KIMBERLY
TV REALITY MOM
Yes I can be more than just talk about reality tv shows to :) lol
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July 9, 2016
General, Uncategorized
There, I said it. Bring the pitchforks and tar, I accept my fate with tranquility.
But as for the rest of you, as an un-passionate outside observer, I figured that we might all learn something if we asked the question: What is it about tribal decks? Why do TCG players seem to gravitate to them with such a cult following?
The Sliver Enigma
I was reminded of this when I saw the good Professor’s latest post on building an MTG Sliver deck in Pauper…
See, here’s an enigma right there. Wizards of the Coast noticed early on that players loved creatures with tribal synergy. So they conceived of their own original tribe, and furthermore engineered them from the ground up to be all lords. No creature is ever accidentally a sliver in Magic. All slivers support all slivers.
Me, if I’d heard slivers when they were first pitched, not only would I have laughed at the idea and shot it down, but I would have been baffled at why anyone would propose it. I mean, if you like puppies, then it makes sense to play with puppies. But the great sliver experiment proves that you can literally create a creature out of thin air, make their only characteristic be that they have tribal support, and people will love it.
Seriously, what’s the sliver origin story? MTG lore just has them as being discovered. Where’s their vorthos justification? Who’s the poster child for slivers? What’s their defining characteristic other than being tribal? What personality, ethos, or style do slivers have? Every sliver I’ve seen sticks to their color identity more than doing anything sliver-y; they share characteristics typical of their color. Blue ones fly, red ones ping, black ones regenerate, blah blah.
And it’s not just Magic. Practically every trading card game has a tribal theme available. Hearthstone has Murlocs, Beasts, Dragons, and Mechs to name a few. Yu-Gi-Oh even has archetypes, whole series built around groups like Lightsworn and Artifacts. And of course, the many attempts at card games based on other franchises (everything from Star Wars to my Little Pony) all have tribes built in.
OK… But what’s so great about tribes?
Let’s back up a bit: What is it about fictional characters in general? That’s an easier question: We tend to gravitate towards characters that we identify with. Whether they’re a starship captain or a caped superhero or just a kind of monster, we all pick fictional characters who speak to us personally. Most of the time this is fantasy fulfillment; we like Batman because, in spite of how screwed up he is psychologically, he seems to have an awesome life. Most classic Star Trek fans will pick one of Kirk, Spock, or McCoy because they each represent a way of approaching and solving problems in life, all while sticking to their unique ethos. This doesn’t just apply to heroic characters. We like Hannibal Lecter because, let’s face it, he makes our dark side look cool and gets away with doing stuff none of us would have the nerve to pull off.
So if we’re sticking to tribes that are common fantasy plane stock, this becomes easier to apply. We’ve all had that one friend who identifies with a fantasy archetype; whether it be elves, Klingons, or vampires. If they have all the popular zombie movies on their DVD shelf, chances are good they also play video games with zombies in them and they’ll play a zombie deck in Magic, too. Maybe they, themselves, don’t identify with zombies, but they see zombies as a good frame of reference for sizing up society anyway.
I’ve known several Magic players like this. They don’t quite care if they can’t compete in the top ranks, but you will not get their goblin, fish, or minotaur deck from them lest ye pry it from their chilly dead fingers. Inevitably, they’re either just that big a fan of the creature type, or they see a deeper meaning in the tribal synergy – I knew one player into Eastern mysticism who insisted that his fish deck had the Buddha nature, and that playing it helped his meditation. Leave it to the mono-blue players.
In card games, certain tribes also have a natural affinity for different playstyles. If you play minotaurs in Magic, you’re going aggro all the way. Playing zombies, however, invites more of a midrange strategy, since zombies regenerate, come back from the graveyard, and generally have more ways to stick. Elves are one Magic tribe with clear advantages since so many of them generate mana, make tokens, or do other nifty tricks. Fish, aka merfolk, are one of the least unique tribes; their only other characteristic is islandwalk and drawing the occasional card.
If Slivers didn’t exist, I’d be done with this post by now.
So, why is it we can create a brand new type of creature – be it murloc or sliver – and people just adopt it for its pure tribal-ness alone?
Well, for one thing, it simplifies collecting and deck-building. Saying you specialize in a tribe is one way to speed up the hunt through your friends’ card trade binders. And sticking with a tribe is usually easier on the budget. When it comes time to assemble a deck, it’s already mostly built.
I think tribal strategies are also popular for the same reason that humans like to join groups. Whether it’s a church, army, club, organization, or street gang, humans spontaneously form tribes in real life all the time, and then the individuals define themselves in part from the group’s identity. Tribes provide easy, comforting answers. They give you a direction and a focus. They simplify the complexity of the game into a linear strategy.
In card games, tribal support often comes built in, and this gives new players a hook to deciding what to collect. So for people looking to build a deck but don’t know where to start, cards with tribal synergy are a big, painted line leading them by the nose. It could simply be that people like slivers because they don’t want to have to think too hard.
So, then, one could also ask, why do tribal decks so often suck?
There’s very few exceptions to the casual nature of tribal decks. In Magic, elves and merfolk are the only two tribes I can think of that have proven track records in multiple competitive formats – maybe we can include goblins in there. Occasionally one tribe like humans or zombies will work out for one Standard season. Eldrazi are currently ruling Magic, but we’re sure to see the end of them eventually. In Hearthstone, Dragon Priest is currently the only tribal deck climbing the ladder; sometimes a Murloc Paladin makes some headway. Yu-Gi-Oh, of course, is one game that dotes the most on tribes in the form of archetypes, but there they have a tribe-of-the-month flavor and then they’re dumped.
The way trading card games encourage new players to think tribally, it’s a pity how often it becomes a trap. Trading card games either should steer clear of all tribal identities built in, or lean into tribes and make sure they’re supported with every set. It’s obvious that tribes give players something they want very dearly, so why not let them have it all the way and win, too?
After all, tribes are fun. And fun is why we’re all playing, isn’t it?
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