Friendship is Card Games: Return of Return of Harmony · 3:17pm Mar 29th, 2015
It’s finally time for me to give “Return of Harmony” the analysis it’s due, and try to squeeze a few more cards out of it while I’m at it. See here for the first batch.
Season 5 spoilers here: I find it appropriate that a week before a season premiere where the Mane Six confront a villain who will dull their colors and warp their very essence, we’re looking at a a season premiere where the Mane Six confronted a villain who dulled their colors and warped their very essence.
Wow. Looking at the hedge maze in that opening scene, it really does extend into the hills in the distance. I’d thought that was all Discord.
I do like the draconequus as a logical extension of mythical chimerism. “Okay, you want to make a fantasy creature through anatomical mix-and-match? Let’s turn that 
up to eleven!” Of course, a draconequus as a logical anything seems to miss the point a bit. Furthermore, since it’s “a body made up of all sorts of creatures,” I do dislike it when other draconequus designs copy Discord’s distribution exactly.
“Cloudsdale’s getting soaked by a major cola storm right now.” Hear that, folks? Discord can do more than one kind of food-based weather. Make a note of it.
I’m just going to assume that chocolate isn’t nearly as poisonous to most animals in Equestria as it is here.
Celestia is used excellently here. Before now, she had never lost her cool. Whether it was watching a parasprite parade, seeing the Gala unravel, or dropping out of the sky to pick up a friendship report, Celestia always seemed vaguely amused by everything around her. The closest she’d come to disconcerted was when the Cakes kept refilling her teacup. Now? Now she’s pacing. Now she’s serious. This is how to establish the severity of a villain, folks.
Discord’s nature is intriguingly ambiguous. He is explicitly called a spirit, even describing himself as such. But what does that entail? Was he born? What other spirits are there, and of what concepts? Are there any unique spiritual strictures that even he must obey?
You know, the mention of Luna makes me wonder just where she is in all of this. Still recovering, maybe? It’s established that she’s not attuned to the Elements of Harmony anymore, but she could at least show up.
Also, did Celestia really think the Elements would never need to be used again, or did she just want them as secure as possible? Also, a powerful spell only she can break? That may explain why Luna isn’t there; Celestia may not fully trust her against Discord. A sanity once broken is all the more fragile.
I do find it interesting that Fluttershy is distressed over the loss of her wings. For all of her unusual attributes, being a pegasus is still an essential part of her self-image.
Also, either Discord had a more subtle touch with Applejack and Pinkie, or he didn’t think they had anything that could help. I’m leaning towards the former. He said “no magic,” not “no unicorn magic.”
There’s a lot that could be done with whole Grove of Truth motif. I kind of want to see Discord’s reaction if Applejack had asked about her parents.
Discord may not have done as much to the hedge maze as I’d thought, but I do love what he did do. Very Super Mario Galaxy.
You know, by the third friend behaving in a completely uncharacteristic manner, I’d suspect something beyond stress. Granted, there isn’t much Twilight can do about it, but still.
Fluttershy demonstrates that the hedges aren’t impenetrable. So… why did the ponies go along with the isolation at the start? Eh, overly lawful thinking. Never a good idea when up against a spirit of chaos. Whereas Fluttershy, with her outside-the-maze thinking—that is, thinking that she’d much rather be outside the maze—was able to drive Discord to direct action.
“I’ve got you now, Element.” That’s… actually an entirely logical assumption. The Elements did model themselves on the Bearers’ cutie marks, so Dash seeing a blue-outlined cloud with tricolored lightning and thinking it’s the Element of Loyalty makes sense.
For a spirit of chaos and disharmony, Discord really likes his poetry. Between the riddle, the Grove of Truth, and Dash’s dilemma, there are three instances of him speaking in rhyme in part one.
Also, as with the riddle, the poem here is completely true. Dash made the wrong choice, and the foundations of home—Ponyville and the friendships that made it home—crumbled without her.
I do love it when the climactic doom music at the end of part one of a two-parter gives way to the cheery ending theme. It’s a hilarious bit of mood whiplash.
