I've been playing that exact Dickmann list and a few things:
1 - Huntmaster is great. People don't expect him and he eats removal like nobodies business. When I see someone pay 4 life for a dismember after I got a 2/2 body and 2 life, I'm a happy camper. I don't know that he's better than Thrun against control, but against aggro/midrange decks, Huntmaster is a big target, which takes the heat off the combo.
2 - BGx is still a tough matchup for this deck. The games can be tight but if they have two pieces of discard in the first three turns, you're going to be in bad shape, period.
3 - I'm tempted to try the UR Tempo Twin game because it just seems more consistent. Iw ant to run hate like Seas and Blood Moon and you just can't do that in RUG as our manabase is somewhat shaky too. I've definitely been locked out of games with a well positioned tec edge on the other side, locking me out of something (usually green or crpytic mana). I just feel like UR with more basics is safer.
Going back and forth between RUG and UR for Modern states in August.
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
Another surprising number from the bottom of the table is the laughable performance by Tron. Five players managed to make it through to Day Two, and they almost certainly did so by virtue of having done well in Limited. They ended up with records of 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, and 2-3, totaling the lowest win percentage of any deck in the field. This is unsurprising considering the role of the deck in the format. Tron was always one of the checks and balances to Jund's dominance in the field, as it was one of the few decks that actually had a favorable match-up against Jund. Now that Jund is, shall we say...weaker, Tron has correspondingly gotten weaker. In addition, Tron's worst match-ups, the fast combo decks, actually got better with the decline of Jund. This combination appears to have resulted in Tron being a somewhat questionable choice for this event.
So, is this just speculation on the writer's part, or is it backed up by them actually seeing how the players did in Limited?
I mean, with the records listed, every played would have had to go 3-0 or 2-1 in limited at worst to make Day 2 with that kind of constructed record. No Limited player could have lost 2 games and made it with those records. The 2-3 records had to have gone 3-0 in limited to make Day 2.
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
Another surprising number from the bottom of the table is the laughable performance by Tron. Five players managed to make it through to Day Two, and they almost certainly did so by virtue of having done well in Limited. They ended up with records of 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, and 2-3, totaling the lowest win percentage of any deck in the field. This is unsurprising considering the role of the deck in the format. Tron was always one of the checks and balances to Jund's dominance in the field, as it was one of the few decks that actually had a favorable match-up against Jund. Now that Jund is, shall we say...weaker, Tron has correspondingly gotten weaker. In addition, Tron's worst match-ups, the fast combo decks, actually got better with the decline of Jund. This combination appears to have resulted in Tron being a somewhat questionable choice for this event.
Lowest Win Percentage (of decks with more than one pilot):
Tron (2.4 wins 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, 2-3, 3-2)
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
after looking at the pro tour results id say that we need to gear too beat the decks that will be on the uprising to beat the current meta....
The problem is all of the PT T8 decks, aside from Pod, are rough matchups for us. Overall, the drop of Jund and the rise of Zoo and Twin is not good for Tron.
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
I'm trying to decide on a deck for Richmond. I'm a natural Tron player (been playing it 90% of the time for two years) but the meta just doesn't look good. I agree that Blue Moon just slows us down, but that deck runs a TON of counters, including 4x Spell Snare, so it REALLY can hurt our early ramp (counters Sylvan). I don't think it's as big a problem as Twin, which T8ed now, so we're sure to see more of it.
The deck can play through hate, T3 O-Stone into a T5 actication can deal with Blood Moon - we actually care way less about it, but between Storm's resurgence and Twin's continued prominence, I think we'll be poorly positioned in Richmond. The only deck we really hate on hard is Melira Pod. Besides that, every major meta deck has a decent match up against us - it's no longer the days of 60-70% of our matchups being 70/30 in our favor.
I like Tron, a lot, I just don't think the meta in two weeks is going to be very friendly in two weeks time. May have to make the audible back to UWR :\
Thoughts?
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
This pro tour field looks brutal for Tron. Blue Moon and Amulet combo is gross against us, and you KNOW we'll see a ton of it in the early rounds of Richmond. Coupled with a for-sure Twin T8, Tron is looking like its hurting.
I'm still debating whether to play Tron or UWR Flash for Richmond. I'm tempted to play Tron, I want to play Tron, but there are just too many matchups we straight lose to and I don't like it.
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
Removal is important. The "damage" may be done by Clique, but if we haven't stabilized, removing a 3 power flyer is not useless. Also allows for 2 for 1 removal/neuter spellstutter, (remove faerier in response to spellstutter cast). Uncounterable removal that hits every single creature in the deck is rarely a bad thing.
