Eldrazi Tron is a colorless deck that is looking to leverage the power of Eldrazi Temple and the Tron lands to accelerate out Eldrazi and other big spells, the centerpieces being Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. One of the main draws to the deck is the ability to play Chalice of the Void, usually on 1, which has a crippling effect on many decks in the format, with minimal backsplash on the pilot, as E-Tron only plays 4-7 1 drops in the maindeck. As a rule of thumb, when Chalice is good in the format, E-Tron is good, and vice versa.
While assembling Tron is very powerful and and important part of this deck's success, it is actually not the main focus, as opposed to in the traditional Gx Tron build, which has 4 Expedition Map, 4 Sylvan Scrying, 4 Ancient Stirrings and 8 Eggs to consistently assemble the trifecta. E-Tron is just playing the 4 Maps, which more often are used to fetch Eldrazi Temple, the most important card in the deck. One Temple allows us to play Matter Reshaper on turn 2, Thought-Knot Seer on turn 3, and Reality Smasher on turn 4, regardless of what other lands we have available. And of course there is the busted double Temple turn 2 TKS draw (2.5% chance).
E-Tron is kind of "big" Midrange deck, and can act as such, or take on the role of aggro or control, depending on the matchup. One of the cool things about the deck is that there is actually a fair amount of flexibility once you get past the core, and so it can be tuned to beat a specific meta. I'll expand on this in the card choices sections.
History
Eldrazi Tron first came into existence when Oath of the Gatewatch was released and made Matter Reshaper, Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher available, which are the current core of the deck to this day. This was during the period known as Eldrazi Winter (Jan - April 2016) during which Eye of Ugin was still legal and the various Eldrazi decks dominated the Modern format. interestingly enough, while Eldrazi Tron was extremely powerful and did see play at the time, it was actually fairly fringe as it was seen as inferior to the UW/UR/Sligh colorless builds. once Eye was banned, the deck all but died off, lying in wait until Walking Ballista arrived with Aether Revolt in Jan 2017 to breathe new life into the archetype. Eldrazi Tron was one of the top decks in the format for most of 2017 but started to decline near the end of the year and into 2018 as the format shifted unfavorably for it, with various go-wide decks such as Humans, Spirits, Hollow One and Hardened Scales posing problems, and with midrange and control strategies receiving significant power-ups.
Card choices
Manabase core:
4 Eldrazi Temple: As discussed, the most important card in the deck, enables all our Eldrazi spells.
2-4 Ghost Quarter: Efficient multipurpose land destruction. Good to play closer to 4 if there are a lot of Tron decks/mirrors around. Generally 2 is minimum.
1-2 Cavern of Souls: The best card against control decks. 1 is fine if control isn't so popular so you still have one in the deck to fetch.
Buried Ruin: Great value card. Can get back Walking Ballista, Chalice, Map, Wurmcoil Engine, etc. Often can be the difference in a game as we will generally be activating it later in the game with lots of mana available.
Nephalia Academy: Not the most common inclusion but can be very effective if you're seeing lots of discard. I had a lot of success with this card when Grixis Shadow was 15-20% of the meta.
Radiant Fountain: Great to have as an option to fetch if Burn is very popular.
Tectonic Edge: A heavy hitter against control and all the other big mana decks. Pairs very nicely with a Crucible of Worlds out of the side.
4 Reality Smasher: Beats down super hard and fast and is not easy to remove.
2-3 Endbringer: Very powerful but slow. Shines against control and midrange by allowing you to draw 2 extra cards per turn cycle. Stops Death's Shadow and Primeval Titan from attacking. Becomes a machine gun with Basilisk Collar.
4 Walking Ballista: Is not an Eldrazi and so it doesn't synergize with Temple but makes up for it by being so flexible - early game interaction and being huge in the lategame. Also kills any creature with Basilisk Collar for less mana than Endbringer.
Flex slots:
1-2 Wurmcoil Engine: Again not an Eldrazi so it's not as easy to cast but it's super strong against decks like Burn, Shadow, Hollow One and Jund.
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger: Super powerful but not easy to cast. Really nice to have access to against blue decks and Tron.
1-2 Oblivion Sower: I have seen this in some winning lists so I'm mentioning it but I personally don't think it's very good. Ostensibly good against control, midrange and other big mana decks but when you can't use their fetches naturally it doesn't seem great to just maybe hit some lands and have a vanilla 5/8. It would be very good in the mirror, I'll say that.
Spells core:
4 Expedition Map: Fetches your Temple, Tron land or whatever tech land you need at the time.
4 Chalice of the Void: One of the main reasons to play the deck, as discussed. That being said, it's not inconceivable to have them in the sideboard if you're expecting a specific meta where they're less likely to be good, which frees up slots to fight the decks you expect to see. I have done this at times. Generally speaking they should be main though.
1-4 Mind Stone: It's actually not uncommon for lists to omit Stone entirely now, but it was once a solid 4-of in the deck. It makes everything so much smoother, increasing your chances of playing your threats ahead of curve, then cashes in for a card when you no longer need the mana. Also is extra insurance against Blood Moon effects. The numbers have dwindled as the meta has become faster and interactive cards in those slots have become more valuable.
2 All is Dust: An undercosted Plague Wind that also kills planeswalkers and enchantments. I think 2 is the correct number because while it's the best card in some matchups, it does nothing in others, and the deck can only support so many high CMC cards in general. I like having a 3rd in the side.
Flex slots:
0-2 Relic of Progenitus: Graveyard decks are very popular in Modern right now and it's nice to have a way to fight that. The one thing to keep in mind is anti-synergy with Chalice from playing too many 1-mana spells.
0-1 Basilisk Collar: Super powerful in conjuction with Ballista or Endbringer, granting the ability to kill any creature on ping. Also just a fine card to equip to any Eldrazi to help swing races. Very strong against creature decks.
0-2 Karn Liberated: 2 Karn main was fairly common in 2017 when the mirror was a common matchup. Also great against control and midrange and some combo decks. Nowadays it can be a bit slow and I like it better in the board.
0-2 Karn, Scion of Urza: Good for trying to hold the fort against go-wide decks like Humans and also is a nice card advantage engine against control and midrange.
0-4 Surgical Extraction: Graveyard hate for Dredge, Phoenix, Storm, Hollow One, etc. Also good against Primeval Titan decks - kill one, extract the rest. Can be used in combination with Ghost Quarter on a Tron land or Valakut.
0-3 Relic of Progenitus: A more robust hate card against the graveyard decks than Surgical, while also being good against Shadow and BGx and being a cantrip, but doesn't have the same combo-breaking applications.
2 Ratchet Bomb: Standard 2-of catch-all for hard to deal with permanents such as Aether Vial, Alpine/Blood Moon, Damping Sphere, anything out of Lantern or prison decks, etc. Efficient answer for Death's Shadow. Generally is good as a 2-for-1 against many agressive decks such as Humans, Spirits, Affinity, Hatebears, etc. Also clears away tokens - good answer to Empty the Warrens.
