Foreword

I took a huge break from Modern last fall when school picked up again. Eldrazi Winter certainly didn’t help warm me up to the idea of returning. With the ban of the Eye, I was really determined to still find a way to make Tron work. Thanks to everyone on this sub-reddit and those grinding out amazing finishes at SCG and other tournaments and keeping the Tron-Dream alive. I decided to run a bunch of smaller tournaments to warm up before heading into the summer and attached is my 75 and a composite rundown of some of these events.

Decklist: http://imgur.com/6sdyFiS

2016-05-02: 3-0

Round 1#: Jordan – Merfolk (2-0)

Round 2#: Connor – Grixis Delver (2-0)

Round 3#: Brandon – Merfolk (2-0)

As my first tournament back into the modern scene, I was very fortunate to be matched up against Merfolk twice. It’s a matchup I get a lot of practice thanks to my brother. Unfortunately, both Merfolk games were uneventful, with the earlier one having no experience playing against Tron so I don’t think they looked to keep aggressive enough hands or ones with Spreading Seas to take me off Tron.

The most interesting game was Round 2 with Connor, I expected the standard Grixis Delver matchup, but he was experimenting with Thing in Ice over Young Pyromancer. He managed to get the TiTi to flip once, but I had Oblivion Stone next turn and the mana necessary to wipe it away.

2016-05-04: 2-1

Round 1#: Timothy – Thopter Gifts (1-0)

Round 2#: Jon – Grixis Control (2-1)

Round 3#: Aaron – Jeskai Control (0-2)

The first round was very interesting; it was my first time running into Thopter Gifts. Celestial Colonnades provided a type of pressure I wasn’t used to, but I did manage to curve a Karn into an Ulamog for the win. I think playing against this deck, there’s sufficient room to take the time to find a Sanctum and chain into another threat, something I’ve been keeping an eye on as I scope the meta with my post-ban Tron list. Unfortunately the second game went to time and I was awarded with the round.

In the second, I ran into Grixis Control. I took game one pretty easily. Second, he managed to get out some early threats and start beating while getting a Kalitas on the board. I had to Oblivion Stone to wipe the board while I had a World Breaker in play which gave him a Zombie. He also had a second Kalitas ready. Later in the game he flashes in a Vendilion to remove the only threat in my hand and I just keep drawing lands until he beats me. Game 3, I manage to do the standard Tron things and get to the win.

In the last game, I lost quickly 0-2. My opponent burned me out real quick with Lightning Helixes, Bolts and Electrolyzes. I had never played against Jeskai Control, but my opponent admitted he was quite familiar with the match-up and told me Tron was usually favoured, and that he did have a very good hand and subsequent hands – I look forward to playing against this deck again in the future to get more experience with the match-up.

2016-05-06: 2-1

Round 1#: Kevin – BW Tokens (2-0)

Round 2#: Jeff – Merfolk (2-0)

Round 3#: Humphrey – Jund (1-2)

First round was pretty easy, managed to get a hand with Pyroclasm, drawing into another one. I kept his Lingering Souls and flashback tokens off the board. He even managed to get a Sorin on board but by that time I had Karn and Ugin lined up to finish lock up the game. Rinse and repeat for game two, I sided in 1 Firespout to help with more board-wipes. Best part of this match-up is now having World Breakers to remove their Intangible Virtues, Stony Silences and even block some of their fliers.

Second round was a new Merfolk player. I kept a hand with 2 Pyros to wipe away the Lords and in Game 2, he decided to Spreading Seas my Grove fearing Pyro. I managed to get to a Pyroclasm with one of my Eggs and eventually lined up a World Breaker to remove the Spreading Seas and end the pesky Island-walking Fish. In my practice matches with my brother, he manages to get enough Lords out to take his fish out of reach from Pyroclasm so I typically side them out, but it’s nice to get some mileage from the Pyroclasms when I can.

