Friendship is Card Games: Power Ponies · 11:51pm Dec 22nd, 2013
Hello, all. I'm surprised to see little analysis of this episode thus far, so I might as well offer a few thoughts of my own:
*These past two weeks have had rather metareferential stories, no? First some Scootalove that made a point of her not-homelessness, and now an episode that all but says, "Yes, Spike may not get involved in every adventure, but he's far from useless." It's like the writers had a list of talking points they wanted to address before they started handing out the keys to the Lockbox of Harmony.
*It's funny how what reactions I have seen seem confused as to why the Everfree castle's getting fixed up. Isn't it obvious? Twilight is staying in Ponyville, but she needs a castle. With the Tree of Harmony recharged, it's much easier to restore the old one than build a new one. Besides, Ponyville needs every bit it can spare for the disaster relief budget.
*That comic must have been printed on Gallifrey, since it's clearly bigger on the inside. It should not take days for someone raised by Twilight Sparkle to read thirty action-packed pages.
*Humdrum clearly has the most valuable power of all: exposition.
*Has this been a banner season for earth pony villains or what? Doctor Caballeron, the rich bitches at their worst, and now the Mane-iac.
*Am I the only one underwhelmed by Masked Matter-Horn? "Twilight, your powers are being able to do what you already could, but not as effectively." At least Dash got a boost to her day job. Twilight seemed to get an outright nerf.
*As a Pathfinder player, it irks me that the Hairspray Ray of Doom is clearly not a ray but a cone-shaped spread.
*I remain convinced that Saddle Rager's hulked out form is a subtle dig at Rob Liefeld. The necklessness, the bulging, the disproportionate hooves. If only her costume had superfluous pouches...
*A point in favor of Pinkie knowing how to play Magic: she clearly knows how to use the stack. "In response to Enchanted Comic's trigger, I grab one last plate of cupcakes."
*Is it just me, or did the writers abandon the "shared journal" idea as soon as they came up with it?
Right, enough of that. Card time. For the record, if Fraction Jackson can be a Hero, then so can the Power Ponies. And if you're wondering why Maniacal Cackle has buyback, it's because the Mane-iac kept doing it. (The hairspray, on the other hand, was clearly imprinted on a Panoptic Mirror that was cunningly disguised as an aerosol can. Clearly.) Also, I was tempted to call it Mane-iacal Cackle, but then I wanted to punch myself.
Bumbershoot Bounce 1WW
Instant
All damage that would be dealt this turn to target permanent you control by a source of your choice is dealt to another target creature instead.
When given the power to create anything you can imagine, what you choose and how you use it says volumes about you.
Humdrum, Unlikely Hero 2W
Legendary Creature — Dragon Hero
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, exile Humdrum, Unlikely Hero. Return it to the battlefield under your control at the beginning of the next end step.
2WW, Put Humdrum on the bottom of its owner's library: Exile all creatures you control. You may return them to the battlefield under your control. If you don't, do so at the beginning of the next end step.
1/2
Saddle Rager 2WW
Legendary Creature — Pegasus Hero
Flying, defender
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to and dealt by Saddle Rager.
Whenever a source you don't control deals damage to another creature you control with power 2 or less, transform Saddle Rager.
0/5
Rager Enraged
(RW) Legendary Creature — Pegasus Hero
Flying, trample, indestructible
Rager Enraged attacks each turn if able.
Whenever Rager Enraged deals combat damage to a player, destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls.
6/6
Zip to the Bakery 3WW
Instant
Split second
You gain life equal to the total power of creatures attacking you.
"It was my last chance to taste Maretropolis cupcakes. I regret nothing."
—Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter
Mistress Marevelous 4WW
Legendary Creature — Pony Hero
Vigilance
When Mistress Marevelous enters the battlefield, search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Mistress Marevelous gets +2/+2 for each Equipment attached to it.
3/3
Coiffured Henchpony 1U
Creature — Pony Minion
When Coiffured Henchpony becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
When you work for an insane, hair-themed villain, it's only natural to be worried about your appearance.
3/3
Radiance, Thoughtcrafter 2UU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn Hero
2U, T: Put a blue Construct artifact creature token onto the battlefield. Its power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in your hand. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step.
"Will and effort have always been the ingredients of creation. I just expedite the process."
1/3
The Masked Matter-Horn 3UU
Legendary Creature — Pegasus Hero
Flying
Whenever The Masked Matter-Horn deals combat damage to a player, you may exile an instant or sorcery card from your hand.
Whenever The Masked Matter-Horn deals combat damage to a player, copy each card exiled with it. You may cast any number of those copies without paying their mana costs.
2/2
Exposit 4UU
Instant
Draw cards equal to target spell's converted mana cost. (Spells can't target themselves.)
