Anyeoung!
As promised, I was able to venture into the world of Modern at the Pro Tour Qualifier in Richmond this past weekend. My deck of choice was U/W Tron.
As I sat down to figure out what to play for the upcoming PTQ in Richmond, I did what I do best when it comes to figuring out a deck: called Gerry Thompson. After a brief conversation, which can be summarized, "Play U/W Tron you idiot," I had a decklist and a few pointers on how to operate the deck. After a few test games on Magic Online, it was pretty clear that U/W Tron was very powerful. What I liked the most about it is the amount of free wins that you get. There are so many decks in the format that are just dead to turn 2 Signet, turn 3 Gifts, turn 4 Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite / Iona, Shield of Emeria.
Too early in the morning last Saturday, I met up with Drew Levin, Jarvis "Christ!" Yu, and Yoel Izsak. We piled into Jarvis’s car and headed down to Richmond. Shortly after we arrived, I found Kenny Mayer, who gave me pretty much all the cards for my deck. Thanks again Kenny!
Here’s the 75 that I sleeved up.
Creatures (4)
- 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Lands (26)
Spells (30)
After a quick player’s meeting, it was time to battle. Tatakai!
Round 1: George, B/W Tokens
I shuffled up for my first actual game of Modern against George, who was piloting B/W Tokens. The games were pretty lopsided. George would build up a board presence with token generators (Raise the Alarm, Spectra Procession, Lingering Souls, etc.) and I would Gifts Ungiven for Elesh Norn/Unburial Rites, wiped the board clean, then bash for the win.
1-0
Round 2: Josh, U/B Delver
Josh and I split the first two games; both were long, drawn out affairs. In the deciding match, the clock was close to expiring with him in complete control. The board was empty on my side, and I was facing down a Creeping Tar Pit and Snapcaster Mage. Josh was at close to full health, with me at six. The turn before time was called, Josh swung in with just the Snapcaster, dropped me to four, and then spent his remaining mana to summon a Tombstalker. On my turn, I drew Thirst for Knowledge, which I casted, pitching Iona and the Unburial Rites that I had in my hand for close to the full game. Because I had the full set of Urza’s lands, I was able to flash back Rites, brought back Iona and named blue, and passed the turn with a white mana up to bluff the Path to Exile.
Josh untapped, thought for a while, then activated his Creeping Tar Pit and attacked with only it. I was surprised; I took the damage, going down to one. Josh was confused for a bit; he had thought that I was at three life and that he was attacking for lethal. This game was a prime example of why you should keep detailed track of life totals in case discrepancies like this come up. As time was called, he shrugged and passed the turn. I was still in big trouble as he had more than lethal for his next turn. Only an Eldrazi would save me at this point. I slowly peeled the top card of my deck towards my hand, flipped it up, and revealed Ulamog. I hastily dropped my savior onto the battlefield and destroyed his Creeping Tar Pit, thankful to have drawn my two-outer. I won over the course of the next two turns after I annihilated his board with Ulamog. Whew…Â
2-0
Round 3: Drew, Splinter Twin
It was only a matter of time before I had to battle a friend in this small tournament. Game 1 consisted of me twice stifling Drew’s attempts to combo, with Repeal sidestepping his defense that consisted of Spellskite. When Drew tapped out, I was able to hard cast an Iona and named red for the Splinter Twin that he had accidentally shown me. A few attacks later and we were on to game 2.
In the second game, I was able to drop two Torpor Orbs to slow Drew down until he drew an Ancient Grudge to answer them. With him tapped out, I end of turned Gifts for an Elesh Norn and an Unburial Rites, and then flashed Rites back to prevent him from getting there with infinite Deceiver Exarchs. After he chump blocked for a few turns, Drew was dead on board. He took the only line of play that could possibly win him the game. He tapped five mana, showed me the Kiki-Jiki in his hand, and asked the loaded question, "So, game three?" I laughed, pointed to the Elesh Norn on board, and said, "Resolves." I get that that was his only out, but this video succinctly describes what was going through my mind when he tried to run the bluffs on me.
