Report Top 4 Paupergeddon Summer 2026 - Pinger Tron by Manuel Macis

Hi everyone! I'm Manuel Macis from Lega Pauper Torino, also known as Huskyman20035 on MTGO. I managed to finish in the Top 4 of Paupergeddon Summer Edition 2026 with my latest brew: Pingers Tron.

Why a brew, and why Pingers Tron? Well, I've always liked being an outlier, doing things my own way and staying away from the usual, established decks, both in life and in Magic.

Back in May, I was playing on MTGO when I was lucky enough to get paired against Davide Abis (Abisd94 on MTGO). To be honest, I never really liked playing against him because he was always beating me with weird, obscure decks. This time was no different. Still, after the match I decided to message him about his brew because I've always been interested in Tron archetypes, and I love flickering things. Long story short, we spent the next two months discussing the deck almost every day, and eventually we arrived at the 75 cards that I registered for Paupergeddon.

What I love about Pingers Tron is that it offers multiple angles of attack. The deck is packed with threats: it can stabilize the board or close out games with Bramble Wurm, probably the best creature in Pauper, it can slowly ping the opponent to death with Mysidian Elder and Black Mage's Rod, or it can simply burn the opponent out of nowhere with Kaervek's Torch.

I am a Mathematician and I love numbers and the relationship between quantities. So far I have studied a lot of decks trying to understand what characteristics are key to their success. Pingers Tron is a deck inspired by probably the best deck in pauper in this moment which is Jund Wildfire. If you take a closer look to the deck list you can notice 21 lands, 17 plus 4 Expedition Map, 6 instant draw spells, 4 reach creatures, 3 Nihil Spellbomb, 7 artifact that draws card and a finisher. This “aura” proportion seem to give any given midrange deck the best chance to attack the meta game.

Tournament

Round 1 - Mono Red Madness

I got paired against a former league teammate. He was really kind and gave me a candy wishing me good luck. Well I guess it worked. Game 1: I was off a really hot start, Tron and color on line on turn three, with a big Bramble Wurm on the Table and a Flicker as a back up. He started quite slow with a Grab the Prize discarding a Lava Dart, for couple of turns and putting the first Kessig on the Table on turn 5. It was too little too late, I was already at 35 life point with a 7/6 reach trample on the table.

Game 2: This game was a bit different, I played nihil spellbomb turn 1 and I avoided any sneaky Snacker on the table. Then i slowly assembled Tron with some cast down killing his Kessig Flamebreather and an Hydro on guttersnipe. He managed to put me to 10 life with his Epicures but when I finally close Tron the game was over. Bramble on the table and time to fight back.

Match 2-0, Score 1-0

Round 2 - Monster Tron - Andrea Feltrin

Panic. Which is the worst opponent you can get paired against if not the latest Paupergeddon champion? Luckily for me he was not playing Elves. Game 1: We both started really strong and had everything we could have ever wanted. Pingers for me, big booty monsters for him. I played the game in order to buy as much turn as possible and I ended up at one life point, and as the famous phrase says “at 1 nobody as ever died”. Well this was exactly the case. I untap and deal with two pingers on the table 22 damage in one turn. I have to say, it felt nice.

Game 2: here I started quite fast and he was a bit slow, I had Tron on turn 3 and a Pinger on the table. I slowly pinged him to death, even though I realized after the game that he had torch in hand and I could have died a turn later. The tournament was off a great start.

Match 2-0, Score 2-0

Round 3 - Elves

The fun was over, probably the second worst match up in the meta beside faeries. Game 1: Turn 1 Llanowar elf, Turn 2 Priest of Titania and Quirion Ranger ,Turn 3 Nyxhborn Hydra. Dead.

After sideboard the match up is playable, but opponent was not playable that day.