In comic books, there's always time to explain what someone's doing.
Ultra Hold 4UU
Sorcery
Tap all creatures target player controls. Each of those creatures doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step and lose all abilities for as long as it remains tapped.
"If only the Mane-iac had as firm a grip on sanity."
—The Masked Matter-Horn
Loyal Minions 2BB
Sorcery
Put onto the battlefield a number of 1/1 black Minion creature tokens equal to your devotion to black.
Bad help is so easy to find.
Power Backlash 1R
Sorcery
Target creature deals 1 damage to itself for each ability it has.
The Mane-iac never stopped to consider what she would do after enhancing her powers one millionfold.
Marvelous Horseshoes 1
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature has "T, Unattach Marvelous Horseshoes: Remove target attacking creature from combat."
Equip 2
"Accuracy can't be everything, and heroes don't use hand grenades."
—Mistress Marevelous
Scrubber Boots 1
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature attacks, you may destroy target Aura defending player controls attached to a noncreature permanent.
Equip 1
Thought-Guided Lasso 3
Artifact — Equipment
You may choose not to untap Thought-Guided Lasso during your untap step.
As long as Thought-Guided Lasso is untapped, equipped creature has "T, Tap and unattach Thought-Guided Lasso: Tap target creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as Thought-Guided Lasso remains tapped."
Equip 3
Electro Orb 4
Artifact
Electro Orb enters the battlefield tapped and doesn't untap during your untap step.
T: Add RRR to your mana pool.
2: Untap Electro Orb. Spend only nonred mana to activate this ability.
Unlimited energy should not be confused with unlimited power.
Maretropolis Zeppelin 4
Artifact Creature — Construct
Flying
Maretropolis Zeppelin can't block creatures without flying.
The only way to travel for the fictional jet set.
3/1
Maniacal Cackle WB
Sorcery
Buyback 3
You gain life equal to the total life lost by your opponents this turn.
Sometimes, you just have to look back and laugh. Those times occur much more frequently when you're insane.
Learning Curve 1(wu)
Enchantment
Activated abilities of creatures that entered the battlefield this turn can't be activated.
"Look, you try perfectly controlling a loop-de-looping tornado by yourself, with your mind, on your first try."
—Rainbow Dash, Bearer of Loyalty
Criminal Insanity 2BR
Sorcery
Target opponent chooses a number, then loses that much life. Each player discards his or her hand, then draws cards equal to half the life lost this way, rounded down.
Some mares just want to watch the world burn.
Zap, Stormcaller 2RG
Legendary Creature — Pegasus Hero
Flying
XRR, T: Zap, Stormcaller deals X damage to each creature without flying.
XGG, T: Zap deals X damage to each other creature with flying.
2/3
Ruin Refurbishing 2(gu)W
Sorcery
Return target noncreature permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
"It just needs a little T.L.C.: transmutation and leyline calibration."
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Filli-Second 3UR
Legendary Creature — Pony Hero
Super haste, hexproof
Filli-Second can't be blocked except by creatures with defender.
3/2
Industrial Accident 3BR
Sorcery
Destroy target artifact and target creature.
Some assembly lines can handle the odd corpse here or there. None of them are found in shampoo factories.
The Mane-iac 3BR
Legendary Creature — Pony Gorgon
Lifelink
At the beginning of combat on your turn, flip a coin. If the coin comes up heads, The Mane-iac attacks this combat if able. If the coin comes up tails, The Mane-iac can't attack this combat.
5/5
You gave a villain whose powers are based on Sedusa, whose personality emulates the Joker's, and give her an ability that reminds me of Two-Face. soundslegit.jpg
1637368
Well, she's insane and unpredictable... and I also came up with the idea in less than a minute.
Besides, the only other idea that came to mind was a tap effect, and there are more than enough of those in this batch as it is.
What is this "devotion to (color)" thing?
I've never heard of it except in your blogs here...
Does that make me a noob at this game?
1637710
Anything but! Devotion is from the latest set, which is why I didn't supply a link, as with the older, more obscure mechanics. Devotion to a color equals the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control.
Epic as always. Still think you should do some of these for older episodes...
Not super haste!
Thank you! I'm so glad I'm not the only one bugged by that.
1638020
We shall see...
1638036
It has "super" right in the name. I had to use it!
Electro Orb is definitely my favorite out of this batch. Mostly because it combos infinitely with Celestial Dawn.
And who doesn't love a turn three or four infinite mana combo?
1639204
Nope. The mana's still red. Bleach just alters how it can be spent, not the color itself.
Beyond the card game I have to comment on two points
1) Yeah, it seems like the shared journal thing is kind of fizzling out. The last we hear of it is back in Daring Do and that was it. I guess you could argue that we don't have an entry for last week because that was a CMC entry (even though back in season 2 the CMC did write letters to Celestia so why are they barred from writing in their big sister's journals) but this one should've at least had one from Spike or Twilight.
