Friendship is Card Games: Brotherhooves Social · 11:54am Oct 4th, 2015
This week, it's that classic mainstay of mid-century comedy, the man in a dress. And you know what? I thought it worked. Not because it was a stallion in a dress, but... well read on to find out. It'll be in the thicker paragraphs.
Earth ponies are able to balance darn near anything on their noses. At least, Big Mac and Pinkie are. Judging by Apple Bloom’s difficulty later on, that seems to be a learned technique rather than an innate ability.
Was anyone else confused by the bowling pin at first? Without knowing about the juggling routine, I thought it was part of some bizarre game.
It appears that Rubik’s cubes are a thing in Equestria. Huh.
It’s good to see that someone recognizes the sheer weight of accomplishment one of the Mane Six has accrued. And who better than a member of her family?
Apple Bloom complaining about the awesomeness backfire was the first time the episode got me to laugh out loud. It was far from the last.
Aww. Sisterly Scootadash. 
Hmm. Interesting that Granny Smith specified second cousins when mentioning the other Apples. It implies that the Apple siblings’ parents were both only children, or that their first cousins are all ineligible for one reason or another. Too young, perhaps?
Quoting myself during Orchard Blossom’s reveal: “Is this happening? This is happening. This is glorious.” I don’t know, I’ve seen some people complaining about the cringe comedy, but between the novelty of Big Mac getting that many lines, the numerous sight gags, the out-of-character slips, the displays of wit, and the sheer incredulity of very nearly everypony else, I thought it was gut-bustingly funny. Compare this to Spike mangling the Cloudsdale anthem in “Equestria Games.” For me, that hurt to watch, while this was a joy. Maybe it's because Big Mac maintained his poise and confidence throughout the process, while Spike visibly struggled and suffered.
Also, there needs to be art of Orchard Blossom and Applejewel. Maybe get Apple Bloom and/or Granny Smith in on that ridiculousness.
That poor old stallion. I’m honestly not sure whether or not he knew about Big Mac’s true identity. Or cared.
Big Mac is in the Ponytones. He knows his way around a tune.
Red stallions can’t jump. At least, not from a standing start.
I was rather nervous about what Mac had planned for the race. Honestly, I’m glad that it was just plowing through it.
Huh. Pretty sure the hurdles are a new addition to the course. I could be wrong, though...
Yup, I am. They just weren't as prominent during "Sisterhooves Social." There only seemed to be two of them. Still, nice continuity for the race. I guess Applejack and Apple Bloom were training for that as well last time around.
I’m not sure, but I think that this one episode may have more dialogue for Big Macintosh than the rest of the series put together, going by word count. Almost certainly so if you don’t count “Hearts and Hooves Day.”
In any case, not only was this hilarious, it was also a great character piece for Big Mac. He’s clever, caring, devoted… and feels completely overshadowed by Applejack. Who can blame him? Still, not every hero goes out and saves the nation. Some look after the homestead, making sure the traveling heroes have somewhere to come back to.
This actually ties in nicely with his dream in “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?” He wants to be the hero; the savior; the representation of truth, justice, and Granny’s apple pie. He thought he needed to be a demigod to do so. Now he knows that in some ways, he just needs to be there.
Imposed Delicacy W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
If enchanted creature would deal damage, prevent half that damage, rounded up.
”Remember to hold out your pinkie when… Oh, right, hooves. Just don’t drink the tea, then.”
—Discord
Alley-Oop 1W
Instant
Up to two target creatures get +1/+2 until end of turn. Untap those creatures.
”Scoots reminds me of me when I was her age. Just don’t tell her I said that; she’d deafen everypony in earshot.”
—Rainbow Dash, Bearer of Loyalty
Jarring Transition 1W
Sorcery
Put a colorless artifact token named Jar onto the battlefield. It has "When this artifact enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until this artifact leaves the battlefield."
Zap apple jam-grade jars can hold just about anything.
Event Officiator 2W
Creature — Pony Advisor
W, T: Prevent all damage that a black or red source of your choice would deal this turn.
”The rules of the Social don’t care if competitors are male, female, or anything else, only that they demonstrate the appropriate sportsponyship.”
