Am I the only one who wants to know where this cool card type went? For those of you who don't remember, it was a prominent card type in Lorwyn block that gave non-creature cards creature types.
Unfortunately it has been non-existent since Morningtide. It didnt really bother me much until now. With the wealth of tribal cards in Zendikar, i must say I am miffed that they have abandoned it. Here is a list of cards I feel should be tribal and their corresponding creature type.
Especially all of the obviously vampire themed cards seemed to deserve the tribal stamp. And a quick review of Alara reveals many more cards deserving of a stamp. Whats the word from Wizards, will we ever see tribal again?
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An addition that shouldn't have been made in the first place. If you make it a "card type" it should be evergreen. This card type's to narrow in application though, which is a stupid thing to do. They said they'd wait for another tribal block*, good luck to you.
It's likely one of those themes they do every few years, like multi-color, permanent types, etc. I agree it's disappointing that they haven't used it at all, especially on cards from the tribes they already have (Goblins, Elves, and Merfolk in particular), I'm sure it'll come back eventually. I don't see things like Zombies, Vampires, Wizards, or Soldiers as Tribes since they could be from any race. But the Ally creatures are tribal-like even if it misses the type.
It'll probably only be used in tribal sets. It was very relevant to the block, but it would hardly matter in Zendikar. I mean, tell me how Feast of Blood would be better if it was a Vampire?
It would have been nice if tribal types were kept like equipment was, but unfortunately it would be useless in the game today.
I think it's really an issue with development. Sure, it makes great flavor to use the tribal type, but it's a development nightmare, especially with the types that have cheap tutor creatures that search for them. It's safer from a perspective of not risking something broken in the future. Everyone knows about what happened in extended/eternal with the fetches and duals warping mana bases forever. What if something crazy slips through with a tutorable creature type on it? I think it's just more risk than R&D would like to take.
It'll probably only be used in tribal sets. It was very relevant to the block, but it would hardly matter in Zendikar. I mean, tell me how Feast of Blood would be better if it was a Vampire?
It would have been nice if tribal types were kept like equipment was, but unfortunately it would be useless in the game today.
Well, if Bloodchief Ascension and Blade of the Bloodchief were Vampires, then Feast of Blood WOULD be better.
Reprinting also becomes quite a hassle. Frozen Solid and Stone Rain seemed really awkward without being Snow and Arcane, respectively. If they ever want to reprint, say, Goblin Grenade, and it was alongside cards that were tribal it would look strange
I'm gonna go with because Tribal Enchanment-Faerie caused them to reevaluate tribal mechanics for the time being, which may be why most of the allies are somewhat overcosted and spread across the color pie.
I agree with flaming infinity. It really an issue of saving development time. Somwhere along hte line, there might be a Tribal Elf or Tribal Goblin that will be easily searchable and with mana cost reduced. They just want to avoid the Tribal altogether to avoid having to waste resources to test them all.
Also, there is some trouble of labeling a card Tribal.
Usually a Tribal card is a card that mentions the card type (like Prowl cards or Fairiw Trickery). There are exceptions of course (Tarfire - which design wise I dislike).
If they stick to this it would be easier to remember tribal cards.
Maybe there will be a grand Tribal Card Update in the near future
They haven't done tribal since because it was a one-time mechanic that didn't really make sense.
It was cool and all, but why was Tribal a card type instead of a subtype?
Because they needed a card type to attach creature types to. You can't make an Enchantment - Goblin, because enchantments can't have creature types, it's just part of the rules. Tribal allowed WotC to bend the rules a little bit for Lorwyn block.
For the same reason they won't make Glacial Fortress a Snow land.
I'm sure that the type makes perfect sense in a tribal block, but it requires a bit too much complexity when you add creature types to non-creatures. We all know that Bitterblossom was THIS much better because of it's subtype. Had it been "- Rogue", things would have been quite different (only a little :P).
Because they needed a card type to attach creature types to. You can't make an Enchantment - Goblin, because enchantments can't have creature types, it's just part of the rules. Tribal allowed WotC to bend the rules a little bit for Lorwyn block.
