Friendship is Card Games: Applebuck Season · 3:46pm May 25th, 2014
Early-Installment Weirdness is always interesting. There was a mild example in the previous episode, with the Gala tickets floating in front of even the non-unicorns, though that could be some magic intrinsic to the tickets themselves. Here, it's more a case of Early-Installment Normalcy; I'm pretty sure this is still the episode where Big Mac has the most lines. It's a shame. I like it when he gets non-Boolean dialogue.
My apologies for not coming up with a Dashface card. I just couldn't think of anything that was both suitable and playable.
I'm kind of surprised the Cakes don't take a little offense at somepony else being called "the best baker ever." I guess professional pride takes a backseat when being compared to one of the main characters. Or they're just polite. Or scared stiff at the idea of Pinkie running Sugarcube Corner.
"The real award is having you five as my friends." Exactly when Spike walks onto the scene. I know it's early in the series and AJ and Spike haven't gotten to known each other much, but still, ouch.
And now for cards:
Utterly Oblivious 2W
Instant
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn. You gain 1 life for each 1 damage prevented this way.
"This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!"
—Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter
Longwinded Speech 1UU
Sorcery
Draw a card for each card you've drawn this turn.
Before Twilight moved to Ponyville, index cards were among her greatest friends.
Distracting Polish 2U
Enchantment
U, Tap an untapped artifact you control: Creatures target player controls get -1/-0 until end of turn.
"She who has the most toys gets to show them off to everypony else."
—Trixie Lulamoon, traveling performer
Fancy Mathematics 2U
Instant
Counter target spell if its controller controls more permanents than you.
"I think you've done enough."
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Crippling Injury 1B
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks or blocks, put a -1/-1 counter on it.
That which does not kill you may only be biding its time.
Baked Bads 1BB
Sorcery
Distribute three -1/-1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures.
Earth pony magic goes into everything they make, for better or for worse.
Panic-Prone Cattle 2RR
Creature — Ox
Panic-Prone Cattle can't attack alone.
If another creature you control attacks, Panic-Prone Cattle attacks if able.
"Why did I run? Everyone else was doing it!"
—Mooreen, Sweet Apple Acres tenant
4/4
Triple Vision 3RR
Sorcery
Put two tokens that are copies of target creature onto the battlefield. Those tokens have haste. Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.
"There's more than one way to put magic into a hallucination."
—Ditzy Doo
Bumper Crop GG
Sorcery
Search your library for a land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Hoofcraft — You may put that card onto the battlefield instead of putting it into your hand if you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns.
Herder's Hound 2G
Creature — Hound
G, T: Target creature blocks target attacking creature this turn if able.
"Once I give her the word, she'll get near anything moving."
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
2/2
Obstinacy 2GG
Enchantment
If a spell or ability an opponent controls causes you to discard a creature card, put that card onto the battlefield instead of putting it into your graveyard.
Madness 1G (If you discard this card, you may cast it for its madness cost instead of putting it into your graveyard.)
Bunny Census 3G
Instant
Draw a card for each creature that entered the battlefield this turn.
Conspiracy theorists abound with sinister explanations for why Canterlot wants accurate population numbers for harmless critters. Fluttershy doesn't have the heart to tell them that it's a pet project.
Rampaging Rabbits 3G
Creature — Rabbit
Trample
Rampaging Rabbits gets +1/+1 for each nonbasic land your opponents control.
Fear began the stampede. Hunger continued it.
1/1
Herder's Lasso 2
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature attacks, you may have target creature block this turn if able.
Equip 1
"Magic's flashy, but I've seen what it does to ponies. I'll take rope any day."
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
Prize Pony Trophy 3
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature you control that shares a creature type with it.
Equip 2
Heroes are only as great as those they save.
Pegapult 4
Artifact — Contraption
2, T, Tap an untapped creature you control: Target creature you control with toughness X or less gets +X/+0 and gains flying until end of turn, where X is the tapped creature's power. If the targeted creature isn't a Pegasus or a Rigger, sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
Pegasi are biologically and magically adapted to survive even the worst crash landings. Other ponies… aren't.