3-0
Round 4: Andy, Affinity
Andy and I swapped nut draws over the first two games. In game 1, he emptied his hand to crush me with Cranial Plating on his Ornithopter on turn 4 for lethal. I returned the favor the next game with a turn 4 Elesh Norn that cleared the board and attacked for the win. This set up a pretty epic deciding game.
I was pretty unhappy with the Remands that I had in the deck. A lot of times it was basically a cycling card for his zero casting cost artifacts. I knew that I would be on the draw for the last game, and I cycled through my sideboard for a card to replace it with. I came upon the Mindbreak Traps that had gone unused so far in the tournament. I reasoned that it would provide a level of protection on Andy’s explosive starts where he could basically drop every card in his hand over the first two turns.
I drew my opener of Urza’s Tower and Power Plant, Eye of Ugin, Path to Exile, Timely Reinforcements, and two Mindbreak Traps. As I was mulling over my decision, the lack of white mana being a big concern, Andy snap kept. Well, that was enough for me, visions of wrecking his game plan with my two Traps. I gave Andy the thumbs-up to begin his turn, which consisted of him dropping Mox Opal then an Ornithopter. As I mentally practiced my best Admiral Ackbar impersonation, Andy did the unthinkable. "Oh shoot, I misread my hand. I guess it’s your turn…"
…..
….
…
..
Well shoot indeed.
I drew and blanked, played my Tower, and passed the turn. Andy then ripped a Blinkmoth Nexus of the top, dropped his Springleaf Drum, and then cast Steel Overseer. It appeared that Andy just had the actual soul read, as he continued to play around my Mindbreak Traps masterfully. I never drew a white source to bring me back into the game and succumbed to a double Cranial Plated Ornithopter a few turns later. I showed Andy my double mulligan and packed it in, which we had a good laugh about. Stupid Mindbreak Traps…
3-1
Round 5: Brian, R/G Boom/Bust
Game 1 was pretty straightforward. Brian built a quick army and threatened my life total until I drew a Gifts for Elesh Norn on turn 5. Winning was academic after that.
I was quickly overrun with beaters in the second game, with him Boom/Busting my Urza’s Tower before I could get Tron online with my Expedition Map.
A turn 4 Elesh Norn secured a victory for me in the third game. The only moment when I was worried was on his turn 3 Bloodbraid Elf’s cascade. If he hit Boom/Bust, it would’ve been the end of me. Fortunately for me, he whiffed, and I was able to lock the board up and win with Elesh Norn pumping my Soldier tokens from a rather Timely Reinforcements.
4-1
Round 6: Yoel, W/B Martyr
Unfortunately, my tiebreakers were the actual worst and I was unable to draw in. I sat down to face another member of our car in a win-and-in situation. Game 1 was won when I was able to Gifts for an early Iona and Rites and locked Yoel out of the game.
In the middle of game 2, an awkward moment came up. Yoel had an untapped Windbrisk Heights and had just attacked with three creatures. Before damage, he tapped and activated his Heights and attempted to put a Tectonic Edge into play.
I informed him that you can only play a land with Heights during one of your main phases and if you hadn’t played a land that turn. I contended that because it was activated mid-combat, he wouldn’t be able to play the land at that point nor could he put it into play during his second main phase. For clarification, we called a judge to make sure that we had that interaction correct. The table judge ruled with me, and the ruling was appealed to the Head Judge.
The Head Judge came by and I explained to him exactly what happened. His ruling was pretty unfortunate, as he overturned the initial judge’s ruling and allowed Yoel to play the Tectonic Edge mid-combat, which he then used to blow up a land that prevented me from Remanding his post-combat Tidehollow Sculler. Yoel made a slight misplay when he didn’t take my Elesh Norn that I had in my grip, but I failed to rip an untapped land in order to play it and I was very dead on the next attack phase.
