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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
May 29 2020 12:00pm
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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. Announcements
  4. What's Next

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


THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 Pauper Tribal Wars tomorrow! Woot! I'm not sure why I'm excited, since I don't really like Pauper (commons are too straightforward and efficient for my taste), but a lot of people do, and I hope we will see some of the crowd from the Gatherling Pauper events like Tropical Pauper Saturdays or Pauper Classic Tuesdays. Come have fun with us, Pauperists!

  

 Technical note: it's the sanctioned Pauper format (the one some people sometimes call "Classic Pauper"), with the regular ban list from DCI. Nothing else, just apply the Tribal Wars concept to it (the "one third of the deck, rounded down, must be composed of creatures sharing at least one type" and "no sideboard allowed except for companions" set of rules). (Of course companions won't be a factor in Pauper).


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: Week 489 BE
  • Date: May 23
  • Attendance: 16
  • Rounds: 4
  • Subformat: Modern
  • Winner: Bandit Keith with Elf
  • 1-loss: -DiamondDust- with Goblin, Nydethess with Elf, romellos with Elf, Deonmag with Vampire, ThyShuffler with Zombie
  • Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Octopus
  • Tribes: Angel, Beast, Bird (x2), Dwarf, Elephant, Elf (x3), Faerie, Frog, Goblin (x2), Octopus, Vampire, Zombie
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 In the meanwhile, last week has been the first event to go to four rounds since... man, September 2018! The return to our former glory coincided to the return to a classic Elf win in Modern, with this list, piloted by Bandit Keith and fully capable of generating infinite mana on turn 3. I know the Council is discussing restricting Vizier of Remedies to her tribes. Elves as a whole wouldn't even notice, but the interaction with Devoted Druid is probably just a bit too comfy.

 

 On to less successful but more intriguing builds. AJ_Impy underlined how both Swans of Bryn Argoll and Stormwild Capridor are both Birds, despite the former being graceful and the latter... not so much. They bond over their common positive response to being damaged.

 

 And since the main mutate enabler, Pollywog Symbiote is a Frog, can the amphibians be a decent shell for mutate? The answer that vole's deck seemed to give was: decent enough; although facing Questing Beast in round 1 hasn't been ideal, making the various Fog effects from the tribe completely useless. But on the bright side, hey, this is a 50-cent deck! Cheaper than Pauper! And it actually works, even with a very unsophisticated mana base.

 

 Finally, here's some Octopi. This, by lovetapsmtg, is a very ambitious Quest for Ula's Temple deck, with all creatures and lands (except for the Ula's Temple itself, otherwise it would qualify for companionship with Umori, the Collector). The land count is actually very small, to maximize the Temple's hits, so the only tribal member the deck can consistently cast is the new Sea-Dasher Octopus from Ikoria, which mutates for two onto one of the twelve off-tribe one-drops.


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 May 29, 2020):

  • Bandit Keith's Elves: $103.02
  • AJ_Impy's Birds: $106.74
  • vole's Frogs: $0.53
  • lovetapsmtg's Octopi: $2.32

 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. MisterMojoRising's Beasts, $.3.01, 1st place on Event 484
  8. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
  9. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422
  10. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201

 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. MisterMojoRising's Beasts, $3.01, 1st place on Event 484

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


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. Tribes currently eligible for the award: Demigod, Otter (as soon as Commander 2020 gets online), Pangolin, Squirrel.

 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):

  • 10.21 (Week 490 BE), on May 30: Pauper
  • 10.22 (Week 491 BE), on June 6: Underdog
  • 10.23 (Week 492 BE), on June 13: Standard
  • 10.24 (Week 493 BE), on June 20: Pioneer
  • 10.25 (Week 494 BE), on June 27: Legacy

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: June 26.
Current watch list:
 Aether VialBatterskullCloudpostHymn to TourachIsochron Scepter,
NecromancyShrieking AfflictionSinkholeWitch's Vengeance.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

Art disclaimers. Revel in Riches art by Eric Deschamps; Herald of Anafenza art by Aaron Miller.