Ah, martial arts Rarity. Not the first time we’ve seen her taking action, but certainly the first time with such poise.
It’s interesting to see who adjust to the soap roads first: Pinkie and Fluttershy. Pinkie, obviously, because even she loathes the concept of fun now, she still understands zaniness. But Fluttershy? It almost seems like a twisted form of foreshadowing. Or I’m twisting it into one.
“Why’s everyone look so… grey?” Hmm. Maybe pony color vision isn’t that acute. It’d explain the bright palette of much of Equestria. (Credit goes to jordan179 for the thought.)
Between moving Tom and the book keep-away, I’m guessing that Twilight forgot she got her horn back.
I’m just going to appreciate how, over the course of thirty seconds, we got both “big crown thingy” and “You’re the new Rainbow Dash”
I love the music as Discord reappears. Distortion, tunes played backwards, inapporpriate sound effects, this is what the fight against an embodiment of chaos and disharmony should sound like.
And then Pinkie pronking away sounds like a broken spring. I don’t want to gush to the point of obnoxiousness, but still, brilliant.
Also brilliant is the use of the friendship letters, what seemed like a framing device and means to crowbar in morals, as the means to defeat Discord. Bearing in mind that this two-parter was meant to be the finale of Season 1, it makes sense, but even with a less direct temporal connection, it’s still very clever.
It’s interesting how Discord’s entire strategy—distract and waylay the opponent until he can win in the meantime—is much more white-blue than red. Discord may embody chaos, but he is as much incomprehensibly complex patterns as he is utter randomness, as much signal as noise. Aye, he is madness, but there’s method to him.
Huh. That’s odd. The world seems unaffected when the rest of the Bearers looking for Rainbow Dash. Discord must have been focusing heavily on Ponyville. Dash’s disaster comment certainly lends credence to that.
Okay, the rope reins I understand. Only flier, needs of the moment, et cetera. But was the “Hi-yah” really necessary?
And, of course, the Star Wars medal ceremony. With the implied Applestia. (Though the obviously public ceremony makes me wonder just how these mares have avoided fame and recognition as much as they have. Seriously, what the crap?)
And now, part two of the cards:
Righteous Surge 1W
Instant
Target creature gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is the number of black and/or red permanents your opponents control.
Kindness and wrath are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes, one inspires the other.
Corncussive Blast 2W
Instant
Corncussive Blast deals 4 damage to target attacking creature.
Chaotic W (You may cast this spell for its chaotic cost. If you do, choose its targets at random.)
“Too much starch isn’t good for you.”
—Discord
Quiet Disposal 2W
Instant
Put target artifact or enchantment on the bottom of its owner’s library.
”Let us never speak of this again.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Sculpture Garden 3W
Enchantment
2W: Target creature becomes an enchantment and loses all abilities until a player casts a creature spell.
Celestia has never responded to the rumors about the palace grounds.
Magical Failsafe 4WW
Sorcery
Destroy all artifacts you don’t control and all enchantments you don’t control.
”Magic can fix everything. It all comes down to finding the right spell.”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Soaring Swine 5WW
Creature — Boar
Flying, banding
When Soaring Swine enters the battlefield, return target face-up exiled card you own to your hand.
”Obvious? Perhaps, but it’s still funny.”
—Discord
3/3
Disruptive Disharmony U
Instant
Counter target multicolored spell or target activated ability from a multicolored source. (Mana abilities can’t be targeted.)
“Greater than the sum of your parts? Well, I’ve never been one for math.”
—Discord
Animated Image 1U
Creature — Illusion
When Animated Image becomes the target of a spell or ability, return Animated Image to its owner’s hand.
Chaos magic is fleeting and ephemeral by nature.
2/1
Know the Enemy 1U
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, scry 1 unless that player pays 1. (To scry 1, look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)
While imprisoned, Discord watched the Bearers in Ponyville, cataloguing their strengths and weaknesses.
