---

 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, in virtue of the new event rotation, last week we had a Regular event, this week will be Pure, next week Regular again (and then the Invitational). Don't mix it up!

 In other news, Oath of the Gatewach is almost here, and I'll probably find time to make a Tribal Evaluation, getting back to the still missing Battle for Zendikar as well, so there'll be a lot of cards to discuss. In the meantime, what of the newest Zendikar cards you like? I still don't know. There's Nissa the Avenger (or Nissa the Gardener), there's the latest attempt at making Chandra right (probably failing yet again), there are the titular Oaths, some of which are really interesting. There's a few creatures clearly designed for Commander, like this Sphinx:

 There's the second instance of the long-awaited legendary Ally (I like Drana better, though):

 Neo-Allies didn't really impact Tribal yet, but I'm pretty sure the new version of Kalitas will be seen around Vampire decks:

 Definitely more alluring than the new version of old powerhouse Linvala, which feels pretty underwhelming to me (in a sort of reversal compared to Kalitas: he went from 7 mana to 4, she from 4 to 6).

---

LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: 6.02, Week 262 BE
• Date: January 9
• Attendance: 20
• Rounds: 4
• Subformat: Regular
• Winner: MisterMojoRising (Goblin)
• 1 Loss: mihahitlor (Shaman), ScionOfJustice (Beast), Gq1rf7 (Elf), Kasparadi (Bird)
• Underdog Prize: MontanaSteev (Kobold)
• Tribes: Artificer, Beast (x2), Bird, Elemental, Elf, Goblin (x2), Golem, Human (x3), Juggernaut, Kobold, Minotaur, Myr, Shaman, Soltari, Wall, Zombie
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 First Goblin win of the year: it had to happen sooner or later; it happened sooner. MisterMojoRising took care of it.

 

 For the rest, apart from the fresh addition of Titan's Presence in AJ_Impy's classic Cloudpost Golem build, I'd like to highlight the success of mihahitlor's singleton-ish Fauna Shaman/Green Sun's Zenith Shaman deck.

 

 And of course, Kobolds deserve a mention every time they show up. This time in MontanaSteev's list, that didn't try any fancy Protean Hulk combo, just honest-to-God Raid Bombardment and Massive Raid.

---

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 15, 2016):

• MisterMojoRising's Goblins: $27.38
• mihahitlor's Shamans: $171.42
• MontanaSteev's Kobolds: $4.37

 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. 

---

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!

---

 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: 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!