The problem I have with it is: you can have an enchantment, an instant, or an artifact. These things are things, they are nouns. Now, show me a Tribal. Come on, do it.
It makes just as little sense, true, to have an Enchantment - Goblin, but why did they have to make it a card type instead of a sub or supertype? Tribal Enchantment - Goblin works just as well if Tribal is just a description, rather than a thing.
The problem I have with it is: you can have an enchantment, an instant, or an artifact. These things are things, they are nouns. Now, show me a Tribal. Come on, do it.
It makes just as little sense, true, to have an Enchantment - Goblin, but why did they have to make it a card type instead of a sub or supertype? Tribal Enchantment - Goblin works just as well if Tribal is just a description, rather than a thing.
Because that's the way the rules work. There's nothing more to it than that. Goblin as a subtype, prior to Tribal, could only be attached to the card type Creature. Rather than rewrite the rules on it, they just added a new flavorful card type and allowed it to use creature types.
Edit: And actually, think of it in English terms. "Instant" in the way they're using it doesn't work any better than "Tribal".
I think it's really an issue with development. Sure, it makes great flavor to use the tribal type, but it's a development nightmare, especially with the types that have cheap tutor creatures that search for them. It's safer from a perspective of not risking something broken in the future. Everyone knows about what happened in extended/eternal with the fetches and duals warping mana bases forever. What if something crazy slips through with a tutorable creature type on it? I think it's just more risk than R&D would like to take.
^This
and the fact that honestly Tribal really doesn't make much sense outside of a block mechanic. Sure it'd be cool to see tribal vampire spells and tribal dragon enchantments but really coolness factor only goes so far without getting stale and really it got stale pretty quick in lorwyn. There weren't many tribal subtype cards that were competitive and unfortunately Bitterblossom proved that it's dangerous to give cards that aren't creatures a creature type.
It's a fun thing to do for tribal blocks but outside of that it's just a rules mess that really doesnt' need to be sacrificed for the sake of flavor.
i wish every now and than they would still make tribal cards. like 1-5 per set and only if the flavor fits and these cards should really be very narrow on the tribal.
for example Knights' Charge from the brawl decks could have been one
Honestly, I don’t feel that knight tribal is the best example. We already have situations where Haakon can cast nameless inversion endlessly from the graveyard... There are too many things that risk breaking when you start making tribal spells.
Almost any card with a flavor tribal would need to be tribal to be remotely consistent.
They cant do that consistently (like every single card with "Dragon" theme would need to be tribal dragon, every single "demonic tutor" like thing would be tribal demon).
It gets stranger if a card depicts a horse and a human, to make it what "tribal horse human" ? Its just never consistent enough for lots of cards.
You would even say "Wrath of God" could be tribal god now.
I would welcome such a thing, as it would oracle update a lot of cards with every new set and creature type they introduce and it shakes up the old cards as they suddenly work with some mechanics they didnt before.
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Tribal as a mechanic is just so demanding to make it RIGHT , without making it a throw in just for some cards and WotC cant consistently deliver for it so they just dont at all.
Mechanic wise its also a type of card, which messes with the balancing as a free extra card type.
And its really just a card type as otherwise they couldnt allow the rules to have creature types on other card types.
Putting creature types on non-creatures is really annoying to begin with.
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WotC totally COULD make more tribal and oracle all the old cards to have a fitting tribal type, but thats a massive amount of work and WotC is all about being as lazy as possible in that regard.
Unfortunately it has been non-existent since Morningtide. It didnt really bother me much until now. With the wealth of tribal cards in Zendikar, i must say I am miffed that they have abandoned it. Here is a list of cards I feel should be tribal and their corresponding creature type.
Conqueror's Pledge - Soldier
Luminarch Ascension - Angel
Archmage Ascension - Wizard
Blood Tribute - Vampire
Bloodchief Ascension - Vampire
Feast of Blood - Vampire
Vampire's Bite - Vampire
Elemental Appeal - Elemental
Goblin Warpaint - Goblin
Pyromancer Ascension - Wizard or Shaman
Blade of the Bloodchief - Vampire
Especially all of the obviously vampire themed cards seemed to deserve the tribal stamp. And a quick review of Alara reveals many more cards deserving of a stamp. Whats the word from Wizards, will we ever see tribal again?
