Funny then that there must be a bug in Magic Online because it won't let you +1 if there isn't any cards in their graveyard you have to target yourself. The text for Kaya, Orzhov Usurper actually reads "Up to two target cards in a single graveyard". No cards means nothing to target and the ability can't be activated.
What combo between Ashiok and Kaya, Ozhov Usurper do you mean? Ashiok exiles the opponent's graveyard every time it mills. It seems like an anti-synergy.
It works but you have to +1 Kaya while they have cards in their graveyard then -1 Ashiok for this to work. You can only +1 Kaya if there is a card in a grave yard. That being said you can +1 targeting a card in your own grave yard then use the +5 against an opponent after milling them a couple of times.
Guys lets be honest, this deck is death and the reason is, like i tryed to explain bevore it was to late, chalice. Chalice is Bad in this meta and Decks having problems with chalice kicked out and New answers comes in. Chalice out and 4 relics in is thE key like i tried to explain so often in the past bevore this topic dyed. This is the reason, time to accept it maybe now?
I have been all in one zero chalice in the 75 and 4 Relic in the main for about 2 months now and I don't regret it at all. Relic is relevant against a large number of decks and at the very least it cycles for a draw card which this deck generally needs a lot of. I prefer Eldrazi Tron over Green Eldrazi as at least this deck has quick beats with Thought-Knot and Reality smasher. Where as Green Tron tends to do nothing quite a bit.
With the printing of Assassin's Trophey one of trons better match up, GB and Jund, just got a lot closer to even then it has ever been. I am now at about 55% win against these decks when I used to be 80%.
I think this arch-type is tier 2 but it still has game. In my last 4 leagues I have been 4-1,4-1, 3-2, and 4-1. Even in the past two months that I've started playing this deck again I have been able to grind and win. Clearly there are some bad match ups but that has always been the case. I think that this deck needs to be retooled for the quicker meta but I haven't quite tested what that looks like yet.
I have been thinking about dropping Karn Liberated all together as currently it is in the side and I don't usually bring it in against anything but the tron mirror. However I'm probably wrong in that there is more use for Karn Liberated then just the mirror.
Anyone having any good luck with Karn, Scion of Urza? And if so, how many copies, 1 or 2? Thanks.
Yes. Playing 2 in the main and generally is a good card in most matchups. Unless in the opening hand. Good card draw plus some dorks which are surprisingly large due to usually having 2 or 3 other artifacts in play. I like them. Plus they can be cast through blood moon and dampening sphere fairly easily.
Also it is my experience with the number of times that I have played affinity in the queues online (0-9 all time) is that if you expect a lot of affinity either the traditional build or the hardened scales build just don't play this deck. Affinity is such a tough match up that I don't even bother trying to side for it. If I get paired against it I play just to hope that they mull and draw into nothing and give eldrazi tron a chance. There are more winnable match ups the the sideboard should be used for. There are some very narrow draws that might get one game out of the match but relying on getting that draw 2 out of 3 is just against the odds. I like having board spots for graveyard hate and hate for humans and spirits.
In continuation of my hot-streak lately, I went 4-0 at last nights Modern putting my record at 11-1 in the last three events I've played. Old write ups for completion sake:
Played this deck for the first time in a while since I've been on GTron for PPTQ season. I got my Buglers which I've been itching to try out as I talked about here, and sailed to a 4-0 for the night! The deck felt super powerful, possibly the most powerful iteration of the deck I've played yet. My sample size is only 4 matches mind you, but I had some crazy games which are explained below. List for reference:
Some notes about the deck before the games:
- Yes that is a 14 card sideboard. I must have forgot one at home, but it didn't seem to matter at all.
- Omitting the Finks + Seer package for Bugler + KotR. This allows Bugler to hit every card in the deck.
- 1 Courser of Kruphix compliments the KotR's. Because of it's inclusion I am playing 7 dorks and 22 lands, as opposed to my normal 8 dorks and 21 lands. Yes I like to cheat on the lands, but not here.
