texts: How much mana does Radiant Fountain provide when tapped?

texts:
Radiant Fountain reads "{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool." Does this card alone produce a total of {1} or {2}?

Basic Land cards produce mana when tapped. So, either

All land cards produce mana when tapped, and Radiant Fountain adds another due to the {T} description, resulting in {2}.
The {T} description is the only result, there is no implicit mana from a land card, resulting in {1}.


texts: What the heck is the "Traveling Player" space for in Agricola (family game)? Besides gaining the food there, is there anything else significant about that space?


texts: Does stonecoil serpent count as entering battlefield when paying X=0?

texts: Currently building a Purphoros, God of the forge deck and I'm wondering if his ability is triggered when I pay x=0 for Stonecoil Serpent or does it go straight to the graveyard without entering the battlefield?


texts: Exciting skirmish: a family versus a shovel. Who wins?

texts: When playing with 2 players the amount of tribe members is irrelevant. Suppose that one player takes a family to the skirmish, and the other a shovel. With that, both players have fight 0. Is this a draw or the player showing the family wins?


texts: How are Swindler's effects resolved in a multiplayer game?

texts:
I play Swindler in a 3-player game.  Does each player reveal, trash, and gain in turn order, or all reveal, then trash and gain in turn order?

I was thinking that it would matter in the following situation: the player to my left reveals and trashes a Province, so I give him another Province.  This triggers the Fool's Gold in the hand of the next player in turn order.  At this point, would he have already revealed the top card for Swindler, or, since he comes after the player who revealed the Province, is he able to use his Fool's Gold to put a gold on top in time for Swindler to hit it?


texts:
Can you proliferate someone's commander tax?

For example, after you send your opponent's commander to his/her zone you proliferate the commander tax and make sure it cant be cast again by making it too expensive to cast it.


texts: What is the best way to describe the turn order in Puerto Rico?

texts:
Inspired by this question which describes the "snake turn", is there a good label to give the turn order in Puerto Rico, where the first player starts the round, then the second player starts the round, then the third player starts the round etc.

The reason I'm asking is so that I can more quickly get through that part of the explanation of the rules.  We always seem to spend a few minutes explaining that part.


texts: Solemn Offering reads "Destroy target artifact or enchantment", but can it affect auras that are attached to something? I've been searching around but haven't been able to find out one way or the other.


texts: In "Prophecy", when going onto a space that has a villain on it, are you required to fight it?

texts:
A few days ago, I played the RPG "Prophecy" for the first time. While playing, we ran across a question that the experienced player among us did not know, and looking through the rules didn't give any answers (although it is of course possible we just missed it).

After a player has flipped over an "Adventure" card on a space, and a monster / villain is revealed - like, say, a Flock of Harpies - the player then has to fight this monster. If they lose, on the next turn they can then move away from the space with the monster (or of course fight it again).

After the player has moved away from this revealed monster, let's say another player then moves to the spot with this monster.
Are they then required to fight this monster, seeing as how they have just landed on the spot with a revealed monster, or can they choose whether they want to fight or not?


texts: How are numerical chess rankings calculated for different ranking systems?

texts:
I know there are several different ranking systems for chess, but how do they work in general? How exactly do they approximate your skill and how you will fare against other players? How can I figure out my own rating? Does the jump between 2000 and 2100 require a lot more practice/improvement than the jump between 1000 and 1100?

I know I phrased the question to be generic to all systems, but feel free to go into the specifics of any one rating system if it helps answer the question. :D


texts: Is there a specified order for abilities on cards, specifically creatures?

texts:
I was reviewing the a spreadsheet I created of the RTR spoiler to prepare my strategy for this coming weekend. In doing so, I noticed that here and on previous sets if a creature has flying, it is virtually always the first ability listed on the card.

Now, I see a strong parallel between Magic card abilities and Java class, method, and member modifiers. In the same vein that a public static int is syntactically the same as a static public int, a creature that is flying, deathtouch is the same as deathtouch, flying. But you never really see the latter, only the former.

A search of the official rules didn't indicate anything, nor did Google.

Is there a canonical, conventional, or official order by which I can expect cards to have their abilities listed on the card?

Edit: I take back one comment. Faerie Invaders has Flash before Flying. Perhaps Flash is 'more important' than Flying?


texts: Using blade on supporting unit in A Game Of Thrones

texts: Is it possible to use the Valyrian Steel Blade to add +1 strength on my unit which is supporting other player during his battle?


texts: Catan cities and knights 2 player variation

texts: At start of player one turn ,he rolls all three dice twice. Is correct sequence roll 1st set of dice then 2nd set then resolve both event rolls then distribute resources, or , roll 1st set of dice then distribute resources then roll 2nd set of dice then distribute those resources.


texts: Can I use a program run ability (eg: Sneakdoor Beta) and an run event card (eg: Account Siphon) for the same run?

texts:
If I use a "make a run..." event this cost me a click.  Is it possible to use a "make a run..." program with another click cost on the same run?

I'm sure there are more examples but Account Siphon and Sneakdoor Beta are the most attractive combination.


texts: Are there any spells (sorceries, instants) that grant emblems? The only way to get an emblem that I've seen so far is for a planeswalker's ability to grant an emblem. I wonder if there is any other spell that can be cast to receive an emblem.


texts: Choosing new targets for a spell with a variable number of targets

texts:
Rolling Thunder can have any number of targets. I play the Rolling Thunder choosing three target creatures. I copy the Rolling Thunder with Reverberate and can choose new targets for the copy.

Can I choose a different number of targets, or am I only changing the choice of target for each of the three already chosen targets?


texts: Does Unbridled Growth provide two mana or one?

texts:
The new Aether Revolt card Unbridled Growth reads:

  Enchanted land has "{T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."

Does this mean the enchanted land provides two mana?


texts: Are Basic Lands (Mana) Block/Set Agnostic?

texts: What is the point in Wizard creating RtR Forests and M13 Forests, for example?  It seems like it would be a lot more efficient and cost effective to everyone involved if these basic land types were not specific to a set.  Wizard wouldn't have the cost of manufacturing (as many of) them and we wouldn't need to buy new ones just to stay legal.


texts: Should I shuffle the Zombicide zombie "deck"

texts:
The rules for Zombicide just state:

  Make a deck with the Zombie cards and another one with the Equipment cards, then place them face down, close to the gameboard.

Clearly the equipment cards needed to be shuffled as when supplied, they are sorted so all the cards are grouped together.

The Zombie cards are all numbered in the upper right corner, and do in general get harder as the numbers increase.

In a recent game with a shuffled deck the first spawn resulted in the Abomination appearing, which completely outclassed our party and resulted in a very quick finish.

The flip side of that would obviously be the fact that with the harder cards spawned earlier, if we had survived, we'd be playing against less zombies in the later stages of the game.

Should I be shuffling the deck or playing it in order? The order of the rooms and which spawn point we start from should provide a reasonable amount of variation even with an ordered deck.


texts: Double faced cards multiple transform triggers

texts:
Wizards recently changed the ruling for double faced cards:

  if a DFC has an activated or triggered ability that transforms it, that permanent transforms only if it hasn't since that ability was put on the stack.

Ok, so that means that you can't flip-flop a DFC card around with the ability on one side. Does that mean you can't activate/trigger the ability more than once, for other effects? (e.g. Elusive Tormentor's "{1}, Discard a card: Transform" and I want multiple Madness triggers)


texts: Do creatures that enter the battlefield at the same time see each other enter?

texts:
Let's say I have Goldnight Commander on the board. He is a 2/2 that says:

Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.

I play a Thatcher Revolt. It says:

Put three 1/1 red Human creature tokens with haste onto the battlefield. Sacrifice those tokens at the beginning of the next end step.

The sacrifice portion is not important to this question. What is important is how these two cards interact with each other.
Playing this card in my first main phase, assuming no counters or other shenanigans by my opponent, I will have my Commander and 3 tokens on the battlefield. What will happen in terms of the power/toughness of my tokens and Commander?
Option A
The tokens will be 1/1 each. They don't see each other come in at all. The Commander is 3/3, as one "enter the battlefield" trigger happens.
Option B
The tokens will be 1/1. They don't see each other come in at all, because they weren't on the battlefield to see any of the triggers. The Commander is 5/5, as he saw three "enter the battlefield" triggers occur.
Option C
The tokens will all be different, with one being 3/3 as he saw the other two come in, one being 2/2 as he saw only the last one come in, and 1/1 as the last one saw none come in.
Option D
The tokens will all be 4/4, as three creatures entered the battlefield this turn.
I am obviously hoping for this option. It may be supported by a ruling on Goldnight Commander that says, emphasis mine:

The creature that entered the battlefield will also get +1/+1 until end of turn if it's still on the battlefield when the ability resolves.

The key being the ability resolving. So my thought is thus:

Thatcher Revolt goes on the stack.
Thatcher Revolt resolves, and three separate "enter the battlefield" triggers go on the stack as the three humans enter the battlefield as 1/1.
The last (it is a stack) "etb" trigger resolves. This puts an ability from Goldnight Commander on the stack. This resolves and the humans are now all 2/2.
The next "etb" trigger resolves. This puts a new ability from Commander on the stack, and resolves with the humans being 3/3.
The first "etb" trigger finally resolves, puts a Command ability on the stack, which resolves putting the humans at their final state of 4/4.

Option E
The tokens will all be 2/2.

Thatcher Revolt goes on the stack.
Thatcher Revolt resolves, and one single "enter the battlefield" trigger goes on the stack.
The "etb" trigger resolves. This puts an ability from Goldnight Commander on the stack. This resolves and the humans are now all 2/2.

I would really like to have a complete understanding both of the result and how this result is calculated by the game engine.


texts: Should I read the instructions to Betrayal Legacy before the Prologue?

texts:
I'm starting a game of Betrayal Legacy next week.

Everyone playing has played Betrayal at House on the Hill and/or Baldur's Gate, though it's been some time (months - years). I've played a lot, but the last time was about a year ago.

I think it would be exciting to open the box together, but this should be second to having the game go smoothly.

