Most of my decks have tribal themes, but aren't focused specifically on tribal interactions.
There are a few tribes I'm looking at. First are the five main ones, White Soldier, Red Goblin, Blue Merfolk, Green Elf and Purple Moon. No, wait, Black Zombie.
Then there are the sub tribes from ISD, RG Werewolf, UW Spirit, BR Vampire, WGx Human, and UB Zombie.
Then there are the oddball like Minotaurs, or "class" based ones like Wizards or Druids. (Or even more specific like Merfolk Wizards.)
Which tribe do you think is best to build around from a 75% perspective, and why?
Might not be your cup of tea but I had a TON of fun building a Dragon tribal Scion of the Ur-Dragon.
I wanted to make an EDH deck that could scale in its power level to hold up against either obnoxiously competitive decks or just dink around vs someone's casual deck.
My goal was to focus on unique interactions using Conspiracy with Scion of the Ur-Dragon. One example is transforming Scion into an Ulamog....that turns heads!
I've had some very fun tribes from Wurms, Gruul Shamans, Monoblack Spirits, ect. almost every tribe you can think of is viable it just needs some tweaking.
For me: Elves. That explosiveness and synergy gives you a great feel playing them. As for original brews i wouldn't pick them though as the overlaps between Elf-decks are normally huge.
Goblins are equally great, yet R feels worse than G if played monocolored.
I love my mono-B zombies deck. Ghoulcaller Gisa is awesome. Run untapped cards like that shaman tribal staff I can't remember the name of, onyx talisman, puppet strings etc. Lots of fun. Especially using Coat of Arms and an Untapped Gisa to kill someone is hilarious.
For me: Elves. That explosiveness and synergy gives you a great feel playing them. As for original brews i wouldn't pick them though as the overlaps between Elf-decks are normally huge.
Goblins are equally great, yet R feels worse than G if played monocolored.
Dragons are my favorite tribe to build around. Their size, abilities, and support cards like DragonStorm and Dragon Tempest allow for some of the most stylish ways to devastate people imaginable if the game goes on long enough to pull it off.
Zada, Hedron Grinder and Grenzo, Havoc Raiser are both solid Goblin commanders. Zada has more staying power with the ability to put 6-10 cards that refill your hand, but it can be kind of difficult to keep at a 75% level (even running empty the warrens puts you at risk of accidentally combo-ing off and killing the table instantly), while Grenzo has some staying power issues and generally has a bad time if you don't have other creatures to get multiple triggers off of.
Bartel Runeaxe - Giant Tribal (really just a jund good-stuff deck)
Pros:
-Some Giants are just good creatures like Grave Titan or Inferno Titan
-Doesn't illicit much fear from opponenents, you can build your giant army in peace mostly
-Cards like Chandra's Ignition can be especially deadly when you have an abundance of big creatures
Cons:
-Low power overall
-Slow
-Limited Giant lords
Krenko, Mob Boss - Goblins
Pros:
-Can be built very fast and powerful
-You'll get loads of tokens
Cons:
-Draws a lot of heat
-Wrath 2-4 tend to be hard to recover from
Wort, Boggart Auntie - Goblins
Pros:
-Draws less heat than other goblin decks
-Easier to recover from sweepers
Cons:
-Slower and less explosive
-Graveyard hate tends to hurt
Doran, the siege tower - Treefolk Tribal
Pros:
-Access to loads of "good-stuff" cards being in GWB
-Can be very fast with quick general kills possible
-His ability can randomly screw over other people's strategy
Cons:
-Dull
-Can often lean on Doran too much
Derevi - Birds
Pros:
-No matter how bad the birds are the deck can still be amazing. (this deck won 90% of the games it played even with Carrier Pigeons in it).
-General is broken
-Cheap flyers are uncommon in commander so you get to control the skies
Cons
-People will hate you
Dromoka - Dragon/everything tribal
This deck is in my sig and tries to take advantage of every tribal interaction i can with the full boat of GW changelings.
Pros
Hilarious
Cons
Complicated and fragile.
Karlov of the High Council spirit build. Really it's a bleeder deck, but the theme is adhered to well. I think there are maybe two non spirit creatures. It can be fun, but it is slow. Ulamog, the ceaseless Hunger for tribal eldrazi - it's a beast. Slightly harder to build but fun. Stakes are high, if you're disrupted things get difficult. I suspect it's less fun for other people than it is for me, but hey at least you know what you're getting with eldrazi - no sneaky tricks, just straight up devastation. Atarka, World Render for dragons. Easy tribe to build, reasonable fun. Wort, Boggart Aunite for goblins. Needs more draw, if I get the mix right at some point, it will be insane. And it's lots of fun. Gisa And Geralf for zombies. Definitely my fave. Easily my favorite tribal build. Has just the right mix of draw, tribal synergy and fun plays.
I guess you could also count Bruna, the fading light as angel/human, but really she's just an excuse to live the dream and meld into brisela, voice of nightmares at some point. Hasn't happened yet, but you never know.
EDIT: Had a Reaper King build for scarecrows at one point too. It was fun to build, but boring as hell to play. Honestly, I was really bummed taking it apart, because it just played out the same every single time.
Snakes are a fun challenge to build, since there are a lot of legends to choose from to lead it, but a lot of the non legendary snakes are pretty average at best.
There are a few tribes I'm looking at. First are the five main ones, White Soldier, Red Goblin, Blue Merfolk, Green Elf and Purple Moon. No, wait, Black Zombie.