- KotR even acts as a dork in some cases, especially if you play it turn 2, so you are playing what is essentially 15 "dorks" not even inducing EWit getting fetches back. I never had mana problems.
- Only 3 Eternal Witness. I always like 4, but I figured with Bugler I could drop one to make the deck a little less reliant on the graveyard.
- I played before with 6 land destruction lands, but found that against the majority of decks they didn't do what I wanted them to do. Because of this I dropped to 3. This lets me still kill stuff like the random Inkmoth/Mutavault while also slowing down Tron and Valakut enough to win those matchups (in theory). With the 3 extra "utility land" slots I was able to include a second Horizon Canopy to help out the combo and flooding in general, and a Gavony Township for when the deck goes real wide.
Onto the games:
Round 1 vs Grixis Death's Shadow:
Game 1 was a grind fest with him removing my Druids, but not having a fast start himself. Once I accepted that I wasn't going to combo I went all in on the KotR plan. The game was decided with him using a Temur Battlerage on his 8/8 Shadow to kill my 10/10 Knight. I then Companied into Knight + EWit, using the company again to hit another Knight and win the game since he ran out of blockers. Game 2 was more of the same with me boarding out the combo and into a midrange deck (everything but Kataki, Rec Sage, and Eidolon). I overwhelmed him with value and won with 2 11/11 Knights while destroying his lands thanks to Path removing his only two basic lands. Bugler kept on finding Knights or EWits that Companies couldn't and kept the value train going. 2-0
Round 2 vs Mardu Pyromancer:
More of the same as round 1. The dude went Lootings into Pyromancer and I won some turns after with the combo by casting some Companies and Bugler finding what I wanted. Boarded the same as against Death's Shadow since I figured I couldn't combo again through all of the removal. The game this time went pretty long with him killing my turn 2 druid and resolving a LotV which I had to then throw away a Knight and Ewit to. I eventually got there though as he couldn't discard my companies, and I started chaining them to fill up the board. I found my Scooze and kept his graveyard out of relevant stuff while I had a Spellskite and Forge-Tender as backup. The Scooze then went on to continually attack him and win. 2-0
Round 3 vs UG Infect:
This was the guy I lost to in the top 8 of the PPTQ on Sunday. Game 3 was the only relevant one and super intense with him on the play. Turn 2 he has a Blighted Agent while I have a Temple Garden and Horizon Canopy to play a Devoted Druid. His turn 3 he hits me for 7 infect, and will hit me for a guaranteed 3 more the next turn so I have to win. I untap, and my hand is Vizier, Ghost Quarter, Bugler, and some other not relevant stuff. I play the Vizier with the Temple Garden since I can draw a card with Canopy. This is only better than playing Bugler if I draw a Chord or Company, so I figure I'll Bugler instead sine I can hit 2 Recruiters and 1 Ballista in 4 cards. I miss, but hit another Bugler. It then dawned on me that I could Ghost Quarter my land to get an untapped Plains and cast the second Bugler to tray again. Lo and behold it hits a Recruiter and I get a clutch win! You can watch the video of the match here. 2-1
Round 4 vs Eldrazi Tron:
This is the guy I beat in round 5 of the PPTQ. Games were grindy with me eventually using a Chord to get through his Chalice on 2 and win the game. It was weird since he know the Chord was coming but didn't Dismember the Druid... Game 2 was won off of the back of KotR and some land fetching shenanigans to block Reality Smashers after the wiped my graveyard. Again a misplay on his part as he should have waited and he would have won. Re-watching the footage I also missed a Duskwatch trigger, so I'll have to remember that for the future. It didn't matter though as it died the turn after. You can watch the video of the match here. 2-0
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Thoughts on the deck:
- I really really liked Bugler. The deck has been getting away from the graveyard more and more, but is still dependent with Eternal Witness and Knight of the Reliquary. It's not the worst is hate is brought in for it, but it certainly is annoying. Bugler helps get away from this (replacing Finks).
