I floop the pig
Finn and Jake play an epic card game, but Jake threatens to be a sore loser.
Tropes
- Achilles' Heel: The pig's ability to eat Jake's corn heavily dampens his units' abilities. The fact that it doesn't count as a movement also renders it safe from his Cerebral Bloodstorm. However, it sinks into a mud landscape after killing the old man on it, which Jake implies is a specific weakness of the pig.
- Adaptation Deviation: The Defictionalized Card Wars cards made later on have abilities that are either somewhat different from or entirely different from the cards shown in the episode.
- Ancient Scholar's ability to raise the dead is its only ability, while Finn implies it can learn other spells. It also doesn't need to study, having the ability to return a creature to your hand from the discard pile from the start. Accordingly, the Schoolhouse doesn't allow it to study, instead granting 5 defense to the creature in its lane if it floops.
- Archer Dan is depicted in the episode as destroying all of Finn's buildings in one turn. In-game, its floop lowers an enemy's attack by 4.
- The unnamed Astral Fortress gives creatures 3 defense in the episode. In-game, it gives 4 defense.
- Cerebral Bloodstorm attacks the enemy with its own attack value in the proper game, while the episode keeps its effects vague but establishes it cannot do anything to the Pig, since it wasn't attacking by eating Jake's corn.
- The Fortress of Solitude renders the Pig inside invulnerable to all harm, while in-game it empowers the creature on its lane by 5 defense and attack for each empty lane.
- Jake attempts to use Field of Nightmares to scare Finn's Pig to death, but it was later given the ability to instead make a creature unable to be flooped the next turn. This still would have solved Jake's problem, since Finn kept flooping the Pig and weakening his corn creatures.
- Field Reaper is depicted as brainwashing all of Finn's cards onto Jake's side. Naturally, it has a much less OP effect in the real game, lowering the attack of all enemies by 4.
- The Immortal Maize Walker gets a triple damage bonus for being on a cornfield in this episode. The game makes it a Useless Swamp creature, meaning it can only be played on the Useless Swamp.
- The Silo of Truth allows Jake to see Finn's hand and take one of his cards. The game makes it so that the creature in its lane gains 2 extra attack for each card in the opponent's hand.
- The Spirit Tower moves an enemy onto the player's lane. In the game, it deals 5 damage to the opponent when a new card is played on its lane.
- The game version of the Volcano card destroys all creatures in play on both sides, and is combined with a Reclaim Landscape card to revive all of Jake's creatures at once. There is no Reclaim Landscape card in the proper game, and Volcano only wipes out creatures and buildings on one lane for both the user and opponent.
- The conditions of victory in the episode are to eliminate all of the opponent's creatures. The game uses a life points system, in which the players both attack each other directly until they run out of health.
- Affectionate Parody: "Card Wars" is one for Collectible Card Games, particularly Magic: The Gathering. They even have Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" term for turning a card to the side ("floop"), just like in Magic. It also pokes fun at guys who are way too into it, as seen with Jake.
- Always Someone Better: Finn, BMO, and (possibly) Lady Rainicorn are better at playing Card Wars than Jake.
- Badass Pacifist: Finn doesn't ever actually attack, his only actions being sending his pig to eat Jake's corn, having his Ancient Scholar study to raise the dead, and reviving the pig after Jake uses a volcano to eat his corn again, which prompts his Spirit Tower to bring Jake's Maize Walker onto his side of the board.
- The Bet: The winner of the game will drink from the "Cool Guy" cup (filled with just soda); the loser will drink from the "Dweeb" cup (filled with soda, coffee grounds, beetle butter, grape jelly, kimchi, and Ham Chunk Juice).
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely in the Tree Fort with Finn, Jake and BMO as the only characters.
- Eat That: Jake makes a horrible "Dweeb" drink; whoever loses the game has to drink it. Finn deliberately loses and upon drinking the "Dweeb" drink, claims that it tastes good, much to Jake's surprise. Jake take a sip and he immediately spits it out because it's disgusting. In the end, the two of them continue drinking from the "Dweeb" cup, much to BMO's disappointment.
- Foreshadowing: BMO's pointed response to Jake asking if he wanted to join him and Finn in playing Card Wars.Jake: "Oh, hey BMO. You want to play too?"
BMO: "No! I do not play such games... with Jake."
Finn: "What's that mean?" - Let the Bully Win: BMO warns Finn that Jake hates losing, so Finn convincingly throws the game.
- Shout-Out: Jake and Finn insulting each others' plays is just like those of certain players of a similar game to Card Wars.
- Sore Loser: Jake really hates losing.
- Take That!: In-universe, when Jake tries a sip from the "Dweeb" cup, he reacted in disgust because of the taste. Finn jokingly says, "In your face, dweeb."
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: The pig card in Finn's Card Wars deck just happens to be the Achilles' Heel of Jake's corn-based deck. Even Jake is surprised when Finn uses it to curb stomp him.
- Throwing the Fight: Finn does this after BMO tells him about his session of Card Wars with Jake, and how Jake didn't talk to BMO for a month just because BMO managed to beat him.
- Wimp Fight: Finn's Pig against Jake's Wandering Bald Man.
- You Require More Vespene Gas: The corn plays this role in Jake's game strategy.
