The Obscure Tribe Challenge 2: Awards Of Doom!
Challenges and Articles forum
Posted on Jan. 4, 2015, 9:44 a.m. by pookypuppy6
Well Smash my knickers and throw that Black Cat under a bus! The second ever Obscure Tribe Challenge has passed us by! With 16 competing tribes of obscure origins separated into four divisions, we've seen 24 matchups of utter death, doom and destruction! And now it's time which tribe came out on top!
Below are two thingymajibs. The first are the lists of points awarded for each category of voting: The points awarded for combat, the points awarded for tribe obscurityness, and the points awarded. For the last two categories there I will submit a short review on your deck (I've already +1ed every one before you ask) and explain why I graded your deck as such.
Below THAT are a series of honorary awards for fun, including announcing the overall winner in each category and the overall winner of the WHOLE TOURNAMENT!
Wowee. Well, ENJOY!
COMBAT POINTS (Out of 6): A single point was awarded to competitors for EACH GAME WIN, regardless of the match outcome or losses.
6 POINTS: Licids, Phoenixes, Ooze
5 POINTS: Badgers
4 POINTS: Lammasu, Surrakar, Dauthi
3 POINTS: Noggles, Basilisks, Bears, Homarids
2 POINTS: Hounds, Whales, Frogs, Chimeras
1 POINT: Assembly-Workers
OBSCURE TRIBE POINTS (Out of 5): Points were judged personally by me; this was really hard! I had to be super picky with the points here, and will naturally be a matter of personal opinion. Those that typically scored 5 I did NOT expect to enter this challenge or even consider a possibility. 4 points typically went to tribes I may have expected but were still weird or underpopulated. 3 points were typically awarded to tribes that have a somewhat more typical place in Magic's arsenal of creatures (e.g: Phoenixes as a typically mythic rare bird, or Bears as a real-life creature used in Magic, in this case with mechanically terminology associated with it).
5 POINTS: Badgers, Frogs, Homarids, Assembly-Workers, Chimeras
4 POINTS: Basilisks, Licids, Surrakar, Lammasu, Noggles, Dauthi
3 POINTS; Phoenixes, Bears, Whales, Ooze, Hounds
DECK CONSTRUCTION (Out of 5): Again, had to be super picky here, and this will also be down to personal opinion. This part is based off a series of factors, like how well your tribe was integrated into your game plan, or how thematic the deck was with its tribe, and how well it was considered and built. 5 points awarded to functional decks that either were especially well-considered given the tribal constraints or ere thematic and creative as hell. 4 points was awarded to those decks which typically efficiently used their tribe or used them very creatively, with one or two small flaws (e.g: using cards expected of Legacy play, or not being one of the above, etc.) 3 and lower points typically went to decks that had some somewhat more fundamental flaws with their deck design, but still worthy of appraisal nonetheless!
5 POINTS: Lammasu, Licids, Frogs
4 POINTS: Dauthi, Surrakar, Homarid, Hounds, Ooze, Basilisks
3 POINTS: Assembly-Workers, Phoenixes, Whales, Badgers
2 POINTS: Noggles, Bears, Chimeras
Blimey! And now for the awards!
The Glory Of Warfare And Kerbstomping Award for Brutality In Combat: While combat to me is the least of the above categories theoretically, I cannot deny it when a deck kicks the bottom of another tribe's arse. The Licids disrupted every deck it fought and the Oozes just drowned the opponent under its endless supply of slimy butts. But the Phoenixes take this award as it dominated every opponent it faced with flying persistent creatures and burn removal firing out of its cloaca at every turn. It may not have been the most inspired deck, but it's uncontested as a way to test your local fire service.
The Brushwragg & Shambleshark Duet Award for Best Obscure Tribe: Obviously ALL our tribes were pretty obscure, but to win this award you had to catch me by surprise. I was expecting people to dig in to Licids, Sheep, Volvers and all sorts. I was NOT expecting Badgers however, and whenever a matchup came up with X versus Badgers" as the title I found myself cackling with glee at ho absurd it all was. Not expecting that one, kudos.
The Architectural Mind Grind Award for Best Constructed Deck: Three choices for the best constructed deck, and boy was it a toughie. From the Lammasu deck holding the most inspired/bastardly card choice of the tournament (I'm looking at you, Moat) to the Licid dripping with theme and disruption, this was hard. But the Frog deck, while not the most efficient, was bursting with so many cute tricks that actively cut tribal synergy to pieces that I'm still not sure whether it was a deliberate meta-shredding machination or just froggy trolling. Probably both.
