weesh

Game 'B'

5: Weesh

"...and THAT'S how Spike found Peewee's parents."

6: Angie Cakes

7: Browneh

"Spikes trouble making ways have come back to bite him"

8: Accellerant

9: Sparkleheart

"Spike is really starting to regret those April Fool's pranks."

10: StarStorm

11: Tales

"A green haired Rarity is angry at Spike for giving Apple Bloom a Cutie Mark, meanwhile a confused Lyra sees that Bon Bon has grown hands."

12: Diego Havok

13: Ping

"Two creative unicorns are aghast (or enamored, hard to tell) at the youngling's sprouting of strange appendages."

1: Imagination

2: Davroth

"Musical ponies can't decide whether monkey paws are awesome or unsettling."

3: Phil the Time Wizard

4: Fawkes

"Lyra is shocked beyond words after meeting one of the denizens of the Kingdom of Chocolate Critters!"

Game 'A'

1: Imagination

"Twilight has an illness. And the only cure... Is Fluttershy's cowbell."

2: Davroth

3: Phil the Time Wizard

"The princess seems critical as she examines Derpy's strange attire."

4: Fawkes

5: Weesh

"That awkward moment where two ponies recognize each other at an embarrassing event..."

6: Angie Cakes

7: Browneh

"looks like Applejack and Rainbow dash got themselves in a pretty awkward situation..."

8: Accellerant

9: Sparkleheart

"Spike is so manly it's downright terrifying."

10: StarStorm

11: Tales

"Manly Spike wants you to eat the meat."

12: Diego Havok

13: Ping

"Spike the Knight hoists a hefty shank of meat like it was nothing."

Games are incoming...

I am working on them now, but my inbox and PM box are bursting with mixed up submissions.

If you want to mess with me NOW is the time to bump those to the top. : )

One of our telephone pictionary traditions is for the MC to comment on each submission.

I've decided not to do that. You are all amazing. I will let your work speak for itself.

Instead of it being this outrageously jealous Luna that allows some sort of spirit to overtake her to get her revenge, the younger sister's moment, or moments, of doubt become all it needs to do what it wants. It actually makes the whole concept pretty cool for a villain, and it also lends into how it can make those nightmares so powerful and effective even against ponies who know they're coming.

That is a double-edged sword.

If they need only a tiny opening to get in, that means that the nightmare-folk are more powerful than we realized. And good villains are powerful.

However, to say they only need a tiny opening seems to deny Luna's complicity. I appreciate the Luna character more as one who had powerful emotions that led her to make mistakes, rather than someone whose emotions made her doubt, and then get overwhelmed by these entities. ALL of us have doubt. All of us face uncertainty. Doubt isn't a sin. The problem is when we take negative actions based on how we feel. This makes relating to the story hard. To say that natural emotion is a weakness, and that to protect yourself form these beings, you must be supernaturally and perfectly strong at all times is lame. And a little silly.

I agree with many of your points, but I just happen to think that there are reasons and scenes in relation to those same problems that are good enough that they turn weaknesses into strengths. I wasn't excited when we started the nightmares, but I found them as I thought about it more to be effective. Not necessarily great mind you- I'd prefer something that all the ponies have to work together to overcome rather than individual scenes, and I would like my problems to be more physical and direct- but not a negative either. Effective.

I read them again while looking for purpose. It does show them working together, and may have been as simple as delaying them so that they could complete Rarity's transformation. But they could have effectively delayed them without needing to be quite so successful in scaring the horseapples out of them.

Story wise, I find it on par with the first arc...I actually prefer this one so far because the tone is suitably more- I dunno, intense perhaps?

Heh.

The increased intensity of this arc is exactly the reason that I liked the first one more! I hope to see more of the Larry/Shadowfright stuff going forward, even though it doesn't quite fit the rest of the tone thus far.

Mane is a parody of the defining musical of the 70s: Hair.

YES! Thank you so much! That was bugging me. Since two of the posters were for Andrew Lloyd Webber productions, I was stuck thinking about his stuff.

It gave me feels.

I don't know what that means.

What did you think of the backup story?

I am...conflicted regarding Turnip.

In the show, it was annoying that he was depicted so completely over the top country. But it was horrifying that Rarity snubbed him so hard. That was the worst part of the episode.

These two pages make me more conflicted.

I dislike infatuation and "love at first sight". Bettering yourself is generally good, but in this case it was just for his crush, which set him up to be disappointed again. He brought flowers to his next meeting with her, which is weird since it wasn't a mutually set up date. And then Spike lied to him, and he took off without even talking to her. He tossed the flowers and Spike gave Turnip's gift to Rarity?!

And yet, there is amazing depth to this short section, it references at least two other pieces of cannon, and it is easy to relate to Turnip.

I am both intrigued and disappointed, but will probably have a different impression tomorrow.

I agree on Rarity falling too easily. Then again, the way it was presented, it didn't seem like she let it in openly. It looked more like it created a small seed of doubt and that is all it needed to take over, so I can buy into that a bit more than you can.

