Grand Prix Detroit: Discussion & Coverage September 13 - 15, 2013
Event Coverage Official Event Coverage and Reports on Daily MTG:Link here Official MTG Site: Link here Twitch Streaming: No streaming for this event... Twitter Hashtag: #gpdetroit
Edit: Heres where we stand:
Chapin is 5-2 with Grixis.
LSV is 5-2 with UWR.
Kibler is 6-1 with Domri Naya.
Adrian Sullivan is 1-2, drop.
Michael Jacob is 5-0-1 with Tron.
Willy Edel 6-1 with BG inc Desecration Demon.
Shahar and Reid 6-0 with Jund w Chandra, Pyromaster.
Alexander Hayne 4-2 with UR Delver.
Wescoe 6-0 with something Boros.
Jacob Wilson 7-0 wirh something BG jundy
Grand Prix Detroit marks the final major Modern event of 2013. Although it will be followed by Antwerp and Brisbane in October, Detroit will be the last time for the North American crowd to break out those Modern decks and tangle with the best players across the world. This event will also be a 2 year anniversary, of sorts, for the format as a whole, with PT Philly occurring 24 months ago just the week before. A lot has changed since then, and GP Detroit is going to be the place where we see the new face of Modern.
Over the summer alone, the Modern format has gone through a ton of changes. Following its dominance at GP Kansas City (aka Podapalooza), Melira Pod was dethroned as the top deck to beat in paper and MTGO alike. Worlds saw a field overwhelmed with UWR Control, but it also saw the breakout of the BG Rock deck that has been tearing up MTGO ever since. Scavenging Ooze alone has been a big presence in the format, and graveyard-based strategies are hurting in its wake. Going into GP Detroit, MTGO dailies have been choked with RG Tron and Affinity, not to mention the Modern staples of Twin, Jund/Ajundi, and UWR. Other breakout decks have been Delver and Burn, both of which are enjoying newfound success on the online scene. How will these decks fare at GP Detroit? Will a new deck emerge to reign over Modern? Or will a tried and tested build rise to the top?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some personal predictions to get the discussion started.
RG Tron is coming!
Since the banning of 12Post led to the rise of Tron-based ramp decks, there hasn't been a lot of Grand Prix success for the archetype. Sure, RG Tron has made some day 2 appearances, and Tron generally has a strong online following, but the paper success just hasn't been there. I think that GP Detroit is going to change that. RG Tron has been tearing up MTGO for weeks now against an incredibly diverse field of opponents. Despite all of the Blood Moon and Sowing Slat in boards throughout the format, RG Tron remains a force to be reckoned with. The deck is a huge overperformer on MTGO; although it makes up only 8% of the metagame overall, it also comprises almost 12% of the 4-0/3-1 decks. This disproportionate performance is probably going to be replicated in Detroit. The key here is that RG Tron has already been facing concentrated hate on MTGO and still emerging victorious.
Goodbye graveyard
Graveyard-based decks are in big trouble right now. Modern has always had access to the best graveyard hate in the game. But with the advent of Ooze and the rise of Tron, that graveyard hate has moved from the board and into the maindeck. Ooze alone sees maindeck play in Hatebears, Zoo, BG Rock, certain Jund variants, and a variety of other RUG/BUG/midrangey style decks. Tron, the big dog on MTGO and the expected big dog at Detroit, runs maindeck Relic of Progenitus. When we add this on top of the effect that Deathrite Shaman has already had on Modern, and we have an inhospitable environment for the graveyard. That's bad news for a lot of decks in the format. Gifts, Assault Loam, Dredevine, Griselbrand Reanimator, Living End, Storm, and even Melira Pod are likely to fare much worse at GP Detroit. Although some might make day 2 (I expect Storm, Pod, and Reanimator will send some representatives), it will be in relatively low proportion to how many we might expect. Similarly, if you are going to GP Detroit, try and avoid the graveyard if possible.
And the winner is...UWR Control!
There were a few decks in competition for this prediction including BG Rock (awesome removal + 4 Tec Edge + consistency = win) and Twin (maindeck Blood Moon + redundancy + explosiveness + versatility = win). But in the end, I think that UWR is going to be the winner. UWR doesn't see as much online play as RG Tron (it's only about 6%-7% of the metagame), but it overperforms just as much as the ramp deck (about 9% of 4-0/3-1 finishes). It has a ton of maindeck tools that deal with most of the dominant strategies in the format, including the breakout Tron. The gameplan most likely to beat UWR, aggro, is also currently one of the easiest to board against because the best aggro deck in the format is Affinity. Affinity is absolutely destroying MTGO right now, but I don't think that dominance is going to carry over to Detroit once people start thinking about their sideboards. UWR is well positioned to exploit Affinity's weaknesses, which leaves it with a lot of positive matchups across the format.
