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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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TRIBAL DEMOCRACY AT WORK

 The vote for Stoneforge Mystic is now closed. The required quorum of 5 votes has not been met. Leave Stoneforge Mystic alone! She's in our logo!

 

 As a result of the vote, Artificer is moved to the Major League, therefore not legal in Underdog events anymore.

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: Week 608 BE
• Date: September 17
• Attendance: 9
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Modern
• Winner: Bandit Keith with Human
• Runner-up: lovetapsmtg with Shade
• 1-loss: ThyShuffler with Dragon, Takeoutree with Snake, Yokai_ with Phyrexian
• Dark Horse Prize: lovetapsmtg with Shade
• Tribes: Bird, Dragon, Human, Merfolk, Phyrexian, Shade, Sheep, Snake, Vampire
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 Oh man, we got so close to the very first Shade win! And in the finals against Humans, no less! Shade, of all Unhallowed tribes, can you imagine it? It would have been a first for lovetapsmtg as well, whose love for extremely minor tribes has always prevented them to sit at the top of a tournament. Shade is a notoriously one-note tribe, in which basically every member does some variation of "black firebreathing" and nothing else. Alongside some lovetaps mainstays like Gemstone Caverns and Smuggler's Copter, this list tries to capitalize a little on the number of black peep in the Shades' cost, by using a couple of devotion payoff, especially Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Perhaps that theme could have been pushed more?

 

 I have a soft spot for Snakes, and this list by Takeoutree is especially spicy, due to the cross-pollination with a flicker strategy. Ephemerate is indeed a pretty great trick with Mystic Snake, and the tribe offers several other great targets for flickering. Although, maybe not Hexdrinker.

 

 The Multiverse is in the middle of the Second Invasion right now, so Phyrexian will be the buzzword for a whole year. Yokai_ keeps demonstrating their threat level, incorporating fresh new members like Benalish Sleeper and Phyrexian Missionary (by the way, the Dominaria United evaluation is in the works, expect it for next week). And of course, Stoneforge Mystic herself is there to help her new Machine Overlords, ready to grab Kaldra Compleat off the Blind Eternities, or whatever it is that she does to conjure Equipment out of thin air. Maybe she just keeps them in her backpack.

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THE HIGH PRICE OF WINNING

  

 Here's the prices of all the featured decks (MTGO Traders prices as of September 23, 2022):

• lovetapsmtg's Shades: $9.47
• Takeoutree's Snakes: $54.01
• Yokai_'s Phyrexians: $105.49

 The Top 10 Cheapest Decks that Went Undefeated

1. -DiamondDust-'s Dinosaurs, $0.98, 2nd place on Event 539
2. SirFalcon2008's Goblins, $1.54, 1st place on Event 389
3. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
4. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
5. morpphling's Goblins, $2.35, 2nd place on Event 102
6. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
7. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354
8. MisterMojoRising's Beasts, $.3.01, 1st place on Event 484
9. Gq1rf7's Goblins, $3.32, 1st place on Event 154
10. Bandit Keith's Soldiers, $3.48, 1st place on Event 422

 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 Dark Horse 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: Beholder.

 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). Tribes that didn't exist before this season aren't eligible.

 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):

• 12.37 (Week 609 BE), on September 24: Legacy

Check out the ban lists and the event calendar.
SEE YOU ALL IN THE #TRIBAL ROOM!

 

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