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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Nov 22 2019 2:00pm
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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. 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

 The official DCI ban hammer stroke!

 Earlier this week, in the widest Banned and Restricted announcement in a while, even the posh Legacy meta has felt the impact of the hammer, with Wrenn and Six sent to the great card farm in the sky, as yet another Modern Horizons card that proved too powerful to function, especially in conjunction with Wasteland. Probably in part due to its insane price (it got close to 150 tix a couple of months ago, and was still north of 85 before the ban), we never had a single copy of Wrenn and Six registered in Tribal Apocalypse, so that's a headache we have luckily dribbled – tough it's still legal in Modern, so maybe we'll see it there now that it'll likely become more affordable. By the way, I'd like to see a new Wrenn card in the future, I think the character is a cool concept, a Dryad planeswalker who's forced to bring along the Treefolk she's currently bonded to (and she just progressively number them instead of giving them names) during her interplanar travels. It's sort of the fantasy version of a powered exoskeleton.

 Elsewhere, Oko, Thief of Crowns has been predictably removed from Standard, alongside two other green powerhouses from Throne of Eldraine, Once Upon a Time and Veil of Summer. We'll have to build accordingly in Tribal Wars, too. Narset, Parter of Veils is now restricted in Vintage, but we haven't done a Vintage event in quite a while, and I'm not sure when we'll do another, if ever. I even realize we've banned in Vintage all the cards that were taken away from Legacy, and I'm not sure it even makes sense to play Vintage that way.

 In other news, Show and Tell is back to feature videos in a big way, with three different recordings, though none of them is actually about last week's event. The Penniless Planeswalker, Generalissimo is showing us his adventurous Peasants from two weeks ago, while at the other side of the Atlantic, Arigal is reporting on a wonderful paper Tribal Apocalypse tournament. Yes, you've got it right, somebody in the world has been actually using paper cards to play Tribal Wars events! For years! Find more about this crazy occurrence below!


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 9.45, Week 462 BE
  • Date: November 16
  • Attendance: 8
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Modern
  • Winner: ThyShuffler with Vampire
  • 1 Loss: Nagarjuna with Merfolk, AJ_Impy with Angel, Generalissimo with Vampire
  • Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Peasant
  • Tribes: Angel, Cat, Faerie, Merfolk, Peasant, Shaman, Vampire (x2)
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 We can say Vampire has become one of the major tribes across all the subformats (it's fifth for overall wins), but, very appropriately, it did so in a stealthy manner, not attracting the attention of the hated Big Three (Human, Elf, Goblin) and the feared Eldrazi. In the same unassuming fashion, Cordial Vampire from Modern Horizons has proved to be one hell of an addition to the ranks of the bloodsuckers, as ThyShuffler aptly demonstrated in this sacrifice-heavy build, where Blood Artist and Cruel Celebrant create a pretty effective, indirect path to victory.

 

 And speaking of major tribes, many outsiders marvel that classic Merfolk isn't one of the dominant tribes in Tribal Apocalypse (it has won fewer events than Wizard and Knight). Nagarjuna has helped rectifying the situation a little here, incorporating Ixalan's green side of the fish.

 

 AJ_Impy is one of the great experimenters of our format, but if there's one tribe that he comes back to more often than not, it's Angel (the other is probably its complementary, Demon). And Angel is still able to Top 4 with ease with control-ish list like this one, which exploits what has quickly become a staple of the winged tribe, their off-tribe friend Bishop of Wings. Also, Brisela!

 

 And here comes the Vampires again. Different player, different list, with Generalissimo going Mardu for legendary cards like Olivia Voldaren, Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle and Vona, Butcher of Magan.


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 November 22 2019):

  • ThyShuffler's Vampires: $60.20
  • Nagarjuna's Merfolk: $113.00
  • AJ_Impy's Angels: $32.63
  • Generalissimo's Vampires: $55.21

 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

 Show and Tell is in session! As our first speaker of the week, listen to Generalissimo comment on his Peasant adventures.

