Why did WotC Abandon the Tribal Card Type?
General forum
Posted on Sept. 9, 2015, 9:22 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
WotC has stated that they are no longer using the tribal card type, but what was their reason for doing so? I have read articles about that, but their reasons were rather convoluted and difficult to understand, so can anyone here answer that question in a less complicated fashion? Thank you very much.
Do you mean like Tribal - Rogue or Tribal - Merfolks?
I imagine it's because it adds an unnecessary keyword to things that don't need it. A Merfolk is a merfolk regardless, specific tribal affects would exclude a wide range of merfolks for the sake of a keyword.
Should post some links up though. I would love to read some, since that is merely my guess.
September 9, 2015 9:56 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #5
As a little bit of a more complex answer:
Wizards has to evaluate how much is gained from an aspect of the game as opposed to how confusing it could be to a brand new player. The tribal type (its not a supertype, those are different) added some utility to tribal tutors and cavern of souls by allowing them to affect a subset of non-creature card types. The downside was that it put subtypes that obviously were refrencing creatures on cards that weren't creatures and that could confuse people from a logical standpoint if they were not familliar with the rules.
In the end they decided Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero into Bound in Silence was a bit of a cool interaction, but not worth people saying "what makes that a rebel aura instead of just a bad Pacifism" when they do not know about Amrou Scout, Lin Sivvi, etc.
September 9, 2015 10:02 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
I'm sorry Cavern of Souls specifies a creature spell so casting a tribal spell doesn't work for it. Apparently it only added the extra utility to things that tutored based on subtype, made you reveal a card with a subtype, or counted a specific subtype in a zone. Even less reason to keep it around when people can get confused by not understanding how types work.
September 9, 2015 10:10 p.m.
vishnarg - Technically, Tribal is a card type not a supertype. It counts for Tarmogoyf but Legendary does not.
DemonDragonJ - Essentially what Gidgetimer said. The usage of Tribal was erratic and then you get questions like "Why isn't Dragon Fodder a Tribal Sorcery - Goblin?" or "Why isn't Eyeblight Massacre a Tribal Sorcery - Elf?" It gets weird, so Wizards doesn't support it anymore.
September 10, 2015 12:45 a.m.
Not only that, but there are some confusing interactions. Here are actual situations in Modern from last Friday:
I have a Bitterblossom and 1 token from it. My opponent casts Loxodon Smiter. I respond with Spellstutter Sprite and counter it, since bitterblossom counts as a faerie.
Next game, I am at one life after an opponent attacks, with nothing on the field and with a Bitterblossom out. I will die in my upkeep. However, on his end step I cast Mistbind Clique and Champion the bitterblossom.
September 10, 2015 3:21 a.m.
Tomahawk-Bang says... #10
Boza, the interactions you describe show in a very good way that the tribal card type could have been really confusing, especially for new players.
On a side note: How do you counter a Loxodon Smiter with your Spellstutter Sprite when the card says that it cannot be countered?
September 10, 2015 3:59 a.m.
It was a random 3 mana card in Naya Zoo and that one was the first that came to mind. Memories (of cards) are fuzzy like that. Duly noted though.
September 10, 2015 4:20 a.m.
The reason tribal was introduced as a type was that for Lorwyn they wanted to put creature types on certain spells and enchantments to really hammer home the tribal theme of the block, but they were told by the Rules Manager (Who I -think- was Matt Tabak by that time but might be wrong) that you can't put creature types on non-creatures as a hard and fast rule.
So 'Tribal' was introduced solely to introduce a mechanic that allowed the addition of creature types to non-creature spells.
The reason they stopped was that outside Lorwyn, you'd basically find yourself embroiled in debates over what was and wasn't a tribal spell, and basically end up having to put 'Tribal' on like, 80% of your non-creatures or else neutering the mechanic, so they opted for killing the mechanic.
This all comes, by the way, from MaRo's awesome podcast "Drive To Work"
This is also, I feel, why you don't see any Arcane spells anymore. Outside the block where it was a core mechanic, putting it on a couple things here and there would be pointless and just confuse people, and dedicating design space to make it evergreen would just crowd out other options to fiddle with spells.
vishnarg says... #2
In short, because it was confusing and an entirely unnecessary label as a supertype.
September 9, 2015 9:39 p.m.