It's been a while since I posted, but I attended my local weekly this week after not playing for a couple months and figured I'd post a summary. Here's the current list i'm experimenting with.
So, I posted my old list a while back here, but it's gone through a decent overhaul after reading these pages recently:
Finally picked up an Ugin so relegated Karn to the sideboard until he'll probably be replaced by something more relevant
The Plat Angel definitely didn't work out, there was never a use for it so it got replaced with the sundering titan
TKS's were just too slow, so they got kicked out to make room for more interaction and mana fixing
Went up to 3 Azorious Signet, but one of those is going to be a talisman of progress once it arrives, I can't see myself going up to 4 mana rocks, but I like the idea of the split in testing
Got rid of buried ruin for a snow covered island, planning on getting the snow plains soon, also Trying out godless shrine after reading up on that, so we'll see.
Went back up to 4 paths, and it's performing much better
The Sideboard is all over the place, the isochron sceptre is supposed to be a two of but one was late this week, but the games I got it out, it felt really really good
So, time to shake off the rust and get on to the report. There was about 23 people there, so we played five rounds. I forgot my notepad so it'll be a bit brief.
Round 1: Mono-G Tron
Game 1: We both mulled to six, and neither of us actually played a spell until turn 3. I didn't know he was on tron beforehand, and our meta is so aggro heavy I just kept a bad hand and never drew interaction. Game 2 was a great hand with two lands and decent amount of spells, I just didn't see any more land. I was on two lands for a few turns too many, and ended up with an iona on green late in the game, but missed a line to winning before he played emrakul and got there.
Definitely winnable, his deck was running primeval titan and was ramping lands with it, I just didn't have the right setup to take care of it
Round 2: Bant Eldrazi
Game 1: Again I didn't know what he was on beforehand, but I get to keep a decent 7 with some counters, a path, draw, and land so it was good for a range of things at least. Well pretty quick I'm at about 5 with no counters used on creatures thanks to his Cavern, and had been drawing very land light, thankfully I was able to hit a very close wrath followed up the timely, and stabilize and chump. Thankfully he proceeded to draw no creatures I couldn't answer, and couldn't find his 5/5 haste eldrazi in time. This went on long enough to where I was able to topdeck emrakul and take the game. Game 2 was fairly similar, I stabilized a bit early, with better draws, and once again topped emmy just before I would be overrun.
Both games we both had periods where we drew poorly, but overrall it feels like it's winnable, just difficult. Definitely a lot of luck involved with these wins, so I'll have to get more games in to see.
Round 3: Grixis Delver
I don't fully remember this series, game 1 he flipped two delvers by turn three, and double bolt snap to finish it up, remand only holding it back and no path drawn. Game two I started with a leyline in play he landed a blood moon fairly early, but thankfully I already had a signet and a map so I fought through it and it actually hurt him more than it did me and I took that game. Game 3 I was too tentative in playing around blood moon that never showed, and he managed to take the game.
Definitely winnable, a couple too many misplays onmy part, and good play by him was just a bit too much.
Round 4: Junk Midrange
Game 1: I keep a pretty good seven, with dsphere, removal and gifts. He leads on temple gardens and birds, and I just get on the gifts path. I manage to land iona on black before he can get a lili out, dsphereing 6 lingering souls tokens, and take game one. Game two goes almost to time, with isochron sceptre pulling it's weight heavily with a path under it before a stony silence landed, after that sundering titan managed to keep him off land for a while. Unfortunately I got out grinded, and he managed to have enough removal to get through two collonades before my iona could connect one last time. then with 30 seconds for our third game, starting on turns, neither of us could finish it up in time, so it ended in a draw.
Round 5: Bye
Sadly we had a few people drop so I didn't get to play my last round.
Overrall, with having been back for the first time in months with a changed decklist, I am very happy with mine and the decks performance. Aside from the games I drew poorly, it never felt unwinnable. I made a few mistakes that cost me games which I'll be tightening up but it felt powerful, especially comparing it too the last list I published here. The sideboard is a bit of a mess, and I'm never sure what to cut in matchups, but that'll improve. Especially in a meta with an immensely aggro favored meta, it was good to see this still has a good chance at it.
I did some testing of Nephalia Academy against my nephew's Death Shadow deck and it turned out to be surprisingly useful against all the discard. It's nice to be able to choose to discard a card or draw it in the early game. I don't know if it would be useful in late game, but as a first land play, it worked pretty well. I have a "flex" land slot where I play Ghost Quarter or Bojuka Bog that I replaced with this card.
