texts: In Star Wars: Imperial Assault, what information should be revealed to the Rebel players in the campaign?

texts:
The last time I played Star Wars: Imperial Assault with my friends, I played as the Empire.  If I recall correctly, during the first campaign mission (after the tutorial mission), the mission ends after round 6 if the Rebels haven't yet achieved their goal.  The Rebel players were understandably miffed when the mission ended unexpectedly.  This, however, conflicted with my reading of the rules, which state that the game is a game of hidden information.  I know, for example, that if an Imperial deployment can be triggered by a Rebel action, such as the opening of a door, the Rebels should not be aware of this.  The rules are not entirely clear on which parts of the mission scenario are "read-aloud" text and when those rules should be read.  Some things are explicit ("Read this section in it's entirety when X happens") while others are not.

So, exactly what mission details should the Rebels be made aware of? Should they have been made aware of the "lose" condition so they weren't blindsided by the mission ending as abruptly as it did?

I am looking for either A) a canonical or errata-based answer that explicitly states what pieces of information should be read out loud to the Rebel players from the campaign scenario and when that information should be read, or B) information from an experienced Imperial player that has dealt with this situation and can explain to me what pieces of information should be read and when.

The rules as they are written are not entirely clear, and there was nothing I could find in the errata or the FAQ that clarified this detail.


texts:
I just got done a really interesting game of power grid.

In the end all players had all the power plants that they needed except each of us needed one more 6 value power plant to be able to power 17 houses and win the game. At this time we were in step 2 and had already removed the other high plant form the game.

At this point the actual market was: 2 3 4 6
and the future market was: 2 4 4 5

I bought the 6 one and no one out bid me. They thought more 6-7 value plants would come up but none did until the end of the game.

In this situation though, am I doing this right?

One thing I thought the other players could do is buy up the small power plants in order to get newer plants up to the current market faster.

Is this situation possible to get into? Am I playing it wrong?

In the end, the players had these plants:

6 6 5 = 17

2 6 5 = 14

4 4 7 = 15


texts: Will my opponent lose from his own Plague Spitter enchanted with Soul Link, if the Plague Spitter deals him lethal damage?

texts:
My opponent is at 1 life. He controls a Plague Spitter and 2 other creatures (1/1 tokens). In his second main phase, he puts Soul Link on the Plague Spitter and passes the turn.

In my turn I do nothing that changes his board.

Will my opponents die in his next upkeep phase, due to the 1 damage dealt by the Plague Spitter, or will he be able to gain life from his other creatures (and me) taking damage before he takes damage?


texts: Does "each creature" include all creatures on the battlefield?

texts: I'm referring to Pyroclasm. I want to make sure it deals damage to all creatures on the battlefield.


texts: Does a Yeld spyrer's fly ability work just vertically, or on a hypotenuse?

texts:
From the Yeld wings entry to the Necromunda rulebook (1st ed):

  The Yeld's wings allow its user to fly up to his normal Movement characteristic in a turn, or double that if he charges or runs (flaps). Since the Yeld's wings allow it to glide well rather than truly fly the Yeld must land at the end of his move. Flying upwards counts as 2" for every 1" moved; flying downwards counts as 1/2" for every 1" moved.

Now consider a Yeld on top of a building as in the diagram. He can either:

Fly vertically downwards, or
Fly along the hypotenuse

Clearly the distances are not the same.

My question is, which scenario is correct for the Yeld's movement?


texts: I have been disputing with my friends lately about the fact that the creators of Munchkin intended for people to cheat or not. By cheating I mean doing anything the rules say you can't do or that is obviously not allowed, e.g.: using more hands then you're supposed to, stealing cards from the deck when nobody's looking. I believe the game is all about being a jerk and a backstabber in every way. Who agrees that you should be allowed to steal and cheat in Munchkin but have it be punishable however the GM sees fit?


texts: In Betrayal at House on the Hill, what happens when a player owns the Holy Symbol and turns into a vampire?

texts: We were playing a game of Betrayal at House on the Hill when one of us triggered the Dracula Haunt and turned into a Vampire. He picked up the Holy Symbol before so surely he would have to either toss it or roll every turn if he's able to move at all.


texts: Do I have to sacrifice non-token dragons to Day of the Dragons?

texts:
The Card Day of the Dragons says the following:

  When Day of the Dragons leaves the battlefield, sacrifice all Dragons you control. Then return the exiled cards to the battlefield under your control.

Note the part I've highlighted. What exactly does that mean?

For example, if I invoke a dragon card after using the enchantment (Dromar, the Banisher for example), when the enchantment leaves play do I have to sacrifice both my 5/5 Dragon tokens and Dromar?


texts: How does Gideon, Champion of Justice's ability work?

texts:
Say I use Gideon, Champion of Justice's second ability to turn him into a creature:

  0: Until end of turn, Gideon, Champion of Justice becomes a Human Soldier creature with power and toughness each equal to the number of loyalty counters on him and gains indestructible. He's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

Is he now a creature with the ability of "this creature's power and toughness are equal to the number of loyalty counters on it" or is he assigned a power and toughness as it becomes a creature? The reason I'm asking are to know if I can either change the number of counters on him somehow to pump him up (if it's an ability), or duplicate him somehow when he is a creature (if it's a fixed at time of activation).


texts: How does the introduction of victory cities in Axis & Allies revised change gameplay and strategy?

texts:
In the 2nd Edition of Axis and Allies, you win one of two ways:

Capture two of your opponent's capital cities (i.e. Germany and Japan if playing as the Allies or some combination of Eastern US, Russia, and Great Britain if playing the Axis).
Control 84 IPCs of territory at the end of the turn if playing the Axis, or 110 if playing the Allies.

In Axis and Allies Revised, economic victory was eliminated and the concept of victory cities was added. Instead of having to capture two capitals, the game ends when one side controls a certain number of these victory cities (and the number required can be used to scale game length).

How has this change in victory conditions changed gameplay and strategy?


texts: Are basic lands legal in every format by definition?

texts:
I've been told offhand that basic lands are always legal in every sanctioned format, as a special rule. This would mean that I could play a Wastes in a Standard deck, since they're basic lands.
However, the five "core" basic lands have also been reprinted in every set, and every sanctioned format allows at least one set. So they could be legal for that reason, not because of a specific rule—which would mean the Wastes would not be legal in Standard.
Which (if either) is correct? The Comprehensive Rules don't seem to cover format legality questions.


texts: Do Fortification Discs Double VPs like Town Discs?

texts:
I just played my first game of A Few Acres of Snow (late to the party, I know). And the end game scoring confused me just a little. The rules state that VPs for locations are doubled if there is a disc placed there...but both towns (from Development actions) and fortifications (from Fortify actions) place discs.

Do the black fortification discs double the score of locations at end of game?

My feeling is no, but I can't find a specific rule or clarification on BGG. Anyone here know for sure?


texts:
In Twilight Imperium 4th edition, a rider is a category of action card that says:

After an agenda is revealed:
You cannot vote on this agenda.  Predict aloud an outcome of this agenda.  If your prediction is correct, [GAIN SOME BENEFIT].

Examples of this are Politics Rider, Technology Rider, and Warfare Rider.
Can multiple players each play a rider on the same agenda?  Can one player play multiple riders on the same agenda?


texts: Is there a strategy PVP board/card game with Negative Feedback loops?

texts:
Feedback loops (for those who aren't aware)

(A Negative Feedback Loop is the technical term for "comeback mechanics", akin to what you experience in Mario Kart.  This is when the game makes it easier for the underdog to come back, punishes those who are winning, and causes games to always feel tense despite differences in experience.

In contrast, a Positive Feedback Loop is when winning encourages more winning.  For example, taking one of your pieces in Chess isn't just tallying another point, but it actually makes the rest of my game easier and your game harder.)

I'm a sucker for negative feedback loops...

However, most of the popular PvP board/card games I've played were the opposite (Star Realms, Netrunner, MTG, Pokemon, BANG, Chess, etc), as these games encouraged uphill battles due to persistent board states.

I know that some games have implemented some N.F.L. mechanics, but I haven't come across a game that uses N.F.L.s as a trend.  For instance:

Monopoly has a Community Chest effect that makes players pay based on the properties that they own (a N.F.L. mechanic), yet is mostly defined by your early success and provides few options for catching up.  The winner is generally the winner by a huge margin.
Magic The Gathering has a few mechanics that reward a player for having fewer lands or creatures, but most mechanics become stronger based on synergies and landing a "win more" solution that your opponent can't respond to/interact with.  Having a strong board state makes you more resistant to loss, rewarding winners with more winning.
Munchkin has several cards/monsters that change how they interact with higher/lower level players, but since gear can assist with earning more gear, and your level contributes to your overall ability to kill monsters, and several low-level monsters have some severe penalties (which will only impact those who are doing poorly), Munchkin feels mostly as a P.F.L. game (although this can be heavily mitigated based on how cutthroat your table is, as agreements/relationships can be a major factor for success at later levels).

The only popular game I can think of that relies on a N.F.L. is Uno, as you start running out of options as your hand gets smaller (which can mean you end up drawing lots of cards and losing your lead).  But I'm looking for something with a little more complexity and skill.