0-2 Pithing Needle: The same effect for 1 less mana but you don't see their hand first. Personally I've found seeing their hand to be well worth the extra mana overall so I usually just play 2 Spyglass but some people go 1 and 1.
0-1 Crucible of Worlds: For grinding with control and midrange, and anything randomly trying to destroy your lands like Hatebears or Ponza. Cards like Field of Ruin and Liliana of the Veil look pretty silly with this in play. Also can form a lock engine with a Tectonic Edge.
0-2 Gut Shot: Good for killing mana dorks or cheap threats out of Humans, Spirits, Affinity, etc as early as turn 0. The surprise factor can matter when opponent sees you tapped out and goes all in on Inkmoth Nexus, for example.
0-1 Batterskull: Used to actually be a maindeck card but has fallen by the wayside, not usually even being in sideboards these days, but it's a solid card against Burn, midrange, control and creature decks.
0-1 Perilous Vault: Sweeper you can pay for in installments which notably exiles all the permanents, which is relevant against Affinity which is a hard matchup, and prison decks playing Welding Jar.
0-2 Thorn of Amethyst: Used to slow down decks that are trying to play lots of spells quickly like Burn, UR Phoenix and Storm.
For this section I'll be using broad strokes to define each matchup as either Favorable (60%+), Even (45%-55%), or Unfavorable (<%40). I have a lot of experience with this deck (over 2000 matches played), but most of that was in 2017 and the meta and decks have evolved quite a bit since then, so I don't feel as comfortable getting super precise with the outlooks. These analyses are also based on the listed build, which is fairly average. As discussed previously, E-Tron is fairly customizable so you can improve certain matchups a lot with different builds.
Burn:
Matchup outlook: Favorable
-3 Dismember, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone
+2 Spatial Contortion, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback, +1 Dragon's Claw
The most important cards in this matchup are Chalice of the Void and Thought-Knot Seer and in many cases it's correct to mulligan to find one. If you're on the play, turn 2 Chalice on 1 is generally so crippling for them that you can win easily, especially in game 1. If you're on the draw, it becomes quite a bit less effective, but can still be a strong play on x=1. Post-board you want to cast it on 2 because it will blank the Smash to Smithereens they will have brought in, along with all their other powerful 2 drops, and it leaves room for your Basilisk Collars to do their work. Chalice is not quite as effective as it used to be against the deck because they're now playing Skewer the Critics and/or Light Up the Stage which are CMC 3, even though they usually only pay 1 for them. So they have a more even spread across each CMC. This deck is extremely popular online right now as a result of the new cards which is why I'm playing Radiant Fountain and Dragon's Claw.
UR Phoenix:
Matchup outlook: Even
Similar to the Grixis Shadow matchup, Chalice shuts off almost half their deck which is pretty crippling. Unlike Grixis Shadow, they actually have very few ways to stop it from coming down in game 1 - current lists are playing just a single Izzet Charm. It doesn't stop them from being able to win though - they can still just run their spells into Chalice just to flip Thing in the Ice, which is a pretty hard card for us to deal with once flipped. Ideally we Dismember it beforehand, but we can use All is Dust, Endbringer or Basilisk Collar/Ballista to stop Awoken Horror. Dismember + block with an Eldrazi will also work. Crackling Drake is a similarly large threat that we need to take out through similar means. We have plenty of graveyard hate to stop Arclight Phoenix, but since it all costs 1, it can be pretty awkward with our Chalice plan. Warping Wail is a good card in this matchup to snipe Thing in the Ice or counter Faithless Looting.
Grixis Shadow:
Matchup outlook: Even
-1 Mind Stone, -4 Walking Ballista
+2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 All is Dust, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 Basilisk Collar
By far the most important card in the matchup is Chalice of the Void. It singlehandedly shuts off almost half their deck. Try to resolve/protect it at all costs - if they pass with blue up in the early turns, don't just run it out if you can't pay for Stub. They actually have 0 ways to remove it from play in game 1, and usually only 2 in games 2 and 3. Of course resolving it is not always easy as they have 6 discard spells to remove it proactively. One of the best cards is actually Matter Reshaper, which we are happy to chump block with to buy time and hopefully ramp us into more powerful things like Endbringer and All is Dust. Endbringer in particular is very good because they can't counter it in game 1 and it does everything we want against them. We are trying to play the long game. Attack only if you have lethal within the next couple turns and won't die on the crackback. Playing Reality Smasher to simply block and trade with Gurmag Angler is a relatively common and good play. This is a matchup where we're focused on assembling Eldrazi Temple and Cavern of Souls to render their conterspells as useless as possible. Thought-Knot seer is fairly poor as a body as it doesn't profitably block their creatures and dies easily to Fatal Push, but its Thoughtsieze effect can be game-swinging, especially when uncounterable. Overall a very interactive and close matchup.
Dredge:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-3 Chalice, -3 Dismember
+3 Surgical, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback, +1 All is Dust
For the most part this matchup will be won and lost on your graveyard hate or late thereof, so you should mull to try to find it. If we can slow them down enough through that, we can race them, with Reality Smasher leading the charge, but the addition of Creeping Chill has made this quite a bit more difficult. Basilisk Collar is a key card to help swing the race. If you have access to Warping Wail, it's very good here as it can counter Looting, Cathartic, Loam, and Conflagrate.
Humans:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-4 Chalice of the Void, -2 Relic of Progenitus, -1 Thought-Knot Seer/Smasher(Cut Smasher on play, TKS on draw)
+2 Spatial Contortion, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 All is Dust
As it turns out, Eldrazi match up quite poorly against Humans. They go both big and wide, which can be tough for us to deal with. Champion of the Parish gets huge, Thalia's Lieutenant puts all their dorks out of Ballista range, we can't block Mantis Rider, and Reflector Mage is a huge blowout for us. Chalice of the Void has very little utility because they have Vial, Caverns and evenly spread out mana costs. Of course our best cards are the pair of All is Dust, but that's assuming we can live to cast one, and they don't take it with Freebooter or name it with Meddling Mage. Our best shot at winning is assembling Tron quickly and playing bombs - ideally casting AiD or getting the Machine Gun combo online with Ballista or Endbringer and a Basilisk Collar (and hope they don't have Reflector Mage!). We do get a decent amount of removal from the side. A great card in this matchup is Karn, Scion of Urza because it can actually keep pace with the size of their army. Also a more narrow but extremely effective hoser against them is Torpor Orb, which turns most of their creatures into vanilla beaters, which in turn shuts off their removal for Orb (currently Knight of Autumn). Playing one or both of those cards plus additional removal can help swing the matchup.
