Double Colored mana costs are a huge red flag. Can't find it with Stirrings either and nobody, except maybe lantern as a 1-of for Whirr, will play this card MD.
Also Mainboard you got O-Stone, Karn, Ulamog, Potentially World Breaker as answers. Postboard you get a lot more options to deal with it.
Actually pretty well!
Obviously Urza's Factory is Plan B or even C but it's nice to have a backup which can turn a Landtutor in either a clock for your opponent or endless chumpblockers against Shadows, Anglers, Goyfs.
After you get 2-3 tokens on an empty board the clock is really something to respect. I the Jeskai Control player even had to Path 2 tokens in order to survive. Having a Land that basically gives you 2/2 Flash creatures is decent.
I would rather play the factory than a 2nd Ghost Quarter or 5th Forest.
MVPs were definitely Thought-Knot Seer, Walking Ballista and Spatial Contortion. Those cards did a ton of work!
I can not remember the order of decks i played, but i remember what i played against:
Jeskai Breach (Draw)
Mardu Pyromancer (Win)
Burn (Loss)
Merfolk (Win)
Jeskai Control (Win)
Abzan/"Selesnya Black" Creature Stuff (Win)
UR Moon with Kiki-Jiki (Loss)
Esper Reanimator (Win)
If you have any questions feel free to ask, i will try to remember as good as i can. I was pretty trashed after that day and got home around 3AM on a monday. Sitting dead at work now
Huh, you're right. I actually triple checked because i first had some Thought-Knots MD for sure and also a Relic and i figured i miscounted my deck at home.
I'm at work right now so this whole list was off the top of my head.
Should be 2 TKS, 1 Relic, 1 Dismember additionally MD, what changes in the SB i don't know right now.
Congrats on the finish! Still a great accomplishment! My goal is still to atleast Day 2 a GP, lol.
I am playing Mono G Tron since a few weeks and i have to say i do not miss the removal at all. Instead of Pyroclasms etc. i play 4 Walking Ballistas and i am very content with it.
Also SB Thought-Knots are pretty good at blocking stuff, even if you do not make it to Tron on turn 3.
I feel like if we build our MD and SB more against the aggressive decks in the format and just a little bit of "hate" against control we will be perfectly fine.
Blood Moon does the same thing basically while also potentially color screwing the opponent.
Blood Sun has been pretty underwhelming in the testing i did.
IMO Ballista will be insane if the meta shifts toward Jund and Jace-Control. Threatening to kill Jace instantly when he comes down, shooting BBE before attacks... Looks pretty good to me.
Blood Moon is decent against:
Valakut, Abzan, Grixis Shadow, Mirror (they usually do not expect it), Lantern, Humans, Jeskai Control, Grixis Control, Eldrazi Tron...
Obviously you don't cast a BM into an Angler or into a 4/5 Goyf. It's rarely the plan to jam it asap. However if there is no clock on the board a Blood Moon can buy you insane amounts of time. We hit our landdrops either way and can filter our mana using Eggs.
I tried it for some time now and it's surprisingly good as people do not play around it. May not be the best call for FNM Meta as we all know each other and they know i play BM. It's better at a GP or bigger tournament.
I think the meta, especially local meta, will not experience any shifts at all. Modern is still a "play what you're good with" format.
The PT Meta is usually a bit weird compared to other events.
However i think that, apart from DS Decks, RG Tron is better than the other current versions. Pyroclasm has many targets and a Blood Moon from the sideboard can do wonders against multiple decks.
On a sidenote, i am going to test some Walking Ballistas this week at FNM. My list looks like this:
Pithing Needle has more targets than ever considering UW Control is having a comeback. They are mainly to shut down Field of Ruin, GQ, TecEdge, Manlands (as i only play 1GQ MD and no World Breaker), Fulminators, Planeswalker and also good against Lantern.
Ancient Grudge is mainly to get around Chalice, Discard and Lantern. I like it better than Seal of Primordium in RG as it has no potential to grow a Goyf and is resilient to Discard (though it would be rare to see goyf, discard and relevant artifacts, i know...)
Blood Moon is often just a "nice to have" card. It can win games on its own but it's often not a card we "have" to find in order to win.
The rest is pretty straightforward i think... Any thoughts/suggestions?
Remove Chalice from your sideboard. The card hurts Tron quite a lot if played on 1. Maybe try some more cheap removal (Lightning Bolt, Pyroclasm) if you have an aggro meta.
