Friendship is Card Games: Dragon Quest · 11:39am Jul 26th, 2015
I wonder if this episode is would’ve been called “Dragon Warrior” if it had been made before 2005…
If you were expecting “It’s About Time,” that was done out of chronological order, appropriately enough. You can find it here.
In any case, we open with the earth ponies on ditch-digging duty. There’s probably a tasteless joke in there somewhere.
“The great dragon migration only happens once in a generation.” Is that pony or dragon generations? Because I could see it going either way, depending on the reason behind the migration.
Good to see that Fluttershy’s taken the right lessons from Iron Will’s seminars to heart. That’s proper self-assertion, even if it was a bit rough on Rainbow Dash. Also a demonstration that pegasi should not be confined in any sense. As with a gas, the pressure will rise until something explodes. Fluttershy is just normally a lot more diffuse than most pegasi.
Huh. Usually it’s Pinkie who goes for the confetti explosions. I guess Rarity borrowed a few party munitions for her grand entrance.
Wow. That look that Rainbow Dash gives Applejack. Perhaps it was meant to be a dismissive glance at the dragon, but it came off as “Gotta impress her” to me. (That’s the thing about shipping agnosticism. I’ll accept teases for just about any pairing.)
Interesting that Pinkie’s afraid of the dragons. Anyone in her right mind would be… but this is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about. Perhaps some lingering trauma from “Dragonshy”?
And the girls mercilessly attack Spike’s self-image. It’s tough being the token male protagonist. At least he gets some male bonding opportunities by Season 5.
The middle of the night is a bad time to have an existential crisis. Well, a bad time to have one out loud. Also, “you were given to me as an egg”? That’s an interesting way to say “I accidentally hatched you while channeling the unfathomable arcane power that I am destined to one day wield.”
Pony knowledge of dragons is extremely limited, which makes a great deal of sense. Unlike, for example, a draco-ethnic enclave in, let’s say, Fillydelphia. That would both rob the episode of its entire reason for being and be generally ridiculous.
Huh… Yeah, it does make sense that it’s Rarity and Dash poking their heads in. Applejack and Fluttershy live on the outskirts of town, and Pinkie’s probably been up for hours as she helps bake the day’s stock. Meanwhile, Rarity sets her own hours and Dash’s skill with both weather and management mean that Ponyville’s weather is well in hoof. Really, the only surprising thing to see here is that Dash is a morning pony.
Hooray for overthinking things!
Spike is on a quest to discover the dragon within. Hopefully, this won’t involve going back in time and changing history to make his own birth impossible. Bringing more supplies than a sandwich in a hobo bindle might also be a good idea.
Huh. This may be the first time we see a refrigerator (or, at least, an icebox) in the show. Don’t quote me on that, though.
I quite like the travel montage. Especially the bit with Spike rafting with Cranky Doodle Donkey. A definite sign of episodic achronicity, which I’m not too happy about, but it does raise an interesting possibility: Spike may have been the one to suggest Ponyville as a place to retire. And given his friendship with Steven Magnet, Cranky would probably want to listen to someone purple and scaly…
The teenage dragons are interesting. They’re definitely more social than their elders, and they seem to be segregated by gender—after all, where are the girls? They seem to have an entertainment role in the greater draconic society, such as it is. The adult dragons clearly watch their antics with interest. There’s also an incredible amount of morphic diversity on display. If there is a single draconic species, it’s as highly variable as dog breeds, and without artificial selection. There’s a lot to be extrapolated from these guys.
Garble raises a good point: Why doesn’t Spike have wings? Seriously, even in all three of the more mature states we’ve seen—there’s that morphic diversity again—he doesn’t develop them. While the taunting suggests this is normal for hatchlings, Spike’s winglessness doesn’t seem like something that his ontogeny will address. How curious.
I do wonder what was on that scroll Celestia sent. And whether she ever heard that “namby-pamby pony princess” line. I know both ideas have been explored numerous times, but it’s still interesting to think about. On the other hand, either Spike or Twilight probably informed her of the missed message after the events of the episode.
Crackle is best dragon. I will brook no arguments on this matter.
Garble demonstrates his pettiness in King of the Hoard. Beat me but couldn’t balance long enough to say so? I win.
