#mlpccg

[ponicards]

Hi, you're probably here because I reblogged a pony post and stuck a card on it. I love the My Little Pony collectable card game and I add the cards out of love for the game and your post, but if you don't like it let me know and I'll delete my addition. I don't read DNI lists on stuff I reblog.

---

Here are some resources to learn more about the game and the small community that still plays. I don't run these and I'm not super active on them but a lot of other nice people are.

MLPCCG discord - Great place to get rules questions answered quickly. Focused on chatting about cards and not much else. Let me know if the link is down and I can grab you a new one.

MLPCCG subreddit - great for past/upcoming tournament and con news, not as good as the discord for quick answers or conversation.

[diamond-song42]

Card Shark 122: Alicorn Amulet

Happy 2021 everycreature! I know it’s been a while since the last Holiday Dumpster Fire Shark - and my website still isn’t finished yet - so you may be asking yourself, “what in Equestria is happening?!”

Well, I’ll tell you what’s happening. University has, as usual, been hectic. Building a website with many multilayered tags for organization purposes is harder than it sounds. I’ve also been applying to internships as they are vital in the field of work I intend to enter - and got approved for one starting this June, which I am over the moon about! But add all that to some stressful family and social events - surgeries, layoffs, online feuds - and you have another extended Shark break!

So because of that, I have a new plan. I am going to finish the Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon, even though we are well past the holidays. I also have a certain card I want to write about for my birthday, even though it will be long past my birthday. After that? I’ll see where my writings and the cards take me.

But with that comes an announcement. This will be the final Shark I post to The Di-Light Zone.

I have decided that since we are moving on to cards labelled as legal in the current Core format, it would be fitting to continue writing about them on the new site. I don’t know when everything will be finished, but I want everyone to know that Card Shark has never left my mind. During class sessions, showers, viewings of my favorite shows... I’ve thought about how I don’t just want to end Card Shark. I’ve fostered it for too long to let it go this easily. And because of that, I cannot wait to share with you all this archive of writings that I have been working long hours on!

Now to continue with business as usual one last time here in The Di-Light Zone. Today we’re covering Marks in Time with a Resource that seems like a prime farming tool... I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of it. Let’s pick apart the “Alicorn Amulet!”

Just put one of these on and you too can be a highest level unicorn! There aren’t a lot of Resources you can play on Troublemakers, and this one might be the most powerful of them all. This costs 1 AT, 1 Purple req, and 1 White req, which is... amazingly cheap for a Resource of this rarity. You play the Amulet on any of your Troublemakers. (No opposing Troublemakers will be sporting this thing!) There are two parts to this Amulet: first, it makes the host Troublemaker Epic and gives it +3 power. Epic Troublemakers can be challenged by either player and are usually associated with big villains like the Pony of Shadows or the Legion of Doom. By itself, that is pretty great. You can turn non-Epic Troublemakers into Epic Troublemakers to farm for your own gain. But then there’s the other part: during your Main Phase, you can pay 1 AT to move that Troublemaker. Moving a Troublemaker can be useful when your opponent sets themselves up to continually confront a Problem and avoid your Troublemaker. And just to recap, this can all be done for a minimum of 1-2 AT. THAT is scary. A smaller Troublemaker like Winterzilla can be boosted to 7 power while a higher Troublemaker like the Pony of Shadows (even if it is already Epic) can be boosted to 10. You can get rid of your own Troublemakers and get points when your opponent doesn’t want to. And you can play leapfrog with a Troublemaker, jumping from Problem to Problem. It’s a pretty ingenious farming technique, especially if you use Troublemakers that benefit you and you wouldn’t normally use for farming. There’s a reason this amulet is Unique.

So where has this thing been on the competitive scene? Frankly, besides the Resource removal, I don’t see many technicalities that could be wrong with it. It’s easy to play, it’s cheap, and it’s got a fun niche! Yet I think the biggest problem facing this card is that it is too niche. Besides already-Epic cards, most commonly seen, useful Troublemakers only have a maximum of 0-1 bonus points. I rarely see any farming technique use Troublemakers with less than a 2 point turnout. And the few non-Epic Troublemakers that have at least 2 bonus points don’t exactly have a lot going for them in what they do. The first Pony of Shadows can frighten a Friend at its Problem. Grumpie Pie is coming close to hitting a lot of banlists. The goal of The Smooze, Creeping Crud is to stick around and repeatedly flip off any opponents who try and defeat it. Timberwolf... well, we don’t talk about Timberwolf (at least until I write a formal Shark on it). Even if played on an already Epic Troublemaker, depending on the Troublemaker, the extra power can be easy to overcome. Regardless, if played on the right Troublemaker, I still think this could be a threat against certain decks.

Here’s a few more cards that may or may not be wearing one of Zecora’s doorstops:

*Scootaloo, Creature Catcher. Ok, so I frankly couldn’t find a lot of cards that I thought meshed well with this thing. Scoots here exhausts and lets you play a Troublemaker for free. That’s 1 AT (maybe more?) you can save to play an Amulet on the Troublemaker once it is revealed. Blue/Purple/White just became a more viable option for a tricorn deck with the inclusion of Legion of Doom, Frightful Foes and Being Big Is All It Takes in New Dawn... even if neither of those cards really heavily support Troublemakers. Time to reiterate my Card Shark catchphrase: “Every AT counts”. It’s just a nice little trick to help you keep some pocket change.

*Hoity Toity, Discerning Eye. If Princess Luna, Midnight is any indication, Orange/Purple/White might be an even more viable tricolor combo than Blue/Purple/White. Hoity Toity essentially allows you to recycle Friends and Resources in your discard pile once - if those Friends or Resources would leave play after that, they are banished. I don’t say this lightly: Hoity Toity is one of my all-time favorite MLP:CCG cards. Here, he will allow you to replay Amulets on your Troublemakers. Once one of your Troublemakers is defeated or dismissed, you can just replay your Amulet on the next Troublemaker you play, simple as that! As with any Hoity Toity strategy, I advise two things: one, you need to keep a close eye on your discard pile and make a plan in case your opponent is able to shut down access to your discard pile before you can get to it. Two, I’d run multiple copies of every card in your deck so you have as many opportunities as possible to replay things with Hoity Toity.

*Cozy Glow, Double Dealer/Fluttershy, Pony Pirate/Repulsor Blast/any card that allows you to bypass Troublemakers and confront Problems. The Alicorn Amulet does make a Troublemaker Epic - even if it’s your own Troublemaker, it prevents you from confronting your own Problems. At least it does... when you don’t have any cards like these at your disposal. If you still want to get points off your Problem while your Amuleted Troublemaker sits there, you have several options at your disposal. Depending on your overall deck strategy, you’ll have to pick the option(s) that’s right for you.