Now more detailed about your specific MUs:
UWRs / I asusme you mean Jeskai Control? I usually board out my Wurmcoils and bring in Thragtusks. Maybe take out 1-2 Chromatic Sphere for Nature's Claim. Some lists play Stony Silence and/or Spreading Seas. I would not worry too much about Crumble to Dust until you see it in Game 3. The MU is usually pretty good for us.
UW Control / I would bring in the Nature's Claims, Relics and Thragtusks. Stony Silence and Spreading Seas is a given in these decks, Relics help against Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin + Surgical Shenanigans and Thragtusk is a resilient clock against Path to Exile and any Boardwipes. I suggest boarding out some Kozilek's Return (2-3) and maybe a Chromatic Sphere.
UR Storm / Just a horrible MU in general. I gave up on it and just accept my fate when i am paired against it. With you SB i would bring in 2 Relic, 2 Cage, 1 Warping Wail. Take out 2 Ugin, 1-2 Ulamog, 1 World Breaker and pray you hit a Turn 3 Karn or can ride a Wurmcoil to victory with your disruption.
RG Valakut / Thragtusks and Warping Wails come in, Ugin, 1-2 O-Stones come out. Warping Wails can counter the occasional ramp spell and every now and then a Scapeshift if they try to win this way.
Ad Nauseam / Same story as UR Storm, i pretty much gave up on it. Nature's Claim is OK because you can force them to go off when their Lotus Blooms come into play of try and destroy a Phyrexian Unlife when they attempt to go off (note you have to do this before Ad Nauseam resolves!).
I hope i missed nothing crucial but in general that would be how i board against these MUs. As i said i left out Chalice completely because it disrupts yourself too much to be worth the effort imo.
I kept Urza's Mine, Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, Oblivion Stone, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. I possibly could have mulled again.
Honestly that hand looks pretty clunky even if you're on the draw. I would gamble on a better 5 here.
Tron mulligans insanely well and you can be pretty greedy. Keeping 1-land 6 Card hands is not that great. Any hand with 2 lands (if possible 2 different tron pieces or atleast one tron piece) looks good in my experience.
I have not picked up any copies yet so i can't speak from experience.
I would not think that BS is as good as we make it out to be in Scapeshift/Valakut MUs. Most lists play Scapeshift/Breach and those play card like Woodfall Primus after SB. As far as i know they also bring it in frequently to deal with Karns and the like. Not cutting them off green so they can't go for Pact into Primus seems like a big deal...
Currently running 3x Pyroclasm. But I need to run some tests with Kozilek's Return, the format is a bit slower nowadays so it might work better.
I played a 2/2 Split at GP Madrid and the Return did some work for me. The fact that it is not actually "cast" from you graveyard means it's safe from counterspells against DS. Against decks with Thought-Knot Seers it felt a bit mediocre though as you had to waste the mana to get it in the grave first... But the again, Pyroclasm does nothing at all in this MU.
why do we run fatal push in the mainboard? i was gonna cut them and mainboard 3 collective brutality. but it seems like most lists mainboard the push. i was never impressed with push
Push just destroys creatures. Brutality is a good SB card against Burn, Storm and other linear decks. MD Push kill Death's Shadow, Thought-Knot Seer, Baral and other cheap, relevant creatures at instant speed. The instant speed is also decent as it allows you to stay mana efficient.
Should we bring in ravenous trap against mardu pyromancer? I am boarding: -1 w-breaker, -1 ulamog, -2 fatal push // +3 thrag + 1 c-brutality. Should i take out ugins to make room for trap?
No. Ravenous Trap will never be hardcast (Double colored mana costs are a big red flag for tron!) and i don't see why it would be good in this MU. You exile what? Lingering Souls? I can't think of any other graveyard shenanigans they play...
Also Ugin simply wins you the match on his own. Jam Ugin Turn 4, tick down once and you're set to win. It's a fair token deck after all.
hm, true...
guess i'm still a bit traumatized that we got hit for the sins of another deck back when Eye was banned...
I will try to pick up some Blood Suns asap and try them in the next modern tournament!
By the way, i have not tried Tron with Walking Ballista, yet everyone seems to play them and say it's awesome. How so? I feel like it is a kind of mediocre clock compared to our other threats and playing it on turn 2 seems very subpar. might aswell play Spellskite if it is just about blocking...
Double Colored mana costs are a huge red flag. Can't find it with Stirrings either and nobody, except maybe lantern as a 1-of for Whirr, will play this card MD.
