Urzatron decks are no stranger to the majority of Magic players. Some years ago, around the Kamigawa/Ravnica Standard, a UR version packing cards like Meloku, the Clouded Mirror and Keiga, the Tide Star made a decent run.
The deck revolves around stalling the early game while playing a good amount of cantrips and card draw until you assemble the full "Tron" (Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine and Urza's Power Plant). Reaching that point you'll have a resource advantage so large that losing the game is a minor possibility.
Nowadays, UR Tron has one more trick up its sleeve with Through the Breach. You can quickly cheat an Eldrazi into play for some free wins with that card, giving you a proactive and powerful play, something you really want to have in a format as open and diverse as Modern. Some older versions also had the Mindslaver + Academy Ruins lock.
One of the nice things about the deck is that it can also play the control game as needed. Facing a heavy control deck like UWR Control? Well, you can use Through the Breach if the opportunity presents itself, but you can also play the long game as your late game plays are just better (I heard hardcasting Emrakul is a good way to win games) ;).
The blue cards are the core of the deck and are mainly the same in UW Tron and UR Tron - counters, bounce, draw and a tutor in the form of Gifts Ungiven, which gives the deck a lot of flexibility and inevitability in the late game. You should also play a good number of signets and Expedition Map to get color fix and assemble Tron faster.
Another variant of the deck ditches Gifts Ungiven entirely, replacing it with Compulsive Research and playing more copies of Emrakul (the best Eldrazi). The idea is to just dig deeper to find the cards you need, because in this deck Gifts Ungiven isn't as powerful as in the ones using it to power the Unburial Rites "combo". For instance, if you want to Gifts for a Through the Breach, you must play Snapcaster Mage and Noxious Revival, cards that are otherwise not as good in the deck, increasing the odds of dead draws.
Why should you play it?
Tron is a really fun deck to play. It combines aspects from tempo and control decks while resurrecting that "I can play absurdly big and costly creatures!" factor that I'm sure you loved when you were a beginner (and was later disappointed when learning that competitive Magic isn't that way).
Playing a deck with Gifts Ungiven is also a really nice experience if you like control decks. It takes some time and practice to learn the tricks, but you'll really enjoy it once it gets going.
Furthermore, as someone who also plays URW Draw Go in Modern, having a powerful and proactive plan in the format is a must. Being 100% reactive without engines like Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top isn't an effective way to approach the format as it stands today.
How does it work?
In the early game you play signets and Expedition Map to fix your colors and get the Tron online. In the meantime you'll use cards like Remand, Repeal and Electrolyze along mass and point removal to stall the game until you can do a game-ending move, being it Through the Breach or a hardcasted big monster. If your draws do not help you, Gifts Ungiven is there to ensure you'll get your finishers or whatever the game situation demands you to, like removal, lands or hate cards to disrupt your opponent's game plan.
Card choices
Utility lands (aside from the Tron ones, obviously)
Academy Ruins: part of the Mindslaver lock. Once you get it going, you'll control your opponent's turn indefinitely by using Mindslaver's ability and then getting it back with Ruins. Even if you don't play Mindslaver, it's useful with Engineered Explosives or to get your destroyed artifacts back (Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb, Damping Matrix etc).
Izzet Signet: helps you get colored mana and provides a litter acceleration.
Expedition Map: awesome card, can find your Tron lands, fix colors and fetch utility lands too.
Removal
Pyroclasm: it's cheap and should buy you enough time. It doesn't kill big creatures, but takes care of a lot of problematic and powerful ones like Goblin Guide and Dark Confidant.
Anger of the Gods: the RR in the cost can be a problem in a deck with so many colorless lands, but it's a nice "mini" board sweeper.
Volcanic Fallout: less damage, but uncounterable and instant speed. Good against decks that packs permission spells, like Fae and Ux Delver.
Firespout: a nice option that's easier on colored mana requirements. Not as good against Affinity if you can't spend G to pay for it.
Lightning Bolt: cheap and instant-speed damage that kills a lot of problematic creatures in the early game and can also help you finish games with direct damage.
Burst Lightning: the kicker should be easy to play once Tron is online.
Electrolyze: a bit costly and color-intensive, but it's a nice tempo option.
Flame Slash: a nice option against bigger creatures. You can use it together with other burn spells as a Gifts package to remove problematic creatures.
Repeal: not hard removal, but a nice tempo card. The cost can be an issue, though.
