That's true. I play UR more on "emotional" reasons than power (I love the UR color combination and the old Tron decks). That said, red spells can buy a good amount of time. Pyroclasm/Slagstorm/Firespout are easier to cast than *** and are just as good in the early game. We don't have access to something as good as Path to Exile though.
I think the UR version has to be more aggressive. The UW version can sit on defensive white spells, but we can't. That's why I'm trying a build with more fatties and less "tricks" as I want to consistently Breach something into play as early as possible.
Hey what do you guys think about playing telling time instead of thirst for knowledge? still digs 3 cards you just can't get artifacts back from the yard with academy ruins. But something that goes to the bottom of the library might get shuffled to the top whether that's good or bad depends on the situation. Doesn't let you completely chuck 2 cards you won't be wanting but how often do you want to do that except maybe g1 before you sideboard.
EDIT:
Also how do you guys feel about Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the sideboard? I think it would be nice if you're going against a deck where you want to through the breach but fear counters.
I would definitely rather play Thirst because it gives you card advantage and also digs deeper. It's worth the extra mana and this deck has the artifacts to discard too. It's easy to get rid of a late game Map and turn it into new cards.
yes. Look at the oracle wording of the card, it specifies at the beginning of the next endstep. So, you breach endstep, the creature will be there for the next turn (although I dont really know why you need to do it like this unless you are trying to breach two eldrazi into play at the same time)
It's rare, but can be done if you already have the mana for Breach but your opponent has untaped mana. You can then gamble and pass the turn, waiting for him/her to tap out and Breach at EOT. It's a good trick to know.
Scratch that, you can wait 'til your next turn to cast it.
Well, if he is already tapped out by the end of his turn, he'll remain tapped out on your turn, right? Unless you want to play Breach and then more spells, you can wait your turn, it'll be the same.
Hey what do you guys think about playing telling time instead of thirst for knowledge? still digs 3 cards you just can't get artifacts back from the yard with academy ruins. But something that goes to the bottom of the library might get shuffled to the top whether that's good or bad depends on the situation. Doesn't let you completely chuck 2 cards you won't be wanting but how often do you want to do that except maybe g1 before you sideboard.
EDIT:
Also how do you guys feel about Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the sideboard? I think it would be nice if you're going against a deck where you want to through the breach but fear counters.
I think against a deck that runs enough counters to warrant Boseiju, Who Shelters All you will have the time you need to simply hard cast Emrakul.
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Currently Playing:
Modern - R/G Tron
Standard - RDW
I agree with Stnkfist, on control matchups I usually play to hard cast Emrakul. 13 uncolored lands (if you are running Eye of Ugin) are a lot, adding one more could be a headache, have not tried it.
I find the lack of Noxious Revival and Snapcaster Mage on the Jarvis Yu article pretty weird. They enable sick Gifts Ungiven packages.
Yeah, I slowly gave up on Revival too (never played with Snapcaster). The thing is, the deck seems to be stronger when you focus totally on its "combo" aspect: getting an Eldrazi into play as soon as possible with Through the Breach.
If you read GerryT's article on SCG, you'll see that he even dropped Gifts Ungiven and plays 4 Thirst for Knowledge and 4 Compulsive Research. That lowers the mana curve and, combined with cantrips, should be enough to get you the cards you need. I'm currently trying something like that too.
I call this "all-in no-Gifts" version 'cause, well, I dropped Gifts Ungiven and maximized the cantrips count so I end up drawing an Eldrazi + Through the Breach naturally. I like this version a lot more than the Gifts one.
I wanted to play more copies of Thirst for Knowledge but, in the end, the cantrips are getting the job done. Repeal is awesome in the current meta.
The lonely Electrolyze should be a fourth Emrakul, but I couldn't find the card, so I filled the slot with another cantrip. Electrolyze is actually pretty good currently, but the cost is a bit prohibitive since I'm trying to stall the early game.
My matchup against Affinity got a lot better even on game 1. With Pyroclasm, Lightning Bolt and Repeal I have 12 cards that can delay Affinity a lot.
As you can see, this is almost a combo deck. The goal is to get an Eldrazi + Breach and go for the win.
