Tribe's

C

Captain Caveman

Guest
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Casual Play Article
September 06, 2001
Multiplayer Is An Art, Part 8: Giant Spider
by Stijn van Dongen


THE RAAD VAN WIJZE MANNEN PRESENTS: TRIBES

The Tribes tournament is a casual tournament being
played in the multiplayer format. A Tribe is a
race of creatures, like Apes or Giants or Clerics.
Each deck has to be of a single tribe and may
therefore only contain creatures of the chosen
tribe. All other cards may only be included once,
except when the name of the tribe appears on the
card.

So a Vampire tribe may play with four Vampiric
Tutors and with four Sengir Vampires, but only
with one Terror and with no Hypnotic Specters at
all.

But sometimes a creature is of a certain tribe,
while its creature type isn’t. To stay in the
Vampiric mood, let’s consider Baron Sengir. He is
very definitely a Vampire, yet his creature type
is Legend. Here’s the rule covering this: The name
of a tribe has to be an existing creature type,
but a tribe creature doesn’t have to be of that
type. As soon as the name of the tribe appears on
the card, it is a tribe card. So Baron Sengir is a
Vampire, because he is able to regenerate
Vampires. (If the baron didn’t have that cool
ability, it would have been a terrible waste. He
wouldn’t have been allowed in a Vampire deck. God
praise R&D for the regeneration ability!) Now, of
course, only the English wording of cards is
accepted. Otherwise, Vampiric Tutor wouldn’t be
allowed in a Vampire deck: It is called
Blutsaugender Lehrmeister in German!

This deck also allows cool spells to be of a
certain tribe. I reckon the Death tribe wouldn’t
be much more than a hassle if Living Death been a
card of its tribe. So for example, the Shade tribe
is allowed to play with four Frozen Shades, four
Ihsan's Shades, four Scents of Nightshade, and
four Nightshade Seers. Only one Vampiric Tutor is
allowed, and Sengir Vampire is forbidden.

There will always be the misanthrope who tries and
bend these rules: He will say "Ants" are his
tribe, then stuff his deck full of ANTS, instANTS,
enchANTments, giANTS and plANTS. This has to be
foiled, and that is done by this rule: The name of
your tribe that appears on the card has to include
the the meaning of the name of your tribe. For
example: the ant in enchantment doesn’t mean "tiny
little insect that steals the show in A Bug’s
Life." And the monk in Crimson Kobolds doesn’t
mean ‘inhabitant of a monastery,’ either.
(Still searching for the monk? It’s in ‘summon
kobold.’)

Now to get all the other rules concerning the
tribeness of a card out of the way: The name of
the tribe may be mentioned in any way. So an Elf
tribe may, of course, play with Elves. It may also
play with Elvish stuff. Or Elven stuff. Or
anything else, so long as the word links back to
Elf.

Now for some shadier stuff: the Brother tribe may
use up to four copies of Sisters of the Flame. Or
of Mother of Runes. Or of Uncle Istvan.
Grandmother Sengir. Child of Gaea.

The King tribe could consist of four copies of
each of King Suleiman, Sorceress Queen, Sliver
Queen, Kingfisher, King Crab, Pixie Queen, King
Cheetah, and, last but not least (but certainly
most unexpected), Royal Assassin. Or did you have
another adjective in mind for King?

The only weird declination that is not allowed is
the denial of a tribe or the name of a tribe that
is also a game rule. Examples of both rules:
Juggernaut, with its ability not to be able to be
blocked by walls, isn’t a Wall card — and neither
is Unnatural Selection, which mentions non-wall
somewhere. And where Nether Shadow is a viable
Shadow tribe card, Soltari Lancer isn’t, as the
Shadow word on that card is the name of a game
rule.

Now to disenchant the hopes of all Greevil fans
out there: A Greevil tribe cannot be made. For a
tribe deck to be legal, at least thirty tribe
cards have to be included in your ninety-card
thick deck, twenty-five of which have to be tribe
creatures. This means that at least eight
different tribe cards have to exist. A tribe
doesn’t need to use all of its legal cards. This
is to keep the Goblin tribe viable, and to allow
for some decent deck construction.