Long time lurker just chiming in. My background with UW tron has been about 4-5 years now, as well as playing mono U tron on and off during that same time.
Things I have learned since the 4-5 years
-Emrakrul Main Deck is a must. ( Being able to value gifts with no downside gives your opponent a 2nd guess when attempting to resolve a gift. Even if you didn't intend to go for 4 cards)
-Mind slaver combo isn't the beast it once was. (Although the combo still is decent and is playable is one of the first things to be cut from my list of win cons. Between the nerf to what zones you can look at when controlling there turn and all the stony silences running around it just not what your looking for most of the time.)
-Sphinx's Rev is also a must in the main. (Just like emrakrul, rev is just too important for making gifts very threatening, without those 2 cards you would be just going for wrath package or unburial)
-New Ulamog is worth a slot in your 75(Not only is the cast trigger back breaking usually but 1 swing essentially ends the game for your opponent even if the swing isn't lethal.)
-New Kozilek is also worth a look (If you ever run into an attrition match like control or midrange, New Kozilek is basically a 2nd Rev. His ability is very relevant since we have a bunch of 4s and 2s turning your remands into hard counterspell is great!)
-Teresadon is Great! (This big ol fella is a must in tron mirrors)
-Detention sphere and O-ring are a must in your 75 (there are so many problem permanents in a lot of sideboards for UW Tron that a lone repeal can only handle so much. There really isn't much enchantment hate currently and When Ugin might be too slow these enchantments do a lot of work to make the game go longer.)
-Thopter Sword is decent against aggro heavy meta. (Alongside timely re enforcements, this combo is worth considering when playing against aggro
-24 Lands and 3 Signets is the best mana base statistically. (Like darksteel had mentioned earlier the ratio of having X amount of colored lands in your opener is best suited with 12-12 split on color and non color with 3 signets make the deck very consistent.)
-Ugin is fantastic but not mandatory in the main. (Depending on if you have oring and detention sphere in your 75 should dictate where your Ugin goes.)
Things to note from testing things from the newest sets. Blessed alliance is great! 2 in my board. Planar bridge is too slow for UW. Whir of invention is actually really good for Mono blue tron along with the bridge.
Otherwise this deck has so many angles of attack I don't think I'll ever put it down. I'll be reporting my local meta when I play as well, along with posting my current list later on. Good luck my fellow troners
I tested out a version with some more unique cards. I put an Oblivion Stone in the main as well as a Martial Coup in the board. I put Elspeth in there as well, not sure exactly why I wasn't playing her before since she's great against Eldrazi and it seems to be a problematic matchup.
Round 1 vs Eldrazi:
Game 1 my opponent had a pretty mediocre start that I was able to interact with quite well. I eventually resolved Sphinx's Rev for 9 and the game basically ended as a result. I got to Emrakul mana while interacting and slammed it. In the second game, my opponent mulled to 5 and proceeded to draw all the right gas. It was a relatively close game all things considered and I almost stabilized, but he ended up getting there after a couple of bd draws. In game 3, I crushed him with the extra Wrath effects and it just wasn't that close. He also didn't draw nearly enough gas.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 vs Affinity:
Game 1 was Standard Affinity fare, my opponent did stuff, I did stuff, and Elesh Norn ended the game. Game 2 my opponent kept a really slow hand where he passed turn 1 and then played triple Arbound Ravager over three turns. He tried to Infect me out, but he only went half-in and it really put him in an awkward spot with how I could block and such. Eventually I got to Elesh Norn and ended the game.
Record: 2-0
Round 3 vs Mono White Death and Taxes:
Game 1 I wasn't sure what he was on and ended up getting slightly punished with land sequencing from a fetch I didn't play turn 1. The game ended up not being that close though, I just couldn't fight through all the hate options that he had to keep me slowed down. In game 2 it was much of the same, I got stalled on lands thanks to his LD and the game basically had me struggling to answer his dudes, especially single creatures. I don't think he was very good because he didn't seem to understand the deck or certain game interactions, but the matchup is bad either way. For instance, he Flickerwisped in response to Wrath to save a creature and asked if his Flickerwisp dies or not. He also asked if Selfless Spirit was good, to which I said you have Aether Vial and Flash creatures, it's a waste to play around Wrath effects with that card when your deck is naturally good against it. I know he's a new-ish player though, and he's trying new decks, I don't really fault him or anything.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs Martyr Proc:
Game 1 he's pretty fast but I had an early Path for Serra Ascendant. I resolved Iona at two life into two Squadron Hawks and the game ended from there, just a formality to close it out. In game 2, I stabilized at 9 life with Iona, but he had Proclamation in hand that he could still Forecast (because it's a triggered ability not a spell cast), and he had two Serra Ascendants and a Martyr in there. I Path'd the Martyr when he tapped out to keep him at under 30 life and then closed the game out after several turns. Surgical was a card I wasn't really anticipating as they normally opt for Rest In Peace, but it surprised me a bit. Didn't actually hit my combo though.