Counters
Remand: great tempo card. Will delay your opponent and draw another card. Since your deck is packed with a few finishers and a lot of efficient responses, odds are you'll get another good card to keep your opponent at bay.
Condescend and Spell Burst: both are awesome once you have the full Tron in place. Condescend is a bit better in the early game while Spell Burst can be almost a hard lock in the late game.
Mana Leak: good overall counter. Rarely used on Tron 'cause it does not give you tempo advantage.
Dispel: a nice counter against typical control decks and a lot of good cards played in the format. Also a good option against Storm.
Card draw
Thirst for Knowledge: istant speed, digs 3 cards and allows you to select which ones to discard. Gets even better in the late game when, most of the time, you don't need signets and Expedition Map anymore
Compulsive Research: heavily played in the old Tron decks, currently it sees play on the (less common) "Gift-less" versions.
Utilities
Gifts Ungiven: finds your removal/finisher pile to get what you need. The deck plays redundant spells in small amounts to be able to put the opponent in a situation where, no matter the spells he/she choses, you'll get the effect you need.
Noxious Revival: a wildcard that helps you build your Gifts pile (you'll get the card a turn later even if your opponent choses it to discard).
Snapcaster Mage: good combined with Gifts in instant/sorcery piles.
Izzet Charm: if you're are tight in space, this is removal, "card draw" and counter all-in-one, although all three functions are worse versions of other dedicated cards in the deck.
Finishers
Emrakul, the Aeons Thorn: let's put it this way - it's really hard to lose a game after resolving this guy.
Batterskull: awesome once you have Tron online. Doesn't seem much play as the Eldrazi and Mindslaver gets the priority in these slots.
Issues
1) Mana color: you should avoid playing anything with double+ colored mana requirements. Artifacts and "lightweight" (one colored mana symbol only) spells like Gifts Ungiven and Thirst for Knowledge should have priority.
2) Land destruction and Blood Moon: LD can slow you down, but it's really inefficient in the format. Blood Moon + pressure is a problem, but Through the Breach is very good against it.
3) Fast/efficient aggro: UR Tron doesn't have access to all the good white removal, so a really fast aggro deck with a good draw is a problem.
Sideboard
The format provides a lot of utility artifacts that can be used against a large number of strategies. Some examples:
Engineered Explosives: a nice way to wipe the board from small creatures. Really efficient against Affinity.
Chalice of the Void: another nice wildcard that doesn't require colored mana, can be used against Affinity and Storm, among other decks.
Ratchet Bomb: a slightly slower Engineered Explosives. You may want to use these together for a better Gifts pile.
Pithing Needle: all-around utility that can stop decks based on activated abilities while also stopping Planeswalkers.
Torpor Orb: mainly used against Splinter Twin and Melira Pod.
Nice suggestions guys! I'm sure I'm missing a lot of them, I wrote all of this from "nowhere" at 2 AM last night and will update it soon to include your ideas.
Cool primer. I am hoping to get to play this deck in a ptq if I get a chance to. I am a little worried about how this deck has a chance vs splinter twin. Those dispels must be brutal 1 mana gifts ungiven hard counter and those pestermites can stop even mighty emrakul from attacking. I kind of what to try out some classic Izzetron monsters in modern as well such as bogardan Hellkite or perhaps his cheaper nonflying brother inferno titan, and wildfire to see if they have any place in the format.
Against Exarch Twin, try stalling them out with Remand and slamming down Through the Breach (this does lure out the combo pieces, though). You have a fair chance of hitting the Tron by the time they decide to combo off; they'll often have to fight through a Bolt and a Repeal, and chances are, they can't Remand the Repeal. They'd better save Dispel for the Repeal, as they can't redirect it to Spellskite (Spellskite's cmc is 2, which it does not share with any of the combo pieces, and Repeal only bounces stuff with cmc X).
If you can spare the red mana, Volcanic Fallout hits Pestermite and its infinite copies on the way out. Also try boarding in Combusts or Torpor Orbs to whack those sucker combo pieces.
Cool primer. I am hoping to get to play this deck in a ptq if I get a chance to. I am a little worried about how this deck has a chance vs splinter twin. Those dispels must be brutal 1 mana gifts ungiven hard counter and those pestermites can stop even mighty emrakul from attacking. I kind of what to try out some classic Izzetron monsters in modern as well such as bogardan Hellkite or perhaps his cheaper nonflying brother inferno titan, and wildfire to see if they have any place in the format.