Commander Decks:
WBRQueen Marchesa's Powerful FriendsRBW
URArjun, Mindmoil SphinxRU
GFreyalise and the ElvesG
GROmnath, Ramping to RageRG
UBaral, Chef of CounterspellsU
Personally, I was so peeved when Crucible of Fire wasn't a dragon tribal card.
I would imagine it might make a return in the next "Tribal" themed block that WotC comes up with.
~RG
To U for U
EDIT:
*Few tribal cards =/= tribal set
It would have been nice if tribal types were kept like equipment was, but unfortunately it would be useless in the game today.
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Well, if Bloodchief Ascension and Blade of the Bloodchief were Vampires, then Feast of Blood WOULD be better.
It was cool and all, but why was Tribal a card type instead of a subtype?
Also, there is some trouble of labeling a card Tribal.
Usually a Tribal card is a card that mentions the card type (like Prowl cards or Fairiw Trickery). There are exceptions of course (Tarfire - which design wise I dislike).
If they stick to this it would be easier to remember tribal cards.
Maybe there will be a grand Tribal Card Update in the near future
Because they needed a card type to attach creature types to. You can't make an Enchantment - Goblin, because enchantments can't have creature types, it's just part of the rules. Tribal allowed WotC to bend the rules a little bit for Lorwyn block.
I'm sure that the type makes perfect sense in a tribal block, but it requires a bit too much complexity when you add creature types to non-creatures. We all know that Bitterblossom was THIS much better because of it's subtype. Had it been "- Rogue", things would have been quite different (only a little :P).
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The problem I have with it is: you can have an enchantment, an instant, or an artifact. These things are things, they are nouns. Now, show me a Tribal. Come on, do it.
It makes just as little sense, true, to have an Enchantment - Goblin, but why did they have to make it a card type instead of a sub or supertype? Tribal Enchantment - Goblin works just as well if Tribal is just a description, rather than a thing.
Because that's the way the rules work. There's nothing more to it than that. Goblin as a subtype, prior to Tribal, could only be attached to the card type Creature. Rather than rewrite the rules on it, they just added a new flavorful card type and allowed it to use creature types.
Edit: And actually, think of it in English terms. "Instant" in the way they're using it doesn't work any better than "Tribal".
^This
and the fact that honestly Tribal really doesn't make much sense outside of a block mechanic. Sure it'd be cool to see tribal vampire spells and tribal dragon enchantments but really coolness factor only goes so far without getting stale and really it got stale pretty quick in lorwyn. There weren't many tribal subtype cards that were competitive and unfortunately Bitterblossom proved that it's dangerous to give cards that aren't creatures a creature type.
It's a fun thing to do for tribal blocks but outside of that it's just a rules mess that really doesnt' need to be sacrificed for the sake of flavor.
There was once [The Pack], but no more.
for example Knights' Charge from the brawl decks could have been one
They cant do that consistently (like every single card with "Dragon" theme would need to be tribal dragon, every single "demonic tutor" like thing would be tribal demon).
It gets stranger if a card depicts a horse and a human, to make it what "tribal horse human" ? Its just never consistent enough for lots of cards.
You would even say "Wrath of God" could be tribal god now.
I would welcome such a thing, as it would oracle update a lot of cards with every new set and creature type they introduce and it shakes up the old cards as they suddenly work with some mechanics they didnt before.
----
Tribal as a mechanic is just so demanding to make it RIGHT , without making it a throw in just for some cards and WotC cant consistently deliver for it so they just dont at all.
Mechanic wise its also a type of card, which messes with the balancing as a free extra card type.
And its really just a card type as otherwise they couldnt allow the rules to have creature types on other card types.
Putting creature types on non-creatures is really annoying to begin with.
----
WotC totally COULD make more tribal and oracle all the old cards to have a fitting tribal type, but thats a massive amount of work and WotC is all about being as lazy as possible in that regard.
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