Edgetrotter 2U
Creature — Pony Rogue
Protection from black-bordered (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, enchanted, or equipped by anything black-bordered. Tokens don’t have borders.)
He moves in ways impossible for those who take themselves seriously.
2/1
Endless Fabrications 3U
Enchantment
Whenever you cast a spell during an opponent’s turn, you may pay 2. If you do, draw a card.
When all seemed lost, Applejack was the only pony who said there was hope.
Twists and Turns 3U
Instant
You may tap or untap target nonland permanent, then you may tap or untap another target nonland permanent.
Chaotic 1U
Appropriate 3UU
Instant
If an artifact would enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control this turn, it enters the battlefield under your control instead.
”It’s not that I want these. I just don’t want you to have them.”
—Discord
Balloon Garden 3B
Enchantment
1B: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Laughter is the least harmonious of the Elements. At times, it can be hard to distinguish from its counterpart, Mischief.
Befuddled Burrower 2R
Creature — Pony
Mountainwalk
Befuddled Burrower attacks each turn if able.
Sanity became a rare commodity within hours of Discord’s release.
2/3
Throw Milk 1R
Instant
Choose target creature or player, then roll a six-sided die. Throw Milk deals damage equal to the die roll to that creature or player.
”You should see what happens when it’s strawberry-flavored.”
—Discord
Quarrel 3R
Sorcery
Target player chooses two creatures he or she controls. If he or she does, those creatures fight each other. (The player makes the choice if able.)
Nopony knew whether Discord made the Crusaders argue or just benefited from it.
Storm of Chaos 3RR
Instant
Copy target instant or sorcery spell that targets only a single permanent or player. Choose random targets for the copy.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Wild Magic 3RR
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player exiles the top card of his or her library. If it's a land card, the player puts it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, the player casts it without paying its mana cost if able.
Not all of Discord’s chaos was intentional.
Dissension in the Ranks 4RR
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent’s control, untap another target creature that player controls. Gain control of the untapped creature until the beginning of your next end step.
Remember the Truth 1G
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Gain control of target creature you own.
• Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Discord could make the Bearers forget the past, but he couldn’t change it.
Umbrella Saddle 2
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature would be dealt noncombat damage, prevent 2 of that damage.
Equip 2
"A lady needs to look her best no matter what's falling from the sky."
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Chimeric Sculpture 3
Artifact
Whenever a creature attacks, put a strife counter on Chimeric Sculpture.
1R, Remove all strife counters from Chimeric Sculpture: If at least six counters were removed this way, put four loyalty counters on Chimeric Sculpture and transform it.
Discord Released
(R) Planeswalker — Discord
+2: During target player’s next combat, creatures that player controls attack if able and can’t attack Discord Released.
-1: Switch each creature’s power and toughness until your next turn.
-7: You get an emblem with “Whenever a creature attacks, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.”
Innocuous Boulder 3
Artifact Creature — Construct
R: Transform Innocuous Boulder. Activate this ability only if Innocuous Boulder’s power is 4 or greater.
It’s just a rock… Isn’t it?
0/4
Tom, Soul of Continents
(R) Legendary Creature — Elemental
Tom, Soul of Continents gets +0/+1 for each Mountain you control.
5RR: Creatures you control get +1/+0 for each Mountain you control until end of turn and can’t be blocked by creatures with flying this turn.
4/3
Monument to Friendship 3
Tribal Artifact — Pony
Hoofcraft — Monument to Friendship is a 4/4 Pony Golem artifact creature as long as you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns.
It’s animated by a different kind of magic.
Unconsume WB
Instant
Choose one —
• Target player loses life equal to the life he or she gained this turn.
• Target player gains life equal to the life he or she lost this turn. (Damage causes loss of life.)
“As if time weren’t strange enough.”
—Minuette, temporal operative
Telekinetic Toss 1R(wu)
Instant
Target creature gets +4/+0 and gains flying until end of turn.
”Look out! Here comes Tom!”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Cola Storm 2(br)
Instant
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters)
Cola Storm deals 1 damage to each creature.
