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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
May 24 2019 2:42pm
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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. Show and Tell
  4. Announcements
  5. What's Next

Check the full archive for the "Diaries of the Apocalypse" series


THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 At the moment I'm writing this, one third of the cards from Modern Horizons has been spoiled, and the set already looks like it won't just affect the Modern meta – it'll raze it to the ground and rebuild it in a new form. But let's talk about Bears. There's a lot of high-profile Bears coming! Looks like the tribe that my nickname refers to may become a thing people will actually want to play! I mean, more than six times in nine years, at least!

  

 Also, MTGO's restyling is afoot! I still have to fully understand what the new Play Lobby will mean for our tournament and PREs in general, but it tentatively looks like we'll be able to create our tables in the room devoted to each format, according to what we're playing that week (Standard, Modern or Legacy). Or maybe we can convene in the Specialty room? I guess we need to know more details on how you'll create the tables, but it looks like the "best of three, 25 minutes" mode of play for each format will be called "Tournament Practice", so that's where we'll have to go. We'll find out for sure in a couple of weeks.


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 9.19, Week 436 BE
  • Date: May 18
  • Attendance: 12
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Modern
  • Winner: Socanelas with Human
  • Runner-up: ThyShuffler with Vampire
  • 1 Loss: AJ_Impy with Spirit, JackSlagel with Devil, Nagarjuna with Construct, Generalissimo with Spirit
  • Underdog Prize: lovetapsmtg with Spider
  • Tribes: Ally, Construct, Devil, Druid, Human, Mutant, Spider, Spirit (x3), Vampire (x2)
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 Selesnya Creature Toolbox for the Modern win! Superior Spike Socanelas is back, piloting a Human shell executing the Vizier of Remedies/Devoted Druid infinite mana combo. The deck editor site is currently down, so this time we'll feature the lists in a slightly different way. The complete pile is here. The deck's plan is assembling the Vizier/Druid combo with Chord of Calling and/or Collected Company, then you can dump all that green mana into Duskwatch Recruiter to find an infinitely large Walking Ballista. Rhonas the Indomitable works as well. The rest of the deck is mana dorks, recursion with Eternal Witness and Renegade Rallier, some protection against harmful permanents with Qasali Pridemage, Gavony Township for the aggro plan B, and Tireless Tracker for all-around value. And as it happens, most of these creatures have the Human type, so that's win #56 for our real life species.

   

 The other finalist was ThyShuffler with this monoblack  Vampire list. The deck contains a whopping 36 removal cards. All the 20 tribal creatures are capable of removal duty, either with a trigger, activated ability or deathtouch (plus Captivating Vampire's stealing effect). Another 16 cards are various flavors of removal, with Viridian Longbow interacting scarily with the many deathtouchers. Among the very few non-removal nonland cards, Palace Siege is notable because it's not something you see played often.

   

 Very interesting Spirit build for AJ_Impy (full list here). Who knew Celestial Kirin was made very relevant in-tribe by the printing of the unassuming Ugin's Conjurant, just because it's a Spirit with a potential natural cost of 0, thus allowing the Kirin to act as an Armageddon? Also, strong interaction between Selfless Spirit's sacrifice and destruction effects like Wrath of God and, through sheer redirected damage, Shining Shoal.

   

 No Mountain May is still in full swing, but this didn't stop JackSlagel from running an almost monored Devil deck using a variety of red sources without the Mountain type. The deck has a white splash for Boros Charm and black one for Bump in the Night, as you can peruse here – after all, most of the lands he was forced to run had to bring some other color along. The list plays like a burn deck, which the Devils are good at, thanks to cards like Vexing Devil and Bedlam Reveler.

   

 Modern doesn't have Cloudpost, but it does have UrzaTron, and Nagarjuna thought it was worth a try with Constructs (list here). Does it work? Not amazingly, as the real Tron doesn't really need to include 20 creatures, but it seems good enough. Also, double Ugin and double Karn – too bad Tribal Wars is incompatible with Karn, the Great Creator.

   

 Finally, Generalissimo is back! We were a bit worried because he had disappeared quite abruptly earlier this year, so we're happy to know he's okay, and we hear he'll start recording tribal videos again very soon. For his comeback he brought his Spirit Enchantment Toolbox deck based around Tallowisp – though he still has to update it with different cards we had discussed, like Weight of Conscience. Next time, maybe. In the meantime, welcome back!