Again, these are just some personal predictions to kick off discussion and get the conversation started. Here's hoping for a fun weekend in Detroit (heaven knows that the city needs it!) and some exciting discussion on our forums.
any word on the number of preregs? i think attendance will be pretty low simply because it's in Detroit..
anywho, i think WUR will be out in numbers but will actually under perform. tron has always underperformed in top events and i don't think this tournament will be any different. i really hope Hoogland's list (grixis wizards) places. though i'm not sure how its WUR matchup is.
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How do you know what % of the metagame a deck is? Many sites record the daily results, but I didnt think there was something that reported overall percentages.
any word on the number of preregs? i think attendance will be pretty low simply because it's in Detroit..
anywho, i think WUR will be out in numbers but will actually under perform. tron has always underperformed in top events and i don't think this tournament will be any different. i really hope Hoogland's list (grixis wizards) places. though i'm not sure how its WUR matchup is.
I browsed around the prereg page but couldn't find a way to access the current number of preregs. The sleep-in special is sold out though, so that's something (not sure what it means, but it sounds good!).
RG Tron probably won't win, but I can see it sending a lot more players to day 2 than in previous events. At GP KC, RG Tron was only about 6% of the day 2 decks. I'm predicting it closer to 10% at this one, with at least 1-2 in the Top 16. But again, that's just a prediction based on the online performances I am seeing. That said, the unknown factor that might really wreck that deck is BG Rock with its 4 maindeck edges. If that deck shows up in force, Tron (and my prediction) is in a bit more trouble.
How do you know what % of the metagame a deck is? Many sites record the daily results, but I didnt think there was something that reported overall percentages.
My friends and I record it using data from the client itself. It's time consuming, even though we have tried to automate a large part of it. Great data in the end though! All those other websites, as you probably know, only report the 4-0/3-1 lists from a single daily per day, so it's not even close to a representative sample.
I hope this time the choking and punting is kept to a minimum.
Ah, who am I kidding. It's a GP, someone's going to embarrass themselves live playing a subpar game of magic, it's an inevitability.
As always, hoping for an out of nowhere UB list to show up and maybe intimidate some unsuspecting players... ah, who am I kidding, we're years and cardsets from getting to that point.
@Tama: I'd hope Ghost over Tectonic though, at least against Tron. The Crop Rotation effect may hurt yourself as much as it does the opponent when used elsewhere, but lacking the "they need 4 lands before you can start nuking things" limiter that TecEdge has makes it more effective against Tron from my experience.
After all, when Tectonic Edge is online vs Tron, Tron's (likely) online and winning.
I browsed around the prereg page but couldn't find a way to access the current number of preregs. The sleep-in special is sold out though, so that's something (not sure what it means, but it sounds good!).
Sleep in special allows anyone with bye's to pay the fee (10 bucks?) to skip the players meeting. They are required to show up 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the first round they have to play in.
I browsed around the prereg page but couldn't find a way to access the current number of preregs. The sleep-in special is sold out though, so that's something (not sure what it means, but it sounds good!).
The sleep-in special isn't sold out, just the VIP package (which happens to include the sleep-in special; the sleep-in special by itself is still available).
Anyone happen to know if winning a GPT on Friday gives you a free sleep-in special in addition to the byes? It was like that at Kansas City.
I hope this time the choking and punting is kept to a minimum.
Ah, who am I kidding. It's a GP, someone's going to embarrass themselves live playing a subpar game of magic, it's an inevitability.
I'm pretty sympathetic to the guys who mess up in late rounds of a GP, especially on camera. It's a lot of pressure and the whole thing is surprisingly demanding, both physically and mentally. Competitors at major sporting events often explicitly prepare for this kind of pressure, but I doubt that MTG players do. So yeah, it's inevitable to some extent, but I also can't blame them too much.
Sleep in special allows anyone with bye's to pay the fee (10 bucks?) to skip the players meeting. They are required to show up 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the first round they have to play in.
Sorry, I was unclear. I know what the special is, I just wasn't sure how many players had registered for it in order for the special to be "sold out" on the website. And apparently it wasn't even the sleep in that was sold out; it was the VIP package, and I have no clue how many of those were sold.
