Thus far, we’ve seen very little impact from the changes to the Planeswalkers rule - specifically that Planeswalkers are now Legendary, so you can control multiple Jaces, Gideons, Chandras, etc. The biggest thing that we’ve seen is the utilization of Gideon of the Trials in control decks in Eternal formats as a way to fight against combo decks. However, this take on Modern Tron takes advantage of the new Legendary status of Planeswalkers in a very exciting way:
Mono-White Tron - Modern | dschidi
- Creatures (15)
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
- 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
- 4 Thalia's Lancers
- 4 Solemn Simulacrum
- 4 Walking Ballista
- Planeswalkers (6)
- 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- 4 Karn Liberated
- Instants (4)
- 4 Path to Exile
- Sorceries (2)
- 2 Wrath of God
- Artifacts (10)
- 2 Oblivion Stone
- 4 Expedition Map
- 4 Talisman of Unity
- Lands (23)
- 8 Plains
- 1 Eiganjo Castle
- 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
- 1 Ghost Quarter
- 4 Urza's Mine
- 4 Urza's Power Plant
- 4 Urza's Tower
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Crucible of Worlds
- 4 Leyline of Sanctity
- 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
- 1 Linvala, the Preserver
- 3 Rest in Peace
- 1 Stony Silence
- 1 Tamiyo's Journal
- 2 Wrath of God
- 1 Wurmcoil Engine
The idea here is still very much the same as previous Tron decks. You’re looking to churn through your deck and assemble all three Urza lands as quickly as possible. However, this deck cuts the Chromatic Stars, Chromatic Spheres, and other cheap cantrips in favor of more midrange elements and traditional ramp spells. Solemn Simulacrum and Talisman of Unity help you ramp into cards like Wrath of God and Oblivion Stone to control the board or just help you accelerate into Karn Liberated and company even if you can’t find all your Urza lands.
The key to this deck is the addition of Thalia's Lancers. Thalia's Lancers lets you find all manner of interesting Legendary cards, from Eiganjo Castle to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Perhaps most importantly, Thalia's Lancers can now find Planeswalkers, which gives you more consistent access to the likes of Ugin and Karn than some other Tron variants, as well as the ability to tutor up something like Elspeth, Sun's Champion as appropriate.
The biggest question is about this deck is whether the loss of consistency in assembling the Urza lands is worth what you gain in a higher density of threats and the ability to be more selective about which threats you have thanks to Thalia's Lancers. It’s possible that there are variants that split the difference, still making space for cards like Ancient Stirrings and some number of Thalia's Lancers,
If you’re looking for a new variation on Tron that gets to play more like a midrange deck and less like a combo deck, then this may be a good place for you to start. The addition of ramp spells makes the deck slightly less fragile to discard and land destruction, while Thalia's Lancers gives you a midrange threat that helps to stabilize the board while giving you some selection on what your next haymaker needs to be.