I was thinking about using Akroma, Angel of Fury as a finisher. It's uncounterable, cheaper than the Eldrazi and protection from white and blue, which is nice. The thing with the Eldrazi is the annihilator ability, which gives you a lot of inevitability - that's what builds running Wildfire try to accomplish too.
I would have liked Akroma better if one of her mana cost and her morph cost didn't involve triple red. As it is, I think she's nearly unplayable in Tron because of this.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur was in my first sketches of the deck, but I opted to follow the top placed MTGO builds that packed only the Eldrazi finishers and Mindslaver.
It's a pretty sweet finisher though. If you manage to cast it at your opponent's EOT, it's almost a lock (sure, they can topdeck something after that and kill it).
Problem is, the Eldrazi are freaking awesome. Combined with Through the Breach, they read "pay 4R, defending player sacrifices 4-6 permanents" at least. Between turns 4-7, that's end game.
That said, I believe that Emrakul is a must, but one of the others can be replaced. You should try Jin-Gitaxias and, if you do, please let us know how it went out.
lucashungaro- thanks for the reply, I figured it was something like that and I agree EOT jin is usually gg barring a lucky and timely topdeck. Anyway I think I may test it out and if so I will definitely post results for you here.
So, I played some games last night and the deck worked fine. I lost 2-0 to Affinity though and I'm searching for better ways to sideboard against it. Here's my current build:
Game 2 against Affinity I boarded in Chalice of the Void, Shatterstorm and Damping Matrix. Chalice was in my opening hand besides Academy Ruins and, even playing it twice with the recursion (my opponent had Ancient Grudge) and two Pyroclasms, I still lost the game (never drew a wincon or Gifts Ungiven). Affinity can pack artifact destruction and Shatterstorm/Hurkyll's Recall seems too slow to stop'em. Suggestions?
I also played a "mirror" against some kind of Tron - his plays were: Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Power Plant, Ulamog destroying my just-assembled Tron. In my following turn I played Through the Breach for Emrakul and attacked for 15 leaving him without permanents as he conceded the match, so there was no Game 2 to see which flavor of Tron it was.
This is the reason I see the Eldrazi as a must here. In UW Tron you'll hardcast'em, so Ulamog and Kozilek are not that good since they'll probably get removed before attacking. With Through the Breach you can cast an Eldrazi as early as turn 4 when your opponent is tapped out and just clear his entire board.
Jit Gitaxis is a cool card but Kozilek is pretty much better in most ways especially if you are running through the breach. I wouldn't want to run a card that just dies to path and doesn't net you any value.
As for affinity idk that deck beat me in the finals of the last modern tournament I played in, maybe try Pithing Needle to put the breaks on cranial plating? Steel Sabatoge perhaps? Volcanic Fallout is probably pretty good against them now that some versions are even cutting Ravagers and all their guys are small--wiping away a bunch of Nexuses in mid combat has got to be to be fun.
Huh. Through the Breach looks damn good for this deck. I've been playing U/W tron, but I would really like to play Through the Breach. Eh. The problem I have is I really dislike red's removal, because white just gets the job done so much more efficiently. Do you think maybe a white splash in this deck could work, or would it be far too straining on the manabase?
The decks end up playing kinda differently because of that. Red removal can only stall a bit (Pyroclasm, Lightning Bolt, Electrolyze) until you use Through the Breach to cheat an Eldrazi into play. White gives you a better late game with way better removal.
A third color is hard. I'm trying to use Cranial Extraction from the sideboard with a Watery Grave (I can fetch it with Scalding Tarn or Expedition Map) but still haven't come to a conclusion on this. I believe you can use another color in this way, so a UW Tron with a fetchable red source for Through the Breach could work.
I'm still trying to decide between U/R and U/W ton for a PTQ this weekend. I haven't played my Urza Lands in a decade and it's time to get them out of the binder.
I'm having a lot of trouble trying to figure out what gifts packages look like in U/R though. I mean, this deck feels like more of a Combo deck than a control deck, and you don't have sweepers like U/W to force the "sweep your board or give me tron" choice.
Can someone with more insight tell me what usual gifts piles look like with this deck?
I've hated Noxious Revival for being a durdle card otherwise, and I'm not entirely keen on introducing the relatively expensive Tiago in the deck, so I tend to play Gifts piles that don't involve them.