Bant Spirits
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-4 Chalice of the Void, -2 Relic of Progenitus, -1 Matter Reshaper
+2 Spatial Contortion, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 All is Dust
To be honest I don't have that much experience with this matchup as the current form of Spirits is fairly new, but on paper it seems pretty similar to the Humans matchup, in terms of our difficulty in dealing with what they're doing. A flying army that mostly comes down at instant speed. Collected Company is not the type of card we want to play against. Spell Queller cleanly eats Thought-Knot Seer even through Cavern. Chalice has minimal utility again but shutting off Path to Exile isn't bad. The advantage we have here as opposed to Humans is that Spirits tends to be a bit slower/their creatures a bit smaller so we actually have a better shot of racing if we can go TKS into Smasher unperturbed for example. But they also have Reflector Mage so I think more often than not we'll still be on the back foot. Key cards again are All is Dust, spot removal and Basilisk Collar. Unfortunately Spirits has a better manabase than Humans and so they have Stony Silence and counterspells post-board.
Amulet Titan
Matchup outlook: Even
-2 Relic, -4 Matter Reshaper, -1 Mind Stone
+3 Surgical Extraction, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +2 Karn Liberated
They are effectively a combo deck so curving TKS into Reality Smasher is a good plan. The goal is killing them before they play a Primeval Titan or killing/controlling it once they do. Endbringer is fantastic in the matchup as it stops Titan from attacking. Chalice is good as well, both on 1 and 0. I like 0 better because it shuts off Summoner's Pact (and Pact of Negation), putting the onus on them to naturally have one of the 4 Titans, and we don't have to slow ourselves down paying mana to cast it. The Machine Gun combo is fantastic here to be able to kill Titans, especially post-board when we have access to Surgical. They tend to have 1 or 2 other threats like Hornet Queen/Zacama/Walking Ballista, but Surgical on Titan is generally GG. Dismember + 1 Ballista ping also kills Titan.
Jund
Matchup outlook: Even
-4 Chalice, -1 Mind Stone, -1 Basilisk Collar
+1 All is Dust, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Hangarback Walker, +2 Karn Liberated, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Once a favorable matchup, I think it's now pretty even since they've added Bloodbraid Elf and Assassin's Trophy and E-Tron has added nothing in the same time frame. Tends to be grindy but momentum matters too. We want to ping off Dark Confidant ASAP with Ballista or fire off Dismember on it. Dismember is also valuable to kill Tarmogoyf in the early game because once it gets too big it's actually quite hard for us to deal with. Just make sure there's already an instant in the graveyard when you cast Dismember on a 4/5 Goyf or you'll have a bad time. Unless you have a Ballista to finish it off with. Ballista also pairs well with Relic to kill Goyfs. Reality Smasher is our best threat, especially against Liliana which gives us a hard time. Try not to run out Smasher on an empty board for that reason. Our big spells like All is Dust and Endbringer are the best thing we can do, but again watch out for Liliana.
UW Control
Matchup outlook: Even
-4 Chalice, -1 Basilisk Collar
+1 All is Dust, +2 Karn Liberated, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Similar to Jund, once a favorable matchup is now even or maybe even slightly unfavorable since they've added Jace, Teferi and Field of Ruin. They have really effective spot and mass removal in the form of Path to Exile and Terminus. Cavern of Souls is the most important card - an uncounterable TKS taking the right card can be enough to swing the game. We need to look to the sideboard for more grindy/powerful cards. Crucible is fantastic, especially with access to Tectonic Edge. This is a matchup where both Karns shine, but arguably Scion moreso, because it's more likely to be able to come down through countermagic, costing only 4 mana. Spyglass is important to shut off Field/Teferi/Jace. Dismember is fine to keep in because they will bring in Lyra/Baneslayer, and they will often flash in Clique or Snap and chump block to protect a planeswalker, so getting those out of the way is important. Even better when they tap out to fire up Colonnade.
Storm:
Matchup outlook: Favorable
+1 All Is Dust, +2 Spatial Contortion, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Ratchet Bomb
-4 Matter Reshaper, -2 Endbringer, -1 Basilisk Collar, -1 Mind Stone
Generally a great matchup as we have so many cards that make life difficult for them. Chalice on 2 is generally lights out unless they can find their 1-of maindeck Repeal. Post-board they will have other answers to it such as Wipe Away and Shattering Spree but they still need to find one. We have Dismembers and Spatial Contortions to kill their mana dorks, Relics and Surgicals to keep the graveyard under wraps, and Thought-Knot to take the relevant card out of their hand. Ratchet Bomb is insurance against a fast Empty the Warrens, and All is Dust plays the same role a bit more slowly. Warping Wail is also fantastic if you have access to it as it kills Baral and counters Past in Flames, Pieces of the Puzzle or even a Grapeshot that they're trying to Remand back to their hand.
Gx Tron:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 All is Dust, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass, +2 Karn Liberated
or
-2 All is Dust, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone, -3 Chalice
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass, +2 Karn Liberated, +3 Surgical
A pretty difficult matchup as they are just doing everything bigger and better than we are. Cards like Oblivion Stone and Wurmcoil Engine are really hard to beat, not to mention Karn. We have to try to win quickly with TKS/Smasher while keeping them off-kilter with Ghost Quarters. Chalice on 1 can do a lot of work but if they get Map in under it it can just be useless. Post-side we have access to Surgicals to go with the GQs but this conflicts with our Chalice plan, and they also get to lower their curve a lot with TKS and Thragtusk. It may be better to leave the Surgicals in the side and try to assemble the Machine Gun combo and fight on that axis, or bring in the Surgicals and cut the Chalices. It's gonna depend on your particular build, and theirs. Crucible/LD lock is always a good plan too.
Affinity has always been a difficult matchup and not much has changed. They're faster than us, most of their guys have flying so we can't block, they go wide so Dismember isn't great, and our sweeper All is Dust does nothing. Walking Ballista + Tron can be good but Hardened Scales outclasses even that pretty quickly. Basilisk Collar is nice to have. We're just going full control mode and utilizing what removal spells we have to the best of our ability. Chalice on 0 is good but really only on the play.
Titan Shift
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 All is Dust, -3 Dismember, -2 Relic
+1 Crucible, +1 Basilisk Collar, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Karn Liberated
Another tough matchup. Similar to the other Primeval Titan deck, Amulet, we really just want to take their key card with TKS and beat down with Smasher before they can draw another. This plan doesn't work as well against Titan Shift though because they have more win-cards - 4 Scapeshifts which will kill us instantly in addition to 4 Titans which usually kills us 1 turn later. Even if we can kill and Surgical Primeval Titan, they've just fetched 2 Valakuts and any land drops/ramp spells the following turn just kill us. So mulling to TKS or at least Warping Wail to counter Scapeshift is necessary. Chalice on 0 is OK but they usually only have 1 or 2 Summoner's Pact. Chalice on 4 to counter Scapeshift is a somewhat fringe option. If they play out Valakut, we can Ghost Quarter + Surgical it, but we can still just die to 6/6s that way as well. Machine Gun combo is nice here.