- Hitting a Bugler off of a Company almost guarantees hitting something that you need since you get to keep digging. I found if I was ever wanting a card I could always find it within the next 1-2 turns. It also makes the combo much more consistent meaning you will fizzle less when getting infinite mana.
- A downside with Bugler is that you are more dependent on W during the combo, so you have to be mindful to fetch it out.
- KotR is a beast, and is often the biggest thing on the battlefield. With Finks I found I was using it to chump and stay alive until I could squeak out a combo. Now for the same mana cost I am winning combats, ramping, and thinning my deck. You lose life gain in the deck, and if anything take more damage from fetches, so I can imagine the Burn matchups is suddenly harder.
- The plan of going super-combo maindeck and transitional value-midrange deck in the sideboard worked out well. I was able to race things like without interaction like Infect (and Affinity in pre-event games) while absolutely destroying the opponent with value post-board.
- I'm not sure what I want sideboard card #15 to be. Perhaps a Pridemage, or another Scooze...?
I will hopefully play this again Wednesday and see if I can replicate the results.
Took the deck to a 3-1 tonight, which puts Bugler version at 7-1 overall. Only changes were +1 Selfless Spirit MD, +1 Courser of Kruphix & +1 Qasali Pridemage SB so I had 15 cards this time. List for reference:
Wins were 2-0 vs taking Turns. I won the match in about 10 mins total with a turn 3 combo each game. 2-1 vs G Devotion. I kept a slow hand game 1 hoping I could just get there, whereas games 2 and 3 I forced the combo and blew him out of the water. 2-1 vs Scales Affinity, with game 3 him mulling to 5 while I had the turn 3 win. He didn't have removal on his turn 2 so I won.
My loss was to UW Control, 0-2. Game 1 I kept a 1 land hand with Hierarch, Druid, Druid, Vizier, Chord, EWit, Forest. On turn 2 I drew a second Chord, and he Logic Knotted my Druid for 1. If I had drawn a land it would have resolved and I was pretty confident in my chances, but alas I didn't. I went on to draw Chords for 2 more turns, so I had all 4 in hand before I got my second land. Wasn't winning that one. Second game was more of the same, with a T2 Bugler finding Druid, playing the Druid T3, and him wrathing the board on his T4. From there he stabilized with a Teferi and then Jace, so I was lost at that point. I hoped to see a Company so I could start trying to flood the board with it and EWits, but never saw either card and was grinded out.
The control matchup was pretty bad, especially with them playing Terminus now. My strategy was to force the combo and hope they can't Logic Knot for enough on Turn 2, as we aren't going to win the long game. Their Planeswalkers out value us, unlike other midrange decks that we can play the grindy-value game with. Perhaps adding a Breeding Pool and 3 Unified Will to the sideboard is the best bet for this matchup. Countering their first wrath or PW will give us a window to try and win. Thoughts on the matchup?
My list was unchanged from the one I played when I went 3-1. Matchups went as follows:
2-0 vs Eldrazi Tron, 2-1 vs Infect, 2-0 vs Hardened Scales Affinity, 2-1 vs Bant mirror (he played Queller's instead of Bugler's). Not a ton to talk about since the games are really playing out the same each time. With the addition of Militia Buglers I can slam the combo pretty much whenever I need too since digging for it is really easy, and this was a night of playing very uninteractive decks allowing me to combo as fast as I wanted. Pretty much every match I was sideboarding out the Knights and bringing in Spellskites and Paths, among other things. I didn't really get to play vs any midrange decks which my sideboard is tuned for. The good thing about that is that it means the maindeck is good enough to combo at the speed of some the best. Only changes to the deck I would do would be the addition of another Militia Bugler since that card has been insane and helps the deck be less graveyard dependent.