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Modern RG RG Tron GR RUG RUG Twin RUG X Affinity X
Another tournament report, this time from a GPT for Richmond.
Went 2-2-1. Lost my win and in to T8.
Round 1 - Affinity (1-2)
In my opinion, the best magic player in the room. Game 1 he got exactsies with a ravager to Inkmoth sac. I was trying to bluff him into misplaying with an O-stone but he knew the math, and sac'd his welding jar to ravager and ravager to inkmoth instead of saccing welding jar to save ravager.
Game 2, I get a T2 Pyroclasm, T3 Pyroclasm, T4 Wurmcoil and take over the game.
Game 3, he has an aggressive start and I don't find any of my land fetches and can't assemble Tron. Die the turn before I get to 6 lands to hardcast Wurmcoil.
0-1
Round 2 - Living End (1-1-1)
Game 1 - He has a tough time finding cycle creatures and floods out. I get Tron online early and he scoops to a resolved Karn nuking his hand with Relic backup to deal with cyclers.
Game 2 - I mull to 5 and draw like crap. He gets a back to back fulminator mages to keep me off Tron and then goes off, blowing up my remaining lands and putting me too far behind.
Game 3 - He and I both stumble on starts. Early relic slows him down but he tries to go off and cycle a few beaters in response to me activating relic, prior to living end resolution so he gets a bit of a board presence. I eventually resolve Ulamog but run out of time to seal the deal. Game ends with a draw with him at 2 life and me at 41. He dropped after the following round so he kind of screwed my record and breakers.
0-1-1
Round 3 - Bad Esper Control (2-0)
This kid was playing a standard deck with mana leaks. No chance. No fetches, no shocks, just scry lands and basics and counters. Karn kept him off double blue both games and I never really broke a sweat. Not a fair game.
1-1-1
Round 4 - Mono Green Devotion Combo (2-0)
New deck running Nykthos to combo off Genesis Wave + Eternal Witness into Craterhoof. Goes off fast but super dork dependent.
Game 1 - He's on the play and dumps a board full of dorks T1 and T2. I clasm, resolve Karn, blow up Nykthos and he scoops.
Game 2 - I draw two pyroclasms in my opener. Same story. He never has the chance to get online because he has to go all-in and my deck runs 7 sweepers main board, 8 post board.
2-1-1
Round 5 - Bogles/Hexproof (0-2)
My win and in. Normally this is a great match-up for me but I drew like garbage. Drew tron piece after tron piece and had comical amounts of mana but was always a turn too slow with stabilizing.
G1 - Mull to 6. Resolve a T3 wurmcoil. He has Selesnya Charm for it. Get my Ugin online and find a Wurmcoil 1 turn too late, he hits for exacsties.
G2 - Same story but I punted this one. Exact same situation (Coil gets charmed, Ugin online) but, instead of searching for a Spellskite to play that turn and buy myself another turn or two, I looked for the Wurmcoil I couldn't cast, hoping he'd fail to swing for lethal. He didn't. Leonin Arbiter really slowed me down - he saved him from a pyroclasm with a Ranger's Guile and that hurt.
2-2-1.
Finished 9th. T8 was UWR Geist Midrange, Jund, Tempo Twin, Affinity (that I lost to), Hexproof (that I lost to), and 2 RG Tron. Not sure who won but it was Affinity/Bogles in the final.
Game 1 - He curves out perfectly, going Lord into two Phantasmal images. Dead T4.
Game 2 - He casts three spreading seas but is slow on action. I get enough mana out to hard cast and pop O-Stone, drop 2 Wurmcoils and he never recovers.
Game 3 - I resolve an early Wurmcoil, he can't find Path.
Match 2 - Melira Pod 2-1
Game 1 - I go 10 turns without finding a single land tutor. He assembles combo and goes off.
Game 2 - T3 Karn into T4 Wurmcoil ends the game in a hurry.
Game 3 - Super close game going back and forth. Thoughtseize blows up my hand but he's slow to find action. He punts by swinging with all 4 lingering souls tokens thinking he has lethal while I have a resolved Ulamog. I Nature's Claim an Egg to put me at 2 life and the crack-back kills him.
Match 3 - GW Hatebears 1-2
Game 1 - Early Mindcensor keeps me off Tron long enough for him to kill me.
Game 2 - I play through 3 GQs in his opening hand. He can't find action, I eventually resolve Karn and take over the game.
Game 3 - He resolves T2 Arbiter and T3 Crucible and GQ locks me. Can't find the Nature's claim to deal with Crucible in time.