Last round, I’m sad to say I lost 2-1. First game, he played a turn 1 Thoughtseize, taking my Scrying and keeping me at 2 pieces of Tron. He played a Goyf and presented a very real clock that just ended the game. Second, I curved out into Karn and Ulamog – feels good man. But in the last game I made a critical misplay, I had Pithing Needle but I named Ghost Quarter which Jund players usually play only 1 copy of. I should’ve named Fulminator Mage since they have more than 1 and it was recurred with Kolagan’s Command. What really crippled me was that he drew into Crumble to Dust. Suffice it to say, I need more practice against Jund and if anyone has tips or pointers please enlighten me. I find myself very fearful of Goyfs and their hand and land disruption.

2016-05-09: 3-0

Round 1#: Jon – Grixis Control (2-0)

Round 2#: Pierangelo – Affinity (2-0)

Round 3#: Riley – Infect (2-0)

Managed to finish Round 1 decisively 2-0, my opponent was playing Thing in the Ice with Ancestral Vision. He didn’t really present a threat, only getting the Titi close to flipping but not quite. By then I land an Ugin, chain into a World Breaker and wipe the Titi away. Second game, I curve out Karn into World Breaker and a third World Breaker as I never had sufficient land to support a chained Ulamog.

Second round, I was matched with Affinity. I rarely ever get a hand with Pyroclasm against Affinity and turn 1 my opponent was able to land a Citadel, Memnite, Opal and Overseer. Kept my poker face, played a Star and passed the turn. He plays a Skirge, ticks up with the Overseer and swings in. Next turn, I break the Star for Red, land another piece and Pyroclasm. He plays a Thoughcast and manages to piece together a Thopter and an Overseer. I managed to piece together Tron within the next turn and load up an Oblivion Stone. I made sure to pop the Stone at the end of my turn to avoid him untapping with his Overseer and subsequently putting counters on his Man-lands. By then, the Affinity player was lacking gas and I secured the win. Game 2, he was on the play again, managed to get a Skirge and Plate out early, I didn’t have any board wipes and I lose the game. Game 3, I get to be on the play. I keep a hand with Pyroclasm, World Breaker, Grove and natural Tron. I wipe away his board taking away leaving his Cranial Plate in play. I land World Breaker within turns and take that off. I didn’t expect to be able to stabilize in game 3 after the huge swing he made in game 2 and accidentally sided out both my Ulamogs so I had to durdled a bit until I got Karn out. Managed to close out the game, just took a little longer.

Most interesting game was Infect. I was on the play in game one and I feared the worst when I saw the Inkmoth in game one. He plopped down a Noble Hierarch and Blighted Agent soon afterward but the Pyroclasm in my opening hand quickly took care of that. The coolest thing is that now that we have World Breakers, Tron can readily remove Inkmoths and even block them if necessary. Needless to say I was very fortunate to have Tron early, curve into World Breaker and eventually an Ulamog to take the win. Second game, I kept a hand with 2 pieces, a Star, Map, Scrying, Oblivion Stone and Spellskite. He played a Breeding Pool and Noble Hierarch. I land my first piece and plant a map. Second turn he lands an Inkmoth. After I land another piece and play it. Following that my opponent swung in with his Inkmoth for 6 infect with a kicked Vines of Vastwood plus exalted. I mentally kick myself for not playing the Spellskite over the Map. On my turn, I complete Tron but lacked threats, I was very fortunate to top-deck a Karn which I opt over playing my Spellskite to exile the Inkmoth. On his turn, he had to kick a Vines in his hand to pump his Hierarch to kill Karn. I draw into a World Breaker and chain it into a second one with Sanctum.

