This is orbiting, dude. Social Circle game is awful on a number of levels - Firstly, you're going in under the guise of friendship which is terrible for masculine/feminine polarity. Secondly, you lose all your mystery because you're vetted and known by the social circle. Thirdly, if you're a dirty scumbag (like me) then you pretty much ruin the circle after 1 or 2 bangs.
Operate in the shadows as a lone wolf and you have all the power, for far less effort. But you do need to get good at cold approaching. That's hard to get good at if you're starting from scratch.