A little explanation on SB:
Telemin Performance: great against Storm and other Tron decks.
Dispel: anything packing a reasonable amount if counter magic to assure you're going to cast Through the Breach. Helps against Storm and Twin too.
Faerie Macabre: awesome against graveyard-based strategies. I used to play a mix of Tormod's Crypt, Grafedigger's Cage and Relic of Progenitus but Faerie is much better: it's not vulnerable to bounce and counters and the element of surprise helps a lot (most of the time, you're tapped out and your opponent tries to abuse the GY, then you use the Faerie's ability).
Ratchet Bomb: mostly for Affinity and Tokens.
Chalice of the Void: for Affinity (usually played with 0 counters) and Storm.
Torpor Orb: mostly for Twin and Pod
Lucas, do you fing the Tron relevant at all with that strategy? I've played a list with similar objective (breach an Eldrazi) and found BR Reanimator to be much more consistent (Breach and Goryo's).
The thing with Tron is that it gives you an explosive plan B in exchange of less consistency. You can play plain UW, UR, BR or UB with Gifts, some fatties and reanimation but if your main plan (the reanimation) gets disabled, you lost. The ability to fetch an Eldrazi with Eye of Ugin and hard casting it is very valuable. Karn Liberated is another option made plausible by the Tron. Expedition Map and Tolaria West will help you both assemble Tron or get the Eye of Ugin (which can also find Wurmcoil Engine, a nice finisher against aggro).
I played yesterday against Affinity and, on Game 2, the guy went to 33 life through a Vault Skirge before I used Breach into Emrakul. That cleaned up all his permanents but left him at a comfortable 18 life points. He needed just one land to "go off" again and kill me (I had 3 life points). The next turn I was able to fetch Ulamog with Eye of Ugin and finally win. Having the massive amount of mana provided by the assembled Tron was crucial.
I want to try a version without gifts, but I cant get past how many games I win by my opponents being bad with making decisions with the card. Its much easier for your opponent to beat themselves than you having to beat them.
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Currently Playing:
Modern - R/G Tron
Standard - RDW
That's definitely a factor. But I see UR almost as a combo version with a plan B now. UW needs Gifts badly (be it for value or as a double Entomb) but I can see viable UR versions with and without it.
You should give it a try: the cards you'll use to replace Gifts (Repeal, Compulsive Research and the likes) are inexpensive and you'll have a nice baseline to decide. If those cards were expensive like Gifts, then it would be a problem.
I also found Repeal to be a beast in most matchups. And the cantrip is awesome.
I am playing a list very similar to yours, but I still have the Gifts. What Stnkfist says is very true, more than once I've won because a bad decision from my oponnent on the gift choices. And I love to bluff with them (pick things I alreadyhave on my hand and that I know they'll drop).
The deck can work without Gifts, I'll give you that. But it seems to me it is much more fun with them. At least on my case.
Nice! I haven't been able to play any MtG in more than a month, but I was playing the version without Gifts and having a blast. It's very powerful and fun.
It seems the meta have shifted a bit since the rise of RG Tron and Tron-hate is more present now, but I still think this is a deck that's here to stay.
More and more, I'm thinking that Bonfire of the Damned could make a huge impact in this deck. Tron can easily pay X = 2 with this normally and in Miracle form, it makes for a potential burn-out kill. I don't know if it's good enough to replace TTB, but it might be a good supplement. My other thought was that if you ran Bonfire, you'd probably cut Compulsive Researches for Telling Time to stack the deck more appropriately and possibly Miracle on the opponent's turn.
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I tried Bonfire of the Damned as the third sweeper for Gifts piles, and it was the sweeper most often put into my hand. It's subpar as a sweeper, but UR Tron is starved for options after Pyroclasm and Firespout (Slagstorm and Volcanic Fallout mana are hard to reliably achieve, and Whipflare does nothing against Affinity, one of UR Tron's worse match-ups).
I haven't had the luck to use it as a finisher yet, but I prefer finishers I can find with Eye of Ugin.
I'm working on a sideboard for an event this weekend. I'm concerned about G/R Tron but I haven't seen it in real life very much and I don't think the 2 sideboard slots I had for it were actually going to do much. I had Sowing Salts, since making RR isn't terribly hard and if you're going to resolve one sideboard card against RG Tron, it should be that one.