”You can polish metal with that stuff, you know.”
—Discord
Sickening Shipment 4RG
Sorcery
Return each card from your graveyard to your hand. Sickening Shipment deals 1 damage to you for each card returned this way. Exile Sickening Shipment.
Even a dragon’s stomach has its limits.
Hedge Maze
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
5, T: Exile target attacking creature an opponent controls. At the beginning of that player’s next declare attackers step, return it to the battlefield under that player’s control tapped and attacking.
Endless Fabrications 3U: Applejack is Pandora!
Discord is not omnipotent, though he's very powerful and can bend, break or outright ignore a lot of the rules. He definitely focuses on Ponyville, but we also see Canterlot castle floating on an earthberg, and of course he's meddling with the sun and the moon. I assume that if Twilight & co. hadn't defeated him, the chaos would have slowly spread to cover the world, or at least a large part of it, with the focal point of weirdness around Discord himself.
I can't even imagine the time it would take for storm of chaos to resolve if storm was 5 or greater. Also Discord can destroy most walls with his -1, this fits.
The flying pig with Banding is a nice touch.
If Innocuous Boulder was legendary, I'd totally play it as my commander
2921345 Especially since you could have one or more of the copies target the original Storm of Chaos, which makes more copies of it that you have to choose random targets for. And some of them might target each other!
2921284
Going deep instead of wide? Makes sense to me. Probably focusing more on the Bearers than any particular town.
2921345
It depends on how many of those five or more spells are still on the stack. A few die rolls should settle the matter fairly quickly in most cases. Most.
2921443
And it puts exiled cards into your hand, which is definitely something they'll only do when pigs fly.
2921543
Sadly, rocks aren't exactly legend material. Unless you're Maud Pie.
Also, do note that Storm of Chaos can't target other Storms of Chaos. It targets a spell, not a permanent or player. But yes, casting it on something like Pyrotechnics can get ridiculous in a hurry.
Why doesn't discord released exile himself and return to the battlefield transformed like the other DFC walkers?
Shouldn't Sculpture Garden turn them into Artifacts not Enchantments? I mean, they're statues after all.
With Edgetrotter I am unsure of how to feel about the terminology "black-bordered". I know they used "silver-bordered" but, well, that was in a silver-bordered set.
I like how Twists and Turns might wind up targeting the same thing twice.
We have Acquire and I'm slightly surprised we don't already have a card called "Appropriate" with this exact rules text.
Though they are trying to save on the good single word names for cards (Could have sworn they had used "Cauterize" but I'm not finding it on Gatherer... .)
Shouldn't the text for Storm of Chaos be "Choose a random target for the copy.", since it specifically calls out that it can only copy something with a single target?
And then you've got the Storm reminder text, that says you can target the copies. Though I guess the "random target" part of the spell would kick in and overwrite that.
Did you mean for "Dissension in the Ranks" not to grant haste like most control ganking effects?
I'm rather sure you could have the rules text for Chimeric Sculpture be "1R, Remove six strife counters from Chimeric Sculpture: Put four loyalty counters on Chimeric Sculpture and transform it."
Unless you have some reason for the player to be able to remove the strife counters to no effect. Without a reason it's just extra rules text when you can simply make it part of the activation cost.
Or maybe you wanted it to be able to interact with counter removal, but there's not much of that and normally only for your own things.
Innocuous Boulder *singing* Here comes Tom, to wreck your da~y!
I like how Monument to Friendship counts for it's own Hoofcraft, even without being a creature.
2921584
What about this? Though to be far that's just a Flashback enabler, and not really an exile counter. But they are more willing to interact with exile these days so I don't really see returning exiled cards to hand as something they won't ever do.
It'd probably have to be in a block that had exile as a major theme though.
2921345
Storm of Chaos plus Storm mainstay Grapeshot.
ALL THE STORM!
2921655
"DFC walkers"? I don't know this term.