Also Mainboard you got O-Stone, Karn, Ulamog, Potentially World Breaker as answers. Postboard you get a lot more options to deal with it.
Antiquities with different artworks is the way to go my dudes!
Obviously Urza's Factory is Plan B or even C but it's nice to have a backup which can turn a Landtutor in either a clock for your opponent or endless chumpblockers against Shadows, Anglers, Goyfs.
After you get 2-3 tokens on an empty board the clock is really something to respect. I the Jeskai Control player even had to Path 2 tokens in order to survive. Having a Land that basically gives you 2/2 Flash creatures is decent.
I would rather play the factory than a 2nd Ghost Quarter or 5th Forest.
I played in a local tournament yesterday. Made it to 18th place of 139 players with 5-2-1.
I can't recall the exact matches and how i sideboarded off the top of my head, sorry. This was the list i played:
4 Urza's Powerplant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Urza's Factory
4 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Walking Ballista
3 Thought-Knot Seer
1 World Breaker
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Expedition Map
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Sylvan Scrying
2 Pithing Needle
3 Thragtusk
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Warping Wail
3 Nature's Claim
2 Spatial Contortion
MVPs were definitely Thought-Knot Seer, Walking Ballista and Spatial Contortion. Those cards did a ton of work!
I can not remember the order of decks i played, but i remember what i played against:
Jeskai Breach (Draw)
Mardu Pyromancer (Win)
Burn (Loss)
Merfolk (Win)
Jeskai Control (Win)
Abzan/"Selesnya Black" Creature Stuff (Win)
UR Moon with Kiki-Jiki (Loss)
Esper Reanimator (Win)
If you have any questions feel free to ask, i will try to remember as good as i can. I was pretty trashed after that day and got home around 3AM on a monday. Sitting dead at work now
I'm at work right now so this whole list was off the top of my head.
Should be 2 TKS, 1 Relic, 1 Dismember additionally MD, what changes in the SB i don't know right now.
I am playing Mono G Tron since a few weeks and i have to say i do not miss the removal at all. Instead of Pyroclasms etc. i play 4 Walking Ballistas and i am very content with it.
Also SB Thought-Knots are pretty good at blocking stuff, even if you do not make it to Tron on turn 3.
My list currently looks like this:
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
4 Forest
1 Sanctum of Ugin
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Walking Ballista
2 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chromatic Star
4 Chromatic Sphere
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Expedition Map
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Sylvan Scrying
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Nature's Claim
3 Thragtusk
1 Dismember
2 Warping Wail
My sideboard plan currently looks like this:
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Warping Wail
3 Thragtusk
2 Spatial Contortion
3 Pithing Needle
I currently play Mono G Tron with 4 Ballistas and 1 Relic MD. I might switch out the Relic to fit in the 3rd Wurmcoil again.
Blood Sun has been pretty underwhelming in the testing i did.
IMO Ballista will be insane if the meta shifts toward Jund and Jace-Control. Threatening to kill Jace instantly when he comes down, shooting BBE before attacks... Looks pretty good to me.
Valakut, Abzan, Grixis Shadow, Mirror (they usually do not expect it), Lantern, Humans, Jeskai Control, Grixis Control, Eldrazi Tron...
Obviously you don't cast a BM into an Angler or into a 4/5 Goyf. It's rarely the plan to jam it asap. However if there is no clock on the board a Blood Moon can buy you insane amounts of time. We hit our landdrops either way and can filter our mana using Eggs.
I tried it for some time now and it's surprisingly good as people do not play around it. May not be the best call for FNM Meta as we all know each other and they know i play BM. It's better at a GP or bigger tournament.
The PT Meta is usually a bit weird compared to other events.
However i think that, apart from DS Decks, RG Tron is better than the other current versions. Pyroclasm has many targets and a Blood Moon from the sideboard can do wonders against multiple decks.
On a sidenote, i am going to test some Walking Ballistas this week at FNM. My list looks like this:
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Forest
1 Sanctum of Ugin
1 Urza's Factory
2 Ulamog, the ceaseless Hunger
3 Walking Ballista
2 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Expedition Map
3 Oblivion Stone
1 Relic of Progenitus
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Sylvan Scrying
3 Pyroclasm
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the spirit Dragon
2 Nature's Claim
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Pithing Needle
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Thragtusk
3 Warping Wail
Pithing Needle has more targets than ever considering UW Control is having a comeback. They are mainly to shut down Field of Ruin, GQ, TecEdge, Manlands (as i only play 1GQ MD and no World Breaker), Fulminators, Planeswalker and also good against Lantern.
