Friendship is Card Games: Made in Manehattan · 11:17am Sep 27th, 2015
Well, since my local Battle for Zendikar prerelease was pushed to today, I had a chance to look at this episode yesterday. Huzzah!
I know how Twilight feels. Some days, nothing on the shelf looks appealing, whether physical or virtual. And then your ineffable scale model of the nation snubs you. Again. Well, I don’t know that feeling, but I can sympathize.
I can’t help but wonder if nopony seeming to care that Twilight was an alicorn added to the appeal of Manehattan. I mean, yeah, it’s probably mostly museums and libraries, but still.
Rarity, stop trying to reenact the song. It happens when it happens.
I see it’s been a long time since Applejack had to move through Manehattan… You know, putting aside the episode Rarity just referenced.
Rarity, blind to the plight of her fellow businessponies in her effort to best serve the customer. Flaw and virtue wrapped up in a single neat package. I like it.
And then Rarity was Lucy Van Pelt. Can’t say I saw that one coming. (Also, dat Rarijack in the booth design.) I missed the Charlie horse walking by at first. Looks like he finally kicked that football.
Honestly, I agree with Rarity’s assessment of the circumstances. Harmony works in mysterious ways, and convenient timing seems to be one of its favorite methods. This may not have been fated to happen from the beginning of time, but I do see the hand (or hoof, or branch) of destiny at work.
Hmm. Let’s assume the Sisterhooves Social is an annual event, and thus roughly coincides with this Midsummer Theater Revival every year. Despite the name, Midsummer is actually the period of time centered around the summer solstice, which in Equestria corresponds with the Summer Sun Celebration. Assuming that the writers meant the time exactly between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, that still implies that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom met somewhere in that six week period, which means school was in session at some point to allow for the events of “Call of the Cutie.”
Conclusion: The only reason I’m not tearing my hair out is because I’m the only one who really cares. 
I see “many moons ago” has become the new “banished for a thousand years.”
“Charity Kindheart.” Wow, with that kind of name, she really only had a choice between becoming what she became or going horribly evil for the sake of irony.
Putting so much on her plate that she can’t even see it anymore. Yup, Coco’s definitely following Rarity’s lead.
Guys, Hatbutt Waifu already claimed countless hearts last time she was in an episode. You don’t have to make her adorably obtuse as well.
I was under the impression that Applejack’s “thing” was operating a farm. And countryisms. Granted, construction and repair are a significant portion of the former.
That poor, poor hat…
Also, where are those tax bits going if a public park is left in this sorry state?
Also also, I still think pony lawnmowers should have an attachment that dispenses salad dressing.
I have to appreciate the cutie mark portion of the costumes. I suppose there’s only so much one can do. Though that dollar sign raises a few questions.
It’s nice to see a child with a parent of a different tribe. There are rather few of them.
“And scene.” The Method Mares, ladies and gentlemen! Professional actors. Really.
Uh, this never stopped being Manehattan. Sitting in the street is not a good idea.
There’s a pony version of Fiddler? That brings up a number of questions about horse-Russia and religion.
Dinky, what are you doing here? Is your mother building another portal?
I do like that Rarity made it up to that haberdasher.
In all, a subdued episode, appropriate when one of the lessons is “Letting your overpowered friend solve all problems won’t address the underlying causes.” Not a standout, but still enjoyable, though it is disappointing that the Month of Rarity goes out on such an unfabulous whimper.
Friendship Advisor 1W
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
At the beginning of your upkeep, the player who controls the fewest creatures gains control of Friendship Advisor. If two or more players are tied for controlling the fewest creatures, you choose one of them, and that player gains control of Friendship Advisor.
3/3
Manehattan Haberdasher 3W
Creature — Pony Artificer
You may cast Equipment cards as thought they had flash.
You may activate equip abilities any time you could cast an instant.
To make it in the big city, you need to be able to fit the customer’s need at a moment’s notice.
2/2
Urban Sprawl 3WW
Enchantment
Creature spells each player casts cost X more to cast, where X is the number of creatures that player controls.
It seems like there shouldn’t be any more room for ponies in Manehattan, yet the population keeps growing.
Overambitious Attempt 1U
Instant
Counter target spell with converted mana cost 6 or greater.
Draw a card.
Even heroes can reach beyond their grasp, especially when they have hooves.
Weed Puller 2U
Creature — Pony Citizen
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may return another land you control to its owner’s hand.
Her own magic makes her job all the more frustrating.
2/2
Resigned Research 2UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player’s draw step, that player may draw two additional cards. If that player does, he or she can’t cast spells this turn.
”At least I don’t have to worry about a report being due.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Community Theatrics 4U
Enchantment
3: Target creature you control becomes a copy of another target creature until end of turn. Any player may activate this ability.
”You don’t need to be on Bridleway to put on a show.”
—Coco Pommel
Deep Despair 1B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card
Morbid — That player discards two cards instead if a creature died this turn.