Record: 3-1 (came third)
I'm not sure how good Oblivion Stone is. Sometimes it seemed great, sometimes the investment was a lot. I'd have to play it on turn 3 or 4 and skip a turn and draw into land to activate it. I felt like the ability to recur it would be great but that never really happened. I'd have to test it more before I can make a decision on it. Martial Coup also seemed a bit slow to be honest, second Elspeth is probably better.
Yeah I mean, I put it in because the upside to it seems good. I've been quite pleased with the Engineered Explosives and a single black source, so I was hoping this would be good. Obviously the limited sample size doesn't help and I'll probably play it again next time.
The value of a Mindslaver would come from matchups where you need additional threats. If you find yourself needing different ways to interact with the game in the middle of it, that's what it would be good for. You know, maybe you find a matchup like Jund where you don't take too much early pressure and then can get good value on Mindslaver in the face of Liliana or something. I don't particularly think it's necessary out of the board, and it's really not the best when you can't fully play to it (i.e. no Crucible + second Academy Ruins).
I do think your list could probably shave one of the artifact hate cards though. Two Rejections + Hurkyl's + Disenchant is a lot, I took the Disenchant out of my board as well as one of the Rejections in favour of Elspeth and some other card to test. Of course, your meta will vary and maybe you need more, but that's my opinion.
It depends what you want out of that slot. It's certainly a card to consider, it just depends if you want a hard anti-aggro card or anti-aggro with flexibility. Like Renewed Faith is better in non-aggro matchups but Timely is just so much better when you want to gain life. I'm of the camp that Timely is just better because I think you can afford to use one slot for those matchups because they're popular enough.
I was thinking of trying this list at FNM, I'm not sure if i'm too heavy on wincons or not?
I'm interested in mixing up my tron lately as I like the gifts ungiven play of turn 5 setting up a reanimation of sundering titan, Elesh norn, or Iona.
You might be a little high on them. Body Double is cool but it's a little bit cute in my opinion. I'm sure in some matches it'll be powerful but in others it'll be very mediocre. I think probably Platinum Angel isn't that good either, the deck tends to already play cards that sort of do the same thing (i.e. Iona or Elesh Norn make it quite difficult for an opponent to win). Platinum Angel is good at stalling the game, but without a guaranteed late-game win condition like Mindslaver or Emrakul, that plan doesn't have much value.
Rune Snag is a cool card, but again, it's inconsistent. I personally prefer things like Remand and Condescend because they're just better on average.
Before anything, I changed the deck up a bit again. I added back the two last Tron pieces and tried a more Tron-heavy version. I would have played a 1-of Karn if I had one, but that's largely irrelevant. Played a Wurmcoil main.
Round 1 vs Eldrazi and Taxes
So the D&T player started playing the Eldrazi version, but he played a version that cut the processors, which made me quite happy. Oblivion Stone was very good in this matchup, and his deck was simply too slow to interact. Slow removal was good, and Iona closed out back to back games naming white. The lack of graveyard hate is what made it so good.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 vs Living End
In our first game he had one of the worst Living End draws I've ever seen. He hardcast Living End on like turn 6 and didn't draw a single cascade spell; it ended up being not close. Game 2 I simply drew a lot of counters and interacted with him the whole game until Wurmcoil closed it out. Turns out Wurmcoil with several counters is good.
Record: 2-0
Round 3 vs Burn
In the first game I kept a hand that was good on the play, except I was on the draw. It had turn 4 Iona but I ended up being forced to go for Elesh Norn, and then lost anyway. I was literally dead regardless of what I chose to do there. In the second game I opened with five Tron lands that I mulliganed, then mulled to four and kept a no land hand and basically scooped them up. Sometimes it happens.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs RG Scapeshift
Game 1 he's pretty fast and has Scapeshift online while I have just Remand, and he had mana to recast it and end the game. Game 2 he's a lot slower and I draw more interaction. Gifts -> Iona was good enough for the win. In the third game, he kept another really slow hand. The game went at a crawling pace but then I cast Emrakul to close it out. I was happy he switched up his version, cause it made it a lot better for me that he didn't have Through the Breach.