Hollow One
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 Chalice of the Void
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker
They go big and wide faster than Humans does. None of our interaction is fool-proof - Relic is generally good but they can just run out Hollow One. Dismember can stop an early H1/Angler/Flameblade adept but they're so aggressive with Bloodghasts and Phoenixes that the 4 life hurts. All is Dust is good but a bit slow and doesn't kill Hollow One. Surgical can be very strong but they can also just ignore it with H1/Angler/Flameblade and the 2 life hurts. They do tend to do a lot of damage to themselves though so Reality Smasher can turn the tide fairly quickly if we can get on the front foot. Again Basilisk Collar one of the best cards. Warping Wail can counter their enabler spell or kill Flameblade Adept.
For reference I'd like to include the original Colorless EldraziTron thread for those that like to see the evolution of a deck and for some more in depth reading.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Great job on the primer! I have been on this since the Eye ban and have been grateful with all the help in this thread. Thanks for taking the time to do a proper primer.
Just a few flex options too mention. Emrakul, the Promised End as I have had great success when I drop her as early as T4, Mindslaver and Protection from Instants is huge. Oblivion Stone is still a great catch all removal that can be put into play off a Reshaper. Also, a couple trick's with Spatial Contortion, can pump anything except for Reshaper This is especially effective with unblocked Smasher's as they are usually allowed to get in free anyways due to Trample and extremely sneaky when used on a Spellskite. Another possible sb option is Sundering Titan, very good Vs. Scapeshfit and 5c Zoo (not like that's a thing anymore) anything running a greedy mana base. OK, that's all for now. Again, awesome job on the primer and sweet ass logo, Go Team Chrome!
On a side note, I'm a little weird but I like my sleeves and box to kinda match my deck, I. E. I have my Atarka Goblins Deck in Matte Red Dragon's, a Red Deck box and I usually play it on my SCG IQ Goblin Guide mat. What I was wondering is what is everyone's prefered color scheme for EldraziTron, I currently run Matte Purple Dragons in a Black box. Also, has anyone foiled this out and if so does it have a sweet chrome look to it?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Current Decks Standard : WB Orzhov Vampires BWGUB Sultai Constrictor BUG Brawl : GB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons BG Modern : GB Golgari Elves BGGR Atarka Goblins RG Pauper : W Heroic WGB Delve BG
Why is Warping Wail prefered to Spatial Contortion in the maindeck ?
Countering sorceries is fringe case and killing x/3 creatures is more frequent than 1/x (or 0/x) or x/1 creatures.
Spatial Contortion vs Warping Wail should be a meta call imo.
On the money.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
While there is certainly a case for spatial contortion, there aren't a ton of creatures we actually care about that spatial hits and wail doesn't. The cards it hits that we worry about are things like mana dorks, dark confidant, viscera seer, everything in infect, a flyer in affinity wearing a hat, while there are only a handful of 2/3 p/t creatures we absolutely need to kill. Spatial hits more, but how many of those that it hits are a problem for us?
Anyone watch Pascal Maynard? I've been watching a little bit at a time and sometimes his use or lack of use of Chalice of the Void perplexes me. He seems to play it on zero a lot and I'm not sure the situation dictates that line of play. Am I missing something?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Guide, Nacatl and Eidolon all get blocked favourably by every creature in our deck, if you want to run removal for them that's perfectly acceptable but I'm not personally worried about creatures that get stopped by chalice (I've never landed a turn 2 chalice and lost to the one guide that snuck under it on turn 1) and can't attack through any of our creatures.
Scooze absolutely can become a problem once it grows past dismember range. I've found good Jund opponents will usually hone in on it being the best card in the matchup though and won't leave it open to being spatialed. Again, it's a preference call but for me that's my reasoning on preferring eldrazi charm over spatial at least.
Also played a few friendly game ones vs. Infect tonight. Went 3-2 in those game ones (all on the draw for some practice) and Walking Ballista was amazing. It did a lot of work in those 3 wins.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Anyone watch Pascal Maynard? I've been watching a little bit at a time and sometimes his use or lack of use of Chalice of the Void perplexes me. He seems to play it on zero a lot and I'm not sure the situation dictates that line of play. Am I missing something?
Are you referring against GR Valakut? They play Summoner's Pact which it counters.
PS. It looks like the deck is really picking up now! More and more are 5-0'ing the Modern leagues now it seems
Yes, I watched it again and it makes sense now.
I'm also curious why he sides out Ulamog a lot more frequently than I would do. Without the big guy to give you some outs I feel Maynard was leaving himself vulnerable in the Bogles and UR Kiln Fiend match ups.
And yes, its good to see things getting rolling. When is the next big Modern event in paper? We need some pilots to take it to a top 8.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Thank you for the answers. Hope Maynard does indeed pilot it there. Now if I could just convince him to sneak a copy of Conduit of Ruin in there.
Actually I'd like him to test Walking Ballista. Not sure what should come out for 2 copies of it in his list but if he'd try it, I think he would see its value.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Looking at his list, he could drop 2 Matter Reshaper from his main and slot in 2 Walking Ballista. It helps in a lot of match-ups that Reshaper doesn't.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
That could be another avenue. Sub out either Spellskite or Batterskull for 2 Ballista or move them to the SB and sub them back in Game 2 or 3 if needed on the matchup.
I like the explosiveness of running SSG and G.Caverns provides at times but if the meta slows down I may get away from that and go back to Skites and Batterskulls.
I'd also like to see some matches of us vs. Dredge, Abzan/Junk, Death and Taxes and Affinity if they are out there.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Hi guys, I just wanted to ask here as there are people with way more experience than me on Spellskite. How good is it? Is really necessary? I have em and everything, it's not a stock or budget concern, more of how much of a staple is it to the deck? I've seen lists with it on the MB, some lists with it on the SB and some lists with no skite whatsoever. So, I wanted to get some insight on it, I was considering testing Walking Ballista in that slot.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In Lorwyn's brief evenings, the sun pauses at the horizon long enough for a certain species of violet to bloom with the fragrance of mischief.
I noticed that as well. If you are aware you are going into that matchup, aggressive mulligans for an opening hand Chalice to set on 0 would be in order.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Glad to see other people playing this deck, my version is not colorless. I've been playing this for several months and I've had a lot of success with my list. Playing green and white gives you access to great sideboard cards as well as Path to exile main deck which is always a clean answer to problem creatures. Ancient stirrings allows you to assemble your tron a little easier or find any creature you need. Hanagarback walker is amazinng and im surprised more people don't play its an early blocker and when you have tron online you commonly cast it as a 4/4. Platinum angel flat out wins the game against some decks and can be tutored via Conduit of ruin.
What is Eldrazi Tron?
