weekly show about the Gauntlet
I have joined The Standard Pauper Show as a host for the duration of the Pauper Gauntlet. The second half of the show will be dedicated to the Pauper Gauntlet.
This is the episode for this week where we discuss recent events in the Pauper Gauntlet.
I come in at 35 minutes and the rest of the show is about the Pauper Gauntlet from then on.
So which decks are eliminated?
The following three decks lost both round 1 and round 2 and are thus eliminated from further competition:
Stupid Green Tron
Deathtouch (Assassin's Apprentice)
Pox
Feature match
This is the battle between Pox and 1-land-spy. It is worthy of notice because the 1-land-spy combo deck just GOES OFF in a way that no Pauper deck should be able to after the bannings. This is high-level combo magic!
What about the rest of the decks?
77 decks entered the Gauntlet. 74 decks remain. However, round 2 is not finished yet. Stay tuned!
How can you follow the Pauper Gauntlet?
The twitter account @MagicGathStrat tweets whenever a video is uploaded to the two YouTube channels that feature the Gauntlet: MagicGatheringStrat and sngprop.
Tron
Make enormous mana and do generate things. This deck became possibly due to the banning of Temporal Fissure in 2013. It has an excellent matchup against top tier deck Mono Black Control who just can't control all the broken things this deck is doing.
Spells (28)
4 Expedition Map
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Firebolt
1 Compulsive Research
1 Flame Slash
2 Rolling Thunder
Sideboard (15)
2 Serrated Arrows
1 Arc Lightning
1 Flame Slash
2 Pyroblast
1 Fangren Marauder
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation
3 Circle of Protection: Red
3 Circle of Protection: Green
So what I am going to use this deck list for? What is the Pauper Gauntlet all about? Good questions! Learn more about the Pauper Gauntlet here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/06/the-pauper-gauntlet-is-coming-to.html I just found out that Pauper Daily Events are back! In a way! Read more here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-online-announcements-august-12-2014-2014-08-12 If you are interested in Pauper, I hope you are not European because then you probably can not play them. Contact me Facebook: facebook.com/magicgatheringstrat Web: magicgatheringstrat.com Blog: mtgolibrary.blogspot.com My YouTube channels Fan of History: My ancient history series MagicGatheringStrat: My MTGO channel
Statistics summary
I played ten decks in The Modern Noob. Here are their match scores (wins-losses and win%)
Soul Sisters 48-13 (79%)
Gruul Blood Moon 13-6 (68%)
Tron 16-8 (67%)
Taking Turns 10-5 (67%)
Hartford Red 40-23 (63%) including 3-1 in a Daily before the Modern Noob started
Goblins 13-8 (62%)
Mono Black Infect 5-5 (50%)
Death and Taxes 6-7 (46%)
Elemental Combo 2-8 (20%)
Restore Balance 1-4 (20%)
I played four of these decks in tournaments. Lets check out how I did.
My biggest success was with Taking' Turns in this PRE
I played Gruul Blood Moon in an 8-mans
I failed totally with Soul Sisters in an 8-man and 0-2:d the final Daily Event.
The big final event was my Daily Event with RG Tron.
What did I learn?
I learned that Modern is fantastic. I had so much fun doing this.
I learned that you guys loved Modern and I had many more viewers than I ever expected.
I learned that Modern is a format that rewards focused practice
I learned that my old rule of playing 100 matches with a deck before taking it to a tournament was a good rule which I broke here.
Finally, what could I do differently next time? Let me know in the comments below or in the comments to this video.
This video also contains some ideas about what I want to do differently next time, including spending way more money on cards (thanks bots for making this possible).
You voted Goblins off the island. Only Soul Sisters and Tron remain and I will play a Premier Event and/or a daily with one or both of them. I will do that before next Sunday and then I will report how everything ended.
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-3rd, I am getting my first dog ever on the 4th, so I better be finished by then).