Thank you so, so much for reading this edition of Card Shark! It feels bittersweet to say goodbye to The Di-Light Zone... but the magic of friendship will always be strong here. The (not Holiday anymore) Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon will continue on the new Diamond’s Corner with an Event from Defenders of Equestria that was frankly hard to pick because DoE has so many decent Events. As I’ve said previously, I’ll make a formal announcement here once the site goes live. But until I see you again, my friends, whether on this site or the new one... Diamond out!

[cloudchaserandflitterexplain]

Cloudchaser and Flitter Explain: Top 10 Friends Forever Cards

But you said—

Hi everypony! Are you ready for the next set to drop? Because Cici and I sure are!

When Cici isn’t freaking out about what deck to run for continentals, that is.

I’m not freaking out. I’m deliberately taking my time analyzing my choices so I can pick the deck that’ll let me win continentals this year.

Got it narrowed down yet?

...No.

That’s our Cici, always worrying until the last possible moment.

But anyway, as much as I’d love to tease Cici about her deck, we just don’t have the time! Leaders and Legends is right around the corner, and we’ve not given you all our top 10 lists for Friends Forever yet.

So let’s get right to it! Cici?

Oh, right!

What do you call a Pegasus wearing a—

I said we have no time for jokes, Cici! I mean what’s your first card?

Oh, okay.

So I wasn’t ever sure when we’d get to this, so I’d been kind of updating my list throughout the year. And, uh, there have definitely been a lot of changes… And not just because of the Banlist. My original #1, for example, is much lower…

But the actual ten cards haven’t changed much. They honestly weren’t that hard to figure out.

Well, top 11 if you count Old Money. But banned cards don’t really count anymore…

Anyway, my top 10 card is Lacking Lesson Plans

Huh. WIth how much you’d been ranting and raving about that card when the set first came out, I’d have thought it’d be much higher.

Well it was! Originally, anyway.

The fact that it let so many Manes flip through Tempest seemed great at first. I was looking forward to breaking in some new Manes and see what they could do!

But in practice, it’s not really enough. Tempest’s opening Grubber: Minion play can still slow them down enough to where they’re not flipping early, or still deny req, or what have you. So it’s really only helpful for the absolute most aggressive confront to flip Manes.

I just wanted more, you know?

If you don’t think it does enough, why’s it on your list, then?

Huh? No, it’s amazing.

I basically include it in all my decks nowadays!

But you said—

While, yeah, it doesn’t really enable many more confront to Flip Manes, it’s still incredibly valuable for decks that confront a lot, just because being able to ignore Troublemakers is really good.

It’s basically to the point where as long as strong Troublemaker control decks are in the meta, you basically have to run 2 of these!

It’s a problem the game’s needed for awhile now, and it’s great to see it in action. So yeah, not as high as I originally thought, but still an easy number 10.

So unlike silly old Cici, I had a lot more trouble narrowing down my top 10 cards! There’s so many fun arts and flavour texts and I love the set for that!

But on the other hoof, there weren’t actually a lot of silly fun build around cards in the set. So there’s not a lot of those my list.

But that’s okay, because the art is just so fun and I love it, hehe. And let’s start with Skipping Class!

Uhh, what’s fun about that?

Oh come on, Cici. It’s six best friends just hanging out together and having fun in the sun, relaxing without a care in the world.

So ditching school is something you endorse then?

Well, no…

But it’s still nice seeing them enjoying each other’s company. It’s very relaxing!

It was a tough call between this and another similar art, but I just had to go with this in the end. Paving the way for a new generation!

Which other card?

I can’t tell you that, Cici! These are top ten lists, not top eleven lists!

There’s no harm in mentioning your runner ups, though.

Top. Ten.

Okay, okay, sheesh.

Moving on, my number 9 will likely surprise no pony for being on this list: The Fire of Friendship.

Oooh, that’s a good one!

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hands! As long as it’s there, we foil Grubber’s plans!

Uhh, yeah, actually. Basically exactly that.

When Tempest fist hit the scene, she was infamous for locking ponies out of Entry thanks to Grubber frequently showing up turn 1. Now there’s a card that helps fight that, thanks to Fire of Friendship, being Entry that protects your entire hand.

It even works against other discard effects like Rarity: Soprano and can work with your own discard synergies like Tank: Burrower.

Not costs, though. If you want to exhaust Apple Bloom: Re-Markable to reduce the cost of a card, you can still discard Fire of Friendship to do it, but you can’t put it into play. Since costs can’t be replaced.

Sure, but that’s not the worst thing ever.

It’s still incredibly versatile while still being helpful Entry that does double duty for protecting your hand.

It does only provide 2 req unlike Singing Barrel and Motivational Speech, which is a notable downside. But if you build your deck accounting for that, it shouldn’t be a major issue.

So, yeah. Good card. Goes in a lot of decks. Highly recommend it.

It’s my number nine.

Or is it five or seven?

Kettle Corn’s so cute!

What was that all about.

Silly Cloudchaser!

Everypony else get it.

Check her cutie mark.

Okay...

Anyway, Kettle Corn is just absolutely precious! The haikus, the circles, the combinations of the two. She’s also one of Rumble’s new friends! What’s not to love?

I suppose she’s not bad entry either. Not amazing, but, you know. Respectable.

Whatever makes you recognize she’s amazing!

...That it?

That’s it! Kettle Corn’s just fun is all!

Uhh, guess I’ll move on, then?

So these next three are all pretty similar cards. Just a bit different in application each. But they’re all on the list for the same reason, more or less.

I was originally going to put them all as a tie, but Flitter said my list had to be exactly ten cards...

Top. Ten. It’s not that hard, Cici!

So here we are with Daring Do: Crafty Collector as my number 7.

Did you know A.K. Yearling was secretly Daring Do this whole time? I was so surprised!

Nah, it was definitely obvious. I knew all along.

Hehe, sure you did Cici.

I did!

Anyway, Daring Do is… kind of nuts. The amount of AT value she can provide you is just incredibly high. An AT every time you can confront with her, and saving an AT every time you need to move her to a problem.

Which, if you confront that turn, gets you the AT you spent on moving her right back.

The only reason she’s the lowest of these three is because if you can’t confront with her, due to eccentric or a TM or whatever, she’s not doing much for you. You can’t just exhaust her for AT like most other common AT gens. So she definitely has the worst floor...

But when she’s at full capacity, she’s just fantastic, and definitely worth a slot on the list.

So, to properly introduce the next card on my list, we’ll need an expert on fashion.

Gee, where could we find one of those in this town?

Well, Cici, you’re in luck! Since, as everypony knows, I happen to be a fashion expert!

You are?

Of course I am, Cici! That’s why you always see me in this bow! It’s the absolute pinnacle of fashionably cute.

...I genuinely have no idea if you’re making this up or not.

So, as a pony who knows all things fashionable, I am proud to present to you my next card, Rarity: Shine on the Inside.

...Another Eccentric 1 entry?

Yup! Quite the coincidence, don’t you think?

No. I’m pretty sure you’re doing this just to mess with me.

An added bonus!

But no, I just really like the art they got for these cards!

Plus, you’ve gotta admit Rarity looks fantastic with a three colour mane. And she just rocks that jacket!

