Slaughterhorn is awesome, but I take the removal over the solid creature P1P1. If you are Simic or Gruul you are going to be light on removal and Pit Fight is the best you can ask for. It's still usable in Boros too, but not that great.
Lashes in the second pick. There is quite a bit of removal in this format and I don't want to be picking Auras P1P1.
It's like a 4CMC Melira. Sac a Persist creature, it comes back with two +1/+1 counters from the Biomancer and SBA cancel out a +1/+1 and the -1/-1 from Persist, repeat for the win.
Ghost Quarter doesn't cost a mana to activate, can be used earlier (stop Tron on turn three for example), and can act as fixing in a pinch. Doesn't work to keep them off a color as well, but shuts down manlands more efficiently than Tec and works better with Sun Titan since you don't have to invest a mana per activation.
Exactly what Rickster said about Gifts. It shouldn't always just be searching auto combo. It is a great CA engine and part of the difficulty of playing the card is knowing the right piles to take at the right times.
Has anyone played UW tron? How do these decks compare? I'm guessing playing 2 more colors lets you play more powerful/synergistic cards (loam vs thirst, deathrite vs signets, discard vs counters, liliana vs karn etc)
I have been playing UW Tron and have also been following and building this deck to try it out, but I haven't played with it yet.
It's hard to say how they are different for sure without having played this deck yet, but Gifts is just such an awesome card advantage engine in any deck. Obviously the Unburial Rites combo is the same in both decks, but in Tron there are a lot of piles that you can Gifts for to help slow down the game or complete Tron so you can land an Emrakul as your end game. This deck has the Loam engine which is a great secondary (or sometimes primary) Gifts target, but in general doesn't have a bigger end game than Elesh/Iona and just grinding it out with Shamans and Lili.
Where Tron is a pretty reactive deck, this deck feels a lot more proactive with Lingering Souls and disruption.
I wouldn't say that Loam vs Thirst, Shaman vs Signets, etc. is necessarily more synergistic, as those cards are very synergistic with the Tron decks plan. Tron just has a very focused plan where this deck can grind it out in a couple different ways.
What lands you run isn't really going to effect your instant/sorcery ratio though. If you weren't running fetches you would still be running 21 or 22 lands so you can have the same spells regardless.
Lashes in the second pick. There is quite a bit of removal in this format and I don't want to be picking Auras P1P1.
It's like a 4CMC Melira. Sac a Persist creature, it comes back with two +1/+1 counters from the Biomancer and SBA cancel out a +1/+1 and the -1/-1 from Persist, repeat for the win.
I have been playing UW Tron and have also been following and building this deck to try it out, but I haven't played with it yet.
It's hard to say how they are different for sure without having played this deck yet, but Gifts is just such an awesome card advantage engine in any deck. Obviously the Unburial Rites combo is the same in both decks, but in Tron there are a lot of piles that you can Gifts for to help slow down the game or complete Tron so you can land an Emrakul as your end game. This deck has the Loam engine which is a great secondary (or sometimes primary) Gifts target, but in general doesn't have a bigger end game than Elesh/Iona and just grinding it out with Shamans and Lili.
Where Tron is a pretty reactive deck, this deck feels a lot more proactive with Lingering Souls and disruption.
I wouldn't say that Loam vs Thirst, Shaman vs Signets, etc. is necessarily more synergistic, as those cards are very synergistic with the Tron decks plan. Tron just has a very focused plan where this deck can grind it out in a couple different ways.
Here is a 3-1 list from an MTGO Modern daily:
4 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
2 Marsh Flats
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
Spells (23)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
2 Sleight of Hand
2 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
4 Tribal Flames
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Annul
2 Combust
1 Disenchant
2 Rest for the Weary
1 Spell Pierce
3 Thoughtseize
2 Threads of Disloyalty
Basically making use of the Shocklands to hit all the land types for full Domain on Tribal Flames.