TRIBAL APOCALYPSE

Ponderings

Welcome readers.  As I write I am sitting in my dorm room with professional wrestling going on in the background.  Yes, I'm a grown man that still watches wrestling.  It's not as good as it once was, but it's one of the few things I still find intriguing that are shown on TV.  I know it's been a while since my last article, but I have been busy with exams from the first session of summer classes and just hit a rut Magic wise.  I haven't been in the mood lately for much card-slinging outside of still providing the Tribal Event for everyone to play in and then hanging out in the Auction room.  Currently I'm just stuck in a deckbuilding rut.  Hopefully some of you are too, and we can all get something out of the following decklists.

WEEK OF 6/12/10

This week was a normal 1v1 event.  We had an 'off' week without many participants so I only have three decks to show, but each of them is well thought out and a testament to the players ingenuity.

Super Walls

2-1 by Endless_Nameless

Creatures 4 Sunweb 4 Fog Bank 4 Shield Sphere 4 Wall of Denial 4 Angelic Wall 20 cards Other Spells 3 Jace, The Mind Sculptor 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Ajani Vengeant 3 Moat 2 Luminarch Ascension 1 Humility 4 Enlightened Tutor 16 cards

Lands 4 Flooded strand 4 Polluted Delta 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Arid Mesa 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Glacial Fortress 4 Tundra 1 Plateau 1 Volcanic Island 1 Island 1 Plains 24 cards

Well ladies and gentleman, here it is the first Wall deck in the history of Tribal Apocalypse.  I'm a little shocked at the lack of Wall of Omens and Wall of Reverence, though the deck did work.  He went 2-1 in the event.  But then stopping people from attacking with large walls and Moat always helps.  Oh yeah, and there are Planeswalkers.   6 of them to be exact.  They are some good I hear.  Though luckily there was not as much red as normal in the meta.  All the walls in the world won't stop a Lightning Bolt.

Fullmetal Alchemy

2-1 by Kumagoro42

Creatures 2 Bosh, Iron Golem 3 Mirror Golem 1 Triskelion 4 Copper Gnomes 4 Junktroller 1 Darksteel Colossus 4 Brass Herald 4 Lodestone Golem 2 Sundering Titan 25 cards Other Spells 4 Expedition Map 4 All Is Dust 1 Darksteel Forge 1 Orochi Hatchery 10 cards

Lands 4 Vesuva 2 Dread Statuary 3 Urza's Mine 3 Eye of Ugin 4 Cloudpost 3 Urza's Power Plant 3 Urza's Tower 3 Mirrodin's Core 25 cards

Yes I picture Kumagoro as a half-metal man who can perform alchemy...look at his picture from last week as Awesome-o.  But joking aside this is a pretty scary Golem deck.  The Lodestone Golem really kills development speeds of opposing decks and then Kuma erases anything you do get in play with All Is Dust.  The Brass Herald is the "lord" of golems and about every single other tribe in existence that does not have a specific lord already.

Deus Ex Machina

3-0 by Jhoke13

Creatures 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 4 Leaden Myr 4 Myr Enforcer 4 Myr Retriever 4 Myr Servitor 4 Silver Myr 22 cards Other Spells 1 Tezzeret the Seeker 2 Show and Tell 2 Krark-Clan Ironworks 4 Lim-Dul's Vault 2 Genesis Chamber 4 Impulse 1 Door of Destinies 16 cards

Lands 3 Island 3 Swamp 4 Seat of the Synod 4 Vault of Whispers 2 Urza's Mine 2 Urza's Power Plant 3 Urza's Tower 1 Academy Ruins 22 cards

And here we are with the champion of that week.  A U/B Myr deck.  Myr is a tribe I have always looked at but never really figured anything out personally.  Obviously the Show and Tell are for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn shenanigans, but personally I'm like if you got him, run him.  There really is no downside to running the 15-mana monstrosity, especially when 40% of your creatures tap for more mana anyways.  The deck served him well with an overall record of 6-2 in games.

Tribal 2HG 6-19-10

Well as you can tell we obviously went with a 2hg format and in some sot of odd way the teams ended up basically along national lines.  So in the finals we ended up with the top two teams being Team UK and Team US...or US to the best of my knowledge it was just kind of a nickname I gave them.  Luckily unlike the World Cup this Team UK did not embarrass England by letting the game roll past their fingers.  But first with the second place decks.

