[MLP:CCG] Beginning metagame

[virgil]

So, I've been getting into the My Little Pony game, mainly because of my wife. Been in three tournaments so far, placed in two (she's placed in all three). Currently, the last two tournaments has been 1st placed by the same guy who has bought a dozen+ boxes of boosters to stack his deck with ultra-rares and the like. One thing I'm noticing is that the correlation of rarity=power is a bit on the stark side.

I suspect his deck design will be the shape of the metagame; Pinkie Pie/Rarity. The dismissal and control is...difficult to overcome. I'm still trying to figure out a deck design to get around the dismissal effects, especially for a game without 'counterspell' (to my knowledge).

Your thoughts?

[A Man In Black]

I can't think of any game less appealing than a CCG with My Little Pony characters, nor anyone less appealing to play with than the people who would be inclined to play MLP the CCG.

I am pretty sure these aren't helpful thoughts, but there you are.

[RadiantPhoenix]

I already have a CCG I obsess over, TYVM (MtG), and a half-dozen-ish that have fallen by the wayside (Pokemon, DBZ, LotR, one of the Star Wars ones, YGO, ???).

[virgil]

I can't think of any game less appealing than a CCG with My Little Pony characters, nor anyone less appealing to play with than the people who would be inclined to play MLP the CCG.

That was one of the more uncalled for insults I've seen on the Den. Fvck you sir and enjoy being ignored.

[A Man In Black]

You're complaining about Mr. Suitcase in a game for bronies and you're that offended at any suggestion that the playerbase might be toxic?

[deaddmwalking]

So, I've been getting into the My Little Pony game, mainly because of my wife. Been in three tournaments so far, placed in two (she's placed in all three).

I can't think of any game less appealing than a CCG with My Little Pony characters, nor anyone less appealing to play with than the people who would be inclined to play MLP the CCG.

That was one of the more uncalled for insults I've seen on the Den. Fvck you sir and enjoy being ignored.

Unless you've played a game of My Little Pony (CCG), how would you know what the playerbase is like? Virgil is playing with his wife, so right off the bat, the whole sum of the playerbase that we know of isn't comprised of bronies.

I admit that I'm reluctant to allow my six-year-old to get really into My Little Pony because of my fears of people that are into it in a deviant manner. But I expect that those elements remain an over-reported fringe element.

[A Man In Black]

I admit that I'm reluctant to allow my six-year-old to get really into My Little Pony because of my fears of people that are into it in a deviant manner. But I expect that those elements remain an over-reported fringe element.

This isn't a game for little kids. It's a game that not only requires reading and math skills, like you'd expect, but has fairly complex rules for rule sequence, timing, and so on. It's significantly more complicated than, say, Pokemon. A game for MLP fans ages 13+ is a game for bronies, and bronies + the sort of people who play fringe CCGs = No Thank You.

[Josh_Kablack]

Okay, I've been clean for like a decade now, and for reasons that transcend the personal and approach the religious, I refuse to ever get into another CCG again but in general CCGS / LCGs have a few competing top-level strategies:

1. Rushdown:
Win as fast as possible. That's the whole plan, if you don't win fast, you just don't win.

2. Control:
Deny your opponent resources. Usually this starts slow and gains an advantage that snowballs -- sometimes even to a hard lock where the opponent can no longer do anything at all. Other times it simply involves destroying or capturing the cards they have in play.

3. Combo:
Find a set of cards which when played together are an auto-win. Supplement with additional cards which make it easier and quicker to put the combo together.

4. Hybrid.
Any combination of the above, such as a deck that has a rush threat and supplements with a plan B combo.

So if you can't match Mr/ Suitcase's Control deck, you should look at the possibilities for rush or combo in this game.

[virgil]

I admit that I'm reluctant to allow my six-year-old to get really into My Little Pony because of my fears of people that are into it in a deviant manner. But I expect that those elements remain an over-reported fringe element.

This is purely anecdotal, but yeah, it is an over-reported fringe element; and the deviants seem to be treated with scorn IME. From what I've seen, brony demographics & culture seem to be roughly comparable to Trekkies and Star Wars fans.

[NineInchNall]

It doesn't make much sense to complain about people's paying for power in a CCG. I mean ... That's kinda What They're About, unless you're playing a limited rather than constructed format.

So there aren't any counterspells in the game, which means the dude's relying on removal-type effects? I'd either respond with an overwhelming number of things to remove (weenie aggro) or a non-interruptible combo.