Eldrazi Tron is a colorless deck that is looking to leverage the power of Eldrazi Temple and the Tron lands to accelerate out Eldrazi and other big spells, the centerpieces being Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. One of the main draws to the deck is the ability to play Chalice of the Void, usually on 1, which has a crippling effect on many decks in the format, with minimal backsplash on the pilot, as E-Tron only plays 4-7 1 drops in the maindeck. As a rule of thumb, when Chalice is good in the format, E-Tron is good, and vice versa.
While assembling Tron is very powerful and and important part of this deck's success, it is actually not the main focus, as opposed to in the traditional Gx Tron build, which has 4 Expedition Map, 4 Sylvan Scrying, 4 Ancient Stirrings and 8 Eggs to consistently assemble the trifecta. E-Tron is just playing the 4 Maps, which more often are used to fetch Eldrazi Temple, the most important card in the deck. One Temple allows us to play Matter Reshaper on turn 2, Thought-Knot Seer on turn 3, and Reality Smasher on turn 4, regardless of what other lands we have available. And of course there is the busted double Temple turn 2 TKS draw (2.5% chance).
E-Tron is kind of "big" Midrange deck, and can act as such, or take on the role of aggro or control, depending on the matchup. One of the cool things about the deck is that there is actually a fair amount of flexibility once you get past the core, and so it can be tuned to beat a specific meta. I'll expand on this in the card choices sections.
History
Card choices
Manabase core:
4 Eldrazi Temple: As discussed, the most important card in the deck, enables all our Eldrazi spells.
4 Urza's Tower, 4 Urza's Mine, 4 Urza's Power Plant: For making tons of mana.
2-4 Ghost Quarter: Efficient multipurpose land destruction. Good to play closer to 4 if there are a lot of Tron decks/mirrors around. Generally 2 is minimum.
1-2 Cavern of Souls: The best card against control decks. 1 is fine if control isn't so popular so you still have one in the deck to fetch.
2-3 Wastes: Gives us something to fetch off Path to Exile and Field of Ruin/GQ, and is insurance against Blood Moon. If control isn't so popular 2 is fine.
1 Sea Gate Wreckage: Fantastic card to fetch in the mid/late game in grindy situations to make sure we don't run out of gas.
Flex slots:
If you don't need to max out on the core lands in a specific meta, there are many great options than can fill the last 1 or 2 slots:
Sanctum of Ugin: Gets triggered by a 4/4 Ballista and fetches up another threat. Commonly used in versions that run Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Buried Ruin: Great value card. Can get back Walking Ballista, Chalice, Map, Wurmcoil Engine, etc. Often can be the difference in a game as we will generally be activating it later in the game with lots of mana available.
Nephalia Academy: Not the most common inclusion but can be very effective if you're seeing lots of discard. I had a lot of success with this card when Grixis Shadow was 15-20% of the meta.
Radiant Fountain: Great to have as an option to fetch if Burn is very popular.
Tectonic Edge: A heavy hitter against control and all the other big mana decks. Pairs very nicely with a Crucible of Worlds out of the side.
Gemstone Caverns: Can enable some explosive draws.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Allows you to cast Dismemberor Surgical Extraction painlessly, and can also allow you to tap your opponents' fetchlands for mana if you're playing with Oblivion Sower and hit one.
Scavenger Grounds: Fetchable graveyard sweeper.
Creatures core:
4 Matter Reshaper: Tons of value in a small package.
4 Thought-Knot Seer: One of the key cards; disrupts and beats down.
4 Reality Smasher: Beats down super hard and fast and is not easy to remove.
2-3 Endbringer: Very powerful but slow. Shines against control and midrange by allowing you to draw 2 extra cards per turn cycle. Stops Death's Shadow and Primeval Titan from attacking. Becomes a machine gun with Basilisk Collar.
4 Walking Ballista: Is not an Eldrazi and so it doesn't synergize with Temple but makes up for it by being so flexible - early game interaction and being huge in the lategame. Also kills any creature with Basilisk Collar for less mana than Endbringer.
Flex slots:
1-2 Wurmcoil Engine: Again not an Eldrazi so it's not as easy to cast but it's super strong against decks like Burn, Shadow, Hollow One and Jund.
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger: Super powerful but not easy to cast. Really nice to have access to against blue decks and Tron.
1-2 Oblivion Sower: I have seen this in some winning lists so I'm mentioning it but I personally don't think it's very good. Ostensibly good against control, midrange and other big mana decks but when you can't use their fetches naturally it doesn't seem great to just maybe hit some lands and have a vanilla 5/8. It would be very good in the mirror, I'll say that.
Spells core:
4 Expedition Map: Fetches your Temple, Tron land or whatever tech land you need at the time.
4 Chalice of the Void: One of the main reasons to play the deck, as discussed. That being said, it's not inconceivable to have them in the sideboard if you're expecting a specific meta where they're less likely to be good, which frees up slots to fight the decks you expect to see. I have done this at times. Generally speaking they should be main though.
1-3 Dismember: The most efficient and powerful removal spell available to us. Kills Thing in the Ice, Gurmag Angler, small Death's Shadows, small Tarmogoyfs, Dark Confidant, Hollow One, Flameblade Adept, anything out of Humans or Spirits, Baral/Electromancer, manlands, Primeval Titan(when combined with Ballista), etc.
1-4 Mind Stone: It's actually not uncommon for lists to omit Stone entirely now, but it was once a solid 4-of in the deck. It makes everything so much smoother, increasing your chances of playing your threats ahead of curve, then cashes in for a card when you no longer need the mana. Also is extra insurance against Blood Moon effects. The numbers have dwindled as the meta has become faster and interactive cards in those slots have become more valuable.
2 All is Dust: An undercosted Plague Wind that also kills planeswalkers and enchantments. I think 2 is the correct number because while it's the best card in some matchups, it does nothing in others, and the deck can only support so many high CMC cards in general. I like having a 3rd in the side.
Flex slots:
0-2 Relic of Progenitus: Graveyard decks are very popular in Modern right now and it's nice to have a way to fight that. The one thing to keep in mind is anti-synergy with Chalice from playing too many 1-mana spells.
0-1 Basilisk Collar: Super powerful in conjuction with Ballista or Endbringer, granting the ability to kill any creature on ping. Also just a fine card to equip to any Eldrazi to help swing races. Very strong against creature decks.
0-2 Karn Liberated: 2 Karn main was fairly common in 2017 when the mirror was a common matchup. Also great against control and midrange and some combo decks. Nowadays it can be a bit slow and I like it better in the board.
0-2 Karn, Scion of Urza: Good for trying to hold the fort against go-wide decks like Humans and also is a nice card advantage engine against control and midrange.