If you want to watch the Infect match you can here, and the Bant Company match here.
I have a player of the year championship on Saturday I may take this too since it's been doing so well, but I'm expecting a lot of UW Control to show up. At the last PPTQ at this store there was 6/47 pure UW Control which is scary. This will be an invite only tourney though, so possibly more KCI and Humans (less pet decks) which I'm fine with. I guess there are no haymaker cards that can beat UW Control while staying pure GW eh? Something like Pharika, God of Affliction vs GB decks.
For straight GW one card that used to see play for the control match up and mid-range grind was Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. This 5-0 GW List has 3 Gideon in the side.
As for the question of Boseiju, Who Shelters All. Read the card. Even in the GW list this land is terrible. It comes into play tapped. It produces colourless mana which makes it unplayable in Abzan. It is a bad choice against UWx control because even if you make your Coco or Chord uncounterable they generally have Path / Bolt / Helix to deal with one of the 2 or 3 combo pieces that need to be in play to make this resolve. Against control you have to play the long grindy game because comboing is very difficult due to the spot removal.
@shelldell - While I play Abzan Vizier both variants are in the same boat against Green-Tron in my opinion. Green-Tron has an inevitable plan against us that makes our only plan combo. They have to brick very badly for any kind of beat down plan to work against them. Siding in counters against them is fine, in my opinion, because the creatures that you mentioned are not helping you combo.
Spell Queller is a bit more of a tempo play that might work better in a control arch type but it can protect the combo to a limited degree. They are not your worst cards against Green-Tron.
If you are playing in a meta where that is a lot of heavy removal like Jund / Abzan / Control then you will need to put cards like Thrun, the last Troll and or Sigarda, Host of Herons in your side. Side these cards in and side out either utility cards or shave your flex slot cards. In these grindy match ups Gavony Township does a lot of work because it will allow you to preasure them with mana dorks and other smaller creatures not related to the combo.
For all intents and purpose Merfolk is a beat down deck that can consistently get there on turn 5 if it has a decent draw and turn 4 if it has a nut draw. You as a combo deck just need to be faster. There will be some games where they have disruption and there is nothing you can do about it because their synergy means that they don't really have to tap out very often with Aether Vial and Merrow Rejerey.
As for Tron, you need to be more specific about which version of tron. Mono-Green, Green-Black, Eldrazi-Tron? While each of these is fundamentally the same in my opinion they are approached with different considerations because they have cards that interact with our combo in different ways. For example I would be more willing to go all in against Eldrazi-tron then I would against other tron builds because they have less removal. I would also side differently fore each match up.
@adri_kalo - yes despite the main deck life gain combo, burn is a match up that warrants sideboard consideration to help. They have a number of cards like skullcrack that can give them enough time to pull out a win.
Again you have to consider what aggro deck you are facing? Is it a zoo deck or Human deck or a elfball deck? Different decks will result in different sideboards because the approach to the game changes. Against Elfball I would side in Path to Exile just to keep Ezuri, Renegade Leader or Craterhoof Behemoth from just winning the game but focus more on just comboing. Against Humans maybe both Path and Decay because they are focused a bit more on disrupting their opponents while playing out creatures and not combo-blitzing for a win using certain creatures.
I am wondering if the people on the GW Vizier forum who control the primer can update the match ups based on more of the current builds of the deck itself and the evolution of the other decks? I see some of the cards in the primer that are not relevant anymore. Thanks.
I saw another list that was 4-1 or 5-1 that was running only one.
I think it could be pretty good to filter draws but idk should be considered more
I don't see this as necessary. I would rather have 2 more Endbringer in my main. Also if this deck does need a bit more draw power then I think Karn, Scion of Urza is a way better card to build around.
