#crowd pleasers

- pizza crust, I used Schar, you can make one yourself, it's very easy and very cheap

- bbq sauce

- zucchini, bell peppers

- tofu, pressed, cubed, tossed in ranch seasoning packet [Kroger ranch packets don't have buttermilk] , and air fried

- cheese [vegan mozzarella from aldi] + pickled red onions

- bake according to crust instructions, everything else is fine to eat raw

Card Shark 41: DJ Pon-3 & Octavia, Crowd Pleasers

Happy Vinyl/Octavia Day my dudes! Welcome to a special celebratory edition of Card Shark! I felt it appropriate to focus on this High Magic card to honor our two favorite musical horses. Let’s take a look at “DJ Pon-3 & Octavia, Crowd Pleasers!”

Say, what’s that you’re driving, Vinyl? Oh, nothing... JUST MY BASS CANNON, BIATCH! First off, we have what I like to refer to as a “3-3″ card, meaning it costs 3 AT to play, needs 3 color req, and has 3 base power. I find these Friends can be played easily if you boost a Mane of the same color, which is nice. Now we get down to the technical stuff. This card has something I rarely see on Friends, which is Showy 2 (most Friends have Showy 1). That means that unless your opponent’s characters have Swift, they have to pay 4 AT to move a character to Vinyl and Octy’s Problem. A nice touch, if I do say so myself. I tried running a mono-White deck early in my CCG career and this was one of my staples. Now, the second ability is where things get interesting: say your opponent avoids the Showy 2 by directly playing a Friend to Vinyl and Octy’s Problem. Well, when they do that, you can put a 1 power Unicorn Friend Token with Prepared into play! (To recap: a Prepared Friend gets you 1 AT when an opponent starts a Faceoff at the Prepared Friend’s location.) Opponent trying to even out their power? The more they stack, the more Unicorn Tokens come rushing in. For a bass cannon that can’t actually shoot, this is a pretty tank!

So where does this card fall flat? (Yes, I meant to say that.) Cost-for-power tradeoff is balanced and you don’t have to pay any extra AT to activate their abilities. My biggest problem with this card is one of the things that makes it unique: Showy 2. It’s a nice keyword, yes... but it’s just so avoidable. It’s one of the easiest keywords to work around, if not the most. Just play a Friend directly to their Problem and spare your flank the trouble. Playing directly to the Problem can also activate certain abilities which may not be so friendly. Heck, Interdimensional Portal can, in a way, do BOTH these things for half the basic moving cost! Granted, playing a Friend to their Problem can earn you a Unicorn Friend Token... but as I’ve mentioned in past columns, that doesn’t mean much, does it? Besides Reliving History, there aren’t many good cards that can make the most out of lots of Unicorns. Same with Earth Ponies (though I’m primarily excluding them here since this card doesn’t generate Earth Pony Tokens). Thus, I say use this card at your own risk.

Now here are some cards (besides Reliving History) that, when used alongside Vinyl and Octy, can really pump up the jams:

*Princess Cadance, Loving Ruler. THAT’S RIGHT Y’ALL I’M SUGGESTING THIS CARD! But I’m only sticking it here because I’ve actually seen a few Harmony decks using this thing recently. Alongside the Crowd Pleasers, Cady ups the anty by forcing your opponent to pay an extra 2 AT if they want to directly play Friends to the Problem to evade the Showy 2. And look at the various ways you can turn your Mane Character over! If you’re a CCG player like me that absolutely loves the weird shit, this is the combo for you. Just beware that Tempest Shadow, Easy as Pie is a staple in many decks these days and your opponent could always turn Cady back.

*Photo Finish, Say “Käse!” Now that Vinyl and Octy are warding off your opponent’s characters at home, why not make some points out of it? As long as no opponents are confronting Problems on their turn, Photo Finish will make ze magicks and get you points. This should preferably be attempted with a bass cannon at each Problem, but there are multiple cards that could also scare characters away. (Those are for another column.)

*Rainbow Dash, On Even Ground. So your opponent is working to save up enough AT to move characters to Vinyl and Octy’s Problem. It’s clear the bass cannon isn’t scaring them, so why not scare them with some good ol’ fashioned Dashie? Even if your opponent’s gaining 4 AT a turn, they’d have to use it all to move ONE character to Vinyl and Octy’s Problem after Dashie drains their AT. It doesn’t stop Immediates, but it could still make a dent in certain decks that don’t use Prince Rutherford or Belly Flop.

*Fashion Upgrade. This was a staple in my mono-White deck and a card I think is underrated. Has your opponent finally saved up enough to move a character to Vinyl and Octy’s Problem? HAHA PSYCH I UPGRADE YOUR FLANK. This card forces your opponent to pay an extra AT whenever they move a character. It can really surprise a player, especially since they’ll lose the same AT if they try to use a Wake Up Call. Win-win!