[virgil]

Removal and card drawing to get power cards (Rarity Truly Outrageous is truly outrageous). But yeah, my wife is actually building a Fluttershy/splash horde deck with some control; limited by the better cards for the deck being rare. I'm thinking of designing a Dash/? deck to try and capitalize on speed (I need more Two Bits), though I'm unsure of what cards would be a good combo with her.

[Zaranthan]

I admit that I'm reluctant to allow my six-year-old to get really into My Little Pony because of my fears of people that are into it in a deviant manner. But I expect that those elements remain an over-reported fringe element.

Not only are they over-reported, but that logic means you need to lock your baby in a padded room. There's a neckbeard out there jerking it to Bob the Builder and Bubble Guppies right now. Nothing is safe.

That said, don't let her play the card game. Not because of any hypothetical playerbase issues, but because a heroin addiction is cheaper than keeping up with CCG decks.

[Prak]

The thing about bronies is that they post a lot of MLP porn on tumblr, and don't always tag it, so kids search for MLP or Rarity or Twilight Sparkle, or whatever, and find pics of their favourite characters with three foot long dicks. And parents, understandably, get their panties in a bunch.

That's it, really.

[A Man In Black]

The thing about bronies is that they post a lot of MLP porn on tumblr, and don't always tag it, so kids search for MLP or Rarity or Twilight Sparkle, or whatever, and find pics of their favourite characters with three foot long dicks. And parents, understandably, get their panties in a bunch.

That's it, really.

They also harass voice actors, write cringelarious grimdark stories about ponies sexually enslaving and brutalizing each other, and...uh...do whatever it is this is supposed to be.

[Prak]

Ah, right.

[Zaranthan]

The thing about bronies is that they post a lot of MLP porn on tumblr, and don't always tag it

Ah. That's a pretty reasonable complaint. I haven't had SafeSearch on in years, so I was unaware that it wasn't filtering that.

[virgil]

I'm used to the internet trying to scar me with Rule 34 on everything, so it's hard to tell if the MLP-fandom is worse about it or if it's no worse but gets more flak because it's popular.

One thing my wife pointed out as a potential tactic; if a bit late-game to initiate. All the points!

As for cost, we've been placing in tournaments (which include tourney-only cards) and are selling superfluous cards from wholesale booster pack sales; it's a bit of a wait for the turnaround, but it does plan on making the final cost negligible.

[Zaranthan]

It's no worse than anyone else, but there is a surprisingly high rate of people reblogging a perfectly innocent picture of Twilight reading a book between pictures of scat porn. I don't know what's up with that.

That combo seems like the kind of stuff I came up with when I first discovered MtG. Is it actually plausible to get that on the board before your opponent just punches you the old-fashioned way? (Or just waits for you to activate RD and nukes her)

I'd say the bit where you're selling exclusive cards makes it a different ball game. Good on you.

[Slade]

The thing about bronies is that they post a lot of MLP porn on tumblr, and don't always tag it, so kids search for MLP or Rarity or Twilight Sparkle, or whatever, and find pics of their favourite characters with three foot long dicks. And parents, understandably, get their panties in a bunch.

That's it, really.

This is less about Bronies than humanity. Humans have a lot of filth in them. Some of those humans like MLP.
Don't hate the Bro for the color of his pony, but the content of his character like MLK said... basically.

[Mask_De_H]

Disregarding that only Bronies say that the creepy Bronies are over-represented and this is a CCG which tend to be made for the obsessive-compulsive and monied, what the hell are cards or card combos that synergize well in this new system? Do Cocaine Pony and One Percenter Pony just have that much better cards, is this solely a pay to win thing, can you aggro him faster than he can get his rares out, what kind of control/removal exists in the current meta, what exactly are the problem cards, what?

We need more info on how the game works before we can tell you how to break it past Josh's Competitive Card Gaming 101 here.

[Smeelbo]

On Facebook, try:

"Hey Canterlot! MLP: FIM CCG Strategy and Tips"

Smeelbo
Friendship is Magic!

[virgil]

Mr Briefcase Pony uses a deck roughly consisting of these cards. I can't remember if he has anything else, as I didn't exactly sit down and write down the contents.

[A Man In Black]

Yeah I am not clicking any link to a site named ponyhead.com.

[Stahlseele]

Are you scared of statistics with images of pastel coloured ponies?

[A Man In Black]

Are you scared of statistics with images of pastel coloured ponies?

With good reason.