Match 4 - UR Tempo Twin - 0-2
Game 1 - He's on the play and goes off on T4
Game 2 - I draw Natural Tron + Karn + Choke + 2x Torpor in opening hand. Resolve 2 Torpors. He topdecks ancient grudge. Try and resolve Choke. Gets remanded. He goes off next turn.
Overall, I'm happy with the deck and really happy with my sideboard. Twin is tough and will always be tough. They have to draw poorly and we have to draw well - not much else to it.
Deck is typical. I run 3x Wurmcoil, Ulamog, and Emrakul main board. Emmy is a maybe but keeping him around for now. All of my blue hate was an all-star due to tons of utility against multiple decks
Standard operating procedure for DQs at events like this. Believe HJ is essentially obligated to explain it publicly.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
1 - Huntmaster is great. People don't expect him and he eats removal like nobodies business. When I see someone pay 4 life for a dismember after I got a 2/2 body and 2 life, I'm a happy camper. I don't know that he's better than Thrun against control, but against aggro/midrange decks, Huntmaster is a big target, which takes the heat off the combo.
2 - BGx is still a tough matchup for this deck. The games can be tight but if they have two pieces of discard in the first three turns, you're going to be in bad shape, period.
3 - I'm tempted to try the UR Tempo Twin game because it just seems more consistent. Iw ant to run hate like Seas and Blood Moon and you just can't do that in RUG as our manabase is somewhat shaky too. I've definitely been locked out of games with a well positioned tec edge on the other side, locking me out of something (usually green or crpytic mana). I just feel like UR with more basics is safer.
Going back and forth between RUG and UR for Modern states in August.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
I mean, with the records listed, every played would have had to go 3-0 or 2-1 in limited at worst to make Day 2 with that kind of constructed record. No Limited player could have lost 2 games and made it with those records. The 2-3 records had to have gone 3-0 in limited to make Day 2.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptbng14/metagame_day2
Specifically:
Another surprising number from the bottom of the table is the laughable performance by Tron. Five players managed to make it through to Day Two, and they almost certainly did so by virtue of having done well in Limited. They ended up with records of 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, and 2-3, totaling the lowest win percentage of any deck in the field. This is unsurprising considering the role of the deck in the format. Tron was always one of the checks and balances to Jund's dominance in the field, as it was one of the few decks that actually had a favorable match-up against Jund. Now that Jund is, shall we say...weaker, Tron has correspondingly gotten weaker. In addition, Tron's worst match-ups, the fast combo decks, actually got better with the decline of Jund. This combination appears to have resulted in Tron being a somewhat questionable choice for this event.
Lowest Win Percentage (of decks with more than one pilot):
Tron (2.4 wins 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, 2-3, 3-2)
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
The problem is all of the PT T8 decks, aside from Pod, are rough matchups for us. Overall, the drop of Jund and the rise of Zoo and Twin is not good for Tron.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
The deck can play through hate, T3 O-Stone into a T5 actication can deal with Blood Moon - we actually care way less about it, but between Storm's resurgence and Twin's continued prominence, I think we'll be poorly positioned in Richmond. The only deck we really hate on hard is Melira Pod. Besides that, every major meta deck has a decent match up against us - it's no longer the days of 60-70% of our matchups being 70/30 in our favor.
I like Tron, a lot, I just don't think the meta in two weeks is going to be very friendly in two weeks time. May have to make the audible back to UWR :\
Thoughts?
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
I'm still debating whether to play Tron or UWR Flash for Richmond. I'm tempted to play Tron, I want to play Tron, but there are just too many matchups we straight lose to and I don't like it.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Also, UGH TWIN
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
3-0 of that is limited. He's 1-0 in Modern.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Guess I should get my predictions in now
T8
2x Pod
2x UWR
1x BGx
1x Twin
1x UR Tempo
1x Affinity
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Went 2-2-1. Lost my win and in to T8.
Round 1 - Affinity (1-2)
In my opinion, the best magic player in the room. Game 1 he got exactsies with a ravager to Inkmoth sac. I was trying to bluff him into misplaying with an O-stone but he knew the math, and sac'd his welding jar to ravager and ravager to inkmoth instead of saccing welding jar to save ravager.
Game 2, I get a T2 Pyroclasm, T3 Pyroclasm, T4 Wurmcoil and take over the game.
Game 3, he has an aggressive start and I don't find any of my land fetches and can't assemble Tron. Die the turn before I get to 6 lands to hardcast Wurmcoil.
0-1
Round 2 - Living End (1-1-1)
Game 1 - He has a tough time finding cycle creatures and floods out. I get Tron online early and he scoops to a resolved Karn nuking his hand with Relic backup to deal with cyclers.