I wouldn't run it because it just doesn't net card advantage or progress the board state. Most of the situations that I end up in where I need to draw cards is because I have no cards in hand. Azor's Gateway doesn't help. In the odd situation that I have a high casting cost card that I can't play then maybe but this seems too situational. If there is a need for extra card draw there are other artifacts out there would be just as good if not better because they would draw you cards without the need to exile anything. Also even if this card ever did flip ... not likely is my guess there is so much land destruction in modern that I don't think it would last long.
@evilford - I have 4 x Ghost Quarter main just for the mirror. I wouldn't play any less. I also run 1 or 2 Surgical Extraction in my sideboard not specifically for the tron mirror but I side them in. As much as Ghost Quarter + Surgical Extraction is a less then optimal situation, my play testing has brought me to the conclusion that the tron mirror is about 2 situations: who goes first and who assembles tron first. Buying myself enough time by using Ghost Quarter + surgical extraction helps when I'm on the play and / or when I'm not going to get to tron first.
Also if Damping Sphere is an actual card then what is Eldrazi tron going to do about it? Some of the cards that they have printed make me think that G/R Eldrazi is looking better positioned in the meta then other builds of tron.
A question for side boarding considerations. Does anyone bother siding in Pithing Needle against Jund? The two targets that I have considered are Fulminator Mage and Liliana of the Veil. I know they have main deck artifact destruction but I was wondering if needle helps that much.
Well so much for us getting the Tron lands reprinted in Masters 25 with a Modern border or seeing a Karn reprint for that matter. Maybe Dominaria or Core Set 2019.
I'm not too terribly concerned about the lands themselves but no reprint of Karn Liberated makes me sad. On the bright side Karn is only 80 to 100 unlike Jace, TMS.
What I am currently thinking about is replacing the Sea Gate Wreckage with Arch of Orazca. However getting to the city's blessing might be too difficult. What do you guys think?
I see either card working. It has been my experience that Sea Gate Wreckage doesn't draw as many cards as one might expect it too. I often find that I am holding multiple lands or a Karn or Ulamg in hand and can never really use the draw ability. At least with Arch of Orazca you can hit council's blessing just on land which is not that hard to hit 7 or 8 land in a match up against mid-range/control.
I would like to test this out and see how it compares.
I have been playing this deck a lot online. I have been playing both with Chalice main and without. My match win percentage is miserable against Death Shadow variants, such as 25%. Is this normal for the deck or is the death shadow match up supposed to be a bit more even?
Also how is the affinity match up in terms of percentages? I seem to be getting beaten quite badly in this match up as well.
What is the Zooicide match up supposed to be like? I'm not having much luck with either the Traverse teh world / Tarmo version or the Grixis - Delve version. I'm not sure if it is unfavorable in general or if I'm just playing it wrong.
@pbanker - If you are concerned about Anger of the Gods I encourage you to try Burrenton Forge-Tender instead of Selfless Spirit. Forge-Tender protects itself from the most common removal spells like Lightning Bolt and Terminate that tend to go in the same decks that use Anger of the Gods. Selfless Spirit can be bolted / terminated end step setting up an Anger. Yes ideally you can just chord out a spirit in response but it has been my experience that once you cast a forge-tender they stick around and often create problems for most of the decks running red. Of course some decks might just cast Supreme Verdict or Wrath of God and that is when Selfless Sprit shines but there is only one deck that is any where close to competitive running Verdict / Wrath and that is Jeskai control which I think straight up Thrun, the last troll is the best sideboard card against Jeskai followed next by Sigarda, host of heron
Give Forge-Tender a try. It protects itself. It is cheaper to chord into play. Stops Anger. Plus it has utility in several match ups (Naya Burn, Zooicide) where as Selfless Spirit is really about 3 cards (Anger, Wrath, Verdict).
It works but you have to +1 Kaya while they have cards in their graveyard then -1 Ashiok for this to work. You can only +1 Kaya if there is a card in a grave yard. That being said you can +1 targeting a card in your own grave yard then use the +5 against an opponent after milling them a couple of times.