 Next, we've got the report by Arigal of something truly extraordinary: the second paper Tribal Apocalypse "Donde Marci" League, held in Medellín, Colombia (a city that many foreigners probably still associate with grim news stories from the 80s, and it's delightful for me to disabuse my readers of that notion).

 You can look at the Top 4 lists here: Constructs, Eldrazi, Elemental, Artificer.

 And here's a video of the final. Those are tribal players, you guys! Physically holding tribal decks in their hands!

 I exchanged a few words with Arigal, aka Sebastian García.

 KUMA: So, Tribal Apocalypse live in Colombia! What's all this about?

 ARIGAL: Tribal Donde Marci (Spanish for "Tribal at Marci's") is a weekly Tribal Wars tournament that takes place at the Ludoteca Donde Marci, a local game store in Medellín, which is home to a great community of tribal enthusiasts. When Wizards of the Coast stopped supporting Legacy Tribal Wars, we started using homemade rules to try and keep a healthy metagame. Ultimately, we found out about your Tribal Apocalypse events on MTGO and decided to implement those same rules for our tournament, which is about 7 years old. We just completed our second "Tribal Apocalypse" league in the Legacy format, and we are going to start Modern tournaments too, in preparation for a Modern league.

 KUMA: Who came up with the idea of a paper Tribal Wars tournament?

 ARIGAL: The idea came from the store owner, Daniel Marciglia. He saw a lot of us playing a lot of Tribal, but we were hesitant to play tournaments, as the only ones available were for traditional formats, Standard and Modern and some Commander 1v1. So he decided to create a tournament for us and see how it goes. Needless to say, Tribal is now the most famous "at Marci's" event – not the most played, but the most recognized because of how different it is. I still remember testing my Elf deck against Daniel's Goblin deck for the first tournament!

 KUMA: Has any of you ever played in our Tribal Apocalypse?

 ARIGAL: I have occasionally had matches with players from MTGO's Tribal Apocalypse since about two years. But just for fun, not in the actual events, because my job hours don't allow it. Some of my best matches were against Generalissimo. Unfortunately, I'm the only tribal player that plays online here.

 KUMA: Does Ludoteca Donde Marci have a website?

 ARIGAL: There's a Facebook page, but we don't really post results, just daily reminders of the schedule for the day, a lot of buy/sell offers, and some discussion about the state of Magic. Since we have decided to use Tribal Apocalypse rules, we've started to do reports, but we're still trying to find our feet in it.

 KUMA: How frequently are you guys playing?

 ARIGAL: We still do the tournament almost every Friday, but because we are a small community, we kinda phase in and out, people's schedules are a big thing to coordinate for the events. When the tournament is inviable, we tend to do a league, but they don't exclude each other, we have times when leagues and tournaments overlap. But during the second half of this year we decided to embrace your Tribal Apocalypse rules in full, to avoid headaches and discussions between us.
 I personally used to play each Friday, and I would always place first or second, so that kept me motivated a lot. Now I played around three Fridays each month, with some league from time to time. Since we adopted the Tribal Apocalypse rules, we have done two leagues, and now the tournaments are going to use those rules too.

 KUMA: How many players do you have in a league?

 ARIGAL: The last one had 13 participants. We have more players in the community, but some of them couldn't find time for it. We first have a phase were you have to play every other player within a three-week period, and then a Top 8 cut to the finals, which were held on November 15.

 KUMA: And Construct was the winner in the end?

 ARIGAL: Yes, that Construct deck is, in my personal opinion, the best deck right now, because of explosiveness and flexibility. It covers so much ground that it's almost unfair!


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 currently are 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. 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):

  • 9.46 (Week 463 BE), on November 23: Legacy
  • 9.47 (Week 464 BE), on November 30: Pioneer
  • 9.48 (Week 465 BE), on December 7: Underdog
  • 9.49 (Week 466 BE), on December 14: Standard

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: December 27.
Current watch list:
 Aether Vial, Gaea's Cradle, Witch's Vengeance.

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.

1 Comments

Cool beans on the Columbian by Paul Leicht at Sat, 11/23/2019 - 17:54
Paul Leicht's picture
5

Cool beans on the Columbian tribal news hook up! :D Thanks for the interview :)