Orzhov Judgment

Deck 1 of Team US by Fliebana

Creatures 4 Twilight Drover 2 Kyoki, Sanity's Eclipse 4 Keening Banshee 4 Guardian of the Guildpact 2 Infernal Kirin 2 Horobi, Death's Wail 3 Suture Spirit 21 cards Other Spells 4 Swallowing Plague 1 Sensei's Divining Top 2 Grim Harvest 3 Oblivion Ring 3 Path to Exile 3 Day of Judgment 16 cards

Lands 2 Terramorphic Expanse 3 Kjeldoran Outpost 9 Plains 2 Bojuka Bog 4 Evolving Wilds 5 Swamp 25 cards

Selesnyan Reliquary

Deck 2 of Team US by JHoke13

Creatures 4 Knight of the Reliquary 2 Mystic Enforcer 4 Qasali Pridemage 4 Ranger en-Vec 4 Sigiled Paladin 2 Soul Warden 4 Steward of Valeron 24 cards Other Spells 2 Mirri's Guile 4 Shield of the Oversoul 4 Path to Exile 2 Swords to Plowshares 2 Wing Shards 14 cards

Lands 6 Forest 5 Plains 1 Horizon Canopy 4 Terramorphic Expanse 4 Windswept Heath 1 Savannah 1 Karakas 22 cards

Team US shared a color with white, and overall their decks were well matched with Fliebana playing the board control while JHoke was the beatdown with his cheap creatures.  In my matchup with them it was very very tough to keep any number of creatures in play for more than a  turn or two.  The Exalted triggers from Sigiled Paladin were certainly an issue in trying to make decent trades during the attack steps.  The only issue with JHoke's deck would be to include at least a Sejiri Steppe or two in order to have a way to protect the Knight of the Reliquary.  The main threat of Fliebana's deck surprisingly is the 4mana common Guardian of the Guildpact.  It's shocking when faced with him how few multi-colored cards some people actually play.  The decks were great at stopping my team's decks of Wurms and Elves.  However like all others they feel beneath the might of Team UK.

Angelic Blessings

Deck 1 of Team UK by AJ_Impy

Creatures 4 Adarkar Valkyrie 4 Pristine Angel 4 Admonition Angel 4 Platinum Angel 2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath 2 Iona, Shield of Emeria 20 cards Other Spells 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Oblivion Ring 4 Moat 2 Imperial Mask 2 Privileged Position 16 cards

Lands 4 Arid Mesa 2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin 18 Plains 24 cards

Christmas Beasts

Deck 2 of Team UK by Melissafey

Creatures 2 Spearbreaker Behemoth 3 Woolly Thoctar 4 Cliffrunner Behemoth 2 Godsire 3 Spellbreaker Behemoth 1 Paleoloth 3 Rakeclaw Gargantuan 2 Meglonoth 20 cards Other Spells 2 Mayael's Aria 2 Lightning Helix 4 Path to Exile 2 Growth Spasm 2 Naturalize 4 Lightning Bolt 16 cards

Lands 6 Plains 3 Naya Panorama 4 Jungle Shrine 7 Forest 4 Mountain 24 cards

Two completely different decks, form one nigh-unbeatable combo here.  The strength of Moat+AJ's superior air strength+Mayael's Aria+Mel's supersized beasts=a nice little time bomb.  I saw a couple matches end off of Mayael's Aria while they just played defensviely.  Mel played some awesome creatures after my own heart like Meglonoth, Cliffrunner Behemoth, and Spellbreaker Behemoth.  I've always been a Naya mage at heart.  Which by the way is far easier than saying a Boros/Gruul/Selesnya mage.(Thanks for simplifying that Wizards).  AJ "The Lord of Moat" (i kid, i kid) had a great deck of mono-white Angels.  No matter when I see it in play Akroma, Angel of Wrath is always a beating and Pristine Angel is very close being untouchable as long as you hold an instant.  It's even better when those instants are Swords to Plowshares.

Onto future events

You know people say writing is therapeutic...I do feel slightly less rut-trapped after this article.  Not sure why, but I do.  Also, White Collar is on TV now, and that is quite possibly one of the greatest shows around, but I love all of the USA networks shows.  But you aren't sill here to learn about my viewing habits.  You are here if you are interested in future events.  To be honest I still enjoy the 1v1 format of Tribal Apocalypse.  However, I want to hear from you guys.  This PRE has almost been around for a year now and I want to know what you would change if anything.  Give me your flames and your praises, your ideas and your criticisms below in the comments.  Only you can help shape the future of Tribal Apocalypse.  Don't forget please join us every Saturday at 12:30pm EDTin /join tribal to play.  Hope to see you all there.

-Shard