The Question:

Are there critically acclaimed strategic games that regularly use Negative Feedback Loops?


texts: Can someone counter a creature ability with a counter target creature?

texts: If I activate a creature ability that puts creatures on the battlefield, can my opponet counter it with a counter target creature spell?


texts: Does First Strike cause a creature to deal damage twice?

texts: Do creatures with first strike deal first and normal strike damage? I attacked with a Goblin Machinist that had +5/+0, and my friend argued that his 3/1 first strike would kill it, is that true?


texts: How does Circu, Dimir Lobotomist interact with defeated players in a Free for All?

texts: Could an opponent cast a card with the same name as a card exiled by Circu, Dimir Lobotomist after you defeat the owner of the card in a Free for All?


texts: What exactly was so broken about Urza's Block?

texts: I've often heard it said that the Urza Block (Urza's Saga, Urza's Journey, Urza's Destiny) was the most powerful, broken block in Magic history, with decks able to win on turn 1 or 2. I also saw it stated (in some MaRo article) that something like 20 cards were eventually banned from that standard format in an attempt to restore balance. However, I've never seen a good, detailed explanation of what, exactly, went wrong, which cards were to blame, and how the uber-powerful decks of that era actually worked. Can anybody here offer an explanation or a link to an external source?


texts: Sent from one Other World to another. Another encounter in the same turn?

texts: One of my characters was in The Abyss and had an encounter there, which stated to attempt a luck+1 skill check, which ended up sending my investigator to The Dreamlands. Do I get to immediately have another Other World encounter for The Dreamlands in the same turn, or is this only when the card specifically mentions "..and have an encounter there"? Also, does this sudden shift between Other Worlds mean that my investigator gets delayed, or is this also only if the card specifically says so?


texts: In King of Tokyo, how does Mecha Blast interact with High Altitude Bombing?

texts:
King of Tokyo: Powerup has an evolution card for Meka Dragon called Mecha Blast that reads:

  Discard this Evolution to deal 2 extra damage.

There is also a discardable card from the main game called High Altitude Bombing which reads:

  All monsters (including you) take 3 damage.

Can Mecha Blast be played after/during High Altitude Bombing to make it do 5 damage instead of 3 to everyone?


texts: When a creature dies and later returns to the battlefield, does it keep +1/+1 counters?

texts: If I have a Bloodcrazed Hoplite that's been given +1/+1 counters from its heroic ability, and then it's killed by an enemy creature, and then I cast a spell that returns it to the battlefield, does it still have the +1/+1 counters on it?


texts: Are these board games considered as gambling games?

texts:
Are these board games considered as gambling?

A.  Checkers?

B.  Four in a row?

C.  Othello?

Edit:  Would it be appropriate to allow children (ages < 18) to play these board games?  (On the computer or tablet devices, etc.) Do they lend themselves to gambling (on line or otherwise) like poker?


texts: VP value of space 0 & 1 on the reputation track in Above and Below

texts:
In Above and Below, the area next to the starting space and the 1-reputation space on the reputation track have a 2/3 and a 5 vp symbol next to them:

My group has become mixed on whether those symbols are meant to indicate that you get 2 points for the 0-reputation space and 5 points for the 1-reputation space. I was on board until I realized that those matched up to the 1st/2nd place bonuses, and that it might indicate that instead.

As far as I could find, there doesn't seem to be anything in the rules in favor of either case, nor could I find anything online to help. Does anyone know if there's a ruling on this somewhere?


texts: What is the best tournament format for Cripple Mr Onion?

texts:
I'm planning to run a Cripple Mr Onion tournament (the gambling variant of the game, but not for money), but I have never run a tournament before.

How should I structure this tournament?  What do I, as an organizer need to know to have this tournament go off successfully?

I'm willing to use and adapt a tournament format for similar card and/or board games but I need to know where to start.

The game requires at least two players, but not more than seven. So probably six or seven to a table. In my own (small) experience playing the game (and I've never played the gambling variant myself), it works better with a larger number.

I have no real idea how many players to expect. There'll be a couple of hundred at the Irish Discworld Convention, but no doubt the tournament will clash with other events. And some people there won't be interested. It might be two or three tables. Perhaps more. Perhaps just one.

Rules of the game (pdf): Cripple Mr Onion.


texts: How important is Bankroll Management in Texas Hold'em Poker, and why?


texts: Can the Collapsed Room land you in the Mystic Elevator?

texts:
During a play-through this weekend, we stumbled on the odd happenstance of the Collapsed Room falling into the Mystic Elevator when drawn from the pile.

Is there any rules related to this situation that would somehow invalidate this?  I'm of the opinion that it would be fine and you could magically fall through the floor up into the roof where the elevator could currently be placed.


texts: When I gain control of a creature, do I also gain control of any auras or equipment attached to it?

texts:
What would happen if I Portent of Betrayal'd a creature that had been enchanted by a bestow creature and cast a spell to give it protection from the enchantment's color on it to remove the bestowed creature?

For instance:

They have just bestowed a Nighthowler on a Asphodel Wanderer and passes the turn. I use Portent of Betrayal to take control of the Asphodel Wanderer, attack and in the second main I cast Gods Willing to give the Asphodel Wanderer protection from black. Nighthowler detaches and where does it go, my control, opponents control or graveyard?

As an additional question, in the same vein:

What if I destroyed the creature while it was on my side? So change the gods willing to a hero's downfall in the example.

Relevent (under state-based actions):

  704.5n If an Aura is attached to an illegal object or player, or is not attached to an object or player, that Aura is put into its owner's graveyard.


texts: What's a good item card to get water energy out of a deck in pokemon?

texts: I'm trying to make a deck for my Blastoise but I can't find/figure out what good item /pokemon card to draw water energy from my deck. This is my main card.


texts:
Full disclosure, I am relatively new to the game and haven't experienced all the mechanics yet.

There are a couple premade decks in the Born of the Gods set that use Tribute. We're a little hazy on how exactly it works...Is it simply a yes/no answer to paying tribute from the target player? Or is there a mana/health/whatever cost as well? It seems like some of the pay/don't pay choices are total no brainers.


texts: For a Panic card, can you draw a blue card that is already in play? If you can, is it possible to use that same blue card for yourself?


texts: If Conclave Mentor & Spike Feeder enter the battlefield at the same time, does the Spike Feeder get three +1/+1 counters?

texts:
Conclave Mentor:

If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on that creature instead.

Spike Feeder:

Spike Feeder enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it.

If I find these two creatures with Collected Company and put them into play at the same time, does the Spike Feeder enter the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters, or three?
I'm guessing three for the same reason Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle sees every other Mountain entering the battlefield at the same time after a Scapeshift, but it apparently doesn't work that way on MTGO.


texts: In Civilization do players discard defeated army cards at the end of a battle?

texts: In Civilization, at the end of a battle, do players discard defeated army cards or do the defeated army cards return to the players' hands?


texts: What qualifies as a "monocolored creature"?

texts:
I'm a little confused about what a "monocolored creature" is.

Defiler of Souls is definitely not, having a mana cost of 3BBR - Black and red is definitely not monocolored.

Birds of Paradise definitely is monocolored, having a mana cost of G.

Soulfire Grand Master has a mana cost of 1W - this is where my uncertainty lies. Is this a monocolored creature because of the single (W), or does the (1) disqualify that?


texts: In a&a 1941 can tanks and infantry hit aircraft?

texts: The book does not specifically say anything.


texts:
Recently I discovered the Decktet playing card pack, and have been enjoying the way that suits and ranks combine to make for some very clever games. However, I think I would be able to use better strategies if I could remember what cards existed!

I have noticed that the basic deck contains one card of each rank/suit combination, and that the extended deck contains two pawns and two courts of each suit, along with The Excuse.

I was wondering if there was some further logic behind the card arrangement, or some easy way to remember that there is, e.g., a nine of moons/suns, an eight of moons/suns, but no seven of moons/suns.


texts: How do I organise my cards in the Dominion big box insert?

texts: I have a Dominion set that includes the base set plus Alchemy and Prosperity. The box contains a plastic insert with many slots of various sizes. I have stored the cards in alphabetical order mixing the three sets together, but this seems suboptimal. This probably has a really obvious answer, but is there a way to organize the cards so the plastic insert makes sense? Any recommendations?


texts: If two opposing forces completely destroy each other at the same initiative step in combat, who is regarded as the first casualty for the purposes of things like first blood?


texts: So I've been playing commander for quite a while now I've been playing a green stompy deck. I have Thrun, the Last Troll. It says it cannot be countered and it cannot be a target of opponents spells or abilities so isn't spells like instant and sorceries? My friend say it can be exiled still; is he correct?


texts: When playing Talisman as the assassin, can I assassinate creatures I encounter following the draw of a card?

texts:
When playing Talisman Revised 4th Edition as the assassin, can I assassinate creatures I encounter following the draw of a card? Or is the assassination limited to when I, the assassin, decide to purposefully attack a creature or a character?

The character chard and the linked wiki merely say:

  You may assassinate when you attack a character or creature. You cannot assassinate when you are attacked by another character. When you assassinate, battle takes place as normal except that your victim may not roll a die to add to his Strength. If you win, you must force the loser to lose 1 life; you cannot take an Object or gold instead.
  You may not assassinate while at the Crown of Command.

An extension to this question is: can the assassin assassinate the pitfiends and the werewolf in the inner region?


texts: What happens if your partner hits you in Pegs and Jokers?

texts:
Question for marble movement.

Your partner has a marble in their in-spot (start of home). If you hit that marble with yours, what happens to your partners marble? And yours?

We have been playing with this sequence of events:

The rule is that when you hit your partners marble it is sent to its in-spot.
That position is now occupied by your marble so now your partners marble hits yours and sends you to your in-spot.
The end result would be both of you are in your in-spots.

Any thoughts on this play?


texts: is it possible to target a player as if they were a Planeswalker?

texts: I ask this question so that I can clarify an old description. Players, from before there was castable Planeswalkers, have been described as Planeswalkers themselves and I understand that after each battle at a card shop the player gets that description again due to the Planeswalker point system. But my question lies between the past and the post battle are players classified as Planeswalkers when it comes to card effects?


texts: Does Nyxbloom Ancient replace the entire mana ability or just the part that produces mana?

texts:
Nyxbloom Ancient has the following replacement effect:

  If you tap a permanent for mana, it produces three times as much of that mana instead.

I'm wondering whether the replacement effect ("instead") applies to the entire mana ability or just to the part that produces the mana. For example consider Empowered Autogenerator:

  {T}: Put a charge counter on Empowered Autogenerator. Add X mana of any one color, where X is the number of charge counters on Empowered Autogenerator.

With Nyxbloom Ancient on the battlefield, do I get to place the charge counter on Empowered Autogenerator?


texts: How does stealing a creature's text box work with copies?

texts:
Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. has an ability which says:

  {2}{U}{B}: Phoebe permanently steals target creature’s text box. (That creature loses all rules text, flavor text, and watermarks. This creature gains them.)

