For a while, I was considering starting a Patreon. Not because I want to try and make money off of my content, but because people have reached out to me in the past and wanted a place to show their support for me. But recently, after talking with a good friend, I realized I never want my work behind a paywall. I want to be able to help people the way I want to, and for everyone to benefit. I did still want an avenue for people to support me if they so choose, so I have set up a ko-fi page. Thank you all for being amazing supporters, every message I get saying my writing helps you play the deck better or have a good finish at the tournament means a whole lot.
The differences: Dom had 3 Dismember main, no Ugin, and his sb had 1 of the relics from the main, plus a Golos. I love all of these changes besides the Golos. Gerry Thompson and Bryan Gotlieb made a very good point on their most recent episode of Arena Decklists that modern is at a point right now where interacting on turn 2 is more important than ever. Dismember being 1 mana allows you to kill Sakura Tribe Scout, Emry, Urza, Kiln Fiend, Bedlam Reveler, and so many other key threats. Being 1 mana more than negates the life loss and makes it way better than Spatial Contortion. We also have the three Thragtusks to reliably regain life. Ugin is really poor right now against all these artifact decks, so it makes sense to move away from them and onto 4 Oblivion Stone. The Golos is… not good, I think. There might be a shell with Golos out there, but this ain’t it.
My list for regionals is very close to Dom Harvey’s list, except I have changed Golos to a Torpor Orb to help fight against the menace that is Primeval Titan.
I am still unconvinced by Once Upon a Time. The more I test it, it just seems like when the card is good it is really good, but when it is bad it is very bad. In tron, it either finds a Tron land or *some* of your threats. The times where you need to find a certain Tron land and it misses means you just lose. It’s not like in Amulet where they have a variety of lands they need, plus creatures that both help set up or are the payoff. I also want to explore more OUAT in a version without KGC, which is what I think the best shell for that card is. That being said, I think KGC is one of the best reasons to be playing Tron right now. I will continue to test for the Invitational, but for right now I will not sleeve up OUAT.
Now, an updated and expanded sideboard guide:
Burn: On the Play, keep hands with Leyline, Turn 3 Thrag or Turn 3 Wurm, On the draw, keep hands with Leyline or Turn 3 Thrag
-3 Dismember, -1 Relic, -4 O Stone
+3 Leyline, +3 Claim
Jund: This matchup’s sideboarding has gotten difficult because of the mixture of D sphere, Collector Ouphe, Fulminator, and Alpine Moon they play. Have to be prepared for all of them. The good thing is that our threats are so good when we land one it usually can win the game. I like boarding out 1 wurmcoil and 1 O stone in matches where the other KGC targets are not that great. If you know they don’t have Alpine Moon or D-Sphere, don’t bring in Claim
Devoted Druid Combo: This is a sideboard plan I have not tried out yet, but someone brought it up in the Tron discord. I do not think Leyline is amazing, but it seems better than the creatures you are boarding out. Keep hands in this matchup that O Stone reliably on 4 and have Dismember
Tron is very well positioned right now in modern, almost as good as it has ever been. One of the most powerful and popular things to be doing right now is playing Mox Opal, and Karn, the Great Creator usually gives you the edge against those strategies. Burn should also continue to be good, and with the recent innovations of Tron to play Thragtusk main and Leyline of Sanctity in the sideboard, it has been a while since I dropped a match against Burn.
Another large part of the metagame should be other big mana decks; the mirror, AmuLIT, and Titanshift. The Tron mirror is something that I used to say did not have very much skill, but I think I have come around on that. Mulliganing in that matchup is very important, and the games can get into interesting spots where neither of you have either Karn and you have react to whatever threat your opponent does have while angling yourself to maximize the Karn you are hoping to draw off the top. The downside is that you should mulligan to Tron, and whoever have Karn *usually* wins. AmuLIT is a pretty close matchup, another one that is defined by you mulliganing to turn 3 Karn and them trying to win as fast as possible. Veil of Summer does help with this matchup since they have started to add more counterspells.