2) About the castle. Yeah, I can see it. Twilight can live in Ponyville, but this can be her summer home or place to get away from it all. I mean, there is a whole ton of acient lore there and now that they have had time to explore and see it. The castle is a lot less threatening.
Also, do you think that this episode was the writers way of saying (and i am saying this as a guy who likes EQG and is a member of a group for that) "We're sorry we made Spike a dog in the movie. We wanted to do a Wizard of OZ motif with the idea and Spike was the first thing e could grab." Becase the interactions with Spike and Twilight were some of my favorite bits in the whole thing.
I have kind of a problem with Humdrum. Blinking is used at least in part to avoid removal, so one would think that this sort of "mass blink" would be good for avoiding field wipes-- but one would be wrong. Since most field wipes target a player, if anything, and the creatures come back before a hypothetical field wipe resolves, it doesn't matter that they're new objects, they still get blown up; it would have to be a delayed mass blink (one that drops them back at the end of the turn) to avoid field wipes. And the only creature in this batch with an ETB effect (the other main use of blinking) is Mistress Marevelous, so there isn't a whole lot of synergy there.
Sorry for the rant.
And on an unrelated note, I've been meaning to ask: is your Card Factory tumblr shut down or something? And if yes, would you be ok with being PM'd for advice on cards?
1639337
Humdrum was basically designed as an answer to Ultra Hold, as per the story. It also removes malicious Auras. Besides, isn't it kind of fitting that the bumbling, useless sidekick's power doesn't actually work well with the rest of the team?
Also, I have officially quit Tumblr, but I am more than willing to help with making cards.
1639329
That was part of it, definitely, but the message felt more like a blanket "sorry we make Spike kind of useless sometimes, he's actually pretty cool" sort of thing.
1639217 Whoops. Guess I should read the rulings before getting all star eyed.
1639523 You make some good points, but using his ability in response to Ultra Hold doesn't work for the same reasons it doesn't work in response to field wipes, and hexproof won't save him from its effects. That means the only way to actually answer it is to cast him the turn after Ultra Hold goes off (unless you have something like Vedalken Orrey) and activate his ability, which you can't do if someone has a Learning Curve out, and costs a hefty seven mana in total; if you don't have that much, you're better off casting something actually useful, like Traveling Philosopher (Need some ice for that Burn, Humdrum? Oh wait, 2 damage is lethal!)
1639723
Hmm...
You raise a good point. This is what I get for rushing the cards out to meet a self-imposed deadline. I'm going to have to get back you on this.
1639723
I think I finally fixed Humdrum. If you don't want to scroll back up, here's the new version:
Humdrum, Unlikely Hero 2W
Legendary Creature — Dragon Hero
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, exile Humdrum, Unlikely Hero. Return it to the battlefield under your control at the beginning of the next end step.
2WW, Put Humdrum on the bottom of its owner's library: Exile all creatures you control. You may return them to the battlefield under your control. If you don't, do so at the beginning of the next end step.
1/2
He was bitten by a radioactive Norin the Wary.
1714575 Mm! I like this version much better. In case you were wondering, I haven't looked at your most recent batch of cards on account of having not seen the last episode (I think someone cast Procrastinate on me)
I just realized that Electro-Orb Immediately combos with Trait Doctoring for infinite mana.
1904338
On the other hand, you're running Trait Doctoring.
Only you would take a keyword from a joke set and use it as if it were official.
2350627
She can't have everyday, regular haste! She's a superhero!
I wish this was real. But than again everyone would be using Saddle Rager.
I just noticed this: as written, Thought-Guided Lasso can be used to tie up any number of creatures simultaneously. Even as a cost, an instruction to tap something doesn't require that the permanent be untapped (hence why Gilt-Leaf Archdruid's activated ability has "Tap seven untapped Druids you control" for its cost), and equip abilities don't require that the equipment be untapped.
Also, Electro-Orb allows my personal favourite mana combo (two Brighthearth Bannerets and a Grinning Ignus can convert x red mana into 2x colorless mana and an increase to the storm count of x) to go genuinely infinite, instead of being bounded by the quantity of red mana you have on hand (because Electro-Orb on its own converts 2x non-red mana into 3x red mana). Whee Time Spiral weirdness: infinite mana, and infinite storm count!
3525628
Thought-Guided Lasso:
Hence the "As long as Thought-Guided Lasso is untapped" rider for providing the ability.
3525664 Brain fail on my part! I even specifically went back and checked to make sure I didn't miss the other way the hole I thought I was seeing could've been patched: making the tying-up clause care about Thought-Guided Lasso being unattached.