What happens when this is used on a Clone (or another creature) that is copying something, such as a Charging Badger? Does she gain the Badger's or the Clone's text box? (Does she gain both?)


texts: While playing a Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind EDH deck. If I cast a spell which would cause me to lose the game via drawing too many cards, but would deal lethal damage to the last opponent e.g a wheel effect with a hand larger than my library, do I draw all the cards before Niv-Mizzet's trigger resolves and lose or deal damage after each card drawn and win?


texts: May I use "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" to negate the effects of cards that send from deck to grave, but not in the specific scenario?

texts:
Let us assume that my opponent is playing a Shaddoll deck, and has activated "Shaddoll Fusion" on the first turn of the game. Since I have not taken a turn and have no monsters special summoned from the extra deck on my side of the field, the opponent is unable to send the Fusion materials from deck (part of "Shaddoll Fusion"'s effect), but can still Fusion summon using materials from hand.

Even though they can't use the part of the effect that sends monsters from deck to graveyard, am I still able to chain "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" to negate the effect of "Shaddoll Fusion"?


texts:
Settlers of Catan has a lot of public knowledge.  For example, a player cannot hide how many resource cards or development cards they have.

Are any of the following public knowledge?

Size of the bank: are players allowed to pick up the stack of remaining wheat and count them?
Trades: are two players allowed to trade in a way that no one else knows what was traded?
Discarded cards: if a player rolls a 7 and has to discard resources, do they have to state what they're discarding, or are they allowed to sneakily put down cards in hopes that no one saw them?


texts: Does copying a spell on the stack count as casting it?

texts: What happens if I have Paradox Engine but I use League Guildmage's ability. Would Paradox Engine’s ability activate?


texts: Can a creature with Hexproof be affected by a spell like Sleep?

texts: Let's suppose I have Emrakul, the Promised End in play, equipped with Swiftfoot Boots.  My opponent plays Sleep.  Does Emrakul, the Promised End get tapped or does Hexproof prevent that?


texts:
Some roles, like the angel or the village idiot, want to be voted themselves.

Is it valid to any villager to vote for himself?


texts: Do I discard weaknesses when they are done?

texts: Does Roland Banks' weakness Cover Up get discarded when I've removed all 3 clue tokens from it, or do other weaknesses get discarded when they are done with the instructions on the card?  There is no mention of it so my thinking is that I do not have to discard it and potentially end up drawing it again once I've resolved a card such as Cover Up.


texts: Is there an explanation as to what the DLCs add with the Talisman Digital Edition?

texts:
In short I bought the Talisman Digital Edition earlier in the week (oddly reminisced about the game that I hadn't played for 30 years in the morning bought it and the starter pack in the evening).

Have now bought the Season Pass because of a spot Steam Sale.
I added all the downloadable content (DLC) in but found myself a bit lost in terms of what was doing what (e.g. the Dragons and Dark and Light Fate tokens totally threw me).
Have started another game just adding in the base game, Sacred Pool, Frostmarch, City, Dungeon and Reaper expansions & it seems a balanced kind of game.

Is there a preferred amount of DLC to add in (or a preferred set of what to add?) and is there any explanation for what they add to the game (e.g. the Dragon tokens have totally thrown me)?

I am of the impression it's a virtual carbon copy of the board game so I'm figuring it might be appropriate to ask for advice here? (given the subject).

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

Edit: asked a similar question on r/Talisman on Reddit and got broadly the answer I was after so as I'm happy enough with the answer below I'll mark this as an answer for closure.

Reddit answer https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/fbktfm/is_there_a_sensible_amount_of_dlc_to_add_in_on/fjaafwl


texts: How does Zap work in "Chameleon the game"?

texts:
When reading through the rules to "Chameleon the game" there is an action called zap which sends the opposing players piece to the start. I read the rules but cannot quite work out the mechanics of the steps.

The rules indicate the dice are used for Zapping but do not clearly indicate how.

Front of the box

Back of the box

Board and pieces

Rulebook


texts:
So the question is in the title:
Is there any deck that can(in the very best case) win in turn 1?
It should not be tournament legal, it should not be legacy legal, but it should follow the basic deckbuilding rules:

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. There is no maximum deck size; however, you must be able to shuffle your deck with no assistance. If a player wishes to use a sideboard, it must have fifteen or less cards.
With the exception of basic land cards, a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent. All cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest are basic.

Without the second limitation a deck of 15x Black Lotus and 45x Ancestral Recall would possibly be a turn 1 win deck:

15x Lotuses would give you 45 blue mana to cast 45 Ancestral Recalls
45 Ancestral Recalls can force you or your opponent to draw up to 135 cards
if you start with 6 cards(after mulligan), you have 54 left in the library, so you would want to use 18 Ancestral Recalls on yourself to get all you library in your hand
Then you can just mill your opponent to death

But, unfortunately, this deck is just not legal. Nowhere.
Without the first limitation the following deck would potentially be a turn 1 win deck:

2x Laboratory Maniac
4x Black Lotus
2x Ancestral Recall

So here's how it would work:

You will certainly have 1x Maniac, 3x Lotus and 1x Recall in your hand when you start.
Play 2x Lotus, Maniac and Recall on yourself which will result to forcing yourself to draw cards while you can't. This would make you lose the game, but Laboratory Maniac's ability would trigger and you would win the game instead.

But again, this deck is not legal either.
The only deck that I can think of that's capable of turn 1 win with these conditions is:

3x Black Lotus
4x Ancestral Recall
4x Fluctuator(for higher chance of getting it earlier)
1x Laboratory Maniac
48x cards with Cycling

In best case you would get Fluctuator, 3x Black Lotus and 3x Ancestral Recall as your starting hand. Then you could:

Play 3x Black Lotus for 9 blue mana (9 {U} in mana pool)
Play 3x Ancestral Recall targeting yourself (6 {U})
Play Fluctuator (4 {U})
Play last Ancestral Recall (3 {U})
Cycle like crazy(since you have Fluctuator all your cycles are free)
After drawing the last card cast Laboratory Maniac (0 mana left)
Cycle again
Win

Is there any other deck that could possibly win in turn 1?


texts: Does Containment Priest exile one's own creature?

texts: Containment Priest says "If a nontoken creature would enter...exile it instead," but it doesn't specify "opponent," so does casting this creature mean that Containment Priest's controller would also have to exile all noncasted nontoken creatures?


texts: Is there a movement penalty when starting in the same room as an opponent?

texts:
In Betrayal at House on the Hill there is a rule for Moving Past Opponents on page 17:

  For each opponent in a room with it after the haunt starts, an
  explorer or monster must use 1 extra space of movement to leave that
  room. (Heroes slow down the traitor and monsters, and vice versa.)

  No matter how many penalties you have on a turn, you can always move
  at least 1 space. This is also true if a monster rolls a 0 for
  movement (see "How Monsters Work," page 18).

  Stunned monsters don't slow an explorer's movement in this way.

I interpret "moving past an opponent" as walking into a room with an opponent, then walking out. Is there a movement penalty if you are ALREADY in the room with your opponent at the beginning of a turn?

For example, say I am in a room with 3 zombies at the start of the turn. Does it take me 4 movement points to leave the room (1 for each zombie and 1 as a normal movement point) OR does it take me 1 movement point?


texts: Is it possible for players to gain an advantage from colluding in blackjack?

texts:
Blackjack basic strategy makes the assumption that the player is playing independently, with one person's decision to hit/stand having no affect on another player's decision to hit/stand.  If the results of every single hand were independent from each other, then there would be no way to improve upon basic strategy and gain a positive expected return.

Blackjack hands, however, are not independent events.  Card counting takes advantage of the fact that the next hand is not independent of previous hands, due to the limited number of decks in the shoe.

A few days ago, I realized that there might be another way to gain an advantage by using the fact that the results for individual players during a single round are not independent of each other.

For example, most players will win when the dealer has a weak hand, and most players will lose when the dealer has a strong hand. Also, one player's cards reveal information about the probable outcome for both other player's hands and the dealer's hands for that particular round (even when there is a continuous shuffle machine being used).

If player A and player B have expected returns that are not independent of each other, is there a way for them to work together to alter their strategy in a way as to decrease the house edge?


texts: How can I mitigate some of the downtime between player's turns?

texts:
For games in which it is not possible to take simultaneous turns, as the number of players increases, so does the wait time between a player's turn and their turn again. It becomes a balancing issue with the game's design to keep the game the same or introduce elements that help speed up game-play.

What is the maximum downtime between turns that I can expect players to be ok with?
What steps can be taken to mitigate downtime between turns (examples from games, and your opinion of their effectiveness, are appreciated).

For example, Settlers of Catan, when expanded to 5-6 players, allows all players to make purchases during any player's turn. This is done to mitigate having too many cards if the robber comes up between your turns, but it also increased engagement on other people's turns. MtG and other CCGs have instants that can affect your opponent's turns.  Even games like Monopoly allow trading between players to keep them engaged.

What other design approaches can be used for larger numbers of players if simultaneous play (like Roll Through the Ages) isn't possible?


texts: Soviet space exploration board game (now with pictures)

texts:
I have an archaeological question :). I used to have this space exploration board game that my father bought in the USSR in the 80s. I can't remember its name and I've been trying to find it on Russian websites for several days now, but it seems to be rather obscure and rare. I remember it had a board put together from several separate cardboard pieces (not foldable as usual). There were pictures of various Soviet space probes and satellites printed around the board. The main theme, if I recall correctly, was to put your satellites around major planets. The dominant color on the board was dark blue, with pictures of planets and stars. I have already checked that it was NOT any of the following:

Большое космическое путешествие (Great cosmic voyage)
Риск (Risk)
Космос (Cosmos)
В космос (Into the cosmos)
Приключения на Луне (Adventures on the Moon)

Any help in identifying this game will be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:
I remember one more thing, although not that relevant. The player's pieces look a bit like these, although slightly more slender and reminiscent of a space rocket.


texts: Does the starting world dictate your strategy in Race for the Galaxy?

texts:
Our board games club recently purchased Race for the Galaxy and we've played around a dozen games so far, plus some research using Keldon's AI (which is excellent).