Scapeshift is Tron’s worst matchup in Modern right now. I suggest trying to get lucky game 1, and then mulliganing to Leyline in the post board games, while also remembering that you have to deal with their zombies from Field of the Dead. Oh, they also bring in Dampening Sphere and/or Collector Ouphe. Good luck!
Last weekend, Jonathan Sukenik and I ran the exact same 75 in the modern seat for our teams. We both went 10-5, including me besting him in the mirror round 15 (It was the most fun match I have played; we decided to board out all 8 Karns. This match is pictured below, picture take by Tannon Grace)
After talking with Jonathan about the list, and also getting input from Dom Harvey and my buddy Angus Johnson, here is the list that I would run if I were playing any large tournament this weekend.
The only changes I have made from last weekend is swapping out 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for the 4th Oblivion Stone. We are doing this for the same reason that Walking Ballista was almost cut completely and is now just in the sideboard: the creature heavy matchups where they exceed just aren’t around in modern right now. Oblivion Stone is better against all the Mox Opal variants, as well as decks that are gaining popularity like Amulet Titan, Affinity, and Jund Shadow.
I want to take this part to address some questions I have gotten about specifically the 17 lands and the Eldrazi Titanless nature of this list. I was skeptical at first, but this version of the deck feels very smooth and more streamlined than past versions. There are no clunky 10+ drops, and you don’t lose that much by not having them. Instead of having Ulamog that costs 10 and might win you the game, Karn, the Great Creator + Lattice costs 10 and just wins you the game, no questions asked. To quote the great Abe Stein “It’s just Ulamog for 4 mana”. We already mulligan heavily for Tron lands, so I have not felt too much of a difference by cutting two lands that were more like spells anyway. If you find yourself needing Ghost Quarter or Sanctum of Ugin for mana in the early turns, you chances of winning are probably pretty low.
Now, an updated and expanded sideboard guide:
Burn: On the Play, keep hands with Leyline, Turn 3 Thrag or Turn 3 Wurm, On the draw, keep hands with Leyline or Turn 3 Thrag
-2 Dismember, -2 Relic, -3 O Stone
+3 Leyline, +3 Claim, +1 Emrakul
Jund: This matchup’s sideboarding has gotten difficult because of the mixture of D sphere, Collector Ouphe, and Fulminator they play. Have to be prepared for all of them. The good thing is that our threats are so good when we land one it usually can win the game. I like boarding out 1 wurmcoil and 1 O stone in matches where the other KGC targets are not that great
– 2 Relics, -1 KGC, -1 Karn, -1 Wurmcoil, -1 O Stone
I started my testing for Philly very close to what I won the modern classic with a few weeks ago in Syracuse. Then, Joe Losset (@oarsman79) and @bekybear dropped a very interesting take on the Mono-Green Archetype.
This is the most innovative change in Tron since earlier this year when Karn, the Great Creator came out. No Eldrazi Titans? 17 Lands! This list looks insane at first glance, but then you can start to dive deeper.
Let’s start with the No Eldrazi Titans. As long as I have ever played Tron (2015 is when I built the deck), we have always had at least one large Eldrazi. Why the switch now? Well this version of the deck wants to be better against the Aggro/Midrange decks. The Titans are not very good against the former, and most of our threats are great against the latter that we simply do not need them. I have also very much enjoyed not having to look at an opening card hand with Ulamog/Emrakul in it, which is almost like a mulligan anyway and it makes the Sanctum of Ugin even worse. Another reason they are gone is just a consequence of deck building. This list is geared more towards beating those tough aggro matchups, as seen with 3x Thragtusk and Wurmcoil Engine. This means that we have a lot less to trigger Sanctum of Ugin, so we might as well cut that, and then just cut the Titans with it.
17 lands looks like it’s too low, but I think it is actually just the perfect amount. I was tinkering with cutting the Ghost Quarter for a while. The Modern metagame has shifted to a point where manlands are few and far between, and Ghost Quarter is not good in the mirror unless you have Surgical Extraction. The only thing I am not sure 100% on the mana base is the 3 Forest / 1 Nurturing Peatland split. I think with how well the Peatland is preforming and how UW seems to have taken a backseat in Modern right now, I like it, but could see us needing the 4th Forest in the future.