Record: 3-1
I'm not convinced this version is any better or worse. I did notice getting Tron earlier thanks to two extra pieces and a Map. I think more so that if the meta slows down and people play less hate, this kind of list edges out a little bit just because Tron earlier is more rewarding.
I went 6-0 and split 7th round tonight not bad for my first time out using the deck.
the list I settled on was copying mostly your list Darksteel, but I put extra reanimation into it as that has been a goal or thing I wanted to use in modern lately.
I put emphasis on reanimating sundering titan because I was playing legacy recently and remembered how strong it is on turn 1 or 2 off of an entomb, playing the old "cerebral assassin" strategy. UW tron is as close as we can get ot it in modern, and like I theory crafted, it won me games tonight.
never saw thopter combo all night, I might take that out.
went in play it like a newb and worked like a charm.
beat green white aggro, blue red delver, merfolk, Knight of the reliquary combo, Red white prison, then finally a 2nd red white prison.
walked around and countered blood moon in those last 2 games. Iona was hard casted against those last two prison decks and closed me 1 game each round.
ugin killed religuay and merfolk in 1 of the 3, both rounds. my ugin was sideboard and I with he had been mainboard.
blue red delver was 2-0, but game 2 I had fun with him by getting Jace to resolve and ultimate. Jace milled my opponent to death, last 3 milles I just put expedition map ontop of my library and cast it each turn killing my opponent some more. wanted to mill myself if i could so i could get reanimation going.
religuary, green white aggro and blue red delver all lost 1 game each round due to me employing turn 4 end of turn gifts ungiven for reanimate and sundering titan.
Ugin is going to go into the main, and I'm thinking I want atleast 1 planar bridge in the deck. I dunno if i'd go as far as to add treasure mage for sake of tutoring it up. wurmcoil engine and mindslaver maybe thinks that i am missing, but i'm tight on space, what to cut.
Round 1 - G/W Auras
First game was tight, ended up getting there with turn 3 Ugin. Got lucky drawing natural tron and signet on 2.
Game 2 he sided in more hexproof creatures. Lost to a fast draw and only 1 oring effect to slow him down.
Game 3 I end up gifting for a quick Elesh norn and finish quickly.
1-0
Round 2 Naya Aggro
Game 1 she drops me to 5 and I stabilize with Elesh.
Game 2 she nut draws 3 burning tree and reckless bushwacker.
Game 3 I open with 3 paths. Stalled long enough for elspeth to win out
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Burn
Game 1 - I have a 4 lander with sundering titan. Natural tron and a flooded strand. Debated not playing strand till turn 2 I drew path. Ended up fetching for plains. Opponent plays double eidolon with two sacred foundry. Got burned to 2 before titan. Possible should have not fetched.
Game 2 turn 3 Iona at 8 life.
Game 3 stumble on mana die before gifts.
2-1
Round 4 - mono red aggro unearth
Game 1 had 3 path start. I win with Iona
Game 2 blessed allianced 2 times for escalate Win with elspeth
3-1
Cut to top 8
Quarters - Living End
Game 1 remand his only living end, he drew the rest naturally. He scooped before I even presented a win con.
Game 2 similar start remand 2 living ends. Got there with emrakrul.
4-1
Semis - Gift Storm
Game 1 was a blowout for him. He gifted before me and went off.
Game 2 he went for turn 2 empty the warrens for 8 tokens. I had EE and gifted the following turn.
Game 3 i oring a baral . Path the follow up. He end of turns a naturalize. Plays blood moon. I draw signets and gift into Iona for game.
5-1
Finals - Naya Burn
Same guy from round 3
Game 1 I miss play my path, I literally forgot to play it before eidolon. Lose from crucial mistake
Game 2 Blessed alliance did work killing a swift spear with 4 prowess triggers. I win with Iona
Game 3 he gets empty handed I fetch for 2nd blue source instead of white then gift for wrath package and lose cause I fetched wrong.
5-2 taking 2nd
Love the deck will make some adjustments to th board but the main is perfect.
Jace has a better best case and a worse worst case. It depends on whether you think it's likely to flip easily and then do it's thing. I could certainly see merit for it, but I really like Snapcaster Mage. I think our deck prefers not to tap out main phase like Jace would require us to do.