Ponies are so full of hope that its loss strikes them like a physical blow.
Ruthless Pedestrian 1RR
Creature — Pony Citizen
Trample
Ruthless Pedestrian can’t be blocked by equipped creatures.
”I’m trottin’ here!”
3/2
Manehattan Traffic 2RR
Instant
Manehattan Traffic deals damage to target creature equal to the number of attacking creatures plus the number of blocking creatures.
”I’d rather run through a crossbow range than cross a street in that town.”
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
Paw the Ground 1G
Sorcery
Target creature gets +3/+3 and gains trample until end of turn.
”It is gestures like these that remind you you are on a plane not of apes but of horses.”
—Ajani Goldmane
Crowd Surf 2G
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature you control. Untap that creature.
”The only thing better than a supportive friend is a lot of supportive friends.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Urban Jungle 2G
Enchantment
Nonbasic lands are Forests.
When left untended, concrete and structural steel quickly yield to the relentless march of weed and shrub.
Careless Mowing 3GG
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices an artifact, an enchantment, and a nonbasic land.
Applejack sighed. Of course this would happen when she was half a continent away from the hat and bow closet.
Tin Pony 3
Artifact Creature — Pony
Whenever Tin Pony attacks, it doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
”Lubrication seems to be a foreign concept to the equine mind.”
—Tezzeret
3/2
Fateful Coincidence WU
Instant
Prevent all damage target creature would deal this turn.
Draw a card.
”A chance breeze or the work of destiny? Not even I can say.”
—Discord
Traffic Controller WU
Creature — Pony Soldier
T: Target creature can’t attack this turn.
T: Target creature attacks this turn if able.
He brings law to the chaos of Manehattan’s streets.
1/1
Tortured Justification UB
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 4 life.
Some ponies would rather break their minds than change their thoughts.
Confident Saunter RG
Instant
Target creature you control gets +2/+1 and gains hexproof until end of turn. Damage that would be dealt by that creature this turn can’t be prevented.
”If you act like you know what you’re doing, you’re virtually unstoppable.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Group Effort RG
Instant
Add X mana of any color or combination of colors to your mana pool, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Never underestimate the power of small favors in large numbers.
In all, a subdued episode, appropriate when one of the lessons is “Letting your overpowered friend solve all problems won’t address the underlying causes.” Not a standout, but still enjoyable, though it is disappointing that the Month of Rarity goes out on such an unfabulous whimper.
I think that might be the point of the whole season. Twilight is great when dealing with supervillains like Starlight Glimmer but on a scale like this, it's like using a pile driver to crack a walnut.
Now I'm wondering what Fluttershy's inevitable map adventure will be. Will she be going solo? Will she and Twilight share the spotlight next time? Or will the map do the unthinkable and break the symmetry by teaming Fluttershy up with someone who's already had an adventure, just to further deprive Twilight? So many questions!
I wonder...if maybe that Twilight's boredom is going to come back in the finale, and Starlight is going to offer a faustian deal.
You seem to have broken the italics back at Urban Sprawl.
You broke an [i] tag
3423749
There's a reason Celestia got so good at delegation.
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Corrected. Thanks.
3423768
Flutters + Spike next, Twilight needs to be skipped at least one more time, rule of three and all that.
They do trimesters in Equestria.
Well, given that Coco had effectively zero budget they are probably professional in that they hold a day job. At a coffee shop. They were being paid in exposure.
I think Weed Puller is a bit too circular. A Landfall card that enables Landfall? That's just a bit meta.
I was going to make a comment about how Community Theatrics could be used to blow up Legendary creatures then I remembered that that rule got changed. If you tank your own Legendary you have no one to blame but yourself. Or that Mindslaver on your head.
Why is Urban Jungle one more colorless than Blood Moon? I mean, Red shouldn't really have been doing land type changes in the first place, and I can see that effect fitting more into Green but not as much as it does Blue so this card should either cost the same as the Red one or maybe even less. Especially when it comes to non-basics, with Green wanting to be all-natural and all i could see this being at 1G without any trouble.
I could make a raunchy joke about this. But I won't.
Traffic Controller reminded me that Blue also dips its hands into the "Target creature attacks this turn if able." pie as much as Red does, maybe even a bit more so.
Hum, Tortured Justification is kinda good. though I still prefer Dash Hopes, if only for the name. Though the latter is mono-Black and the former is in my favorite color pair, also the latter can be countered by any player as well, but most of the time you're one-on-one and don't have to worry about that.
Huh. I was looking for damage redirection because of Confident Saunter and it looks like they've done away with that terminology. I had forgotten about that.
Tammaney Hall.
That Ponification practically wrote itself!
I liked Coco's apartment. It reminded me very much of old-style apartments in the New York in which I grew up in during the 1960's and 1970's, which is to say that the decor was 1910's-1930's.
