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Tribal wars casual 25/31/2023 ![]() Look back at what was available pre-Kamigawa and imagine putting together an Ogre deck or a Dwarf deck back then. Look at the variety of decks from the time: This as a format whose players chose diversity and challenge, competing not against their opponents but the limitations of their tribes. It didn't appeal to Spikes because of the lack of prize support, so the pressure for maximum efficiency, the drive to win each game in as most definite and infallible a way as possible wasn't there. There were no prizes on the line, but there didn't need to be: It was fun just to see who had the more interesting deck theme, enjoyable just to play your personally selected tribe, with enough variety to maintain plenty of interest. ![]() In short, Timmy and Johnny were having a field day with it, and their support was more than enough to keep the format thriving and popular. Being able to craft a thematic deck is a part of that appeal, and one of the strengths of Tribal Wars was that it gave a place where themes could have their day, where synergies or interesting challenge tribes could go against one another. People do not on the whole start playing magic because there are prizes on the line, but because the game is fun and interesting. It's worth remembering that there wouldn't have been any prize support for any MTG spikes at all if the game itself hadn't been fun and compelling enough to be successful. It's very Timmy, it's very Vorthos, but first and foremost, it is fun, and that, more than anything else, is key. Jay also touched upon why that was: The appeal of building a deck around a cogent theme is something that draws in a lot of players. ![]() Take a look at this pair of articles by Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar from five years ago: At this point the format had been around for a solid year and a half, and it was going very strongly indeed. There is, however, one fundamental problem with this argument, at least as it pertains to Magic Online: The casual formats flourished for years before Wizards even thought of giving prizes for them. One of the main thrusts of Lord Erman's argument was that spikes and competitive play were essential to the life of a format: If there was no Spike input, the format would be unpopular and unplayed, and would eventually die away altogether. The key thing is the intent behind the bannings: Very few of them would have any relevance whatsoever to the decks that would later emerge when Spike was allowed his reign. Nonetheless, take a look at the list: It's fair to say that Damnation is a lot easier to use than Endemic Plague, but the banned list has always been somewhat inconsistent. I'd like to think that nowadays I'd have no qualms about any card being played against me: My stance on the casual room has mellowed to 'Play what you like, concede when you want'. Sadly, the exact nature of the comment is lost to the mists of time, but knowing me, it was most likely something petulant, waspish and uncalled-for born from the frustration of being outplayed. Lord Erman yesterday made reference to a Tribal Wars game we played a number of years ago, in which he recalls me commenting on Damnation. I could go on at length about their relative merits, but I already did that some months back. All six of the first banned cards have been grandfathered into today's Tribal Classic format: Even then, it started out with the key elements that made it unsuitable for tournament play: No sideboards, and a 'Spirit of the format' banned list. It was first announced as a format for the Wizards Invitational, back when casual formats were more likely to start with a number than a name. Tribal, in its original classic form, has been available on MTGO since March 2003. In any case, with Lord Erman having given me a hard act to follow, on with the debate! I apologize to my weekly readers for the absence last week: Being away from my computer from mid-Friday through to late Monday at a convention didn't leave me with enough time to produce an article I'd be happy to see in virtual print. ![]() For those wondering if they've come in on the middle of something, it is my pleasure to direct your attention to Lord Erman's article published here, where he expounds on the idea that Tribal Classic should once more be a tournament-supported format. Welcome, gentle readers, to the other side of the great tribal debate.
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