But what if your beloved tribe only has seven
different cards? This way a legal deck can never
be made — and we were so close! Only two cards
short of the minimum...But never fear, a legend
may be recruited in those special occasions. Just
think of a legend that could conceivably be of
your tribe and ask one of the members of team RVWM
for permission to use it as a tribe card. Or,
which is probably more convenient, ask the Tourney
Official for his approval.

So let’s say seven different hippos existed and a
twisted mind would want to build a hippo tribe
deck. He would have to ask permission to use a
legend as a hippo. When he approaches me to ask if
Rith, the Awakener is a viable hippo, I’d slap him
in response. Or maybe I’d tell some one to slap
him. (Or maybe I’d just tell him I wouldn't allow
it.) But would he ask me permission to use
Phelddagrif, I’d pat him on the back and wish him
luck with his deck in the next tournament.

Cards that become creatures, like Opal Archangel,
count towards the twenty-five card minimum. The
same goes for token generators like Sacred Mesa:
That is a valid Pegasus creature in tribes.

Nota Bene: There is no creature card that has the
creature type ‘saproling.’ Hence, a saproling
tribe cannot be made. Should a Saproling ever be
made, I think I’ll run away in fear — since a deck
with four Verdant Forces right next to four Aura
Mutations, living in harmony with four Elvish
Farmers, scares the hell out of me. (Note:
Artifact and Aura Mutation are both saproling
tribe creatures. They, can therefore, not be used
by other tribes. A Master of the Hunt on the other
hand, is a valid Master creature, a valid Hunter
creature, and a valid Wolf creature.)

The basic rules in a nutshell:

Play with at least ninety cards in your deck,
and with at least 30 tribe cards.

A minimum of 25 tribe creatures must be in your
deck.

Each non-basic land card may only be played
once, except for tribe cards.

Creatures that are not of your tribe are banned.

Now whenever multiplayer is played, there is
always the risk of a single game lasting longer
than the Roman empire. This might sometimes be
caused by excessive life gaining. So when
organizing a multiplayer tournament, the following
rules are recommended by the RVWM:

1. Anytime an amount of life is gained, this
cannot be more than five life. Exempla Gratia: A
Stream of Life cast for eight will don it’s caster
only five life.

2. Life gaining spells cannot be cast with
buyback. For example, Worthy Cause now sucks.

3. A permanent with the ability to grant life will
only do so when the life granted isn’t given to
its controller. So an Ivory Tower basically does
nothing, and a Spirit Link does nothing as well. A
Grollub, on the other hand, still has all of its
abilities, since the life-effect is only
beneficial to opponents. Sol'Kanar the Swamp King
is still a savage facesmasher that lays tight
beats, but you won’t mise any life from him
anymore.

There are a few more rules that are occupied with
making multiplayer tournaments more fun. They are:

1. Color hosers are out of the question. The
definition of a color hoser used for this rule is:
A card that benefits from the existence of more
than one other card of a certain color or type.
Good examples of hosers are Flashfires, Perish,
Crackdown, and Compost. Hosing abilities imbued in
creatures or lands just cannot be activated. So a
Northern Paladin looks to the North, my son, and
only finds himself to be an overcosted Hill Giant.

Nota Bene: A Red Elemental Blast is no hoser,
since it doesn’t profit from the existence of
multiple blue cards. It only takes down one of
them. (Hey, I played with two Red and two Blue
Elemental Blasts while playing with my Elemental
tribe; they proved quite useful.)

