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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

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THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 So, first Singleton event of the year (the other one is scheduled for August 15), the very first since last October's, properly announced with through all the channels, after all the Singleton enthusiasts kept pestering me about it... and we only get 12 players? I don't even.

 In other news, did you notice how low are the prices of the decks lately? It's hard to find a Top 4 deck beyond the $200 mark, which was sort of average a couple years ago. It's an overall trend about card prices, despite the Modern Masters cards trying to staying afloat right now. Did our collections lose value so dramatically over the last couple of years? Is it exclusively a bad thing, or is it a good thing, too, because it means more players coming in, and more players with competitive decks, therefore a more balanced, healthier environment?

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: 5.19, Week 228 BE
• Date: May 16
• Attendance: 12
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Singleton
• Winner: ScionOfJustice (Vampire)
• Other undefeated: MisterMojoRising (Goblin)
• 1 Loss: m4vis (Myr), Gq1rf7 (Human), _Kumagoro_ (Shaman), romellos (Knight)
• Underdog Prize: m4vis (Myr)
• Tribes: Goblin, Human (x5), Knight, Myr, Shaman, Sliver, Vampire, Zombie
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 So, Vampires are back on top in a Singleton event, like they were at the very first two Singleton events ever, back in good old 2012. Remember that? People thought Vampire would be the format's solution, then they never won an event again until one year later, and then now. Curiously, of the 8 overall 1st places in Tribal Apocalypse (Blippian Era), which makes Vampire the 5th most successful tribe (along with Cat and Wall), only one was achieved in a Regular event, and that was back in 2011. The other wins came in special subformats, like 4 times in Singleton, and one time each in Halloween and Slugapalooza, plus a Pure event last September, when they were also piloted by ScionOfJustice. Their strengths in Singleton is certainly real, though, thanks to the possibility to field powerful lineups where every member is a strong one. Like this, for instance (which doesn't even use red Vamps, except for Olivia Voldaren):

 

 Goblin always did well in Singleton, too, but this is not to anyone's surprise, same as to find MisterMojoRising piloting them to 2nd place: 

 

 Would have you thought Myr could put together a winning Singleton build, though? Well, Myr enthusiast m4vis did (or hoped so), and here's the result:

 

 As for me, I went for a classic of mine, Shaman, another tribe capable of a wicked Singleton lineup, of which this list barely scratches the surface:

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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 May 21, 2015):

• ScionOfJustice's Vampires: $65.50
• MisterMojoRising's Goblins: $5.03
• m4vis's Myr: $51.19
• _Kumagoro_'s Shamans: $147.11

 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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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 June 27. 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 and vantar6697): Unlock the greatest number of Achievements from this list and AJ and vantar will grant you 10 tix per quarter! The current quarter will end June 27. Players with the same number of achievements will split the prize. 10 more tix will be given at the end of the year to that whole season's Achievement Master. 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!

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 WHAT'S NEXT

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

• 5.20 (Week 229 BE), on May 23: Regular
• 5.21 (Week 230 BE), on May 30: Pure
• 5.22 (Week 231 BE), on June 6: Underdog
• 5.23 (Week 232 BE), on June 13: Regular

Check out all the rules for the sub-formats!

Check out the full Tribal Calendar for 2015!

Vote for your favorite ETB Creature on the Topdeck Awards!

SEE YOU ALL IN THE TRIBAL ROOM!