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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

 As mentioned in passing a couple of weeks ago, I want to poll everyone to see what they think about turning the event's structure into League. It would basically all remain the same, except the rounds would allow, say, 24 hours to be played and reported (we can figure out the details later, but 48 hours per round are too many and 36 hours might just complicate the matter without a real gain). It would allow participation to players who aren't available on Saturday at 5 PM UTC. And in general, the league concept feels more relaxing and inviting, doesn't it? That's why it's popular, no?

 Anyway, let's see how the prospect of going league goes down. Vote on Discord!

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LAST WEEK ON TRIBAL APOCALYPSE...

• Event Number: Week 626 BE
• Date: January 28
• Attendance: 6
• Rounds: 3
• Subformat: Commander 1v1
• Winner: csrrcr with Sliver
• 1-loss: -DiamondDust- with Dragon, Deonmag with Vampire
• Tribes: Angel, Dragon, Sliver (x2), Vampire, Werewolf
• Event link (with all players, pairings, standings, decks, and results): here it is

 First Commander event in very many years, and we're immediately reminded of at least one tribe that doesn't mind running a ton of different members. That's Sliver, of course, which took the top spot while piloted by csrrcr.

 

 Another tribe that fits the Commander format well is Dragon. There are various strong commanders for it – one of which reminds us that we must change the rule that currently forces the commander to share a type with the deck's tribe, otherwise Kaalia of the Vast will be out of a job or three. -DiamondDust- didn't go the five-color route of The Ur-Dragon or its Scion, but chose the more "fair" Lathliss instead. Of course, even with just one color at her disposal, the Dragon Queen is still a magnificent leader of flying lizards.

 

 With 75 members online, Werewolf is the smallest tribe that showed up in this event. Which means almost half of its entire lineup had to be fielded in the deck to meet the tribal requirements. Luckily for Takeoutree, the recent Innistrad sets greatly increased the tribe's average quality – and Tovolar, Dire Overlord is just the perfect commander for a pack that also naturally includes a few choice Wolf cousins.

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THE HIGH PRICE OF WINNING

  

 Here's the prices of all the featured decks (MTGO Traders prices as of February 3, 2023):

• csrrcr's Slivers: $50.09
• -DiamondDust-'s Dragons: $59.64
• Takeoutree's Werewolves: $19.22

 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. -DiamondDust-'s Dinosaurs, $0.98, 2nd place on Event 539
2. mihahitlor's Warriors, $1.95, 1st place on Event 233
3. morpphling's Vampires, $2.25, 1st place on Event 285
4. JogandoPelado's Berserkers, $2.80, 1st place on Event 248
5. kokonade1000's Berserkers, $2.95, 2nd place on Event 354

 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 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 in a specific format, they will not be allowed to register the same tribe and deck in that format again for 3 events (i.e. they'll have to register a different deck three times before coming back to the undefeated one). 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):

• 13.05 (Week 627 BE), on February 4: Underdog
• 13.06 (Week 628 BE), on February 11: Modern
• 13.07 (Week 629 BE), on February 18: Legacy
• 13.08 (Week 630 BE), on February 25: Penny Dreadful

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.