2922205
DFC walker is short for Double Faced Card Planeswalker. In this situation, I am referring to the cycle of Legendary Creatures from Magic Origins that transform into Planeswalkers. They transform by exiling themselves and returning to the battlefield transformed.
2922420
Ah. I don't tend to look at spoilers for new sets until the night before the prerelease so I was unaware of these.
I was wondering where the young Liliana image from "Tales from the Pit" had come from. Now I know.
2922205
Sculpture Garden is a reference to Opal Guardian and its ilk, enchantments that become creatures in response to some trigger (usually the opponent casting a creature spell).
Storm of Chaos itself must target a spell on the stack that targets a permanent or player. What the reminder text for storm is referring to is that you can pick a different target for each copy of Storm of Chaos, not that you can pick targets for the spell copy that it makes. If two Lightning Bolts and an Unsummon are on the stack and no other spells have resolved this turn, the storm count is 3, so casting Storm of Chaos permits you to get four randomly-targeted copies of Lightning Bolt, four randomly-targeted copies of Unsummon, or one to three Lightning Bolts and three to one Unsummons, all randomly targeted. I do see where the confusion comes from, though; I'm pretty sure there's a reason that they've never printed a Reverberate with storm or replicate before. What makes it worse is that there are spells with a variable number of targets. If somebody casts a single-target Pyrotechnics, it's a valid target for Storm of Chaos, but (I think) you can choose how the damage from the copy gets divided! It's mind-bending!
What Dissension in the Ranks does, unlike most red yoinking, lasts until the end of your turn, rather than until the end of the current turn. And it's an enchantment that will generally trigger during your opponents' turns, meaning that you'll have controlled the yanked creature since the beginning of your turn, so haste won't generally be necessary.
Chimeric Sculpture: I'm pretty sure it's worded the way it is to
allowforce the player to remove all eleventy-billion strife counters from it, preventing the confusion that would result from a planeswalker permanent having two or more types of counters on it. (Not that you can't set that situation up anyway, but it usually takes at least two cards to do it.)Ah yes, the embodiment of chaos whose magic is used for many and varied zany antics... which I've seen far too many fanfics try to repeat word-for-word, sometimes even as if they were running through a checklist.
Corncussive Blast: That's a pretty creative use of your chaotic keyword, and sounds fun to play with.
Sculpture Garden: Oooh, nice! If you meant for the creature to stop being a creature though, you need to say so--right now they'd still be able to attack as if they were a vanilla Theros creature. (Heck, some creatures like Lightning Elemental would be better off).
Also, just so I'm extra clear--when you counter a spell, they still count as having "cast" a spell, right? You didn't say "successfully".
Magical Failsafe: This just in: There IS such a thing as overkill in this game. Spread the news! (Unless you're playing in Mirrodin or Theros or similar, in which case it's just the right ammount of kill). (Also: Obligatory broken combo with Mycosynth Lattice).
Soaring Swine:
You brought banding into this just to troll everyone, right? At least they don't band with other. Anyways, I like how the flying pigs signal the return of something thought to be permanently banished.edit: I read the other comments and now I feel slow.Animated Image: Way better than the normal illusion response to being targeted. And I like how well it descibes what he did in the episode.
Know the Enemy: Cough Rhystic Study Cough
Edgetrotter: I can't decide whether to grin or grimace. Better play some silver border cards on both sides of the table!
Twists and Turns: I guess the chaotic version is useful if you are about to make an all-out attack this turn against a turtling opponent, or expect your opponent to make an all-out attack against a turtling you? Or only one person has any creatures? I wouldn't play it at least.
Appropriate: Oh that is just nasty. Evil. I want it so bad. (Not very reliable but that is so not the point).
Quarrel: Unless they're starved for options, that just kills their least valuable weenie for four mana. Pass.
Storm of Chaos: This could potentially become very impressive. Am I correct in my understanding that even if you cast it targeting the first spell of the turn it'll still get copied once (and thus create two copies of that spell)? The random targets limit it though, when combined with the fact that it has to target; you're pretty much stuck playing it on your own spells you put in the deck to work with it, since the majority of instants and sorceries are not usually productive when targeted randomly; and if you're casting it on your own spell you probably can't afford storm.