Are the rules similar enough to the other Betrayal games, or short enough, that I don't have to read them ahead of time, or should I familiarize myself with them before we meet for the Prologue (and possibly Chapter 1, depending on time).


texts:
Within my group its taken for granted that some seats in Puerto Rico are better (if only slightly) than others.  There's a general consensus that 3rd and 4th seat are strictly better than 1st, where 2nd and 5th lie is a matter of debate.

I remember stumbling across some hard numbers (data collected from tournament play if I recall correctly) backing some of this up, but can't seem find them anymore.

Basically, does anyone have those numbers?

I'd also appreciate some opinions as to why this is the case.

My personal pet theory is that 3rd and 4th seat are in the sweet spot for both diversified production and an early game Factory.  Although that's not a guarnateed victory, it should keep you competitive in most games (all else being equal).


texts: Does Blood Sun keep me from turning my Zoetic Cavern face up?

texts: Does Zoetic Cavern lose its morph ability when face-down keeping it from being able to turn face-up when there is a Blood Sun in play?


texts: Using an existing Canasta to pick up the discard pile

texts:
I understand that you can pick up the top discard (and then the whole discard pile) if the pile is not frozen, and the top card matches a meld you have on the table.

I have some friends who play that you cannot do this if the meld is already a canasta. That makes a matching card a much safer discard - the opponent could conceivably still take the pile with matching cards from their hand, but if they already have a canasta of the same cards on the table, this is much less likely.

Any opinions, or definitive rules on this?


texts: Solitaire all cards dealt face up in 13 columns, then 12, then 11, 10, 9

texts:
I’m trying to figure out the name of this card game.

First turn: Deal out 52 cards, all face up in 13 columns (4 rows). The cards in each column overlap. Can move single cards only. A card can be moved by placing card of same suit in descending order (6 of hearts can be placed on top of 7 of hearts). Kings cannot be moved. Aces get moved to foundation stacks. The goal is to stack by suit Ace-King on the four foundation stacks.

Second turn: first column gets placed on top of second, second on top of third and so forth (all face up). Re-deal In 12 columns. Same rules apply.

Third turn is 11 columns. Fourth is 10 columns and final turn is 9 columns.

I can’t seem to find the name of it or where I could download it on my phone.


texts: I'm looking to speed up turns and overall gameplay in Starfarers of Catan without reducing victory point milestones. Is it feasible to play the game without event cards if the black ball is given a value of 2? This would reduce emphasis on cannons (and hence, sideline pirate lairs until near the end of the game-probably), but would there be any perceived detriment to gameplay?


texts: How does the Amazons "+4 When Attacking" power work?

texts:
So I got a copy of Small World, and in our first game, the "Amazons" came up early.  According to the rules, they get "+4 when attacking".  What exactly does that mean?  We argued it out and what we eventually decided it meant was

  At the beginning of each of the Amazon player's turns, they receive 4 extra tokens.  When they end their "conquering regions" step, they remove 4 tokens of their choice from the board, then go on to compute VP.

But we're not at all confident in our interpretation.


texts:
I remember a very good boardgame named "BLOCKART" that I played decades ago.

It has a white board that has deep rectangle/hexagon slots.
There are a lot of colorful rectangular cuboid tokens. Each can fill a slot.
There are also some cute triangle prism tokens that can fill half of a slot.
The tokens come in  4 colors - blue,green,yellow and red.
I could purchase "addon" to add tokens of other colors.

Today, after searching for several years, I finally find its image in the internet.

However, that is it, there is no further information.

Please provide some description :-

What is the manufacturer / distributor name?   What is its official website/page?
If it does not violate this site, may you provide some locations I can buy it (online perhaps)?
Are there any other similar game (board with deep slot + colorful rectangular cuboid tokens)?

All material are made of plastic.


texts: Say I borrowed an opponent's creature (e.g. via Threaten) and then let it phase out (e.g. via Reality Ripple). Under whose control does it phase in, and when? Under whose control does it phase in if Time and Tide is cast the same turn?


texts: Dominion Seaside Treasure Map: do both copies activate?

texts:
The Treasure Map text says:

  Trash this and another copy of Treasure Map from your hand. If you do trash two Treasure Maps, gain 4 Gold cards, putting them on top of your deck.

If I manage to play both Treasure Cards as actions, do they both activate their full effects? That is: do I get 8 Gold cards?

Or, the moment I play the first, I have to trash the other one so preventing it for being played as an action?


texts: In Ticket to Ride, do cities have to be connected in the same order as on the ticket?

texts:
Is the direction of the ticket important? Do cities have to be connected in the order shown on the ticket?

For example, if I am attempting to claim the Rostov-Erzurum ticket, can I connect Erzurum to Rostov instead of connecting Rostov to Erzurum?


texts: Bridges, Castles and Bazaars with Die Belargerer (the Siege)

texts:
I was playing with the Bridges, Castles and Bazaars and Die Belargerer (a rerelease of The Siege with 6 tiles).

If you have one in a city, it causes the city to score 1 point per tile and 1 per pennant if it is completed. Now Castles Score what ever the next finished feature in it's 6 tile influence scores.

At the end of game a besieged city is worth 2 cities to a farmer and a castle is worth a +1.

So 3 of the 6 new tiles can be used to create the 'clam' cities you can use for castles.

The way we played is that by making it a castle, it is a castle and ignore the Siege tile from then on.

Is this the correct way to interpret the rules?


texts: Can I run Loyal Cathar in my green-white Commander deck?

texts: I'm running a green white Commander deck and wanted to know if I could.


texts:
Which, if any, colored cards can be made colorless after being cast?
I'm not interested in cards that use some factor to determine color at moment of casting (such as Devoid).


texts: What happens to Poison Counters after the Player that gave them leaves the game?

texts: If a player playing with infect loses the game are the poison counters they have dealt out removed, similar to how curse enchantments they own would leave the game. Or do they remain, similar to how a -1/-1 counter on a creature would stay?


texts: What is the difference between Kunoros, Hound of Athreos' graveyard abilities?

texts:
Kunoros, Hound of Athreos has the following two static abilities.

Creature cards in graveyards can't enter the battlefield.
Players can't cast spells from graveyards.

Why does he have these two static abilities?  Wouldn't it be enough to indicate only the second of the two abilities?
It is clear that it is, in the first place, a card that prevents players from using the Escape ability.

But I think there are other notable implications.
It is good to clarify the difference that this card implicitly indicates between:

"Creatures that come into play from the graveyard"
"Spells cast from the graveyard".

I think it is appropriate that at least one valid example should be included in the answer, that makes it clear why the difference we are talking about is really important.


texts: Was it ever the case that Scrabble tiles had to be placed contiguously?

texts:
I learnt to play Scrabble with my grandma in the 80s, and for years she was the only person I played against (I didn't have a board). She played the rules she was taught when she first learnt the game as a young woman. One such rule was that you had to play all your tiles contiguously. I.e., you can add PEA to an existing L to make PEAL or LEAP, but not
PLEA because the latter would involve splitting your placement either side of an existing letter.
Of course, this is not a rule. But has it ever been? Had she misremembered the rules, or just not reread them since the 50s?! I would be interested to know.
I still play this rule sometimes in memoriam, and it makes for a different challenge.
Her last ever word (played in 2007) was LEGACY for 42 on a triple word. She won the game.


texts: Can black win here with or without this move? Or is in every way dead?


texts: Dan levels: difference between amateur and professional?

texts: Is there a difference between amateur and professional dan levels in go? If yes, how are they related?


texts: What can I do if I still do not understand an interaction from a DCI online test?

texts:
The instruction pages for the online DCI Judges exams/practice tests (requires login) says:

  Before you start, it's important to note that, in order for the testing experience to remain relevant and give everyone a good gauge of their knowledge you may not disclose any of the content on any of the tests, anywhere.

If this is the case what should I do if there was a question/interaction I did not understand even after the explanation given?


texts: If I fail to evade Dimensional Shambler, am I lost in time and space?

texts: Failing a combat check results in being lost in time and space, and this monster has no combat damage listed. If I fail to evade, that implies I suffer no damage nor do I become lost as it was not a combat check. Is that correct?


texts: If Koth of the Hammer's plus one ability ends at end of turn, doesn't it make it useless?

texts: How does Koth of the Hammer's plus one ability work when it ends right after you use it and the Mountain turned into a creature has summoning sickness (part of the rulings on Gatherer)?


texts: Damage rarely matters in two-player RoboRally. How can I houserule it to be more interesting?

texts:
In the original version of RoboRally, I'm finding that damage rarely matters in two-player games. Over the course of the game, maybe four hits happen. No registers are locked, and drawing fewer cards doesn't seem like enough of a downside to make a difference.

What house-rules can I do to make damage matter more, as it does in a 6 or 8 player game? Would simply making the damage track smaller (say, 6 spots instead of 9) fix it?


texts: Can I place a bridge that has no hope of completion?

texts:
I want to place a tile with a road next to a tile that has:

a field on the side that matches up with my road
a field on the opposite side

This sounds like the perfect time for a bridge.

However, the already-placed tile is also entirely surrounded several layers deep. There is zero chance the bridge could ever connect to a road or other bridge on the far end.

Can I still play the tile & bridge?


texts:
When a runner uses Inside Job, does the runner only bypass the first 'rezzed' piece of ice, since the card text says 'bypass the first piece of ice encountered during the run.' ? ( emphasis added)

If yes, does that mean if the corp. does not rez any ice, 'Inside Job' has no effect?


texts:
I was wondering how Dance of Many and Parallel Lives interact.
Dance of Many's Oracle text says:

When Dance of Many enters the battlefield, put a token that's a copy of target nontoken creature onto the battlefield.
When Dance of Many leaves the battlefield, exile the token.
When the token leaves the battlefield, sacrifice Dance of Many.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Dance of Many unless you pay {U}{U}.

Parallel Lives says:

If an effect would put one or more tokens onto the battlefield under your control, it puts twice that many of those tokens onto the battlefield instead.