2. Tribe hosers are out of the question. You
thought Tivadar’s Crusade would be the nuts? You
thought Spike Cannibal would be les noisettes? You
thought Suleiman's Legacy would be die Nüssen?
That Extinction would be de nootjes? That Tsabo’s
Decree would be przypis? Well, you can take your
tasty crunchy snacks somewhere else, for those
kind of cards are all banned, as is the following
list of cards:

Ashnod’s Altar
Balance
Celestial Convergence
Channel
Chaos Orb
Coat of Arms
Conspiracy
Demonic Tutor
Doomsday
Divine Intervention
Earthcraft
Falling Star
Goblin Bombardment
Limited Resources
Mind Over Matter
Mind Twist
Memory Jar
Phyrexian Altar
Portcullis
Planar Portal
Price of Progress
Primal Order
Regrowth
Reins of Power
Shaharazad
Strip Mine
Thieves' Auction
Time Walk
Unnatural Selection

And remember: Outbreak and Engineered Plague are
already banned by the rules.


4x Craw Giant
4x Karplusan Giant
4x Frost Giant
4x Heartwood Giant
4x Bloodfire Colossus
4x Bloodshot Cyclops
4x Giant Spider
4x Giant Caterpillar
4x Giant Trap Door Spider
2x Giant Growth

1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Hammerheim
1x Pendelhaven (Go Butterfly!)
1x Sol Ring (Counts as a land because it is so
cheap.)
18x Snow-covered Forest
18x Snow-covered Mountain

complete list without further ado.

1x Lure
1x Mana Flare
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Creeping Mold
1x Desert Twister
1x Shiv’s Embrace
1x Gaea’s Embrace
1x Furnace of Rath
1x Fanning the Flames
1x Stormbind
1x Fireball
1x Earthquake
1x Hurricane
1x Pyroclasm
1x Steamblast
1x Hammer of Bogardan
1x Kaervek’s Torch
1x Rolling Thunder
1x Fireball
1x Incinerate
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Goblin War Drums

Emperial Regards,
Stijn van Dongen,
Team RVWM
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Here are some of my Tribe idea's. I'm tring to stay way from
Kavu, Rebels, Merc's, Angels and such. I still don't have the
highlander part figured out yet.



Soldier Tribe
4 Goblin Legionnaire
4 Shock Troops
4 Staunch Defenders
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Soltari Champion
4 Lieutenant Kirtar
4 Mounted Archers
4 Heavy Ballista
2 Intrepid Hero

1 Goblin Trenches
+ ????

1 Kjeldoran Outpost

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beast Tribe
4 Spiritmonger
4 Blastoderm
4 Root Greevil
4 Thresher Beast
4 Hunting Moa
4 Scragnoth
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Thrashing Wumpus
1 Rhox
1 Jolrael, Empress of Beasts (it sayes Beast?)

4 Beast Attack
+ ???

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elemental Tribe(mono-tone)
4 Furnace Brood
4 Lightning Elemental
2 Magmasaur
4 Skizzik
4 Subterranean Spirit
4 Cinder Elemental
4 Earth Elemental
4 Fire Elemental
4 Flame Elemental
+ x Burn/removal(disk)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illision Tribe
4 Dream Prowler
4 Illusionary Forces
4 Thalakos Mistfolk
2 Fleeting Image
3 Palinchron
4 Somnophore
4 Chameleon Spirit
4 Phantom Warrior
1 Amugaba
4 Veiled Sentry(counts as Illusion)
3 Veiled Apparition(counts as Illusion)

4 Sway of Illusion
+ ????


Ya, they are bad but its a start.. Any help is welcome.
 
K

krichaiushii

Guest
I gave this a bit more thought, and it occurs to me that enchantments would be preferable to instants in a format like this, due the highlander aspect.

Of course, you want the most versatile cards in there, as well.

Soldier Deck
Disenchant
Pillage/Demolish
Gerrard's Battle Cry
Seal of Fire
Shock
Lightning Bolt
Incinerate
StP
Flickering Ward
Flicker
Wrath of God (you're playing white, after all - and the original artwork just fits)
Army of Allah
Glorious Anthem

Elemental Deck
I still think a R/U version would be better for blue's flying elementals and library search and Wave Elemental.
The red supplemental cards posted above, as well as a Mana Flare. If you are feeling dangerous, a Citadel of Pain, as well (works with the X spells and the pump creatures).

Beasts
Some of those are beasts? I had no idea.