I have been all in one zero chalice in the 75 and 4 Relic in the main for about 2 months now and I don't regret it at all. Relic is relevant against a large number of decks and at the very least it cycles for a draw card which this deck generally needs a lot of. I prefer Eldrazi Tron over Green Eldrazi as at least this deck has quick beats with Thought-Knot and Reality smasher. Where as Green Tron tends to do nothing quite a bit.
With the printing of Assassin's Trophey one of trons better match up, GB and Jund, just got a lot closer to even then it has ever been. I am now at about 55% win against these decks when I used to be 80%.
I think this arch-type is tier 2 but it still has game. In my last 4 leagues I have been 4-1,4-1, 3-2, and 4-1. Even in the past two months that I've started playing this deck again I have been able to grind and win. Clearly there are some bad match ups but that has always been the case. I think that this deck needs to be retooled for the quicker meta but I haven't quite tested what that looks like yet.
I have been thinking about dropping Karn Liberated all together as currently it is in the side and I don't usually bring it in against anything but the tron mirror. However I'm probably wrong in that there is more use for Karn Liberated then just the mirror.
My current deck list is this:
4 x Urza's Tower
4 x Urza's Mine
4 x Urza's Power Plant
4 x Wastes
3 x Ghost Quarter
1 x Cavern of Souls
4 x Eldrazi Temple
Sorcery
2 x All is dust
Instant
2 x Dismember
Creatures
4 x Matter Reshaper
4 x thought-knot seer
4 x Reality Smasher
2 x Endbringer
4 x Walking Ballista
1 x Batterskull
1 x Basilisk Collar
4 x Expidition Map
1 x Crucible of Worlds
4 x Relic of Progenitus
Planeswalkers
2 x Karn, Scion of Urza
1 x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 x Grafdigger's Cage
2 x Pithing Needle
2 x Ratchet Bomb
2 x spatial contortion
2 x Sun Droplet
2 x Surgical Extraction
1 x Ulamog, the Ceaseless hunger
2 x Warping Wail
Yes. Playing 2 in the main and generally is a good card in most matchups. Unless in the opening hand. Good card draw plus some dorks which are surprisingly large due to usually having 2 or 3 other artifacts in play. I like them. Plus they can be cast through blood moon and dampening sphere fairly easily.
Also it is my experience with the number of times that I have played affinity in the queues online (0-9 all time) is that if you expect a lot of affinity either the traditional build or the hardened scales build just don't play this deck. Affinity is such a tough match up that I don't even bother trying to side for it. If I get paired against it I play just to hope that they mull and draw into nothing and give eldrazi tron a chance. There are more winnable match ups the the sideboard should be used for. There are some very narrow draws that might get one game out of the match but relying on getting that draw 2 out of 3 is just against the odds. I like having board spots for graveyard hate and hate for humans and spirits.
For straight GW one card that used to see play for the control match up and mid-range grind was Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. This 5-0 GW List has 3 Gideon in the side.
As for the question of Boseiju, Who Shelters All. Read the card. Even in the GW list this land is terrible. It comes into play tapped. It produces colourless mana which makes it unplayable in Abzan. It is a bad choice against UWx control because even if you make your Coco or Chord uncounterable they generally have Path / Bolt / Helix to deal with one of the 2 or 3 combo pieces that need to be in play to make this resolve. Against control you have to play the long grindy game because comboing is very difficult due to the spot removal.
Spell Queller is a bit more of a tempo play that might work better in a control arch type but it can protect the combo to a limited degree. They are not your worst cards against Green-Tron.
@Shelldell - For merfolk I would suggest siding in Sin Collector or Tidehollow Sculler to take away their disruption and focus purely on trying to combo off. You have to play around Harbinger of the tides and tidebinder mage just as much as Echoing Truth or Vapor Snag. Chances are there will also be Spreading Seas so side in Abrupt Decay and enchantment removal if you are concerned about your mana.