In the wake of the Japanese GP and all the Birthing Pods everywhere, I'm inclined to run a lot of hate for that. I also like silly 1-ofs. I'm soliciting advice on this board - if you have alternate suggestions or ways to cut it down to 15, let me know.
1 Dispel
1 Annul (Affinity, Pod, Twin)
1 Pyroclasm (but I feel like post-board, people aren't going to play into Clasms or they'll have outs to them)
1 Spellskite
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage (this and Orb against the Pod decks, Cage against Reanimator)
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Negate
2 Combust (I like this against Restoration Angels, but I feel like the other hate is still fine and I'm risking having too many cards to board in and not enough actual slots)
2 Shatterstorm (again, RR isn't too hard and this is a big sweeper)
2 Ratchet Bomb (a hedge against B/W Tokens and Affinity)
I don't run Grudges because I can't get ahold of a Breeding Pool in time and I don't think I'd run one anyway. I'm also considering Shattering Spree for the Shatterstorm slot. Negates feel good but I'm unsure who I am going to use them against; I'm not boarding them in against Pod, most likely. I have about 8 anti-creature cards to side out against decks like Storm and RG Tron, and I've got 4 slots (Remands) to take out against fast aggro. Again, I'm fearing having a bunch of cards for certain matches that I'm never going to board in for lack of space.
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I think the UR version has to be more aggressive. The UW version can sit on defensive white spells, but we can't. That's why I'm trying a build with more fatties and less "tricks" as I want to consistently Breach something into play as early as possible.
Also, Threads of Disloyalty is a good option against 'Goyf.
EDIT:
Also how do you guys feel about Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the sideboard? I think it would be nice if you're going against a deck where you want to through the breach but fear counters.
It's rare, but can be done if you already have the mana for Breach but your opponent has untaped mana. You can then gamble and pass the turn, waiting for him/her to tap out and Breach at EOT. It's a good trick to know.Scratch that, you can wait 'til your next turn to cast it.
Meanwhile, here's a nice article on the deck by Jarvis Yu (Samwise_GeeGee on MTGO), who won a PTQ with it: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/jarvisyu-031212-ur-tron-modern-ptq-winner/
If you're a StarCityGames Premium subscriber you can also read GerryT's primer on UW and UR Tron here: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/23734_Tron_Primer.html
I think against a deck that runs enough counters to warrant Boseiju, Who Shelters All you will have the time you need to simply hard cast Emrakul.
No, your anime sig is NOT cool.
Currently Playing:
Modern - R/G Tron
Standard - RDW
I find the lack of Noxious Revival and Snapcaster Mage on the Jarvis Yu article pretty weird. They enable sick Gifts Ungiven packages.
If you read GerryT's article on SCG, you'll see that he even dropped Gifts Ungiven and plays 4 Thirst for Knowledge and 4 Compulsive Research. That lowers the mana curve and, combined with cantrips, should be enough to get you the cards you need. I'm currently trying something like that too.
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Mine
3 Island
2 Shivan Reef
2 Steam Vents
1 Tolaria West
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Eye of Ugin
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Expedition Map
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Pyroclasm
4 Remand
4 Through the Breach
4 Repeal
1 Electrolyze
2 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Telemin Performance
2 Torpor Orb
4 Faerie Macabre
1 Chalice of the Void
4 Dispel
2 Ratchet Bomb
I call this "all-in no-Gifts" version 'cause, well, I dropped Gifts Ungiven and maximized the cantrips count so I end up drawing an Eldrazi + Through the Breach naturally. I like this version a lot more than the Gifts one.
I wanted to play more copies of Thirst for Knowledge but, in the end, the cantrips are getting the job done. Repeal is awesome in the current meta.
The lonely Electrolyze should be a fourth Emrakul, but I couldn't find the card, so I filled the slot with another cantrip. Electrolyze is actually pretty good currently, but the cost is a bit prohibitive since I'm trying to stall the early game.
My matchup against Affinity got a lot better even on game 1. With Pyroclasm, Lightning Bolt and Repeal I have 12 cards that can delay Affinity a lot.