Although the ruling on Parallel Lives states:

If the effect creating the tokens instructs you to do something with those tokens at a later time, like exiling them at the end of combat, you'll do that for all the tokens.

this applies only to delayed triggers like for example the one on Mimic Vat, as far as I know.
My question is: will the second triggered ability on Dance of Many remember that it put two tokens into play? And if it does (implying "the token" becoming "those tokens") , will the third triggered ability trigger on either token leaving the battlefield or on all tokens leaving the battlefield?


texts: Should Commander Farsight's crisis suit be blue instead of red?

texts:
In the Warhammer 40k novel Crisis of Faith by Phil Kelly, O'Shoh (aka Commander Farsight), the main character, is asked why he painted his battlesuit red. He replies, "It is to honour the Arkunashan dead. Their blood is on my hands, and I will not forget it." (The Arkunashan dead are fallen Tau soldiers.)

Under this assumption, red would be an appropriate color for a human who is seeking to avenge his fallen comrades, but according to the Tau Codex, Tau Lexicanum, and RPG-SE, Tau blood is actually blue. Meaning that Farsight's hands were (figuratively speaking) stained with blue blood.

Why is it then that he paints his modified Crisis Battlesuit in red, and not blue. Do any of the Warhammer 40k supplements or general lore explain this discrepancy, or is this just an honest mistake? Note that GW depicts Commander Farsight in a red Crisis Suit.

For now I'm assuming its an honest oversight of the novel. Still, I haven't been able to find a single reference to why Farsight and his enclave wear red. According to the Tau Lexicon, the fire caste wars armour the same color as their sept's (home/main planet's) surface. But I don't believe all septs in the Farsight enclave are red. Fluff/lore -wise, there must be something behind it. Or did GW just choose red at random?


texts: How many Memory Cards are used with both "Tea Dragon Society" and "Autumn Harvest" card games?

texts:
We recently received both "The Tea Dragon Society Card Game" and "Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game" for the holidays, and we read that the games can be combined and played together.
We want to play with both games combined, but we are unsure of how to set up the Memory Tableau (Memory Card Deck) for a combined game set up.
The "Tea Dragon Society" was made first and does not reference "Autumn Harvest" in its instructions. The instructions for "Autumn Harvest" say this about how to combine the two games:

Playing With More Dragons
There are eight cards contained in this box for use with the original "The Tea Dragon Society Card Game".
[...]
These eight cards allow players to combine both "Tea Dragon Society Card Games" with the Dragons being balanced for play among the full array of Market and Memory cards. This will also allow games with up to 5 players

The phrase "for play among the full array of Market and Memory cards" reads as if you can combine all Memory cards for both games together.
The reason for our confusion is that the game setup section for "Autumn Harvest" only specifies removing Memory cards for the base game, and not the combined game. For example, it says to remove 2 cards per season with 2-3 players (4 cards total), and to remove 1 card per 4-5 players (5 cards total).
Reading this literally for the combined game Memory deck, this would mean that we would remove  remove 2 cards per season with 2-3 players (10 cards total), and remove 1 card per 4-5 players (11 cards total). There are no other instructions about how to combine Memory cards when playing with both games. This doesn't seem right, because you need use up the Memory cards to proceed through seasons to progress the game; this would add a lot of play time to the game if you had to go through more than twice the number of cards per season.
Has this been clarified anywhere? Do you combine decks to get 12 cards and then only take 6 of them and remove according to the instructions (similar to the base game set up)? Or do you combine both decks and remove normally, and have 6 more Memory cards with the combined game (base game setup + 6 memory cards)?
A link to the "Autumn Harvest" instructions can be found here: Instructions for "Autumn Harvest"


texts: D&D Adventure game system, additional adventures

texts:
Where can I obtain additional story adventures for the various D&D adventure game systems?

In all the manuals it states to check the wizards of the coast site for them, but there are none on the site and even a wizard's support rep confirmed that there are none hosted on the site. Rather frustrating.

Does anyone know where I can get some? I'm looking to expand upon the fun for my gaming group but have not found the time to sit down and create my own.


texts: Is Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood a potential game ender?

texts: If both Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood are in play and target player loses any life, is the game over?


texts:
Which of Geiger's ace moves is pictured on his ace card?

As with all Yomi characters, Geiger has two possible options on his ace cards, with only one represented in the artwork.  Unlike other characters, it is not immediately obvious which one is being pictured.  What is the official intent on which move - Cycloid Revolution or Time Spiral Hurricane - is being shown on the card?


texts: What's the name of the move where the player swaps King and Rook/Castle in Chess? Why is this move important?

texts: I'm a chess beginner, and I was wondering: why was this movement introduced to chess, and why is it important to the game?


texts: I have a Hammerfist Giant with a Felidar Umbra on it (enchantment aura that gives the creature Lifelink). There are 3 players and 7 non-flying creatures on the battlefield. I tap the giant to deal 4 damage to each player and non-flying creature. Do I gain 4 life, or do I gain 40 life?


texts: Does Spy Kit have any use outside of a Conspiracy Draft?

texts:
Both flavor-wise and mechanically, Spy Kit is designed to work with hidden agendas from Conspiracy such as Adriana's Valor.  You can use Spy Kit outside a Conspiracy Draft, but you can't use the eponymous conspiracy card types.

The obvious thing to do with it would have been to create legendary name conflicts via Leyline of Singularity, but the legend rule is now player specific, and spy kit is an equipment, so you can't equip it to an opponent's creature (easily).

Given all that, can you do anything with Spy Kit outside of a Conspiracy Draft?


texts: Can one caravan touch one oasis at multiple adjacent spaces?

texts:
In Through the Desert:
Is a player's caravan permitted to occupy multiple spaces next to a single oasis, in effect blocking other players from accessing the oasis?


texts: In Settlers of Catan (like Diplomacy), is the secret to winning avoiding "peaking too soon?"

texts:
In a two person game, one should try to make the "best moves." (If your opponent doesn't, you'll crush him unless the dice or other luck factors go very much against you.) That's not always true in a multiperson game.

In Diplomacy (which I know better), the player that goes from three to six cities in the first year becomes an obvious target. (Russia, which goes from four to six is the most frequent winner, but the second most frequent loser.) So in the beginning it's better to keep a low profile, do good but not great, let other players fight it out for half to two two-thirds of the game, and make a "run" toward the end.

Could a similar dynamic be at work in Settlers of Catan? That is, you want to do well enough in the beginning to "keep up with the pack," and yet not so well that other players see you as a threat and gang up on you? Is it even possible that bad play (or bad dice) in the beginning will generate a "sympathy" or "no threat" factor that will cause other players to treat you well later on?  And is one way is to get ahead quietly by accumulating good cards instead of good hexes?

It's impossible to pre-arrange this, but if I could, I'd arrange to have all my bad die rolls in the beginning and the good ones at the end so I could be "non-threatening in the beginning, and make a surge at the end. Are there other ways to accomplish this in the game?


texts: Catan starting strategies -- actual data?

texts:
I'm new to Settlers of Catan, and I quickly learned the importance of having a source of Brick and Lumber at the start of the game. And some googling showed that others agree ... and others disagree.

Whatever you value most at the start ... brick, wood, grain, ore, (ok, not wool so much), diversity of resources, diversity of numbers, access to ports, etc., you can find a blog post confirming your belief.

What is much harder to find is actual data. Has there been any significant study of competitive games and/or computer simulations that give substantial support to a particular initial placement strategy?


texts: Settlers of Catan for 2. Rolling the dice twice.

texts: In playing Catan for 2 (the traders and barbarians expansion) on your turn, you roll the dice twice. Can you build or trade in between your dice rolls?


texts: Does River Heralds' Boon with one target count as one or two instances of adding +1/+1 counters?

texts:
River Heralds' Boon says:

  Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and a +1/+1 counter on up to one target Merfolk.

Winding Constrictor says:

  If one or more counters would be put on an artifact or creature you control, that many plus one of each of those kinds of counters are put on that permanent instead.

If the same Merfolk is both the creature target and the Merfolk target, does Constrictor see two separate instances to replace, or one?


texts: How to find people to play Magic the gathering with?

texts: I started playing Magic about six years ago, and I live in a very "Intelligence Deficient" Town. I have tried playing online and I Don't have a game shop nearby. Help me please??????


texts: When you need to draw (more) cards, and the draw pile is empty, what do you do?


texts: Diplomacy: What happens when two units attack each other with unequal support?

texts: In a game of diplomacy I am playing, a Turkish army in Moscow is attacking Warsaw with support from Ukraine, Galicia, and Silesia. A Russian Army in Warsaw is attacking Moscow with support from Livonia and St. Petersburg. Finally, A Russian Army in Prussia is attempting to move into Warsaw. What happens?


texts: What is the name of this solitaire style card game?

texts: place 4 cards faced-down in one column , repeat for three, on fourth  card all facing up. the next card  place up. The card place up  say is 5 heart, then the next card for the 4 facing- card or  from deck can be any heart(same suuit) .  Another row is formed when another 5 is found , then more cards be added provided they exist in first row and match the suit? repeat until all the rows form  all the cards that belong to same suit and value is in prior row.


texts: Card "stack" and targeting in Unstable Unicorns- Irrelevance of a defensive Super Neigh

texts:
In Unstable Unicorns, there are certain cards called "Neighs." A Neigh can be played at any time, and effectively "counters" a played card (similarly to Magic: The Gathering, or the "Nopes" in Exploding Kittens). There are also "Super Neighs-" Neigh cards that, additionally, cannot be Neighed. It seems to me that Super Neighs don't actually have any effect on gameplay other than normal Neighs when played defensively. It seems to me that the most logical way to resolve Neighs is similar to the "stack" in Magic. This would indicate that if, for example, your opponent plays a Pandamonium, and you choose to Neigh it, if they then play a Super Neigh in an attempt to win the "Neigh War" that may ensue, you could simply choose to play another Neigh, targeting the Pandamonium again, rather than the Super Neigh. Is this correct? Is there any reason that I MUST target the most recently played card with a Neigh, if there are multiple cards still unresolved?

