---

 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

 Strixhaven's spoiler season is already over (things move fast these days!), and if the set doesn't really contain much in the tribal deparment, we can still appreciate the fact that each of the five colleges have an associated creature type: white-black Inkling for Silverquill; blue-red Elemental for Prismari; black-green Pest for Witherbloom; red-white Spirit for Lorehold; and green-blue Fractal for Quandrix. As represented by their respective lessons in summoning.

    

 These five spells show the basic stats for each of them, giving the unusual Spirit that doesn't fly, something that was perhaps last seen in Kamigawa. Two of these creature types, Inkling and Fractal, are entirely new, while another, Pest, re-appears for the first time since its debut with Mirrodin Besieged's Signal Pest ten years ago. Only the latter is given a card and not just tokens in Strixhaven, although we have at least one Fractal coming in the associated Commander 2021.

 

 Pest is now in the unique position of being a two-member tribe featuring a lord, which also defines a brand new batching: real-world animals (or groupings of animals) that are considered harmful to human habitats? I maintain Rabbit should also be included, as they're famously treated as Pests in Australia.

---

LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: Week 534 BE
• Date: April 3
• Attendance: 12
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Underdog
• Winner: Bandit Keith with Serpent
• 1-loss: Generalissimo with Naga, Yokai_ with Dryad, Takeoutree with Pilot, Nagarjuna with Archon, ThyShuffler with Camel
• Dark Horse Prize: ThyShuffler with Camel
• Tribes: Archon, Artificer, Camel, Drake, Dryad, Horror, Insect, Naga, Pilot, Scarecrow, Serpent, Specter
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 The discussion about the potential ban of Living Death is ongoing, but so far it has not even been placed in the Watch List. Meanwhile, Bandit Keith just demonstrate Serpent is able to top an Underdog event by replacing Living End with its older, clunkier predecessor.

 

 And here's another card that could be worth a little debate: once dropped as a follow-up to a few small creatures, Opposition is able to shut down the opponent's mana sources entirely, which is more than just messing up the combat phase. Dryad, as played by Yokai_ here, is particularly fitting due to the presence of a strong token-maker like Tendershoot Dryad.

 

 One of the most admired lists of the week was this Pilot build by Takeoutree. Power and fun rolled into one.

 

 We've been missing his Show and Tell videos lately, but Generalissimo is still active in the events. This Naga list of his had won an event last year, and is still quite effective.

---

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 April 9, 2021):

• Bandit Keith's Serpents: $199.03
• Yokai_'s Dryads: $220.35
• Takeoutree's Pilots: $10.86
• player's tribe: $150.77

 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):

• 11.14 (Week 535 BE), on April 10: Standard
• 11.15 (Week 536 BE), on April 17: Modern
• 11.16 (Week 537 BE), on April 24: Legacy

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
Next banned and restricted announcement: June 25.
Current watch list: Conspicuous Snoop, Crippling Fear Shrieking Affliction.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

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