Loopy Lethargy UR
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if enchanted creature is tapped, its controller flips a coin. If that player wins the flip, untap enchanted creature.
"Huh? What? I wasn't asleep!"
Easygoing Mule 1GU
Creature — Pony Donkey
Whenever Easygoing Mule becomes the target of a spell, counter that spell. If a spell is countered this way, its controller gains life equal to its converted mana cost.
A mule has more endurance and patience than both parents put together. It takes more than insults to bother one.
3/3
Panicky Florists 1G(rw)
Creature — Pony Druid Coward
Whenever a player casts a spell, exile Panicky Florists. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
T: Untap target land.
"The horror! The horror!"
1/2
Self-Determination 2BG
Enchantment
As long as you control exactly one creature, that creature gets +2/+2 and has indestructible.
"The day I need help is the day you can put me in the ground."
I think Herder's Lasso should be phrazed "Whenever equiped creature attacks, you may have target creture block it this turn if able." Just makes more sense to me that you'd pull them to yourself.
Also, shouldn't the Artifacts be under the muilti-color cards?
Rampaging Rabbits would get absolutely massive in EDH
Also, you forgot to un-italicize at the end of Panicked Florist's flavor text
Spike is far more than a friend, he's family. I'm not quite sure how canon treats the big sister/little brother aspect of their relationship, but that's my understanding of it. Still, she treats him rather poorly at times, although some of that is mitigated by their familial ties and his constant willingness to do the work. I would like to see the cartoon do at least one "Spike is sick and we need to do a dangerous task to save him" episode. (darn, there was an exceptional fanfic on that, but I can't remember the name. Involved a sacrifice of some sort.)
The Cakes strike me as a couple who are *very* good bakers, but do not have that burning desire to sacrifice family and friends for their craft which they would have to do if they were to become "The Best." Instead, they live in a small town where everypony knows their names, their kids will have friends who don't run in gangs, and they even have the Princess over for parties once in a while. What could be better?
2144067
)
Once you've dragged something into the melee, there's no telling what it's going to hit first. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Also, yes, multicolored cards usually go before artifacts according to collector number, but I've been arranging cards like this since the Season 4 premiere. You're really asking about it now?
2144225
Fixed, thanks.
And yeah, that's why the Rabbits cost twice as much as a Skyshroud War Beast. Fear the bunnies.
2144310
You make an excellent point about Twilight and Spike's relationship. However, the line in question was said by Applejack. Though I would like to see that story in canon.
Also, valid point about the Cakes. Community definitely outweighs recognition for them. They know they're good, their friends and customers know they're good, and that's what matters.
2144513
You make a fair point. It's one of those things where it just feels off but either way works.
Applejack just feels like the type to make sure it'd come to her to me but other lassoers might not have the skill to pull it off.
Error:
Which is the correct name?
2147087
Rampaging. I changed it when I was writing the flavor text to avoid redundancy, but I must have missed the rules text. Thanks for the catch.
This is, IIRC, the first Friendship is Card Games you've done in a while with more than one Red and also the first in a while with quite so much Green. Would it be presumptuous to guess you don't really dig Gruul as much as you do the other colours?
2149714
Actually, red and green are more or less tied for my second favorite color. The problem lies in the show and the setting. A manually controlled cosmos like Equestria doesn't have much in the way of spontaneity or unfettered nature outside of eldritch locations like the Everfree. Even then, Ponyville isn't a reliable source of destructive impulse or primal instinct. It can be hard to find good material for green cards in Apple-free episodes, red cards in slice of life episodes, and black cards at all. Friendship is rather antithetical to black's philosophy, after all.
In Season 1, the problem is exacerbated by the friendship letter formula, which requires Twilight to be in every episode, even if she doesn't really have a place in the plot. (cf. "Fall Weather Friends," "Green Really Isn't Your Color," "The Stare Master," etc.) The presence of Purplesmart means that there's bound to be more blue, as Longwinded Speech demonstrates this week.
That being said, last week, there were four red cards and six green ones. Seven green, if you count the multicolored cards. I manage to get by.
2150334
Well, perhaps I have counting problems.