@Tama: I'd hope Ghost over Tectonic though, at least against Tron. The Crop Rotation effect may hurt yourself as much as it does the opponent when used elsewhere, but lacking the "they need 4 lands before you can start nuking things" limiter that TecEdge has makes it more effective against Tron from my experience.
Ghost Quarter is definitely the better of the two against GR Tron, but I feel Tectonic Edge is better against pretty much everything else.
People also said the same thing when SCG was in Detroit last year for open series and record numbers were hit.
Don't underestimate the magic scene in southeast michigan we will reign in mass numbers!
Totally forgot to do an attendance prediction in the OP! Can't have a GP Discussion thread without an attendance prediction. Will add one as soon as I calculate something plausible.
Slightly OT but where did you get the metagame data showing % of 3-1/4-0 decks?
I feel that it is shocking that tron hasn't placed better recently in paper, but it seems like it would have problems against twin and UWR no? Those are more popular in paper and probably one of those two wins it? We shall see!
Slightly OT but where did you get the metagame data showing % of 3-1/4-0 decks?
I feel that it is shocking that tron hasn't placed better recently in paper, but it seems like it would have problems against twin and UWR no? Those are more popular in paper and probably one of those two wins it? We shall see!
I answer it earlier at the top of the page:
"My friends and I record it using data from the client itself. It's time consuming, even though we have tried to automate a large part of it. Great data in the end though! All those other websites, as you probably know, only report the 4-0/3-1 lists from a single daily per day, so it's not even close to a representative sample. "
Incidentally, this data will help inform the upcoming reorganization of Proven and Established in the forum. GP Detroit will also be a major datapoint in that reorganization.
Been playing with some local grinders the last couple weeks and we may be surprised at some decks we see in Detroit. Bogel in full force!! Someone has to be paying those prices for the pieces of the deck. Of course there are going to be WUR decks, but I have seen some straight control Jund builds as of late and even blue Jund sliding snapcasters in. It may be the time for D&T to shine also, at least the build with crucible and both ghost quarters and edges. Control LD for the win!
Snapcaster Jund always felt like the 5c Goodstuff deck to me. But I suppose with Geist being less effective right now, might just be better not to play it and play a list similar to Jund. Though I can't help but think if it's like a Spirit Jund splashing for Snapcaster, they ought to just run Tribal Flames and become 5c.
As for Boggle I would not be surprised. People still aren't over the hype on the deck, and it has good matchups IF people don't prepare properly. I still can't believe some of the UWR players at the Championships had Hallowed Burial. I suppose it's better against Pod than Wrath but the amount it's better against Boggle is insane.
well, i don't think they were specifically gunning for bogles with hallowed burial. it seems like since they knew WUR would be popular, the GBx decks would play thrun to counter them. Wrath loses out to other WUR decks, verdict doesn't kill it, so they went with the next best thing, which turned out to be really good.
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I wouldn't count out Affinity, Kiki Pod, and Splinter Twin. These decks don't require the graveyard, and two of them don't even use search mechanics.
I doubt R/G Tron will have a strong showing, it just hasn't performed live, and the land hate in Modern has gotten more extensive with Shadow of Doubt, Tectonic Edge, and the advent of G/B Rock.
I wouldn't count out Affinity, Kiki Pod, and Splinter Twin. These decks don't require the graveyard, and two of them don't even use search mechanics.
I doubt R/G Tron will have a strong showing, it just hasn't performed live, and the land hate in Modern has gotten more extensive with Shadow of Doubt, Tectonic Edge, and the advent of G/B Rock.
KikiPod is hugely popular. I think splinter twin will be underplayed, and affinity will be rampant just like it always it because it's cheap (same with burn...)
Tron is a popular deck from what I've seen... both RG and U, but I don't think it will be dominating in numbers.
Once somebody can come up with a really strong U Tron list, I think it can do very well.
I'm not sure what that is yet, but I'm willing to bet the lists that have been thrown around so far are not as good as they can be.
No. As a dedicated UTron player for the last few months I totally agree with you - they aren't as strong as they could be.
There is a lot of "what if's" going around - most deck lists have DE success and a lot of them are all slightly different than each other. That's the hard part - what works good for some people one week (i.e. snapcaster) might be bad the next week.
UTron will make a showing at GP Detroit though - it's popularity has grown since it is still a fairly "budget" deck that can be competitive.
I know at my last local Modern tournament I played against a Mono U Tron deck that would have beaten me had we not gone to time.