The real staple Gifts piles are the Last Tron Piece pile (Last Tron Piece-Expedition Map-Tolaria West-Eldrazi), which also guarantees you an Eldrazi by letting you search for Eye of Ugin, and the Got Through the Breach pile (Emrakul-Ulamog-Kozilek-Eye of Ugin). I tend to search for those piles, and they tend to abuse the fact that ditched Eldrazi shuffle your graveyard back into your library.
UW Tron now has kind of a "combo" like Through the Breach in Unburial Rites. Also, UR Tron has some nice (and cheaper) sweepers. Most of the time 2 or 3 damage will kill enough creatures to buy you a lot of time. That's the reason I think that UR Tron has a better early game while UW Tron is way better if the game goes longer (Wrath and PtE can kill creatures of any size, while Pyroclasm, Electrolyze and friends will do near to nothing deep into the game).
About Gifts, Lectrys gave you some valid piles. You can (and should) also bluff with Gifts: take something you already have, another Gifts, try some tricks to confuse your opponent (like getting three Eldrazi and Breach when you already have Breach in your hand etc).
One example is: suppose you have an instant speed cantrip (Electrolyze/Repeal) or draw spell and want Emrakul. At your opponent's EOT Gifts for Eye of Ugin, Emrakul, Noxious Revival, Gifts. If your opponent choses to send Emrakul to the graveyard and give you Revival, Emrakul's ability will go on the stack, then you can use Revival on it, let Revival resolve and, still before the shuffling effect takes place, use the cantrip/draw to get Emrakul (after that you'll shuffle your GY back into your library, allowing you to Gifts for Revival again later if needed).
I recommend you to "play alone" with the deck to test some of the possibilites in different contexts.
About Gifts, Lectrys gave you some valid piles. You can (and should) also bluff with Gifts: take something you already have, another Gifts, try some tricks to confuse your opponent (like getting three Eldrazi and Breach when you already have Breach in your hand etc).
One example is: suppose you have an instant speed cantrip (Electrolyze/Repeal) or draw spell and want Emrakul. At your opponent's EOT Gifts for Eye of Ugin, Emrakul, Noxious Revival, Gifts. If your opponent choses to send Emrakul to the graveyard and give you Revival, Emrakul's ability will go on the stack, then you can use Revival on it, let Revival resolve and, still before the shuffling effect takes place, use the cantrip/draw to get Emrakul (after that you'll shuffle your GY back into your library, allowing you to Gifts for Revival again later if needed).
I've had a good amount of success in testing doing this.
I've also found that I almost never Gifts for a Tron piece. I'm able to find whatever piece/pieces I need with Map and Thirst for Knowledge the majority of the time.
Expedition Map is one of the main reasons this deck can compete nowadays. Together with Thirst, Gifts and a good amount of cantrips, it's easy to find all the needed lands, utilities and finishers.
Guys, what do you think of Telemin Performance against Storm and the mirror (UR and UW)? It's costly but we can cast it by turn 4 and I'm thinking about giving it a try (Bribery would be nice in the mirror too). If any of you have this card in your collection, could you test it and post the results here?
I'm really favoring into the roil over repeal. A lot of the time I'm paying atleast 3 mana for x in repeal so it's basically into the roil with the kicker on it. INTR is also a lot easier for taking care of big threats and you can always forgo the kicker if mana is limited.
Green and red have been giving me the most trouble so I think that flashfreeze in the board makes sense just gotta figure out how many.
Well, I think you should give Into the Roil a chance, as I don't like to dismiss ideas right out of the gate. But, in theory, I think Repeal is better here. Into the Roil will always cost 4 mana to bounce and cantrip, which makes it worse in the initial turns. Repeal will cost less for Guide, Bob, Signets/Talismans/Map, almost everything Affinity plays, well, almost all the most agressive/efficient creatures played. One turn can be a huge difference. Once you have the Tron assembled, Repeal's cost shouldn't be much of a problem.
That said, Into the Roil can be kind of an emergency button if you have only two mana, so that can make a difference.
About Flashfreeze, if you're having problems with red and green, you should try it. It's a card that always comes and goes in a lot of SB and can be a nice wildcard.
Into the Roil also requires two blue mana to bounce and cantrip. Repeal always requires only one blue mana, which can be pretty important in a deck that runs 13+ colourless lands (12 UrzaTron pieces, 1 Eye of Ugin).