In the base set with one world, when you draw a starting planet that confers a specific bonus, eg +2 Military does that force you down the Military path? As for a Produce/Consume strategy you are behind a player who drew a Mining world for example.


texts: What's the name of the board game with dinosaur cards?

texts: I remember having and playing this game in early to late 90's when I was a kid. There was a deck of dinosaurs with stats like "length", "ferocity", and two others I cannot remember. When you finished your turn on one of four special fields which were located in the corners of the board, you'd have put down one of your dinosaur cards and compare the specified stat with other player(s) cards. I faintly remember that whenever you would win, you would move your other indicator away from the volcano which was pictured in the middle of the board. HELP!


texts:
In Cartographers, what would score if your 1st and 2nd Village clusters are the same size? There's also a 3rd village cluster at a different size.

The card states:

  Earn two reputation stars for each village space in the second largest cluster of village spaces.


texts:
Many games - such as Othello, Checkers, Chess1, and Go - are played on highly-regular, square boards.

How would the game mechanic change if you played an Othello-like game on, say, a Chinese Checkers board?

All other rules being equal - ie you can only flip in direct vectors from the piece played - would this be likely to be a viable game-play mechanic?

1 excluding variants such as Chess4


texts:
I had a question regarding a unique trap called Evenly Matched:

  At the end of the Battle Phase, if your opponent controls more cards than you do, make your opponent banish cards face-down until they control the same number of cards. If you control no cards, you can activate this card from your hand.

And a powerful Quick-play spell called Cosmic Cyclone:

  Pay 1000 LP, then target 1 Spell/Trap card and remove it from play.

Now the thing is. I was dueling a True Draco deck the other day with my Blue Eyes. I was trying to play Trade-In and my opponent activated Imperial Order. As he did so, I chained Cosmic Cyclone to remove it from play before it's effect resolved. Now basically it went like this:

Chain 1: Trade-In
Chain 2: Imperial Order
Chain 3: Cosmic Cyclone

Chain 3 resolves first, then chain 2 (but since it's removed from play it doesn't resolve), then chain 1.

So basically given that my Cosmic Cyclone was able to stop Imperial Order's effect from resolving, could Cosmic Cyclone also be chained to Evenly Matched and stop IT from resolving it's effect?


texts: Are there any specific strategies in Jenga?

texts: Does Jenga have any specific strategies for block placement and removal that can be employed? Are there certain moves or ideas I could employ to (for example) increase the likelihood that the stack will fall on my opponent's next turn?


texts: I'd like to get into Wings of War / Glory but am confused where to start

texts:
I became aware of Wings of War / Glory when someone mentioned it as an inspiration for the Xwing Miniatures game. I'm late to the party and would like to understand the differences between Wings of War and Wings of Glory, other than branding.

Basically, how do I get started with this game?

A good answer would include details like:

Can you combine both games or are the rules / materials different?
Can you combine WWI and WWII versions of the game?
Is there an ideal box to start with?
Are all the new products with miniatures or is there an option to play with just cards?


texts: What the is frequency with which a bridge partnership is dealt hands suitable for bidding 2-over-1?

texts:
A number of people that I play bridge with started learning 2-over-1; but found when they tried using it that the frequency with which hands suitable for its use is low. One of them even quotes 8% and, like many of the others, has stopped using 2-over-1, preferring other methods of showing strength when responding to partner's opening bid.

I've looked through the usual frequency and distribution tables for bridge hands; but have not been able to answer my question: is there a statistical method for calculating the frequency of 2-over-1 hands ?


texts:
Rite of Undoing reads:

Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Return target nonland permanent you control and target nonland permanent you don't control to their owners' hands.

Please clarify - to exile means to 'banish' from the game? Why would I do that to my own cards? If otherwise, does the {1} mean each card 'exiled' costs 1 mana each?
Finally, if so, where do the cards go, hand, library, battlefield?


texts: In Secret Misson Risk which player is the winner when 2 missions are simultaneously achieved?

texts:
When playing the North American 1993 version of Secret Mission Risk, which player is the winner when 2 missions are simultaneously achieved?

Example: If your mission is, “Conquer Asia & Africa” and you have just one more territory to conquer to complete your mission, let’s say Madagascar which also has the last red troop on the map while another player has the mission “Destroy all Red Troops”, who wins when the last red troop dies and Madagascar is captured?

Does the other player holding the mission “Destroy all Red Troops” win as the red troop died before Madagascar was occupied? Does the player holding the mission “Conquer Asia & Africa” win as that player was the contributor to the final action accomplishing both missions? Would this game be considered a tie as both missions where accomplished simultaneously? Would the winner be the first to reveal their mission?


texts: Should runners be able to tell the difference between installed upgrades and agendas/assets?

texts:
If a corporation installs an upgrade on a remote server, should the runner be able to tell it's an upgrade, and not an asset or agenda?

You can install multiple upgrades, but only one asset or agenda.  If you install an upgrade and an agenda/asset, does it matter how you place them on the table?  Should the runner be able to tell whether you have an agenda/asset and an upgrade, or two upgrades?


texts: How many counters for each turn for Abzan?

texts: I've just started playing mtg like a week ago and the first deck I've bought was Abzan Siege. Problem is I'm a bit confused on one thing, how many counters can you put on a creature at each turn? Is it only one +1/+1 per turn or as many as I want as long as I have sufficient lands?


texts: I am a bit confused of the artifact card Terrarion. Does this card allow me to gain 2 mana of any color forever when I tap 2 mana, tap Terrarion, and sacrifice it? Or do I only gain that mana for that turn?


texts: How can I resolve my Dragon Shield sleeves being curved?

texts: I've always used Dragon Shield for sleeving my decks and recently I've noticed the sleeves come slightly curved in the box. This means when I sleeve my decks they sometimes slide and fall on the floor. I've tried stacking books on them to make them stay flat but it doesn't help much as they never stay. I was just wondering whether anyone else had this problem and what they did about it, I noticed that putting them in a particularly tight box can help, but it also sometimes bends the cards which I don't want.


texts: Does playing a "Double Rent" card in Monopoly Deal count against your card play total on a turn?

texts:
According to the Action Card directions on a Double Rent card, it can only be played with a Rent card.

Given that it is the only card that cannot be played alone, does it count against your total cards played count for a given turn (which cannot exceed 3)?


texts: Does Humility prevent Manifested creatures from being turned face-up?

texts: Related to Does Humility stop all creatures from being able to morph?: The question specifies morphs, but I wondered if this was true for Manifest as well? As Manifest is not an ability on the card, does Humility prevent it from being turned face up for its mana cost?


texts: I have the Dominion base set only, in what order should I buy the expansions?

texts:
I've heard a lot about the different Dominion expansions, but I'm still not really sure which direction to go.

In what order would you suggest I buy the expansions?
How does each one change the game?
what different behavior/strategies does each one promote?


texts:
Does anyone know the name of this game?
Does anyone know this game? Need help!


texts: In Eldritch Horror, do epic monsters have to be encountered before non epic monsters?

texts:
The guide by The Esoteric Order of Gamers says

  If you are on a space with 1 or more monsters, you must resolve a single combat encounter against each monster there, one at a time, in the order of your choice. Each non-epic monster must be encountered before each epic monster.

I'm not familiar with this source, so is there a definitive reference in the quick reference or rulebook or some officially released errata that confirms this?


texts: Do I have to "choose" when not targetting?

texts:
This is related to this question, but without the targeting. Let's say I have Penance and Narset, Enlightened Master on the battlefield, my opponent having nothing but (colorless) lands. It's my turn, combat phase, I attack with Narset, and with her triggered ability still on stack I want to activate Penance in order to put a non-creature, non-land from my hand on top of my library to free cast with Narset.

Do I have to choose Narset for Penance's damage prevention?


texts: Would Rakdos, Lord of Riots allow a free Endless One cast?

texts: I have a commander / EDH deck running Rakdos, Lord of Riots as my commander. (This isn't a tournament legal deck by the way, just for casual play with friends) I've got Endless One in the deck as well. My question is, though: With Rakdos out, could I be able to get Endless One out, for free, with as much +1/+1 counters in it as there was damage dealt to opponents that turn? Or would I have to pay even one mana for it?


texts: What happens if at the beginning of my turn I have no Beans left in my hand to plant because I traded them all away on other people's turns?


texts: What game asks "who is most likely to..."?

texts:
There is a board game popular amongst students at my university back in the mid 90's that I am trying to identify.

What I remember (or think I remember) about it is that there was a stack of cards asking questions about "who is most likely to" do a certain thing.  Everyone then voted who amongst the game players is "most likely" to do what was on the card.

Everyone has some sort of token they use to select someone else in the game.  Once everyone has voted they reveal their picks.  I think if you voted along with the majority you got to move your token forwards on the board.


texts: In Zombie Fluxx, if you play an Exchange Keepers Card, can you give them a Creeper and they give you a Keeper so you can match the goal?


texts: Why was Kird Ape banned in very first Extended ban list?

texts: I'm curious as to what sort of reasoning went behind Kird Ape being too strong for Extended play? Granted this was many years ago but I was surprised to see that it was banned in a format that allowed powerful cards like Necropotence.


texts: Moving the Gardener/Panda 'in a straight line' in Takenoko

texts:
The rules in Takenoko state that the Panda/Gardener can move in a straight line as far as they like, but not over gaps between tiles.

In practice this means that the movement of the Panda/Gardener is hardly restricted. Would it be possible to restrict the movements of other players by placing the Gardener/Panda right on the edge of a tile on the edge of the map, thus reducing the available angles of movement for the next person to move the Panda/Gardener?

I have assumed that movements are taken from the position of the Panda/Gardener piece, not the centre of the tile he is in. I have also assumed that the angle that the Panda/Gardener moves does not have to be congruent with any of the edges of the segment.


texts:
Infinite combos in Magic are awesome (if you're a Johnny).  Planeswalker ultimate abilities are awesome (if you're a Timmy).  Combining the two would be even more awesome.  Then you could have a billion emblems from Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, or Kiora, the Crashing Wave.  Because dealing a billion damage isn't as cool as doing it every time you cast a spell.  And getting a billion krakens isn't as cool as getting them every turn.

