DedWards

That they are Swarmer. Phyresis is mistaken / confused.

Skred is a common. Coldsnap has commons with a white set symbol. Was flavourful, with all the ice and snow theme, but looked a little too much like the silver set symbol.

You can check rarities, legalities, etc. on Gatherer
http://gatherer.wizards.com

Desert Cerodon is a common. The set symbol is black, which is common. Where are you getting Uncommon from?

Fling; Insult (Insult // Injury); or Uncaged Fury can help you close the game sooner.
Curious Homunculus helps play more Spells a turn. It also has Prowess when transformed.
Cryptic Serpent gets cheaper to cast for each instant and sorcery in your graveyard.
Contingency Plan selectively self mills.
Shreds of Sanity returns one instant and one sorcery from your graveyard to your hand.

The idea is cool, but I think you need some deck manipulation. Sensei's Divining Top would be perfect for this, but sadly that's banned in all formats except Vintage. Here's a few other options, though some require a splash into a second colour.

> Crown of Convergence: Play with the top card of your library revealed. {G}{W}: Put the top card of your library on the bottom of your library.
> Darksteel Pendant: {1}, {T}: Scry 1
> Seer's Lantern: {T}: Add {C}. {2}, {T}: Scry 1
> Cream of the Crop: Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may look at the top X cards of your library, where X is that creature's power. If you do, put one of those cards on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
> Congregation at Dawn: Search your library for 3 creatures and put them on top of your library.
> Courser of Kruphix: Play with the top card of your library revealed. You may play the top card of your library if it's a land card.
> Nissa, Steward of Elements: [+2]: Scry 2. [0]: Look at the top card of your library. If it's a land card or a creature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of loyalty counters on Nissa, Steward of Elements, you may put that card onto the battlefield.

I personally like Congregation at Dawn to set up Descendants' Path, but Nissa's Scry 2 is also very good. Additionally, if left alone, Nissa could put a number of the titans onto the battlefield (sadly not cast) with her [0].

Oh, and I've designed a Modern deck that has the potential to have a turn two Tentacruel :P

http://www.mtgvault.com/dedwards/decks/the-challenge/

We can do better than Drake Haven, which requires you to jump through loops and pay extra mana. I am aware of the synergy with all the looting, but I personally feel this deck wants to go all in on the Polymorph plan. To that end, green or white may have been better than the red as they can produce tokens a lot easier, but sticking with red, there's a decent amount of low cost noncreature spells that produce token for you to Polymorph:

> Spawning Breath: you're already using this, so I don't need to explain it.
> Brood Birthing: At worst, it's just 1 Eldrazi Spawn. But if you already control a Spawn, this gives 3 more. Good for ramping into the Polymorph while keeping counters up to protect either Polymorph from counters or Tentacruel from what little removal can touch her.
> Dragon Fodder / Krenko's Command: {1}{R} Sorcery that produces 2 Goblins
> Goblin Assault: I feel this requires special mention as other than the initial investment of casting it, the toke production is free.


This is just my opinion on the deck. Ultimately, the final choice is yours.

I've played against multiple versions of mill in Modern. Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker; Consuming Aberration; and Nemesis of Reason seem cool on paper, but in practice they're way too slow. At 5 mana, not having an immediate effect hurts the mill player more than helps them, especially since you're only running 20 lands. I'm aware how good they are if they live, but in Modern they're not likely to live for long enough to trigger more than once most of the time, if at all.

Hedron Crab and Jace's Phantasm are awesome though. Especially the crab. Might I suggest adding a full set of Polluted Delta to get doubl triggers off the crabs.

Now, Mesmeric Orb is deceptively powerful. It Mills the opponent first and almost every card in your deck either Mills or is a land (which triggers Hedron Crab), so the down side is minimal. And it being colourless is just the cherry on the cake. I highly recommend this at 4x mainboard.

Shelldock Isle is another land I've seen used to great effect in a dedicated mill deck like this.


Now onto some more experimental ideas:

While Surgical Extraction / Extirpate is great against Tentacruel (Emrakul, the Aeons Torn), they still get one shuffle back. My experimental idea is to strip her out with Infinite Obliteration / Lost Legacy before she has a chance to trigger the shuffle back. Another idea of mine along similar lines is Sadistic Sacrament, which can also hit lands to make Mind Funeral better. I've also seen some mill builds splash white for Path to Exile, which has some synergy with Archive Trap. In those builds Seek (Hide // Seek) could also strip the opponent of Tentacruel, and gain you 15 life in the process.

Mirrorpool is another idea I had, though this one requires a special mana base. The idea behind Mirrorpool is to cast one of the heavy mill spells (ideally a free Archive Trap), pay {2}{C} and sacrifice Mirrorpool to double up on the mill spell. Underground River is the best support for this land, but the Ghost Quarters help too. Just sucks that Mirrorpool enters the battlefield tapped.