TL;DR: Does Unstable Unicorns utilize a similar "stack" system to Magic, leaving cards unresolved and still Neighable until all more recently played cards have resolved?


texts: If too many players wins the game, can the Boss and Profiteer win no gold?

texts: If 5 players wins the game (2 green dwarfs, 1 blue dwarf, a Boss and a Profiteer), they only get 1 gold piece each. But the Boss gets 1 less, and the Profiteer gets 2 less. That means that they get no gold piece at all?


texts: What was the largest flop in board game history?

texts:
The history of videogames is full of games that failed to turn a profit. There are also a handful of games that are maligned by critics, and are regarded as flops. E.T. and Pacman are arguably some of the first examples of video game flops (not in total sales, but in lower than expected sales that resulted in a financial loss). Battlefield Earth, Diakatana, APB and others for the PC that missed release dates and when finally released did abysmal sales.

What is the largest flop in board game history? I know the stakes in board games are much smaller, with print runs in the low thousands usually, but surely there must be an example of a board game that had much lower than expected sales, and the publisher took a big loss.


texts: In 2 player, 10 card Gin, figuring out opponents cards

texts: What tactics can you use to help determine what your opponent is looking for in two player 10 card Gin?


texts:
Yesterday I was opening some boosters from the new Oath of the Gatewatch expansion, and got Sunken Hollow as a rare.

(Tap: Add Blue or Black to your mana pool.) Sunken Hollow enters the
battlefield tapped unless you control two or more basic lands.

To be honest I was kind of dissappointed to get a land for a rare (then again, I also got Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, so I can't complain), but it also made me wonder why it is a rare? What are the exact advantages of this card? The gatherer website has some rulings on this card, but I can't really make much of them, or see how this would affect a game.


texts: i have a lot of star trek 1E through to voyager, Vampire the masquerade, Shadowfist, jedi knights, rage, Battletech, alien vs predator CCG cards i'm trying to sell but have no idea where to sell them, anyone able to help me please? They're taking up space that i don't have to spare. In all it's probably around 20 to 25k cards all up....


texts: Can Ward Slivers protection be responded to?

texts: So I was playing against someone sniping my creatures. I cast Ward Sliver and name protection from a colour. They said that because Ward Sliver says "as it comes into play" the effect is an ETB (Enters the Battlefield trigger) and can be responded to while it's on the stack, sniping Ward Sliver before it has protection. Is this true?


texts:
In Ghost Stories you can exorcise two ghosts at once if you are on a corner and there is a ghost on each space adjacent to you. I played a game where I successfully exorcised both of these ghosts but then had to roll the curse die for each of them. The first roll of the curse die caused me to lose a Qi which killed me. Do I still roll the second curse die? If it again comes up that I lose a Qi, what happens?

If I am already dead and there are ghosts on my board that cause me to roll the curse die on the Yin phase and I have to lose a Qi, what happens?


texts:
I know a creature can technically have negative power, but since a creature would normally die if it reaches 0 toughness, I can't find an official ruling.

The reason I ask is based on +1/+1 counters. Let's say I have a Relic Seeker that has renowned; a base 2/2 with a +1/+1 counter. Now, if my opponent were to cast Cruel Finality, Relic Seeker would be reduced to a 0/0, but he's getting that +1/+1 from the counter, keeping him alive... so do +1/+1 counters bypass the toughness=0 death? Or can toughness go negative?

Another example: My opponent casts Languish. Is Relic Seeker now a -2/-2, and the +1/+1 counter isn't enough to keep it alive? Or does its toughness get reduced to 0 and become unable to go lower since Relic Seeker should die, and the +1/+1 keeps it above 0?


texts: Does the Bavarian Illuminati make a privileged attack in addition to their two actions?

texts: The special ability of the Bavarian Illuminati allows them to make a privileged attack for the cost of 5MB. Is this a free action?


texts: Finding the CIN of MTG Cards for collection on recent (2017-ish) MTG cards

texts:
I collect MTG cards and after hoarding a huge collection I'm trying to get it all organized now from this mess.

I've found an xls file that has almost all of the cards on it but it's not updated for the latest 2-3 sets.  I can find an input all the information required for those but I don't know where to find the info for this "CIN" column - it looks like it is just the abbreviation of the set name and then the card number within the set?  How do I know what the abbreviation is and is there anywhere I can just look up this information?


texts: How many Magic The Gathering cards have been printed?

texts:
I wonder how many Magic: The Gathering cards have been printed I in total (including all languages, all editions).

And I don't mean unique different cards, but really actual printed cards.

It must be billions, but exactly how many?


texts:
Almost every strategy I have ever read on Dominion, although disparate in many ways, unanimously agree that not only is buying copper a bad thing, but that you should do whatever is in your power to utterly destroy any that you already have in your deck.

One would think that, being both the cheapest and the most plentiful stack in the game, it would be more useful.  Or useful at all, really.

With the exception of a Gardens deck, wherein stuffing your deck with as many cards as it can physically hold is considered advantageous, are there any situations where buying copper is more help than hindrance?


texts:
On page 26 of the rulebook it says

  Coin tokens placed on a tech card as a reward for accomplishing a
  certain task are treated just like coins on the map, except that there
  is a maximum number of times a given task will provide a coin token.
  Coin tokens advance the economy dial when gained and cannot be lost

Since there are ways to remove a coin token from a tech, how is the maximum number on the tech card interpreted?

a) The maximum number on the card means the maximum number of times that you may use this ability.

b) The maximum number on the card means the maximum number of coins that can be placed on the card using this ability.

Example

The pottery tech card reads max 4. Player A uses this four times (on four different rounds) and gets four coin tokens on it. Player B plays a culture card which enables him to discard a coin token on a technology card, and discards one of the coin tokens from the player A's Pottery card.

Can player A use the ability on the Pottery card fifth time to get a fourth coin token on the tech card?


texts: Does an ability resolve if the source of the ability leaves the battlefield?

texts:
Player A taps Goblin Fireslinger targeting Player B; its "deals 1 damage to target player" ability is placed on the stack.

Player B gets priority and responds with Snap, targeting Goblin Fireslinger.

Both players pass priority. Snap resolves, and Goblin Fireslinger is returned to its owner's hand.

Does Player B still take 1 damage from Goblin Fireslinger's activated ability?

I know that if the creature had been killed/sent to the graveyard, the ability would still resolve, but I was told recently that because a player's hand is a private zone it couldn't. If anyone could confirm or deny this for me, it would be most appreciated.


texts: Is a card that was played and immediately trashed "in play"?

texts:
For the purposes of Walled Village, is a card that was played and immediately trashed considered "in play"?

For example, if I play Mining Village, trashing it for the +2 coin, then play Walled Village, does the Mining village count towards the "no more than one other Action card in play"?


texts: Why are two different "Well" cards included in the new version of Agricola?

texts:
In the updated Mayfair edition of Agricola, I found two Major Improvement cards for the Well. One costs three stone and one wood (as it did in the original version of the game), the other costs three stone and one clay. In other respects the cards were identical. In a scan through the rules, I could only find mention of the Well costing stone and wood, and no indication of when or how the "stone and clay" card should be used - though I did spot a picture of the "stone and clay" card in one of the illustrations.

What is the purpose of the two alternative versions of the Well, and how do I decide which one to use?


texts: How can I tell if a card is likely to have "functional errata"?

texts:
Apparently there was a period in Magic's history when cards received significant "errata" between printings — not just templating updates or clarifications, but straight-up changes to what the cards do.

The most recent example I can think of is Loxodon Warhammer, which officially has lifelink even though the original printing had the triggered-ability version (like Spirit Link), due to some messiness with the redefinition of lifelink while the card was reprinted. Most of the others are significantly older.

Without looking up every single card a player plays in Gatherer, is there a quick way to figure out which cards are likely to have Oracle text that wildly diverges from what's printed on them? (For example, are there certain old-timey abilities that got errata-ed away en masse?)


texts: Interaction with Grismold and Adarkar Valkyrie

texts:
Setup

Player A controls Adarkar Valkyrie, Grismold, the Dreadsower and a bunch of creature tokens.

Player B casts Akroma's Vengeance.

Question

If Player A responds with Adarkar Valkyrie's tap ability and targets Grismold, will Grismold - after he returns to the battlefield - receive the +1/+1 counters from his triggered ability?


texts: What are desirable planeswalker characteristics?

texts:
Some planeswalkers, such as Jace, Architect of Thought and Domri Rade have seen a lot of tournament play, while others, such as Gideon, Champion of Justice and Vraska the Unseen are rarely used in tournaments. Why is this? Gideon, for example, can turn into a huge threat pretty quickly, while Domri does little to directly improve your board.

What makes a planeswalker tournament-playable? What characteristics are desirable in planeswalker?


texts: Axis & Allies - Opening strategies for the U.K.

texts:
I haven't played Axis & Allies in a while, and I'm currently getting my butt handed to me in an online match (partly due to a failed Kwabang attack).

I've got what I feel is a solid grip on Russia and US strategies (build tons of infantry, and put pressure on Africa and the Pacific, respectively), but I'm rusty on my U.K. strategies.

Assuming that Germany has taken out the U.K. fleet, and still has a strong fleet/air force available, what are the best opening moves for the U.K.?


texts: Uno Flip - What color do you play when a person flips?

texts:
I just bought a new Uno called Uno-Flip and in this game, we have a Light Side and a Dark Side. When we use one of the Flip Cards, we have to (according to rulebook)

  When you play this card, everything flips from the Light Side to the Dark Side (or vice versa). Once the Flip card has been played, flip over the Discard Pile (the card just played will now be on the bottom), then the Draw Pile, then everyone's hands must flip to the other side. This new side will remain in play until another Flip card is played, changing it again. This card may only be played on a matching color or on another Flip Card.

Think of this scenario, when we start the game, we put a card in the Discard Pile from the Draw Pile. On the dark side of this card (light side starts face-up) it is a teal 5.
After a couple of rounds someone plays the Flip Card. We flip the Discard Pile and the teal 5 on the dark side is face up.

