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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, new year, new success story: Badger finally did it! They won a match! Two, actually, and the first one was even against our fresh Player of the Year ScionofJustice! Congratulations to relentless Badger pilot Golden_Lin and the three little guys that are available online (we still miss Rysorian Badger, if "miss" is the right word).

  

 So now the last-standing tribe that never won a single match is Cockatrice, the last "orphan tribe", and the prize to be the first getting there with the flying chickens is raised to a 2-tix certificate. Go build a coop!

  

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: 6.01, Week 261 BE
• Date: January 2
• Attendance: 17
• Rounds: 4
• Subformat: Underdog
• Winner: Bazaar of Baghdad (Skeleton)
• 1 Loss: mihahitlor (Plant), NemesisParadigm (Artificer), romellos (Insect), Generalissimo (Wurm), Armont (Berserker)
• Up-and-Coming Prize: Bazaar of Baghdad (Skeleton)
• Underdog Prize: Bazaar of Baghdad (Skeleton)
• Orphan Prize: Golden_Lin (Badger)
• Tribes: Artificer, Bat, Berserker (x2), Centaur, Insect, Kor (x2), Plant (x2), Rat (x2), Samurai, Scout, Skeleton, Soltari, Wurm
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 We've had great start of the year all in all: first event win ever for Skeleton, and both Plant and Wurm ending in the money, which isn't so usual even in an Underdog event. I'd also like to salute NemesisParadigm's comeback to a Top 4 placement. Since his return, he opted not to dust off his feared Wall-Drazi build, and we're all really grateful for that.

 But first places first, here's how Bazaar of Baghdad became the first winner of 2016, thanks to some scrawny undead and a little help from Helm of Obedience.

 

 And these are mihahitlor's Plants, that only lost to BoB's Skeletons, if not directly in a playoff round. Keep an eye on mihahitlor this year (well, I mean, more than usually), because he sort of moved away from his typical strategies and turned into an amazing experimenter. Look at that Defense of the Heart/Sylvan Offering/Dragonlord Atarka/Massacre Wurm combo. Not something you see often.

 

 I'm playing less as of lately, but I might want to build this very list for myself. After all, I'm a green lover, and what's greener than Plants, right?

 As for another green classic, Generalissimo put some spotlight on Wurm, in this very Timmy-esque Elvish Piper/Quicksilver Amulet build.

 

 Last but not least, or maybe so, here's the miraculous Badger list by Golden_Lin. Long live the mustelidae! (Which, now that the prize has been assigned, we won't probably see ever again).

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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 11, 2016):

• Bazaar of Bagdad's Skeletons: $99.65
• mihahitlor's Plants: $216.78
• Generalissimo's Wurms: $15.99
• Golden_Lin's Badgers: $64.23

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

1. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
2. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
3. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
4. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
5. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
6. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169
7. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.70, 1st place on Event 145
8. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $4.12, 2nd place on Event 141
9. Gq1rf7's Assassins, $4.18, 1st place on Event 147
10. mihahitlor's Goblins, $4.22, 1st place on Event 240

 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! Be the first to win a match with the last orphan tribe and you'll win a 2-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.

 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 2016. The quarter will end March 26. By that date, the player or players who registered the greatest number of different tribes (except Human, Elf and Goblin) will get a 5-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. Congratulations to last quarter's winner, AJ_Impy!

 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.

 Wanna test your deck? Tell us when you're online, and look who else is there and when! All of this here!

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 WHAT'S NEXT

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

• 6.03 (Week 263 BE), on January 16: Pure
• 6.04 (Week 264 BE), on January 23: Regular
• Special (Week 265 BE), on January 30: 2015 Invitational
• 6.05 (Week 266 BE), on February 6: Underdog

Check out all the rules for the sub-formats!

Check out the full Tribal Calendar for 2016!

SEE YOU ALL IN THE TRIBAL ROOM!