For as long as Pauper has existed as a Magic: The Gathering format, Tron decks have been a part of it. The ability to generate seven mana from just three lands is good enough for Modern, and it’s even better in a format full of commons. Despite its status as one of Pauper’s oldest contenders, it turns out Tron is an old dog that you can teach new tricks. The up-and-coming Cascade Tron variant in MTG Pauper is proof of that.
Where most Tron decks in Pauper go down the combo route, this one is more traditional. You’re using all that extra mana to fuel huge creatures, the kind which most would dismiss as unplayable garbage usually. Throw in the Cascade mechanic for a bit of tempo, and you have a threatening deck indeed. It may not be ready to dethrone the usual Tron decks in the format just yet, but with some refinement this could be a real meta player.
Cascade Tron In MTG Pauper
Cascade Tron has been sitting on the outskirts of MTG Pauper for a while, but it appears to be making some moves lately. Ovelha_aL’s 5-0 finish with it in today’s Pauper League is just the most recent example.
The initial game plan here is essentially the same as all Tron decks. You want to get the three Tron lands, Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Power Plant, and Urza’s Tower, into play as quickly as possible. Once that’s done, you can leverage the huge mana advantage they offer to run away with the game. To this end, the deck plays dedicated land tutors in Expedition Map and Crop Rotation. It also runs Ancient Stirrings as a pseudo-tutor.
Where Cascade Tron differentiates itself is after Tron is assembled. Its plan from here on out is to drop massive creatures and bash in with them for the win. Since this is quite a clunky strategy in a format as fast as Pauper, however, the Cascade mechanic comes in clutch for tempo gain.
If you cast either Maelstrom Colossus or Annoyed Altisaur, you have a pretty solid chance of Cascading into a second chunky creature as well. Generous Ent and Fangren Marauder sit further down the curve to improve your odds in this regard. Ent also pulls double duty as a way to tutor up Forests in the early game, which is crucial to making many of your plays.
Even if you miss a big drop, Cascade still offers a lot of value. Between Prophetic Prism, Wizard’s Rockets, and Candy Trail, there’s plenty of card draw options you can hit here. Rockets and Prism also do a great job of fixing your mana. This is particularly important post-sideboard, to cast the deck’s many colorful answers.
Go Big Or Go Home
The more board-based approach Cascade Tron takes compared to its MTG Pauper peers allows for some truly fascinating card choices. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Rush of Knowledge. Five mana for a draw spell sounds completely out of the question for Pauper. When it can easily draw six to eight cards, as it can in this deck, however, it becomes worthy of consideration. Cascading into Rush of Knowledge after casting Maelstrom Colossus is one of the most brutal lines the deck has access to.
Speaking of brutal lines, Pinnacle Kill-Ship from Edge of Eternities enables a fair few of its own. 10 damage is enough to deal with all of the problem creatures in Pauper, from Tolarian Terror to creatures boosted by Nyxborn Hydra. The fact that you can access such a potent removal spell via Cascade here is pretty ridiculous. Even if you don’t get that lucky, Kill-Ship can be cast for exactly Tron mana, so it’s perfectly playable alone. The fact that it can kill a creature then easily Station up into a 7/7 Flier, thanks to all the big creatures in the deck, makes it pretty imposing on all fronts.
While it has less immediate impact than its peers, Fangren Marauder is another big reason why this deck works so well. As a 5/5 creature, it immediately outclasses most of Pauper on stats alone. Its ability, which gains you life when any artifact hits the graveyard, however, is even better. Pretty much every deck in Pauper, this one included, runs some number of cheap cantrip artifacts. Cards like Ichor Wellspring, Experimental Synthesizer, etc. Marauder lets you leverage this fact to gain a ton of life, which can help you grind things out against more aggressive lists.
A New Metagame Monster?
Cascade Tron certainly has a lot going for it, but that doesn’t mean it can slip into the upper tiers of MTG Pauper overnight. As things stand now it has a lot of key problems in the format.
The deck’s biggest flaw is probably its Jund Wildfire matchup. This is a deck which runs a full playset of Cleansing Wildfire, meaning it has an easy way to turn off Tron. Without access to all three Tron lands, this deck becomes a clunky wheel-spinner real fast. Jund Wildfire is also fast enough to win a fair game against Cascade Tron sometimes.
A similar speed issue exists in the Madness Burn matchup. It’s certainly possible to win here if you land an early Tron and stabilize with Fangren Marauder. Outside of those scenarios, however, you’re probably just going to get run over. This is an area where Cascade Tron falls short of the combo-based Tron we usually see, since the deck lacks a way to secure a quick win in the face of pressure.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news for Cascade Tron. Its matchup against Mono-Blue Terror, one of the consistent best decks in the format, is actually quite good. It can outmatch the deck’s big creatures on board, and Cascade is a nice way of getting around countermagic, too. Fast Delver of Secrets starts can still catch you off guard, but overall this is a very winnable matchup.
Ultimately, Cascade Tron is a risky proposition in the current Pauper format. Hopefully it sticks around long enough to be refined into a real meta player, but for now it has a long way to go.
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