What's the fewest number of cards (besides the planeswalker) that allows you to activate a planeswalker's ultimate ability an arbitrary number of times?


texts: I recently got Bang The Bullet special edition. Unfortunately I did not realise that this edition does not have the bullets that represent life for each character and I really like that specific mechanic. Other than using some other kind of thing to represent the life. Does anyone know of a place that I can get some spare parts?)


texts: Are there different versions of Fortnite Monopoly? I see 2 boxes covers but can’t find which one is more recent

texts: I am coming across two different Fortnite Monopoly boxes, but can’t tell which one is more current skins. How can I check please? Thank you!


texts: Is Haphazard Bombardment legal with fewer than 4 nonenchantment permanents under my opponent's control?

texts:
Haphazard Bombardment is worded slightly, so I assume intentionally, different from cards I can find that seem similar. Particularly in that it doesn't target the chosen cards.

Granted this is unusual, but suppose my opponent on the draw missed 3 land drops and has only 3 land on the battlefield on my turn 6. Can I cast Haphazard Bombardment given there are only 3 things (specifically not targets) I can possibly choose? Or does it count as part of the cost that 4 nonenchantment permanents be chosen? My understanding is, if it said "choose 4 target nonenchantment permanents" and there were only 3 options, it would be uncastable. Is the same true without the "target"?

If there are 4 or more options, I'm fairly confident I can't choose fewer but I'm unclear if I can get away with it when there aren't enough choices.


texts:
I'm not 100% sure what happens if I have a Goldnight Commander on the battlefield and play a Thatcher Revolt. Do all three 1/1 red human tokens enter the battlefield at once, giving each of them +3/+3 (along with all creatures already on the battlefield)? Or does the first one get +3/+3, the second one +2/+2 and the last one only +1/+1?

I'm assuming the former, but it would be great if someone could confirm.


texts: Abstract "move holding" service for simultaneous-move board games

texts:
Background

I am looking to play a variant of Diplomacy over email or other messaging system. The specifics of Diplomacy and of the variant are not important, suffice it to say that the root trouble is simultaneous moves.

Consider scissors-paper-stone as an example: how would you play that over, say, email?
One possibility is a neutral person. Both players email their throw to the arbiter. He holds the first email until he has received the second, then he forwards each email on to the other player.

This neutral person could be replaced by a computer, as this function is pretty brain-dead.

I am aware there are services for online Diplomacy (and scissors-paper-stone for that matter), but they are specific to that game. The variant I am looking to play is not supported. I am also aware that this could be done using cryptographic hashing, but there are practical issues with that (like player education).

Question

  Is there a simple service that just collects messages from a given list of recipients, and then forwards all messages, unaltered, once it has received a message from everyone on the list?

This can be over any internet messaging system that would not require too much player education. (EDIT: I meant to include things like web interfaces also, as long as they're easy to use.)

It seems like the sort of thing someone would have already come up with.


texts: Kathril, Aspect Warper and his ability's "targets"

texts:
I have a question regarding Kathril, Aspect Warper's ability. The ability is as follows:

When Kathril, Aspect Warper enters the battlefield, put a flying counter on any creature you control if a creature card in your graveyard has flying. Repeat this process for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance. Then put a +1/+1 counter on Kathril for each counter put on a creature this way.

Now, as I understand it, this ability is a triggered ability that is put on the stack when Kathril enters the battlefield (so the spell "Kathril, Aspect Warper" has resolved). This means any player can immediately react to this trigger, before it has resolved. This has led to some confusing situations regarding the creatures that receive a counter.
The part that confuses me is this:

put a flying counter on any creature you control

According to rule 115. Targets:

115.1d A triggered ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the
“something” is a phrase that describes an object and/or player. The
target(s) are chosen as the ability is put on the stack; see rule
603.3d.

This is not a target-ability since it does not state "target [something]".

So what is this ability then?
Do I need to specify targets as soon as the ability is put on the stack?
Can the chosen creatures be changed by something like Willbender?
Is there even a moment opponents gain priority between Kathril entering the battlefield, en putting counters on creatures?

Question 2, 3 and 4 matter quite a lot when you want to make Kathril hex-proof and indestructible, but an opponents wants to remove Kathril before the trigger resolves.
Any info or relevant rules would be greatly appreciated.


texts: How do Solemnity and Delaying Shield interact?

texts:
Delaying Shield turns damage into counters.  Solemnity prevents it from gaining counters.  What happens when you take damage?

You don't take damage.  Counters would be added to Delaying Shield, but are not because of Solemnity.
You take damage as normal.  Delaying Shield's inability to gain counters prevents its ability from working.


texts:
There are insanely many tsumego in existence, but many of them are very artificial and would never occur in real games. While any tsumego helps to improve, specifically learning shapes likely to be encountered in actual games would be of great benefit. I'm especially thinking of fast games with little time to actually read.

Are there any collections of problems that are likely to occur in real games, or at least close to it?


texts: Does Doubling Season affect planeswalkers?

texts:
According to 306.5b,

  A planeswalker is treated as if its text box included, "This permanent enters the battlefield with a number of loyalty counters on it equal to its printed loyalty number." This ability creates a replacement effect.

A ruling on Doubling Season states,

  Doubling Season affects cards that "enter the battlefield with" a certain number of counters. Triskelion, for example, would enter the battlefield with six +1/+1 counters on it rather than three.

If you control Doubling Season, do planeswalkers come into play with twice as many loyalty counters as mentioned on the card?

Does using one of their 'Put X loyalty counters on this permanent: ...' abilities put twice that many loyalty counters on the planeswalker instead?


texts: Can other players try to stop you from completing Joining the Winning Team?

texts:
The Dunwich Horror expansion of Arkham Horror includes a card called Joining the Winning Team. Basically it's a mission where you have to sacrifice an ally at a number of places. On completion, you win the game and all other players lose the game.

I'm aware of the fact that this is nigh impossible to complete (as of this writing, the Arkham Horror Statistics page says that only 11 of their nearly 13,000 recorded games have ended by its completion), but in the rare event that you might be able to pull it off, can the other players do anything to stop you? Can they attack you or anything?


texts: The rules say you can only use one Bang! per turn and one copy of each card can be out in front of you. Does this mean that I can still use two barrels or two Gatlings on my turn?


texts: Assuming you are an active player you play an Oracle of Mul Daya or Crucible of Worlds. Could you play your land before they kill Oracle of Mul Daya? Would you be able to play lands off of Crucible of Worlds if they would try to destroy it?


texts:
While playing the game, "Cluedo: Discover the Secrets," we always seem to have an argument about what we can do and what we can't. So, I've came here to put the questions to rest and hopefully have them answered.

Case 1:

Assume I am in the Living Room, and I roll a 10. I walk toward the observatory and enter the room. Can I use the secret passage to go to the Kitchen on that same turn? Same idea should apply to other secret passage rooms.

Case 2:

Does the pool count as a room? I ask this question because the new Cluedo requires you to go to the Pool to make the accusation. So, if one was White, she has the power to go to any room that doesn't have a secret passage. Does that power extend to going to the pool and making the accusation? Same question for the intrigue card of similar ability.

Case 3:

The Patio's doors are unclear in the board. Does it have one door or multiple ones? There is a bench that seems to be a door and their a stairway that seems to a decorative element of the room. Which is what?

I would appreciate any answers. Further, if someone has a reputable site that explains such cases and rules in detail, then can someone please add its in his/her answer.


texts: Was there ever a non-1st Edition version of the Machamp found in the 2-player Starter Set?

texts:
Back when I collected Pokémon cards, I received a 2-Player Starter Set, which included a 1st Edition Holographic Machamp. As far as I know, everybody who got this set received the same 1st Edition Machamp card.

Was there ever a non-1st Edition version of the starter set Machamp released?


texts: Footlight Fiend vs. Rising Populace Trigger order

texts:
While drafting WAR we encountered a situation we didn't know how to resolve. Imagine the following situation:

The opponent attacks with Rising Populace and a 1/1 creature.
I block the Rising Populace with Footlight Fiend and the 1/1 creature of the opponent with a 1/1 creature myself.

After the combat damage is dealt, the Populace gets a +1/+1 counter while I want to deal 1 damage to the Populace to kill it beforehand. Basically the triggers occur at the same time, so which ability resolves first? The Fiend's since I have priority? Will the Populace die or become a 3/3?


texts: What happens to a detective in Scotland Yard who cannot move any further?

texts:
A detective might be stuck in a position which he cannot leave since he doesn't have an appropriate transportation ticket. What happens to this detective?

Is he removed from the board?

OR

Does he stay in this position until the end of the game? This would imply then that no other player could go to this place (since Mister X would lose and since the detectives are also not allowed to occupy one place with more than one figure).

I could not find an answer in the rulebook so far but maybe there are some indicators in the rulebook or in the rulebook of related games, such as New York Chase.


texts:
Does a token creature when it dies satisfy the criteria of Fresh Meat? Text of card as follows:

  Create a 3/3 green Beast creature token for each creature put into your graveyard from the battlefield this turn.


texts:
Sparring Mummy says: "When Sparring Mummy enters the battlefield, untap target creature." Am I forced to untap a target creature?

Can I cast this card if on the battlefield there are no creatures ?
Can I cast this card and choose not to untap any creatures if there are any ?


texts: How do you decide which way to finesse for an ace?

texts:
This is from the New York Post, which is to say that it is a "problem."

You are declarer (South) in a 3 no trump contract. You get a "friendly" lead in a suit where you have three winners (two in hand, one in dummy). You have A-K in each of two other suits for seven top tricks. You have no issues (transportation or weaknesses) in these three suits, but no chances for extra tricks. So focus only on the fact that you need two tricks from the fourth suit, in which you hold K854.

Dummy holds QT32.