Dragons can get a mouthful of lava with no adverse side effects. Immunity to fire damage is a beautiful thing. Also, Spike very nicely demonstrates Rule 16 of the Internet: If you fail in epic proportions, it may just become a winning failure.
For a few seconds there, the ponies seem… well, kind of shallow. Spike is among his people. They may behave differently from ponies, but he’s been accepted and has fulfilled his quest to discover more about who he truly is. It’s rather selfish of them to want to wrench him away from this place of comfort and self-discovery.
Of course, then we find out what teenage dragons do for fun…
All phoenixes are trolls. Good to know.
The food chain here does make sense. As previously noted, dragons are completely immune to the damaging effects of heat, naturally making them natural predators of phoenixes. Something has to be; otherwise, the immortal birds would easily hit overpopulation. Still, the dragons’ sapience and methods make this less predation and more calculated cruelty, especially when they go from pursuit to pointless destruction.
(Of course, there’s the question of whether any set of pony or human ethics can be used to judge not just another culture but another species, but I think I’ve gone far enough into my own navel.)
The ponies’ fighting stances are just ridiculous. Bipedal stances simply do not work well when adopted by quadrupeds. Though I admit, Rarity makes it work.
You know, between the wizard, the supersonic pegasus, and the kung fu fashionista, they might have actually stood a chance against the dragons. Maybe. Still, discretion was probably the better part of valor here.
Momentum is conserved in a teleport. Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out. And I do like how Twilight had to work at this particular teleport. Four bodies, with dragons in hot pursuit, over who knows how far a distance? An impressive feat, and one that visibly took a lot out of her.
A great moral this time around. Family is defined by those close to your heart, not your genes. Nature need not outweigh nurture. In Magic color theory, a very blue moral for a very blue dragon. (Though still somewhat red. Spike is purple after all. 
)
That said, seeing Spike taped to that one photo is just kind of painful.
I do wish they had done… well, anything with Peewee. Spike finally got to join in the pony-pet parallelism, and then they put the phoenix on the bus to the Chuck Cunningham Memorial Home for Extraneous Characters.
Aside from that missed opportunity, this proved that it is indeed possible to make a good Spike episode. The bumbling that might be insufferable elsewhere has a reason here: Spike’s in the middle of an incredible case of culture shock and the awkwardness that comes from trying to impress a bunch of people outside of his age group. Then he stands up for what’s right, and good for him.
Now, time to quest for cards:
Contain Confetti 1W
Instant
Creatures entering the battlefield don’t cause abilities to trigger this turn.
Draw a card.
”Pinkie cleans up after herself eventually, but sometimes a more immediate response is necessary.”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Gentle Frills 2W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Prevent all damage that would be dealt by enchanted creature. Whenever damage is prevented this way, you gain 1 life.
One of dragonkind’s greatest, most secret shames is the universal appreciation of lace.
Defensive Desperation 3W
Instant
Each blocking creature deals damage equal to its toughness divided as defending player chooses among the creatures it’s blocking.
Even now, Commander Hurricane’s legacy lies in the heart of every pegasus.
Desperate Miscast 1U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2 for each creature attacking that player and planeswalkers he or she controls.
It’s hard to focus on the inner workings of the universe when you’re running from half a dozen dragons.
Rafter Jack 2U
Creature — Donkey Scout
1U: Target creature gains islandwalk until end of turn.
He’ll give anyone a lift if they’re willing to listen to a life story as long and winding as the river itself.
2/2
Fashion Thrasher 3U
Creature — Unicorn Artificer Monk
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
You may cast artifact cards as though they had flash.
”Broken muzzles are in this season.”
2/2
Reductive Perspective XU
Instant
Creatures target player controls get -X/-0 until end of turn. If X isn’t 0, draw a card.
”They look like ants from up here. That seems like a good idea.”
Late-Night Research 1BB
Sorcery
Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
”Sometimes you have to call it a night after you’ve found the right book.”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Alpine Ram 1R
Creature — Sheep
Alpine Ram can’t attack or block unless you pay S. (S can be paid with one mana from a snow source.)
Their thick fleece makes a winter blizzard feel like a balmy spring day, and a balmy spring day like a sweltering heat wave.
3/3
Phoenix Hatchling 1RR
Creature — Phoenix
Flying
When Phoenix Hatchling enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target player.