I took the deck to modern last night and went 2-0-2
beat suicide Avatar, beat Eldrazi Bant. went to time with blue white green aggro homebrew, needed a mindslaver or emrakul to break that and didn't draw either one, even after burning through wurmcoil, elesh, sundering titan, and ugin.
2nd tie was with blue white control, went to time with this match up as well, sun titan recurring snapcaster mage for path to exile and qhostquarter kept all of my threats answered in all three games. game three ugin finalyl stabalized the board but we were at time..........
over all loving the deck so far despite these ties.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4 Urzas Tower
3 Urzas Mine
3 Urzas Power Plant
1 Flooded Strand
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Ghost Quarter
Spells
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Path to Exile
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Remand
1 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Noxious Revival
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Condescend
1 Unburial Rites
1 Day of Judgment
1 Supreme Judgement
1 Wrath of God
Creatures
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Sundering Titan
1 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Artifacts
2 Expedition map
3 Azorius Signet
Enchantment
1 Detention Sphere
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Celestial Purge
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Terastodon
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Into the Roil
1 Pithing Needle
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Silence
1 Karn Liberated
1 Ghostly Prison
So, I posted my old list a while back here, but it's gone through a decent overhaul after reading these pages recently:
So, time to shake off the rust and get on to the report. There was about 23 people there, so we played five rounds. I forgot my notepad so it'll be a bit brief.
Round 1: Mono-G Tron
Game 1: We both mulled to six, and neither of us actually played a spell until turn 3. I didn't know he was on tron beforehand, and our meta is so aggro heavy I just kept a bad hand and never drew interaction. Game 2 was a great hand with two lands and decent amount of spells, I just didn't see any more land. I was on two lands for a few turns too many, and ended up with an iona on green late in the game, but missed a line to winning before he played emrakul and got there.
Definitely winnable, his deck was running primeval titan and was ramping lands with it, I just didn't have the right setup to take care of it
Round 2: Bant Eldrazi
Game 1: Again I didn't know what he was on beforehand, but I get to keep a decent 7 with some counters, a path, draw, and land so it was good for a range of things at least. Well pretty quick I'm at about 5 with no counters used on creatures thanks to his Cavern, and had been drawing very land light, thankfully I was able to hit a very close wrath followed up the timely, and stabilize and chump. Thankfully he proceeded to draw no creatures I couldn't answer, and couldn't find his 5/5 haste eldrazi in time. This went on long enough to where I was able to topdeck emrakul and take the game. Game 2 was fairly similar, I stabilized a bit early, with better draws, and once again topped emmy just before I would be overrun.
Both games we both had periods where we drew poorly, but overrall it feels like it's winnable, just difficult. Definitely a lot of luck involved with these wins, so I'll have to get more games in to see.
Round 3: Grixis Delver
I don't fully remember this series, game 1 he flipped two delvers by turn three, and double bolt snap to finish it up, remand only holding it back and no path drawn. Game two I started with a leyline in play he landed a blood moon fairly early, but thankfully I already had a signet and a map so I fought through it and it actually hurt him more than it did me and I took that game. Game 3 I was too tentative in playing around blood moon that never showed, and he managed to take the game.
Definitely winnable, a couple too many misplays onmy part, and good play by him was just a bit too much.
Round 4: Junk Midrange
Game 1: I keep a pretty good seven, with dsphere, removal and gifts. He leads on temple gardens and birds, and I just get on the gifts path. I manage to land iona on black before he can get a lili out, dsphereing 6 lingering souls tokens, and take game one. Game two goes almost to time, with isochron sceptre pulling it's weight heavily with a path under it before a stony silence landed, after that sundering titan managed to keep him off land for a while. Unfortunately I got out grinded, and he managed to have enough removal to get through two collonades before my iona could connect one last time. then with 30 seconds for our third game, starting on turns, neither of us could finish it up in time, so it ended in a draw.
Round 5: Bye
Sadly we had a few people drop so I didn't get to play my last round.
Overrall, with having been back for the first time in months with a changed decklist, I am very happy with mine and the decks performance. Aside from the games I drew poorly, it never felt unwinnable. I made a few mistakes that cost me games which I'll be tightening up but it felt powerful, especially comparing it too the last list I published here. The sideboard is a bit of a mess, and I'm never sure what to cut in matchups, but that'll improve. Especially in a meta with an immensely aggro favored meta, it was good to see this still has a good chance at it.