Game 2 - I mull to 5 and draw like crap. He gets a back to back fulminator mages to keep me off Tron and then goes off, blowing up my remaining lands and putting me too far behind.
Game 3 - He and I both stumble on starts. Early relic slows him down but he tries to go off and cycle a few beaters in response to me activating relic, prior to living end resolution so he gets a bit of a board presence. I eventually resolve Ulamog but run out of time to seal the deal. Game ends with a draw with him at 2 life and me at 41. He dropped after the following round so he kind of screwed my record and breakers.
0-1-1
Round 3 - Bad Esper Control (2-0)
This kid was playing a standard deck with mana leaks. No chance. No fetches, no shocks, just scry lands and basics and counters. Karn kept him off double blue both games and I never really broke a sweat. Not a fair game.
1-1-1
Round 4 - Mono Green Devotion Combo (2-0)
New deck running Nykthos to combo off Genesis Wave + Eternal Witness into Craterhoof. Goes off fast but super dork dependent.
Game 1 - He's on the play and dumps a board full of dorks T1 and T2. I clasm, resolve Karn, blow up Nykthos and he scoops.
Game 2 - I draw two pyroclasms in my opener. Same story. He never has the chance to get online because he has to go all-in and my deck runs 7 sweepers main board, 8 post board.
2-1-1
Round 5 - Bogles/Hexproof (0-2)
My win and in. Normally this is a great match-up for me but I drew like garbage. Drew tron piece after tron piece and had comical amounts of mana but was always a turn too slow with stabilizing.
G1 - Mull to 6. Resolve a T3 wurmcoil. He has Selesnya Charm for it. Get my Ugin online and find a Wurmcoil 1 turn too late, he hits for exacsties.
G2 - Same story but I punted this one. Exact same situation (Coil gets charmed, Ugin online) but, instead of searching for a Spellskite to play that turn and buy myself another turn or two, I looked for the Wurmcoil I couldn't cast, hoping he'd fail to swing for lethal. He didn't. Leonin Arbiter really slowed me down - he saved him from a pyroclasm with a Ranger's Guile and that hurt.
2-2-1.
Finished 9th. T8 was UWR Geist Midrange, Jund, Tempo Twin, Affinity (that I lost to), Hexproof (that I lost to), and 2 RG Tron. Not sure who won but it was Affinity/Bogles in the final.
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Match 1 - Uw Fish 2-1
Game 1 - He curves out perfectly, going Lord into two Phantasmal images. Dead T4.
Game 2 - He casts three spreading seas but is slow on action. I get enough mana out to hard cast and pop O-Stone, drop 2 Wurmcoils and he never recovers.
Game 3 - I resolve an early Wurmcoil, he can't find Path.
Match 2 - Melira Pod 2-1
Game 1 - I go 10 turns without finding a single land tutor. He assembles combo and goes off.
Game 2 - T3 Karn into T4 Wurmcoil ends the game in a hurry.
Game 3 - Super close game going back and forth. Thoughtseize blows up my hand but he's slow to find action. He punts by swinging with all 4 lingering souls tokens thinking he has lethal while I have a resolved Ulamog. I Nature's Claim an Egg to put me at 2 life and the crack-back kills him.
Match 3 - GW Hatebears 1-2
Game 1 - Early Mindcensor keeps me off Tron long enough for him to kill me.
Game 2 - I play through 3 GQs in his opening hand. He can't find action, I eventually resolve Karn and take over the game.
Game 3 - He resolves T2 Arbiter and T3 Crucible and GQ locks me. Can't find the Nature's claim to deal with Crucible in time.
Match 4 - UR Tempo Twin - 0-2
Game 1 - He's on the play and goes off on T4
Game 2 - I draw Natural Tron + Karn + Choke + 2x Torpor in opening hand. Resolve 2 Torpors. He topdecks ancient grudge. Try and resolve Choke. Gets remanded. He goes off next turn.
Overall, I'm happy with the deck and really happy with my sideboard. Twin is tough and will always be tough. They have to draw poorly and we have to draw well - not much else to it.
Deck is typical. I run 3x Wurmcoil, Ulamog, and Emrakul main board. Emmy is a maybe but keeping him around for now. All of my blue hate was an all-star due to tons of utility against multiple decks
Board:
3 Nature's Claim
3 Combust
2 Choke
2 Torpor Orb
2 Spell Skite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Cavern of Souls
Have a GPT for Richmond on Saturday - will be sure to report!
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Is there a list we can see? Was it Rx or mono-red?
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X
Sans Geist making an appearance
Modern
RG RG Tron GR
RUG RUG Twin RUG
X Affinity X