#once again a game that. ostensibly gives you infinite options but still expects you to play it in a certain way

[j-esbian]

why did they give this dodecahedron artifact to shadowheart if it’s so super plot-relevant that they’re always going to assume it’s present in the scene 😒

[cloudchaserandflitterexplain]

Cloudchaser and Flitter Explain: Agile

If you say so…

ahem Hello Flitter. Do you know what we have been practicing at the Wonderbolts Academy lately?

Why no, do tell!

Well, there are a lot of things. Sometimes we practice our speed. Sometimes we practice our guts. But lately we have been practicing our agility. Speaking of agility, that’s our topic for the day: Agile.

You’re supposed to put a pause between those two lines, Cici…

I’m just reading what you put down here.

Well, yeah, but there’s more to telling silly jokes than just reading them.

You gotta put some emotion into it! If you’re not having fun, no one else will. And more important than that is…

Uhhh, is what?

Hi everypony! Like I tried to get Cici to tell you all, today we’re talking about Agile! The new keyword from Friends Forever!

Well, new-ish. We’re still a bit behind.

Er, Flitter?

So Agile’s pretty neat. It’s basically the equivalent of Hasty, only for the “Move a Character” action instead of the play a “Friend, Resource, or Event Card” action.

Which is to say it lets you take the normal pay 2 AT to move a character Main Phase action whenever you could take an Immediate action instead. Cici! Tell everyone why that’s important!

Huh? Oh, sure.

Well, in theory, Agile’s pretty great because it allows for more efficient confronts. Letting you move characters when you can’t normally move them is pretty powerful, and why cards like Rainbow Dash & First Mate Mullet are so good.

However…

There are basically no good Friends with Agile. At all.

Cici!

Sorry, Flitter, but they basically wasted this keyword. The closest to a good Friend with Agile is Flash Magnus, but he just costs too much.

Though Core is rotating soon. He may be good then...

Okay little miss bigshot, why’s Agile so bad if you just said it was good?

Well… it wasn’t really put on any impactful Friends, you know?

There’s 12 Friends with Agile, but none of them really do anything all that impactful. Agile is ostensibly an aggro ability, but the rate on most of these Friends is just not all that exciting. Paying 2 to move a Friend with 2 power and no other benefit isn’t really exciting you know?

Almost all of those cards have abilities when they move, Cici. Or at least when they confront something.

Sure, but the benefit is pretty small for the cost you’re investing. Like, why not just play another Friend who does something instead? Or use more cost efficient immediate movement options like Hasty Friends and Princess Luna: Dream Warrior?

Because I’m building convoluted engines that involve flipping my Troublemakers down with Strawberry Sunrise before my opponent can defeat them, then uncovering them again for minor benefit!

….Why?

Well, it’s like that famous philosopher said…

Anything worth doing is worth doing as silly as possible!

...Pinkie Pie said that, didn’t she?

It was Cheese Sandwich, actually.

You really should go take a tour of his amusement factory! There’s lots of fun stuff you can learn!

Maybe later...

But the point is, this is something new I can do that I couldn’t do nearly as easily before! And it’s all thanks to Agile.

Yeah, but—

Sure, it’s not the most effective plan, but it’s there! And I’m glad Agile exists!

I am too!

I just wish it was on better Friends…

But, you know, it’s pretty good on the non Friends. Defend the Hive and Surprise Take Off are both kind of super good, since they can give Agile to things that don’t normally have it. And there’s a lot of cool stuff you can do with them.

Like using Daring Do: Crafty Collector to confront Surprise Take off to give you an AT which you then use to move Daring Do to another problem and confront and get an AT again.

It’s probably worth pointing out at this point that since Agile counts as a main phase movement, it’s also affected by Swift!

Of course, it’s also affected by Showy, which isn’t as great.

Eh, no one uses Showy, so who cares?

Weren’t you beaten by a Showy Mane last year at Continentals?

That was a fluke, I swear...

Maybe we’ll get more Agile in the next set on cards you like better.

You think? Oh, I hope there’s an agile Friend who moves another Friend when you move it. Just think of all the possibilities!

Anyway, Agile definitely opens up a lot of interesting things you can do. Like move to a troublemaker to challenge it when you’d have had to have waited until the next turn before. Or to counter Purple movement abilities like Burning Bridges.

Yeah. That’s a real strong use of agile…

Maybe if Purple movement saw more play, we’d see a bit more Agile? But nowadays Purple’s usually paired with Pink or White and just removes Friends a bit more permanently… hrm.

Core’s going to rotate soon, though. Who knows what the future holds?

Not me, that’s for sure.

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

Uhh, Bulk? What are you doing here?

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

I’m pretty sure he’s delivering the mail, silly.

I can see that. I mean why? He’s not normally a mail pony.

I wear many hats…

And you’re very good at all your jobs, Bulk!

Couldn’t ask for a better wing pony.

THANKS!

So what’s up, Bulk?

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

...Just give it here, Bulk.

OKAY!

Oooh, what is it, Cici? A new jet ski? A Lifetime supreme of lemon pudding cake? The lost griffon Idol of Boreas?

It’s clearly an envelope, Flits.

Psh, you’d be surprised what you can fit in an envelope if you try hard enough.

It’s… a card. For the next set

But we already had our spoiler for the next set.

“We’re sorry you got two copies of the same card last time. We must have made a mistake when sending them to you. Hope this makes up for it.”

Huh. Well then.

Well, Cici, what is it?

Weird, is what it is. I mean just look at this card.

Oh hey look, Cici, your wish came true! Spike’s got Agile! What are the odds of that?

Eerie.

Also, I wished for an Agile Friend that could move other characters, not whatever this is...

Oh no! Cloudchaser, this is awful!

What? What’s wrong?

With this card… you can get infinite points!

That’s all you’re upset about?

But Cici, before, you couldn’t get more than 19 points, since the game ends the moment you have 15 or more points and the most points you could get at once was 5.

But if you make infinite copies of Spike…

And who’s going to do that?

...then start a problem faceoff at his problem, the winner will get infinite points!

This is just awful!

Don’t you normally love doing stuff like that?

Well, yeah, but it was a fun little piece of trivia that 19 was the most points you could get.

Well, time to adapt to the times, I guess!

You got over that quickly…

I was exaggerating for comedic effect! Yet another comedy technique I’m going to teach you!

And this card is honestly pretty neat!

I dunno. 1 power for 2 cost is really bad…

But just think of all the possibilities, Cici!

You start a faceoff, unsure if you’ll win or lose… and then after flips, once you know you’ll win…

Bam! You agile in Spike to score an extra point!

And if you’d have lost, you just keep him at home so the opponent doesn’t score the extra point.

Seems like a lot of work, honestly…

But yeah, okay. I’m intrigued. This is worth toying with.

Told ya!

I’m not expecting much…

But eh, who knows? It’s definitely interesting.

And with that surprise spoiler out of the way, I think we’re done talking about Agile!

Unless Cici wants to say more mean things about it.

I wasn’t saying mean things...

Although… there is one thing I’m wondering, Flits...

Oh? what’s that?

You never did tell me what’s more important for joke telling than emotion.

Timing!

Oh.

But wouldn’t the right time to tell me that have been right after I asked you before?

...You’re hopeless, Cici.

Huh?

Nevermind. Later everypony!

Later.