MTG Salvation

Thanks! I don't know what pierakor is but the other tron one has some active people and Trellon is there who has a bunch of 5-0s so that's perfect. FYI here's my list atm:

I really wish these forums were active again or that I knew where the active people went - mtgnexus just has a bunch of dead threads created by moderators and like no users. I found a discord for control with a virtually dead blue tron subchannel.

I just picked blue tron up again after a long hiatus and am sort of waiting for next week's B&R to really get into it. Right now I am super impressed by Karn - whether this is the right deck for him or not I don't know, but the ability to access a toolbox that includes a game ending combo is proven good in modern (chord, whir, etc) and being a big mana deck with bounce/counters/board wipes seems like a reasonable place to try. I've dropped mindslaver as karn/lattice is a lot better most of the time than slaver/ruins and way less vulnerable (gy hate or field of ruin). Having MD access to crucible/trinisphere has been nice and tutoring a chalice/explosives/balista definitely comes up. I stuck a sundering titan batterskull and wurmcoil in there too as high end/stabilizing effects for when lattice wont do it.

That being said I still have problems with how fast other decks are and how anemic our board control is. Walking balista with no tron isn't very good in the early turns, and ugin/o-stone cost a lot.

I also mull a lot to not having enough blue mana so I've really trimmed back the utility lands - its tron plus blast zone, field of ruin, and academy ruins for me - gemstone caverns is in for now but on the chopping block. that's 16 non-blue, then I run 8 islands and 2 talismans (and 4 maps). Not having blue on turn 2 can be murder because I can't condescend or remand their turn 3 play.

Chalice is up in the air on how many I want to run. I feel like its the only thing that can steal wins vs fast decks but its still often too slow. Vs monored prowess which is like 99% one mana spells I play it and am already facing down 2 prowess dudes, and then they just fire lava darts and fathless lootings into the chalice still dealing 2 per cast until I'm toast - post board they seem to run 4 shattering spree 4 abrade so the card loses all use. Vs other fast decks there are caverns and vials everywhere, or there isnt a high concentration at 1 cmc :S

I could see punishing fire coming with stone forge as an “answer” the same way bloodbraid and jace came at the same time.

All of the recent attempts at tron hate can stop grove - alpine moon blood sun field of ruin - if punishing fire is a problem. Meanwhile it’s a way to knock off stoneforge and then the germ repeatedly later in. They pay eight to bounce and replay, you pay five or six to recycle punishing fires and kill it.

Plus we’re at a point where maindeck grave hate is legitimately correct, which is another angle on punishing fire.

I've moved over to the treasure map version and have been having pretty good results. Treasure Map feels like an upgrade over chemister's insight, revitalize, anticipate, and even azcanta/sarkhan. It also lets you run 4 niv mizzet and just lean on him as the win condition. I usually played 2 with the idea of just drawing one when I was ready to win, but its so hard to establish control right now that always having one to play early feels a lot better - as does knowing that if they kill the first 1 or 2nd that another should be coming.



The spell pierce, shocks, and phoenix are flex spots I'm testing. I've played shivan fire before and noticed I almost never actually kicked it - shock being able to pick off a teferi or vivien that -3's our niv is relevant, as is just picking off some small creature early on to buy more time to find a clarion or topping up clarion damage to pick off an x/4

A good example this morning I run into a mirror. Guy is playing full four Chemister’s insight, explosions, at least three justice strike, and some both sabotage and ionize. Overall I think that list is bad because all of those cards are horrendous vs fast decks which most decks are right now - frenzy red, blue tempo, white weenie, and even the benalia decks with Aurelia’s and troatanis are pretty quick. All you beat with his setup is golgari and mirror - but boy does it crushh the Mirror.

There can never be a correct build because it all depends on what you want to more reliably beat. Four insights is so clutch in the control mirror because you always make end of turn plays and always make your land drops. Multiple justice strikes are very clean answers to niv which is otherwise the mirror breaker, and expansion is amazing when it’s counterspell during a counter war and eot pressure that might snipe a planeswalker later.