Game 2: I keep a fine hand, and hope to not get destroyed on turn three. I was missing colour so with map I had to take Conduyt Pylons instead of closing Tron. Guess what: Turn 1 Llanowar elf, Turn 2 Priest of Titania and Quirion Ranger , Turn 3 Nyxhborn Hydra. Dead.

Match 0-2, Score 2-1

Round 4 - Flicker Tron.

It was time to strike back, what’s the best way? Well get paired against a slow Tron deck which struggle to close Tron. Game 1: I kept an hot hand and he quite a slow one. I slammed a Bramble Wurm and a Pinger on the Table by Turn 4 and it was good game by Turn 6.

Game 2: He kept a stronger hand than the previous game and we exchanged resources for a couple of turns. I was trying to avoid his counters, accumulating resources one turn after the other. In the end I went for it in his turn and I got everything countered as planned but I untapped, upkeep, draw, tap all my lands, Torch. GG.

Match 2-0, Score 3-1

Round 5 - Flicker Tron

Another Match, another game, another Tron. Game 1: The first game was easy, Flicker Tron doesn’t have that many counterspells G1, so I just needed to bait a couple out and than exile them with Nihil Spellbomb. I placed some pingers and ended up closing easily the game.

Game 2: This was probably the toughest game of all tournament. I had to, as I like to say, “control the control”. He sided a lot of interactions and I had to play the slow route. At some point after I had accumulated enough resources I exploded and started drawing half my deck, realizing after a bit that probably I would deck out quickly if i didn’t manage to stick a pinger onto the table. So I started slowing down and avoiding big turns to lower the storm count for the Weather the Storm of my opponent. I kept making land drops for my Torch that was burning in my hand. I was ready to play slowly for couple more turns and shuffling my lembas and pinging here and there, but than he went for it with a big rolling thunder, luckily not as big to kill me but quite scary one. He played Memonic Wall, took back Rolling Thunder and he passed the Turn. I knew I had to go for it. He was at 20 , I attack with Mysidian Elder, he didn’t block with an Eldrazi Spawn, 19 life points. I tap 25, Torch for 24 damage plus one damage of a wizard Token. He asks: “Storm count” I reply: “One” and I start smiling because 18+6 = game, set, match. He started smiling too and he ended shaking my hand.

Match 2-0, Score 4-1

Round 6 - Grixis Affinity

Finally a non-Tron deck and also a quite favorite match up. Game 1: Game 1 was so long and back and forth for a while. I managed to stabilize with some lembas loop and with a couple of Bramble Wurm. He was desperate and had to sack 12 lands in a couple of turns because my Bramble Wurm were too annoying and he ended up with a Makeshift munition, a land and an Utrom Monitor. I Flickered two Black Mage’s Rod on the table, untapped and killed him with the lembas loop and other spells I had in hand. At the end of this game we had 5 minutes on the clock so I knew I just needed to not lose.

I wanted to secure the result so I went into a cacume defense mode. Game 2: He started quite hot but I was there to fog him for a couple of turns and then I played two Bramble and the Chinese Wall was up.

Match 1-0, Score 5-1

The hands started shacking. The day 2 dream was really close.

Round 7 - Mono Red Madness

Game 1: I mulled to 4 and basically conceded the game without playing

Game 2: I had fire in my hand. Tron, color, double Wurm on the table + Flicker as a back up by turn 5. I was at 35 and opponent decided that it was enough.

Game 3: He started slow with a grab the prize discarding a lava dart. I also struggled but still managed to resolve a couple of his pingers with Hydroblast and Cast Down. Than on turn 6, he untapped, attacked, with a Voldaren Epicure and a Kessig Flamebreather and cracked a Blood Token discarding a land, played a looting discarding two more lands and my confidence sky rocketed. I untapped, close Tron, played Bramble Wurm, Flicker it, and killed Kessig. I was at day 2. I couldn’t believe it.

Match 2-1, Score 6-1

Round 8 - Grixis Affinity

I felt like a was dreaming but I had no time to rest so I had to stay focused, because now the goal was bigger and I didn’t want to let it slip. I had just one rule: focus on one game at time.