His deck was loaded with counterspells along the lines of Condescend and Spell Burst, as well as Repeal and Aether Spellbomb to bounce threats and draw even more cards.
It was the most annoying match up I had played in a long time because of how many counterspells he had.
We played 3 games. Game 1 and Game 3 I thought I had the match clinched until he landed Platinum Angel. Against his list, a stalled game was pretty much a won game as his Wurmcoil Engines are a bit more threatening than anything my deck has to offer.
There is definitely a huge amount of inevitability when playing against this deck but it cannot win nearly as fast as R/G Tron can.
I've played against R/G Tron many, many times. Mono Blue Tron is a completely different deck, or at least that list was. I wasn't playing against a combo deck or a ramp deck. I was playing against a control deck, a really powerful one at that.
I think that pod will still be somewhere in top 8. It might not be as rampant, but I still think it will. It's still really good if you take away the persist/infinite combo and can get around control easily if it goes first and especially has the turn 2 pod.
Alright. I've gotta put an end to this RG Tron hype.
Well...not really. It's a solid deck that has some excellent matchups against popular decks in game 1.
I've always felt like the problem with Tron is that it gets diluted after game 1 in having to deal with so much good hate. Unfortunately you can't just ignore the hate. And LD comes in so many different flavors; spells, enchantments, lands, etc. Over the course of four rounds, sure...it's doable.
However, over the course of 10 rounds...against so many different archetypes, each with their own way to deal with nonbasic lands (in addition to what they already mainboard)...that's a much different story. I don't play Tron, but I'd imagine that's as difficult physically as it is mentally. It'd be nice to see one break through, but like with most GP's, I think the Tron bridesmaid story repeats itself in Detriot.
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Modern
Dredge, Evo-Chord, U/G Faeries, Living End, Something New
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September 13 - 15, 2013
Event Coverage
Official Event Coverage and Reports on Daily MTG: Link here
Official MTG Site: Link here
Twitch Streaming: No streaming for this event...
Twitter Hashtag: #gpdetroit
Edit: Heres where we stand:
Chapin is 5-2 with Grixis.
LSV is 5-2 with UWR.
Kibler is 6-1 with Domri Naya.
Adrian Sullivan is 1-2, drop.
Michael Jacob is 5-0-1 with Tron.
Willy Edel 6-1 with BG inc Desecration Demon.
Shahar and Reid 6-0 with Jund w Chandra, Pyromaster.
Alexander Hayne 4-2 with UR Delver.
Wescoe 6-0 with something Boros.
Jacob Wilson 7-0 wirh something BG jundy
--------------------------------------------------
Grand Prix Detroit marks the final major Modern event of 2013. Although it will be followed by Antwerp and Brisbane in October, Detroit will be the last time for the North American crowd to break out those Modern decks and tangle with the best players across the world. This event will also be a 2 year anniversary, of sorts, for the format as a whole, with PT Philly occurring 24 months ago just the week before. A lot has changed since then, and GP Detroit is going to be the place where we see the new face of Modern.
Over the summer alone, the Modern format has gone through a ton of changes. Following its dominance at GP Kansas City (aka Podapalooza), Melira Pod was dethroned as the top deck to beat in paper and MTGO alike. Worlds saw a field overwhelmed with UWR Control, but it also saw the breakout of the BG Rock deck that has been tearing up MTGO ever since. Scavenging Ooze alone has been a big presence in the format, and graveyard-based strategies are hurting in its wake. Going into GP Detroit, MTGO dailies have been choked with RG Tron and Affinity, not to mention the Modern staples of Twin, Jund/Ajundi, and UWR. Other breakout decks have been Delver and Burn, both of which are enjoying newfound success on the online scene. How will these decks fare at GP Detroit? Will a new deck emerge to reign over Modern? Or will a tried and tested build rise to the top?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some personal predictions to get the discussion started.
Since the banning of 12Post led to the rise of Tron-based ramp decks, there hasn't been a lot of Grand Prix success for the archetype. Sure, RG Tron has made some day 2 appearances, and Tron generally has a strong online following, but the paper success just hasn't been there. I think that GP Detroit is going to change that. RG Tron has been tearing up MTGO for weeks now against an incredibly diverse field of opponents. Despite all of the Blood Moon and Sowing Slat in boards throughout the format, RG Tron remains a force to be reckoned with. The deck is a huge overperformer on MTGO; although it makes up only 8% of the metagame overall, it also comprises almost 12% of the 4-0/3-1 decks. This disproportionate performance is probably going to be replicated in Detroit. The key here is that RG Tron has already been facing concentrated hate on MTGO and still emerging victorious.