If the suit splits 3-2, there's no problem. If it splits 5-0, you might be out of luck. Your "nightmare" scenario is a 4-1 split with the singleton being either the 7 or the 6.

Apparently, the correct procedure is to lead low to one of your face cards for a finesse.

How do you decide whether to lead from dummy toward your king, or from hand toward the queen?

Which trivializes the second question: should you win in hand or in dummy?


texts: Is Tribal a permanent type (for Muldrotha)?

texts: I am building a Commander deck with Muldrotha, the Gravetide as the Commander. During my deckbuilding, I remembered there is such a thing as a "Tribal" card type. Is Tribal one of the supported card types that can be cast from the graveyard using Muldrotha's ability?


texts: How should I change my usual draft strategy in a Two-Headed-Giant draft?

texts:
I have done several drafts with my drafting group, but we recently elected to try the next one as Two-Headed-Giant instead of a 'normal' matches. How should my drafting strategy change to reflect this? How should my team determine what decks to play? What strategies from 'normal' MTG-drafting apply and do not apply to a THG draft?

In short, in a THG draft there are 4 teams of 2 players each, at the beginning of each round, each team (not player) gets a booster, chooses 2 cards from it, and then passes it to the next team. There are 6 rounds instead of 3, so there still ends up being 3 boosters per player. Each player then builds a deck from the cards their team has chosen, and then the matches are played. Communication between players regarding strategy during the draft is acceptable at any time as long as it is public (no passing notes)


texts: What if somebody used counterfeit/proxy basic lands in an official MTG tournament?

texts:
It seems clear to me that if you use counterfeit nonbasic/nonland cards in an official tournament you're likely to get disqualified or even banned.
But what happens if somebody would play counterfeit basic land cards in his/her deck (assuming the weight and dimensions of the counterfeit card are equal to a official MTG card)?
On the one hand i think it would make no sense to sanction a player for doing so since basic lands have practically no monetary value. On the other hand it's probably in the interest of WOTC to only allow original cards in a tournament.
So basically my question boils down to this:
What would happen if a judge noticed a player using counterfeit basic land cards which are identical in weight and dimension to a original land card while even using sleeves in an official tournament?


texts: Why can a manifested creature be turned face up if it loses all it's abilities but a morphed card can't?

texts:
This question is dedicated to a better understanding of a card: Wildcall.  The Gather entry has the following ruling.

  "Unlike a face-down creature that was cast using the morph ability, a manifested creature may still be turned face up after it loses its abilities if it's a creature card."

I would like to know its exact meaning, and possible use. Thank you!


texts: Can the beetle crawl up more than one level in a single move? For example, if the beetle is on ground level (level zero), can it move up on top of stack of two pieces (i.e. onto level 2) in one turn? I feel like it shouldn't be allowed to move in top of a stack of n pieces (i.e. onto level n+1) unless it is already on level n, since an actual beetle cannot jump or fly... I'd appreciate an answer, thanks.


texts:
What are some ramp cards for White or Blue decks (excluding High Tide in Blue)?

Formats: All excluding Vintage.


texts: Does 'Other creatures you control have intimidate' affect new creatures brought out?

texts:
Bellowing Tanglewurm and Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen have abilities like

  Other green creatures you control [...]

and

  Other Elf creatures you control [...]

Do abilities like these only affect creatures that were already on the battlefield? Will creatures that enter the battlefield later also get the effect?

If the creature with the ability dies, will the effect remain on the creatures that had it?


texts: In Ticket to Ride USA, does obtaining longest continuous path of routes highly correlate with winning?

texts:
It has in the first 15 (mostly 2-3 player) games I've played so far but I'm wondering if this is true in general. Are we missing strategies? Is this less true in 4-5 player games?

Another way of asking the question is whether certain game winning ways (which are perhaps the majority of game winning strategies/tactics) tend to produce longest continuous path (and using up all of your cars) as a by-product. These ways include:

having many 4-6 car routes (requires fewer turns to deploy cars and earns more points)
achieving long path mid game (increases chance for new tickets to mostly overlap)
avoiding a hub-and-spoke network (which traverses less territory)


texts: Does "other" refer to that particular instance or all cards of the same name?

texts:
For example Chief of the Edge has the ability:

  Other Warrior creatures you control get +1/+0.

So I understand that it would definitely affect Avalanche Tusker. But if I play another Chief of the Edge, do they mutually affect each other, giving each other +1/+0 (and my Tusker +2/+0)?

Other examples where "other" is used in this way include Adaptive Automaton and Armament Master.


texts: How many times can I activate this Lotleth Troll and Basking Rootwalla combo?

texts: If I have a Lotleth Troll and a Basking Rootwalla in my hand and I cast Lotleth Troll. How many times can you activate its ability? I'm just making a deck to troll my friends.


texts: Can Breaker Bay Grid be used to reduce cost of other Regions?

texts:
Breaker Bay Grid states:

  The rez cost of cards in this server is lowered by 5.

  Limit 1 region per server.

Can this be used to lower the cost of rezzing another Region (and then trashing Breaker Bay Grid to satisfy "Limit 1 region per server") like SanSan City Grid, or must I trash the first Region before rezzing the second?


texts: What is the name of the game where you bid for a hand in decreasing numbers?

texts:
I play a game where the game play is much like hearts/spades/etc. Standard 52-card deck. Players play one card each "trick" and the highest card gets the trick. (Highest based on lead suit vs trump)

In this variant each player starts with 7 cards, and before the round begins, players must bid on the exact number of tricks the expect to take.

The next round you start with 6 cards, etc. down to 1 card.

I have played this game for a while and would like to look up the official scoring/rules, but cant remember the name of it.
Anyone know the name of this game?


texts: What is the origin of the term "converted mana cost"?

texts:
In Magic: the Gathering, a card's converted mana cost is the card's mana cost converted to an integer by replacing all mana symbols with 1's and summing all of it.

My conjecture here is that it was named "converted" because it's "mana converted to an integer".

Still, I was wondering when has the term been first used and why is it named "converted". An official explanation would be preferred.


texts: Why/how was Ajani's Pridemate ability made mandatory?

texts:
I just viewed this question where Ajani's Pridemate was mentioned. I noticed a small but significant difference; on all printings, including the recent Core 2019 set, its card text says

  Whenever you gain life, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's Pridemate.

Yet its official Gatherer card text omits the "you may" part:

  Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's Pridemate.

Why/how was this done? I can remember some rule changes happening soon after the card was released (e.g. Walking Atlas which became an artifact creature) but not on a card which was already in play for 8 years; Ajani's Pridemate made its first appearance in 2011.


texts: How can I prevent players from cheating on their stats that carry between games?

texts:
I have created a card game that allows players to advance. The problem is that you can keep your stats until your next game (with anybody else). For the life of me, I can't find out how to be able to "prove" that the stats are valid (other than keeping a booklet or something, which I already am doing, but they could just fake what is in their booklet too)? For example, if I'm playing with someone new, how can I ensure that if they say they are on the top tier, they are telling the truth?

I could put in the rules that anybody caught cheating will automatically be downgraded to the bottom tier, or some other penalty, but how do I PROVE that they are cheating? Maybe a different method of going up tiers? Or keeping track of going up tiers?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I've been racking my brain about this. The whole game revolves around being able to go up tiers, but I don't want people to cheat.


texts: Positional based, strategical card games?

texts:
There was a CCG called Warlord: Saga of the Storm that I played briefly in its relevancy. It was the only CCG I played where positioning was a main element. Ranged attacks, etc. The accompanying image is low quality, but shows an example of unit placement based on ranks.

Mostly I am just wondering if this concept saw light in other card games. A board game like Mage Wars uses placement with cards, but also requires a board.

I also wonder if there are traditional playing card games with the element of strategical card placement?


texts: Does a spell cast via cascade resolve before the cascade trigger finishes resolving?

texts:
Cascade says to:

Exile cards until you reveal the appropriate spell
Optionally cast that spell
Return the exiled cards to your library

I am wondering whether or not 3 happens before the cast spell resolves. For example, if you cascade into Pull from Eternity, could you choose one of the cards that was exiled by the cascade trigger?


texts: Can the power of an attack be reduced below two?

texts:
When you are attacking in Illuminati and you're in the phase where players are spending Megabucks to aid or hinder the attack, is there a limit to how money can be spent to reduce the power of the attack?

Let's say that, after all the modifiers for alignment, the power of my attack is 8. Can another player reduce the power to -2 by spending 10 Megabucks? If so, do I actually get to roll the dice, or does the attack not take place at all? Or are they limited to spending 6, which gives me at least a miniscule chance to succeed on the attack?


texts: Is Bioshift affected by Doubling Season?

texts: I just want to know if Bioshift is affected by Doubling Season. The text states that Bioshift moves counters from a target to another, but is that the same as "putting them on" a target?


texts: Another aspect of regeneration in Magic the Gathering?

texts:
I read most of the articles about regeneration in MTG, but my question albeit being somewhat basic, still finds no answer. Here's the scenario:

I attack with a creature that has the ability to regenerate. My opponent blocks it with a deathtouch creature. I paid the regeneration cost before attacking. I know my creature is to be tapped, remove all damage, survive the destruction effect, then be removed from combat. What I want to know is does my creature deals its combat damage to my opponent's creature before it is pulled out of combat by its ability?

(I would say yes, because the damage is done in a step before the 'death' effect triggers, hence I regenerate post-combat damage. But somehow my friend doubted that, and it made me doubt too.)


texts: How to deal with being a 'dungeon master' and the other players finding the missions too hard?

texts:
My friends and I are playing Star Wars Imperial Assault: Jabba's Realm. My friends play as a team of rebels against me, the Imperial player.

We played the base game campaign and found it to be quite balanced, but the Jabba's Realm campaign is very hard for the rebels. I think about the game afterwards and I can't see a way that the rebels could've played better. It has come to a point where I feel bad for my friends that they're running into a brick wall. These are the problems they come across:

Running out of time
Too many enemies to deal with
Rebel characters not able to pump out enough damage

My question is, how can I make the missions possible, and therefore more enjoyable for all of us to play?


texts: What are all the ways to win by card effect?

texts:
With so many cards added in from ye original game:

What are new ways of winning by card effect?