0-2 Warping Wail: Modular card with a variety of uses including picking off a small creature or countering an early Faithless Looting, Cathartic Reunion, Goblin Lore, Burning Inquiry, several spells out of Burn, etc. Also counters bigger sorceries such as Scapeshift, Living End and Terminus. Notably kills Thing in the Ice.
0-2 Spatial Contortion: For killing small creatures.
Sideboard card choices
0-2 Basilisk Collar.
0-4 Surgical Extraction: Graveyard hate for Dredge, Phoenix, Storm, Hollow One, etc. Also good against Primeval Titan decks - kill one, extract the rest. Can be used in combination with Ghost Quarter on a Tron land or Valakut.
0-3 Relic of Progenitus: A more robust hate card against the graveyard decks than Surgical, while also being good against Shadow and BGx and being a cantrip, but doesn't have the same combo-breaking applications.
0-2 Grafdigger's Cage: Good graveyard hate that also shuts off Collected Company, Chord of Calling, Prime Speaker Vannifar, etc.
0-3 Spatial Contortion: 2 is fairly standard in the side.
2 Ratchet Bomb: Standard 2-of catch-all for hard to deal with permanents such as Aether Vial, Alpine/Blood Moon, Damping Sphere, anything out of Lantern or prison decks, etc. Efficient answer for Death's Shadow. Generally is good as a 2-for-1 against many agressive decks such as Humans, Spirits, Affinity, Hatebears, etc. Also clears away tokens - good answer to Empty the Warrens.
0-2 Sorcerous Spyglass: Shuts off planeswalkers, Field of Ruin/GQ, Fulminator Mage, Oblivion Stone, Arcbound Ravager, Aether Vial, etc, while allowing you to look at your opponent's hand first.
0-2 Pithing Needle: The same effect for 1 less mana but you don't see their hand first. Personally I've found seeing their hand to be well worth the extra mana overall so I usually just play 2 Spyglass but some people go 1 and 1.
0-1 Crucible of Worlds: For grinding with control and midrange, and anything randomly trying to destroy your lands like Hatebears or Ponza. Cards like Field of Ruin and Liliana of the Veil look pretty silly with this in play. Also can form a lock engine with a Tectonic Edge.
0-2 Karn Liberated.
0-2 Karn, Scion of Urza.
0-1 All is Dust.
0-2 Hangarback Walker: Super hard to deal with threat for Grixis Shadow and BGx, and also the mirror. Fine as a speedbump against Burn and Humans.
0-2 Dragon's Claw: For taking the edge off Burn.
0-2 Gut Shot: Good for killing mana dorks or cheap threats out of Humans, Spirits, Affinity, etc as early as turn 0. The surprise factor can matter when opponent sees you tapped out and goes all in on Inkmoth Nexus, for example.
0-1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship: A solid threat against midrange/control and creature decks.
0-2 Treasure Map: Good card advantage engine in grindy matchups.
0-1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: Not very easy to cast but a powerful sweeper effect that's also a big threat against control.
0-1 Emrakul, the Promised End: For control and combo matchups.
0-1 Batterskull: Used to actually be a maindeck card but has fallen by the wayside, not usually even being in sideboards these days, but it's a solid card against Burn, midrange, control and creature decks.
0-1 Perilous Vault: Sweeper you can pay for in installments which notably exiles all the permanents, which is relevant against Affinity which is a hard matchup, and prison decks playing Welding Jar.
0-2 Thorn of Amethyst: Used to slow down decks that are trying to play lots of spells quickly like Burn, UR Phoenix and Storm.
Decklist
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Endbringer
4 Walking Ballista
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Other spells [17]
2 All Is Dust
3 Dismember
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Expedition Map
1 Mind Stone
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Wastes
1 Radiant Fountain
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 All Is Dust
2 Spatial Contortion
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Karn Liberated
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Dragon's Claw
Matchup guide
Burn:
Matchup outlook: Favorable
-3 Dismember, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone
+2 Spatial Contortion, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback, +1 Dragon's Claw
The most important cards in this matchup are Chalice of the Void and Thought-Knot Seer and in many cases it's correct to mulligan to find one. If you're on the play, turn 2 Chalice on 1 is generally so crippling for them that you can win easily, especially in game 1. If you're on the draw, it becomes quite a bit less effective, but can still be a strong play on x=1. Post-board you want to cast it on 2 because it will blank the Smash to Smithereens they will have brought in, along with all their other powerful 2 drops, and it leaves room for your Basilisk Collars to do their work. Chalice is not quite as effective as it used to be against the deck because they're now playing Skewer the Critics and/or Light Up the Stage which are CMC 3, even though they usually only pay 1 for them. So they have a more even spread across each CMC. This deck is extremely popular online right now as a result of the new cards which is why I'm playing Radiant Fountain and Dragon's Claw.
UR Phoenix:
Matchup outlook: Even
Similar to the Grixis Shadow matchup, Chalice shuts off almost half their deck which is pretty crippling. Unlike Grixis Shadow, they actually have very few ways to stop it from coming down in game 1 - current lists are playing just a single Izzet Charm. It doesn't stop them from being able to win though - they can still just run their spells into Chalice just to flip Thing in the Ice, which is a pretty hard card for us to deal with once flipped. Ideally we Dismember it beforehand, but we can use All is Dust, Endbringer or Basilisk Collar/Ballista to stop Awoken Horror. Dismember + block with an Eldrazi will also work. Crackling Drake is a similarly large threat that we need to take out through similar means. We have plenty of graveyard hate to stop Arclight Phoenix, but since it all costs 1, it can be pretty awkward with our Chalice plan. Warping Wail is a good card in this matchup to snipe Thing in the Ice or counter Faithless Looting.
Grixis Shadow:
Matchup outlook: Even
-1 Mind Stone, -4 Walking Ballista
+2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 All is Dust, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 Basilisk Collar
By far the most important card in the matchup is Chalice of the Void. It singlehandedly shuts off almost half their deck. Try to resolve/protect it at all costs - if they pass with blue up in the early turns, don't just run it out if you can't pay for Stub. They actually have 0 ways to remove it from play in game 1, and usually only 2 in games 2 and 3. Of course resolving it is not always easy as they have 6 discard spells to remove it proactively. One of the best cards is actually Matter Reshaper, which we are happy to chump block with to buy time and hopefully ramp us into more powerful things like Endbringer and All is Dust. Endbringer in particular is very good because they can't counter it in game 1 and it does everything we want against them. We are trying to play the long game. Attack only if you have lethal within the next couple turns and won't die on the crackback. Playing Reality Smasher to simply block and trade with Gurmag Angler is a relatively common and good play. This is a matchup where we're focused on assembling Eldrazi Temple and Cavern of Souls to render their conterspells as useless as possible. Thought-Knot seer is fairly poor as a body as it doesn't profitably block their creatures and dies easily to Fatal Push, but its Thoughtsieze effect can be game-swinging, especially when uncounterable. Overall a very interactive and close matchup.