Also, if you're having trouble with Exarch Twin, Repeal with X = 3 cannot be redirected by Spellskite, while Into the Roil can. They need to Dispel Repeal or they're losing Splinter Twin.
Into the Roil also requires two blue mana to bounce and cantrip. Repeal always requires only one blue mana, which can be pretty important in a deck that runs 13+ colourless lands (12 UrzaTron pieces, 1 Eye of Ugin).
Also, if you're having trouble with Exarch Twin, Repeal with X = 3 cannot be redirected by Spellskite, while Into the Roil can. They need to Dispel Repeal or they're losing Splinter Twin.
Oh wow thanks didn't think about that one. Also yeah the 2 blue is another requirement but so far I haven't had trouble hitting it maybe i'm getting lucky? Seems pretty consistently doable for now.
My one reservation about this deck is the lack of good removal. Tarmogoyf is a scary dude and is one of, if not the, most played cards in the format. Narcolepsy and similar cards are all I can come up with for 'Goyf, and obviously aren't terribly exciting. Anyone have a better answer here? White just has such sweet removal I don't know if Through the Breach is enough to make me want to drop it.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard: Humanimator
Modern: Jund, Wafo-Tapa UWR
Legacy: Witch-Maw Stoneblade
EDH: Ruhan of the Fomori, Hazezon Tamar, Maga, Traitor to Mortals
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Urzatron decks are no stranger to the majority of Magic players. Some years ago, around the Kamigawa/Ravnica Standard, a UR version packing cards like Meloku, the Clouded Mirror and Keiga, the Tide Star made a decent run.
The deck revolves around stalling the early game while playing a good amount of cantrips and card draw until you assemble the full "Tron" (Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine and Urza's Power Plant). Reaching that point you'll have a resource advantage so large that losing the game is a minor possibility.
Nowadays, UR Tron has one more trick up its sleeve with Through the Breach. You can quickly cheat an Eldrazi into play for some free wins with that card, giving you a proactive and powerful play, something you really want to have in a format as open and diverse as Modern. Some older versions also had the Mindslaver + Academy Ruins lock.
One of the nice things about the deck is that it can also play the control game as needed. Facing a heavy control deck like UWR Control? Well, you can use Through the Breach if the opportunity presents itself, but you can also play the long game as your late game plays are just better (I heard hardcasting Emrakul is a good way to win games) ;).
The blue cards are the core of the deck and are mainly the same in UW Tron and UR Tron - counters, bounce, draw and a tutor in the form of Gifts Ungiven, which gives the deck a lot of flexibility and inevitability in the late game. You should also play a good number of signets and Expedition Map to get color fix and assemble Tron faster.
Another variant of the deck ditches Gifts Ungiven entirely, replacing it with Compulsive Research and playing more copies of Emrakul (the best Eldrazi). The idea is to just dig deeper to find the cards you need, because in this deck Gifts Ungiven isn't as powerful as in the ones using it to power the Unburial Rites "combo". For instance, if you want to Gifts for a Through the Breach, you must play Snapcaster Mage and Noxious Revival, cards that are otherwise not as good in the deck, increasing the odds of dead draws.
Tron is a really fun deck to play. It combines aspects from tempo and control decks while resurrecting that "I can play absurdly big and costly creatures!" factor that I'm sure you loved when you were a beginner (and was later disappointed when learning that competitive Magic isn't that way).
Playing a deck with Gifts Ungiven is also a really nice experience if you like control decks. It takes some time and practice to learn the tricks, but you'll really enjoy it once it gets going.
Furthermore, as someone who also plays URW Draw Go in Modern, having a powerful and proactive plan in the format is a must. Being 100% reactive without engines like Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top isn't an effective way to approach the format as it stands today.
In the early game you play signets and Expedition Map to fix your colors and get the Tron online. In the meantime you'll use cards like Remand, Repeal and Electrolyze along mass and point removal to stall the game until you can do a game-ending move, being it Through the Breach or a hardcasted big monster. If your draws do not help you, Gifts Ungiven is there to ensure you'll get your finishers or whatever the game situation demands you to, like removal, lands or hate cards to disrupt your opponent's game plan.
Utility lands (aside from the Tron ones, obviously)
Eye of Ugin: gets your main finishers.
Tolaria West: used to get missing Tron pieces, Academy Ruins, Eye of Ugin and utilities like Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void and Tormod's Crypt. A bit slow and also color intensive.