Goodbye graveyard
Graveyard-based decks are in big trouble right now. Modern has always had access to the best graveyard hate in the game. But with the advent of Ooze and the rise of Tron, that graveyard hate has moved from the board and into the maindeck. Ooze alone sees maindeck play in Hatebears, Zoo, BG Rock, certain Jund variants, and a variety of other RUG/BUG/midrangey style decks. Tron, the big dog on MTGO and the expected big dog at Detroit, runs maindeck Relic of Progenitus. When we add this on top of the effect that Deathrite Shaman has already had on Modern, and we have an inhospitable environment for the graveyard. That's bad news for a lot of decks in the format. Gifts, Assault Loam, Dredevine, Griselbrand Reanimator, Living End, Storm, and even Melira Pod are likely to fare much worse at GP Detroit. Although some might make day 2 (I expect Storm, Pod, and Reanimator will send some representatives), it will be in relatively low proportion to how many we might expect. Similarly, if you are going to GP Detroit, try and avoid the graveyard if possible.
And the winner is...UWR Control!
There were a few decks in competition for this prediction including BG Rock (awesome removal + 4 Tec Edge + consistency = win) and Twin (maindeck Blood Moon + redundancy + explosiveness + versatility = win). But in the end, I think that UWR is going to be the winner. UWR doesn't see as much online play as RG Tron (it's only about 6%-7% of the metagame), but it overperforms just as much as the ramp deck (about 9% of 4-0/3-1 finishes). It has a ton of maindeck tools that deal with most of the dominant strategies in the format, including the breakout Tron. The gameplan most likely to beat UWR, aggro, is also currently one of the easiest to board against because the best aggro deck in the format is Affinity. Affinity is absolutely destroying MTGO right now, but I don't think that dominance is going to carry over to Detroit once people start thinking about their sideboards. UWR is well positioned to exploit Affinity's weaknesses, which leaves it with a lot of positive matchups across the format.
Again, these are just some personal predictions to kick off discussion and get the conversation started. Here's hoping for a fun weekend in Detroit (heaven knows that the city needs it!) and some exciting discussion on our forums.
anywho, i think WUR will be out in numbers but will actually under perform. tron has always underperformed in top events and i don't think this tournament will be any different. i really hope Hoogland's list (grixis wizards) places. though i'm not sure how its WUR matchup is.
Also FWIW RG Tron top 8ed GP Chicago last year.
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I browsed around the prereg page but couldn't find a way to access the current number of preregs. The sleep-in special is sold out though, so that's something (not sure what it means, but it sounds good!).
RG Tron probably won't win, but I can see it sending a lot more players to day 2 than in previous events. At GP KC, RG Tron was only about 6% of the day 2 decks. I'm predicting it closer to 10% at this one, with at least 1-2 in the Top 16. But again, that's just a prediction based on the online performances I am seeing. That said, the unknown factor that might really wreck that deck is BG Rock with its 4 maindeck edges. If that deck shows up in force, Tron (and my prediction) is in a bit more trouble.
My friends and I record it using data from the client itself. It's time consuming, even though we have tried to automate a large part of it. Great data in the end though! All those other websites, as you probably know, only report the 4-0/3-1 lists from a single daily per day, so it's not even close to a representative sample.
Ah, who am I kidding. It's a GP, someone's going to embarrass themselves live playing a subpar game of magic, it's an inevitability.
As always, hoping for an out of nowhere UB list to show up and maybe intimidate some unsuspecting players... ah, who am I kidding, we're years and cardsets from getting to that point.
@Tama: I'd hope Ghost over Tectonic though, at least against Tron. The Crop Rotation effect may hurt yourself as much as it does the opponent when used elsewhere, but lacking the "they need 4 lands before you can start nuking things" limiter that TecEdge has makes it more effective against Tron from my experience.
After all, when Tectonic Edge is online vs Tron, Tron's (likely) online and winning.
Sleep in special allows anyone with bye's to pay the fee (10 bucks?) to skip the players meeting. They are required to show up 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the first round they have to play in.
The sleep-in special isn't sold out, just the VIP package (which happens to include the sleep-in special; the sleep-in special by itself is still available).
Anyone happen to know if winning a GPT on Friday gives you a free sleep-in special in addition to the byes? It was like that at Kansas City.