As you can see, this is almost a combo deck. The goal is to get an Eldrazi + Breach and go for the win.
A little explanation on SB:
Telemin Performance: great against Storm and other Tron decks.
Dispel: anything packing a reasonable amount if counter magic to assure you're going to cast Through the Breach. Helps against Storm and Twin too.
Faerie Macabre: awesome against graveyard-based strategies. I used to play a mix of Tormod's Crypt, Grafedigger's Cage and Relic of Progenitus but Faerie is much better: it's not vulnerable to bounce and counters and the element of surprise helps a lot (most of the time, you're tapped out and your opponent tries to abuse the GY, then you use the Faerie's ability).
Ratchet Bomb: mostly for Affinity and Tokens.
Chalice of the Void: for Affinity (usually played with 0 counters) and Storm.
Torpor Orb: mostly for Twin and Pod
Plenty of those to be found in the U/W tron primer, found at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=390899
No, your anime sig is NOT cool.
Currently Playing:
Modern - R/G Tron
Standard - RDW
The thing with Tron is that it gives you an explosive plan B in exchange of less consistency. You can play plain UW, UR, BR or UB with Gifts, some fatties and reanimation but if your main plan (the reanimation) gets disabled, you lost. The ability to fetch an Eldrazi with Eye of Ugin and hard casting it is very valuable. Karn Liberated is another option made plausible by the Tron. Expedition Map and Tolaria West will help you both assemble Tron or get the Eye of Ugin (which can also find Wurmcoil Engine, a nice finisher against aggro).
I played yesterday against Affinity and, on Game 2, the guy went to 33 life through a Vault Skirge before I used Breach into Emrakul. That cleaned up all his permanents but left him at a comfortable 18 life points. He needed just one land to "go off" again and kill me (I had 3 life points). The next turn I was able to fetch Ulamog with Eye of Ugin and finally win. Having the massive amount of mana provided by the assembled Tron was crucial.
No, your anime sig is NOT cool.
Currently Playing:
Modern - R/G Tron
Standard - RDW
You should give it a try: the cards you'll use to replace Gifts (Repeal, Compulsive Research and the likes) are inexpensive and you'll have a nice baseline to decide. If those cards were expensive like Gifts, then it would be a problem.
I am playing a list very similar to yours, but I still have the Gifts. What Stnkfist says is very true, more than once I've won because a bad decision from my oponnent on the gift choices. And I love to bluff with them (pick things I alreadyhave on my hand and that I know they'll drop).
The deck can work without Gifts, I'll give you that. But it seems to me it is much more fun with them. At least on my case.
It seems the meta have shifted a bit since the rise of RG Tron and Tron-hate is more present now, but I still think this is a deck that's here to stay.
I haven't had the luck to use it as a finisher yet, but I prefer finishers I can find with Eye of Ugin.
In the wake of the Japanese GP and all the Birthing Pods everywhere, I'm inclined to run a lot of hate for that. I also like silly 1-ofs. I'm soliciting advice on this board - if you have alternate suggestions or ways to cut it down to 15, let me know.
1 Dispel
1 Annul (Affinity, Pod, Twin)
1 Pyroclasm (but I feel like post-board, people aren't going to play into Clasms or they'll have outs to them)
1 Spellskite
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage (this and Orb against the Pod decks, Cage against Reanimator)
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Negate
2 Combust (I like this against Restoration Angels, but I feel like the other hate is still fine and I'm risking having too many cards to board in and not enough actual slots)
2 Shatterstorm (again, RR isn't too hard and this is a big sweeper)
2 Ratchet Bomb (a hedge against B/W Tokens and Affinity)
I don't run Grudges because I can't get ahold of a Breeding Pool in time and I don't think I'd run one anyway. I'm also considering Shattering Spree for the Shatterstorm slot. Negates feel good but I'm unsure who I am going to use them against; I'm not boarding them in against Pod, most likely. I have about 8 anti-creature cards to side out against decks like Storm and RG Tron, and I've got 4 slots (Remands) to take out against fast aggro. Again, I'm fearing having a bunch of cards for certain matches that I'm never going to board in for lack of space.