If you say so…

I do say so! Your turn!

Hold on, let me just brace myself for the oncoming onslaught.

Onslaught?

You’ll see.

So, uh, my next card is, uh, us.

Eeeeeeeee!

Hug. Too. Tight.

Just look at how adorable we were back then! And that flavour text is so us! Right down to you being moody about not coming in first place, hehe.

I don’t get moody…

Yeah, just like that!

Anyway, uh, this card is pretty good.

Eh, who am I kidding. We’re amazing.

And you’re not just saying that cause it’s us, are you?

Nope. I looked at every card in the set and decided this legitimately deserved to be included. It’d have the same position even if it were Gyro on the art.

You shouldn’t joke about that, Cici. He’s been complaining again lately he still only has one card...

But yeah, this is basically everything I wanted in a Blue Yellow card! Saving AT, giving extra power to confront, 1 play reqriement so you can play it early with Trading Traditions. What more could a girl want?

It’s even an Immediate ability, allowing you to combo with Hasty Friends, or even just exhaust on the opponent’s turn to avoid a single problem faceoff. It’s just a great card!

That being said, unlike Daring Do and the next card, this doesn’t actually give you AT. If you don’t have Friends to play, you’re not getting as much value as you’d like.

But on the other hoof, you can get value out of us basically every turn so long as you can play Friends. Unlike Daring Do, who needs a free problem. And it’s in a colour combination that kind of needed it more. So despite not giving actual AT, I think overall we’re the better card.

So it gets your stamp of approval?

Absolutely!

Know what gets my stamp of approval?

Uhhh, cakes?

Uh, sure, but not what I was getting at?

Pancakes?

Are you hungry Cici?

A little.

Anyway, what I was trying to get at is that Sorry Stamp gets my stamp of approval!

Didn’t we just talk about that the other day?

Sure did! Aren’t you sorry I didn’t stamp your forehead back then?

This better not go where I think it’s going.

I wouldn’t dream of it!

Anyway, despite the sad nature of the stamp itself, this art just makes me smile! It’s just kind of ridiculous going around with a stamp like that on your head, you know?

Plus, just look at Princess Twilight’s face! It’s just wonderful!

Shouldn’t you, you know, be sad that she’s sad or something?

Well, I am! A little bit. Twilight is genuinely very sorry about the situation she found herself in...

But the whole thing is also pretty ridiculous, so it makes me smile a little too. And I think a card that can evoke both emotions at once is pretty amazing, don’t you?

Sure, I guess.

Well, I like it a lot, and that’s good enough for my list.

Yeah, for sure. Your list is your list.

As for my list, well, I’m sure everypony’s already guessed my number 6 card based on what I’ve said in my picks for the 7 and 8 spots. Starlight Glimmer Guidance Counselor.

Which is honestly kind of surprising. At first, ponies thought she was only going to be so-so since there were already a ton of good AT generator options out there, like Princess Twilight Sparkle: Cover to Cover. Plus she costs 3, which means it takes a long time for her to pay for herself.

But in practice, she’s definitely proven to be an absolute all star.

I think you mean an “All Starlight”, Cici!

Sure...

So, to explain why people weren’t that excited about her at first… In the Seaquestria and Beyond Meta, ponies had the mentality that 5-6 AT generators was usually enough. More than that and you were diluting your deck with too many AT gens and not enough other cards that do other things.

Turns out, uhhh, that was just plain wrong. And in the Friends Forever Meta, we’ve seen decks with 8, 12, and even 18 AT generators! And almost every one of those decks was running Starlight here.

So what changed? Well I’ll get to one of those reasons later in the list, but the other thing is just there are so many good AT gens now, that running as many as you can just means you can have a tremendous advantage over your opponent.

I mean, which pony’s more likely to win? The one getting 3 AT a turn or the one getting 9?

Probably the one getting 9, yeah… You can’t catch up if you’re doing only a third of what the opponent’s doing.

Basically, yeah. Once you’re generating at least 2 more AT than the opponent, chances are you’re a mile ahead. At 3, it’d take a miracle for the opponent to beat you.

Anything past that and you’ve basically already won the game, regardless of what the scores are.

Unless it’s 14-0! Then they might still have a chance! Hehe.

Okay, in the vast majority of circumstances.

Anyway, Glimmer is incredibly key in these strategies for two reasons. First is her 1 req, allowing her to be played early even without flipping your Mane. So you can get her out turn 2 and start getting an influx of AT ASAP.

Second, turns out that 3 power is really helpful. Like Filly Racers, you get the benefit of a lot of power to confront in addition to increasing your AT economy. This has actually sped up a lot of slower Purple strategies. Cover to Cover’s 0 power doesn’t help confront, but Glimmer absolute does.

Also, being mono-coloured means she’s a lot easier to play than Filly Racers or Daring Do, giving her that much more utility. And, well, that goes a long way towards making it on my list, really.

So would you say she guides people to victory?

Hey, yeah! I get that one.

Hehe. Way to go Cici! Rah rah!

“Rah rah?”

Cici, Cici, she’s our Mare! Her deck will take Continentals unawares.

Why thank you!

Though I’m not sure it will. I mean, Nothing I’m considering is really that out of the ordinary…

Wait… you’re doing something weird to set up the next card, aren’t you?

Is it that weird for me to be my besty’s cheer squad?

...No? But I can’t shake this feeling...

Maybe I should wear a mask of you at Continentals like Rainbow Dash’s Parents in Cheering Section?

Please don’t…

But look at them! They’re so happy! Giving their daughter their full support, 110%! 220% even!

That makes even less than 110%.

Don’t be silly, Cici. There’s two of them, so of course it’s 220%.

You might even say it’s 20%—

Don’t.

Spoilsport.

But no, seriously, I love seeing Rainbow’s parent so into supporting her. It’s all sorts of heartwarming, and just fun! Such an easy inclusion for my list, hehe.

Yeah… I guess that would be nice.

Oh no, Cici. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.

No, no. It’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just miss them sometimes, you know?

Of course.

But now’s no time to worry about that. We’ve got our top 10 lists to complete, and I’m finally done with the AT gens.

And next up’s an absolute juggernaut! Daybreaker: Blinding Light!

Oooh, she’s a fun one, yeah.

I’m not sure I like the idea of Princess Celestia going evil at all...

But it’s just pretend, so it’s okay, right?

I’m sure no matter what happens, Celestia’d never turn her back on us.

But anyway, this card is just fantastic.

While you don’t get as many points from a single faceoff as you would from a Night Glider: Overpowering, you also don’t need to win by any threshold. Plus she works in any faceoff, meaning she can score you points off of Troublemakers, or any other faceoff she finds herself in.

And of course, she brings a lot more power to those faceoffs, due to her extra base power and extra point of Competitive. 6 is a lot of power for a 3 cost Friend.

She does cost more, though, and, again, gives fewer points. So there are definitely reasons to use Night Glider over her.

