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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Jan 17 2020 1:00pm
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 Welcome back to Tribal Apocalypse!

   Table of Contents 

  1. Last Week on Tribal Apocalypse...
  2. The High Price of Winning
  3. Show and Tell
  4. Announcements
  5. What's Next

Check the full archive for the "Diaries of the Apocalypse" series


THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 The 2019 Invitational is tomorrow, the 16 contenders are ready, except for a couple that didn't answer the call, so reserves are alerted. Otherwise, the missing spots will be turned into BYEs for the top seeds, as usual. The current situation is here. This year we'll use a simplified ruling, with each round being just a reflection of the four sub-formats we (used to) play regularly, presented in the order of our monthly rotation (as of last year): Underdog, Standard, Modern and Legacy. The only caveat is that you can't use the same tribe twice in the event. Top players lockout does not apply, the Invitational neither clears it nor is affected by it. Good luck, everyone!

 

 In the meantime, Theros Beyond Death is fully spoiled and released on MTGO (the time when digital had to wait for paper is long gone), so feel free to use the new cards tomorrow, if you like. The Invitational decks don't represent what the players did in 2019, and the legality of the four formats uses their current state, with respect to both card pool and ban lists. So be advised, you might meet those two bad boys up there.


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 10.02, Week 470 BE
  • Date: January 11
  • Attendance: 10
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Pioneer
  • Winner: Bandit Keith with Vampire
  • 1 Loss: -DiamondDust- with Zombie, Kumagoro with Elf, ThyShuffler with Elf, Deonmag with Vampire
  • Dark Horse Prize: AJ_Impy with Phoenix, Generalissimo with Advisor, lovetapsmtg with Naga
  • Tribes: Advisor, Elf (x2), Naga, Phoenix, Soldier, Spirit, Vampire (x2), Zombie
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 First regular Pioneer event, second overall, and the Vampires won again, this time piloted by Bandit Keith. It looks like they'll be a major force in the sub-meta.

 

 The other black characteristic creature, Zombie, also did well, thanks to previous Pioneer winner -DiamondDust-. And in this case the list is properly monocolored.

 

 We remain in a single color for my Elves, which was an experiment to see how much of a threat some of the bogeymen of Legacy are in Pioneer. As far as Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is concerned, not that much. You can easily ramp into it, but not within a colorless shell the way Cloudpost or the UrzaTron lands allow, so the impact is much smaller.

 

 Monocolored once again are the Phoenices by AJ_Impy. It looks like Pioneer's lack of easy mana fixing encourages relying on just one color. And the arrival of Theros's devotion is probably only going to reinforce this trend.

 

 Generalissimo didn't buy into this one-color attitude, but he still did a one-creature deck via (Persistent Petitioners). Video of it in this week's Show and Tell below.


THE HIGH PRICE OF WINNING

  

 Here's the prices of all the featured decks, courtesy of the Deck Pricer from mtgGoldfish (MTGO Traders prices as of January 17, 2020):

  • Bandit Keith's Vampires: $83.97
  • DiamondDust's Zombies: $100.72
  • Kumagoro's Elves: $84.05
  • AJ_Impy's Phoenices: $121.00
  • Generalissimo's Advisors: $31.48

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

  1. SirFalcon2008's Goblins, $1.54, 1st place on Event 289
  2. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
  3. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
  4. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
  5. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
  6. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
  7. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
  8. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422
  9. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
  10. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169

 The Top 5 Cheapest Non-Goblin Decks that Went Undefeated

  1. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
  2. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
  3. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
  4. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
  5. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422

 NOTE: not adjusted to current prices; data collected since Event 85.


SHOW AND TELL

 Here's Generalissimo's Ninjas from two weeks ago, followed by his Advisors from last week.

 


ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Just to remind you of a few things:

 The Underdog Prize: During any event of the regular rotation (but not necessarily during the one-time special events), all players who are running an Underdog Tribe are eligible for a 1-tix credit certificate from MTGO Traders. The tie-breakers are first the number of Underdog categories (for instance, a tribe that's simultaneously Endangered and Unhallowed will take the prize over one that's only Endangered), then the points achieved in the final standings.

 The Up-and-Coming Prize: When a tribe wins an event for the first time ever (losing Unhallowed status), its pilot will get a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders.

 The New Kids on the Block Award: When a new tribe is introduced in the game, or reaches enough members to be played as a proper tribe (i.e. at least 3 members, so you can build a deck that features 4 copies of each plus 8 Changeling creatures), the first player to score a match win with it will get a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. You'll need a hard win, not a BYE or a win by no-show of your opponent. There currently are no eligible tribes for the award.

 The Repopulation Award: Some tribes get played only once (to get the New Kids on the Block Award) and then forgotten. Never again! Register one of the following tribes three times in different events, then play all rounds of those events with them, and you'll get a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. The list of these tribes, established May 5, 2017, is as follows. Still to clear: Antelope. Already cleared: Atog, Crocodile, Goat, Homarid, Incarnation, Jackal, Leech, Licid, Manticore, Metathran, Monger, Moonfolk, Nightstalker, Octopus, Orgg, Ouphe, Ox, Processor, Rabbit, Salamander, Siren, Slith.

 The Hamtastic Award: The Biodiversity Prize dedicated to the memory of Erik Friborg rewards each player who registers 10 different tribes (except Human, Elf and Goblin) during the year with a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. You can go on and win the prize multiple times in the year, but you need to keep playing different tribes! (So if you manage to register 50 different tribes in one season, you can get up to 15 tix!)

 The Top Players Lockout: Every time a Top Player (either a Google Era Top 8, an Ultimate Champion/Tribal Player of the Year, or a seasonal Top 8) will end undefeated, they will not be allowed to register the same tribe and deck again for 5 events (i.e. they'll have to register a different deck or decks 5 times before coming back to the undefeated one). With "deck" is meant a specific, recognizable archetype (e.g. Wall-Drazi), which in some case will be linked to a specific combo card (e.g. Helm of Obedience). A list of the current lockouts is maintained here.

 We're on Discord! Join us from here, chat about tribal things with other tribal players and arrange tribal games on MTGO all week long! (Or your can just keep using our Google Sheets bulletin board).


 WHAT'S NEXT

 The upcoming Tribal Apocalypse events of the Blippian Era (every Saturday at 17:00 GMT):

  • Special (Week 471 BE), on January 18: 2019 Invitational
  • 10.03 (Week 472 BE), on January 25: Legacy
  • 10.04 (Week 473 BE), on February 1: Underdog
  • 10.05 (Week 474 BE), on February 8: Standard
  • 10.06 (Week 475 BE), on February 15: Pioneer
  • 10.07 (Week 476 BE), on February 22: Modern

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: March 27.
Current watch list:
 Aether Vial, Cloudpost, Gaea's Cradle, Witch's Vengeance.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

Art disclaimers. Revel in Riches art by Eric Deschamps; Show and Tell art by Jeff Laubenstein; Herald of Anafenza art by Aaron Miller.