Creeping Mold
Reanimate
Demonic Tutor and its clones
Regrowth and its clones
Diabolic Edict
Terror
Cannibalize?
Dark Banishing
Seal of Doom
Gaea's Bounty/Skyshroud Claim
Desert Twister
Tranquil Grove
Rancor
Overrun
Befoul
Vernal Equinox

I like the simplicity of the B/G one best. But then again, I just like those colors...
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Dragon's would be fun but you have to have some many Rares.
I just don't have enough Dragons.


I thought about U/R Elementals like you said but I get this far
and have trouble completing it.

4 Cinder Elemental
4 Time Elemental
4 Air Elemental
4 Wave Elemental



Does anyone have some suggestions for other Tribe's. We'll
probably be playing this for a couple of weeks so I'll have time
to trade around and work on something else.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Well, I learned a few things yesterday.

"Beast" of Burden + Rancor = a whole lotta pain. There isn't a lot
of removal floating around and it can get pretty big, from time to
time. Beast decks are pretty good with some way to contol the
air.

Battlemages can be fun. In the form of 5 color Wizards.dec

My Soldier deck wasn't to bad but I didn't choose the right cards
for the highlander part. And of course, most of them are 2/2's and
that's not good.


I think krichaiushii mentioned Walls as a Tribe deck , in his PM,
and I think Rolling Stones would count as a Tribe card. Here are
a few idea about Wall decks and a few other Tribe ideas too.
None of them are finished, I just tossing around some more ideas.

Again, any suggestions are welcome.



W/U
4 Wall of Spears
4 Primal Clay(might be bending the rules)
4 Mobile Fort
4 Sunweb
4 Wall of Swords
4 Stinging Barrier
2 Dark Maze
2 Snow Fortress
1 Shifting Wall

4 Rolling Stones

* As you can see I picked some walls that can attack without R.S.
in play. It seems like a good idea.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
W/R
4 Wall of Spears
4 Primal Clay
4 Mobile Fort
4 Sunweb
4 Wall of Swords
4 Cinder Wall
4 Flowstone Wall
2 Snow Fortress
1 Shifting Wall

4 Rolling Stones



//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
W/G
4 Wall of Spears
4 Primal Clay
4 Mobile Fort
4 Sunweb
4 Wall of Swords
4 Wall of Pine Needles
4 Carnivorous Plant
2 Snow Fortress
1 Shifting Wall

4 Rolling Stones




////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Nomad Tribe
4 Ghitu Slinger
4 Avalanche Riders
4 Ghitu Fire-Eater
4 Mystic Visionary
4 Mystic Zealot
4 Mystic Crusader
4 Nomad Decoy
2 Pianna, Nomad Captain
1 Dogged Hunter
1 Tireless Tribe
1 Mystic Penitent
1 Resilient Wanderer



/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Vampire Tribe
4 Krovikan Vampire
4 Sengir Vampire
4 Skyshroud Vampire
4 Vampire Bats
4 Vampire Hounds
1 Baron Sengir
1 Vampiric Dragon
1 Repentant Vampire
1 Crovax the Cursed
1 Stalking Bloodsucker

x Vampiric Tutor
1
 
M

Mikeymike

Guest
For a W/U Wall deck you can also run 1 Unnatural Selection and just mess with all the creature types in general AND turn your Sunwebs into 5/6 flyers (as a backup to rolling Stones).

Whats the ruling - Unnatural Selection does say 'non-Wall' on the card, so does that mean you'd be able to run 4 if necessary?

I would also include this house:
Cost=4U IA(C)
Text(IA+errata): 7/4, Flying, First Strike. (Walls can't attack.) ; Cumulative Upkeep - {U}.

