How to beat Tron in Pauper
Over the last 90 days of recorded Pauper matches, the decks with the best results against Tron are Mono Red Rally (83% over 6 matches), Ephemerate Tron (71% over 7 matches) and Elves (67% over 9 matches). Mono Red Rally's 83% sits in a 95% range of 44%–97%, which is the range a 6-match sample actually supports. The decks with the best records against it most often carry Blue Elemental Blast, Red Elemental Blast and Hydroblast in the sideboard — those are their sideboards in general, not cards chosen for this matchup.
Best records against Tron
Matches played in the last 90 days, from events that publish round-by-round pairings. Ranked by the bottom of each 95% range, not by the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one.
| Deck | Win rate vs Tron | Record | Matches | Sample | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mono Red Rally | 83.3% | 5-1 | 6 | Low sample | 44%–97% |
| Ephemerate Tron | 71.4% | 5-2 | 7 | Low sample | 36%–92% |
| Elves | 66.7% | 6-3 | 9 | Medium sample | 35%–88% |
| Mono-Blue Faeries | 66.7% | 4-2 | 6 | Low sample | 30%–90% |
- High sample · 20+ matches
- Medium sample · 8–19 matches
- Low sample · 5–7 matches
29 further pairings (45 matches) fall below the 5-match floor and are not given a percentage. 1 pairing against archetypes that have left the Pauper metagame is excluded. Full history, retired archetypes included, is on Tron's archetype page and in the Pauper matchup matrix.
What the decks that beat Tron bring
Sideboard cards run by Mono Red Rally, Ephemerate Tron, Elves, Mono-Blue Faeries. This is not a sideboard guide for this matchup. We record who beat whom, not what either player boarded, so these are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play — a hint about the kind of card that punishes Tron, not a list to bring in.
| Card | Decks running it | Average copies | Which decks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Elemental Blast | 2 of 4 | 3.0 | Ephemerate Tron, Mono-Blue Faeries |
| Red Elemental Blast | 2 of 4 | 2.5 | Mono Red Rally, Ephemerate Tron |
| Hydroblast | 2 of 4 | 1.9 | Ephemerate Tron, Mono-Blue Faeries |
| Relic of Progenitus | 2 of 4 | 1.7 | Mono Red Rally, Mono-Blue Faeries |
| Pyroblast | 2 of 4 | 1.6 | Mono Red Rally, Ephemerate Tron |
| Cast into the Fire | 1 of 4 | 2.8 | Mono Red Rally |
| Steel Sabotage | 1 of 4 | 2.8 | Mono-Blue Faeries |
| Monstrous Emergence | 1 of 4 | 2.6 | Elves |
| Faerie Macabre | 1 of 4 | 2.1 | Elves |
| Vitu-Ghazi Inspector | 1 of 4 | 1.7 | Elves |
| End the Festivities | 1 of 4 | 1.5 | Mono Red Rally |
| Annul | 1 of 4 | 1.5 | Mono-Blue Faeries |
Average copies is expected copies per deck — average copies played multiplied by the share of that archetype's lists running the card — so a 4-of in half the lists reads as 2.0.
Decks Tron beats
The other end of the same table. If you are choosing a deck to attack Tron with, the record argues against these.
| Deck | Win rate vs Tron | Record | Matches | Sample | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jund Wildfire | 22.2% | 2-7 | 9 | Medium sample | 6%–55% |
| Mono Red Madness | 33.3% | 2-4 | 6 | Low sample | 10%–70% |
- High sample · 20+ matches
- Medium sample · 8–19 matches
- Low sample · 5–7 matches
Questions
What beats Tron in Pauper?
Across the last 90 days, Mono Red Rally (83% over 6 matches), Ephemerate Tron (71% over 7 matches) and Elves (67% over 9 matches) hold the best recorded results against Tron. Records come from events that publish round-by-round pairings, and both decks in a match have to be identified for it to count, so these are the pairings we can see rather than every match played.
What should I bring in against Tron?
We do not have sideboard choices tied to individual matches, so this is not a sideboard guide. What the data supports is narrower: the 4 decks with the best records against Tron — Mono Red Rally, Ephemerate Tron, Elves and Mono-Blue Faeries — most commonly run Blue Elemental Blast, Red Elemental Blast, Hydroblast, Relic of Progenitus and Pyroblast in their sideboards. Those are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play.
What does Tron beat?
Tron's best recorded matchups over the same window are Jund Wildfire (78% across 9 matches) and Mono Red Madness (67% across 6 matches). If you are picking a deck to attack Tron with, these are the ones the record argues against.
How reliable are these Pauper matchup numbers?
Not very, and the page says so per row rather than in aggregate. Every pairing shows its match count, its sample band and a 95% range; the strongest band we award is 20+ matches, which is still roughly a ±20-point range around the figure shown. Pairings under 5 matches are counted but never given a percentage — there are 29 of those for Tron right now. Rankings use the bottom of each range rather than the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one it has not earned.
What period does this cover?
Matches played in the last 90 days, filtered on when each match was actually played. Archetypes that have dropped out of the Pauper metagame are excluded from the ranking, which removes 1 pairing here — their historical records are still on Tron's own archetype page and in the format matchup matrix.
What each number on this site measures, and where it is least reliable, is set out on the methodology page.