Dredge:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-3 Chalice, -3 Dismember
+3 Surgical, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback, +1 All is Dust
For the most part this matchup will be won and lost on your graveyard hate or late thereof, so you should mull to try to find it. If we can slow them down enough through that, we can race them, with Reality Smasher leading the charge, but the addition of Creeping Chill has made this quite a bit more difficult. Basilisk Collar is a key card to help swing the race. If you have access to Warping Wail, it's very good here as it can counter Looting, Cathartic, Loam, and Conflagrate.
Humans:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-4 Chalice of the Void, -2 Relic of Progenitus, -1 Thought-Knot Seer/Smasher(Cut Smasher on play, TKS on draw)
+2 Spatial Contortion, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 All is Dust
As it turns out, Eldrazi match up quite poorly against Humans. They go both big and wide, which can be tough for us to deal with. Champion of the Parish gets huge, Thalia's Lieutenant puts all their dorks out of Ballista range, we can't block Mantis Rider, and Reflector Mage is a huge blowout for us. Chalice of the Void has very little utility because they have Vial, Caverns and evenly spread out mana costs. Of course our best cards are the pair of All is Dust, but that's assuming we can live to cast one, and they don't take it with Freebooter or name it with Meddling Mage. Our best shot at winning is assembling Tron quickly and playing bombs - ideally casting AiD or getting the Machine Gun combo online with Ballista or Endbringer and a Basilisk Collar (and hope they don't have Reflector Mage!). We do get a decent amount of removal from the side. A great card in this matchup is Karn, Scion of Urza because it can actually keep pace with the size of their army. Also a more narrow but extremely effective hoser against them is Torpor Orb, which turns most of their creatures into vanilla beaters, which in turn shuts off their removal for Orb (currently Knight of Autumn). Playing one or both of those cards plus additional removal can help swing the matchup.
Bant Spirits
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-4 Chalice of the Void, -2 Relic of Progenitus, -1 Matter Reshaper
+2 Spatial Contortion, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker, +1 All is Dust
To be honest I don't have that much experience with this matchup as the current form of Spirits is fairly new, but on paper it seems pretty similar to the Humans matchup, in terms of our difficulty in dealing with what they're doing. A flying army that mostly comes down at instant speed. Collected Company is not the type of card we want to play against. Spell Queller cleanly eats Thought-Knot Seer even through Cavern. Chalice has minimal utility again but shutting off Path to Exile isn't bad. The advantage we have here as opposed to Humans is that Spirits tends to be a bit slower/their creatures a bit smaller so we actually have a better shot of racing if we can go TKS into Smasher unperturbed for example. But they also have Reflector Mage so I think more often than not we'll still be on the back foot. Key cards again are All is Dust, spot removal and Basilisk Collar. Unfortunately Spirits has a better manabase than Humans and so they have Stony Silence and counterspells post-board.
Amulet Titan
Matchup outlook: Even
-2 Relic, -4 Matter Reshaper, -1 Mind Stone
+3 Surgical Extraction, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +2 Karn Liberated
They are effectively a combo deck so curving TKS into Reality Smasher is a good plan. The goal is killing them before they play a Primeval Titan or killing/controlling it once they do. Endbringer is fantastic in the matchup as it stops Titan from attacking. Chalice is good as well, both on 1 and 0. I like 0 better because it shuts off Summoner's Pact (and Pact of Negation), putting the onus on them to naturally have one of the 4 Titans, and we don't have to slow ourselves down paying mana to cast it. The Machine Gun combo is fantastic here to be able to kill Titans, especially post-board when we have access to Surgical. They tend to have 1 or 2 other threats like Hornet Queen/Zacama/Walking Ballista, but Surgical on Titan is generally GG. Dismember + 1 Ballista ping also kills Titan.
Jund
Matchup outlook: Even
-4 Chalice, -1 Mind Stone, -1 Basilisk Collar
+1 All is Dust, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Hangarback Walker, +2 Karn Liberated, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Once a favorable matchup, I think it's now pretty even since they've added Bloodbraid Elf and Assassin's Trophy and E-Tron has added nothing in the same time frame. Tends to be grindy but momentum matters too. We want to ping off Dark Confidant ASAP with Ballista or fire off Dismember on it. Dismember is also valuable to kill Tarmogoyf in the early game because once it gets too big it's actually quite hard for us to deal with. Just make sure there's already an instant in the graveyard when you cast Dismember on a 4/5 Goyf or you'll have a bad time. Unless you have a Ballista to finish it off with. Ballista also pairs well with Relic to kill Goyfs. Reality Smasher is our best threat, especially against Liliana which gives us a hard time. Try not to run out Smasher on an empty board for that reason. Our big spells like All is Dust and Endbringer are the best thing we can do, but again watch out for Liliana.
UW Control
Matchup outlook: Even
-4 Chalice, -1 Basilisk Collar
+1 All is Dust, +2 Karn Liberated, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Similar to Jund, once a favorable matchup is now even or maybe even slightly unfavorable since they've added Jace, Teferi and Field of Ruin. They have really effective spot and mass removal in the form of Path to Exile and Terminus. Cavern of Souls is the most important card - an uncounterable TKS taking the right card can be enough to swing the game. We need to look to the sideboard for more grindy/powerful cards. Crucible is fantastic, especially with access to Tectonic Edge. This is a matchup where both Karns shine, but arguably Scion moreso, because it's more likely to be able to come down through countermagic, costing only 4 mana. Spyglass is important to shut off Field/Teferi/Jace. Dismember is fine to keep in because they will bring in Lyra/Baneslayer, and they will often flash in Clique or Snap and chump block to protect a planeswalker, so getting those out of the way is important. Even better when they tap out to fire up Colonnade.
Storm:
Matchup outlook: Favorable
+1 All Is Dust, +2 Spatial Contortion, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Ratchet Bomb
-4 Matter Reshaper, -2 Endbringer, -1 Basilisk Collar, -1 Mind Stone
Generally a great matchup as we have so many cards that make life difficult for them. Chalice on 2 is generally lights out unless they can find their 1-of maindeck Repeal. Post-board they will have other answers to it such as Wipe Away and Shattering Spree but they still need to find one. We have Dismembers and Spatial Contortions to kill their mana dorks, Relics and Surgicals to keep the graveyard under wraps, and Thought-Knot to take the relevant card out of their hand. Ratchet Bomb is insurance against a fast Empty the Warrens, and All is Dust plays the same role a bit more slowly. Warping Wail is also fantastic if you have access to it as it kills Baral and counters Past in Flames, Pieces of the Puzzle or even a Grapeshot that they're trying to Remand back to their hand.