Game 1: He had a slow start, with just a Refurbished Familiar and an Utrom Monitor. I placed a Bramble Wurm and stabilized from there. After that it was a snowball until the victory. The game with affinity usually go like this if they don’t start like madman’s .

Game 2: He had the naz start, I was terrified but still alive on turn 5. I had one out: find Tron and a Moment Peace, I flicker a Cryogen Relic and a Lembas. I found what I need. I stabilized for two turns, with Moment’s Peace, than I sticked a Bramble Wurm on the table and I went on to win the game after some lembas cycles to get out of reach of his Galvanic Blast.

Another Match in the books.

Match 2-0, Score 7-1

Round 9 - Grixis Affinity

I was picked in the back up featured match area. Pressure and gloves were on but the focus was there. Game 1: The opponent was clearly surprised by the deck and lost because didn’t really know what to expect, at least this is what I saw.

Game 2: This game was weird because he sideboard in what seemed to me all his counters. I got stuck for a couple of turns because of his counters which seemed endless. Luckily he just had them and no pressure on the board. I managed to stabilize after some turns of land pass. I took over the game because he didn’t have enough resources to beat my Bramble Wurms. Is it the first time that happens ?

Round 10 - Spy Walls

Not the happiest match up but not the worst. Game 1: He just combo off without giving me the chance of doing anything.

Game 2: I mulled to 6 hoping to draw something good like a spellbomb or something else. Nothing two lands and candys and lembas. I had to hope. Luckily it payed off, after some annoying Mesmeric Fiends. I sticked some pingers on the table and I started chump blocking an Avenging Hunter that was quickly killing me. But similarly against Monster Tron in the second round I went to 1 life point. Untapped and you can figure out how it ended.

Game 3: Finally he had a slow start with no Overgrawn Battlement on the table on T2. While I had two spellbombs, plus flicker as a back up. The game was easy and clean. The show was going on.

Match 2-1, Score 9-1

Round 11 - Altar Tron

Game 1: Probably the funniest game of the all tournament. He mulled to 5 and was quite unlucky but still managed to put two annoying Fangrem Marauder on the table. He probably gained 80 life that game. But 7 pingers on the table by turn 10 where enough to kill him.

Game 2: I had the best possibile start and he was really slow. It was not much of a game.

Match 2-0, Score 10-1

Round 12 - Mono U Terror

I was back in the feature match area. Game 1: I Kept a reasonable hand without knowing what I was playing against. I start Urza land, Nihil Spellbomb and my opponent looked not too happy about it. He kept a slow hand and I was able to assemble Tron and win with a Bramble + Torch combination.

Game 2: He started with quite a nice hand and I kept a reactive hand, without Tron but with land drops and interactions. He played a Terror on turn three and was met by a cast down some turns later. He played another terror, another cast down, and finally after some baiting I managed to close Tron and close the game easily from there.

I knew I was dreaming but I didn’t want to stop.

Match 2-0, Score 11-1

Round 13 - Mono White Aggro

We decided that it was lunch time so we shook hands and agreed for a Draw.

Match 0-0-3, Score 11-1-1

Round 14 - Mono Red Rally

I talked to my opponent and realized we just needed a Draw to make top8 so we just shook hands and went out the playing hall to breath some fresh air.

Match 0-0-3, Score 11-2-1

Top8 - Mono Red Rally

The dream was real. There was no time for seconds thought, I had to give my best. I got paired against the same guy of the last round of Swiss, so it was finally time to throw Magic cards at each other. Rally is not a favorable match up, in my opinion, but post sideboard we have better chances. I finished in the Swiss higher ranking than my opponent so I was lucky to start the game. Game 1: We both Keep at 7. The only problem is that I had everything a Tron player could dream. I had natural Tron, color, Bramble Wurm number one, Bramble Wurm number two, Ghostly Flicker on the two Bramble Wurms and the third Bramble Wurm in hand but my opponent conceded before seeing it. Impressive start I had to say. The Tron god was helping me.