I’m only doing single queues on arena so no sideboard. This deck is excellent vs burn, golgari and benalia decks. It’s solid in control mirrors but bad vs drakes and blue djinn.

Most of that comes from focusing on clarion instead of seal away or shivan fire. Dive down and four toughness drakes are just brutal vs clarion. But clarion is amazing Vs red and benalia. You pick your battles as you can’t do everything.

Lately I’ve gone from like a 75 percent win where most losses were mana screw or a minor misplay to like a 40 percent win where I just get creamed with no hope by djinn drake and even esper decks w chromium. Is that a meta shift or bad luck? Unclear. If you run seal away and shivan fire you cut something and then some other match isn’t great. Too much removal and too few Chen insight is bad ba control. Too little removal and too much Chen insight is bad vs aggro etc

Also I dropped azcanta for the same reason you described with expansion - too slow and unnecessary. I'm running anticipates in what id say are those slots to find what I want at instant speed while feeding drakes.

So instead of playing so many wrath’s you could play drakes. They block and kill most of the things you want to settle have excellent synergy with clarion (survive and gain a bunch of life) and give you some additional win conditions that generally two shot someone in the late game.

They are less dead than the wrath’s in the mirror and don’t give your opponent lands to nonbo with syncopate

Isn't mind bend a strictly better modern-legal sleight of mind? (also includes magical hack for free). You can't modify the text of a spell but how often is that going to come up? 99% of the time you're changing the protection your knight has.

Still not really good enough - they could probably put "draw a card" on the spell and it'd be interesting but not remotely broken.

It was more suggested that we can’t lose to these cards because lava coil and seal away exist. Except I don’t play them main because they do not hit enough of the meta. Yes it’s an option but these are not auto included in every list.

How do people feel about star of extinction? I’ve been trying it but so far it’s been a bad cleansing nova every time.

They don't make one Phoenix, they make many.

Lava coil is bad vs control. Seal away is bad vs control and golgari. Both are weak vs tokens.

You can tune jeskai to beat any one deck The problem is you need to beat everything not just one deck. Playing lava coil over justice strike is cool until tapping on your turn lets them resolve something you could have syncopated. Seal away over lightning strike is fun until it's Vivien Reid landing and doing minus three on your Niv and your other threats are drakes. Etc.

That being said I still take the point. If I think the meta is moving to Phoenix decks and less control and golgari then seal away and lava coil may be more important than lightning strike and justice strike

I’m finding the arena meta more hostile to this deck lately. The Phoenix deck is tough as we can’t stop them from bringing phoenixes out of the grave so we take six or nine and hope to have a clarion. And then they can still just do it again next turn.

I see more grixis and dimir decks with eldest reborn and vraskas contempt to easily take out teferi and niv. Golgari decks can have the same and carnage tyrant and wild growth walker to boot.

My one consolation is I don’t see how the grixis, dimir, and Phoenix decks ever beat Monored. But yeah there are just a lot more things that are harder to handle than a few weeks ago when it was tokens, angels, burn and golgari value.

Haven’t tested it but I’d worry about how durdly it is vs fast red decks. You can board it out of course but yeah you’ll be a while flipping it and then might not have enough life to actually win from there

A resolved benalia deals two damage to you if you have deafening clarion.

If you load your deck with spot removal yes you get clobbered in the mirror. But with cantrips filtering and mostly counters and sweepers every match feels fine. I don’t know that you beat burn without a clarion and resolves planeswalkers are pretty rough but I’ve never felt like I lost because I drew the wrong half of my deck. Play more filtering and less spot removal. Stop playing essence scatter. Teferi and dream eater are your catch all’s as is sinister sabotage...

Playing Lyra and niv is very greedy. Especially with no cheap cantrips to help smooth your mana. IMO this deck is best as ur dominant with four foundry three retreat four fortress as white sources.

That is also a lot of spot removal to rot in your hand in the mirror.