Welcome back to Tribal Apocalypse!
Table of Contents
- Last Week on Tribal Apocalypse...
- The High Price of Winning
- Announcement Time!
- What's Next
Check the full archive for the "Diaries of the Apocalypse" series
THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro
So, there was debate last week in the #Tribal room about changes in the event rotation (sorry guys, I can't keep track of what's being said on MTGO chat, it's just awful like that). I think I glimpsed the idea of making Modern fixed every month, which I'm cool with. I think Modern Tribal Wars is a strong format, it allows for combos but none of them is too broken. But what should we sacrifice to make room for it? One of the two Legacy events? Underdog, which might have run its course? And what about Pure? I think Pure reworked as it is as "Legacy with no craziness" has its merits. No?
Then I surmise, from other communications as well, Standard is the favorite format for the June 30 special. So that one's settled, it's in the calendar. After all, current Standard prior to the October rotation is one of the most tribal-friendly ever.
LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...
- Event Number: 8.19, Week 384 BE
- Date: May 19
- Attendance: 12
- Rounds: 3
- Subformat: Modern
- Winner: Yokai_ (Elf)
- 1 Loss: LeilaPari (Merfolk), Deonmag (Zombie), Bandit Keith (Goblin), CruelHellraiser (Human), AJ_Impy (Knight), _Kumagoro_ (Shaman)
- Underdog Prize: lovetapsmtg ( Leviathan)
- Tribes: Ally, Elf, Goblin, Human, Knight, Leviathan, Merfolk, Plant, Shaman, Vampire, Wizard, Zombie
- Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is
So, singularity once again, and with a solid attendance this time. And sure, Elf won, but you know what? It wasn't a while since it happened, more than a full year, since May 13, 2017. They've almost become a species at risk! Luckily, Yokai_ is there to rescue them. And he does that with a very cool Eldritch Evolution
/Chord of Calling
shell for the Vizier of Remedies
/Devoted Druid
infinite mana combo, and featuring stuff like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
and Shalai, Voice of Plenty, but no Duskwatch Recruiter
/Walking Ballista
endgame, so it was fair enough (of course Ezuri already makes for a perfect outlet for all the mana).
I always feature our reigning Ultimate Champion Nagarjuna's winning lists, but there's value in the lists that don't do so well too. He's still experimenting with the newfound Assault Formation
, this time through Plant. Let's not bury the lede here, though: any deck involving the Tree of Perdition
/Triskaidekaphobia
combo MUST be feature. Pure Johnny/Timmy.
As for me, this Shaman deck based on all kinds of interaction with Grave Pact
would have technically gone undefeated if I had 10 more seconds in game 1. I'm still bitter about it. I was surprised by how good this very cheap deck actually is, if slightly too click-intensive.
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 25, 2018):
- Yokai_'s Elves: $161.38
- Nagarjuna's Plants: $271.17
- _Kumagoro_'s Shamans: $21.14
The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated
- mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
- morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
- morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
- JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
- kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
- Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
- MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
- Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169
- Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.70, 1st place on Event 145
- Gq1rf7's Goblins, $4.12, 2nd place on Event 141
The Top 5 Cheapest Non-Goblin Decks that Went Undefeated
- mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
- morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
- JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
- kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
- MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
NOTE: not adjusted to current prices; data collected since Event 85.
ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!
Just to remind you of a few things:
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, Hippo, Hyena.
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, Goat, Homarid, Incarnation, Licid, Monger, Nightstalker, Orgg, Ouphe, Rabbit, Salamander, Slith. Already cleared: Crocodile, Jackal, Leech, Manticore, Metathran, Moonfolk, Octopus, Ox, Processor, Siren.
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):
- 8.20 (Week 385 BE), on May 26: Regular
- 8.21 (Week 386 BE), on June 2: Underdog
- 8.22 (Week 387 BE), on June 9: Regular
- 8.23 (Week 388 BE), on June 16: Pure
Check out all the rules for the sub-formats!
Check out the full Tribal Calendar for 2018!
SEE YOU ALL IN THE TRIBAL ROOM!