Mana fixers
Expedition Map: awesome card, can find your Tron lands, fix colors and fetch utility lands too.
Removal
Anger of the Gods: the RR in the cost can be a problem in a deck with so many colorless lands, but it's a nice "mini" board sweeper.
Volcanic Fallout: less damage, but uncounterable and instant speed. Good against decks that packs permission spells, like Fae and Ux Delver.
Firespout: a nice option that's easier on colored mana requirements. Not as good against Affinity if you can't spend G to pay for it.
Lightning Bolt: cheap and instant-speed damage that kills a lot of problematic creatures in the early game and can also help you finish games with direct damage.
Burst Lightning: the kicker should be easy to play once Tron is online.
Electrolyze: a bit costly and color-intensive, but it's a nice tempo option.
Flame Slash: a nice option against bigger creatures. You can use it together with other burn spells as a Gifts package to remove problematic creatures.
Repeal: not hard removal, but a nice tempo card. The cost can be an issue, though.
Counters
Condescend and Spell Burst: both are awesome once you have the full Tron in place. Condescend is a bit better in the early game while Spell Burst can be almost a hard lock in the late game.
Mana Leak: good overall counter. Rarely used on Tron 'cause it does not give you tempo advantage.
Dispel: a nice counter against typical control decks and a lot of good cards played in the format. Also a good option against Storm.
Card draw
Compulsive Research: heavily played in the old Tron decks, currently it sees play on the (less common) "Gift-less" versions.
Utilities
Noxious Revival: a wildcard that helps you build your Gifts pile (you'll get the card a turn later even if your opponent choses it to discard).
Snapcaster Mage: good combined with Gifts in instant/sorcery piles.
Izzet Charm: if you're are tight in space, this is removal, "card draw" and counter all-in-one, although all three functions are worse versions of other dedicated cards in the deck.
Finishers
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: not as devastating as Emrakul and vulnerable, played to allow for an Eldrazi Gifts pile.
Mindslaver: get it online together with Academy Ruins and it's GG.
Wurmcoil Engine: great against aggro, not so good against anything that packs Path to Exile, Condemn and the likes.
Batterskull: awesome once you have Tron online. Doesn't seem much play as the Eldrazi and Mindslaver gets the priority in these slots.
2) Land destruction and Blood Moon: LD can slow you down, but it's really inefficient in the format. Blood Moon + pressure is a problem, but Through the Breach is very good against it.
3) Fast/efficient aggro: UR Tron doesn't have access to all the good white removal, so a really fast aggro deck with a good draw is a problem.
Engineered Explosives: a nice way to wipe the board from small creatures. Really efficient against Affinity.
Chalice of the Void: another nice wildcard that doesn't require colored mana, can be used against Affinity and Storm, among other decks.
Ratchet Bomb: a slightly slower Engineered Explosives. You may want to use these together for a better Gifts pile.
Pithing Needle: all-around utility that can stop decks based on activated abilities while also stopping Planeswalkers.
Torpor Orb: mainly used against Splinter Twin and Melira Pod.
Thorn of Amethyst: another good card against Storm.
Damping Matrix: w00t, one more option to stop Splinter Twin and Affinity. More targets for Gifts Ungiven.
Tormod's Crypt: cheap, one-shot graveyard hate.
Relic of Progenitus: more graveyard hate that can be used throughout all the game to dismantle your opponent's game plan.
Nihil Spellbomb: one more option against graveyard based strategies, good for a Gifts Pile.
Grafdigger's Cage: stops Melira and reanimators.
There are also another good non-artifact options:
Combust: common option to stop Splinter Twin.
Hurkyll's Recall: delays Affinity for some turns.
Mindbreak Trap: stops Storm... unless they're holding a counter.
Threads of Disloyalty: I really like this card. Stealing Tarmogoyfs is a very good thing in my book.
Shatterstorm: if you have the time and mana to cast this against Affinity, it will be hard to lose.
Trickbind: can be used against a wide variety of decks, specially Storm.
Dispel and Spell Snare: mostly used to stop Storm and win counter-wars.
Ignorant Bliss: if discard is hitting you hard, this is always an option.
Shadow of Doubt: tech against Gifts Ungiven, Chord of Calling and other tutors. Also fun against fetches.
Counterflux: good overall counter against combo.
Aura Barbs: good option to fight the Aura decks.
This section will be updated soon with detailed info about sideboarding.