My Question

What should our next card be based on?
The teal 5 or the yellow Flip Card?


texts:
On page 12 of the Rulebook, it says

  At the start of the Investigation Phase of this round, the holder of this card may choose the Location card of another player which is read out loud

Does this mean the player can direct someone to read his card out loud to the entire table?


texts: Where do Auras go when a card is put on top of its owner's library?

texts: Say a player casts a card that returns a permanent to the top of owner's library, for example Banishment Decree, and the targeted creature card he chooses has two Auras enchanting it.  Where do the Aura enchantments go, to the players hand, graveyard or library?


texts: Is it permissible to intentionally make an illegal move in order to bluff?

texts:
Imagine this situation -

Alice's board: a tapped Steel Leaf Champion, Giant Growth in hand (which Bob knows about because of an earlier discard spell)
Bob's board: Charming Prince, 8 life

It's Bob's turn. If Alice gets to attack & pump, Bob is dead (Charming Prince can't block Steel Leaf Champion because of the Champion's ability). Bob is holding a Gideon's Reproach, so he's technically not going to die this turn - if Alice pumps, he wins the stack battle with the Reproach. However, Alice is skilled enough to play around Gideon's Reproach, so he's still going to die in two turns and his back is against the wall.
Bob comes up with this plan:

Although Alice has no blockers, I won't attack.
When Alice attacks, I'll cast Bladebrand, and then attempt to block with Charming Prince. This makes my decision not to attack "make sense".
Obviously Alice is now going to tell me that I can't block, and I'll say, "Oops". If she doesn't tell me I can't block, I'll still point it out myself before damage to not intentionally make an illegal play.
She'll think I must have made a mistake and am not holding Gideon's Reproach, because if I were holding Reproach why wouldn't I attack? I gain nothing and miss out on two damage in this case.
So she'll go for the win with Giant Growth and then I blow her out with my Gideon's Reproach.

Is this play permissible?
Aside: Alice wins anyway if she casts Giant Growth before attackers, but for the purpose of this question, ignore this potential line of play.


texts: Does a winning strategy exist for Don't Break the Ice?

texts:
Don't Break the Ice is a children's game, where players take turns using mallets to knock pieces of ice away from the playing field. The playfield is composed of a (6 x 6) grid of single square blocks, except for the 2x2 block that the skating bear is on.

The object of the game is to not break the ice and have the bear fall.

Is there an winning strategy? If so, for which player? Assumptions:

Each player only knocks out one block of their choice.
Blocks are 'sticky' and will cling to each other along any edge, and so:
The game ends when the center 2x2 square has been disconnected from the exterior of the 6x6 square; that is, when there is no orthogonal (connected along the edges) path from any cell outside the 6x6 square to a cell in the interior of the central 2x2.


texts: What are the Blackjack rules used in Atlantic City casinos?

texts:
I understand that Blackjack in Atlantic City casinos is regulated by the state and that they determine the rules of Blackjack that all the casinos must adhere to.

Specifically, I would like to know:

Is the dealer required to stand on a soft 17?
How many decks are used?
Is the shoe normally played to the last card or is it shuffled before being empty?
How many times can you split?
Can you double down after splitting?
Can you double down after splitting Aces?
Can a split Ace be dealt more than one card?
Does a split Ace and ten value card count as Blackjack or 21?
If the dealer has Blackjack and you have 21 (but not Blackjack) do you lose the hand?
What is the payout for Blackjack?
Is insurance offered? How much does it cost?
Is late or early surrender offered?
What is the minimum bet per hand at the major Atlantic City casinos?
By how much can you increase or decrease your bet between hands?


texts: Does Emrakul, the Promised End trigger if the player casting it is being controlled?

texts:
Say I cast Emrakul, the Promised End and am now controlling my opponent during their turn. As it turns out, they also have an Emarkul, the Promised End.
If I cast their Emrakul (while controlling them) does the effect trigger? This effect says:

When you cast this spell, you gain control of target opponent during that player's next turn. After that turn, that player takes an extra turn.

But it's unclear to me if I am casting this spell, or if opponent is.
Related: When controlling an opponent's turn after casting “Emrakul, the Promised End”, who is “target opponent”? which seems to indicate that if the effect triggers, then opponent gets to control me, but doesn't clarify if the effect triggers in the first place.


texts: When does a player choose the creature benefiting from Amass?

texts:
Situation: My opponent has a Zombie Army with 3 +1/+1 counters, and also a another Zombie Army (say for example, Amoeboid Changeling). They cast a card with Amass (for example: Relentless Advance). I have a Jaya's Greeting in hand.

Question: Can I choose to respond to the Relentless Advance by destroying whichever creature will get the tokens? Or does my opponent choose after it resolves?


texts:
A Finnish friend gave me a copy of Afrikan Tähti. We played it a couple of times, and while it was kind of fun, it really seems like a children's game, and I won't bring it out again in a hurry. Luck overshadows strategy, and when you start you don't know if it will take 45 seconds or 45 minutes.

Are there any variants or house rules, or even different games that can be played with the same map and peices, that could be more strategic?


texts:
I recently learned a new card game and the person didn’t know the name. Maybe someone else does. Goes like this...
A round begins with each player having been dealt 4 cards except the starting player is dealt 5. Cards are scored as face value except all face/ace/joker cards are 10 points. Each turn, you lay your highest card (ideally) and then draw from the deck or the top card off the discard. You can also lay multiples if they are the same number/face. Once someone reaches a card score of 14 points or lower, they can show their hand and play stops (or continue to attempt to get a lower hand). If they show and aren’t the lowest, they get a point against them. Otherwise, the person with the highest card score gets the point against them. A new round then starts with shuffled cards. Once anyone hits 5 points, they are out and rounds continue until only one person is left, the winner.


texts: LOTR CG: May I keep the resource tokens of a dying hero?

texts:
Do I discard the resource tokens of a hero that dies or may I keep them? I assume I need to discard them. But I didn't find this info in the rulebook.
The resouce token belong to a certain sphere of influence, yes, but if I have another hero of the same sphere left, then theoretically I could move the resource token of the dying hero to the other hero.


texts:
How does Rook compare in difficulty to other trick-taking games?

It is commonly played by older people in my area, and so my siblings and I learned it as small children.

What games would be good to pick up, having that background?


texts: What Happens if I Manifest a Double-Faced Card?

texts: If I put a double-faced card onto the battlefield with Manifest (Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card), what happens?  Does it enter the battlefield transformed, is it a 2/2 with no abilities, or is it not even possible to be manifested?


texts: What is the board game in ‘Friends’ S05E11?

texts:
Does anyone know the name of the board game visible on the following picture?

The image is taken from the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Friends ("The One With All The Resolutions"), at around 4/5 of the episode (17:53 is the exact timestamp of the frame from my version).
The things I thought might help to identify the game:

The game seems to have an oval board.
There are two small blue UFO-shaped parts (maybe dice poppers?): one on the table and one in the hands of Joey (second guy from the left).
There seems to be two different kind of cards involved - in red and blue colors.
The box features a cartoonish drawing of a woman and a man and the dominant color seems purple.
The game seems to support 5 players - but considering it's a tv show, this might not hold true. I recon yellow, red and blue figures on the board, and it seems that there are two from each color.


texts: Late Arrival: What to do with the other two cards? (Guillotine)

texts: The "Late Arrival" card tells to look at the top 3 cards, and add one of them to the end of the line. What should one do with the other two cards?


texts: Is there a portable / travel / pocket Dixit, without a large / bulky board but same riddling gameplay?

texts:
I've read Differences between Dixit versions?, and the BoardGame Geek "Dixit product guide" which help, but I'm interested in something more specific.

Is there a version/expansion of Dixit that has the same "riddling/storytelling" element as the main game, but can be played with just cards? (therefore, can be easily transported in just a pocket or without taking up much room in a bag)

I've seen Dixit Jinx which at first glance looked like exactly what I'm talking about, but apparently as well as dropping the board it also has "abstract" cards resulting in, apparently, much more basic and limited riddles/stories/clues.

Dixit Odyssey is apparently playable standalone and looks like its board is much smaller (I could be mistaken from the photos). If the board folds up small, that'd be fine, I could just ditch the giant box, but it's hard to tell from the photos I can find. Some listings of expansions (example) talk as if they can be played standalone with other basic equipment but others say they need the full original.

I travel a lot and so the smaller space would be a big help. Games like Once Upon A Time are great for this, I can just ditch the box and slip the cards in a pocket or at the bottom of a bag.

Dixit appears to also be mostly about cards and riddling/storytelling (must confess I've not actually played it), but all the versions I can find appear to be either expansions, or come in a big box with a board.

I've seen a few comments various places that seem to say that some of the Dixit card-only expansions can be played as standalone games if you use something else (dice, paper) to keep score but I'm not clear about which this is true of or what would be needed.


texts: What cards can I cast from exile with Dream Pillager?

texts: Dream Pillager, after damaging an opponent, allows you to exile that many cards from the top of your library and cast any until end of turn that were exiled this way. Does this mean I may cast ANY card that has EVER been exiled this way since the beginning of the game?


texts: Would changing the value of Scrabble tiles have a negative effect on the game?

texts:
This morning my Facebook friends are up in arms about a proposed re-valuation of Scrabble tiles in line with letter frequency in modern language usage:

Scrabble: Should letter values change?

All of them (admittedly they are mostly more casual gamers than me!) are united in the opinion that any normalisation of the tile values would be tampering with, and probably even breaking, something that isn't broken.

My own viewpoint is that the only real consequence of such a change would be to reduce the swinginess inherent in the game from, e.g. drawing and scoring big points from the Z.  I want to know whether it would be fair of me to tell my friends, "well, by all means argue for keeping the tile values as they are, but be aware that what you're arguing for is keeping the ratio of skill to luck in the game weighted towards luck".

Of course perhaps it's me that's missing the point, and there would be unforeseen negative consequences to gameplay and fun from reassigning the letters with "fairer" values.  Can anyone think of any?


texts: In Axis and Allies, Can Infantry Building Lead to a "Stalemate" in the Early Going?

texts:
Most has been made of the so-called infantry push mechanism. Specifically, infantry are awfully useful for shielding heavier pieces (tanks, planes) from losses. But could they be too much of a good thing, at least in the early going? Some examples:

Russia: Buys 8 infantry from at least 4-5 turns. With the possible exception of conquering Norway-Finland, and "strafing" the Ukraine, plays a strict defensive during that time.

