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By: Kumagoro42, Gianluca Aicardi
Dec 13 2019 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. 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 final approach to the second coming of Theros has begun! Elspeth is back as everyone expected, devotion is also predictably back, constellation is surprisingly back, and at least some of the indestructible devotion-hungry Gods are back. Heroic is sort of back, but the one heroic-like creatures that were spoiled so far (one of which officially through Arena's Game Awards After Party event) didn't bear the keyword. Sagas are also returning from Dominaria, which is a nice development, because it means they're becoming at the very least deciduous, with the Theros setting particularly suitable for their first comeback.

 But the cards that caught my attention the most are these:

     

 I mean, these look great, but they're also more than a bit silly, are they not?


LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

  • Event Number: 9.48, Week 465 BE
  • Date: December 7
  • Attendance: 10
  • Rounds: 3
  • Subformat: Underdog
  • Winner: AJ_Impy with Jellyfish
  • 1 Loss: Nydethess with Shapeshifter, Bandit Keith with Wolf, Kumagoro with Plant, Nagarjuna with Pegasus
  • Dark Horse Prize: AJ_Impy with Jellyfish
  • Up-and-Coming Prize: AJ_Impy with Jellyfish
  • Tribes: Ape, Dinosaur, Jellyfish, Kobold, Kor, Mongoose, Pegasus, Plant, Shapeshifter, Wolf
  • Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 Last Underdog event of the season, and here's a new tribe getting the Up-and-Coming Prize by winning their very first event, which had happened two other times this year, with Hydra in January and then with Hound in March. Now it's the turn of Jellyfish, piloted to victory by AJ_Impy in this Cloudpost shell. Guess the printing of a certain scalable flyer considerably improved their ranks. And of course (Universal Automaton) is another a great Jellyfish.

 

 Speaking of which, here's a proper Shapeshifter deck by Nydethess. These shifting changelings like to disguise as Spirits and Humans in particular.

 

 The day of the event was my birthday, and I celebrated by revisiting my Nissa Tribal deck, within an appropriate Plant shell. The Nissas keep playing very well with each other.

 

 Finally, we're going to hear all about this Kor build (as well as his Vampires from a month ago) in this installment of Generalissimo's Show and Tell.


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 December 13 2019):

  • AJ_Impy's Jellyfish: $138.76
  • Nydethess's Shapeshifters: $67.47
  • Kumagoro's Plants: $127.29
  • Generalissimo's Kors: $70.87

 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

 Generalissimo introduces his Vampires: "This is a Mardu midrange deck, attempting to slow the early turns with efficient removal and the road-blocking effect of Gifted Aetherborn and Vampire Nighthawk until one of the big, value-generating Draculas such as Bloodline Keeper, Olivia Voldaren or Vona, Butcher of Magan can take over and dominate the board."

 Generalissimo introduces his Kors: "This deck attempts to make use of the damage-redirection abilities of the various en-Kor cards to funnel the damage of Anger of the Gods and Blasphemous Act into the protected creatures of Kor Firewalker and Mother of Runes, effectively turning the board-sweepers into Plague Wind, or into Boros Reckoner to burn the opponent's life total directly."


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):

  • 9.49 (Week 466 BE), on December 14: Standard
  • 9.50 (Week 467 BE), on December 21: Modern
  • 9.51 (Week 468 BE), on December 28: Legacy

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.