Soul Sisters vs Boros Burn and Death's Shadow
I played two different opponents
Tron vs BW Tokens
This is normally an easy matchup
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event/Daily worked out and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
Its time for one of the three decks to leave The Modern Noob.
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-3rd, I am getting my first dog ever on the 4th, so I better be finished by then).
I want you to tell me which deck should leave The Modern Noob. You have until the downtime on Wednesday to vote. Just write the name of the deck you want to see gone in the comments below.
Soul Sisters vs RG Tron
One of the very hardest matchups for the Soul Sisters deck!
Goblins vs America Control
Somebody said that the biggest fault with control in Modern is that it does not even work against the decks it is supposed to beat. Lets see if the gobbos can prevail here.
Modern Noob vs Delver and a Rakdos Rogue Deck
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event/Daily worked out and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-6th).
Soul Sisters vs Mono Green Aggro
The Mono Green Aggro deck has been very popular in the practice room lately.
Tron vs Two Rogue Decks
Goblins vs Goryo's Vengeance
One of the strengths of the Goblins deck is its ability to punish combo decks by being ultrafast.
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event did and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-6th).
This match shows quite clearly one of the big problem matchups for Soul Sisters. Having a problem matchup with the #1 deck in the format is a huge problem. On the other hand, nobody has an easy Splinter Twin matchup, do they?
Tron vs Pyromancer Finkel Storm
Also a problem matchup! This is the biggest problem for Tron, even bigger than Splinter Twin.
Goblins vs UR Delver
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event did and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
The full play list
If you want to see all the crazy decks I have tried and how it went, check out The Modern Noob Season 1 playlist here:
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-6th).
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event did and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
The full play list
If you want to see all the crazy decks I have tried and how it went, check out The Modern Noob Season 1 playlist here:
The Modern Noob is my series about learning Modern. It has been going on since October and is scheduled to end with me choosing a deck to play in a Premier Event in the first week of June (June 2nd-6th).
There are three decks remaining out of a total of 11 decks that have been played.
I played (and won) five matches in a row with Soul Sisters this week. Video below.
My record with Soul Sisters is now 41-11 in practice. That is 79% of matches won. Seems fairly solid. I am working on finalizing the sideboard plan. It is the #1 candidate in the Modern Noob right now.
What this deck has that none of the others have is brewer support. I appreciate that. Once again, thanks, Alex.
Here is a recent match with Goblins:
My record with Goblins is now 10-6 in practice. That is 63% of matches won.
The Modern Noob on mtgolibrary
I will report on my progress in The Modern Noob every Sunday here on mtgolibrary until June 8th, when I will report how the Premier Event did and then sell all my Modern cards when they peak like crazy during Modern PTQ Season. I will start playing the format again in September after rebuying everything I need.
The full play list
If you want to see all the crazy decks I have tried and how it went, check out The Modern Noob Season 1 playlist here:
The Plan
The idea is to get to the tron as fast as possible and then just do broken things for the rest of the game. Every effect you have in your deck is "bigger" than anything the opponent has and thus you win.
Avignon, the superb pauper player who came up with the original deck list, wrote an excellent article on this deck. It is one of the best Magic articles I have ever seen, actually. You can find it here: http://www.mtgoacademy.com/4-color-tron-in-pauper-constructed/ Pauper RUG Tron sample deck list
There has been many versions of this deck. I still prefer Avignon's original list from the article linked to above.
Sideboard
3 COP: Red
3 COP: Green
2 Serrated Arrows
2 Pyroblast
1 Arc Lightning
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Flame Slash
1 Fangren Marauder
Do pick up your Firebolts right now. They just stopped being flashback-drafted. Pick them up! Now!
Here is a video of me taking on Mono Black Control with this list.
This is perhaps the Pauper deck I enjoy playing the most, so there will be more videos with it on youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat. There are actually already around twenty or so :)
Enjoy! And thank you, Avignon, for creating such a fantastic deck.