Things I have learned since the 4-5 years
-Emrakrul Main Deck is a must. ( Being able to value gifts with no downside gives your opponent a 2nd guess when attempting to resolve a gift. Even if you didn't intend to go for 4 cards)
-Mind slaver combo isn't the beast it once was. (Although the combo still is decent and is playable is one of the first things to be cut from my list of win cons. Between the nerf to what zones you can look at when controlling there turn and all the stony silences running around it just not what your looking for most of the time.)
-Sphinx's Rev is also a must in the main. (Just like emrakrul, rev is just too important for making gifts very threatening, without those 2 cards you would be just going for wrath package or unburial)
-New Ulamog is worth a slot in your 75(Not only is the cast trigger back breaking usually but 1 swing essentially ends the game for your opponent even if the swing isn't lethal.)
-New Kozilek is also worth a look (If you ever run into an attrition match like control or midrange, New Kozilek is basically a 2nd Rev. His ability is very relevant since we have a bunch of 4s and 2s turning your remands into hard counterspell is great!)
-Teresadon is Great! (This big ol fella is a must in tron mirrors)
-Detention sphere and O-ring are a must in your 75 (there are so many problem permanents in a lot of sideboards for UW Tron that a lone repeal can only handle so much. There really isn't much enchantment hate currently and When Ugin might be too slow these enchantments do a lot of work to make the game go longer.)
-Thopter Sword is decent against aggro heavy meta. (Alongside timely re enforcements, this combo is worth considering when playing against aggro
-24 Lands and 3 Signets is the best mana base statistically. (Like darksteel had mentioned earlier the ratio of having X amount of colored lands in your opener is best suited with 12-12 split on color and non color with 3 signets make the deck very consistent.)
-Ugin is fantastic but not mandatory in the main. (Depending on if you have oring and detention sphere in your 75 should dictate where your Ugin goes.)
Things to note from testing things from the newest sets. Blessed alliance is great! 2 in my board. Planar bridge is too slow for UW. Whir of invention is actually really good for Mono blue tron along with the bridge.
Otherwise this deck has so many angles of attack I don't think I'll ever put it down. I'll be reporting my local meta when I play as well, along with posting my current list later on. Good luck my fellow troners
I tested out a version with some more unique cards. I put an Oblivion Stone in the main as well as a Martial Coup in the board. I put Elspeth in there as well, not sure exactly why I wasn't playing her before since she's great against Eldrazi and it seems to be a problematic matchup.
Round 1 vs Eldrazi:
Game 1 my opponent had a pretty mediocre start that I was able to interact with quite well. I eventually resolved Sphinx's Rev for 9 and the game basically ended as a result. I got to Emrakul mana while interacting and slammed it. In the second game, my opponent mulled to 5 and proceeded to draw all the right gas. It was a relatively close game all things considered and I almost stabilized, but he ended up getting there after a couple of bd draws. In game 3, I crushed him with the extra Wrath effects and it just wasn't that close. He also didn't draw nearly enough gas.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 vs Affinity:
Game 1 was Standard Affinity fare, my opponent did stuff, I did stuff, and Elesh Norn ended the game. Game 2 my opponent kept a really slow hand where he passed turn 1 and then played triple Arbound Ravager over three turns. He tried to Infect me out, but he only went half-in and it really put him in an awkward spot with how I could block and such. Eventually I got to Elesh Norn and ended the game.
Record: 2-0
Round 3 vs Mono White Death and Taxes:
Game 1 I wasn't sure what he was on and ended up getting slightly punished with land sequencing from a fetch I didn't play turn 1. The game ended up not being that close though, I just couldn't fight through all the hate options that he had to keep me slowed down. In game 2 it was much of the same, I got stalled on lands thanks to his LD and the game basically had me struggling to answer his dudes, especially single creatures. I don't think he was very good because he didn't seem to understand the deck or certain game interactions, but the matchup is bad either way. For instance, he Flickerwisped in response to Wrath to save a creature and asked if his Flickerwisp dies or not. He also asked if Selfless Spirit was good, to which I said you have Aether Vial and Flash creatures, it's a waste to play around Wrath effects with that card when your deck is naturally good against it. I know he's a new-ish player though, and he's trying new decks, I don't really fault him or anything.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs Martyr Proc:
Game 1 he's pretty fast but I had an early Path for Serra Ascendant. I resolved Iona at two life into two Squadron Hawks and the game ended from there, just a formality to close it out. In game 2, I stabilized at 9 life with Iona, but he had Proclamation in hand that he could still Forecast (because it's a triggered ability not a spell cast), and he had two Serra Ascendants and a Martyr in there. I Path'd the Martyr when he tapped out to keep him at under 30 life and then closed the game out after several turns. Surgical was a card I wasn't really anticipating as they normally opt for Rest In Peace, but it surprised me a bit. Didn't actually hit my combo though.
