Colorless strategies are currently thriving in the Modern format. Modern Horizons 3 gave the archetype a shot in the arm, and Eldrazi now routinely run amok across the format. While Temur Eldrazi ended up being the largely accepted meta version of this strategy, lots of spinoffs exist.
Of all the spinoffs available, this one is one of the strangest. Not only does it use an X spell to cast free spells, but a mini-Omniscience, combined with the biggest MTG Eldrazi of them all, come together to create the most bizarre Modern Eldrazi deck we’ve seen yet.
Portent of Calamity and One With the Multiverse
This MTG Modern list 5-0’d an MTGO league in the hands of Sutilyloco. Mono Blue Tron is something we’ve seen before, but a strategy that’s completely dialed into pulling off the combo aspect of Portent of Calamity is incredibly unusual.
Portent of Calamity wants to exile four different spell types. If you do, one of those can be cast for free while the rest go to your hand or graveyard. This means that, generally, you want to be casting Portent for at least five mana so you have a chance to cast something for free.
Within this decklist, One With the Multiverse makes an appearance as a card solely dedicated to upping the consistency of Portent of Calamity. It’s a massive eight mana mini-Omniscience that should be capable of winning the game if you can get it out ahead of time. Casting it with Tron mana isn’t too challenging, but two blue may be somewhat difficult to acquire on-curve. This makes me wonder if a better win condition would replace this one.
Stock Up and Sink Into Stupor also helps increase the consistency of Portent of Calamity. Sink Into Stupor replaces four blue lands in the deck, giving more instants for Portent to hit. The card can also get rid of annoying hate pieces like Damping Sphere that shut off Tron mana. Stock Up is the only Sorcery in this deck other than Portent itself. It can start setting up your plays as soon as turn two, thanks to Ugin’s Labyrinth.
Regardless, if Portent of Calamity manages to cast an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or a One With the Multiverse, the game is as good as over. This gives this particular Tron build a bit of an edge in mirror-esque situations. No matter how big your opponent goes, they won’t be able to beat a free Emrakul. This combo-esque function also gives this Tron deck a bit more game against opposing combo strategies.
Other Interesting Inclusions
In addition to acquiring a combo finish, this Mono Blue Tron deck boasts some interactive pieces that other Tron decks can’t run. Subtlety is the biggest addition here, capable of staving off some blistering fast starts. All Tron needs is a little bit of time to get their namesake lands online, and Subtlety can provide that.
Otherwise, this deck runs a full playset of Dress Down in the main deck. The card isn’t in a great Modern position per se, but it does blow out Urza’s Saga boards powered by the various 8-mox decks running around. It otherwise functions as another enchantment for Portent of Calamity.
The most novel inclusion in this deck’s flex slots is the combination of Ugin’s Binding and Nulldrifter. If you squint hard enough, this is a sneaky three-mana board wipe. Ugin’s Binding was incredibly hyped up at Modern Horizons 3 release thanks to being concerningly similar to Commander menace Cyclonic Rift. The card turned out to be too niche to see widespread play, but this is perhaps the best way to use Binding.
If Ugin’s Binding is in your graveyard and you cast a colorless spell worth at least seven mana, Binding sends all nonland permanents back to your opponent’s hand. This means that Evoking Nulldrifter will trigger Binding. It doesn’t matter that you only spent three mana to cast Nulldrifter since it’s still a seven mana spell. This mimics the sort of synergies seen between Kozilek’s Return in the more mainstream Eldrazi deck that allows it to be considered one of the better decks in the metagame.
Finally, having blue in the deck allows you to play some strong sideboard cards. Force of Negation gives some much-needed insulation against Storm and other fast combo – traditionally terrible matchups for Tron. Consign to Memory, one of the most popular sideboard cards in Modern, means that you potentially have the advantage in colorless mirrors.
Is This Deck Good?
Tron performs fine in the current metagame. Every blue MTG deck runs four copies of Consign to Memory, however, so opponents will be prepared. Honestly, I think this deck’s viability is almost entirely dependent on how consistent Portent of Calamity is, which is a difficult question to answer. If you can consistently cheat in game-ending haymakers with the card, it seems very competitive. If not, then this deck may need a lucky pilot in more difficult matchups.
This does, however, seem to have a terrible Murktide matchup. This deck plays particularly poorly into countermagic. That, combined with Thoughtseize in the form of hand destruction, might make it difficult to resolve an Emrakul in time.
This deck definitely has potential, however, and the only way to really know whether or not it makes the cut is if more people play it. If you’re a Tron lover looking for something different, this could be a really fun experiment.