Joe and Becky’s list did not include Leylines, but I am very high on Leyline of Sanctity right now. First, its a slam dunk in all the matchups where you would want a card like Weather the Storm anyway, while also being great against Valakut. Those combo matchups are where this list lost the most with the Titan’s and these help shore that up.
This is where I have finished my testing for SCG Philly. I have been super pleased with how flexible Dismember has been, and think it justifies all three slots. I also have been pretty happy with the smaller wishboard for Karn, the Great Creator. Those cards really all do different things very well, and each matchup you can grab one that will very dramatically impact the game. At the worst, you grab Liquimetal Coating and threaten to start Strip Mining them every turn.
Jund: -2 Relic, -2 Karn Liberated -1 KGC +3 Veil of Summer, +2 Nature’s Claim (This matchup sideboarding really depends on exactly what they have. If they have Alpine Moon, you want Claims. If they have Ouphe, bring in the 3rd Dismember)
Tron Mirror: -2 Dismember, -1 Oblivion Stone +3 Nature’s Claim (Nothing matters in this matchup besides Turn 3 Karn)
4 Colour Whirza: -3 Wurmcoil, -2 Thragtusk +1 Dismember, +3 Nature’s Claim, +1 Emrakul, the Promised End
Ever since this card was spoiled, Tron players everywhere have been trying to figure out if this card is right for Tron. There is no doubt that the card is powerful. Free spells have oft defined many different Magic decks, and often some of the most broken. But is this one good in Tron?
I have done a few days of testing with Once Upon A Time (which I will now refer to as OUAT), and it has been very underwhelming for me, for a few reasons. The first being that it just is not that consistent. Tron is already a deck that can mulligan to its turn 3 Tron almost every game, or very close to it. We are the beacon of consistency, attempting to execute the same game plan every time we sit down for a match. You cannot reasonably keep a hand with OUAT and 2 Tron lands and think you have guaranteed Turn 3 Tron, which is what the deck needs to succeed. “Well what about Ancient Stirrings? That doesn’t always find the land you need” Correct, but it also is never a miss. Ancient Stirrings at least can find re-draws, Expedition Maps, pretty much the whole deck. Ancient Stirrings finding a Chromatic Sphere feels way better than having Mine and Tower and OUAT finding a Forest and now your hand will be lucky to turn 4 Tron.
My second issue, which can be mitigated some, is deck building. Currently, with my testing, I have just been cutting non-creature spells, as we want to be able to hit with OUAT. I have experimented with cutting everything from Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, Ugin, the Dismember Flex Slot, and Oblivion Stone. In multiple matches I missed some combo of those cards more than OUAT helped.
The way Tron is currently built, I do not think OUAT is very good. There may be a build of Tron out there that is very good, like a 4x Thragtusk 4x Wurmcoil list to maximize creatures. Or maybe something closer to the Mono Green Eldrazi Tron that won the modern challenge on MTGO a few weeks ago. But as it currently sits , I do not think I will be registering OUAT for SCG Philly.
I do want to add where I think OUAT is good, because obviously being a free spell means it has to be great somewhere. The first spot is Neoform. Being a free spell matters way more when your whole objective is to win the game on 1 or 2. They also were playing a lot of conditional 1 of’s in the main just because they had room, so they can easily rework the deck to fit these in. Lastly, its another green card for them to pitch for Allosauarus Rider.
Another spot OUAT should be great in is Amulet Titan. Amulet is a deck that revolves around close to half its deck being lands, so having copies 5-8 of Ancient Stirrings is a huge bonus. Add on the creature part to be able to find Prime Time, OUAT is a home run for Amulet.
First, the changes to the list: I removed the Ghost Quarter from the main as well as 1 Thragtusk, and replaced them with a World breaker and the Dismember from the sideboard. Using the room leftover from the Dismember, I have added a Crucible of Worlds to the sideboard.
Ghost Quarter: This has been somewhat of a longtime coming. I have found myself side boarding Ghost Quarter out more and more, and even the matchups I was keeping it in was for marginal gain or corner case scenarios. One of the biggest reasons players will site for not cutting it is that it is good in the Tron mirror. Is it actually though? Unless you are playing Surgical Extraction, which I do not think you should be, all Ghost Quarter helps you do in the Tron mirror is setting yourself back for no reason on the Play and setting your opponent back marginally on the draw while you essentially miss your land drop. With the London Mulligan, going to 18 lands is perfectly fine.