Record: 3-1 (came third)
I'm not sure how good Oblivion Stone is. Sometimes it seemed great, sometimes the investment was a lot. I'd have to play it on turn 3 or 4 and skip a turn and draw into land to activate it. I felt like the ability to recur it would be great but that never really happened. I'd have to test it more before I can make a decision on it. Martial Coup also seemed a bit slow to be honest, second Elspeth is probably better.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I do think your list could probably shave one of the artifact hate cards though. Two Rejections + Hurkyl's + Disenchant is a lot, I took the Disenchant out of my board as well as one of the Rejections in favour of Elspeth and some other card to test. Of course, your meta will vary and maybe you need more, but that's my opinion.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I'm interested in mixing up my tron lately as I like the gifts ungiven play of turn 5 setting up a reanimation of sundering titan, Elesh norn, or Iona.
3 Urzas Tower
3 Urzas Mine
3 Urzas Power Plant
1 Flooded Strand
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Path to Exile
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 rune snag
1 Mana Leak
1 Noxious Revival
1 Unburial Rites
1 Day of Judgment
1 Supreme Judgement
1 Wrath of God
Creatures
1 body double
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 platinum angel
1 Sundering Titan
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 sword of the meek
1 thopter foundry
1 planar bridge
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Expedition map
3 Azorius Signet
1 Detention Sphere
Rune Snag is a cool card, but again, it's inconsistent. I personally prefer things like Remand and Condescend because they're just better on average.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Before anything, I changed the deck up a bit again. I added back the two last Tron pieces and tried a more Tron-heavy version. I would have played a 1-of Karn if I had one, but that's largely irrelevant. Played a Wurmcoil main.
Round 1 vs Eldrazi and Taxes
So the D&T player started playing the Eldrazi version, but he played a version that cut the processors, which made me quite happy. Oblivion Stone was very good in this matchup, and his deck was simply too slow to interact. Slow removal was good, and Iona closed out back to back games naming white. The lack of graveyard hate is what made it so good.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 vs Living End
In our first game he had one of the worst Living End draws I've ever seen. He hardcast Living End on like turn 6 and didn't draw a single cascade spell; it ended up being not close. Game 2 I simply drew a lot of counters and interacted with him the whole game until Wurmcoil closed it out. Turns out Wurmcoil with several counters is good.
Record: 2-0
Round 3 vs Burn
In the first game I kept a hand that was good on the play, except I was on the draw. It had turn 4 Iona but I ended up being forced to go for Elesh Norn, and then lost anyway. I was literally dead regardless of what I chose to do there. In the second game I opened with five Tron lands that I mulliganed, then mulled to four and kept a no land hand and basically scooped them up. Sometimes it happens.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs RG Scapeshift
Game 1 he's pretty fast and has Scapeshift online while I have just Remand, and he had mana to recast it and end the game. Game 2 he's a lot slower and I draw more interaction. Gifts -> Iona was good enough for the win. In the third game, he kept another really slow hand. The game went at a crawling pace but then I cast Emrakul to close it out. I was happy he switched up his version, cause it made it a lot better for me that he didn't have Through the Breach.
Record: 3-1
I'm not convinced this version is any better or worse. I did notice getting Tron earlier thanks to two extra pieces and a Map. I think more so that if the meta slows down and people play less hate, this kind of list edges out a little bit just because Tron earlier is more rewarding.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Celestial Colonnade
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Snow-covered Island
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Godless Shrine
1 Academy Ruins
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Snapcaster Mage
Artifacts: 8
3 Expedition Map
3 Azorious Signet
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Stone
Instants: 19
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Path to Exile
3 Remand
3 Condescend
3 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Anticipate
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgment
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Unburial Rites
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I went 6-0 and split 7th round tonight not bad for my first time out using the deck.
the list I settled on was copying mostly your list Darksteel, but I put extra reanimation into it as that has been a goal or thing I wanted to use in modern lately.