But all in all, she’s different enough to be a great option for different kinds of decks. And a very solid number 5 pick for me.

My number 5 pick also also very competitive.

Huh, really? You tend to pick build arounds or just flavourful stuff.

I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s the most competitive card in the set?

Heh, we’ll see about that.

I mean, just look at the fierce competition going on in Smolder & Sandbar: Pillow FIght!

I… should have seen this coming.

Probably.

But just look at how much fun they’re having! Whap! Pow! Hehehehe.

Hey Cici! Think fast!

Gah!

You almost hit me.

Well, yeah! That is the point of a pillow fight, silly.

Great reflexes, though.

Thanks! We’ve been training a lot lately, and—

Ow.

You shouldn’t close your eyes in a pillow fight, silly!

Oh it’s on now, Flitter! Come here!

Don’t you have a list to finish?

Oh, right. I guess I’ll have to get you later.

I look forward to it.

So this next one, when she was spoiled, I could have sworn was going to be the top of my list. She seemed insane, and exactly what the game needed. And, well, she is. Mage Meadowbrook: Pillar of Healing is the answer a lot of decks were looking for.

Which is why it’s a shame she’s only number 4.

Which isn’t to say she’s not as good as I thought. It’s just, well, other cards wound up being a bit better than I expected. Cause Meadowbrook is absolutely insane.

There are a ton of great Resources out there right now. And Troublemakers have basically always been a problem for aggro decks. It’s kind of what they’re for. And while there have been a few cards that can deal with one or the other before, there’s never been one that deals with both.

And definitely not one that just deals with them all. Unless the opponent has a Desert Road, Meadowbrook just answers everything, no questions asked. And she even comes with a 3 power body to help you confront that turn. She’s amazing.

Plus, just look at that action pose!

Resources and Troublemakers beware, Mage Meadowbrook is coming for you!

Now she is a bit expensive, and she’s not all that great against decks that don’t rely on resources or TMs, so not every deck’s going to want her. But if you’re in Yellow, you should definitely consider her. Nopony does what she does nearly as effectively.

She may not be an all star, but what she does do, she excels at.

Well your number 4 may be a specialist, but mine’s a generalist: Ocellus: Master of Disguise.

She does a little bit of everything!

Sure, but why’s that fun?

Cause mix and matching abilities is just super fun! And you get a different combo of abilities every time, or at least in a different order, hehe.

Agile and Swift and Showy and Dilligent and Eccentric. There’s a lot of fun possibilities!

Kind of disappointed Purple’s is just Meticulous cause it doesn’t really synergize with the other 5 as well, but it’s not bad, I guess.

Plus they brought Transform back just for her and Silverstream! That’s one of my favourite mechanics!

Yeah, it’s not bad.

and for maximum fun, just stick an Alicorn Costume on her. Then she’s automatically fully enabled!

So long as you don’t put any resources on anypony else, of course.

Since when do you suggest not putting resources on Friends?

Not every silly strategy works with every other silly Strategy, Cici.

Alternatively, you could just put all the hats on Ocellus. That way you won’t have a problem!

Uh huh. No way that could go wrong.

Are you doubting the power of my hats, Cici?

Anyway, moving on to the top 3. And, considering how good my top 4 card was, you know the rest have got to be pretty amazing. Pony of Shadows: Pure Darkness is no exception.

The sheer raw value you get out of this card is insane. That’s 1 AT for a Friend. 1! By passing all colour req and everything. And it doesn’t even matter who beats the Pony of Shadows.

Sure, it does need to be beaten, but if you build your deck right, that’s not too hard. And if the opponent beats it, they only get 1 point while you get what’s likely to be an incredibly powerful Friend.

Now I’ve seen some ponies try and use this to put some of the 5 cost tri-colour alicorns into play…

Like me! I’ve done that!

...but it’s honestly not really worth it. They tend to be difficult to play if ever drawn, and usually you don’t have a guarantee you’ll even hit one.

The better way to use it, honestly, is to just include a bunch of medium-cost friends that you’re okay with drawing or with playing for free. This way you’re happy if you draw them or if you get them off of Pony of Shadows.

Farming decks particularly get a lot of usage from this as they can defeat it, then put a large friend into play at another problem with an epic and have a good chance at beating that too. Plus farm decks don’t tend to run all that many friends, so you increase the odds of getting what you want.

I’ve even seen some farm decks run exactly one kind of friend to guarantee hitting it. The results can be a bit scary.

I like using Purple effects like Scope Things Out to stack my deck so I know what Friend I’m getting!

Yeah, that’s not a bad plan either. Though usually you don’t have to. It’s just handy.

Anyway, give it a try. It seriously does a lot more than you might think at first glance. And you probably think it does a lot. I’ve seriously been incredibly impressed with how good it is.

My number three pick is also great value at 1 AT! Rockhoof: Pillar of Strength

Want to guess how many coutners I’ve put on him, Cici?

Nah. I’m going to guess some big number and you’re just going to top it with some ludicrously large number like eighty trillion or something.

Oh, Cici. You always think so small.

Eighty trillion is a lot!

Sure, but we got him to eighty trillion and one

...You’re kidding me.

Of course, that’s when we were just doing silly things to see how big we could get him, hehe. And we kinda just started rounding once it got too big, hehe.

In a normal match, I think it was maybe 100 or so?

That’s still way bigger than you need…

Well, yeah, Cici! That’s what makes him so fun! Rockhoof just refuses to not be the biggest pony around, it’s great!

But what’s even better than just growing Rockhoof yourself is dueling Rockhoofs! You have one at 2 power and have your opponent have one at 3 power and they’ll never stop trying to best each other. It’s great!

“I’m the biggest pony around!” “No, I’m the biggest pony!” hehehe.

Are you quite done?

Yup! I have more power than you, so I’m not growing anymore this turn.

Wah?

Just go, Cici!

So I think a lot of ponies underestimated this next card at first. A couple other cards did a pretty similar thing, and so it was a lot easier to dismiss.

But then ponies started using it and found out, wow, it was absolutely the real deal. And now School Shut Down is a staple in basically any Purple control deck.

So the cards it was being compared too, obviously, were Party of One and Applejack: Captain of the Seven Seas, being the previous board wipes. Each of which was, and still is, very good, but left you with something, while School Shut Down does not.

But the thing is, it gets rid of everything. Nothing stays behind, short of Persistent Friends. Not even discard piles! And that can matter a lot too. It’s definitely not as great as Party of One if your only goal is to get rid of Friends. But that’s not its only purpose.

It’s almost like different cards can have different strengths and weaknesses!

Heh, yeah, exactly.

Being in the colour that gains lots of AT certainly helps as well. Especially in the current meta with basically all the AT Gens. It may be more Expensive than Party of One, but that’s not always a factor when you’re getting extra AT.

And I guess that’s it. It’s a board wipe. It gets rid of everything. That’s all you need to be a super strong card, really.

Well, we’re at the third and last card on my list because it’s just pure fun: Silverstream: Fish out of Water!

