Urza Tron has given people mixed feelings over the years in the Pauper format. Plenty of people like it, plenty of people hate and want it banned. You name it, Tron has been discussed about it. But we aren’t here to talk about the history of Tron or about the same lists you constantly see.
Today we have an interesting version of Tron to look at. It was part of the 5-0 dump from 12/1/2021 and was piloted by Alleyezonme, I called this list Treasure Tron because it features 4 copies of Deadly Dispute
and I thought the name sounded cool. Let’s talk about it!
Mulldrifter
and Mnemonic Wall
– These 2 are staples of the Tron archetype. Try to not leave home without them.
Fangren Marauder
– Not only does Marauder hit hard and make for a good win condition, but it is also a bomb against the Affinity archetype because it makes Atog
almost useless. Since you have ways to put artifacts in the graveyard as well, it can also be good against other aggro decks.
Mournwhelk
– I love the inclusion of this creature. With all the Flicker effects you have, you can reuse this creatures enter the battlefield effect quite often and that alone can help you win the game.
Ghostly Flicker
and Ephemerate
– Good old Flicker cards. This is why many players hate Tron. I would not change the numbers on these personally as I feel they are correct.
Crop Rotation
– The point of your deck is to get Urza Tron online. This helps a lot with that and also can help you either fix your mana or find a utility land.
Pulse of Murasa
– A great spell to have in an archetype like this. You can return one of your powerful creatures or a Tron piece back from the graveyard to further your game plan, all while gaining 6 life and that is a great help against any aggro deck.
Moment’s Peace
– Here is another staple of most builds of Tron. Moment’s Peace is your way of buying tons of time. The longer the game goes will usually favor Tron. This isn’t always true, but it can be.
Cast Down
– One of the best removal spells in the format and it can be fetched with Mystical Teachings
.
Deadly Dispute – This is an interesting card to be playing. You have 4 copies of Ichor Wellspring
to combo it with. This gives you 2 new cards and a Treasure token to ramp you a tiny bit. You can also combo with Evoking a Mulldrifter as well. I am not super convinced of this card, but I am not ruling it out.
Pharika’s Libation
– This is an interesting one. It can either be a good edict effect against a deck like Bogles or it can spike an enchantment such as Tortured Existence
. Having flexible options like this can be very helpful. I am curious to try this card out more.
Undying Evil
– This is a fun card to combo with Mulldrifter and Mournwhelk.
Prohibit
– This should counter just about anything you need it to and it is much easier to cast than Counterspell
. I am sure some of you would try a 1:1 split between Prohibit and Counterspell, but you don’t want to be caught in a situation where you can’t cast Counterspell and end up letting something crucial resolve.
Mystical Teachings – A staple of blue Tron decks. This is a great way to get some silver bullets you will need and a great way to get card advantage overall.
Prophetic Prism
and Bonder’s Ornament
– Both are staples of any Tron archetype. Since the Urza lands only produce colorless, you need ways to help you cast your spells. Prism is great because it also draws a card, while Ornament is mana ramp, fixing and can draw multiple cards over time. I am a little surprised there aren’t 4 copies of Ornament, but being 3 mana can be a little slow and you have to make cuts somewhere.
Ichor Wellspring – This is to combo with Deadly Dispute. How useful that is in the long run, I am not exactly sure.
The Manabase
Urza’s Tower
, Urza’s Power Plant
and Urza’s Tower – These are the main pieces of your deck. Never ever play less than 4 of each.
Thriving Isle
– This is a great dual land for this deck. You will always need blue and you can turn it into whatever dual land you would need.
Dismal Backwater
– Your 5th dual land for the deck. Your main second color is black and green is more of a small splash. This is why I believe a Dimir dual is correct.
Mortuary Mire
– This is a great utility land that can help you buy back your creatures and be used over again with Flicker effects.
Cave of Temptation
– This can help fix your mana and it can also help make one of your creatures bigger later in the game to quicken the clock. It isn’t the best land ever, but it helps a lot as a 1 of.
The rest of the mana is just 2 islands and 1 swamp to have some untap lands that help tap for your color spells. This brings you to a total of 22 lands. You could add a Bojuka Bog
if you think a lot of graveyard decks are going to show up. If you did that, I would replace the Dismal Backwater to keep it at 22 lands and to not replace a basic land.
The Sideboard
Fangren Marauder – Affinity is one of, if not, the most played deck in the format. You will want another copy of Marauder at the ready.
Moment's Peace
– More help against aggro decks.
Ancient Grudge
and Gorilla Shaman
– As well as being decent hate for Affinity, I have seen players bring in Grudge against the Tron mirror to try and color screw opponents. I have never been a big fan of this strategy personally but I am no expert. Shaman on the other hand is hate for Affinity. I am not sure how big a fan I am anymore of Shaman because of how many indestructible Affinity has available, but with the Tron lands available you can end up having enough mana that you can pick off a Myr Enforcer
. I am sure that has to count for something.
Blue Elemental Blast
and Red Elemental Blast
– For your blue and red matchups respectively.
Fiery Cannonade
– A board wipe is always a good thing. This one is good here because you can search it up with Teachings.
Serene Heart
– Hate for Bogles.
Weather the Storm
– Hate for Burn and decent at buying time against other aggro strategies.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Well, it is a Tron deck. I think at this point, everyone can see that almost any deck with Urza Tron in it can be good. The big question is, is it good enough to take into a Pauper Challenge? More on that later.
I think this version of Tron is interesting and doing some cool things. The combo of Deadly Dispute and Ichor Wellspring is definitely fun. However, for me personally I think that is all it might be. Ichor Wellspring does literal nothing without Deadly Dispute and Dispute by itself is just not as good as something like more copies of Mystical Teachings or just a simple Compulsive Research
. Those are just my opinions.
Should you play this deck? In the leagues it is fun to mess around with I am sure. For the challenges though, sure you might spike and top 8 because it is a Tron deck. You may also get a few top 16 placings. Personally though, I would stick to the more traditional builds of Tron you see top 8 challenges.
However, with all this being said, as always, do remember my words are not gospel. I will always encourage you to try a deck that I bring you despite my personal feelings. Remember that results will vary and always remember to practice!
Would you like to compete in a free Pauper tournament with some great prizes? Head on over to Gatherling.com on Tuesday nights at 8pm EDT and play in our weekly Pauper Classic Tuesday's event! Join the chat #PCT to chat with us and feel free to find most of the competitors on Discord!
Thank you so much for reading. Best of luck to you in your next tournament and I’ll catch you all next time!