Ancient Grudge is mainly to get around Chalice, Discard and Lantern. I like it better than Seal of Primordium in RG as it has no potential to grow a Goyf and is resilient to Discard (though it would be rare to see goyf, discard and relevant artifacts, i know...)
Blood Moon is often just a "nice to have" card. It can win games on its own but it's often not a card we "have" to find in order to win.
The rest is pretty straightforward i think... Any thoughts/suggestions?
Remove Chalice from your sideboard. The card hurts Tron quite a lot if played on 1. Maybe try some more cheap removal (Lightning Bolt, Pyroclasm) if you have an aggro meta.
Now more detailed about your specific MUs:
UWRs / I asusme you mean Jeskai Control? I usually board out my Wurmcoils and bring in Thragtusks. Maybe take out 1-2 Chromatic Sphere for Nature's Claim. Some lists play Stony Silence and/or Spreading Seas. I would not worry too much about Crumble to Dust until you see it in Game 3. The MU is usually pretty good for us.
UW Control / I would bring in the Nature's Claims, Relics and Thragtusks. Stony Silence and Spreading Seas is a given in these decks, Relics help against Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin + Surgical Shenanigans and Thragtusk is a resilient clock against Path to Exile and any Boardwipes. I suggest boarding out some Kozilek's Return (2-3) and maybe a Chromatic Sphere.
UR Storm / Just a horrible MU in general. I gave up on it and just accept my fate when i am paired against it. With you SB i would bring in 2 Relic, 2 Cage, 1 Warping Wail. Take out 2 Ugin, 1-2 Ulamog, 1 World Breaker and pray you hit a Turn 3 Karn or can ride a Wurmcoil to victory with your disruption.
RG Valakut / Thragtusks and Warping Wails come in, Ugin, 1-2 O-Stones come out. Warping Wails can counter the occasional ramp spell and every now and then a Scapeshift if they try to win this way.
Ad Nauseam / Same story as UR Storm, i pretty much gave up on it. Nature's Claim is OK because you can force them to go off when their Lotus Blooms come into play of try and destroy a Phyrexian Unlife when they attempt to go off (note you have to do this before Ad Nauseam resolves!).
I hope i missed nothing crucial but in general that would be how i board against these MUs. As i said i left out Chalice completely because it disrupts yourself too much to be worth the effort imo.
Honestly that hand looks pretty clunky even if you're on the draw. I would gamble on a better 5 here.
Tron mulligans insanely well and you can be pretty greedy. Keeping 1-land 6 Card hands is not that great. Any hand with 2 lands (if possible 2 different tron pieces or atleast one tron piece) looks good in my experience.
I would not think that BS is as good as we make it out to be in Scapeshift/Valakut MUs. Most lists play Scapeshift/Breach and those play card like Woodfall Primus after SB. As far as i know they also bring it in frequently to deal with Karns and the like. Not cutting them off green so they can't go for Pact into Primus seems like a big deal...
I played a 2/2 Split at GP Madrid and the Return did some work for me. The fact that it is not actually "cast" from you graveyard means it's safe from counterspells against DS. Against decks with Thought-Knot Seers it felt a bit mediocre though as you had to waste the mana to get it in the grave first... But the again, Pyroclasm does nothing at all in this MU.
Push just destroys creatures. Brutality is a good SB card against Burn, Storm and other linear decks. MD Push kill Death's Shadow, Thought-Knot Seer, Baral and other cheap, relevant creatures at instant speed. The instant speed is also decent as it allows you to stay mana efficient.
No. Ravenous Trap will never be hardcast (Double colored mana costs are a big red flag for tron!) and i don't see why it would be good in this MU. You exile what? Lingering Souls? I can't think of any other graveyard shenanigans they play...
Also Ugin simply wins you the match on his own. Jam Ugin Turn 4, tick down once and you're set to win. It's a fair token deck after all.
guess i'm still a bit traumatized that we got hit for the sins of another deck back when Eye was banned...
I will try to pick up some Blood Suns asap and try them in the next modern tournament!
By the way, i have not tried Tron with Walking Ballista, yet everyone seems to play them and say it's awesome. How so? I feel like it is a kind of mediocre clock compared to our other threats and playing it on turn 2 seems very subpar. might aswell play Spellskite if it is just about blocking...