Nopony else in the game does what she does, hehe.

Huh. I wouldn’t have even begun to assume that Silverstream would have made your list, let alone as your number 2. She seems kind of… tame.

Are you kidding? Silverstream is insane!

With the right deck, she’s an invitation to put whatever problem you want into play! Or even all of them!

Please tell me you didn’t put all 20 problems at once.

Oh, Cloudchaser. Still thinking so, so small.

We worked together to put all 116 problems in play at once!

116?

Yup! 3 copies each of all sixteen dilemmas for each player. Plus both players 10 problems, of course. That makes 116!

It was the biggest multi problem faceoff ever!

Whatever makes you happy, I guess.

Of course, that’s not the best thing you can do with Silverstream. But I’ll tell you about dismissing problems and uniqueness later, hehe. It’s a whole lot of nonsense.

Wha?

Basically, Sivlerstream lets you do a lot of fun and silly things that couldn’t be done before. And, well, Cici, you may not know this… but I just love fun and silly things!

I think I may have heard that once or twice.

Cici, you made a joke! I’m so proud of you!

Gah! No hugs while we’re doing top 10 lists!

All the hugs while we’re doing top 10 lists!

So we’re finally at my last card and, uh... yeah. All of you probably guessed it’s Mistmane: Pillar of Beauty.

Now, I wasn’t sure she was all that great at first, but the fact she does four different things across two abilities is what makes her absolutely insane. Four. That’s a lot of things for one card to do, and they’re all notable.

Sure, she’s primarily used for her ability to get you a card back while also getting you a point, but that’s only half of what she can do. She also can get herself out from the discard pile while filling it with stuff you might want to get back. Not to mention also filling the opponent’s discard pile.

This makes it incredibly difficult to get rid of her short of banishing her.

Most of you are also probably aware of the fact that being Unique lets you use two of them to just score a point for every 3 AT you spend. Having 2 in play means one is dsimissed immediately due to Uniqueness, and then can be gotten back thanks to her Trigger.

Then, since you’re back where you started just with 3 less AT and 1 more point, you can do it again. And again. And again.

Put simply, she is a finisher, and very effective at it in this meta of a million AT gens. 3 AT per point is kind of expensive, but if you can stall the game long enough to be able to do it 8 or 10 times in one turn, the cost begins to not matter much anymore.

How often does that happen? Seems unlikely.

More often than you’d think or I’d like…

Now she does come with the drawback of letting the opponent get a card back as well, but…

It usually doesn’t matter. Ponies tend not to play Mistmane if the opponent can get something important back, unless they don’t care. It’s mostly meaningless. Kind of disappointing, really.

Long story short, she is incredibly versatile while also being exceptionally good at a single thing, which isn’t a combination you see very frequently. She’s trivially the best card in the set, even more so than Old Money, who got banned.

Which isn’t to say I think she should necessarily be banned…

But I wouldn’t mind it.

Cici!

I just don’t find her very fun to play against.

But that’s just me. I’ve actually heard a lot of ponies talking about wanting to ban her... But I don’t think it’s necessary. At least not yet since rotation is right around the corner. Which isn’t something we need to get into today.

We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. And it’s not like every powerful card needs to be something I like specifically or anything.

Different cards appeal to different ponies.

Exactly! Part of what makes a card game great.

I do hope she’s being watched for the possibility of banning, if only because a lot of ponies think it might be necessary. But I doubt it’ll need to happen any time soon.

And that’s my whole list. Lots of powerful stuff this time around. Mostly good stuff too.

Well, my last card’s one we don’t even need to talk about…

Wah?

...Since Cici already did that for me!

Look! it’s us again!

Heh, yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

It’s always nice seeing us on a card, and this one’s particularly nice.

Plus we’re just so gosh darn cute! Filly us is the best!

Shame I was wearing the bow that day and not you. That was back when we were taking turns, remember?

Flitterrrrrrr.

But yeah, I don’t really have much more to say that I didn’t already say when Cici talked about us! We’re adorable, we work great together, and we’re the perfect team. Always!

Always and always.

So, that’s our lists! Now if you’ll excuse us, Cloudchaser’s got a lot of freaking out to do now that there’s nothing else to do between now and Contientals.

I do not freak ou—

Gah, Continentals is like 2 days away and I have so much playtesting I need to do! Why did I let you waste so much time trying to teach me how to tell dumb jokes? I’ve got to go now! Later Flits.

That’s our Cloudchaser, hehe.

Bye everypony! See you all at Continetals!

[kalecgoss1138]

My life is complete now, lol! Just need people to play with (and teach me how to play🙄). #TempestShadow #MLPSeason8 #MLPFiM #MLP #mlpCcg

[piratedashmod]

I finally got a Top 16 at GenCon

Finally. Oh my god finally. I don't care if the field was smaller. It still counts. I finally did the last thing I have to do in this game. Huge relief. Now off to the bracket tomorrow.

[asksprite]

Just as the title says, I’m selling my entire collection of MLP: CCG merchandise. This comes as a heavy handed decision, but it’s overall for the best. I’ll copy-paste my wall of text from the Reddit post to explain briefly.

For those wondering why I'm quitting the game, I'll explain briefly. With lack of players to play against, and my own issues with socializing and concept of game balance, I'm stuck in a situation of no one to play against locally, but I can't stay in a group because of being too different and too toxic. On top of this, it feels like this is a pay to play and pay to win game. What do I mean by this? I mean that if you try to play anything to be competitive on any sort of level, you NEED to drop at least $200 on a playset of a small core for a deck. For someone who has basically no income, this is impossible and makes the game extremely frustrating to play and budget build around. On top of this, it feels like the game leans to favor one deck type (AKA Control) over any others. This makes it less fun, since it feels like that's what one needs to play to win. To stack more on that, watching my ideas lose to "lesser" decks against the same opponent is crushing to what little self esteem I have. This ends up causing me to tilt, play horrible, see just how bad of a player I am, stack on my depression, and add to my overall severe dysphoria. This also puts a great stress on the relationship between >/u/NiTEi and I with the constant fights surrounding me and the game. I'm sorry to the people who have assisted me either through building support, perseverance support, or monetary support. (Especially so to the Commentary is Magic team.) I truly do feel guilty about this, but I cannot continue to play card games. They are unhealthy for me. Hopefully this can be sold off quickly. Best of luck to Enterplay, the people of this reddit, and the other players. I know I won't be missed.

[ampedupkaon]

Infinite Loops in TCGs

I’m sure you’re all familiar with Infinite Turn Specialists. You might have either played against it; built it or both. If not; I’ll explain what it does shortly.  Seeing it reminded me of a similar combo in another TCG.