Earlder1 (3 - 1)
Modern Daily #6950514 on 2014-04-03
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Academy Ruins
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tolaria West
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Expedition Map
4 Izzet Signet
1 Prismatic Lens
4 Remand
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Through the Breach
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Electrolyze
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Condescend
1 Pyroclasm
1 Repeal
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Combust
1 Condescend
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Negate
1 Pyroclasm
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sowing Salt
2 Spellskite
2 Torpor Orb
1 Vandalblast
Jarvis Yu's URzatron
Winner, PTQ Richmond, VA on March/2012
3 Island
1 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
2 Shivan Reef
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Izzet Signet
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Condescend
1 Repeal
2 Electrolyze
3 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Through the Breach
2 Dispel
2 Combust
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Spellskite
1 Burst Lightning
1 Pyroclasm
TKC55's URzatron
4-0 on Modern Daily #3400611 on 02/13/2012
1 Eye of Ugin
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Shivan Reef
2 Steam Vents
1 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Expedition Map
4 Izzet Signet
1 Mindslaver
4 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
2 Repeal
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Through the Breach
2 Combust
3 Dispel
4 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Wurmcoil Engine
bwseeber24's URzatron
4-0 on Modern Daily #3400543 on 02/12/2012
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
1 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Expedition Map
1 Burst Lightning
2 Electrolyze
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Noxious Revival
1 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
2 Repeal
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Through the Breach
2 Combust
3 Dispel
1 Electrolyze
1 Lightning Bolt
2 Negate
1 Pyroclasm
1 Shatterstorm
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Through the Breach
2 Wurmcoil Engine
Gerry Thompson's build
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Eye of Ugin
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Izzet Signet
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Pyroclasm
1 Firespout
1 Dismember
1 Noxious Revival
4 Remand
2 Electrolyze
1 Repeal
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Thirst For Knowledge
3 Through the Breach
2 Combust
1 Pyroclasm
1 Spellskite
1 Dismember
1 Through the Breach
1 Damping Matrix
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Shatterstorm
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Dispel
mate1102's URzatron
4-0 on Modern Daily #3428339 on 02/21/2012
1 Eye of Ugin
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Expedition Map
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Dismember
2 Electrolyze
1 Firespout
1 Noxious Revival
1 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
1 Repeal
1 Spell Burst
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Through the Breach
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Dispel
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Shatterstorm
1 Through the Breach
1 Torpor Orb
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Samwise_GeeGee's URzatron
2nd Place on Modern PTQ #3427997 on 02/19/2012
1 Eye of Ugin
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Expedition Map
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Dismember
2 Electrolyze
1 Firespout
1 Noxious Revival
1 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
1 Repeal
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Through the Breach
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
3 Dispel
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Pyroclasm
1 Spellskite
1 Through the Breach
1 Torpor Orb
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Great work!
I think the triple red for Play's flashback precludes it, however. Banefire is probably your best bet.
If you can spare the red mana, Volcanic Fallout hits Pestermite and its infinite copies on the way out. Also try boarding in Combusts or Torpor Orbs to whack those sucker combo pieces.
I was thinking about using Akroma, Angel of Fury as a finisher. It's uncounterable, cheaper than the Eldrazi and protection from white and blue, which is nice. The thing with the Eldrazi is the annihilator ability, which gives you a lot of inevitability - that's what builds running Wildfire try to accomplish too.
It's a pretty sweet finisher though. If you manage to cast it at your opponent's EOT, it's almost a lock (sure, they can topdeck something after that and kill it).
Problem is, the Eldrazi are freaking awesome. Combined with Through the Breach, they read "pay 4R, defending player sacrifices 4-6 permanents" at least. Between turns 4-7, that's end game.
That said, I believe that Emrakul is a must, but one of the others can be replaced. You should try Jin-Gitaxias and, if you do, please let us know how it went out.
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Shivan Reef
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Izzet Signet
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mindslaver
1 Noxious Revival
4 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
2 Repeal
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Through the Breach
1 Combust
1 Damping Matrix
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Torpor Orb
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Shatterstorm
4 Cranial Extraction
Game 2 against Affinity I boarded in Chalice of the Void, Shatterstorm and Damping Matrix. Chalice was in my opening hand besides Academy Ruins and, even playing it twice with the recursion (my opponent had Ancient Grudge) and two Pyroclasms, I still lost the game (never drew a wincon or Gifts Ungiven). Affinity can pack artifact destruction and Shatterstorm/Hurkyll's Recall seems too slow to stop'em. Suggestions?