Splashing Green also gives you access to:
Jungle Barrier
Carnivorous Plant

And this guy is pretty good too
Thunder Wall

EDIT: Whoops, just noticed Unnatural Selection was banned. But Urza's Incubator and Belbe's Portal are not.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Clerics are good:

Mother Of Runes
Beloved Chaplain
Shaman En-Kor
Academy Rector
Soltari Monk
Solatari Priest
Master Apothecary
Orim, Samite Healer

Theres an awful lot of defensive bombs in there. Your only problem is likely to be finding a kill - I recommend using the Shadow guys maybe with Rectored-enchantments to boost them or replace them as threats such as PWave, Empyrial Armour, or Opal Archangel. It would be weak vs flyers though.

Other powerful Clerics:
Thelonite Druid
Monk Idealist (use him with the Rector to loop a Parallax Wave for instance)
Order Of Leitbur
Freyalise Supplicant
Devoted Caretaker

Any deck that can use the search mechanisms is going to be powerful:
Rebels (the obvious one, and there`s some fat Rebels)
Mercenaries (dont forget Rogue Skycaptain is a Mercenary)
Moggcatcher (along with Goblin Matron and Recruiter you can dig out any Goblin you want)
Seahunter (really dependent on Jolting Merfolk though, probably too weak)
and in particular:
Skyshroud Poacher (because there are some AWESOME Elves)

Also consider the stronger block mechanics - a Kavu deck, for instance.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Cleric Tribe(This is the model I've been thinking
about. Has problems w/fliers though, like you said
With out a lot of direct removal you need flyer
blockers)
2 Soltari Priest
2 Soltari Monk
4 Mother of Runes
4 Beloved Chaplain
4 Academy Rector
4 Samite Archer
3 Shaman en-Kor
1 Monk Idealist
1 Blessed Orator
1 Soltari Visionary
x False Prophet

1 P.Wave
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Seal of Cleansing
x need some bomb enchants?:)



Kavu Tribe(Having a lot of trouble with this
one. Should it be 2-3-4 color, and what to use. Again,
no flyer blockers but it has FtK and B.K)
4 Hunting Kavu
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Kavu Titan
4 Kavu Howler
4 Bloodfire Kavu
3 Mire Kavu
1 Horned Kavu
1 Kavu Mauler
1 Yavimaya Kavu
1 Firescreamer

+ stuff........


I wonder if a Golem deck would stretch the rules to far? I could
play any base color I wanted. I could even run all five basic land
types. Is "Golem" a creature type?
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
"I think all the Golems are just artifact creatures, but not sure without doing a search..."

I kind of figured thats how it would be. But I wasn't sure because
all the newer text sayes: Artifact Creature-Golem.


Here are a few more idea's I'm tossing around. As usual, I'm
looking for some suggestion.

Griffin Tribe
1 Griffin Canyon
1 Zuberi, Golden Feather
4 Diving Griffin
4 Ekundu Griffin
4 Razorfoot Griffin
4 Teremko Griffin
4 Daraja Griffin
4 Mtenda Griffin
4 Unyaro Griffin


Drake Tribe(U/r)
4 Sabertooth Wyvern
4 Spitting Drake
4 Pendrell Drake
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Vigilant Drake
4 Wind Drake
4 Spiketail Drake
+2


Rebel Tribe
4 Defiant Falcon
1 Lawbringer
1 Lightbringer
1 Nightwind Glider
4 Ramosian Sergeant
4 Steadfast Guard
1 Thermal Glider
1 Cho-Manno
1 Jhovall Queen
2 Lin Sivvi
2 Ramosian Sky Marshal
3 Ballista Squad
4 Defiant Vanguard
1 Reveille Squad


Merc`Tribe
Huh, ...Help! So far, everything I try, for MP, turns out bad.



Treefolk Tribe(?)
4 Living Terrain
4 Yavimaya Ancients
4 Weatherseed Treefolk
4 Cradle Guard
4 Heartwood Treefolk
4 Treefolk Seedlings
4 Ebony Treefolk
1 Nemata, Grove Guardian
1 Verdeloth the Ancient

4 Treetop Village(Might count as Tribe card.(?)


Angels(W/b)Fallen/Reya)
4 Serra Angel
4 Voice of All
4 Fallen Angel
2 Blinding Angel
2 Voice of Duty
2 Voice of Grace
2 Voice of Law
2 Voice of Reason
2 Voice of Truth
1 Angel of Mercy
1 Angelic Protector
1 Radiant, Archangel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
+1

1 Living Death


Zombie Tribe[B/g]Beats
4 Llanowar Dead
4 Grave Defiler
2 Lord of the Undead(all I can get)
4 Nightscape Familiar
4 Phyrexian Ghoul
4 Crypt Creeper
3 Bone Dancer
+ ?????