Ah, that is better. Mediocre rather than bad perhaps.

Well, I certainly wouldn't mind taking back the reins for a bit. ^^

I'd volunteer again in the future, but only if you needed another break. I've gained appreciation for the amount of work required, the joy/frustration of getting to see the submissions LONG before you, and the fun of being in contact with everyone.

This, along with the Twilight micro-series are at the top of all the comics in both series thus far. I might be able to rank them later.

The story, themes and characters are excellent...

• Rarity kept a FANTASTIC attitude about the experience. She was willing to get out of her comfort zone, and she looked VERY hard for things to appreciate, and was very kind. However, after giving it a fair try, she decided she was done, and was comfortable telling them she was done and why.
  
• She very well embodied the spirit of generosity, but not in any weird or forced way.
  
• Connecting the collapse of the farm to Flim and Flam and Filthy was a nice touch.
  
• The hippies were lovable, recognizable and unique.
  

Some great gags too...

• Rarity's snoring Z's are fancy! Two different fancy Z's!
  
• Someone is flirting with Big-Mac...with predictable results
  
• Spring loaded suitcase launches Rainbow
  
• "...you once slept on a bed without a duvet cover, you can handle this!"
  
• Parody posters: "Celestia Superstar", "Joseph and the amazing technicolour Saddle"..."Mane"? is that one too?
  
• MAIL DERPY!
  

Some additional touches...

• Rarity's logo is AMAZING! It looks stylish and mysterious, and incorporates her mane into an 'R'! Wow!
  
• The badges look great, and add a lot to the first page
  
• More DJ Pon3! Note that on the first page, she looks purple...it seems that in honor of Rarity's colour scheme, they are using purple light in the main gallery.
  
• Applejack doesn't know what a bustle is, Rarity doesn't know what a hammer is : )
  
• Trixie don't magic tricks at the after party
  
• Connection between the bonus story, and the magazine where they find the retreat info
  
• The hippies were done well.
  
• She brought 3 picture frames: Spike, Grumpy Opal and Applejack. I will let you guys interpret that...as well as the expression on AJ.
  
• TARA STRONG!
  
• Celestia was there, and bought some of the F&W product, and was enjoying it in a bath at the end. That tub is so neat, I won't bother to point out that it looks wasteful.
  
• "...but why didn't they tell me in person?"
  

I am SOOOOOOO glad that I read this one after issue 6 of the main series.

There were a few amusing small things:

• Pinkie playing the Taiko rather than actually helping : )
  
• Rarity critiquing the decor
  
• Moon Lasso
  
• The Larry/Shadowfright thing
  
• "I Spy"
  
• "Are you not amused?" feels like a gladiator reference.
  
• "Sorry, I'm all out of bravery today..."
  
• "In space, no one can hear you squee" -> "I heard that!"
  
• Rainbow rated FLuttershy's yell a 3.2/10 : )
  

Storywise, there are several other interesting pieces:

• Pinkie Pie was the only pony to zero problems with the nightmares.
  
• That ruby is going to matter. They spent way too much time on it.
  
• The twist on the last page was completely unexpected.
  

And yet I would rate this issue poorly.

• The story feels weak and cliche. I found myself skimming parts, and sighing, especially during the scenes where they were in the nightmares. Why couldn't that have been something that they were prepared for? They were even warned!
  
• Seeing scared ponies is unpleasant. Seeing pages of scared ponies is unbearable.
  
• Luna is sucking it up. She is surprised that they guys are her friends? Really? And she is obviously scared about her secret getting out, and there is no way that it is actually unforgivable. This is the second issue in a row that Luna's character has been off.
  
• Rarity capitulated WAY too easily. She is not that weak. They did her character a great disservice, again, for the second issue in a row.
  

Ultimately, I am not reading these for the gags. The story and character's are most important, and these were weak. The only thing that I can point to as a strong character moment was Pinkie's complete victory over the nightmares. She was not in trouble for even an instant.

The sixth issue of the ongoing is out, and boy howdy is it good one. I'm not gonna waste space with all the normal previews and images however as today is the day it is released and you should already have it!

Thursday is new-comic-book-day here, so I couldn't have had it on Wednesday.

Here is one from "Real Life Comics"

http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/130404.html

Good stuff.

Davroth has concluded the 11th round with his submission to Phil.

Fawkes is on deck and NO ONE IS IN ANY HOLES!

To Nebraska!

I wasn't thinking when I decided to edit that post.

My apologies, to you and Diego.

Aw, don't worry about that!

It is great that you recently joined us, but have already contributed and are excited for the next game before we have even finished this one.

I can't wait to share it by the way! We are sooooo close!

Each game has been through at least 10 complete rounds.

Imagination's game 'B' picture has been sent to Davroth. Phil is on deck, and Fawkes is in the hole. Fawkes is also the final player for game 'B'.

I do like the doublestrike/bloodrush combo.

But note that there is no synergy between the emissary and bloodrush.

The first must be played in a mainphase, and the mana will be gone by combat.