Now… in the MLP CCG; at the start of your turn, you gain action tokens (like mana in Magic the Gathering; they allow you to play cards) ready your characters and draw a card. Now; like the infinite turn combo in Transformers, one player does everything and the other player can do nothing. The combo in MLP was this: First you would exhaust (like tapping a Transformer) Dr Hooves, Time Loop. This would let you draw the bottom card of your deck and then put a card in your hand on top of your deck. The card you would put on the top is the Tantabus. You would then pay 2 of your action tokens and exhaust Minuette, Fast Forward. She would banish Gilda, Feather Ruffler until the start of the next turn (your opponent’s turn). You would then confront a Problem (to score a point; you need to get 15 points to win the game) and pass play to your opponent’s turn. Your opponent would then gain their action tokens, ready their characters and draw a card. Then the Gilda you banished enters play; so a faceoff begins. Like in the Transformers TCG; when a faceoff happens, you flip the top card of your deck. So the Tantabus flips. This is how the combo works; as a Chaos ability goes off when the card is flipped. So your opponent loses all the action tokens they just gained and can’t do anything.

Sound familiar? It sounds a lot like Infinite Turn Specialists; where one player can’t do anything. That combo (as you may be aware) lets you play a stupid number of Actions every turn; three of which will be I Still Function!, Peace Through Tyranny and Plasma Burst. So every turn it is your turn and your opponent can’t do anything.

Here is my point; both of these combos resulted in a card being banned. In the case of the MLP CCG; it was the Tantabus (an Ultra Rare card; one in every 8 packs (roughly four per box; like a Rare Transformer) contained an UR and thus getting one was supposed to be a happy occasion). In the Transformers TCG; that card was Swap Parts.

Here; Enterplay banned the card that was causing one player to lose all of their action tokens and be unable to do anything, but not the card that was allowing that to happen every turn. The enabler to that combo was Dr Hooves (an enabler for other combos as well; so he probably should have been banned!) as he was the reason that the Tantabus was always sitting on top of your deck; ready to flip during the faceoff when Gilda entered play again. Now, if Wizards had done the same thing as Enterplay; Peace Through Tyranny would have been banned, as that was the infinite turn condition; like the Tanatbus was. But the enabler for the stupid number of Actions being played was Swap Parts; of which Peace Through Tyranny was only one and it played a very small role in the deck, again like the Tantabus. Wizards did the better thing; it banned the card that enabled the combo, not the infinite turn condition. I guess the point I’m trying to make is; every game can end up with an infinite turn combo, it just depends what the creator does about it that makes the difference.

[thunderlane-remarks]

[babsconrep]

COMMUNITY GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT!

COMMUNITY GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT! Surprise - we have one more! Our final community guest is a group of MLPCCG tournament organizers extraordinaire: BABSCon welcomes Commentary is Magic to #BABS2019! Find their bio & the complete list of all our CGs on our website: https://www.babscon.com/2019/community-guests/

[diamond-song42]

Card Shark 121: Flitter, Flutterer

Happy Christmas Eve and welcome back to Card Shark! I’ve been hard at work on my new site... which means the Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon is going to continue into the new year! I can’t wait for you all to see the grand new site when it is complete. For now, as I await Santa’s arrival, I focus on a High Magic card that may, unfortunately, be on the naughty list this year. Let’s take a look at “Flitter, Flutterer!”

I know I’m definitely on a couple naughty lists since I’m featuring this card in the Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon. 3 AT and 2 Pink req nets you this 2 power Pink Friend. High Magic has a series of Friends that you can Immediately banish from your hand to temporarily reduce the play requirements of your cards by 2 of a certain color - this card is Pink’s version. But you can play her, too: in fact, when she enters play, you dismiss each opposing Friend in her area with 1 printed power or less. If you’re unaware, printed power is the raw power on the card - for example, this Flitter card has 2 printed power. At first glance, this may not seem like a very useful ability. While there are a lot of decks with at least one Friend with 1 printed power, paying 3 AT to dismiss 1-3 power may be too expensive. But you may be thinking about the wrong type of Friend. Back when I used to heavily play Blue/Pink, I realized the novelty of this card when I dropped it at a Problem with a handful of Token Friends. Arguably the most popular Token Friends in the game (at least right now) all have 1 printed power (Unicorns, Critters, and Earth Ponies). And Flitter can absolutely annihilate them. Thanks to the specification of printed power, Flitter can bypass cards like Conductor’s Baton that boost the power of certain cheap, low-power Friends and Holder’s Boulder, Key Stone that try and protect Token Friends from potentially more common ailments such as frightening. And what’s worse for your opponent is that unlike other dismissed Friends, they can’t get back their Token Friends unless they generate more. Token Friends may be able to be dismissed, but they won’t be going into the discard pile! And that’s not to say this is truly only applicable to Token Friends - if they’re at a Problem, Friends like Pillar of Strength, Tymbal, Guard Geese, Brian, Tri-Horned Bunyip, Delivery Mare, Shoeshine, Living to Laugh, Cover to Cover, any of the Cutie Mark-able or Breeziefied Mane 6, and many more can be scared away by Flits. That’s a frightening pink bow right there.

This is the part where I really get condemned to the naughty list. Let’s start with the first part, which is the ability to be banished to reduce color play requirement. It has... not aged great. Banishing any of these Friends only reduces play requirements until the end of the turn they are banished - temporary reductions that require banishing seem a bit... lackluster when cards like The Fire of Friendship, Rainbow Generator, and Motivational Speech now exist. As for the second half of the card? Sweet Celestia, this is so niche it isn’t funny. Seriously. When I ran Flutterer in my Blue/Pink deck, I did it just for the banishing aspect (this was before The Fire of Friendship existed). Other than one or two chance occasions, the ability to dismiss opposing Friends with 1 printed power or less was virtually useless to me. And in today’s metagame, it is unbelievably easy to generate and regenerate Token Friends. Just look at some of the decks that like to flex Bodyguard, Equine Escort or Critter Choir, Cheerful Chirpers. I can’t count the number of Unicorn Tokens I’ve seen Bodyguard generate in a single match. Unless you managed to block access to any discard piles, retrieving any non-Token Friends with 1 or less printed power is easier than it sounds. There’s this new card called Mrs. Cake, Pastry Panic that allows you to effectively replace certain Pink Friends... it’s not pretty when you’re on the receiving end of it. I appreciate you, Flits, but you’re being featured in the Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon for a reason.

Here’s a few more cards looking for just the right flap:

*Party Hat. It’s the “Oops! All Resources” edition of my suggestion list! Party Hat was one of my staples when I used to run dismissal decks. You attach it to a Friend, and when any other opposing Friend is dismissed, the Party Hatted Friend is also dismissed! With this, Flitter can both wipe out a 1 or less printed power Friend and a Friend with any power as long as that Friend has a Party Hat. Of course, it isn’t just good for Flitter dismissing - it works with more traditional dismissers such as Pinkie Pie, Party Cannoneer and Belly Flop as well. Like with all Resources (and this is true for the other Resources on this list), beware of the Resource removal that may squash the fun.