2 Zombie Infestation
4 Feast or Famine
3 Strength of Night
1 Tombstone Stairwell
1 Spidersilk Armor


Zombie Tribe[B/u]combo
4 Vodalian Zombie
4 Grave Defiler
2 Lord of the Undead
4 Nightscape Familiar
4 Phyrexian Ghoul
4 Crypt Creeper
3 Bone Dancer
+ ??????

4 Zombie Infestation
4 Feast or Famine
1 Tombstone Stairwell
1 Oath of Scholars
1 Living Death
1 Upheavil
1 Lim Duls Vault
1 N.Disk


Zombie Tribe[B/r]burn
4 Shivan Zombie
4 Grave Defiler
2 Lord of the Undead
4 Nightscape Familiar
4 Phyrexian Ghoul
4 Crypt Creeper
3 Bone Dancer
3 Pyre Zombie
+ ????

4 Zombie Infestation
4 Feast or Famine
3 Deadapult
1 Living Death
1 Tombstone Stairwell
1 Void
1 Jokluhaups

I don't have any Scuta!
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
From Crystalkeep:

K.11.2 - "Artifact Creature" cards usually do not have a creature type,
but they may. This is indicated like "Artifact Creature - Xxxx"
where "Xxxx" is the creature type. [CompRules 2001/07/23 - 212.2a]
So yes, they count as creature types if they say the above.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Thanks.

The only problem now is building a good enough deck to not get
laughed off the table. No matter how I build it the Golem deck is
_really_really_bad.(my Tribe version, atleast)


4 Thran Golem
4 Brass Herald
4 Emblazoned Golem
4 Sparring Golem
4 Patagia Golem
3 Basalt Golem
2 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Rith’s Attendant
1 Treva’s Attendant
1 Crosis’s Attendant
1 Darigaaz’s Attendant
1 Dromar’s Attendant

1 Legacy Weapon
1 Last Stand
1 Collapsing Border
1 Worldly Counsel
1 Spite/Malice
1 Evasive Action
1 Global Ruin
1 Fire/Ice
1 Order Chaos
1 Pyroclasm
1 Exotic Disease
1 Sylvan Library
1 Stp
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Orim's Thunder
1 Expunge
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Spreading Plague
1 Collective Restraint
1 Deed(or Disk)
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Rancor
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Vindicate

1 Tolarian Academy
+ a bunch of basics
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Brilliant. :rolleyes: Have you not noticed that there are 11 Licids total, few enough that they'll be directly inferior to almost any other tribes?

I think the idea is to *win*, too...
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Wizard Tribe(mono-chrome)?

4 Prodigal Sorcerer
4 Thalakos Seer
1 Archivist
2 Patron Wizard(all I have)
1 Rayne, Academy Chancellor
4 Temporal Adept
4 Brine Seer
4 Puppeteer
4 Suq’Ata Firewalker
1 Thalakos Deceiver
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept

+ ???


Does anyone have an idea for something unusual?
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
I like Statecraft and Gaseous Form in this deck to allow for effective blocking.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Thanks Istanbul,

That seems like a good idea but I can't remember, does Statecraft
keep my pingers from being able to deal damage?


Tossing around Tibe idea's...................(what to use?)

These idea's kind of bend the rules but should fit within the
(over-all)guidelines of a Tribe deck.

Kings & Queens
Cats(Megata the Lion?)Is that going to far?
Wolves
Ship & Pirate's(U/W/G, w/Hanna?)
Centaurs(...are there enough now?, I've got to have atleast 25
creatures in the deck plus 5 more Tribe related cards)
Minotaur's
 
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