1/3
Sudden Substitution 1U
Instant
Put target attacking creature an opponent controls on top of its owner’s library. That opponent may put a creature card from his or her hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.
Spike blinked. Where was he, and why was he swinging his broom like a sword?
Uncoordinated Attempt 2U
Instant
Attacking creatures get -X/-0 until end of turn, where X is the number of attacking creatures.
”The speed is pure talent, but even I need to practice my tricks first.”
—Rainbow Dash, Bearer of Loyalty
Inexplicable Allure 3UUU
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, gain control of target creature that player controls for as long as you control enchanted creature.
Loose Interpretation 1RR
Instant
Change the target of target spell or ability with a single target.
The Sisterhooves Social has a very flexible definition of “sister.” And “social.” The “hooves” part is currently under review.
Bass Impulse 2R
Enchantment
Whenever you sacrifice a Song, Bass Impulse deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
”The wub cannot be explained, only experienced. And you may want earplugs that first time around.”
—Vinyl Scratch
Haycrash 2R
Instant
Choose a land type. Haycrash deals damage equal to the number of lands you control of that type to target creature.
The Apple family’s years of experience make farming look easy. An amateur trying their methods is far more likely to get hurt than get the job done.
Taste Victory 1G
Sorcery
Kicker 3R (You may pay an additonal 3R as you cast this spell.)
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature. If Taste Victory was kicked, creatures you control gain double strike until end of turn.
Apple Family Blacksmith 2G
Creature — Pony Artificer
Metalcraft — T: Add two mana of any one color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you control three or more artifacts.
”Self-sufficiency’s a core part of Sweet Apple Acres. Keeps expenses down that way.”
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
2/2
“Sisterhood” 2G
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “Sisterhood”.
2G, Sacrifice “Sisterhood”: Put X +1/+1 counters on each of two target creatures, where X is the number of verse counters on “Sisterhood”.
Heart to Heart 3G
Sorcery
Each player draws cards equal to the greatest power among creatures he or she controls.
The greatest wisdom doesn’t come from deep thought.
Graceless Charger 4G
Creature — Pony Warrior
Trample
Whenever Graceless Charger attacks, each player sacrifices an artifact or enchantment.
Anything that can’t get out of his way gets driven into it.
4/4
Sweet Apple Hero 4GG
Creature — Pony Warrior Ally
Flash
You may cast Ally cards as though they had flash.
Rally — Whenever Sweet Apple Hero or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, creatures you control gain hexproof until end of turn.
4/3
Hoof-Carved Dragonfly 1
Artifact
1: Hoof-Carved Dragonfly becomes a 1/1 Insect artifact creature with flying until end of turn.
”Simple devices are no less magical than any other, just easier to take for granted.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Deep Funk UB
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s untap step unless that player discards a card.
Depression gnaws away at the mind with every moment the sufferer pretends nothing is wrong.
Search the Attic GU
Sorcery
Choose a card type, then look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal a card of the chosen type and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
”It’s around here somewhere, whatever it is.”
—Granny Smith
Throat Frog 1GU
Creature — Frog
Flash
When Throat Frog enters the battlefield, counter target spell.
Changelings are far from the only magical parasites in Equestria.
1/1
I get deeply repulsed by cringe comedy, so that was the danger element in this episode (and yes, in "Equestria Games" the song was the part that switched the episode from "this is a very good episode" to "I am never going to watch this episode again" for me). Thankfully, I thought they didn't push that button anywhere near as hard as they could have. It helped that at the end the judge acknowledged that of course they knew all along, and just didn't care.
I remember a story from years back in which a subplot had the Flim-Flam Brothers on trial for, among other things, "Impersonating as two sisters in a Sisterhooves Social". Legalized by canon!
Unfortunately Peter New doing a man in drag as a southern belle doesn't actually sound anything like Big Mac
That's a minor nitpick though, and the fact that Big Mac in drag is suddenly very vocal about his or her thoughts and feelings is hilarious. The closing scene was wonderful, and reminds us again that the Apples are actually the deepest characters in the show. It was a great episode in spite of the cringeworthy parts.
I generally don't like cringe-comedy. It's almost always too hard to watch, but...
Peter new nailed it. Just freaking nailed it.