And speaking of lands that work with mill, I think Nephalia Drownyard is worth considering. It's also a source of {C} for Mirrorpool.

FYI, Darkwater Catacombs appears to be the only thing stopping this from being Modern legal.

I'm aware of the power of Koth in here. I've watched many video of Skred Red and tested a few on XMage. I really like how Ponza and Skred Red share some key cards, makes it easier to switch between the two. Koth has priority on my next order, with Chandra being of secondary importance, even though she fits well in Ponza.

Ankh of Mishra isn't exactly new, it just recently got a new print. It's also not Modern legal, if you care about that.

Splinter Exiles target artifact and all cards with the same name in the opponent's hand, graveyard, and library.

Surgical Extraction is free (well, 2 life) to Exile any card in the graveyard that's not a basic land (yes, it can hit nonbasic lands) and all cards with the same name in the opponent's hand, graveyard, and library.

Ancient Grudge with its flashback for {G} hits two artifacts.

Blessed Alliance mainboard? You expecting a lot of Boggles? Because it's excellent against them.

I've played against two U Tron decks to date. First was at WMCQ last year while I was piloting my spin on Ponza and the other more recently on XMage while piloting a brew around Dubious Challenge. One thing I did notice that you're not using is both decks ran Talisman of Dominance. This is not only a small bit of ramp (small in comparison to having 3 Tron lands), it helps a LOT in getting that much needed {U} mana, and sometimes {B} for sideboard cards like Dismember. Another option instead of Talisman of Dominance is Dimir Signet, though the Talisman is the superior between the two.

I'd also like to take the moment to say something: I absolutely HATE playing against Oblivion Stone. It's not only a Wrath on an artifact that you can recur with Academy Ruins, as a Ponza player it gets addition hate as being a colourless answer to Blood Moon >:[

List is looking a little more aggressive than other, pre rules change, versions. I was saddened by losing Boom // Bust + Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but Iso-Seek took a much bigger hit than my one card trick. I like the update. Keep up the good work.

Second Harvest would be awesome in here. Effectively doubles your mana dorks.

Tentacruel being banned is the only thing stopping this being Standard legal. I see this was posted when she wasn't banned, but if you want to continue using this in Standard, the most logical replacement is Ulamog. Endless One is another, less impressive, option that is a good use of all that mana. Walking Ballista is another solid replacement option.

Firstly, a general building tip:
Keep close to 60 and play multiple copies: This helps increase the the chances of drawing key cards often.

I also suggest upping your land count.

Now, you're wanting to produce multiple Servos with Sly Requisitioner? Here's a few suggestions to help this:
> Hidden Stockpile: Sacrifices creatures to Scry. Also creates Servos if any permanent left the battlefield during your turn.
> Wayfarer's Bauble: Sacrifices itself to ramp you a land. Helps ramp into Sly Requisitioner and triggers it's ability.
> Origin Spellbomb: Sacrifices itself to create a Myr and can draw you a card.
> Cogworker's Puzzleknot: Creates more Servos and sacrifices itself.
> Shrine of Loyal Legions: Sacrifices itself to create Myr.
> Myr Sire: Creates a Myr when it dies.
> Mishra's Bauble: A free artifact that sacrifices itself to draw your a card.
> Tormod's Crypt: Good Sideboard option. Sacrifices itself to exile all cards in a graveyard.
> Executioner's Capsule: Sacrifices itself to kill a creature.
> Implement of Improvement: Sacrifices itself to gain you life and draws you a card.
> Nihil Spellbomb: Another good sideboard option against graveyards.
> Implement of Malice: Sacrifice to make the opponent discard a card and you draw a card.
> Metalspinner's Puzzleknot: More card draw for you.
> Mind Stone: A mana rock that can be sacrificed to draw a card.
> Anointed Procession: 1 doubles your token production, 2 Quadruples it, 3 is x8, 4 is x16.
> Tempered Steel: All your tokens are artifacts, so this gives them all +2/+2
> Path to Exile / Fatal Push: All decks need some form of removal. These are arguably the best White and Black removal in Modern.

I actually have a set of the White Force Spike. Good card :P

I guess Mimic Vat control would need to at least run sideboard teck to counteract the artifact hate.

Not only Mulldrifter for the Vat, but also Shriekmaw :D Blue would be useful in fetching the key card. Lots of artifact search in blue. In Standard, we have Trophy Mage that can fetch the Vat, and any other 3 mana artifact. Padeem, Consul of Innovation would be worth considering for the hexproof clause to protect the Vat.

There's a downside to Mimic Vat. Because Affinity is a big deal in Modern, almost everyone has sideboard artifact hate.

I'd love to have my Mimic Vat "eat" the opponent's Kitchen Finks :P

Going to have to do some testing on XMage...

I see what you mean. What's your thoughts on Mimic Vat?