Worldbreaker: I have always been a fan of World Breaker, and have been trying to find room to squeeze it back in. Part of the reason it is back is because it can help deal with troubling lands in the absence of Ghost Quarter, as well as being a cast trigger to fight through counterspells and triggering Sanctum of Ugin.
Crucible of Worlds: This slot was between Crucible of Worlds and Torpor Orb, but I think we want a really solid wish target against the BGx Midrange decks and UWx Control.
Now for the Sideboard Guide. I’m gonna start with the 10 most popular decks on MTGGoldfish, comment on this article or post in the Tron discord if you want different matchups added.
Burn: -3 Oblivion Stone, -1 Dismember, -1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon +3 Leyline of Sanctity, +2 Nature’s Claim
Jund: -1 Emrakul, the Promised End, -1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, -1 Karn Liberated +3 Veil of Summer
Tron (the Mirror): -3 Oblivion Stone +2 Nature’s Claim, +1 Sorcerers Spyglass
UW Stoneblade: -3 Wurmcoil Engine, -1 Chromatic Sphere +1 Nature’s Claim, +3 Veil of Summer (If you see lots of Stony Silence/want the 2nd Nature’s Claim, I would cut 1 Oblivion Stone)
Eldrazi Tron: -2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon +2 Nature’s Claim
I had two SCG Weekends this season to qualify for the SCG Season 2 Invitational, and managed to win the Syracuse Modern Classic to qualify in my first attempt. What was I playing? Ol’ Reliable Mono-Green Tron, which I worked on with my friend Angus Johnson. http://www.starcitygames.com/decks/132910
Syracuse, New York, famously has a lot of modern burn players, and with burn doing well at SCG Dallas and GP Indy, Angus and I really did not want to lose to burn. We also have realized that Karn, the Great Creator struggles with aggro decks and creatures in general. To alleviate this issue, we moved all 3 Thragtusk main. This helps us win more game 1’s against Burn and Mono-Red Prowess, while also having a creature that can block and replace itself through a removal spell to protect Karn.
I had been testing Weather the Storm in the sideboard for burn hate, but we came to the realization that Leyline of Sanctity is just better. Burn lists are running Smash to Smithereens right now instead of Destructive Revelry, so there is almost no getting rid of the enchantment. When sideboarding cards that hose certain matchups, you pretty much need the card in your opening hand anyway. You can’t rely on drawing them in the first few turns, so having the free one in your opening hand is better than the one that you have to spend mana on and are more situational.
The Tournament
R1: 2-0 Boggles
R2: 2-1 Burn
R3: 2-0 Storm
R4: 1-2 TitanShift
R5: 2-1 8 Whack Goblins
R6: 2-0 Jund
R7: 2-1 Mono Green Tron
R8: 2-0 Jund
R9: 2-1 Devoted Blade
QF: 2-1 Mono Green Tron
SF: 2-0 Devoted Blade
F: 2-1 Grixis Death’s Shadow
Now some thoughts and stories from the tournament and the deck going forward:
Round 6 against Jund I experienced my first ever game loss for a decklist error, stemming from my last minute decision to play Dismember over Spatial Contortion (which was 100% the right call). Very fortunately, my opponent also received a game loss for mis-registering his Liliana, the Last Hope as Liliana of the Veil.
The Round 7 Tron mirror was one of the most insane game 3’s I have ever had. I was on the draw, and my opponent led with turn 3 Thragtusk. I had a Karn, the Great Creator in hand, but did not want it to die, so I led with my own Thragtusk. He then played an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. I played my Karn, the Great Creator and had to get Liquimetal coating in order to shut down Ugin, the Spirit Dragon every turn. My opponent never drew a threat, so I was able to use Karn, the Great Creator to start to assemble a lock with Ensnaring Bridge. The next turn, with a new Karn, the Great Creator, I attempted to go for the Mycosynth Lattice, and he was able to float a colorless mana until it resolved, and then Nature’s Claimed it because of Mycosynth Lattice letting you use any color mana to cast spells. I then drew an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, and had to use Karn, the Great Creator to wish for an Oblivion Stone that I had side boarded out in order to blow up my own Ensnaring Bridge in order to attack and win.
