---

 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

 Kaldheim is among us! The Viking set is surprisingly chock-full of tribal synergies, with the ten Limited archetypes each associated to a different tribe in two colors, plus some other major types (like Berserker), plus the retroactive debut of Phyrexian subtype, plus the long-awaited (?) introduction of Coward in a type line. But arguably the greatest boost was given to a tribe that was fully expected to be part of Kaldheim, i.e. God. There are 12 new specimens of the Norse variant, which marks an unprecedented amount of Gods for a single set, meaning it's now fully possible to run a monocolored God deck for each color. The actual synergy between old Gods and new is not at all guaranteed, but at least some of the Kaldheim divinities play decently well with each other, and some of them, like Esika and Kolvori, actively like to be surrounded by other Gods – well, maybe not Gods in particular, but legendaries for sure.

 

 Also, a side effect of all the Kaldheim Gods being modal double-faced cards with another permanent on the back (all noncreatures, except for one case) is that now you can run a tribal deck where you play out all your cards without ever putting a single creature onto the battlefield. Which is weird, but fascinating.

 

---

LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: Week 524 BE
• Date: January 23
• Attendance: 12
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Modern
• Winner: AJ_Impy with Goblin
• Runner-up: Bandit Keith with Goblin
• 1-loss: Nagarjuna with Elf, ThyShuffler with Zombie, lovetapsmtg with Kirin, Chic0 with Elemental
• Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Kirin
• New Repopulation Award: lovetapsmtg with Kirin
• Tribes: Construct, Elemental, Elf (x2), Goblin (x2), Hydra, Kirin, Octopus, Shaman, Vampire, Zombie
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 In an all-Goblin faceoff, AJ_Impy succeeded in stopping Bandit Keith from winning all the events this year. What's strange is that Goblin is not such a major force in Modern (they had only one event win to their name since late 2018), whose pool doesn't include Historic terror Muxus, Goblin Grandee. Both lists are Jund, mostly for Munitions Expert and Grumgully, the Generous, and both heavily rely on Aether Vial, as linear aggro lists usually do.

 

 

 Elsewhere, new arrival Chic0 debuted with a cool 5-color Elemental build, surprisingly effective for its unassuming price.

 

 And in this week's Repopulation Project by lovetapsmtg was Kirin's turn, declined in a never-before-seen, all-white version.

---

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 January 29, 2021):

• AJ_Impy's Goblins: $223.29
• Bandit Keith's Goblins: $202.78
• Chic0's Elementals: $8.75
• lovetapsmtg's Kirin: $66.90

 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.

---

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 New Repopulation Award: Play all rounds of a Tribal Apocalypse event with a tribe that's been played only three times or fewer, and you'll get a 1-tix certificate from MTGO Traders. The list of eligible tribes is here (the leftmost column, from the end).

 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).

---

 WHAT'S NEXT

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

• 11.04 (Week 525 BE), on January 30: Legacy

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: March 26.
Current watch list: Aether Vial, Batterskull, Conspicuous Snoop, 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.