Germany: Spends IPCs matching Russia's infantry build up in Europe. Except for sending 2 infantry each turn across the Med to Africa (which basically represents Germany's excess IPCs over Russia).

UK Build factory in South Africa in turn 1, 5 infantry in UK withe remaining IPCs. Turn 2, two tanks in SA, two transports. Turn 3, more tanks in SA, one transport in UK, remainder infantry, bound for Africa.

Japan: Build 8 infantry turns 1-2. Ferry 4 to China each turn using two transports, hold the rest for defense of homeland. Maybe on turn 3, build a third transport, ferry two more units to China (plus basic four).

U.S.: Move battleship and transport from Pacific to Caribbean first turn. Build factory in Sinkiang, 7 infantry. Turn 2, build tanks in Sinkiang, another transport off East Coast.  remainder infantry. Caribbean transport picks up two infantry from east coast, back to Caribbean. Turn 3, Caribbean transport takes infantry to protect Brazil, second transport takes infantry to West Indies and Panama, rest of infantry "dribbles" (from California) into Mexico and British Columbia.

Is this a static, defensive construct? Or are there dynamics that I'm missing?


texts: What are ways to "read" the shape of your opponents' hands early on?

texts:
Toward the end, the shape of opponents' hands can be read by "counting" (playing out two or three suits and inferring the shape of the remaining one(s)).

In the beginning, one looks for more subtle clues. If a lead is fourth best, one might look in hand or dummy for lower cards to see if the leader might have a fifth or sixth. If opener has bid three suits they are likely to have a singleton or void in the fourth. If one defender has bid they probably have the bulk of the defenders' points; if neither has bid, the points are (probably) evenly split.

What are other ways to draw inferences about opponents' hands after hearing the bidding, and seeing one or two rounds of play?


texts: In Troyes, how do use Chivalry and Joust as part of a VP engine?

texts:
Chivalry allows you to put one cube on one event card for each red die in your district (excluding the ones you use). Joust operates in the same vein, but requires the total value of the red dice in your district to be higher than everyone's else to gain 2 VP per activation.

However, those 2 activities disregard the red dice you use to activate them, which make those 2 seemingly less useful than Troubadour, Pilgrimage, Journeyman, Goldsmith and Sculptor for VP engine.

Also considering that one citizen at the palace costs 2 coin to upkeep, and it's easy to be expelled.

What's the best way to use those 2 cards as VP engine?


texts: Can a player take a card from the researcher on their turn if they have the co-worker relationship but are not in the same city?

texts: It is the generalist turn. Can she take a card from the researcher if they have the co worker relation?


texts: Can you peek at your cards from future years in Seasons?

texts: In Seasons, after you have selected cards for all 3 years, can you take a look at cards from future years to plan which energy to take?


texts: Are there any online big communities similar to FICS or Chess.com for Othello (Reversi) where you can play against many players and so on?


texts:
Many years ago, I bought a game called 'Elixir', in which the players represent wizards trying to obtain the ingredients for the Elixir of Life.

Unfortunately, I've lost the rules, and I can't find any reference to the game or its manufacturers on the Internet.

The main thing I need to know is the table that tells you the result of an attempt to brew a potion, based on the value of gems in the mix, and the die roll you throw.


texts: Is Starship Catan similar enough to be considered a two-player adaptation of Starfarers of Catan?

texts: I've played Starfarers of Catan(BGG|Wikipedia) once and loved it. Usually, I only have one other to play board games with. I'd like to know how similar Starship Catan(BGG|Wikipedia) is so I can decide whether it's worth the purchase.


texts: Can Oko's Elk ability stop nonbasics from being affected by Magus of the Moon?

texts: I have a Magus of the Moon, opponent turns it into an Elk that loses all abilities with Oko, Thief of Crowns. Are nonbasic lands still affected by the magus?


texts: How can we have a permanent without a controller?

texts:
The comprehensive rules use at several points the phrasing:

  109.5. [...] or its owner (if it has no controller)

What are the most common cases where a permanent has no controller?

I thought it might be during multiplayer when someone loses, but it does not seem to be the case.


texts:
One of the new Kaldheim cards, Blessing of Frost, has the text:

Distribute X +1/+1 counters among any number of creatures you control, where X is the amount of {S} spent to cast this spell. Then draw a card for each creature you control with power 4 or greater.

and a ruling of:

If Blessing of Frost is copied, no mana was spent to cast the copy, so no +1/+1 counters will be distributed. You may still draw cards if your creatures are large enough.

But rule 706.10 says:

A copy of a spell or ability copies both the characteristics of the spell or ability and all decisions made for it, including modes, targets, the value of X, and additional or alternative costs. ... If an effect of the copy refers to objects used to pay its costs, it uses the objects used to pay the costs of the original spell or ability.

So why doesn't the snow mana of the original spell count for the copied spell?
(I know the spell and the rules both refer to X, but I'm not concerned about the X of the rules, mostly why the cost of the original spell can't be considered for the resolution of the copied spell)


texts: Cargo Noir: How to prevent Macao Black Market from going stale

texts:
We played Cargo Noir last night for the first time and we found that by the end of the game, half the cargos in the black market had been there from the start.

When you are at Macao, you can swap or pick a random cargo from the bag.
Since you need to have a cargo to swap for a cargo, players often chose to random pick out of the bag as it increases your cargo and still carries a chance of getting what you need.
This meant that people tended to ignore swaps and go for random in every stage of the game, and the market became stagnant.

Are there any suggestions on ways that increase the turn over of cargo on the market and freshen things up?


texts: Does a legendary creature "die" when put into the graveyard due to the Legendary rule?

texts:
The Scarab God's text reads:

  When The Scarab God dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.

If I have Mirage Mirror in place and my opponent attempts to exile The Scarab God, can I in response, make Mirage Mirror a copy of it, then select the original Scarab God to be put into the graveyard, and finally return it at the beginning of the next end step?

The Legendary rule reads:

  If a player controls two or more legendary permanents of the same name when state-based effects are checked, that player chooses one of those permanents and immediately put the others into their owners' graveyards, without any player having an opportunity to respond.

Is that "put the others into graveyard" considered "dying"?


texts: I am trying to remember the name of a card game

texts:
Here's everything I can remember about it:

I believe I first found it on the Pagat website.

I think it's a trick taking game, there are 5 (perhaps less or more?) different hands of play and I think the dealer chooses one of them based on his hand and throughout the course of the game the dealer must pick each of them once, being unable to choose the same one twice.

Each player has there turn choosing one of the "hands" to play until all players have picked each hand once then the game would end.

The one other thing I remember are the rules stating something about making a chart for each hand and player and marking off when each hand gets played to keep track of what's been picked and what's left to play.

Barbu has somewhat of the ideas here but that's not the game I'm looking for.


texts: How to play AKJx opposite xxx for 3 tricks at matchpoints

texts:
Say I need 3 trick from the suit AKJx opposite xxx to make my contract at matchpoints. I recently discovered that the best line is to cash AK and then lead to the jack (winning when the suit breaks 3-3, Q onside or Qx offside). However this line gives up on overtricks when Qxx is onside.

Should I play to maximise my expected number of tricks? I think this involves cashing the ace and finessing the second round (since Qxx onside is more likely than Qx offside).

Is there a standard line 'the room' would take and should I vary my play accordingly? I'm assuming I'm in a normal contract that most pairs will find themselves in.

Example hand:

I was considering this suit combination when reading 'The Rodwell Files' and this 3NT hand appeared,

  ♠ K7                   A2
  ♡ AJ83                K42
  ♢ AQ42                K55
  ♣ J76               K8532

On a spade lead Rodwell wins in hand, then plays on diamonds finding a 3-3 split. The ninth trick can then come from finessing the club Ace and falling back on the heart finesse, or by playing the heart Ace
King and lobbing towards the Jack. Rodwell gives both lines a 76% chance but says he would favour the latter line at teams (because of the slight chance of well placed singleton Ace or Queen of clubs).


texts:
I know the full-size game of Go is played on a 19x19 board and comes with 181 black stones and 180 white stones. This is to accommodate filling every spot on the board with a stone. I want to know if there are suggestions for (much) smaller boards.

While for other typical board sizes (9x9 and 13x13), I'm guessing we could adopt a similar rule for the number of stones to include (41/41 and 85/84, respectively), but what about very small boards?

I made this 3x3 novelty board for a friend, and I'm not sure how many stones to include with it. Because of the size, I am certain many games could involve a lot of capturing, and I wouldn't want him to run out of stones. He doesn't own a full-size game, so he has no pieces to use with this little board (we have been playing on my full-size board).

For folks who have played on small boards, how many pieces do you think I should include?

Extended Question: Do you have suggestions for other small sizes -- say, the 5x5 "capture go", or some irregular sizes?

Edit: I'm not looking for a theoretical upper/lower bound on the number of stones, but rather a "from a practical standpoint, how many might I include to prevent players from having to borrow captured stones to continue playing" kind of number.


texts:
Once in a documentary I saw an exquisite Go Set.
The stones were not double or single convex, they were actually balls (round spherical stones).
The board had carved channels or grooves, so as you put a ball to an intersection it stayed there.

I tried to find such a board on the internet and could not even find a picture.
Does anybody know of such boards?
(I am not interested kurokigoishi boards, they might be exquisite, but they are not balls).


texts: Why would Kathril, Aspect Warper's ability grant multiple hexproof counters?

texts:
Kathril, Aspect Warper has this ability:

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.

There is a ruling in Gatherer that is confusing to me:

If cards in your graveyard have multiple hexproof abilities (such as hexproof, hexproof from white, and hexproof from black), a counter of each variant kind will be put onto a creature.

Why would this be true under the ability's wording and the rules?

702.11d “Hexproof from [quality]” is a variant of the hexproof ability. “Hexproof from [quality]” on a permanent means “This permanent can’t be the target of [quality] spells your opponents control or abilities your opponents control from [quality] sources.” A “hexproof from [quality]” ability is a hexproof ability.