I know of Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo, Exodia, and Destiny Board, but I am not sure if any more have been added in.


texts: do all players win star realms pirates co-op

texts: OK, with the Star Realms Pirates of the Dark Star co-op challenge, if a player dies but at least one other remaining team member still beats the Pirates, is it a team win or an individual win? e.g. if Bob and Sally play, and Bob is eliminated, but Sally still hangs on and wins it, is it a team victory, or was it just Sally who won?


texts: Who is the male investigator on the cover of Arkham Horror, Elder Sign, and Eldritch Horror?

texts: The 30- or 40-something dark-haired male on the cover of these games appears to be the same character, but it's not clear to me which. Is it one of the in-game characters?


texts: Can I use Naturalize to "counter" an activated ability?

texts:
I have a question regarding activated abilities.
My opponent has an Isochron Scepter (untapped). He wants to play the ability and taps it.

Is it possible to destroy the Isochron Scepter with Naturalize beforehand? So if I play Naturalize, is he able to cast the spell imprinted in the Scepter? Or is the Scepter destroyed before the ability triggers?
And if it would be destroyed before the ability triggers, is it then possible to "replay" the Isochron Scepter ability in response again?


texts: Can a Thorncaster Sliver's ability have deathtouch?

texts:
If I have a Thorncaster that has deathtouch, does its "1 damage to target creature or player" have deathtouch?

At first I thought no.  Because the rules say "Combat Damage".

But then I was reading on wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Deathtouch and one of the "Rulings" says:

  The rule that causes creatures dealt damage by a source with
  deathtouch to be destroyed applies to any damage, not just combat
  damage.

I am not sure if these "Rulings" that are listed on that site are official.  I can't imagine them making them up, but I want to know for sure before I pursue deathtouching silvers with multiple Thorncast abilities.

Because if this is true, then a few Slivers with Deathtouch and a Thorncaster out can clean out most blockers...

So, does anyone know where I can access the "Official" rulings for deathtouch?  (Something I could show a judge to prove that it is allowed.)


texts: In Last Will is property purchasing broken?

texts:
I've played Last Will with 2-4 other friends a few times.
One friend consistently wins.  He never buys any property and just plays event cards, goes to the theatre and plays non property cards in his play areas.

I buy my houses when the market is high, trash them and sell low successfully but he still ends up winning.
Is it unbalanced?  Have I missed some errata?  Are we doing it wrong?


texts: In Catan, can players negotiate a trade when it's not their turn?

texts:
For example, it's my turn, I'm trading and I agree to make a trade with player B where I give them my only wood and they give me one brick. But then, before we exchange cards, player C interrupts and says to player B - "wait, I'll give you 2 wood for that brick in the next turn when I can trade".

In simpler words, do all trading offers have to include the player whose turn it is, or can other players make such offers between themselves?


texts: Chit assignment in Catan: Seafarers, Scenario 8: The Wonders of Catan?

texts:
In Seafarers, Scenario 8: The Wonders of Catan, each player gets a single Catan chit to start with. Is that chit just meant to count as a victory point or it supposed to be used to indicate the level you've achieved on your Wonder?

Another related question is this: Out of the 10 initial chits, are the chits given to players to start with doled out of that pool of 10?

Lastly, can a player be essentially 'locked out' from winning due to their being unable to get a chit to start a Wonder? This will depend on what the answers to the above questions are.


texts: How do "Maro" effects work when you cast your last card to pump them?

texts: If a creature's power and toughness are equal to number of cards in your hand (e.g. Maro), and if I play an enchantment from my hand giving that creature +3/+3 leaving no cards in hand, will it make the creature 0/0 before the enchantment resolves?


texts: Seafarers of Catan fog scenario question

texts: Scenario: I am placing my ships out into the unknown and at the end of my "road" I decide to build a settlement. When the new hex is flipped it is a water tile and now a settlement cannot be built. Must I replace it with a boat and play the appropriate cards instead?


texts: What is the name of this columns-based card game?

texts:
The game is played with 3 or 4 players. The cards are dealt equally between the players, and the person with the 9 of hearts begins the game by placing it on the table. (If playing with 3 players, either the 9 of hearts is removed from the deck and placed on the table before dealing cards and the dealer begins the game, or one person ends up with 18 cards).
The table is divided into four columns, one for each suit. Players take turns placing cards in those columns, and the player is allowed to:

add to the top of the column by playing the card one higher than the highest card in the column,
add to the bottom of the column by playing the card one lower than the lowest card in the column,
or open a new column by playing a nine of the column's color.

The cards added to the columns need to match the column's suit. So for example, once the starting player plays the 9 of hearts, the next one can play the 10 of hearts, the 8 of hearts, or a 9 of any other color. If they played the 10 of hearts, the next player can play the Jack of hearts, the 8 of hearts, or any other 9. Aces are considered high.
If the player cannot play any cards they have to pass the turn, but they can't pass the turn if they have a card to play. The first person to get rid of all cards in their hand wins the game.


texts: Taking advantage of an Insane Investigator

texts:
I've only played a couple games so I know my experience could be faulty and I'm definitely comparing Mansions of Madness to Arkham Horror where loss of sanity and loss on health are roughly equivalent.

That said, as the keeper player I haven't found causing a player to go Insane to be very effective.  The ability to play a trauma card as a keeper action doesn't seem very strong.  By the time you've driven someone insane, it is late in the game and Threat is at a premium.  I haven't been able to get enough Insanity Trauma cards to take advantage of the Insane person.

How can I better take advantage of an Insane Investigator?


texts: What are common strategies for beating the robot in Race For The Galaxy?

texts:
I recently got the The Gathering Storm expansion to Race For The Galaxy and I've played solo against the robot about twelve times, winning only once.  I consider myself a competent player (consistently mid-50s or higher) but the robot seems impossible, even at the easiest level (I have yet to graduate to medium or hard).  I find that the robot typically gains lots of victory points (usually 80-90% of the available 24 points) and my usual strategy of Consume-Trade exacerbates the problem.

What are some common strategies for playing solo against the robot?  What are some common pitfalls of using player-verse-player strategies against the robot?


texts: Publishing a board game with an existing game company

texts:
I've read the other questions on publishing games and have noticed that a few of them have been closed for being too broad. Hopefully this question will be a bit more specific.

OK I have a game in development at the moment. I'm realistic enough to realise it probably isn't the best game in the world and getting it published by a traditional company is going to be an uphill battle. So I came up with an idea about how to get round this problem.

Lets say I approach a game company and offer to pay them all the expenses they incur when distributing, marketing, manufacturing and selling my game. That way they wouldn't take a financial hit if the game is an absolute failure and I would be the one who would foot the bill for the failure. In order to encourage them to agree to the deal I would offer them a percentage share in my company which owns the rights to the game. Therefore if it fails they don't lose anything and if it succeeds they would get a percentage of the profits via dividends paid through their shareholding in my company.

My question is this. How would one go about talking to game companies and making this offer? As far as I can tell it would be a win win situation. If it fails they haven't lost anything and if it succeeds they get a share of the profits. I am aware that game companies are (and companies in general for that matter) protective of their reputation and brand name so they wouldn't even need to have their company name on the product if they are worried that it will have a negative impact on their brand.

I just don't know who the people to talk are in these game companies? I live in the UK so could try and go to some game conferences or similar and see what people say. Are there any direct lines of communication between games companies and small game designers?


texts: Priority and timing between enchantments and instants

texts:
If I have priority and cast an Unholy Strength on a just summoned 2/3 creature, then, passing priority, my opponent casts a Lightning Bolt on that creature, does my creature survive? The first spell that resolves is obviously the bolt, that deals 3 point of damage to the creature; but immediately after, will the
Unholy Strength resolve (giving +2/+1), allowing the creature to survive?


texts: What happens when a creature with flying blocks my non-flying attacker?

texts: I’ve declared a non-flying attacker, and my opponent declared a flying blocker. When combat damage is dealt, I deal damage as normal, but can the damage dealt by the flying creature be absorbed by my non-flying creature, or do I have to absorb it with my life?


texts: Under what circumstances can Carrion Grub trigger Garruk's Uprising?

texts:
Garruk's Uprising triggers whenever a creature with power >4 enters the battlefield. A ruling on the card says "If a creature is entering the battlefield under your control, consider static abilities to determine whether its power is 4 or greater. Spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities can’t be used to raise the creature’s power in time to have Garruk’s Uprising’s last ability trigger or to lower it in time to stop it from triggering."
Meanwhile, a ruling on Carrion Grub says "Carrion Grub’s first ability applies only while it is on the battlefield. In all other zones, its power is 0."
In which of these scenarios will Carrion Grub trigger Garruk's Uprising?

I have no cards in my graveyard and Garruk's Uprising in play. I play Carrion Grub, which mills a 4-power creature.
I have a creature with >4 power in my graveyard when I play Carrion Grub.

I'm guessing that in the first case it will not trigger (because Garruk's Uprising explicitly says triggered abilities aren't in time) but I am not so sure about the second. The ruling on Carrion Grub explicitly says it has zero power until it's on the battlefield, which could be before or after Garruk's Uprising checks for a creature entering.


texts: Methods to produce solvable deals in Klondike solitaire?

texts:
About 20% of Klondike-solitaire deals are not solvable.  My question is what is the best method to get solvable deals?
I thought about two options:

Deal a random permutation, then try to solve it with a solver, if failed, re-deal. (requires a solver like ‘Solvitaire’)
Go back from the winning state, use random reverse moves until we get to a starting state. (needs a tool that produce random reverse-moves)

Reference: The Winnability of Klondike Solitaire and Many Other Patience Games


texts: Is there any interaction between hypothetical continuous effects?

texts:
Consider a battlefield where I control a Deadfall, a Sunweb, and a Muraganda Petroglyphs. Importantly, Sunweb says

  Sunweb can't block creatures with power 2 or less.

