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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Aug 23 2019 12:00pm
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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. Announcements
  4. What's Next

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


THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 So, tomorrow's format is Legacy, but on August 31 we'll have a second Planeswalker Tribal special event. This time we'll strictly go with the tribal concept, therefore all decks have to include 16 planeswalkers (i.e. one quarter plus one) with the same subtype. This gives players access to 17 different "tribes", which are all the planeswalkers with at least four printed cards to their name – Teferi would be the 18th, but two of his four cards are banned in the event. The detailed rules are here.

 To further spice things up, and better connect the event to our usual brand of creature tribal, each of the 17 planeswalkers give access to one or more specific creature types. Only creatures with at least one of the specific types can be included in the associated planeswalker deck. Here's the associations, mostly based on what the planeswalkers are and/or what kind of creature tokens they usually generate – please note that Ral has no associated creature, meaning a Ral deck can't include any creature at all. Other decks can include any number of the associated creatures, a mix of the types if they have more than one available, or no creature at all. For instance, a 60-card Vraska deck must include 16 Vraska planeswalker cards, and can include 10 Assassins and 6 Gorgons, or 19 Assassins, or no creatures; can't include creatures that aren't neither Assassins nor Gorgons.

  • Ajani: Cat
  • Bolas: Dragon, Zombie
  • Chandra: Elemental
  • Domri: Berserker, Boar, Warrior
  • Dovin: Construct, Thopter
  • Garruk: Beast
  • Gideon: Soldier
  • Huatli: Dinosaur
  • Jace: Illusion, Wizard
  • Liliana: Zombie
  • Nissa: Elemental, Plant
  • Ral: none
  • Sarkhan: Dragon
  • Sorin: Vampire
  • Tezzeret: Construct
  • Vivien: Spirit (green only), any animal
  • Vraska: Assassin, Gorgon

 The list of animals Vivien decks can include is here.


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 9.32, Week 449 BE
  • Date: August 17
  • Attendance: 10
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Modern
  • Winner: Nydethess with Elf
  • 1 Loss: ThyShuffler with Vampire, Bandit Keith with Human, Kumagoro with Faerie, Deonmag with Vampire
  • Underdog Prize: csrrcr with Minotaur
  • Tribes: Avatar, Elemental, Elf (x2), Faerie, Human, Minotaur, Sliver, Vampire (x2)
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 Here we are again, Elf keeps coming back this season (regardless of Gaea's Cradle's legality) due to the efforts of their staunch supporter, Nydethess. Who is now finally in the Top 8, so we won't be seeing his Elves for a few weeks now.

 

 Also on the rise is Vampire, thanks to a treasure trove of new printings. ThyShuffler didn't include Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and kept the curve low instead, going for an Aristocrat type of build that takes advantage from a few recent additions to the tribe, like Cruel Celebrant from War of the Spark and Cordial Vampire from Modern Horizons.

 

 I, for one, was pleasantly surprised by the power level of my monoblue Faeries. The tribe only got a handful of new members in the past five or six years, but Faerie Miscreant, Faerie Seer and Quickling all synergize wonderfully with Spellstutter Sprite and Familiar's Ruse, creating a permission web that can prove back-breaking for the opponent in the early turns. Faerie Artisans could be interesting too, but unfortunately it's not Modern-legal.

 

 Shout-out to returning player csrrcr, whose Minotaurs were the Underdog deck of the week. The horned tribe begins having a serious lineup to field, but maybe 28 of them are eight too many? Also, current Standard-legal members Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion and Glint-Horn Buccaneer might deserve a place at the table?


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 August 23, 2019):

  • Nydethess's Elves: $63.95
  • ThyShuffler's Vampires: $85.63
  • Kumagoro's Faeries: $23.39
  • csrrcr's Minotaurs: $19.34

 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.


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 one eligible tribe for the award: Trilobite.

 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. Still to clear: Antelope, Goat. Already cleared: Atog, Crocodile, 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.

 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):

  • 9.33 (Week 450 BE), on August 24: Legacy
  • 9.34 (Week 451 BE), on August 31: Planeswalker Tribal
  • 9.35 (Week 452 BE), on September 7: Underdog
  • 9.36 (Week 453 BE), on September 14: Standard

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: October 4.
Current watch list:
 Aether Vial, Mutavault, Thalia's Lieutenant.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

Art disclaimers. Revel in Riches art by Eric Deschamps; Herald of Anafenza art by Aaron Miller.