As for the viper, I suggested it as a great target to trample-bloodrush, since deathtouch and trample as so synergistic. If it is blocked, you only need to deal one damage to each blocker and the rest goes over the top. one-power death touchers usually read: "this will not be blocked". That makes it synergistic with the non-trample-bloodrush. As for ever actually discarding the viper to give something else deathtouch, that is less likely. But given that you have first strikers and tramplers, there is still the possiblity for fun combat tricks.

I'd love to play opposite this deck. It looks challenging to defend against, though weak to point removal/sweepers. Lots of chances to lose card advantage in this kind of deck. I can see the draw to boros charm, or anything else that could stop you from dealing with a 3-for-1.

I am afraid I am a bit out of the loop as far as the standard metagame at the moment. However, for an aggressive midrange deck, I would love to see more one-drops, or some acceleration. It takes about 8 to reliably get one.

Some suggestions: arbor elf, stromkirk noble, vexing devil, wasteland viper or rakdos cackler.

Other than that, I haven't had much experience with bloodrush, so it is hard to make a judgement on its power level.

What are your default targets for Signal the Clans?

Edit: So, who wants to host TP #11?

Since this is Diego's baby, perhaps we should offer to return it before offering it to others? As far as I know, no one else was on deck at this time.

Question: Would you guys like to see a game as soon as it is finished, or should we wait until both games are done, and then showcase them simultaneously?

I am concerned that revealing one of them may have a negative impact on the other game.

I want some more consistency with Pinkie Pie. When an episode is about her she shows depth and that there is more to her then random jokes and parties but if the episode isn't about her she doesn't do anything but give non-sequiters. How about she gives some insight once in a while or does something other then make random jokes

That would be a good way to develop her. Now that I think about it, the other characters could be a little deeper when they aren't the main character as well.

Wow, there are some great suggestions there, many within my budget...

• The palace guard combo is delicious and cheap, and does not require the form to be out. I might throw in a couple of mother of Runes for that one as well.
  
• Master Warcraft is awesome, but also defacto banned in one of my two my playgroups. I cast it once, and you should have heard the whining!
  
• Gideon is doown to $5?! Sweet!
  
• Thraben Doomsayer is almost certainly making the cut!
  

Regarding Spirit of the Hearth: I keep almost cutting him from decks because he seems inefficient. But almost every time I cast him my opponents curse and mutter until he is dead. It has won me many games that few other cards would have. You might think, and I do too, that these were flukes? Possibly, but they keep happening, and so the experiment goes on. Perhaps giving yourself hexproof is extra valuable in multiplayer because it stops so much more, AND focuses the player hate in other directions? I don't know. I absolutely undervalue the ability because I don't really understand the full implications.

What is the deal with Jareth? I have one, and I hear people rave about him, and talk about the games he's won, but he doesn't look appealing. Is he really THAT good? I should try him out.

Ping has submitted a line for game 'A'. Only BrainedBySausepans is left for this game!

Update: Ping has been in touch and will deliver the Game 'A' line soon. Imagination is finished the Game 'B' picture, but has some scanner problems and expects to have found alternative scanning in the next day or so.

Name: Form of the Dragon Theme

colour: W/R

Format: Casual Multi-player

(1)4xNomad's en-Kor, 4xSeal of Fire

(2)4xBoros Signet, 1xLightning Greaves, 2xWall of Omens, 1xInside Out

(3)2xWisp Mare, 1xWhispersilk Cloak, 1xAura of Silence

(4)3xFumiko the Lowblood, 4xAngelic Protector

(5)1xKazuul Tyrant of the Cliffs

(6)2xSpirit of the Hearth, 2xPurity, 1xJokulhaups

(7)3xForm of the Dragon

(L)10xPlains, 10xMountain, 2xBoros Garrison, 2xClifftop Retreat

Idea: Delay the game until a form of the dragon can be dropped safely, and take control of the game.

Backup: Make it difficult/unprofitable to attack me, but force them to attack the other players with Fumiko.

Backup: Bash face with an unblockable Kazuul or Spirit of the Hearth.

Backup: Land an infinite damage strike with Nomads en-Kor, Angelic Protector and Inside Out combo.

Problems:

It is unprofitable to attack me, but not not necessarily dangerous.

I have important enchantments, and Aura of silence, so the Wispmares might get stuck in my hand.

Primarily, I need two cards that cost 3 or less to replace wispmare. Ideally, they should have both offensive and defensive capability, but lean towards defense.

If it looks wonky and unreliable, that may be the case since I haven't played it yet. General observations are also desired. Thanks!

Game 'A': Diego has sent a pic to Ping. BrainedBySausepans is in the hole, and the finisher for this game.

Game 'B': BrainedBySausepans has been skipped. Imagination has received Ping's line. Davroth is on deck, and Phil is in the hole.

Tales' line has been sent to Diego. I've asked Diego to hang onto the line for a bit, since game 'A' is getting too close to game 'B'.

Ping is on deck, and Brained is in the hole.