In the final game, I was able to play around his Aven Mindcensor by not casting Gifts for Iona/Rites until I had the mana to Path the Mindcensor that came down in response to my Gifts at the end of his fourth turn. I was able to lock it up shortly thereafter, and I was on my way to the Top 8.
Quarterfinals: Richard, Burn
There wasn’t much to say about this match. I was very fortunate to Gifts for Iona and Unburial Rites on turn 5 in game 1 and turn 4 in game 2. In both cases, Richard was a turn away from killing me with the burn that he held in his hand. After this quick match, it was on to the semis.
Semifinals: Jarvis, U/R Tron
In the semis, it was time to battle the last person in our car that I had yet to face. I was pretty unlucky in game 1. He was able to get a quick Through the Breach to destroy my board, but I battled back with a Gifts in response to the annihilator trigger. On my main phase, I flashed back Rites to put Iona into play and named red to prevent a hasty Emrakul from killing me. With Jarvis at eight life, I swung with Iona and Celestial Colonnade. He Repealed Iona and got an additional turn. On his turn, he cast Thirst for Knowledge and looked dejectedly at the three cards that he saw, so I knew he whiffed on either Through the Breach or an Eldrazi. He then Electrolyzed me, ripped the Breach, and proceeded to kill me.
In the second game, I led with Urza’s Tower into Power Plant and a Signet, a start that Jarvis was able to match. I Remanded his main phase Thirst, and I had the feeling that he was digging for his final Tron piece and that he had counter magic to back up his Breach. On my turn, I went for a Gifts, trying to get a handful of counter magic to fight the inevitable counter war over his Breach. Unfortunately, he ripped his Urza’s Mine and thoroughly wrecked me by Breaching in an Emrakul. And just like that, my tournament was over. I guess that’s what happens when you battle someone possessed by a Bloodgift Demon.
<3 Yu! Congrats on taking it down!
Going forward, there are a few changes that I would make. I would leave the maindeck mostly the same, as I feel that it has a variety of answers to most of the decks out there. I didn’t really like the Oblivion Ring. I felt that it was very expensive, but it does fill the need of having an actual answer to cards like Liliana of the Veil. Lili can wreck your whole plan of landing a fatty and winning, and having a permanent answer to her as opposed to just a Boomerang is necessary.
After playing more on Magic Online, B/W Tokens can also be pretty challenging. Basically, it comes down to whether or not you can Elesh Norn them before their Anthem effects negate your Elesh or if they just kill you before you can clear their board. Swapping a maindeck Repeal for an Echoing Truth would help you clear their board of the same tokens, bounce multiple Anthems, or prevent them from activating Windbrisk Heights. It still functions well against decks like Splinter Twin, but diversifies your answers for when you have to Gifts for something specific.
Getting an edge in the mirror can be challenging. Annex provides the ability to not only prevent them from assembling Tron but complete your own set. It’s definitely something that I’ll consider moving forward. Ghost Quarter can also be an answer to prevent them from pulling ahead of you in the race for Eldrazi mana.
One of the downsides to running U/W Tron is when you naturally draw your Unburial Rites. You’re really relying on drawing a Thirst for Knowledge to get it to your graveyard. Switching out Talisman of Progress for Prismatic Lens is an option, especially if you want to become more dedicated to the Reanimator plan.
Here’s the list as I would run it today.
Creatures (4)
- 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Lands (26)
Spells (30)
I’m a big fan of getting extremely knowledgeable about one specific deck in a format and just learning how to play it in and out for an entire season. This practice has served me well in the past, most recently with RUG Delver in Legacy and hopefully it will lead to a plane ticket to Barcelona this weekend. If all goes well, I’ll be able to attend the double PTQ weekend at the StarCityGames.com store in Roanoke. If you’re at the event, feel free to stop by and say hello.
As always, thanks for reading!