Round 9 was one of the most tense moments in my magic life. It was my first real last round of a tournament win and in. I was very nervous, and it was exacerbated by my opponent and I both mulliganing to 4. In what has to be the weirdest judge interaction I have ever experienced, a spectator told the judges he believed there was something wrong with one our [read: mine] decks, so a judge stepped in and grabbed our decks and did a mid game deck check. My Tron cards are bent from years and years of use, but they are all the same degree of bent so fuck that spectator.
From my experience, in order to win with Tron, mulligan more. That is the hardest part of learning the deck. Tron wins by abusing having 7 mana on turn 3. If you wait until turn 4, there are a fair number of decks that can just kill you on turn 3, like Devoted Druid, Whirza, or Burn. As a general rule, I mulligan to at least 5 looking for turn 3 Tron, with rare exceptions.I will also mulligan even further if the hand is nowhere close because it is possible to have a 3 card hand with Tron thanks to the London Mulligan. I won multiple games mulliganing to 4 throughout the swiss. I also mulliganed to 3 in game 3 of both my quarterfinal and finals victories. Against the Mirror, my mulligan to 3 on the play was Karn Liberated, Expedition Map, and Urza’s Mine and I got there. That one was more luck, but I believe it was correct to mulligan that low because of how important turn 3 Tron is in the mirror match. In game 3 of the final’s against Grixis Death’s Shadow, I mulliganed to 3 and had Forest, Urza’s Tower, and Urza’s Power-Plant. My opponent’s discard spells did nothing and they missed a few land drops allowing me to win the classic.
We built our list to beat Burn, and I used Leyline of Sanctity to good effect in that matchup. While our main intention for this was to counter burn, I also brought it in against Storm, Titanshift, and 8 Whack. I did not mulligan to it as aggressively against Storm because we have other tools in that matchup. I did have it against TitanShift in game 3, but lost anyway due to Mwonvuli Acid-Moss followed up by Field of the Dead Zombies. I brought in Leyline of Sanctity against 8 Whack for game 3 because my opponent showed me Skullcracks, Lightning Bolts, and Goblin Grenade. I did not bring them in against discard because our discard deck matchups are usually excellent, and I do not want to make mulliganing trickier against discard spells. Mulliganing with Leylines is a little tricky in general, but I would not send back a solid 6 or 7 with Turn 3 Tron looking for a Leyline, unless, for instance, you are against burn and the Turn 3 Tron has no Wurmcoil Engine or Thragtusk. Going forward, I would register Leyline of Sanctity again if I expect a heavy burn meta, but could also see replacing them with cards that are also good in those Burn/Combo matchups, like Thought-Knot Seer.
Three Thragtusks in the main is a lot of Thragtusk, but I enjoyed this decision a lot. You board in Thragtusk against almost everything that is not combo, and it is very good against everything else. Because of the unbanning of Stoneforge Mystic, the format is a bunch of midrange matchups, where Thragtusk shines. Moving them to the maindeck also allowed us to fit more cards in our sideboard, which is especially useful when you have so many slots dedicated to Karn, the Great Creator. I would continue to register at least 2 Thragtusk main for the foreseeable future.
Veil of Summer is insane. This card is now a staple in the sideboard of Tron, with at least 2 being guaranteed for me. Against Storm, I was able to Veil of Summer in response to a Gift’s Ungiven. Against both of my Jund Opponents, in both game 2’s I led with Forest and passed the turn, easily winning those games because they kept their hands on the back of Fulminator Mage and were easily thwarted by 1-2 Veil of Summer. It also was a key piece for me winning against Grixis Death’s Shadow. I did not face any UW/x Control or Stoneblade, but the card is also fantastic in that matchup.