Gx Tron:
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 All is Dust, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass, +2 Karn Liberated
or
-2 All is Dust, -2 Relic, -1 Mind Stone, -3 Chalice
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Sorcerous Spyglass, +2 Karn Liberated, +3 Surgical
A pretty difficult matchup as they are just doing everything bigger and better than we are. Cards like Oblivion Stone and Wurmcoil Engine are really hard to beat, not to mention Karn. We have to try to win quickly with TKS/Smasher while keeping them off-kilter with Ghost Quarters. Chalice on 1 can do a lot of work but if they get Map in under it it can just be useless. Post-side we have access to Surgicals to go with the GQs but this conflicts with our Chalice plan, and they also get to lower their curve a lot with TKS and Thragtusk. It may be better to leave the Surgicals in the side and try to assemble the Machine Gun combo and fight on that axis, or bring in the Surgicals and cut the Chalices. It's gonna depend on your particular build, and theirs. Crucible/LD lock is always a good plan too.
Affinity/Hardened Scales
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 Relic, -2 All is Dust, -4 Matter Reshaper
+2 Spatial Contortion, +1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Spyglass, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +2 Karn Liberated
Affinity has always been a difficult matchup and not much has changed. They're faster than us, most of their guys have flying so we can't block, they go wide so Dismember isn't great, and our sweeper All is Dust does nothing. Walking Ballista + Tron can be good but Hardened Scales outclasses even that pretty quickly. Basilisk Collar is nice to have. We're just going full control mode and utilizing what removal spells we have to the best of our ability. Chalice on 0 is good but really only on the play.
Titan Shift
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 All is Dust, -3 Dismember, -2 Relic
+1 Crucible, +1 Basilisk Collar, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Karn Liberated
Another tough matchup. Similar to the other Primeval Titan deck, Amulet, we really just want to take their key card with TKS and beat down with Smasher before they can draw another. This plan doesn't work as well against Titan Shift though because they have more win-cards - 4 Scapeshifts which will kill us instantly in addition to 4 Titans which usually kills us 1 turn later. Even if we can kill and Surgical Primeval Titan, they've just fetched 2 Valakuts and any land drops/ramp spells the following turn just kill us. So mulling to TKS or at least Warping Wail to counter Scapeshift is necessary. Chalice on 0 is OK but they usually only have 1 or 2 Summoner's Pact. Chalice on 4 to counter Scapeshift is a somewhat fringe option. If they play out Valakut, we can Ghost Quarter + Surgical it, but we can still just die to 6/6s that way as well. Machine Gun combo is nice here.
Hollow One
Matchup outlook: Unfavorable
-2 Chalice of the Void
+1 Basilisk Collar, +1 Hangarback Walker
They go big and wide faster than Humans does. None of our interaction is fool-proof - Relic is generally good but they can just run out Hollow One. Dismember can stop an early H1/Angler/Flameblade adept but they're so aggressive with Bloodghasts and Phoenixes that the 4 life hurts. All is Dust is good but a bit slow and doesn't kill Hollow One. Surgical can be very strong but they can also just ignore it with H1/Angler/Flameblade and the 2 life hurts. They do tend to do a lot of damage to themselves though so Reality Smasher can turn the tide fairly quickly if we can get on the front foot. Again Basilisk Collar one of the best cards. Warping Wail can counter their enabler spell or kill Flameblade Adept.
For reference I'd like to include the original Colorless EldraziTron thread for those that like to see the evolution of a deck and for some more in depth reading.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/tier-2-modern/663065-colorless-eldrazitron
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Just a few flex options too mention. Emrakul, the Promised End as I have had great success when I drop her as early as T4, Mindslaver and Protection from Instants is huge. Oblivion Stone is still a great catch all removal that can be put into play off a Reshaper. Also, a couple trick's with Spatial Contortion, can pump anything except for Reshaper This is especially effective with unblocked Smasher's as they are usually allowed to get in free anyways due to Trample and extremely sneaky when used on a Spellskite. Another possible sb option is Sundering Titan, very good Vs. Scapeshfit and 5c Zoo (not like that's a thing anymore) anything running a greedy mana base. OK, that's all for now. Again, awesome job on the primer and sweet ass logo, Go Team Chrome!
On a side note, I'm a little weird but I like my sleeves and box to kinda match my deck, I. E. I have my Atarka Goblins Deck in Matte Red Dragon's, a Red Deck box and I usually play it on my SCG IQ Goblin Guide mat. What I was wondering is what is everyone's prefered color scheme for EldraziTron, I currently run Matte Purple Dragons in a Black box. Also, has anyone foiled this out and if so does it have a sweet chrome look to it?
Current Decks
Standard : WB Orzhov Vampires BW GUB Sultai Constrictor BUG
Brawl : GB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons BG
Modern : GB Golgari Elves BG GR Atarka Goblins RG
Pauper : W Heroic W GB Delve BG
Countering sorceries is fringe case and killing x/3 creatures is more frequent than 1/x (or 0/x) or x/1 creatures.
On the money.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Scooze absolutely can become a problem once it grows past dismember range. I've found good Jund opponents will usually hone in on it being the best card in the matchup though and won't leave it open to being spatialed. Again, it's a preference call but for me that's my reasoning on preferring eldrazi charm over spatial at least.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Yes, I watched it again and it makes sense now.
I'm also curious why he sides out Ulamog a lot more frequently than I would do. Without the big guy to give you some outs I feel Maynard was leaving himself vulnerable in the Bogles and UR Kiln Fiend match ups.
And yes, its good to see things getting rolling. When is the next big Modern event in paper? We need some pilots to take it to a top 8.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Actually I'd like him to test Walking Ballista. Not sure what should come out for 2 copies of it in his list but if he'd try it, I think he would see its value.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Lands (24)
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Gemstone Caverns
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
2 Wastes
Spells (16)
1 All Is Dust
1 Batterskull
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Dismember
4 Expedition Map
1 Spatial Contortion
2 Warping Wail
Creatures (20)
3 Endbringer
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Walking Ballista
Sideboard (15)
1 Karn Liberated
1 Oblivion Stone
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 All Is Dust
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
2 Spellskite
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Warping Wail
I like the explosiveness of running SSG and G.Caverns provides at times but if the meta slows down I may get away from that and go back to Skites and Batterskulls.
I'd also like to see some matches of us vs. Dredge, Abzan/Junk, Death and Taxes and Affinity if they are out there.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
my list is
4 urza's mine
4 urza's power plant
4 urza's tower
4 eldrazi temple
3 brushland
2 temple garden
1 wastes
1 forest
1 tomb of the spirit dragon
4 expedition map
3 path to exile
3 ancient stirrings
1 ratchet bomb
3 hangarback walker
4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
2 wurmcoil engine
2 conduit of ruin
2 ulamog, the ceaseless hunger
2 karn liberated
2 warping wail
1 ugin, the spirit dragon
1 platinum angel
2 thragtusk
2 nature's claim
2 blessed alliance
2 worship
2 surgical extraction
2 relic of progenitus
1 ratchet bomb
1 dismember
1 all is dust