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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. Announcement Time!
5. What's Next

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

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THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 The new Tribal year has begun! And I should give some statistical analysis of the past one, but damn, I had a personal emergency earlier and couldn't finish it in time for publication! Next week, I promise!

 Also, the Achievements, announced as discontinued last week due to lack of sponsorship, are back! (That was fast). The 2013 Ultimate Champion AJ_Impy himself has offered to finance the operation, and will pay 5 tix each quarter out of his own pocket to the player who unlocked the most achievements during that period (in case of ties, the prize will be split accordingly). Try and clear the greatest numbers of these achievements, and you'll get the prize! And if you don't, try again next quarter! (A special 5-tix additional prize will be awarded at the end of the year, looking at the entire season). The first quarter ends March 28.

 And now, meet the new boss (i.e. the first winner of 2015)...

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: 5.01, Week 209 BE
• Date: January 3
• Attendance: 18
• Rounds: 4
• Subformat: Underdog
• Winner: romellos (Monk)
• 1 Loss: Robin88 (Monk), MisterMojoRising (Myr), m4vis (Myr), mihahitlor (Soltari), DrunkenSailor15 Scarecrow
• True Underdog Prize: AJ_Impy (Dwarf), Bazaar of Baghdad (Hydra)
• Tribes: Centaur (x3), Devil, Dwarf, Elephant, Hydra, Kor, Monk (x2), Myr (x2), Rat, Scarecrow, Soltari, Specter (x2), Wolf
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 ...same as the old one! Yep, romellos started his year as reigning #1 player with a first place. Could this be ominous? The Invitational is in two weeks, folks! Get ready! (Which reminds me I have to send everyone e-mails with the actual invitations. Moan, so many things to do, so little time).

 

 Monk has started to become a powerhouse in Underdog. To the point that the two Monk decks ended up fighting for the win in round 4. And the other one was from none other than the 2013 #1 player Robin88, returning to Tribal Apocalypse for the first time in a while. The clash of champions generated a pretty great match, which luckily we can watch in its entirety in today's Show and Tell section, thanks to romellos's replays. Woot!

 Here's Robin's list, for the record, and for comparison's sake (notice Robin's signature 62-card total):

 

 But it was an Underdog event, after all, so I want to feature the two decks that took the True Underdog prize. One is Hydra by Bazaard of Baghdad, trying to fuel the multi-headed monstrosities via Cloudpost, but also trying to sac the faster ones to Natural Order in order to summon Progenitus. I guess this double plan isn't as easy as it sounds.

 

 And I couldn't give AJ_Impy the spotlight in the week he agreed to become a Tribal Apocalypse sponsor. But it's earned: behold AJ's Dwarf extravaganza!

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THE HIGH PRICE OF WINNING

  

 Here's the prices of all the featured decks, courtesy of the amazing Deck Pricer from mtgGoldfish (MTGO Traders prices as of January 9, 2015):

• romellos's Monks: $272.41
• Robin88's Monks: $333.53
• Bazaar of Baghdad's Hydras: $181.73
• AJ_Impy's Dwarves: $30.37

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

1. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
2. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154 (cheapest event winner)
3. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
4. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169
5. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.70, 1st place on Event 145
6. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $4.12, 2nd place on Event 141
7. Gq1rf7's Assassins, $4.18, 1st place on Event 147
8. Trickerie's Golems, $4.31, 1st place on Event 138
9. Gq1rf7's Vampires, $4.38, 2nd place on Event 188
10. arcbounddaylabor's Goblins, $4.46, 1st place on Event 111

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

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SHOW AND TELL

 

 Here's the tense Monk on Monk action between the 2013 and 2014 Players of the Year, romellos and Robin88:

 Bonus video: Remember how AJ_Impy used to have a 1-tix challenge going on last year, where you had to use a particular, obscure, cool piece of equipment? Well, ScionOfJustice managed to grab the last possible chance to win the final one, with a Kor deck based on Kusari-Gama, and here's the proof of it! (His opponent is ML_Berlin playing Specter):

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ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

 Just to remind you of a few things:

 

 Cockatrice Wants You! And Badger, too! Be the first to win a match with these new eligible tribes and you'll win a 1-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. Remember: only tribes with at least 3 members are effectively considered tribes in Tribal Apocalypse (since tribes that field an equal or greater number of Changelings than actual members count as Shapeshifter decks). Tribes with exactly 3 members are allowed to play in Underdog events with 8 slots filled by Changelings, whereas nobody else (but, of course, Shapeshifter decks) can play with more than 4 Changelings in those events. And of course this will happen only as soon as the Changelings will work on V4 as promised.

 The Underdog Prize: During any event of the regular rotation (but not during the one-time special events), all players who are running an Underdog Tribe are eligible for a 1-tix credit on Pennybot. 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. During Underdog events, only the True Underdog tribes are rewarded (those are the tribes belonging to all three categories of Underdog at once).

 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 Hamtastic Award: The Biodiversity Prize dedicated to the memory of Erik Friborg has started the first quarter of 2015. The quarter will end March 28. By that date, the player or players who registered the greatest number of different tribes will get a 5-tix certificate from MTGO Traders.

 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.

 Videos: Send us replays of your games and we'll feature them in these articles! Don't know how? Read this quick guide in 5 easy steps and start saving your tribal feats for posterity!

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 WHAT'S NEXT

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

• 5.02 (Week 210 BE), on January 10: Regular
• Special (Week 211 BE), on January 17: Invitational
• 5.03 (Week 212 BE), on January 24: Regular
• 5.04 (Week 213 BE), on January 31: Pure

Check out all the rules for the sub-formats!

Check out the full Tribal Calendar for 2015!

Vote for your favorite Flyer on the Topdeck Awards!

SEE YOU ALL IN THE TRIBAL ROOM!