Wild Magic: Nope, we've never seen any cards that would give you an unfair advantage with this spell. Certainly don't see any interaction between this and, say, Brainstorm.
Dissension in the Ranks: Should that creature gain haste? Otherwise it's not doing anything except blocking, static abilities, and not being available for the opponent.
Chimeric Sculpture: A transforming planeswalker! Neat! And his first and third ability self-combo. Also you can reach that ultimate pretty quick, once he's flipped in the first place.
Innocuous Boulder: Haha, yes. More cards that are obviously silver bordered.
Monument to Friendship: Yay, friendship! Amusing thought: If some of your ponies die, this thing could be the third pony that keeps its own hoofcraft ability goin.
Unconsume: At worst it's an alternative fog. At best it's a brutal combo piece or a counter to what should have been a combo finisher.
Telekinetic Toss: I spy with my little eye, a combo...
Cola Storm: Always cool seeing damage-modifying keywords on noncreature spells.
2921655
Two reasons. The Watsonian one is that the DFC 'walkers exile themselves as a mechanical form of their first planeswalks. Discord isn't leaving the plane, he's just breaking out of petrification. Thus, no exiling. The Doylist reason is that I hadn't seen Liliana, Heretical Healer when I designed the card.
2923537
I know, right? The Stations of Canon should not apply to an avatar of chaos. Not unless the story is specifically set during this episode.
Sculpture Garden: I'm afraid you're wrong about the wording. The text lacks the "in addition to its other types" rider that would keep the creature a creature. And yes, it doesn't matter whether or not the creature spell resolves. Once it's cast, the spell is broken... until you activate Sculpture Garden again.
Dissension in the Ranks: Double-check when you lose control of the creature. Now think about when most creatures will enter the battlefield under an opponent's control.
Innocuous Boulder: Aside from the concept, I don't see why anything about this card would seem silver-bordered.
Monument to Friendship: Given that it's a tribal, it can always be the third Pony.
2924843
Well yeah, it's only the concept that's silver bordered, but it's a really silly concept.
Aww, the way I initially read it is way funnier. That makes the rules a lot more manageable though.
And yeah, I conceded to your superior rules-lawyering on the other two points.
Silver-bordered cards here: Soaring Swine (pulls your stuff out of exile, causing MaRo to cry), Edgetrotter (references border color), Throw Milk (six-sided die).
There's no such thing as unsuccessfully casting a spell, not since 6th edition back in ‘99.
Also, why no Screwball/Avatar of Discord? (Actually, I'll reprint AoD here, changing the flavortext to “Such is the power of Discord that even his shadow takes on a weird life of its own.”)
Should Soaring Swine perhaps be a Pig? That creature type exists in silver border (on Latin Pig, a.k.a. Cochon Javonais).
In my typed-up version, I'm changing it.
4327125
Try searching Gatherer for "Swine." The only one that isn't a Boar is Goblin Swine-Rider. The precedent is clear, even if the card is silly.
Right, thanks.
He is incongruity, puns/exact words, not true chaos. (see: Unstable Mutation) Granted, the dam break later and house inversions are quite destructive.
4653786
I'm not sure if Unstable Mutation getting reprinted in red as Consuming Fervor hurts or helps your point.
Dumb question: can Storm of Chaos copies target the original?
4653800
Since it's on the stack when the trigger resolves, yes. Given the target randomization, this could go on for some time, with copies targetting copies until they all settle on something that isn't Storm of Chaos. Indeed, it's hypothetically possible to create an infinite loop if every other instant and sorcery on the stack gets countered while the storm rages.Disregard this and see above. Or below, depending on your comment settings.
4653800
Actually, strike that. Storm of Chaos can't target spells that target spells, so it can't copy itself. How smart of past me.
4653838
…hardly important.
though it means "Choose random targets for the copy." should be 'a random target' …