Emrakul, the Promised End was only cast once all tournament, but I like it in most of the matchups I faced and would continue to have the 1/1 split with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. I like having the flexibility in grabbing different threats depending on the situation with Sanctum of Ugin, and having a threat that Path to Exile cannot kill is huge. The only time I sideboarded Emrakul, the Promised End out was against Jund. They have lots of discard and ways to stop us from getting to 9-10 mana, and all of our less expensive threats are great against them anyway.
Karn, The Great Creator is where you want to be with Mono-Green Tron right now. It helps make the Whirza matchup pretty favorable, while giving you access to the versatile wishboard. It also is very important in the mirror match, as it increases the number of game winners on turn 3 from 4 to 8. Of course, when running a playset of Karn, The Great Creator your wishboard must be finely attuned to the meta.
My wishboard for this tournament was Mycosynth Lattice, Ensnaring Bridge, Liquimetal Coating, Trinisphere, Walking Ballista, and Sorcerous Spyglass. The first 4 of those are auto-includes, with Walking Ballista and Sorcerous Spyglass being more of the flex slots. I like Walking Ballista as a wishboard target because I cut all of them from the main. Walking Ballista is not great against a lot of the top decks, but having access to 1 allows you to wish for it when you happen to face a deck that it is good against, while also being a blocker for Karn, the Great Creator if you need that. Sorcerous Spyglass is the slot I am most likely going to change going forward. The only time I used it during the tournament was naming Devoted Druid in Round 9, and I realized after that getting Bridge can also stop the combo (because Karn, the Great Creator stops Viridian Longbow and Walking Ballista shooting you. They could search for their one of Knight of Autumn, but they can also do that to blow up Sorcerous Spyglass). The two artifacts I am looking at potentially replacing it with are Crucible of Worlds and Torpor Orb. Crucible of Worlds also has the potential to be good right now, with a lot of Field of Ruins running around. It can also enable fun lines like looping Blast Zone. Torpor Orb is well positioned right now as well to stop the Sword of the Meek Combo, Primeval Titan, Humans, and other random decks that can pop up. I tend to like cards in the wishboard that are less narrow and more versatile, like Walking Ballista and Torpor Orb. I do like certain very targeted cards like Crucible of Worlds since it answers a very specific problem like Field of Ruin and Fulminator Mage
I believe that right now no graveyard hate is needed in Tron. The graveyard dedicated decks are few and far between, and you make much needed room for Karn, the Great Creator and the wishboard by not including any. The only time I missed a Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt was for the interaction of exiling my own graveyard to be able to wish for an artifact again. Going forward, I am exploring the option of including Buried Ruin again for this reason.
I feel like Tron is one of the better decks in the format right now, and the Karn, the Great Creator wishboard can be tuned for whatever meta you expect. I would register something close to this list for any tournaments this weekend, but Tron is most likely going to change with the card Once Upon a Time from Throne of Eldraine.
Once Upon a Time is a big card for Tron going forward. Free spells are generally very good, and one that can find certain threats for certain matchups or the tron land we are missing is huge. It does come with real downsides. It does not hit planeswalkers, which are a large part of our plan, especially if we are playing Karn, the Great Creator. We also cannot look at a hand and count on it for a certain land like we can with Sylvan Scrying. My prediction is that it will be a 2-3 of, possibly the full 4 if you move back to Traditional Tron without Karn, the Great Creator and more creatures in those slots. I am looking forward to testing it and seeing how good it is.
Shoutout to Angus Johnson for helping me build the deck, all of my opponents for being amazing, Mark for sticking around and watching me win the whole thing, and all my good friends for the hangouts.
Follow me on twitter @leclairandymtg as I continue to innovate with Tron heading into SCG Philly in October.
My name is Anderson LeClair, and I am a student Magic: the Gathering player from Upstate New York.
I have been playing Tron since 2015, have recently started to travel to more events with the deck and write about my thoughts.
Since September 2018 I have: A GP top 16, an SCG Classic win, an SCG Classic top 4, and 3 SCG Classic top 32’s, along with a regional win in 2016. I also own and operate a 1,300 person Tron discord.
My goal is to help other Tron players who have been playing the deck level up, while also teaching newcomers to the deck. I want my content to to be free and available to everyone, so I have started a blog. I also plan on starting to stream in the near future.
Tower, Map, Go 