Modern: Mono-Green Tron - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

In a format dominated by Rakdos Scam, Mono-Green Tron is one of the oldest still existing decks in Modern, and it is one of the most striking decks in the history of the game. Urza's trio is the heart of this combo, and it is essential to play it on board as soon as possible.

The deck changed a lot with the release of Tales of Middle Earth; it can now adopt a different approach from the one the old version had. Currently, it stepped out of the Combo/Ramp strategy and got closer to a Combo/Control deck, which amplifies the way it acts and allows it to hit the current metagame threats head on.

The Ring is one of the biggest reasons this deck is still popular. This card gives Tron the gas it needs to keep itself alive in games, and it is the main engine in many current decks. As it is a colorless artifact that protects its controller when it goes on board, there isn't a reason to not use it in our list.

The four copies aren't mandatory, but four is the ideal number. This card is so powerful that its drawback is easily remedied and is almost non-existent when you can access the Ramp Tron provides.

This deck's most recent build also brings a fourth copy of Urza's land: the powerful Urza's Saga, which comes in more to help this strategy in situations in which it would usually be a lot harder to complete the set of Tron lands. Another advantage brought by using the Saga is the new attack angle that comes with the tokens created by the land in Chapter II. Boseiju is another utility land that plays an important role in the deck by dealing with hates such as Blood Moon and Damping Sphere.

Another interesting addition that started being used more recently is Dismember, which acts as an effective answer against Rakdos' most explosive turns, and can deal with threats in the shape of Fury and Grief on turn 1 without much issue.

Warping Wail is another card that works well against Rakdos and the other various threats this format has. Oblivion Stone works as a mass removal, and was already used in the previous version.

The Star and the Sphere work as cantrips, besides helping you with green mana. This version lets go of some cantrips to have more slots for removals.

Relic of Progenitus is an important card in many matchups. Expedition Map is an important tool that stands out even further with the addition of Urza's Saga.

Ancient Stirrings helps you dig through your deck to look for more resources. Sylvan Scrying is another tool to enable Urza's trio, and Talisman of Resilience helps you fix your mana, besides being a Ramp piece as well.

Wurmcoil Engine is an excellent tool against Aggro decks, and its presence in this list is extremely important. Just like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, both play their roles well as big threats. Walking Ballista is still a good card in Tron, even more so with so many Ragavans and Bowmasters running around.

Karn, the Great Creator is still an essential piece, as it provides access to more resources and makes this deck a toolbox. Its seven mana version also has its space in this list, and, even though it no longer has the same weight as it once did in the past, it is still a powerful planeswalker which can easily control the game if it's kept on board for long enough.

Mulligan and Game Posture

In an ideal situation, you'll have Tron enabled on turn three, and you will prefer hands that enable that, or that are, at least, the closest to that we can be.

However, as mentioned before, this new version has tools that enable you to play with hands that won't guarantee Tron on turn three, but that are good enough to interact with your opponent and place your main pieces on board, such as The One Ring, on turn three, for instance.

As we're talking about a version that is closer to a Control deck, our game posture will be exactly that. Control the game and finish it with your deck's bombs.

As it is a list that uses Karn, the Great Creator, building a sideboard for Tron can be particularly hard. Usually, you'll favor using this planeswalker to look for your best cards straight from the sideboard rather than having them in your deck throughout the game.

Vs. Rakdos Scam

Enabling Tron as fast as possible is very important in this match. Dismember is a great way to survive Rakdos' most explosive starts. Wurmcoil and Ensnaring Bridge are good cards to look for with Karn, so you'll favor having them in your sideboard, and post-sideboard you'll place all your heavier spells in it to escape Dauthi Voidwalker. Haywire Mite will deal with your opponent's Blood Moons and will make things better for you.

IN

OUT

Vs. 4C Omnath

Your opponent can lock the game down with Wrenn and Six and Boseiju, Who Endures, preventing you from completing Urza's trio. A Karn looking for Tormod's Crypt or Pithing Needle can solve that, and Sundering Titan is a great way of closing the game.

4C doesn't have many threats and will count on The One Ring and Leyline Binding's power. Post-sideboard, Haywire and Titan will deal with everything. Cityscape Leveler is another card that can perform well in this match.

IN

OUT

Vs. Yawgmoth

In this match, you can stabilize the board with Karn into Pithing Needle, closing the game with Ulamog. Post-sideboard, your opponent will have Damping Sphere, but we'll have more tools on our side. The Stone Brain can disable their combo and is another card that performs well here.

IN

OUT

Vs. Rhinos

In this match, we have various tools to control the game. Be careful with your opponent's counters and always try to play around them. In this case, once more we have to deal with Blood Moon, but we also have some powerful tools in our sideboard that can disrupt our opponent quite a lot.

On Play

IN

OUT

On Draw

IN

OUT

Vs. Mono-Green Tron

The mirror is centered around preventing your opponent from completing Urza's trio and developing your game with Karn. The player who enables their planeswalker first usually wins the match. It is a matchup that requires you to know your deck inside out and make the right decisions.

IN

OUT

Tron is still a powerful deck, and is a great option for Modern. It is a bit complex, but once you master it, it is hard to defeat it. The One Ring put this deck on another level and this Control-inclined approach that has been used proved to be extremely effective, keeping this strategy alive in the metagame.

One more article is finished. Leave your questions and suggestions in the comment section, and I'll try to answer all. See you next time!