That ending though... Wasn't ready for the feels. I even saw them coming (not particularly hard really) but still. Season 5 just keeps rocking it out.
Really liked the background SisterDash going on too. I really love that particular relationship, and I love what it has done for Rainbow's character growth.
I wasn't as big a fan of the comedy for the most part, and I did think that when Big Mac put on the voice, his lines didn't really sound very IC, but the entire closing scene was just so wonderful that I didn't really care about that. It did a lot to develop him as a character. It reminds me of back in season two, when Granny Smith first started getting long speaking parts, and how she suddenly transformed from an important background pony into a legitimate character in her own right. It's about time that Big Mac got the same treatment.
Presumably because a Griffon married into the apple family.
I agree this was a very sweet ep. I always wondered about the relationship between Big Mac and Applebloom, and I'm glad they went deeper into it. Interestingly I think the horse shoes Orchard Blossom had on prevented him from jumping.
All in all a good watch.
3441832
Wow. Insensitive much?
So, anyone else have Mandopony's "With a Sister" stuck in their head since watching the episode?
As a general rule, I loathe cringe comedy. Somehow, Peter New managed to be awesome enough in other ways for me to get over that and enjoy the episode. I could really sympathize with his feeling marginalized by his sister's accomplishments, too.
Also, this episode gave us sexist Rainbow Dash. It also gave us a Big Mac who didn't want to bother others by blathering on about his feelings. It feels right for the show's world.
And now for the cards.
Inexplicable Allure, aka Stupid Sexy Big Mac.
Haycrash. Strictly worse than Ground Assault, but it is only one color and only costs one more. And it's instant speed, too, so I guess it's ok.
I loved Jarring Transition, especially for its flavor text. It also reminds me of that one enchantment that turns your creature into a land.
And that Throat Frog. That thing is golden.
I think Jarring Transition would read better as 'Put a colorless artifact token named Jar onto the battlefield. It has "When this permanent enters the battlefield, exile target creature until this permanent leaves the battlefield."'
Honestly, I'd probably play Sweet Apple Hero in an Ally deck even without the rally ability. Being able to give all my creatures +2/+2, indestructible, lifelink, trample, and double strike as a combat trick with one card is pretty sweet.
3441832
Actually, I think it's because Big M- I mean "Cousin Orchard Blossom" is such a paragon of Earth Pony magic that h-she has almost no ability to leave the ground in any fashion.
When I first saw Tandem Tactics I thought it did what Alley-Oop does. Most of the time I'd prefer to have the untap over the life gain.
Jarring Transition; as if White needed more of this ability.
Though the Jar token is a new take on the matter, it's basically the same sort of thing, swapping Artifact for Enchantment.
So Loose Interpretation is a strictly better version of Shunt. I'm fine with this.
Though, as Shunt shows, the rules text should be "Change the target of target spell or ability with a single target". Reroute, which hits an ability, also has the same wording.
Oh, great, we all know we have to worry about throat spiders, but now we have to deal with Throat Frogs as well? Ugh, can't the Sheriff's Secret Police do something about this?
They also serve those who only stand and say EEEeeeeyup.
3442409 Yes that most certainly it.. otherwise the pony doesn't know how to jump rope.
What about aunt Orange and Babs? Much more likely, I would think, is that any potential cousins within less than a single day notification/travel distance were probably already in the competition with their own sisters, and anyone else was just unreachable on such short notice.
With the focus on sisterhood, I'm honestly surprised that you didn't go for soulbond at all.
Also, why no super haste on the Throat Frog?
3441906
Haycrash: I was looking at Stonefury when costing this one.
3442203
Jarring Transition: Yeah, that does read more cleanly. Plus, it allows for Doubling Season shenanigans. I'll make the adjustment.
3441832 3442409
I could've sworn I've seen Big Mac jump at some point. Maybe it was the dress?
3442412
Fix made on Loose Interpretation. Thanks.
3444012
Also possible. I just find it odd that Granny specified second cousins.
3446819
I did a heavy soulbond focus for FiCG: Hearts and Hooves Day. Here, there weren't as many potential partners on display.
As for Throat Frog, free counterspells are rarely, if ever, a good idea. Putting Pact of Negation on a stick? Not happening.