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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Oct 23 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

 Just a quick note to establish that this year's Halloween Special (held in Halloween night itself! Or I guess Halloween day if you're in the Americas) will use a Legacy pool, despite talks of going back to the Vintage pool we had last used a few seasons ago. Reason for this decision is that going Vintage for one event is fine and all, but if we keep to the anti-broken-plays countermeasures we used last time, i.e. taking away the Power Nine and most of the degenerate combo pieces, included the ones that are already banned in Legacy, then it's not worth the bother. It's basically Legacy plus a handful of cards (mostly Survival of the Fittest, which is dear to my heart, but not to the point of hijacking an annual event in order to play it).

 vs. 

 On the other hand, doing a proper Vintage event, with power and all, could be interesting, especially considering Moxen and Lotus aren't expensive cards on MTGO, so we could experience them in a way that's become extremely rare for Magic players nowadays. But this kind of event is not a good fit for Halloween, which uses a small pool of tribes and is meant as a gimmick event. Gong full Vintage would derail it entirely. This is to say I would like to find room for a Vintage event sometimes, but its Vintageness would need to be its main focus.


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: Week 510 BE
  • Date: October 17
  • Attendance: 10
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Pioneer
  • Winner: Nagarjuna with Zombie
  • 1-loss: ThyShuffler with Human, Deonmag with Vampire, Generalissimo with Cleric, Bandit Keith with Vampire, Yokai_ with Human
  • Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Scorpion
  • Tribes: Aetherborn, Cleric, Druid, Horror, Human (x2), Scorpion, Vampire (x2), Zombie
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 Speaking of the upcoming spooky night, here are the Zombies already taking a win for themselves, first time this year. Nagarjuna's list is pretty straightforward, a monoblack linear affair featuring all the best members the tribe allows in Pioneer. Simple but effective.

 

 One of the possible approach to Pioneer is the porting of a Standard deck. ThyShuffler tried it with cycling, resulting in this Human list in Boros colors.

 

 Always feeling well-positioned in non-rotating non-Eternal formats is another one of the Spooky Tribes, Vampire. The build by true aficionado Deonmag emphasizes the many ways Bloodthirsty Aerialist is able to grow into a lethal threat these days. The singleton style of the supporting cards is also a veritable parade of equally viable options for black/white.

 

 Finally, here's Scorpion's fourth appearance in Tribal Apocalypse. Courtesy of lost causes advocate lovetapsmtg, of course. The little suckers don't exactly make for a solid tribal lineup, so the 62-card approach to minimize drawing into them was warranted here, accompanying a deathtouch theme that's the only possible one with the tribe.


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 October 23, 2020):

  • Nagarjuna's Zombies: $27.95
  • ThyShuffler's Humans: $15.86
  • Deonmag's Vampires: $16.01
  • lovetapsmtg's Scorpions: $18.20

 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: Otter.

 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 five times before coming back to the undefeated one). This means a different tribe; in some cases, specific combo or archetype-defining cards will also be locked out. 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):

  • 10.42 (Week 511 BE), on October 24: Legacy
  • 10.43 (Week 512 BE), on October 31: Halloween

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: December 23.
Current watch list:
 Aether VialBatterskullCloudpostHymn to Tourach,
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.