   


THE HIGH PRICE OF WINNING

  

 Here's the prices of all the featured decks, courtesy of the Deck Pricer from mtgGoldfish (MTGO Traders prices as of May 24, 2019):

  • Socanelas's Humans: $124.32
  • ThyShuffler's Vampires: $39.56
  • AJ_Impy's Spirits: $46.00
  • JackSlagel's Devils: $21.24
  • Nagarjuna's Constructs: $43.15
  • Generalissimo's Spirits: $55.69
  • CruelHellraiser's Mutants: $8.54

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

  1. SirFalcon2008's Goblins, $1.54, 1st place on Event 289
  2. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
  3. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
  4. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
  5. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
  6. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
  7. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
  8. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422
  9. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201
  10. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.58, 1st place on Event 169

 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. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
  5. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422

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


SHOW AND TELL

 Special guest CruelHellraiser, who asked an opinion about his not very successful yet pretty cool Mutant deck. You can look at the list here. First of all, here's what he had to say to present the build.

 CRUEL: I have always enjoyed the Mutant creature type and have tried to make them work. I really tried building a solid deck with the graft and evolve mechanic. I like the build up of making bigger, stronger creatures. I have never been a strong deck builder and not very good with making things work, but I like to try. I always felt like the problem with the Mutants was lack of any good real evasion within the tribe – they can get as big as they want, but without getting the damage through, you can't win. Yeah, we had things that evolved and could not be blocked but sometimes evolving would just not happen since those creatures cost three-mana or more and just come on too late. Then War of the Spark came out and I got excited. They added more flyers, which is what could push the deck to the next level (this may just be my wishful thinking, though); also, the proliferate mechanic came back, built into a couple of the creatures. With a few tweaks, I believe the Mutants decks I build can become more competitive, but who knows.

   

 KUMA: Your tribal lineup seems mostly okay. Mutant is definitely a tribe to play in Simic colors – the stuff we can find in other colors is not worth of consideration. Among the older Mutants, Cytoplast Root-Kin is sort of a lord, so he should stay in. I'm not a big fan of Roalesk, Apex Hybrid overall, but he's certainly a nice curve-topper for the tribe. Maybe not as a 21st and 22nd tribal creature, though?

 

 Hardened Scales is also clearly the way to go, as it quite naturally fits the tribe's various +1/+1 counters shenanigans, and so does Karn's Bastion. And Essence Capture is an excellent counterspell for the tribe. This said, and knowing I didn't actually see your games, I don't love the rest of your choices. I don't think you need off-tribe Mystic Snake – if anything, Frilled Mystic is better, but they're both too slow. Voidslime doesn't really justify its three-specific-mana cost, I don't think. Psionic Blast is similarly not necessary, you have to make peace with having no spot removal in Simic. I suggest running Hadana's Climb, possibly Incubation Druid as an accelerator/combo piece with the Climb, and Benthic Biomancer as a Mutant that interacts well with the very powerful transformer enchantment. Come to think of it, you might also want to try one or two copies of Simic Ascendancy.

   


ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Just to remind you of a few things:

 The Underdog Prize: During any event of the regular rotation (but not necessarily 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.

 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. There's currently no eligible tribes for the award.

 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, Goat, Nightstalker, Ouphe. Already cleared: Atog, Crocodile, Homarid, Incarnation, Jackal, Leech, Licid, Manticore, Metathran, Monger, Moonfolk, Octopus, Orgg, 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.

 We're on Discord! Join us from here, chat about tribal things with other tribal players and arrange tribal games on MTGO all week long! (Or your can just keep using our Google Sheets bulletin board).


 WHAT'S NEXT

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

  • 9.20 (Week 437 BE), on May 25: Legacy
  • 9.21 (Week 438 BE), on June 1: Underdog
  • 9.22 (Week 439 BE), on June 8: Standard
  • 9.23 (Week 440 BE), on June 15: Modern

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: July 5.
Current watch list:
 Aether Vial, Fireblast, Mutavault, Price of Progress, Thalia's Lieutenant, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Wasteland.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

Art disclaimers. Revel in Riches art by Eric Deschamps; Show and Tell art by Jeff Laubenstein; Herald of Anafenza art by Aaron Miller.