When Phoenix Hatchling dies, return it to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.
1/1
Belching Contest 2R
Instant
Until end of turn, each creature gains “T: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player.”
Dragon entertainment is as elegant and refined as the dragons themselves.
Dragonspire Expedition 2R
Enchantment
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put a quest counter on Dragonspire Expedition.
Remove three quest counters from Dragonspire Expedition and sacrifice it: Put a 5/5 red Dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Dragon Migration 2RRR
Sorcery
Put a 5/5 red Dragon creature token with flying and haste onto the battlefield. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step.
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
Lava Splash 3RR
Tribal Sorcery — Dragon
Lava Splash deals 3 damage to each non-Dragon creature.
Dragons can swim through lava as though it were water. Everything else just gets covered in molten rock.
Megapelvic Whelp 4R
Creature — Dragon
2R, T: Megapelvic Whelp deals damage equal to its power to target creature.
Ungulan dragons display an incredible variety of shapes, sizes, and proportions.
2/3
Fierce Flamescreamer 4RR
Creature — Dragon
Flying
Formidable — Whenever Fierce Flamescreamer attacks, if creatures you control have total power 8 or greater, creatures you control gain intimidate until end of turn.
Its roar is visible, giving ponies just enough time to flee.
4/4
Vibrant Ensemble 1G
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3, loses hexproof and shroud, and can’t have hexproof or shroud.
Spells that target enchanted creature cost 2 less to cast.
Some ponies refuse to be camouflaged.
Cunning Disguise 1
Artifact — Equipment
As Cunning Disguise enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Equipped creature has protection from the chosen type.
Equip 1
”Not to worry. I’ll make you the belle of the brawl.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Hoard of the King 5
Artifact
Whenever you tap a land for mana, add one mana of any color that land could produce to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, that creature’s controller gains control of Hoard of the King.
It is power, wealth, and status, everything dragons long for.
Scaly Raiders 2BR
Creature — Dragon
Flying
Whenever Scaly Raiders attacks or blocks, any player may sacrifice a permanent. If a player does, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt by Scaly Raiders this turn.
Young dragons lay waste not just out of malice, but also for the sheer thrill of destruction.
4/3
Butterfly Migration 2GW
Instant
Kicker (gw) (You may spend an additional (gw) when you cast this spell.)
For each creature attacking you or a planeswalker you control, put a 1/1 green Insect creature token with flying onto the battlefield blocking that creature. If Butterfly Migration was kicked, attacking creatures lose trample until end of turn.
Nesting Phoenixes 3RW
Creature — Phoenix
Flying, lifelink
Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, Nesting Phoenixes deals 1 damage to that player.
Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, you may return Nesting Phoenixes from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
Crackle, Best Dragon 3(ur)(ur)(ur)
Legendary Creature — Dragon Mutant
Crackle, Best Dragon's power is equal to 1 plus the greatest power among Dragon creatures without this ability and its toughness is equal to 1 plus the greatest toughness among those creatures.
Crackle has the abilities of each Dragon on the battlefield without this ability.
1+*/1+*
Æther Strobe X(wu)(wu)
Instant
Exile up to X target creatures. Return them to the battlefield under their owners’ control at the beginning of the next end step.
Asking Twilight Sparkle whether teleportation kills a pony is an invitation to find out for yourself.
(Ironic) Amen brotha~
Erm, that sentence doesn't make much sense
Consider talking about "bipedal fighting stances" instead...?
How very topical
I alway believed its because he is, in fact, part chinese dragon.
Unless Spike forgo in the excitement and that was the invite to a certain big event that will happen in a few episodes
I'd forgotten my love of your episode reviews.
Isn't it kind of odd for sapient creatures with homes and possessions (preferably enough to fill the home and be difficult to carry) to have a "migration"? So here's my theory: Maybe the migration is all about the young dragons, the ones who won't have lairs full of treasure yet. To get them some distance away from their parents' territory before they settle down. A couple older dragons come along to keep order and protect them, but that's it. (This would, of course, be something that you do once per generation by definition. Though it'd be odd for them to all go to the same place).
Spike doesn't have wings because his breed's wings atrophied when they got too good at teleporting everywhere. Clearly.