I'm pretty sympathetic to the guys who mess up in late rounds of a GP, especially on camera. It's a lot of pressure and the whole thing is surprisingly demanding, both physically and mentally. Competitors at major sporting events often explicitly prepare for this kind of pressure, but I doubt that MTG players do. So yeah, it's inevitable to some extent, but I also can't blame them too much.
Sorry, I was unclear. I know what the special is, I just wasn't sure how many players had registered for it in order for the special to be "sold out" on the website. And apparently it wasn't even the sleep in that was sold out; it was the VIP package, and I have no clue how many of those were sold.
Ghost Quarter is definitely the better of the two against GR Tron, but I feel Tectonic Edge is better against pretty much everything else.
People also said the same thing when SCG was in Detroit last year for open series and record numbers were hit.
Don't underestimate the magic scene in southeast michigan we will reign in mass numbers!
Currently Playing
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Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
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Totally forgot to do an attendance prediction in the OP! Can't have a GP Discussion thread without an attendance prediction. Will add one as soon as I calculate something plausible.
Well yeah, that's kinda what the state of affairs is.
Ghost is secretly a fetchland, after all.
I feel that it is shocking that tron hasn't placed better recently in paper, but it seems like it would have problems against twin and UWR no? Those are more popular in paper and probably one of those two wins it? We shall see!
Edit: Sweet thanks a little bit slow clearly.
I answer it earlier at the top of the page:
"My friends and I record it using data from the client itself. It's time consuming, even though we have tried to automate a large part of it. Great data in the end though! All those other websites, as you probably know, only report the 4-0/3-1 lists from a single daily per day, so it's not even close to a representative sample. "
Incidentally, this data will help inform the upcoming reorganization of Proven and Established in the forum. GP Detroit will also be a major datapoint in that reorganization.
As for Boggle I would not be surprised. People still aren't over the hype on the deck, and it has good matchups IF people don't prepare properly. I still can't believe some of the UWR players at the Championships had Hallowed Burial. I suppose it's better against Pod than Wrath but the amount it's better against Boggle is insane.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I doubt R/G Tron will have a strong showing, it just hasn't performed live, and the land hate in Modern has gotten more extensive with Shadow of Doubt, Tectonic Edge, and the advent of G/B Rock.
KikiPod is hugely popular. I think splinter twin will be underplayed, and affinity will be rampant just like it always it because it's cheap (same with burn...)
Tron is a popular deck from what I've seen... both RG and U, but I don't think it will be dominating in numbers.
Currently Playing
UTron
Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
TRADE ME!!!
I'm not sure what that is yet, but I'm willing to bet the lists that have been thrown around so far are not as good as they can be.
No. As a dedicated UTron player for the last few months I totally agree with you - they aren't as strong as they could be.
There is a lot of "what if's" going around - most deck lists have DE success and a lot of them are all slightly different than each other. That's the hard part - what works good for some people one week (i.e. snapcaster) might be bad the next week.
UTron will make a showing at GP Detroit though - it's popularity has grown since it is still a fairly "budget" deck that can be competitive.
Currently Playing
UTron
Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
TRADE ME!!!
His deck was loaded with counterspells along the lines of Condescend and Spell Burst, as well as Repeal and Aether Spellbomb to bounce threats and draw even more cards.
It was the most annoying match up I had played in a long time because of how many counterspells he had.
We played 3 games. Game 1 and Game 3 I thought I had the match clinched until he landed Platinum Angel. Against his list, a stalled game was pretty much a won game as his Wurmcoil Engines are a bit more threatening than anything my deck has to offer.
There is definitely a huge amount of inevitability when playing against this deck but it cannot win nearly as fast as R/G Tron can.
I've played against R/G Tron many, many times. Mono Blue Tron is a completely different deck, or at least that list was. I wasn't playing against a combo deck or a ramp deck. I was playing against a control deck, a really powerful one at that.
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Well...not really. It's a solid deck that has some excellent matchups against popular decks in game 1.
I've always felt like the problem with Tron is that it gets diluted after game 1 in having to deal with so much good hate. Unfortunately you can't just ignore the hate. And LD comes in so many different flavors; spells, enchantments, lands, etc. Over the course of four rounds, sure...it's doable.
However, over the course of 10 rounds...against so many different archetypes, each with their own way to deal with nonbasic lands (in addition to what they already mainboard)...that's a much different story. I don't play Tron, but I'd imagine that's as difficult physically as it is mentally. It'd be nice to see one break through, but like with most GP's, I think the Tron bridesmaid story repeats itself in Detriot.
Modern
Dredge, Evo-Chord, U/G Faeries, Living End, Something New