For all intents and purpose Merfolk is a beat down deck that can consistently get there on turn 5 if it has a decent draw and turn 4 if it has a nut draw. You as a combo deck just need to be faster. There will be some games where they have disruption and there is nothing you can do about it because their synergy means that they don't really have to tap out very often with Aether Vial and Merrow Rejerey.
As for Tron, you need to be more specific about which version of tron. Mono-Green, Green-Black, Eldrazi-Tron? While each of these is fundamentally the same in my opinion they are approached with different considerations because they have cards that interact with our combo in different ways. For example I would be more willing to go all in against Eldrazi-tron then I would against other tron builds because they have less removal. I would also side differently fore each match up.
@adri_kalo - yes despite the main deck life gain combo, burn is a match up that warrants sideboard consideration to help. They have a number of cards like skullcrack that can give them enough time to pull out a win.
Again you have to consider what aggro deck you are facing? Is it a zoo deck or Human deck or a elfball deck? Different decks will result in different sideboards because the approach to the game changes. Against Elfball I would side in Path to Exile just to keep Ezuri, Renegade Leader or Craterhoof Behemoth from just winning the game but focus more on just comboing. Against Humans maybe both Path and Decay because they are focused a bit more on disrupting their opponents while playing out creatures and not combo-blitzing for a win using certain creatures.
I am wondering if the people on the GW Vizier forum who control the primer can update the match ups based on more of the current builds of the deck itself and the evolution of the other decks? I see some of the cards in the primer that are not relevant anymore. Thanks.
I don't see this as necessary. I would rather have 2 more Endbringer in my main. Also if this deck does need a bit more draw power then I think Karn, Scion of Urza is a way better card to build around.
I wouldn't run it because it just doesn't net card advantage or progress the board state. Most of the situations that I end up in where I need to draw cards is because I have no cards in hand. Azor's Gateway doesn't help. In the odd situation that I have a high casting cost card that I can't play then maybe but this seems too situational. If there is a need for extra card draw there are other artifacts out there would be just as good if not better because they would draw you cards without the need to exile anything. Also even if this card ever did flip ... not likely is my guess there is so much land destruction in modern that I don't think it would last long.
@evilford - I have 4 x Ghost Quarter main just for the mirror. I wouldn't play any less. I also run 1 or 2 Surgical Extraction in my sideboard not specifically for the tron mirror but I side them in. As much as Ghost Quarter + Surgical Extraction is a less then optimal situation, my play testing has brought me to the conclusion that the tron mirror is about 2 situations: who goes first and who assembles tron first. Buying myself enough time by using Ghost Quarter + surgical extraction helps when I'm on the play and / or when I'm not going to get to tron first.
Also if Damping Sphere is an actual card then what is Eldrazi tron going to do about it? Some of the cards that they have printed make me think that G/R Eldrazi is looking better positioned in the meta then other builds of tron.
I'm not too terribly concerned about the lands themselves but no reprint of Karn Liberated makes me sad. On the bright side Karn is only 80 to 100 unlike Jace, TMS.
I see either card working. It has been my experience that Sea Gate Wreckage doesn't draw as many cards as one might expect it too. I often find that I am holding multiple lands or a Karn or Ulamg in hand and can never really use the draw ability. At least with Arch of Orazca you can hit council's blessing just on land which is not that hard to hit 7 or 8 land in a match up against mid-range/control.
I would like to test this out and see how it compares.
Also how is the affinity match up in terms of percentages? I seem to be getting beaten quite badly in this match up as well.
What is the Zooicide match up supposed to be like? I'm not having much luck with either the Traverse teh world / Tarmo version or the Grixis - Delve version. I'm not sure if it is unfavorable in general or if I'm just playing it wrong.
Give Forge-Tender a try. It protects itself. It is cheaper to chord into play. Stops Anger. Plus it has utility in several match ups (Naya Burn, Zooicide) where as Selfless Spirit is really about 3 cards (Anger, Wrath, Verdict).