---
Gentle Frills: I want to cast this on Pestilence Demon, just to turn him into "B: Gain one life for each creature and each player." And trigger all my lifegain effects 40 times each turn. No, this is not a very smart combo, but who cares?
Desperate Miscast: That seems sufficiently situational that you probably could have gotten away with U. But nice flavor.
Reductive Perspective: At first I misread this to say "If X is 0, draw a card", which actually strikes me as a really cool mechanic. But I guess this is nice too. That said, if you compare to Turn the Tide or Hysterical Blindness, making it a cantrip too really should've bumped the cost to XUU.
Dragonspire Expedition: Ooh, neat! Definitely would run this in a dragon-y deck, or any red deck that wasn't planning to win by turn 6. (In other words, a deck that only splashes red).
Dragon Migration: Also a very cool dragon token card. This should be good with enters/leaves the battlefield effects that scale with creature size (such as "deals damage equal to power"). Or sacrifice effects. I initially misread it as havnig rebound instead of retrace, which would probably be ridiculously powerful.
Lava Splash: A very dragon addition to any dragon deck that runs dragons. Dragon dragon dragon.
Fierce Flamescreamer: Very flavorful. Plus, he gets you halfway there by himself.
Vibrant Ensemble: Fortunately they can still have protection from colors, totem armor, or abilities that'd result in a spell getting countered. I still wouldn't recommend casting this on your Mesa Enchantress, except maybe to play mind games.
Cunning Disguise: Imagine this on defence though. I'm picturing an angel wearing a cardboard dragon mask like the Spy from TF2, sneaking up on a dragon, then stabbing it.
Hoard of the King: Fortunately, the average opponent won't have many 10 mana creatures in their deck. So even if it looks "fair" and "balanced", it's not.
Butterfly Migration: I'm just picturing someone casting this kicked in response to Overrun, and the other player's reaction. Of course, Fog is almost as effective in any situation, unless the situation is that you're abusing enters/leaves the battlefield effects.
Nesting Phoenixes: I like how it negates 1 point of each damage as well as dealing it to the opponent. Goblins beware!
Crackle, Best Dragon: I'm certain I've seen someone make this exact card before. As in, it was also about Crackle and it had the same abilities.
Æther Strobe: One of the most powerful versions of Blink/Flicker effect I can recall seeing. (Also, you can cast it on the opponent's creatures while they're attacking, unlike Momentary Blink).
3270726 The "Let's force the adolescents to set up their own turf" might have been more correct but the writers probably thought that little girls couldn't grok it.
3270639
The line in question has been rephrased. And I side with Titanium Dragon on the teleportation thing. Warped space seems a lot more reasonable than duplication and destruction.
3270652
Interesting hypothesis about Spike's parentage. And the wedding thing was something I considered, but again, I have to think that Twilight wouldn't be able to forget the disregarded letter.
3270726
I like the rationale for the migration. A ritualized form of kicking the kids out of the house definitely makes sense, though there do seem to be an awful lot of adult dragons for that sort of thing.
Lava Splash: It's "Dragon Quest." I would be remiss if this weren't the dragoniest FiCG that ever dragoned a dragon.
Cunning Disguise: That is a fantastic mental image. Even better than the angel trying to wear the Crackle's cousin costume.
Butterfly Migration: ETB effects are precisely why this is costed the way it is. Consider Primal Forcemage with the Migration. Or Valor in Akros. Or, heaven help your opponent, Cathars' Crusade.
Crackle, Best Dragon: Your memory isn't playing tricks on you. You have seen someone make that card before, and that someone was me. Crackle was seen before in My Little Praetor: Phthisis is Magic, which I really do need to get back to one of these days.
3271123 Oh right. In hindsight I can't think of anyone except you who could have designed such a card.
Upon seeing this passage, I just had to ask: Izzet really necessary to go for the wordplay? The answer, of course, is "yes."
Reminds me of a hypothetical card I came up with called Izzet Safe. It'd function kinda like a sorcerer's strongbox, except it'd require paying red and blue (along with discarding a card) in order to crack it. Then it'd let you draw and reveal cards and play an instant or sorcery revealed this way without paying its mana cost. The flavor text would read, "Knowing them, not likely."
