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Modern Eldrazi Tron In-depth & Sideboard Guide
Quick intro
Ever since the release of Modern Horizons II, Modern has never been the same . The cycle of elementals with evoke, Ragavan and Urza's Saga completely changed the format, even pushing some tiers out of it. But even with these powerful cards, some decks continue to appear and make some relevant results. One of these cases is Eldrazi Tron, my favorite deck of all time, which has reappeared in recent weeks, even taking the victory at the MTGO Modern Showcase in the hands of Leandru.
Today I'm going to talk a little about the version I've been playing, because I think it can be a good option for the metagame and also a sideboard guide against some of the main decks of the format.
My current version of the deck
$696/144.66 Tix
Maindeck (60)
| Creature [15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3 Matter Reshaper | $0.49 | |
| 3 Reality Smasher | $3.49 | |
| 2 Cityscape Leveler | $14.99 | |
| 4 Thought-Knot Seer | $2.99 | |
| 3 Walking Ballista | $19.99 | |
| Artifact [13] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Expedition Map | $2.99 | |
| 2 Karn's Sylex | $1.29 | |
| 1 Basilisk Collar | $1.79 | |
| 4 Chalice of the Void | $57.99 | |
| 2 Relic of Progenitus | $6.49 | |
| Instant [5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Warping Wail | $0.79 | |
| 3 Dismember | $5.99 | |
| Enchantment [2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Urza's Saga | $39.99 | |
| Planeswalker [4] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Karn, the Great Creator | $7.49 | |
| Land [21] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Blast Zone | $0.49 | |
| 1 Cavern of Souls | $42.99 | |
| 4 Urza's Mine | $0.79 | |
| 4 Urza's Tower | $0.69 | |
| 2 Swamp | $0.01 | |
| 4 Urza's Power Plant | $0.79 | |
| 1 Wastes | $0.69 | |
| 4 Eldrazi Temple | $2.29 | |
| Sideboard [15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Ensnaring Bridge | $16.99 | |
| 1 Liquimetal Coating | $0.35 | |
| 1 Pithing Needle | $0.59 | |
| 1 Ratchet Bomb | $0.49 | |
| 1 Torpor Orb | $2.79 | |
| 1 Sundering Titan | $0.69 | |
| 3 The Stone Brain | $1.99 | |
| 1 Tormod's Crypt | $0.59 | |
| 1 Trinisphere | $14.99 | |
| 1 Walking Ballista | $19.99 | |
| 1 Wurmcoil Engine | $16.99 | |
| 1 Cityscape Leveler | $14.99 | |
| 1 Warping Wail | $0.79 | |
$120.33 Tix @cardhoarder
$3.01 / Week @cardhoarder
$570.66 @tcgplayer
$663.25 @cardkingdom
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Similar Decks
Proxies
Archetype Analysis
Magic online format
Apprentice and MWS .dec
Card choices
KEY CARDS
This deck has 3 key cards: Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher, which help us deal with any potential threats, and Karn, the Great Creator, to tutor for our artifacts in the sideboard.
We're also including Chalice of the Void, which, while not as good as before with the presence of cards like Urza's Saga and Prismatic Ending, still wins many games on its own. It's also a great tool in many unfavorable matchups, giving us an edge against many of the 'unfair' decks in the current meta.
KARN’S SYLEX
When I first saw this card, I believed it would be too slow for the deck, since it enters the battlefield tapped and can't be used in the same turn it is played. But its static ability is very relevant in a format with so many fetch lands, and it also shuts down one of the deck's bad matchups, which is BG Yawgmoth. When untapped it can also act as a Plague Wind against decks with lower-cost permanents. Just be careful with Dismember, since with it on the battlefield, we can't pay life to cast it.
CITYSCAPE LEVELER
Some versions have already used cards like Ugin, the Ineffable and All Is Dust, which are cards that deal with permanents that mono-colored decks typically don't have access to removal for, but Cityscape Leveler brought a new twist to that slot.
The fact that it destroys a permanent when it comes into play is very relevant, and it becomes a real threat if it is not removed soon. And it is still capable of coming back via its unearth ability, and even after it is exiled, since it can be tutored with Karn, if necessary. It is a truly powerful card, dealing with everything the deck needs to deal with, and only with the minor drawback of having to ramp to play it, which is practically irrelevant in a Tron deck.
URZA’S SAGA
There's no way to not play with one of the most powerful cards in the format in a deck where lands are extremely important, especially being colorless. Saga gives a powerful angle of attack, creating huge tokens and tutoring for the key cards, helping to get around Chalice of the Void.
Playing the deck
This deck can play like a traditional Tron deck, opening with two Tron pieces plus Expedition Map, or even going for a natural Tron, but having Eldrazi Temple in the list makes Tron less relevant. Openings with double Temple plus Thought-Knot Seer are quite powerful, and even a turn 2 Matter Reshaper is important to be able to trade with a Ragavan or chump a bigger creature, having the possibility of putting a land into play and continuing to develop the game. Mulligan is also a key part of playing this deck, and you must be careful with the hands you keep.
EXAMPLE 1
An example of a hand with no Tron lands that is quite keepable. It's even better than a Tron hand early on, as we can already have information about what we're playing against by turn 3 with removal and card draw afterwards. It's one of the best hands in the deck and still doesn't require Tron to make it happen.
