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By: Tribal Apocalypse, Tribal Apocalypse
Jan 16 2015 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. Announcement Time!
  4. What's Next

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


THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 So, tomorrow is the big day: Invitational ahoy! Let's go over the rules again: the Invitational, featuring the highest-ranked 16 players of the year (or their replacement: a lot of those guys didn't confirm their presence, as you can see from that link, so reserves, get ready!), uses 4 different lists, one each round, with different composition rules matching Tribal Apocalypse's subformats, and beyond.

  • First round is UNDERDOG. I wanted a proper Underdog deck opening the dance this year, so there aren't additional rules there. Bring your favorite Underdog list.
  • Second round is REGULAR. Everything that's legal in Regular events is allowed here, with a twist: you must use the list that ranked highest during the past year. If you won one or more event, you can choose one of those lists. If you won just one event, that's the list. If you never won, an undefeated list will do. If you never went undefeated, choose one of your 3-1 lists. Of course, all these lists must come from subformats that weren't Regular. They still will be legal in Regular, anyway, since Regular comprises them all. And after all, winning a proper Regular event has to count for something. But don't despair, the list is allowed changes, most notably you can upgrade cards. Say, for instance, you won a Pure event, so you'll have a list that don't include Swords to Plowshares. Well, you can upgrade another removal to StP, if you like. Just leave the same slots doing the same thing (same number of basic lands, same number of equipments, same number of sweeper, etc.), and the tribal structure more or less untouched.
  • Third round is PURE. But you can't use a tribe you already went undefeated with, or whatever was your best result. Any list you could have used in Round 2, essentially. Also note that the Pure rules are up to date, so they exclude all the cards that have currently been Purified, you can include up to 4 copies of a single Auxiliary card, and so on.
  • Fourth round is MYSTERY. Finalists will have to build a deck on the spot (they got 20 minutes for that). And the composition rules will be revealed only at the last minute. (I know this is an advantage for me, but let's be honest, I won't make it to the final round). (If I do, I'll give myself a handicap somehow).

 Each round you can't use a tribe you already used in an earlier round, so plan this accordingly. And good luck! May former Ultimate Champions Ayanam1, slug360, and AJ_Impy light your way through (unless AJ_Impy will actually stop you by beating you along the way).


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 5.02, Week 210 BE
  • Date: January 10
  • Attendance: 20
  • Rounds: 4
  • Subformat: Regular
  • Winner: ScionOfJustice (Goblin)
  • Other undefeated: Zoltan (Kithkin) 
  • 1 Loss: milegyenanevem (Human), Gq1rf7 (Goblin), Chamale (Horror), slagel79 (Vampire)
  • Underdog Prize: misterpid (Kobold)
  • Tribes: Cat, Elf (x2), Goblin (x6), Horror, Human (x2), Kithkin (x2), Kobold, Satyr, Vampire, Warrior, Zombie (x2) Zombie
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 PureMTGO's Modern guru Evan Anderson, aka ScionOfJustice, is the second winner of 2015! Congrats! Except, it was just thanks to a Goblin build. Boo! (Also expect to hear about the re-banning of Goblin Lackey sooner rather than later. Enjoy it until it lasts).

 

 The other undefeated was Zoltan, returning after a while to bring glory to the Kithkin tribe and the whole white weenie race.

 

 Also returning, to contribute to the "new year" feeling, former Master Achiever Chamale, with his signature Horror-based manaless dredge (and by the way, remember the Achievements are back with new, more favorable rules).

 

 Finally, this is misterpid's attempt at a Kobold combo deck. It was worth the Underdog Prize, and it's worth a mention here.


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 16, 2015):

 Yeah, the Underdog Prize list is actually the most expensive one, mostly due to Arid Mesa and the three Enlightened Tutors to fetch the combo pieces (Athreos and Goblin Bombardment). Building a linear tribal deck is famously inexpensive, and famously successful, instead. With a budget of $20 you can build almost any monocolored deck which has ever won an event, including budget Merfolk.

 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. 


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 Achievements (sponsored by AJ_Impy): Unlock the greatest number of Achievements from this list and AJ will grant you 5 tix per quarter! The current quarter will end March 28. Players with the same number of achievements will split the prize. 5 more tix will be given at the end of the year to that whole season's Achievement Master (the player with more unlocked Achievements across the year). Good luck!

 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!


 WHAT'S NEXT

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

  • 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
  • 5.05 (Week 214 BE), on February 7: Underdog

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!

4 Comments

Red gobos and White gobos and by Paul Leicht at Fri, 01/16/2015 - 13:12
Paul Leicht's picture

Red gobos and White gobos and surprise tactics from Kobold land...I feel like Gygax is rolling over in his grave somewhere in Wisconsin...

As far as the regular list by ScionOfJustice at Fri, 01/16/2015 - 16:14
ScionOfJustice's picture

As far as the regular list goes, what happens if our list had Umbra Mantle in it? As far as Red Elves go, turn one goblin lackey if not answered immediately normally results in a win, but Krenko could be the more powerful card. There are also tons of ways in the format to fight against turn one lackey.

Also an interesting note, my goblin list cost 1/10 the price of the Kobolt list.

Not only Umbral Mantle, but by MisterMojoRising at Sat, 01/17/2015 - 01:22
MisterMojoRising's picture

Not only Umbral Mantle, but we had a change in the legality of the swords too, didn't we? What if a player's top deck contained swords?

Just replace them with by AJ_Impy at Sat, 01/17/2015 - 09:26
AJ_Impy's picture

Just replace them with Chimney Imps, you'll be fine.