Then there are the sub tribes from ISD, RG Werewolf, UW Spirit, BR Vampire, WGx Human, and UB Zombie.
Then there are the oddball like Minotaurs, or "class" based ones like Wizards or Druids. (Or even more specific like Merfolk Wizards.)
Which tribe do you think is best to build around from a 75% perspective, and why?
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I wanted to make an EDH deck that could scale in its power level to hold up against either obnoxiously competitive decks or just dink around vs someone's casual deck.
My goal was to focus on unique interactions using Conspiracy with Scion of the Ur-Dragon. One example is transforming Scion into an Ulamog....that turns heads!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/334931-what-is-the-most-pimp-card-deck-youve-seen-or?comment=5361
Commander
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage Grenades! EDHGR
UWSygg's Defense, EDH - Voltron & ControlWU
BUGMimeoplasm EDH ft. Ifnir Cycling-discard comboBUG
WBTeysa, Connoisseur of CullingBW
BWSelenia & Recruiter of the Guard suicice combo EDHWB
UBRWGO-Kagachi - 5 Color Enchantments - EDHUBRWG
Nothin better and has devoid spells for backup.
Goblins are equally great, yet R feels worse than G if played monocolored.
Other tribes i'd consider fun: Allies, Eldrazi, Merfolk, Rogue, Shapeshifter, Sliver, Vampire, Zombie
Wizards are cool, but heavily overplayed - thanks, Azami, Lady of Scrolls!
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I took my Wizard EDH deck in a different direction with Hakim, Loreweaver and self mill Compulsion into Aura cards like Eldrazi Conscription and Corrupted Conscience theme. It's heavy on enchantments like Invoke Prejudice and Call to the Kindred.
Hakim is the under the radar OG Bruna.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/334931-what-is-the-most-pimp-card-deck-youve-seen-or?comment=5361
Commander
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage Grenades! EDHGR
UWSygg's Defense, EDH - Voltron & ControlWU
BUGMimeoplasm EDH ft. Ifnir Cycling-discard comboBUG
WBTeysa, Connoisseur of CullingBW
BWSelenia & Recruiter of the Guard suicice combo EDHWB
UBRWGO-Kagachi - 5 Color Enchantments - EDHUBRWG
(Okay, I actually made it a Bird/Soldier tribal deck, because Aven Brigadier, and most of the playable white birds are also soldiers.)
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Bartel Runeaxe - Giant Tribal (really just a jund good-stuff deck)
Pros:
-Some Giants are just good creatures like Grave Titan or Inferno Titan
-Doesn't illicit much fear from opponenents, you can build your giant army in peace mostly
-Cards like Chandra's Ignition can be especially deadly when you have an abundance of big creatures
Cons:
-Low power overall
-Slow
-Limited Giant lords
Krenko, Mob Boss - Goblins
Pros:
-Can be built very fast and powerful
-You'll get loads of tokens
Cons:
-Draws a lot of heat
-Wrath 2-4 tend to be hard to recover from
Wort, Boggart Auntie - Goblins
Pros:
-Draws less heat than other goblin decks
-Easier to recover from sweepers
Cons:
-Slower and less explosive
-Graveyard hate tends to hurt
Doran, the siege tower - Treefolk Tribal
Pros:
-Access to loads of "good-stuff" cards being in GWB
-Can be very fast with quick general kills possible
-His ability can randomly screw over other people's strategy
Cons:
-Dull
-Can often lean on Doran too much
Derevi - Birds
Pros:
-No matter how bad the birds are the deck can still be amazing. (this deck won 90% of the games it played even with Carrier Pigeons in it).
-General is broken
-Cheap flyers are uncommon in commander so you get to control the skies
Cons
-People will hate you
Dromoka - Dragon/everything tribal
This deck is in my sig and tries to take advantage of every tribal interaction i can with the full boat of GW changelings.
Pros
Hilarious
Cons
Complicated and fragile.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
Its too bad that a bunch of warrior tribal stuff printed recently is white and black.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
There are still plenty of options in mono red for those creature types.
All of them! By playing changelings you get the best of all worlds. Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero digs up Woodland Changeling, which triggers Dragon Tempest when it enters the battlefield, blows something up when you sac it to Necrotic Sliver and then comes back for more via Lord of the Undead. Good clean livin'.
Karlov of the High Council spirit build. Really it's a bleeder deck, but the theme is adhered to well. I think there are maybe two non spirit creatures. It can be fun, but it is slow.
Ulamog, the ceaseless Hunger for tribal eldrazi - it's a beast. Slightly harder to build but fun. Stakes are high, if you're disrupted things get difficult. I suspect it's less fun for other people than it is for me, but hey at least you know what you're getting with eldrazi - no sneaky tricks, just straight up devastation.
Atarka, World Render for dragons. Easy tribe to build, reasonable fun.
Wort, Boggart Aunite for goblins. Needs more draw, if I get the mix right at some point, it will be insane. And it's lots of fun.
Gisa And Geralf for zombies. Definitely my fave. Easily my favorite tribal build. Has just the right mix of draw, tribal synergy and fun plays.
I guess you could also count Bruna, the fading light as angel/human, but really she's just an excuse to live the dream and meld into brisela, voice of nightmares at some point. Hasn't happened yet, but you never know.
EDIT: Had a Reaper King build for scarecrows at one point too. It was fun to build, but boring as hell to play. Honestly, I was really bummed taking it apart, because it just played out the same every single time.