*Somnambula’s Blindfold. If you’re using Flutterer, then chances are she’s not your only dismissal trick. For those other dismissal tricks, the dreaded Blindfold comes in handy. The Blindfold blocks players from searching or peeking at the top card in decks and stops cards from leaving discard piles. That means when you dismiss a non-Token Friend with the Blindfold in play, your opponent can’t use anything like Discord Pile or Redeeming Qualities to get that Friend back into play. Keep in mind that the Blindfold does go both ways - if you want to search your deck for anything or use a Discord Pile of your own, you’ll have to do away with your Blindfold first.

*Friendship Express. The obligatory New Dawn card of the Shark isn’t the most popular new Resource, but I think it could hit hard when circumstances are perfect. Hitching a ride on the Friendship Express gives any and all Friends in your hand Hasty, allowing you to play them Immediately... as long as you spend one additional AT. And I know some decks that can save up to 12-15 AT before making their move! Using this with Flits is probably the most obscure, crazed idea on this list, namely because I can already picture the look of devastation in your opponents’ eyes as they set up a bunch of Tokens to confront a Problem or challenge a Troublemaker or whatever and then Flitter comes in for 4 AT and all hell breaks loose.

Thanks for reading another Dumpster Fire edition of Card Shark! I may have another Shark out tomorrow (it remains to be seen depending on the Christmas Day activities I decide to indulge myself in), but whenever the next one comes out, I promise it will feature a Marks in Time Resource that may have been more threatening in the show than it is in the game. Come back next time to see what Resource it is! Diamond out!

[thegeneralsnotebook]

Adventures in Deckbuilding #196: Rarity, Booming Business (White/Purple Control) [Core]

Rarity, Booming Business

With Extra Steps

Looking back, I certainly feel bad having ended 2020’s posts with “Surely it can hardly be worse, right?” followed by two and a half months of radio silence. Suffice it to say that I am once again safely ensconced in Canada, but it’s taken me a lot longer than I thought it would to work out a reliable schedule that would allow me to start writing these again. It took all of January to finish my move into a new place, and then an acclimation process began after that. But this isn’t a blog about my personal life. It’s about pony cards, so let’s talk about those.

Now going by my schedule, I was supposed to start this year with the new Queen Chrysalis Mane, but as luck would have it, I happened upon a different idea as I was thinking about that Mane, and it really only worked with Rarity, Booming Business, so I decided that it was okay to cheat just a little. It’s still a White Mane, after all. With this deck, I’m returning to one of my all-time favourite archetypes in the game: White/Purple control, and this particular deck has a bit of spice to it too.

The name of the deck refers to the mechanism whereby this deck is able to create infinite Event recursion, just like the good old days of Eff Stop, but well, with extra steps. It’s a bit convoluted so I’ll give you a moment to look through the list and see if you can spot it.

It’s three cards: Tirek, Meddler, Cozy Glow, Dungeon Dredger, and our Mane. When the opponent starts a faceoff against Tirek, we can take an Event out of our discard pile, flip it, and then keep it on top as long as it isn’t Chaotic. Then we draw it on our turn. It’s a bit of a roundabout trip back to our hand, but it has the benefit of not even costing us AT. But, naturally you ask, what if the opponent doesn’t challenge Tirek? Even with his text, they could just not put any characters there, right? That’s where Rarity comes in. If the opponent is ignoring Tirek, we can just plunk a Unicorn token down there for 1 AT, and now they have to challenge him! We need to have a few Events in circulation, but we can reasonably reliably fish something back out of our discard pile every turn with this approach, and it will probably on balance cost less than using Eff Stop would have.

Now, after all of that, I haven’t even gotten to the best part about this deck yet. Because the top secret tech that makes this Mane actually pretty great is Sans Smirk. Simply by naming “Unicorn token” to Sans’s ability, we turn Rarity into a HUGE disruption tool. Your opponent wants to DFO? Plunk a token down at a Problem to deny them the confront point for that Problem and the faceoff bonus. Are they gearing up to defeat a Troublemaker? Plunk a token down, especially useful against Farming decks that probably don’t have an easy way to get rid of their own Friends. Sure, you can defeat that Epic, but you won’t score any points for it! Are they loaded up on one Problem and just confronting that one? Unicorn token. Plus, even if they move the token home, now it’s serving the purpose of forcing them to retire other stuff to their home limit. In the practice game that I played where I managed to get this off, it was incredibly useful for slowing the opponent down, and even if the opponent does have a way of getting rid of the token, it’s only 1 AT to put another one in. This deck is likely to have a good pile of AT, so that’s not a big issue.

Honestly, I built this deck expecting it to be nothing more than a meme, but I was surprised by how competitive it was during the practice games. Not that I would take it to an Online Con just yet, but I think that I am going to keep tweaking this and see where it goes. Nothing would warm my heart more than playing some off-the-wall White/Purple control in Core and reliving those glory days.

Next week, I’ll do my best to get back to the schedule and do Queen Chrysalis, Overt Operations for real.

[cloudchaserandflitterexplain]

Cloudchaser and Flitter spoil: Set 11

We have spoi—

Oh, you too, huh?

My card is super awesome. It’ll definitely shake up the meta a bit, and is pretty interesting to use.

Well, my card is super fun, and it’ll be great using it with other ponies and doing some wacky things!

So this is the Crown of the Sibling Supreme. And it’s going to be a great way to give all sorts of decks some easy point acceleration, despite the inherent drawback of sometimes giving it to your opponent.

Well my card is the Crown of the Sibling Supreme, which is fun because sometimes your opponent gets it and—

Er…

What the…

Did… did…

Did they give us both the same card to spoil?

Guess so!

But we’ve always had at least two before… one for each of us to talk about. But if we both have the same card, who should talk about it?

Well, I see only one appropriate way to handle this…

The Hard Way!

Wah?

We’ll have a contest to see which one of us is Spoiler Best Friend Supreme!

But the card is for the Sibling Supreme.

But we’re not siblings, silly.

Oh. Right.

So here’s the plan. We’ll have five faceoffs! Real life ones! And whenever one of us wins a faceoff, they get to talk about the Crown next.

And after the fifth one, we’ll determine who gets to be Super Duper Spoiler Best Friend Supreme Omega!

I thought it was just Best Friend Supreme...

First faceoff... is hoof wrestling!

Oh, you are so on.

Hah, easy! All those Wonderbolt exercises have paid off.

Guess you win, Cici! So tell us all about the crown.

Until I challenge you to the next faceoff, of course.

Don’t worry, I’ll win them all.

Anyway, this Crown is honestly pretty interesting. Paying 1 AT to gain 1 point isn’t a bad deal. It’s not a super great deal, mind, but do it enough times and you can accelerate your game plan by a turn, which can make all the difference.

Just doing it one time can be enough. How many games have you seen where ponies end up at 14 points, only for the opponent to score to 15 the next turn. Sure wish you could have gotten that extra point now, huh?

On the other hoof, you’re starting off by paying 2 for a resource that, ultimately, does nothing. It doesn’t increase your board presence by giving you power, or extra resources or anything. And it doesn’t disrupt the opponent’s plans either.

