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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

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THOUGHTS OF A TRIBAL HOST
by Kumagoro

 Trivia corner about last week's winning tribe, Rogue, the creature type representing thieves, spies, and other assorted, non-murderous malfeasants (the murderous variety goes under Assassin). As of Zendikar Rising, which alone added 28 new members, there are 294 different Rogues in the game (including the all-party creatures, but excluding the changelings), 279 of which are available in Magic Online. This makes Rogue the 14th largest tribe. Note that Gatherer counts 298 Vintage-legal black-bordered Rogues instead. Two of them are the flip sides of Nezumi Graverobber and Nezumi Shortfang, and one is Petty Theft off Brazen Borrower. Not sure what the last discrepancy is about – maybe some Oracle change added one Rogue and I missed it? Gamepedia lists 307 Rogues, but that also includes the Un-sets.

    

 The tribe is centered in black (31.9% of the total) and blue (28.7%) and has its own specific mechanical keyword, prowl. Rarity-wise, there are 65 rare Rogues, the most infamous of which is definitely Agent of Treachery, and 9 mythic Rogues, counting Starke of Rathe, which was originally rare in Tempest but reprinted as mythic in Tempest Remastered and True-Name Nemesis, printed as rare in Commander 2013, reprinted as mythic in Battlebond. Otherwise, the oldest Rogue first printed as mythic is surprisingly a fairly recent affair: Throne of Eldraine has three of them (Brazen Borrower, Rankle, Master of Pranks, Robber of the Rich), Ikoria has one (Chevill, Bane of Monsters), and so did Jumpstart (Tinybones, Trinket Thief), and Zendikar Rising Commander (Anowon, the Ruin Thief). And it's a mythic Rogue the controversial Negan card from Secret Lair: The Walking Dead.

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: Week 509 BE
• Date: October 10
• Attendance: 10
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Standard
• Winner: Yokai_ with Rogue
• Runner-up: Bandit Keith with Human
• 1-loss: Takeoutree with Zombie, Nydethess with Human, ThyShuffler with Human
• Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Unicorn
• Tribes: Angel, Giant, Human (x3), Knight (x2), Rogue, Unicorn, Zombie
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 And here's the first place Rogue deck by Yokai_ that ended the tournament with a clean 4-0 record, losing only one game along the road (against the Zombie deck we'll see in a moment). Rogue is definitely the strongest tribe in current Standard. Luckily, "current Standard" for Tribal Apocalypse purposes never lasts more than a couple of events – in the case of Zendikar Rising Standard, it'll be exactly three, so two more to go in November 14 and December 12. Then Kaldheim will kick in.

 

 Second place for Bandit Keith, who was running monowhite Human as a budget option. It's a very solid build nonetheless, thanks to the resilience of Seasoned Hallowblade and the sheer power of Luminarch Aspirant and Maul of the Skyclaves.

 

 And if 20 bucks is not budget enough for you, monoblack can offer a Top 4 worthy build for less than one dollar with Zombie. The list piloted by Takeoutree is a successful combination of devotion and "Auras matter".

 

 Finally, the Beasts have one of the most prestigious, 100% rare lineups in the meta, with tribesmembers like Questing Beast, Lovestruck Beast, Quartzwood Crasher and Garruk's Harbinger. An newcomer one-drop Swarm Shambler is a good platform to mutate Gemrazer onto. Deck just needs some fine-tuning. You can tell I wasn't sure what red removal to go with.

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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 October 16, 2020):

• Yokai_'s Rogues: $206.03
• Bandit Keith's Humans: $18.80
• Takeoutree's Zombies: $0.83
• Kumagoro's Beasts: $62.22

 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. MisterMojoRising's Beasts, $.3.01, 1st place on Event 484
8. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
9. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422
10. MisterMojoRising's Insects, $3.55, 2nd place on Event 201

 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. MisterMojoRising's Beasts, $3.01, 1st place on Event 484

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

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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. Tribes currently eligible for the award: Otter.

 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. Already cleared: Atog, Crocodile, Goat, 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 five times before coming back to the undefeated one). This means a different tribe; in some cases, specific combo or archetype-defining cards will also be locked out. 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).

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 WHAT'S NEXT

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

• 10.41 (Week 510 BE), on October 17: Pioneer
• 10.42 (Week 511 BE), on October 24: Legacy
• 10.43 (Week 512 BE), on October 31: Halloween

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: December 23.
Current watch list: Aether Vial, Batterskull, Cloudpost, Hymn to Tourach,
Necromancy, Shrieking Affliction, Sinkhole, Witch's Vengeance.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

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