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Aug 25 2017 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

 There's a discussion going on in last week's comment section about what constitutes rightful terrain for the ban or lockout of a power combo (I already expressed my thoughts on the topic there, so go read those comments).

 This reminded me that I'm not satisfied with the way Pure has reshaped itself this year, and I'm thinking of redefining it once again next season. In my mind, it should be more related to what its name suggests, and since there are many tribal players more or less convinced that the "purest" version of Tribal Wars is the aggro version, why don't turn Pure into our aggro format, i.e. into the format where, on top of the current "no off-tribe creatures" rule, all the major endgame combos are banned? Along with anything that stands in the tribal aggro way, really, including Natural Order, Cloudpost and such. Of course we'd also need to ban Elf, Goblin and Human as tribes (letting Druid, Berserker and Soldier to shine in their places). Which may feel less like "pure" and more like "depurated", but I think it'd still go a long way toward giving Pure Tribal a more definite identity. There's also an argument to be made about keeping the white exilers out, since that's the closest thing to a definition Pure currently has: the format where you don't exile stuff that easily. We'll also need a complete list of everything combo-related that needs removing. But there's plenty of time for that before the next season.

 I personally don't like to look at Tribal Wars as an aggro format, but there might be some good in giving aggro fans half a dozen events per year where it's all about aggro (and of course aggro's more direct enemy: control), so they may feel less bad playing in the other formats, where it's not.


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 7.32, Week 345 BE
  • Date: August 19
  • Attendance: 16
  • Rounds: 4
  • Subformat: Pure
  • Winner: Maluc (Shaman)
  • 1 Loss: Socanelas (Merfolk), Armont (Soldier), Generalissimo (Orc)
  • Underdog Prize: Tarrons (Manticore)
  • Tribes: Berserker (x4), Chimera, Goblin, Kobold (x2), Leviathan, Manticore, Merfolk, Orc, Shaman, Soldier, Warrior, Zombie
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 In last week's edition of Pure Tribal, first time winner Maluc gave a new win to what remains one of the most well-balanced tribe in the game: Shaman. By the way, the Natural Order package was of course honest here, because of the Pure rules, but I'm thinking to restrict Dragonlord Atarka to Dragon and Elder decks only, because it's too easy a target for Natural Order resolutions, single-handedly making these strategies way more popular than they were before.

 

 Coming close to claim Orc's first victory, Generalissimo only lost to Maluc's list, thanks to some inspired interactions between the dash mechanic and rarely played cards like Death Match, Confusion in the Ranks, and even an old classic like Ivory Tower.

 

 There were four Berserker decks (and one Goblin) in this event, like it was an Underdog week or something. Not a single one of those finished in the money, yet this unusual and very cheap Soldier deck by Armont did, being only stopped once again by Maluc's Shamans. The most interesting element here is the attempt at a Quest for the Holy Relic combo, which is usually Kor's domain. However, I imagine most of the list's success still came from powerful aggro interactions between token generators and Anafenza. And of course from the full set of Kor Firewalker in a very red meta.


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 August 25, 2017):

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

  1. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
  2. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
  3. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
  4. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
  5. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
  6. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
  7. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169
  8. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.70, 1st place on Event 145
  9. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $4.12, 2nd place on Event 141
  10. Gq1rf7's Assassins, $4.18, 1st place on Event 147

 The Top 5 Cheapest Non-Goblin Decks that Went Undefeated

  1. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
  2. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
  3. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
  4. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
  5. Gq1rf7's Assassins, $4.18, 1st place on Event 147

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


ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

 Just to remind you of a few things:

 The Bolas Prize: The first player to win a game by activating Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker's third ability for lethal damage will get a 3-tix credit certificate from MTGO Traders. Be cruel or go home!

 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 certificate from MTGO Traders. 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 New Kids on the Block Award: When a new tribe is introduced in the game, or reaches enough members to be played as a proper tribe (i.e. at least 3 members, so you can build a deck that features 4 copies of each plus 8 Changeling creatures), the first player to score a match win with it will get a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. You'll need a hard win, not a BYE or a win by no-show of your opponent. The tribes currently eligible for the award are Camel, Gremlin, Hippo, Hyena, Monkey.

 The Repopulation Award: Some tribes get played only once (to get the New Kids on the Block Award) and then forgotten. Never again! Register one of the following tribes three times in different events, then play all rounds of those events with them, and you'll get a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. The list of these tribes, established May 5, 2017, is as follows: Antelope, Atog, Crocodile, Goat, Homarid, Incarnation, Jackal, Leech, Licid, Manticore, Metathran, Monger, Moonfolk, Nightstalker, Octopus, Orgg, Ouphe, Ox, Processor, Rabbit, Salamander, Siren, Slith.

 The Hamtastic Award: The Biodiversity Prize dedicated to the memory of Erik Friborg rewards each player who registers 10 different tribes (except Human, Elf and Goblin) during the year with a 3-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. You can go on and win the prize multiple times in the year, but you need to keep playing different tribes! (So if you manage to register 50 different tribes in one season, you can get up to 15 tix!)

 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):

  • 7.33 (Week 346 BE), on August 26: Regular
  • 7.34 (Week 347 BE), on September 2: Underdog
  • 7.35 (Week 348 BE), on September 9: Regular
  • 7.36 (Week 349 BE), on September 16: Modern

Check out all the rules for the sub-formats!

Check out the full Tribal Calendar for 2017!

SEE YOU ALL IN THE TRIBAL ROOM!