I also played a "mirror" against some kind of Tron - his plays were: Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Power Plant, Urza's Power Plant, Ulamog destroying my just-assembled Tron. In my following turn I played Through the Breach for Emrakul and attacked for 15 leaving him without permanents as he conceded the match, so there was no Game 2 to see which flavor of Tron it was.
This is the reason I see the Eldrazi as a must here. In UW Tron you'll hardcast'em, so Ulamog and Kozilek are not that good since they'll probably get removed before attacking. With Through the Breach you can cast an Eldrazi as early as turn 4 when your opponent is tapped out and just clear his entire board.
As for affinity idk that deck beat me in the finals of the last modern tournament I played in, maybe try Pithing Needle to put the breaks on cranial plating? Steel Sabatoge perhaps? Volcanic Fallout is probably pretty good against them now that some versions are even cutting Ravagers and all their guys are small--wiping away a bunch of Nexuses in mid combat has got to be to be fun.
A third color is hard. I'm trying to use Cranial Extraction from the sideboard with a Watery Grave (I can fetch it with Scalding Tarn or Expedition Map) but still haven't come to a conclusion on this. I believe you can use another color in this way, so a UW Tron with a fetchable red source for Through the Breach could work.
I'm having a lot of trouble trying to figure out what gifts packages look like in U/R though. I mean, this deck feels like more of a Combo deck than a control deck, and you don't have sweepers like U/W to force the "sweep your board or give me tron" choice.
Can someone with more insight tell me what usual gifts piles look like with this deck?
I've hated Noxious Revival for being a durdle card otherwise, and I'm not entirely keen on introducing the relatively expensive Tiago in the deck, so I tend to play Gifts piles that don't involve them.
The real staple Gifts piles are the Last Tron Piece pile (Last Tron Piece-Expedition Map-Tolaria West-Eldrazi), which also guarantees you an Eldrazi by letting you search for Eye of Ugin, and the Got Through the Breach pile (Emrakul-Ulamog-Kozilek-Eye of Ugin). I tend to search for those piles, and they tend to abuse the fact that ditched Eldrazi shuffle your graveyard back into your library.
About Gifts, Lectrys gave you some valid piles. You can (and should) also bluff with Gifts: take something you already have, another Gifts, try some tricks to confuse your opponent (like getting three Eldrazi and Breach when you already have Breach in your hand etc).
One example is: suppose you have an instant speed cantrip (Electrolyze/Repeal) or draw spell and want Emrakul. At your opponent's EOT Gifts for Eye of Ugin, Emrakul, Noxious Revival, Gifts. If your opponent choses to send Emrakul to the graveyard and give you Revival, Emrakul's ability will go on the stack, then you can use Revival on it, let Revival resolve and, still before the shuffling effect takes place, use the cantrip/draw to get Emrakul (after that you'll shuffle your GY back into your library, allowing you to Gifts for Revival again later if needed).
I recommend you to "play alone" with the deck to test some of the possibilites in different contexts.
I've had a good amount of success in testing doing this.
I've also found that I almost never Gifts for a Tron piece. I'm able to find whatever piece/pieces I need with Map and Thirst for Knowledge the majority of the time.
Guys, what do you think of Telemin Performance against Storm and the mirror (UR and UW)? It's costly but we can cast it by turn 4 and I'm thinking about giving it a try (Bribery would be nice in the mirror too). If any of you have this card in your collection, could you test it and post the results here?
Green and red have been giving me the most trouble so I think that flashfreeze in the board makes sense just gotta figure out how many.
That said, Into the Roil can be kind of an emergency button if you have only two mana, so that can make a difference.
About Flashfreeze, if you're having problems with red and green, you should try it. It's a card that always comes and goes in a lot of SB and can be a nice wildcard.
Also, if you're having trouble with Exarch Twin, Repeal with X = 3 cannot be redirected by Spellskite, while Into the Roil can. They need to Dispel Repeal or they're losing Splinter Twin.
Oh wow thanks didn't think about that one. Also yeah the 2 blue is another requirement but so far I haven't had trouble hitting it maybe i'm getting lucky? Seems pretty consistently doable for now.
Modern: Jund, Wafo-Tapa UWR
Legacy: Witch-Maw Stoneblade
EDH: Ruhan of the Fomori, Hazezon Tamar, Maga, Traitor to Mortals