2016-05-14: 3-0

Round 1#: Mikko – Grixis Control (2-1)

Round 2#: Matthew – Gruul Blood Moon (2-0)

Round 3#: Anthony – 4 Colour Gifts (2-1)

Round 1, I managed to be on the play and kept a hand with 2 pieces, some threats and Chromatic. I get Inquisitioned, he takes my Chromatic. I’m not able to get colour to search with a Scrying that I draw until later in the game, but by then, he has a Spell Snare to lock me out of my final pieces. Unfortunately I end up losing the game as I’m never able to complete Tron and Kalitas starts coming in for the beats. I remind myself from now on to be more wary of the hands I keep. Second game, I get the dream, natural Tron with a Sanctum into Karn and Ulamog. Of course in a matchup like this there is sufficient breathing room to wait to play the Karn to chain that Ulamog. When Tron works, it works beautifully. Last game, my opponent mulls to 5 cards while on the play. He plays a Polluted Delta to fetch a shock to Serum Visions. I manage to complete Tron while he builds his land base, with a few skipped land drops. I land a World Breaker to start taking away his blue sources and eventually draw an Ulamog with a spare Tower in my hand already do lock up the final game.

Round 2, was a rather interesting game. I expected more of a Gruul Zoo, but with Turn 3 Blood Moon when I had 2 pieces in play I sighed a breath of relief. My opponent accidentally locked himself out of his own fetches and kept passing the turn. As there was no pressure, I took the time to assemble all pieces of Tron in play and bide my time to get my Oblivion Stone ready. I break the stone on his turn and start landing my threats to take the game. Second game, he plays Beast Within on one of my Tron pieces giving me a token. I find the next piece with a map but of course he plays Blood Moon. At this point I have an Oblivion Stones in hand, I play the first and it gets Beast Withined giving me 2 tokens total. I’m swinging in all this time and he doesn’t really have any threats. I manage to beat him down to 5 before I manage to land a World Breaker the hard way to exile his Blood Moon, but by then the game is over.

Round 3 was my first ever match with 4 Colour Gifts. I complete Tron quickly and have a Thought-Knot in hand and felt quite secure to delay my Karn to search for a Sanctum with the Map via the Tower. So I tap Mine and Power Plant for the TKS, which really surprised my opponent. It prompted him to Gifts in response, allowing me to figure out what he was on. I resolve a Karn next turn with the fetched Sanctum and sequence into Ulamog to take the game. At this point he has not seen any World Breakers. Game 2, he manages to lock me down early with a Ghost Quarter into a Tectonic Edge and Life from the Loam. I’m never able to break the lock and it’s a situation I still reflect on as how to best deal with it in the future. I never drew my Pithing Needle or Life from the Loam. Game 3, I’m on the play and in my opening hand I have a Pithing Needle, 2 pieces, a Map and Karn. My opponent mulls to 5. I turn 1 Pithing and I debate heavily over Tectonic or Ghost Quarter, I ended up naming Tectonic figuring he ran more of those than the Ghost Quarter and I guessed right. He had kept a hand with Tectonic and I’m able to build toward Tron and Karn. He is unable to build a sufficient mana base to pose a threat and I seal the win. Probably the most interesting game out of the slew of matches I’ve had in the past 2 weeks.

Final Thoughts

I do think that in grinder matchups, Tron can tend to durdle a bit so it’s very important to assess whether or not you can get a Sanctum to sequence in a chained threat. I think World Breaker is the real deal, I was very hesitant to switch over to it from Wurmcoils but the cast trigger is so relevant and its ability to trigger Sanctum is absolutely vital. The 1 of Wurmcoil mainboard can be helpful but I am open to potentially running 4 World Breakers in the future.

Moving forward, I’m debating between TKS vs Spellskite. I haven’t run into enough situations where TKS has saved me, but in some testing against my brother’s Merfolk deck it has helped clear an incoming Spreading Seas. I also find myself siding out more often than not, but I think the same could be said if I had Spellskite mainboard. The other thing I’ve been thinking over is that with 3 mainboard World Breakers, are 4 Nature’s Claims necessary, is it perhaps 1 too many or not necessary at all? For that 1 spot I might free up, I was considering perhaps a 2nd Warping Wail for the Infect or Affinity matchup. These are the things I’ll be keeping in mind as I move forward with a few more tournaments this weekend before perhaps trying a larger one.

Also if anyone has tips for the Jund matchup or how best to deal with Crumble to Dust please let me know.