EXAMPLE 2
Here's an example of a clearly mulliganable hand. We don't know what we're up against, so we can't be certain that a Chalice of the Void for one would be enough to win the game, and we don't have any other Tron pieces either, such as Eldrazi Temple or Expedition Map. If we knew what we were playing against, such as Living End, then we might keep this hand since the combination of Chalice and Karn is very good in that matchup, along with Sylex locking down the fetches. But overall, the deck can do better with 6 or even 5 cards.
EXAMPLE 3
This hand might look like a mulligan, but the presence of Urza's Saga makes it a real threat when combined with the other elements. We already have one Tron piece with a Map, so all we need is another piece to make lots of mana in the early turns. But once again, the presence of Saga in the hand makes it so we don't even need to go for Tron or Temple, although we can fetch it if necessary.
Matchups & Sideboard guide
UR MURKTIDE
Like for nearly all decks, Turn 1 Ragavan can be quite troublesome, but it is manageable. A one-mana Chalice is extremely effective here, as the deck consists mostly of one-mana cantrips and removals.
Murktide Regent is a big problem, especially when cast as 6/6, avoiding Dismember. Ledger Shredder can also be a problem since the deck historically has had difficulty against flying creatures. We only ran a Warping Wail to deal with creatures early game and possibly negate an Expressive Iteration. On the other side, Cityscape Leveler is quite troublesome for the opponent since it is not easily removed and clears the board of creatures. Overall, it's a balanced match if you know how to manage your graveyard and don't let certain cards take over the game.
HAMMER TIME
A match-up that is highly dependent on your opponent's ability to kill you in the early turns and how many Urza's Sagas they're able to cast. We don't need graveyard removal and Cityscape Leveler is too slow, so we can run some Karn targets in the main since we don't have time to tutor for them and instead we will try to start with them in hand. Chalice of the Void is very good, but there are ways to deal with or simply ignore it like Stoneforge Mystic, which can get equipments onto the battlefield at instant speed.
LIVING END
In general, this is a match-up that I enjoy playing, as in Modern we have many cards that are good against their plan. However, the presence of Grief can be quite troublesome, especially on the draw, as they can get rid of our spells before we even get to play. Mulliganing is essential here, even with the possibility of getting Grief, we have to look for grave hate or cards like Chalice of the Void and Warping Wail. After sideboarding, we up the hate with Torpor Orb to stop Grief, Subtlety and Foundation Breaker, and The Stone Brain, which if it gets Living End is almost game over.
AMULET TITAN
This matchup has historically been rough for the deck, as we have limited ways of dealing with Primeval Titan. Chalice of the Void on 0 helps to stop Summoning Pact, and Dismember, with help from Walking Ballista and/or Warping Wail to help deal with Titan. Mulliganing here is very important, try to get the Tron ready as soon as possible so that you can go for the Karn + Ensnaring Bridge combo. Post-sideboard, The Stone Brain can help if you can play it by turn 3, but some lists can win on turn 2, so our life may get pretty difficult.
BG YAWGMOTH
Before the release of Karn's Sylex, the matchup was quite complicated, but now I believe we have a more balanced matchup. We can interact with their creatures using Dismember and Walking Ballista, and Karn's toolbox helps to stop the combo in Game 1. Resolving a Sylex means not losing to the combo before sideboarding. Post-sideboard, we take out the Chalice of the Void, which isn't very effective here, to bring in more hate cards, in addition to The Stone Brain, which breaks up their combo.
4C CREATIVITY
Chalice of the Void has few targets in this matchup, so we don't want it here. We will replace it with Pithing Needle which is useful for naming planeswalkers or even fetch lands. Sylex can disrupt their game development by stopping fetches, and Relics can answer cards like Wrenn and Six and Persist if they're running the Reanimate version.
We should save our removal for Goblins coming out of Dwarven Mine, but we also have to be mindful of Fable of the Mirror Breaker's token. We have weapons to deal with the combo, but the deck is still very consistent, and Leyline Binding is a removal we don't have many answers for, although Cityscape Leveler has changed this a bit. Post-sideboard, The Stone Brain naming an Archon can be very good (if the opponent doesn't switch plans to Emrakul). Warping Wail can answer both Indomitable Creativity and Transmogrify if it's in their deck, and Ratchet Bomb is one of the best cards for dealing with most targets for Creativity, both Goblin tokens and Treasure tokens.
GENERIC RAGAVAN
Despite having to face Murktide, we have good weapons to deal with it and Underworld Breach: Relic of Progenitus main deck, removal, and Karn tutoring more weapons to help. The sideboard is the same as against UR Murktide.
Final words
Eldrazi Tron is a personal favorite, and even though it may not be as powerful as it once was, depending on the metagame, it can still be quite surprising. With even matches against some of the top decks, hate cards for certain strategies, and especially Karn the Great Creator, it's a dangerous deck that deserves respect.
Until next time!
If you liked this article maybe you will also find interesting on of the following ones Taking the Modern Challenge with Calibrated Blast: primer and sideboard guide, Pioneer Monowhite Humans deck guide
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Hi, my name is Lucas de Almeida Hervás. I'm 31 years old, married, and I live in Indaiatuba/SP, Brazil. I've been playing Magic the Gathering since 2009, but I've been making a living off of it since 2019 through leagues and tournaments on Magic Online. For those who don't know me, I'm 2.17 meters tall, hence the nickname "the tallest Magic player in Brazil."