Deadfall says

  Creatures with forestwalk can be blocked as though they didn't have forestwalk.

and Muraganda Petroglyphs says

  Creatures with no abilities get +2/+2.

If my opponent attacks with a Jukai Messenger (a 1/1 Forestwalk creature), can my Sunweb block it?

The answer seems at first to be "no", but if the Messenger didn't have forestwalk, it wouldn't have any abilities, so it would get +2/+2 due to Muraganda Petroglyphs' ability, which would make it big enough for Sunweb to block. So the question is really:

When declaring blockers (or checking whether a declaration is legal) and Deadfall is in play and you choose to block as though the creature didn't have forestwalk, are other continuous effects also applied as though the creature didn't have forestwalk?


texts: Necromancer mounting corpse cart pricing?

texts: If a necromancer mounts a corpse cart do you have to pay the 90 points to mount the cart and pay the price of the corpse cart? Equaling 180 points to mount a corpse cart.


texts:
I can't understand what is the difference between the Pandemic 2012 and 2013!
And do 2012 awards winning edition compatible with the expansions, or have a misprint issue?.


texts:
I've heard that there is a printable chart for Power Grid somewhere online, possibly BGG.

Said chart breaks down the players & steps into individual cards that are more convenient than the bulky back of the rule book.

Something like this:

Players: 4
   Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Oil   1       2       3
Coal  2       3       4
etc.

Does anyone know where I can find this?


texts:
Does the Diplomat has the right to swap a district in completed city ?
Warlord cannot destroy a district in a completed city.


texts: What cards were never allowed in Commander?

texts: The Commander format has a relatively big ban-list. Which cards were banned upon Commander/EDH becoming a format? Which cards never got the chance to justify their ban on the fields of battle?


texts: When a player takes a card from the Chancery, can he only take the top card, or can he look through the entire pile from the Chancery and picks a card he wants (except the one he just sold).


texts: Designing - How do you approach finding the right font for your game?

texts:
I'm working on making my own card game, and I'm wondering how to approach picking a particular font. I know that this is partially subjective, however, I also know that from a designer's stand point this can be very technical and methodical.

Anyone have a 'best practice' for this?


texts: What is (Larry Cohen's) the "Law of Total Tricks" In Bridge?

texts:
Based on my (imperfect) understanding of the "law," it means that my partnership should bid up to the same level as the number of trumps. For instance, with four trumps over my partner's five card major, I could raise his bid to three.

But I was taught to use a combination of trumps and points. Thus, we'd want to bid four spades with 26 points and eight trumps, or with 23 points and nine trumps, or with 20 points and ten trumps. So why the "law?'

Apparently, the opponents' (theoretical) trump suit also figures into this equation. How do I count for their "trumps?" And once I've done so, how do I combine their trumps and mine into a "law" calculation? Why would I do this anyway?


texts: How much space do I need to play with all the Arkham Horror expansions?

texts:
How much table space do I need to play with all the Arkham Horror expansions?

The main game Arkham Horror and the expansions Dunwich Horror, Kingsport Horror, Innsmouth Horror and Miskatonic Horror, all have game boards with locations.

Are all of the boards the same size as the original board? Also, several expansions contain new decks that should be placed in their own stacks. How does that affect the required space and layout?

Is it possible to play with all the expansions at the same time?


texts: Trying to understand when to take a deep finesse?

texts:
This is from Dorothy Truscott Hayden's book "Winning Declarer Play".

                    Dummy
                    AQ9
West                                     East
?                                        ?
                    You
                    752

She suggests first finessing the 9 and then the Q.
Directly finessing the Q gives you 2 tricks only if West has the K.
But doing the deep finesse gives 2 tricks when

West has the King
West does not have the King but has both the 10 & J

This is quite clear, but where do we stop on this? What if Dummy has AQ8 - do we still first finesse with the 8 in the hope that West 9,10,J?


texts: Why are there multiple copies of figures in Gaming Night Kits

texts:
I'm curious as to why there are 6 copies of the same miniature an corresponding ID cards in the Gaming Night Kits. I understand the different languages ID cards copies of the same miniature? I would of expected 1 miniature and three ID cards (one for each language) however i get 6 miniatures and 18 cards (6 for each language).

Does this mean that I can play with the same character in the same game and there are no restrictions for the same survivor? So if I owned multiple copies of the game I could technically have a team of all the same survivor?
Does anyone know if there is a rule that stops this from happening or why the gaming night kits bring 6 miniatures?


texts: Do I lose if I have an empty library and cast Brainstorm?

texts:
Brainstorm says "Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order."
If I have no cards in my library when I cast Brainstorm, do I lose? I imagine so - it feel pretty weird if I don't - but apparently state-based actions aren't checked during spell resolution, and by the time Brainstorm resolves I no longer have an empty library, so just checking.


texts: In bridge, how would you bid the "worst" 14 point hand?

texts:
You are playing 15-17 point no trumps, five card majors, four card diamond bids, and three card club bids listed on many convention cards. And you have an unusual 14 high card point 4-4-3-2 hand that basically violates all the rules, like this:

(s) QJTx (h) QJxx (d) KQx (c) Kx.

Give me another T (or even a 9) in one of the major suits, and I might consider this a "weak" 15 for 1NT. Upgrade my spade Q to a K (and compensate by downgrading K of clubs to Q of clubs), and I would consider bidding a "strong" four card major. But as the hand stands, I wouldn't do either of these things.

What would most people do? Perhaps a three-card one diamond is the least of evils? Or would "pass" be a viable option, even though most people wouldn't pass 14 point hands? (Downgrade one of kings to a Q, and I'd pass the resulting 13- point hand.)


texts: Cylon loyalty card abilities and the New Caprica detention location

texts: If the Cylon loyalty card ability says "If not in the brig...", can the player then activate it when he reveals himself as a Cylon while in detention in New Caprica?


texts: What mana fixing should I use in Khans of Tarkir Sealed Format?

texts:
Some Khans of Tarkir terminology:

Banners are a cycle of mana rocks that can be sacrificed to draw a card (e.g., Abzan Banner).
Wedge lands enter tapped and produce one of three colors (e.g., Mystic Monastery).
Life lands enter tapped, gain 1 life when played, and produce one of two colors (e.g., Dismal Backwater).

How do you know how many banners to play in your deck?

I've been practicing with this sealed pool generator, and on average, I get 1 Wedge Land and 2-3 Life Lands. Is that enough mana fixing? Would you guys advise throwing in 1-2 (maybe not 3) banners? Going to the basics of deck building for sealed pool, it's supposed to be 17 lands, 17 creatures, and 6 other spells. If you throw in 2 banners to fix your mana, it would only leave you with 4 other spells.

Am I doing it wrong? Are banners supposed to be counted towards the total land count?


texts: Does "any" mean "all" or "one" for cards like Cheetah?

texts:
Cheetah's ability is to "gain any card with cost 4 or less from the line-up." While playing the game the group has been split on whether this means take one card or take all cards.

There are some cards that specify to take all cards and I think some others specify to take one.


texts: Safari / ecology childs board game, collecting animal cards

texts:
As a child (UK, born 1989 so playing it mid-to-late 90s I guess?) I played a game which (IIRC) centred around collecting animals from different environments.

The physical playing board was square, with I think 2 crossed pieces of card in the centre representing a mountain. In terms of playing space, the board was a circular set of playing spaces, split into quadrants representing different environments (jungle, dessert, ?savanna?, ?something else?) (possibly with playing spaces going up into the central mountain area).

I don't at all remember the nature of the game play except that it involved collecting animals from the different environments.

If anyone can identify the game, so that I can look online for a copy of it, for the nostalgia rush, I'd be really grateful :)


texts: Can I play Stifle on the storm trigger on cards like Grapeshot to prevent any copies from being made?


texts: Can I Sacrifice a blocker and still prevent damage from getting though to me?

texts: Can you block an attacking creature with a creature with a sacrifice ability in order to prevent the attacking creature from getting through to do damage?


texts: Spoons: is passing your cards w/o looking cheating?

texts:
In the game of spoons (aka "pig" or "tongue"), you can simply not look at your cards, passing them on directly, so as to be ready to pick up a spoon at any moment (fixated on the spoons, with your hand hovering near a spoon). Is this "cheap" or "cheating" in any way, or just sometimes a good strategy? My sister says it's bad sportsmanship, but I insist it's just part of the game.

Edits:

I accept that keeping your hand near the spoons will incite violence, so let's assume I don't do that.
I only employ this strategy when it makes sense (when I'm unlikely to make a match of 4, and I'm furthest from the dealer)
It does not make sense for everyone to play this strategy, since the more people employ the strategy, the less benefit they get (it becomes a better strategy to try to make a match, since matching is more likely). I feel this adds an interesting element of game theory; you have to anticipate what strategy others are using, and do the opposite.


texts: Does everyone get to see the color of a train card drawn from the pile?

texts: Does a person drawing a train card from the pile have to show everyone the color of the cards drawn?


texts: Can the winged dragon of Ra use its effect during another players turn?

texts: One of my friends has the winged dragon of Ra and he payed 1000 LP during my turn to destroy one of my monsters before I could destroy one of his. Is that a legal move?


texts: Does playing a ko add a dimension to the game?

texts:
Playing a game of Baduk I was thinking that playing a Ko adds a dimension to the Tree of possibilities. Meaning it at least double the number of next moves the player may think of.

Am I kind of right ?


texts: When charging an entrance in Zoomaka do I give change?

texts: Let's say I have a full set of Monkeys in Zoomaka the total sum of all cards are 3+2+2+2 = 9 So all players should give me 9 Zoomas right? If one of my opponents only has two five Zooma cards in their bank am I required to give change?


texts: Pandemic Legacy 2 objectives: build 3 supply depots and build 3 new supply depots

texts:
We have been playing the first campaigns of Pandemic Legacy 2. A question on two of the mandatory goals. We have the goals:

Build 3 supply depots.
Build 3 new supply depots.

By building 3 new, we meet both goals and win the game. I feel it is not right to still have both goals in the game, especially since in the first months you only have to complete 2 goals to win.
Did we miss having to destroy one of these goals?