Oh man, baby phoenixes are AWESOME for the cost. Even if their ability only covers taking fatal combat damage, it's basically free regeneration once per turn, making them 3 mana for a quasi-permanent flying wall. If "dying" also covers being sacrificed, I could see some decks making serious use of factory-farming.
Baby Phoenix and Warstorm Surge for a slow but basically inevitable win. You target the Phoenix with the Warstorm surge trigger, so it dies, and then it comes back at the end of the turn. I love breaking cards.
3271681
I want you to know that you just gave me a horrible mental image. Good work.
3271451
Well said. I'll have to remember that.
3271677
(And Spike does have his impulsive moments.)
It was entirely necessary, and you know it.
3271681 3271706
Oh, my yes. Phoenix Hatchling is ridiculous in combination with sacrifice outlets. Goblin Bombardment, Bloodflow Connoisseur, all kinds of options are possible with Peewee's siblings. His delicious, aerodynamic siblings.
As an aura player I love the design on Vibrant Ensemble, I would play it in a sideboard for decks that don't have targeted removal and make the deck even faster.
"Kung fu Fashionista" would make a good name for a rock band. Or a Magic card. It's a good name for just about anything really.
Silly Fashion Thrasher, broken muzzles are always in season.
On Alpine Ram; The proper plain text representation for a snow mana symbol would be {S}.
But you refuse to use the proper plain text representation for hybrid mana symbols so... yeah. Moving on.
I don't like how Phoenix Hatchling just comes back to the battlefield on death without a cost attached to it.
Only one Phoenix doesn't have some cost associated with coming back to the battlefield on death, and it's a Mythic. Others have some cost, be it working only once or skipping a draw.
Other Phoenixes slightly favor going back to the hand from the graveyard with two of them being on death and the others being some kind of trigger or payment. Then the other Phoenixes go from graveyard to battlefield via a mana payment, not for free on death.
I would be perfectly fine with it being the following;
On Fierce Flamescreamer; I like the intimidate but Menace also works and would be more in line with current design philosophy.
We each have different takes on making fan cards, for me I want to hew as close to what the R&D team would actually make whereas you have said you'll use any tool in the box, even if R&D won't be using that tool themselves.
After this one I'm not going comment on the cards that I don't like only because they don't match with current design ideals. If I feel that something else if off about them I'll comment on both things.
I find Vibrant Ensemble to be funny, though it'd be very hard to get onto something with shroud, not imposable, just a bit tricky.
Also, the phrasing should probably be "Enchanted creature gets +3/+3, loses hexproof and shroud, and can’t have or gain hexproof or shroud." like the five Archtypes have. I'd go with them over the Lighthouse because the Archtypes are perpetual continuous effects while the Lighthouse is an until end of turn continuous effect and the enchantment would be a perpetual continuous effect.
At first I though Cunning Disguise would make the equipped creature the chosen type in addition to its other types. Then you pulled protection on me.
I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Wait. Wait.
Wait.
I know Nesting Phoenixes is red-white but it's a white Phoenix. What is this blasphemy?
I think Crackle, Best Dragon broke my brain for a little bit.
I was annoyed at this episode when placed so close to "Secret of My Excess." The two episodes' canon about dragons simply aren't compatible. If being a greedy selfish jerk makes a dragon giant, why aren't the teen bully dragons immense? For that matter, why are there teen dragons at all, if draconic growth is directly connected to hoarding? Of the two, "Dragon Quest" is the one I'd much rather keep as headcanon, disposing of the other ep entirely.
Hopefully, this won’t involve going back in time and changing history to make his own birth impossible. Bringing more supplies than a sandwich in a hobo bindle might also be a good idea.
Yeah, especially because Rarity would make a terrible Narset.
Well, this is long overdue...
3273721
Dragons are magical enough that they're capable of producing Crackle. Their biology doesn't even begin to make sense. There are probably as many ways for a dragon to age as there are dragons. More, actually. After all, Spike's grown up twice and turned out differently each time.
3274377
Yeah, Narset was practically Pinkie Pie before Sarkhan saved Ugin, and was indisputably Twilight afterwards. "Dear Dragonlord Ojutai..."
Alpine Ram has erroneous reminder text. A snow nonpermanent that generates mana does not generate snow mana.
4342147
I may have bent the rules a little there. Still, it's within the realm of feasibility.