I put emphasis on reanimating sundering titan because I was playing legacy recently and remembered how strong it is on turn 1 or 2 off of an entomb, playing the old "cerebral assassin" strategy. UW tron is as close as we can get ot it in modern, and like I theory crafted, it won me games tonight.
never saw thopter combo all night, I might take that out.
I linked the cards that i changed the numbers of.
24
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Celestial Colonnade
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Snow-covered Island
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Godless Shrine
1 Academy Ruins
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 sundering titan
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3 Expedition Map
3 Azorious Signet
1 Oblivion Stone
1 thopter foundry
1 sword of the meek
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 condemn
3 Remand
3 Condescend
4 Thirst For Knowledge
1 blessed alliance
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Unburial Rites
went in play it like a newb and worked like a charm.
beat green white aggro, blue red delver, merfolk, Knight of the reliquary combo, Red white prison, then finally a 2nd red white prison.
walked around and countered blood moon in those last 2 games. Iona was hard casted against those last two prison decks and closed me 1 game each round.
ugin killed religuay and merfolk in 1 of the 3, both rounds. my ugin was sideboard and I with he had been mainboard.
blue red delver was 2-0, but game 2 I had fun with him by getting Jace to resolve and ultimate. Jace milled my opponent to death, last 3 milles I just put expedition map ontop of my library and cast it each turn killing my opponent some more. wanted to mill myself if i could so i could get reanimation going.
religuary, green white aggro and blue red delver all lost 1 game each round due to me employing turn 4 end of turn gifts ungiven for reanimate and sundering titan.
Ugin is going to go into the main, and I'm thinking I want atleast 1 planar bridge in the deck. I dunno if i'd go as far as to add treasure mage for sake of tutoring it up. wurmcoil engine and mindslaver maybe thinks that i am missing, but i'm tight on space, what to cut.
Round 1 - G/W Auras
First game was tight, ended up getting there with turn 3 Ugin. Got lucky drawing natural tron and signet on 2.
Game 2 he sided in more hexproof creatures. Lost to a fast draw and only 1 oring effect to slow him down.
Game 3 I end up gifting for a quick Elesh norn and finish quickly.
1-0
Round 2 Naya Aggro
Game 1 she drops me to 5 and I stabilize with Elesh.
Game 2 she nut draws 3 burning tree and reckless bushwacker.
Game 3 I open with 3 paths. Stalled long enough for elspeth to win out
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Burn
Game 1 - I have a 4 lander with sundering titan. Natural tron and a flooded strand. Debated not playing strand till turn 2 I drew path. Ended up fetching for plains. Opponent plays double eidolon with two sacred foundry. Got burned to 2 before titan. Possible should have not fetched.
Game 2 turn 3 Iona at 8 life.
Game 3 stumble on mana die before gifts.
2-1
Round 4 - mono red aggro unearth
Game 1 had 3 path start. I win with Iona
Game 2 blessed allianced 2 times for escalate Win with elspeth
3-1
Cut to top 8
Quarters - Living End
Game 1 remand his only living end, he drew the rest naturally. He scooped before I even presented a win con.
Game 2 similar start remand 2 living ends. Got there with emrakrul.
4-1
Semis - Gift Storm
Game 1 was a blowout for him. He gifted before me and went off.
Game 2 he went for turn 2 empty the warrens for 8 tokens. I had EE and gifted the following turn.
Game 3 i oring a baral . Path the follow up. He end of turns a naturalize. Plays blood moon. I draw signets and gift into Iona for game.
5-1
Finals - Naya Burn
Same guy from round 3
Game 1 I miss play my path, I literally forgot to play it before eidolon. Lose from crucial mistake
Game 2 Blessed alliance did work killing a swift spear with 4 prowess triggers. I win with Iona
Game 3 he gets empty handed I fetch for 2nd blue source instead of white then gift for wrath package and lose cause I fetched wrong.
5-2 taking 2nd
Love the deck will make some adjustments to th board but the main is perfect.
right now i'm liking that he is a repeatable looting effect and offers me more changes for flashback in a game than a single snapcaster mage
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
beat suicide Avatar, beat Eldrazi Bant. went to time with blue white green aggro homebrew, needed a mindslaver or emrakul to break that and didn't draw either one, even after burning through wurmcoil, elesh, sundering titan, and ugin.
2nd tie was with blue white control, went to time with this match up as well, sun titan recurring snapcaster mage for path to exile and qhostquarter kept all of my threats answered in all three games. game three ugin finalyl stabalized the board but we were at time..........
over all loving the deck so far despite these ties.