The banning of Eye of Ugin in Modern is a big hit to the inevitability of the Green-based UrzaTron decks that try to jam cards like Karn Liberated and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. However, that doesn’t mean Tron decks are dead. There are plenty of new directions for the deck to go in. Particularly interesting is the possibility of using Tron mana to power the Thopter/Sword combo. That, of course, means the deck will want to play Blue for Gifts Ungiven, which leads us to my favorite Modern archetype, U/W Tron. Does the classic big-mana control deck have what it takes to compete in the new Modern format? Bigdeezyrider seems to believe so:

U/W Tron ? Modern | bigdeezyrider, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 2 Thought-Knot Seer

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (29)
• 4 Gifts Ungiven
• 4 Path to Exile
• 4 Remand
• 4 Thirst for Knowledge
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Unburial Rites
• 1 Wrath of God
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Sword of the Meek
• 1 Thopter Foundry
• 2 Expedition Map
• 3 Azorius Signet
• 1 Mindslaver

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Snow-Covered Plains
• 1 Academy Ruins
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 3 Celestial Colonnade
• 3 Flooded Strand
• 3 Urza's Mine
• 3 Urza's Power Plant
• 4 Urza's Tower

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Thought-Knot Seer
• 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 1 Celestial Purge
• 1 Disenchant
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 2 Negate
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 2 Timely Reinforcements

Buy This Deck

U/W Tron hasn’t been much of a thing in Modern in recent years, but has picked up a lot of interesting tools in recent sets. The deck is interesting now because the combination of Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek has given new life to strategies leaning on Gifts Ungiven, and U/W Tron is one of the best Gifts decks in Modern. Additionally, sweepers are very powerful in the current Modern format, as the best decks are largely aggressive or midrange, creature decks.

As far as interesting new tools go, Thought-Knot Seer is an easy place to start. This is a powerful anti-control card which allows you to disrupt your opponent, apply pressure, or stall out the ground against more aggressive creature decks. Similarly, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is an awesome tool for helping to clean up the board against creature decks while also applying pressure against more controlling decks. But we can do better. Notice the extra copy of Haven of the Spirit Dragon in this build. This lets you use Gifts to set up Crucible of Worlds plus Haven of the Spirit Dragon to let you infinitely recycle Ugin in grindy matchups.

On top of this, you also have the more traditional abilities of U/W Tron, like the ability to cheat in a giant monster with Gifts Ungiven and Unburial Rites. Additionally, you have access to powerful cards like Timely Reinforcements. When you also take into account the power of sweepers and the potential for Mindslaver to trump just about anything more controlling or combo-oriented opponents can bring to the table and I think we’ve got a recipe for success in the new Modern format.