So that kind of makes that first point rather expensive.

In fact you, uh. You…

Why are you looking at me like that?

Next faceoff is a staring contest. First one to blink loses!

Staring Contest? Is that all you’ve got?

Piece of cake.

I win!

What? No, that doesn’t count. I wasn’t ready!

You closed your eyes! Which means you blinked, which means I win, which means I get to talk about the crown next.

Fine…

So the most fun thing about this card is that first ability.

“Play to your home”?

No not that, Cici. Are you being difficult on purpose?

Sorry…

But anyway, I’m talking about the fact that whoever wins a faceoff, gets the crown! So you’ve turned the game into a battle for faceoff supremacy!

Two ponies enter. One pony leaves with the crown!

This increases the stakes of each face off quite nicely, don’t you think?

Well yeah, but—

And if you take the Crown, the second ability is worded so you can use it right away! Provided it’s not already exhausted from your opponent using it already, hehe.

Okay next faceoff! We’re going to have a duel, Cici!

A what?

A magic duel!

You’re kidding.

I hope you’re ready Cici. I’ve been preparing my whole life for this moment.

Flitter.

Yeeeeeeeesssss?

In case you forgot, we’re not unicorns. We’re pegasi. You know, winged ponies, not horned ponies? Our “magic” consists of flying and walking on clouds. We can’t really have a duel.

Oh shoot, I guess you’re right.

Well, you’re the better flier than me, so I guess you win! Your turn to talk about the crown!

Uhhh, thanks?

So like I was saying, the Crown is not without some substantial risk. Since, like Flitter said, the opponent has a reasonable chance of taking it from you.

Letting your opponent take it from you means they can get points that you initially paid for. They didn’t have to pay that 2 cost down payment, after all. They can just get points at a 1 to 1 ratio.

So you better make sure you’re winning more faceoffs than your opponent is. Or at least winning them when it’s ready, since stealing it when it’s exhausted doesn’t help you much.

Oh, I’m definitely going to win more faceoffs than you, Cici! You may be up 2 to 1, but I will be the Ultra Super Duper Spoiler Best Friend Princess Supreme Omega Mark III.

Er, Princess?

Anyway, what I’m saying is, you can’t just shove this in any deck and expect it to work for you. It may look like it’s a card that can potentially help everyone equally, but it’s really weighted against the pony who plays it..

Assuming you’re playing fair, of course.

If your deck is built specifically to engage in a lot of face offs and, more importantly, win them, then your opponent won’t be able to take it from you all that often. I suspect farming decks and maybe some control decks would like this best. Especially if used alongside The Staff of Sacanas

Some aggro decks may experiment with it, but honestly I think they’d just be better off with Friends that give you points instead, like Daybreaker. But, eh, we’ll see.

So I think overall it’s a pretty good card, but only if the deck can support it. It won’t be good in every deck... but cards like that tend to be problematic anyway, so that’s probably for the best.

Alright Cici, that’s enough. Time for the next faceoff! Rock, paper, scissors!

Er, what now?

You know, that game Lyra tried to teach everyone to play a while back. Where you change your hand into different shapes.

We have hooves, not hands.

Which is why it didn’t take off very well!

But that’s okay, we’ll improvise! We’ll just say what shape we’re making, okay? Rock smashes scissors, scissors cuts paper, and paper covers rock.

Why does that beat rock?

I dunno. Ask Lyra.

Seems like a dumb game.

Well, you only think that because you’re going to throw scissors and lose to my rock.

Uhhh, no I’m not.

Oh, don’t kid yourself Cici. You’re definitely going to throw scissors. It’s written all over your face.

No It’s not!

We’ll see. Okay, ready? We say “rock, paper, scissors, shoot” then say what shape we’re using! It’ll be fun!

I guess.

Rock,

Paper,

Scissors,

Shoot!

Scissors.

Paper! I win by covering your ro—

Wait a second…

You tricked me!

All’s fair in spoilers and card games, Cici.

In fact, faceoff tricks are a great way to use this card to help ensure you win all your faceoffs!

Whether it’s increasing your power through cards like Critter Cavalry, or decreasing your opponent’s through stuff like Apple Juice Break, you need to do everything you can to win, win, win!

But faceoff tricks aren’t going to help you if you can’t start a faceoff. And sometimes your opponent won’t just let you start a problem or Troublemaker faceoff.

But fortunately, there’s plenty of ways to start faceoffs! You could fill your deck with lots of cards to help out, like Gilda: Feather Ruffler or Nightmare Moon: Blackest Night to prove that you are faceoff sibling supreme!

And of course, there’s my personal favourite, the Canterlot Nights Showdowns!

Ohhhh, so that’s why you’ve chosen the faceoffs you did.

Heh, you even referenced one of the Blue ones at the start.

Yup! So, you know what that makes the last event, right? The one that will settle once and for all which of us is the Incredibly Amazing Ultra Super Duper Spoiler Best Friend Princess Supreme Omega Mark III of all time!

Well let’s see. You started with the Orange one, then Yellow, Purple, and Pink. So that leaves White, which is…

Oh no.

Fashion contest!

Nope, I’m not doing this, no way, no how.

So, on the one hoof, we’ve got little old me, Flitter, adorable pegasus with her adorable bow, picture of cute!

Nopenopenopenopenopenope.

Meanwhile Cloudchaser over there isn’t wearing anything! So I guess I win by default, right?

Yes. Good. We’re done. No need to do this any further.

Buuuuuuutttttttt…

Fashion isn’t just clothes, it’s how you present yourself. And Cici has definitely got a unique look, all her own!

Buh?

Why, just look at that cool mane she’s got! It just screams “I’m a winner”, don’t you all think?

Well, I hate to brag, but…

She’s a go getter! An absolute all-star! And, most importantly…

Spoiler Best Friend Supreme.

Wasn’t that longer the last time you said it?

Wait, I won?

Yup, congratulations Cici!

Hah! I always knew I’d win! These events were basically made for m—

Wait, these events weren’t made for me at all. Did you let me win?

Er, well, no. Of course not.

You’re just that awesome, Cici!

Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am.

Well, now that our faceoff competition is over, I guess it’s time for Spoiler Best Friend Supreme Cloudchaser and me, the Incredibly Amazingly adorable Ultra Super Duper Spoiler Best Friend Princess Supreme Omega Mark III Turbo Double Plus Flitter to say goodbye.

Hey, why’s your title longer if you lost?

Bye every pony!

Later.

But no, seriously, why’s yours longer?

Bye Cici!

Later Flitter.

What? Wait, no, don’t leave! You didn’t tell me why you’re the Super Cool Best Friend Whatever Princess and I’m only Spoiler Best Friend Supreme. Flitter? Flitter, you get back here!

[kalecgoss1138]

My life is complete now, lol! Just need people to play with (and teach me how to play🙄). #TempestShadow #MLPSeason8 #MLPFiM #MLP #mlpCcg #Brony

[askcriticalthought]

These cards are meh.