The Grim Grim Grim Reminder Award for Most Dedicated User: While this extends as a thank you to all the dedicated followers of this challenge who built fantastic decks, picked great obscure tribes and gave their feedback and , erabel wins this award for consistently poking me out of my distracted stupor too many times to count to get this challenge done which was a lot more challenging to run than I expected.
The Unexpected Results And Missed Opportunities Award for Tribe That Should Have Been Picked: Naturally with a 16 competitor limit, some obscure tribes that deserved to be in the challenge missed out. Some, like Praetor or Cyclops would probably not have had the best Obscure Tribe ratings or gameplay feasibility. But I am utterly stumped that the colourless, forgotten and brutally powerful Masticores was not scooped up by SOMEBODY. They wouldn't have been scooped up by me, because I forgot they existed too.
The Havoc Festival With Extra Explosions Award for Most Awesome Match: They were many fantastic games in this challenge, from tense high-action races to slow swingy grindfests. But by far the most memorable one for me was Surrakar vs Lammasu in the final Round of the Leina Division. In a match that determined whether the Lammasu would go 3-0 or the Surrakar would pull them back, the first game was a brutal grindfest of epic proportions ending in Jace, the Mind Sculptor swagging on and treating us to a first-ever victory by deckout. Because even in Obscure Tribe Challenge, Jace, the Mind Sculptor is still a total douchecyclops.
The Oh My Happy Days Finest Hour Attached Award for Obscure Tribe Champion: Well here it is. To name a champion above all others is always a painful task for me as I have nothing but admiration for the other competitors who made this challenge great - you are ALL winners! But for a deck that both was deliciously thematic and piss-freezingly disruptive, the obscure and parastic Licids sneaked their way to the crown scoring perfectly in two categories. Someone has to stop erabel winning these, becaus ehe's won both Obscure Tribe Challenges now.
But wait! If you think the tribal warfare and fun is over, THINK AGAIN! Stay tuned, as I have a special endgame surprise for ye all which will amp up the tribal conflict all the way back up to eleven! But until then, thank you very much!
pookypuppy6 says... #3
Obake: Thank you, and thank you for your participation! While I love plenty of participation, a three-round 16-person tournament was too much for me. Next time I'd likely run something that was either a) Knockout based rather than league-based or b) on a smaller scale.
January 4, 2015 10:32 a.m.
Congrats to everyone for all the awesomeness and lots of stuffings!!
January 4, 2015 10:51 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #5
I just saw this challenge for the first time now and I am dissapointed I was too late to join the fun. I am brewing up a Slith tribal as we speak for the next one.
January 4, 2015 11:58 a.m.
Hickorysbane says... #6
Okay I'm convinced this is fun, where can I go to see what the decks were? And how do I find out about the next one?
January 4, 2015 12:18 p.m.
Wing Go! I got 12 points with my Surrakar tribal, I'm stunned and amazed that I did so well.
January 4, 2015 12:26 p.m.
Very surprised my deck was resilient enough to come out on top in the Battle Category. It was fun and exciting. I hope I do catch when you do the next one, I'd like to do this again, and am already thinking of ideas for he next one.
January 4, 2015 12:45 p.m.
Wow that was interesting, looking forward to the extra ... Things. Still can't believe my badgers got 5 points for the battling .. Um.. Wow I can't English today
January 4, 2015 1:25 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #10
PrecintSix6Six: I will link everyone the decks when I reveal my killer surprise
luther: Again, wait for the killer surprise. But if The Obscure Tribe Challenge Three: Revelations does come along, I hope you are there to compete!
January 4, 2015 1:32 p.m.
Oh and PrecintSix6Six the decks can be found here; The Obscure Tribe Challenge 2: Electric Boogaloo
January 4, 2015 1:34 p.m.
Two for two. Maybe I should help run the next one. I have the experience. :D
In all seriousness, all of these decks were super cool! I especially liked the frog one, of all of them. And Assembly-Workers, because that's just hilarious.
I'm glad I could be a part of it. Congrats to everyone who participated, and thanks to pookypuppy6 for running an excellent competition (even if it took forever to finish :P )
January 4, 2015 1:42 p.m.
GhostChieftain says... #13
New plan! Forget slith! There better be a third challenge or I swear to god I will make empty threats!
January 4, 2015 3:40 p.m.
Psyloarchy says... #14
When is the end game going to happen? I'm too exited!!!!
January 10, 2015 7:24 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #15
IT BE RIGHT HERE!! The Obscure Tribe Challenge 2: Annihilation
Obake says... #2
I'm happy with the results, and I had fun with this challenge. Looking forward to the next one, pookypuppy6. There were a lot of delays, but I think that can be forgiven as I'm sure this was a lot of work to orchestrate.
Congrats to erabel on the well-deserved win! That Licid deck was one of my favorites out of the group.
January 4, 2015 9:58 a.m.