3423901 Twilight has just come into her power. It'll take a lot of time for her to realize that she's basically a walking game breaker.
My idea for why Dinky was in Manehattan this episode: Derpy was visiting her Manehattanite sister, Ditzy.
On a tangent, does Ajani Goldmane (whose name is not bad for this plane) transform into a pony when he enters Ungula, or does he transform into a gryphon or something else entirely?
"Ponies," Tamiyo corrected automatically, not looking up from the notes she was jotting down. "They're kind of particular about that." (I don't know why Tamiyo, but I feel like it works)
3423905
How would Spike know he's being summoned? He don't got no cutie mark. He just got his fire breath. Very useful for sending letters, I admit, but maps can't write letters. They can only communicate through the medium of glowing lights, such is the way of the weird crystal trees.
3425014
Well, the tree gave him a throne too, how would the tree know to do that?
Maybe he just gets dragged by the tail to the table by an invisible force, that's how Twilight likes to marehandle him.
I simply cannot think "unfabulous whimper" with regards to anything that had THAT much overacting in its climax. (Theatre darlings!
)
As for the tax bits... Well it could be that the park is actually private property loaned out for the festival, and whoever owns it is extraordinarily lazy...Or it could be that the governor has the expected levels of corruption one would see in a big city elected official.
3425173
I like to think that the Tree of Harmony is aware of basically everything, including Spike's misery, but it just can't or won't communicate the same volume of information in return. One would think that a being as ancient and highly evolved as the Tree of Harmony could use a basic telekinesis spell to write instructions with a pencil, but that's for fleshy hooved peasants, not the crystal tree master race.
3424024
Weed Puller: Land bouncing was something of a subtheme in blue in the original Zendikar block, with cards like Living Tsunami and Vapor Snare. This just streamlines the process.
Urban Jungle: This is a result of Derpy being my spirit animal. I checked Blood Moon several times, but in the end, I still thought it cost four. My bad. It has been fixed, making the card a colorshifted Blood Moon as I had originally intended.
Tin Mare: I knew I was taking a risk with that one. Thank you for resisting the temptation.
Confident Saunter: Yeah, redirection is now a damage replacement effect. See Kor Chant for a good example of the current phrasing.
3424120 3425226
Huh. I guess even Harmony itself can't fight City Hall, instead directing the Bearers where they could still do some good. Darn fat cats.
3424367
Originally, I was going to have Ajani just get turned into a talking lion. However, this was before "Putting Your Hoof Down" aired. With minotaurs as a precedent and nothing grandfathered into local canon, I have to rule that leonin get to keep their hands while on Ungula.
3424776
On a related note to the above, one story I've been meaning to write for years now reveals that soratami turn into rabbits on Ungula. Regular-sized ones. As such, you have amused me on many levels. (I really do need to write that one, if only to let Tamiyo hug a moon horse.)
3425173
So Spike acts as his own symbol, spinning around with the cutie marks? I can't see that ending well...
3425359
Though, you know, a solo friendship adventure for Fluttershy would also work, it's got potential for hilarity.
Twilight: "Sorry Fluttershy, you have to go by your own, and no, you cannot take Angel"
Rarity: "Don't worry darling, i have your dangerous mission outfit ready!"
3425400
Either way, a pattern is going to be broken here, and I can't wait to see which one.
3425374
I can totally see one of the planeswalkers calling Pinkie out on how unfair that is.
3425594
"Look, when I made the rules, they didn't affect planeswalkers. Body shape was a choice. It's not my fault we couldn't be responsible with the space-time continuum."
3425374
On Weed Puller; My problem is that it is a Landfall card that does nothing but enable Landfall, it's slightly parasitic [1].
I don't mind cards that return lands in a set with Landfall, my problem is that Weed Puller does nothing on its own, barring lands with an ETB ability.
If I saw the card without any sort of context, like say we removed the "Landfall" ability word so you wouldn't have a clue that there are other cards that cared about lands entering the battlefield, my first though would be "Why would I want to set myself back a land drop?".
Well, actually, I like janky stuff so I'd think of the ETB lands but most people probably wouldn't so all they'd see is a mostly useless card.
[1] The ETB lands are the reason Weed Puller wouldn't be fully parasitic, since it is something a lot more sets seem to be doing these days.
The terminology "redirect" was perfectly serviceable, I've no idea why they changed it to this mouthful. I'd have to try digging back though Mister Rosewater's archives and see if he talked about why they made this change... . I used to read all of his articles then they changed sites and the new one was kinda bugged at the time and after it got fixed I didn't like the layout so I stopped reading... .
Why leonin? Because they are not overly human? The soratami are kinda overly human, except for the ears, so I can see why they change into rabbits. Kind of.
At some point we're going to need to go down the racial creature type list and sort out which ones change and which ones don't.
In other news, Planeswalker Trixie is a thing now, looks like it'll be good.