So we see that "Hexproof from white" is a hexproof ability, thus is would count for Kathril's ability. I would assume that "Repeat this process for..." means that you do this action:

put a flying counter on any creature you control if a creature card in your graveyard has flying

but replace "flying" with the keyword that you are repeating the action for. As we go down the list, we eventually repeat the action for hexproof, so we follow this instruction:

put a hexproof counter on any creature you control if a creature card in your graveyard has hexproof

Due to 702.11d, if you have a creature with hexproof from white in your graveyard, that would count as having hexproof just the same as if you had a creature with normal hexproof in your graveyard. In either case, the instruction you are following then is to "put a hexproof counter on any creature you control".
How can these set of instructions cause you to put a "hexproof from white" counter on a creature you control? There doesn't appear to be any instruction to ever put a "hexproof from white" counter on a creature you control.
Does somehow "repeat this process for hexproof" actually mean "repeat this process for hexproof and every possible hexproof variant"?
Same question for Odric, Lunarch Marshal:

At the beginning of each combat, creatures you control gain first strike until end of turn if a creature you control has first strike. The same is true for flying, deathtouch, double strike, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, skulk, trample, and vigilance.

Again I would think that by a literal reading of the wording, if a creature you control has "hexproof from white" then this would cause all of your creatures yo be granted normal hexproof (they gain hexproof if a creature you control has hexproof; and having hexproof from white counts). But the rulings say the same as Kathril.


texts: What is the game where you have to identify a person based on their features?

texts:
I am trying to find the name of a game that I played when I was a child. In it, there were a large number of characters in various costumes. The object of the game was either to guess a target character or guess opponents' characters. I do not remember the exact mechanics by which you played and figured out which character you were looking for. Some key features:

The characters were photographed models in costumes, not drawn;
I would have played this game in the early 80s and I recall the box looking rather old, so I would place this game most likely in the 1970s if not 1960s;
I cannot recall if there was an actual board, but it came in a long cardboard box similar to those that held board games at the time;
I remember there were cards, and it is possible that each player was dealt one as "their character."
I vaguely recall that the cards were larger than standard game cards, possibly 4x6 or 5x7 inches.
It had a short name like "Clue" but obviously I'm not thinking of Clue.
Five or six players could play this game at once.

Can anyone identify the game I am so imperfectly recalling?


texts: Can triggered effects occur even though a creature has summmoning sickness?

texts:
During my previous turn I had cast onto the battlefield Aven Wind Mage, which has the ability:

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Aven Wind Mage gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

On their next turn, my opponent activated the ability of Siege-Gang Commander to deal two damage to my Wind Mage, attempting to destroy it:

{1}{R}, Sacrifice a Goblin: Siege-Gang Commander deals 2 damage to any target.

I responded to this with Dramatic Reversal:

Untap all nonland permanents you control.

even though I knew that all my creatures were already untapped. My opponent claimed that this was illegal as Aven Wind Mage has summoning sickness and does not get to trigger its ability, keeping it alive.
Who is correct in this situation - can I legally play Dramatic Reversal although there are no tapped creatures to untap and as a result give Aven Wind Mage the needed +1/+1 until the end of turn to keep it alive?


texts: How does one defeat an enemy's True-Name Nemesis?

texts: In Magic the Gathering, there is a card called True-Name Nemesis. This card, when entering the battlefield, allows the caster to select an opponent. Once selected, True-Name Nemesis gets protection from said opponent. Just how does someone deal with one that was played by an opponent in a 1v1 match?


texts: What is the name of this game with temples, volcanos and stacking tiles?

texts: You build the board with tiles that are 3 hexes joined together, each has a volcano on it. You  stack them, and build stuff on them. Temples on tiles that are 4 high, villages need to have a certain size and there's a third building I can't remember.


texts: When do routed units capture a castle/stronghold

texts:
If some units rout and are able to retreat in to a territory that has an unoccupied castle or stronghold, does that castle count as captured immediately? Or do you need to wait until the next turn when the routed units are able to 'stand up' again?

The reason I ask is that on the final turn (i.e. no chance for routed units to stand), this ruling can have an effect on the number of castles and hence, who wins the game


texts: Which circumstances make one favour track better than another in Caylus?

texts:
When the King awards you a favour in Caylus, which track should you choose?

When is one track more beneficial than another?

What circumstances make a particular favour track more or less useful?


texts:
Mesodae's Lantern states

  Your energy reserve is decreased by 1. At the end of the round, receive 3 crystals.

My question is, do you receive 3 crystals one time immediately after playing it, or do you go 3 crystals at the end of each round?


texts:
A rule was in place that said the hand limit was zero. It states that if it isn't your turn you should have zero cards.

Other rules in play were draw three, play one.

While it was 'Person A's turn he played trade hands card. That means he gave the cards to 'Person B'. There were no modifiers at the time to the standard rule 'play one card'.

So my question is does the trade hands card need to fully resolve - meaning does person B have to discard the cards before the start of his turn. Or does the end of 'Person A's turn ended the moment he played the trade hands card, and person B gets to keep he cards at the start of his next turn.

Edit: I am hoping someone can cite an actual rule why Joe W is correct. My opponent isn't buying the logic and insists his turn is over the moment he traded the cards, so therefore I should keep the cards.


texts: Discarding after picking up discard pile in Canasta

texts: Today we had a situation.   Player legally picked up discard pile. All he had left in hand were dead cards and wild cards.  Is there a rule about which should be discarded first?


texts: 2-player Lord of the Rings game from the early 2000s

texts:
I am looking for a LOTR 2-player (1v1) board game I received for Christmas as a kid in the early 2000s (after the last movie got released, so probably 2003 or 2004, but the game in itself may have been older).

Each player controlled 9 characters: the white player controlled the Fellowship, while the black player controlled Sauron's forces.

The game was played on a square map divided in several cells of irregular sizes and shapes, each representing a region of Middle-Earth, with the Shire and Mordor at opposite sides, which I think served at the starting points for each team.

Each character I believe possessed a special ability and a "strength" level between 1 and 9.
The character tiles were printed with an artwork and showed the name, a description of the special ability, and the "strength". The tiles were inserted in plastic stands and placed face to their owner so that the opponent could not see which character was in which position on the board.

When 2 opposing characters were in the same region, players had to reveal them and then a battle phase started. During battle the players had to use cards but I don't remember what purpose they served.

The game ended when Frodo managed to reach Mordor (White wins) or was killed by the Enemy (Black wins).

The art style resembled a lot that of John Howe.


texts: What happens when my opponent cast Gifts Ungiven while I have hexproof (like from Veil of Summer)? Does it fizzle or give them all four of the cards?


texts: If Dragonlord Silumgar dies during combat, when does the creature he stole change control?

texts:
I play Dragonlord Silumgar and take control of the only creature my opponent has.

On my next turn I swing with Silumgar and the other player's creature I took control of. That player casts Divine Verdict targeting Dragonlord Silumgar and destroys him.

Now, does the creature I took control of return to the other player before combat damage has been dealt, or at the end step?


texts: Political Prowess someone else's activation?

texts:
In Battlestar Galactica, there is a card (Political Prowess) whose text reads thusly:

  Play before making a skill check triggered by a location.  Do not make the skill check; instead, it automatically passes or fails (your choice).

Another player is in the Brig.  He wishes to escape, so he attempts to activate the location.   Can I use this card to force him to autofail the check and remain in captivity?


texts: What to do when all basestars are in the Cylon Fleet board?

texts:
The last time my group played BSG Board Game, we faced the following situation:

A player took a Crisis Card that activated Basestar Attack. But, at that turn, all the basestars were at the Cylon Fleet board. We haven't reached a consensus, but my thoughts are that all the cylon ships on the space area where the basestars were located (both were at the same space area) should being placed on the same corresponding space area in the main game board. The others players agreed to just move the pursuit marker and do nothing. The same applied when we took an Launch Raiders Crisis Card.

Is that right or am I not understanding the rules?


texts: We played the haunt where the betrayal controls a zombie lord and many zombies. There was one omen (I do not remember its name) that can kill the zombie lord. Only this item can kill it. The hero caring it died. As per the rules they dropped only their items. What happens to that omen? Is it lost forever? Is it returned to the stack or is it dropped?


texts: How to choose initial directives for Adam?

texts:
Since fourth directive came out, Adam players got to choose which 3 directives to pick at the start of the game. There are 4 options:

Always Be Running
Safety First
Neutralize All Threats
Find the Truth

There are 2 main factors that affect this decision:

Corp ID
Runner deck composition

Let's focus on Corp IDs for simplicity's sake. If one understands why each directive is good or bad vs certain ID by itself, the task of re-evaluating it based on supporting cards is much easier. But if presence of some other cards in runner's deck drastically affect the answer, feel free to point that out.

How do you assess which directives to pick (or, rather, which one to omit) based on corporate ID you see?

Say, when facing Controlling the Message ID runner probably doesn't want to Neutralize All Threats, because that will surely get them tagged. On the other hand, CtM decks are very likely to pack Hard-Hitting News, so one wouldn't want to Always Be Running either. So what should a runner do?


texts: What happens when a Jace, the Mind Sculptor is played in an unspecific format?

texts: If I'm playing casual without a specific format but I'm still trying the rules, what happens when a  Jace, the Mind Sculptor is played?  It is banned from Modern but not from Legacy.


texts: Does Phantasmal Bear get sacrificed if its affected by spells or abilities that don't say 'target'?

texts: Phantasmal Bear says that if it becomes the target of a spell or ability that it must be sacrificed. If I played Phantasmal Bear and later in the game played a creature that gave all of my other blue creatures +1/+1, would the Bear still be sacrificed, even though the Bear wasn't 'targeted' specifically?


texts:
Scenario.
Alice has played in previous turns the following cards:

Timber yard (brown card) - gives 1 resource: stone OR wood.
Secret Warehouse (black card)

From the rule book for Secret Warehouse:

  Each turn, the card produces a resource of the
  player’s choice from among those that their
  city already produces through its brown and
  gray cards or the initial resource of their board.
  Clarification : the Secret Warehouse doesn’t
  allow players to double the production on yellow,
  white, or black cards (Forum, Caravansary,
  Bilkis and Black Market).

Alice has not played any other card that produces stone or wood.

Question
Can Alice use one stone AND one wood to play a card that requires both?