Game 2: With open deck lists I saw my opponent was running raze in the sideboard and I was terrified. I kept a reasonable hand against him, with some lands, color, couple of fog and Hydroblast. I started buying some turns even though he had an hell of a start and managed to to put me down to three. At the top deck I managed to close Tron and had to calculate a forced line to save my self couple more turns because it was clear my opponent had a bolt in hand and I was a three life points . After some thought I luckily found it and managed to survive couple more turns until I found a gigantic Bramble Wurm and close the game off from there.

Match 2-0, Score 12-1-2

Top4 - Mono White Weenie

I was confident coming up in this match up, usually he his slower than me and with a couple of Bramble Wurms I can stabilize the board and then finish him off with the Pingers. Well as always nothing goes as planned. Game 1: we both mulligan to five cards. I keep a reasonable hand against him and I was confident, because usually mono white suffers the mulligan more than me, well I couldn’t be more wrong. He started with Raffine’s informant discarding Lunarch Veteran, then a Battle Screech came on turn four and a top deck of Guardian Pledge finished me immediately. Nice and quick but it’s never over until it’s over. Especially after sideboard where I can bring Moment’s Peace and Breath Weapon to clear the board.

Game 2: I mulligan to five cards with a pretty bad hand and he kept at six with a quite strong start with Leonardo the Big Brother. I started with candy trail looking for the second land drop and I saw two. The second Urza’s Mine and an island. Here I probably made the biggest error in my tournament. I was tired and I wanted Tron so I automatically kept the Urza land, even though I hade the same one the board. The idea was that in later turns I would have loved to have more mana rather than more color. Wrong. I drew a lot of Ghostly Flicker during the game that could’ve finished him off but with the lack of colored mana I was not able to cast them. After that I managed to stabilize the game with a couple of Bramble Wurms but the deck started to not follow me and gave me just lands and Moment’s Peace, which is fine but you need to do something else in order to win a Magic game, not just seat on your Moment’s Peace, especially if your opponent is at one life point. Well he was able to kill me with a Thraben charm casted exiling my last Moment’s Peace. My opponent played the match perfectly and deserved to reach the final, while I had to pack my cards and accept the defeat but realizing shortly after what I had just achieved over the course of the last two days.

Match 0-2, Score 12-2-2

Final Conclusion

My choice paid off. After months of testing, I was able to prove the power of the deck, which I believe has the potential to become a tiered deck. Pingers Tron is not the best deck in the format, but it is probably the one that best fits my playstyle. As I mentioned before, the deck is inspired by Jund Wildfire, but also by the idea of bringing together some of the strongest cards from different archetypes, such as Bramble Wurm, Ghostly Flicker, Black Mage's Rod, and Eviscerator's Insight. The deck felt incredibly fun and well-rounded, but there is still a lot of work to do to make it even better. That said, I think this is a very good starting point.

The most important deckbuilding decision that Davide and I made was playing more copies of Mysidian Elder than Black Mage's Rod. Artifact hate is very common in the current metagame, and Mysidian Elder also has much better synergy with Ghostly Flicker.

Another key decision was moving Bramble Wurm and Nihil Spellbomb from the sideboard to the main deck. This freed up valuable sideboard slots and allowed us to improve several difficult matchups.

Finally, I want to thank everyone at Lega Pauper Torino for all the support and encouragement they gave me. I really needed it. They celebrated this result with me and helped me realize how special this achievement was because, if I'm honest, I'm rarely satisfied with myself and I tend to undervalue what I accomplish.

I also want to thank Davide for his incredible patience. When I become passionate about something, I can be incredibly persistent and annoying, but he was always willing to listen, discuss ideas, and help me improve the deck.