Lets make a tribal deck (Somewhat) playable. Feast your eyes on the Cephalid Tribal deck!
-Introduction-
I originally wanted to make a Cephalid tribal deck quite a while ago, but when I looked over all of the Cephalids in the game (There are not even twenty of them and only a few of these are remotely usable), I knew I was in for something. Cephalids are not a typical tribal deck, they can't reliably create more of themselves like Goblins and Elves, they don't have good synergy like Allies, in fact they don't have a great lord (Hence the inclusion of adaptive automaton). However the idea of weird octopuses decimating opponents is really intriguing. Well through much thought I realized that these guys can actually win us a game...just not with our weak bodied squid people.
-Main Strategy-
Cephalids have very little synergy with one another, but most of them rely on self milling. While this would be welcome in a green/black deck, it is normally pretty bad in a mono-blue deck. Before you say, 'you can just use a U/B/G colored commander and be done with it', I would like to say that it would kill the flavor of this deck if I were to do so. While Sidisi can't be used here, a keyword coming from her block can...Delve. While this deck benefits from Delve, there are very few Blue Delve cards, and all of them are spells. While these are useful only a few of these are actually helpful, with Temporal Trespass becoming ridiculously easy to use with the amount of milling this deck uses. Treasure Cruise is an obvious include, as the card advantage it grants is insane, and Set Adrift is a blue form of removal, while it is not perfect, it can do quite well in a pinch and in most cases can buy you a few turns (Unless it's a token deck, in which case this card is only worth using on larger creatures). Flashback and Eternalize, and Embalm are also incredibly powerful if one considers the amount of things we will be milling with this deck, however there are few blue Embalm, Eternalize and Flashback cards worth considering, so only a few appear in the deck.
Another strategy is to protect your board while you gather your squishy army, typical prison strategy cards appear here to make sure we get our Cephalids into play more easily. Riptide Replicator, and Volrath's Laboratory allow you to provide a consistent supply of Cephalids, something this deck is lacking. Coming along with the deck is several forms of ways of improving your creatures, with Wonder and Archetype of Imagination easily making it's into this deck. It is also worth noting that several replication cards are present in the deck, and can easily bolster your army of Cephalids in the long run. Eldrazi Monument can help protect your creatures from the usual Wrath effects, and can bolster your creatures even further alongside the other racial anthem cards in this deck.
Ultimately your goal is to either beat down your opponents with an army of Cephalids, or win using your graveyard as a resource for some of your other spells, including Skaab Ruinator. However in the long term this deck is also a political deck, designed for you to keep yourself out of conflicts, and to assist others in order to make yourself even less of a target than you may seem.
-Main Combos-
(Archetype of Imagination + Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor) This is one of your main political combos, it is a double edged sword, allowing you to prevent people from commencing their plays, and stopping attacks, additionally this can be used multiple times.
(Deciever Exarch + Riptide Replicator or Volrath's Laboratory + Peregrine Drake + Deadeye Navigator) This is a complex combo, requiring you to have some of these cards already set up or have enough mana to pull this off. Peregrine Drake and Deadeye Navigator are there to provide a steady supply of mana for the Replicator or Laboratory, and most importantly to flicker the Exarch, with this in mind it can be infinitely flickered for you infinitely untap the Replicator or Laboratory. Most of this can be substituted for the Paradox engine, however this requires several spells on hand to get the most out of this effect, and will still require the Navigator + Drake.
(Xenograft + Rite of Replication or Clone Legion or Gather Specimens) If the previous combo is just not fun enough for you, how about using a person's token deck against them? With Rite of Replication, Clone Legion or Gather Specimens you can effectively turn an entire person's board against them, and with Xenograft turns all of the tokens into Cephalids, furthering our own cause. Coupled with the several anthems in our deck, this can very easily turn the tide of a game (Unless you get killed first).
(Ambassador Laquatus/Most of the Cephalids + Kozilek, Butcher of Truth) A major disadvantage of this deck is the fact that you can only use you Cephalid's abilities only so much before you begin to get drained of resources. Kozilek is in the deck, not only as a finisher, but for you to keep yourself in the game just in case you mill a bit more than you bargained with. However Kozilek is expensive to cast and own, so it should be worth noting that it would be worth your time looking for alternative means to do so.