Additional info:
In our "7-wonders group" we don't allow this since we kind of assume that the secret warehouse "doubles" a resource as its symbol suggests. So we interpreted it as "You pick either stone or wood and you can use 2 of them".
But the mobile game app allows the use of one stone AND one wood.
I'm asking here because I don't trust how the rules are implemented in the mobile app since I found other bugs / inconsistencies in it in the past.


texts: We have the base Catan and the Cities and Knights - Scenarios The Conquerors extension set. But we don't have the Cities and Knights set. We also have the Seafearers' extension. Is there a way to play The Conquerors without the Cities and Knights extension?


texts:
When Noxious Gearhulk is played can it be countered by Turn Aside?

I've noticed that some cards say "counter target spell or creature" but turn aside only says "counter target spell ..."


texts: Are there bridge behaviors that are technically within the rules that could be considered unethical?

texts:
I would imagine that there might be more than one example, but the one that occurs to me is connected with "pysch" bids. That is the practice of bidding values that one doesn't have, in order to confuse the opponents in the bidding and subsequent play. Such bids might also tend to confuse partner, and it is this aspect that makes them "in bounds," ethically.

But suppose a player (perhaps even inadvertently) made a practice of refraining from such bids when ahead (in points), and stepped up the use of such bids after falling behind, to the point where partner could make educated guesses about the frequency of such bids just by knowing, or at least estimating,(in duplicate), the score. This pattern might actually help very sophisticated opponents, but would make things unusually difficult for many opposing pairs.

Could such a pattern around "psyching" (or other unusual practices in bridge) move the action to the wrong side of the ethical line? Is it "randomization" that makes such behavior ethical?


texts: In what order are triggered abilities executed?

texts: When in a player window where triggered abilities can take effect, how do players determine the order of execution of the triggered abilities?  Can they be in any order, i.e. player 1 triggers 2 abilities, then player 2 triggers 1, then player 1 again triggers 1?  Or do they follow certain restrictions such as particular abilities requiring all triggerings for that to be done atomically or, in the case of a disagreement among players, defaulting to the player who controls the lead investigator to decide who goes when, or in player order etc.?  I would think the answer is likely in the order the players decide, with disputes resolved by the lead investigator.


texts: During the untap step, can I copy a vehicle with Felhide Spiritbinder's Inspired trigger?

texts:
I'm looking at an interaction with the Inspired mechanic and vehicles and wanted to make sure I had this correct.

On my previous turn, I've used a Felhide Spiritbinder to crew a Ballista Charger. During my untap step, Felhide Spiritbinder untaps, adding its Inspired trigger to the stack. With the Inspired trigger on the stack, can I crew the Ballista using the Spiritbinder, pay the Inspired ability's cost, and then create a copy of the animated Ballista?


texts: Does the psychic abomination rule apply to an unmoving unit already within the effect radius?

texts: The Culexus Assassin and Sisters of Silence's psychic abomination rule states that blessings and maledictions are nullified as soon as the target unit moves within 12" of the model. Does it means that one can still target a model that is already within 12" of a Sisters' unit or of an assassin with a malediction like treason of Tzeench and have it work as long as the target model doesn't move?


texts: Can you suspect false carding from the following situation?

texts:
You are playing this hand at 3NT having arrived there after you bid 1NT and North 3NT, East and West having passed throughout. Only you are vulnerable. (The hand is linked for reference; but you'd only actually get to see your hand and dummy as below, plus individual cards as they are played).  Dummy is North, the lead (by West) is the 5 of hearts 6, T, won by J in hand.

AK9
63
AT94
J985

QT8
KJ7
QJ82
AK3

You have two chances for your ninth trick; a diamond finesse is 50-50. You also have an extra chance (8% by my calculation) if East has Qx of clubs, since you can drop the Q, then finesse against Tx remaining in West.

Since clubs is a "key" suit, I begin by inventorying the opponents' combined holding: QT7642. I start by playing the A, and expect the two lowest cards, 4 and 2 to drop (which in fact is the case). Say one opponent drops the 6 instead; I would then expect his partner to have the 4.

I lead the K, and sure enough, East drops the Q. But here's the tricky part; West drops the 7, meaning that the 6 and T are outstanding. Put another way, they can't both be playing their lowest card and at least one of them must be falsecarding!

Should I now suspect "chicanery," and go back to my 50-50 diamond finesse because my a priori 8% chance of a successful drop is now too low? (The actual South player tried a finesse which lost to East's ten.)

But perhaps South could now capitalize on the 3-3 break (36% a priori) by putting up his Jack, since the queen has been sacrificed. I can understand why East falsecarded, but why would West do so? Because if he hadn't I would have taken the club finesse, thinking that West had four cards and the queen was an honest drop from East. But faced with evidence of chicanery, I would suspect that E-W were trying to hide the fact that the diamond finesse would work.


texts: After my Nil bid was set, should I try to take or duck?

texts:
In Spades, when someone is forced to takes a trick on a nil bid, some-times, players keep giving away their high cards.

In which situations it is better to try to take tricks and in which it is better to avoid taking more tricks?


texts: How accessible are the many German-only expansions for Catan?

texts:
The website catan.com gives a good overview of the many and varied editions and expansions for Catan available in English. However, it doesn't take long to find a slew of additional material for the game that appears to only be available in German.

Some examples include:

Atlantis: Szenarien & Varianten
Schätze, Drachen & Entdecker
Der Schokoladenmarkt
Historische Szenarien

This is not an exhaustive list. Some of the German-only scenarios do appear to have been reprinted in the English editions of certain expansions but there still seems to be a wealth of German-only material.

Am I right in thinking this material is unavailable in English? If so, is it easy for a non German speaker to learn and use these expansions? What about availability outside of Germany?


texts: Does gaining +x/+x trigger "when counters are added" abilities?

texts: If I had a Fathom Mage and played Giant Growth onto it would the "gain +3/+3" activate the ability to draw a card when a counter is added, or are stat improvements and counters completely separate?


texts: Hunt re-rolls in the presence of Sauron's servants or Strongholds

texts: How should I understand this rule (rulebook p.41, Hunt Re-rolls)? Does it refer to the last known position of the Fellowship, or does the free peoples' player have to tell the shadow player that he now got X re-rolls which would help him to determine the current position?


texts:
Sakashima the Impostor has the following text (and more, but this is the relevant part):

  You may have Sakashima, the Impostor enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except its name is Sakashima, the Impostor

Lazav, the Multifarious has somewhat similar text (also shortened to the relevant part):

  {X}: Lazav, the Multifarious becomes a copy of target creature card in your graveyard with converted mana cost X, except its name is Lazav, the Multifarious

Between these two cards, it's possible to have Sakashima enter the battlefield as a copy of Lazav, and then use Lazav's ability. In most situations, text on a card which refers to that card by name is treated as "this card", so even though the creature in that circumstance is named "Sakashima the Impostor", activating its ability which says "Lazav, the Multifarious becomes a copy" will cause Sakashima to become a copy. However, I don't know whether the same applies to the part of the ability which affects the resulting name as well.

There are various other cards which would have similar effects when combined with Lazav, such as taking the ability directly with something like Necrotic Ooze that I assume would work the same way, but if not then feel free to limit consideration to just Sakashima.

In short, if a creature not already named Lazav, the Multifarious has and activates the ability of Lazav, the Multifarious, does its name change?


texts: Reuse Quorum cards with "Give this card to another player"

texts:
Many quorum cards feature an effect that says "give this card to another player". That player then receives some kind of passive privilege (does not require an action) like determining the next FTL jump destination.

My question is: Can the receiving player use that card's action too (and pass it on to yet another player) or is it only to remind people of the passive privilege?

My instinct tells me that it's only a reminder but I couldn't find a clarification for either alternative.


texts: Would Pot of Extravagance be too unfair if you use a deck that doesn't use an Extra Deck?

texts:
Pot of Extravagance allows you to banish cards from your Extra Deck to draw cards.

However, some archetypes, like "Monarch", "True Draco" or the "Lair of Darkness" structure deck doesn't need an Extra Deck to beat an opponent.

If you use one of these types of decks, could you just put "useless" cards in your Extra Deck that you don't plan on using so there is no cost to using Pot of Extravagance?


texts: How can I minimize Black Market set up and clean up time?

texts:
The Black Market (promotional) card requires considerable set up time.

From description:

  Before the game, make a Black Market deck out of one copy of each
  Kingdom card not in the supply.

There are a few ways to approach this:

1) Follow directions literally: take 1 of the 10 cards from each Kindom. For those with several expansions, this would involve drawing over 100 cards, and even more time consuming, putting away these cards when the game is over. Depending on the number of expansions, this could add anywhere between 3 and 15 minutes overhead per game.

2) When we first got the card we used it a lot. So to save time, we did not put away the extra card - instead we always kept a single card out for each Kingdom. This saves on put away, but when setting up the game you have to find the 10 cards for the game (whether or not Black Market is used), which adds 3-4 minutes to every game.

3) An idea we'll soon try: Use the randomizer cards for the Black Market deck, removing the 10 cards in play (which is especially easy if you randomized Kingdoms for a given game, as you already have the cards out). Then, each time a Kingdom is purchased from the Black Market, the regular card is pulled and placed into the purchaser's discard pile, while the randomizer card is removed from the play area (The back of Randomizer cards are a darker shade of blue so that's why you don't want them mixed in with the regular cards).

(1) is too tedious and we'll never do it. (2) was doable but still a bit of chore. I suspect (3) will be best though we haven't tried it yet.

On the other hand, perhaps Dominion players have come up with better methods?

Obviously this is not an issue with online or other form of electronic play, but I'd like to know about the best way to minimize Black Market set up and clean up time with regular play.


texts: Can I tap a card after I assign it to block?

texts: During the combat phase, after I assign a blocker, can I then tap that blocker for its activated ability? What would happen? For example, say that a 1/1 Saproling token equipped with Healer's Headress is assigned to block an attacking 3/1 Blade of the Sixth Pride, but after it's assigned, the Saproling is tapped to prevent one damage to it. Is that legal? Would anything change if the attacking creature had first strike, like Ambush Party?