texts: In Conquest of Planet Earth, Do I conquer a Location with my remaining Alien Ships after Losing the final Fight Round?

texts:
Consider a scenario where I land 2 Alien Ships at a Location with a Resistance level of 1. This means there will be 1 Fight.

From the Battles, Fights, and Fight Rounds section of the Rules Wiki:
Another very important set of terminology to differentiate are the terms Battle, Fight, and Fight Round. A Battle is all of the Fights at a given Location, a Fight is single combat against one Human Resistance (or a grouping of enemy Aliens), and a Fight Round is one round of combat between the Aliens and the Resistance to see if either side is defeated. So one Fight is a subset of an entire Battle, and a Fight Round is a subset of a single Fight.
As an example, if your Aliens attack a City Location with a Resistance Value of 3, which would be a Battle involving 3 separate Fights (one Fight for each of the Resistance). Each of those Fights would then be resolved in a series of Fight Rounds.

At the conclusion of that Fight Round, the Resistance has a higher Strength Total. That means that they win the Fight Round and I lose an Alien ship.

From the Resolving the Fight section of the Rules Wiki:
Whichever side has the higher Strength Total (including Fight Dice rolls) wins the Fight Round.

Since that is the only (and, therefore, final) Fight of the Battle, the fighting should be completed for my turn, I believe, because it says may, below. This would only be true if there were more Fight Rounds to be completed.

From the Resistance Victory section of the Rules WIki (Emphasis added by me):
If the Resistance wins the Fight Round, 1 of the Alien Saucers involved is Destroyed and returned to the player’s Alien Pool. If there are still Aliens at the Location, you may start a new Fight Round. If there are no Alien Saucers left at the Location, the Battle is over and the Aliens have lost (any remaining Resistance cards are discarded).
Next time this Location is attacked by Aliens, a brand new Battle must be fought from the beginning; with entirely new Resistance (any Fights previously won here are ignored).

Does this simply mean that the remaining Alien Ship stays on that Location (and can therefore start the attack over again on my next turn), or does it mean that I have survived all of the Resistance that the humans can throw at me and I have therefore conquered that Location (and should place a Conquest Marker on it, gaining the associated Terror Points)?
P.S.: If someone with 150+ Reputation could add "conquest-of-planet-earth" as a tag, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
EDIT: thesunneversets response got me thinking...
The Exploring Empty Spaces section says...

to conquer a Location you must fight a number of Human Resistance equal to the Resistance Value of that Location."

...but it doesn't say you must win the fight, just that you must fight them. Later on in the Battle at an Existing Location section, it says...

If you have one or more Aliens at a Location with a Resistance Value of 1 or higher that has not been conquered (no Conquest Marker on it), you must fight a Battle there as described in the section on Fights below.

...and similarly in the Fight any Enemies at a Location section,

If you have one or more Aliens at a Location (or Landing Site) with one or more Resistance Counters or enemy Aliens, you must resolve a Battle at that Location as well.

Because these rules seem to indicate that an Alien Ship could be on a Location without explicitly having moved there in the same turn, I'm inclined at this time to think the Alien Ship can stay there, but the Conquest Token doesn't get placed.


texts:
Playing with my 10 year old niece.  She ropes me into it without much info.  I read about 2 player game and 3 cards up and she insists the old love letter game was different and wanted to throw away the rule book in rage. I think she simply never learned all the rules. Most rage-inducing was the hand maiden card. I interpreted the rules as saying that she must target herself in a 2 player game when I had handmaiden out. Reading the above just confuses me more. Do I need to read the rulebook? How does handmaiden work if she must play princess or guard?

In Love Letter, can you discard a card instead of playing it?


texts: Returning tokens for the 10 token limit: which ones?

texts:
Splendor rules regarding tokens (gem coins) state:

  A player can never have more than 10 tokens at the end of their turn (including jokers). If this happens, they must return tokens until they only have 10 left. A player can return all or some of those they’ve just drawn....

That phrase "those they've just drawn" is used ambiguously.

1) Does the phrase "those they've just drawn" mean you can return only those drawn on that turn?  That doesn't make sense, but the phrase could be interpreted that way (or not). Or does it simply mean that you aren't required to hold newly acquired coins for a turn?

2) Does the phrase "return all" mean that the player can return literally any number of their coins to the bank without purchasing, no matter when they were acquired?

3) Can you return coins without purchasing, even if you are below the 10 token limit?


texts:
At Theros Beyond Death prerelease, I was playing with Furious Rise for the first time. It happened to me to forget about the card at the end of my turn and only remember at the beginning of the turn of my opponent, and saying so. He told me I had missed the trigger, and I didn't argue much as that was my fault. However I know this is not an optional trigger, I must exile the top card of my library at my end step. The only part that is optional is being allowed to play the exiled card.

I didn't think about calling a judge at that time, but since that was a mandatory action and there wasn't lots of actions from both of us after the missed trigger, were we supposed to rewind and fix the game state? I only thought about the fact that by not exiling the card, I could not play it and was losing on card advantage so not fixing the game was "fair" to my opponent. However, I forgot that one card would could have been permanently exiled and the effect have changed much more the outcome of the game.

How am I supposed to handle a mandatory effect without calling a judge? Were we supposed to rewind the game state to fix it if both had agreed?


texts: Are there restrictions on pawn promotion if two pawns are on the same column?

texts:
I was playing white and I had one pawn at a7 and the other at a6. My opponent didn't let me promote the pawn to a Queen stating that when two pawns are in the same column then the pawn doesn't get promoted.

Is this correct? If so, then what happens to a pawn which reaches a8? Does that become useless?


texts: Can I use Datasucker without icebreakers?

texts: I've got a Datasucker. Can I use its ability "Hosted virus counter: Rezzed piece of ice currently being encountered has -1 strength until the end of the encounter" even if I do not have any icebreaker with strength equal or greater than ice's currently encountered?


texts: What happens if a creature has 'cant be blocked' and 'must be blocked'

texts: Lets say i have a creature that says it can't be blocked, like a Slither Blade, and then you cast Bloodscent targeting it. Would one override the other or would it be unblockable?


texts: Playing the Role of an Arkham Master in Arkham Horror?

texts:
I am teaching the game to a ton of new people Thursday. I was going to be playing with only 3 others and planned to join in myself, but now that we're up to 8 players including me, I figured the game would be more fun if I keep things moving.

As a result I've decided to play the role of ARKHAM MASTER! Stay out of the game as a player and act as rules guardian, referee for things 1st player normally resolves, reader of cards, and general knowledge base.

My post is two fold: How can I keep the game running smoothly? With only one experienced investigator (has played a single game a month ago) still in the group. We have either 4.5 hours or if we're lucky, 6 hours to play the game in, and I think we all know that even with an experienced group 6 hours can be too short.

I'm playing Vanilla, and they're up against Yig, so as a light sleeper, that should make it easier. I'm incorporating Epic Battle and I'm also playing a house rule where the Ancient one awakens at Current Doom - Seals in Play even on a Seal or a Gate Close Victory to assure an Epic Ending.

Another thing I wanted to ask was on teaching. Arkham has a lot of rules, is there a new player cheat sheet or anything? If not what rules would you say a player MUST know if an Arkham Manager is in the game? My first thoughts are skills, skill checks, phases, derived checks such as combat and horror, movement points, clues, closing, sealing, and otherworlds. Also the win/lose conditions.

The other half of my post would be this: For those that have played games like Descent: Journeys in the Dark. I thought it might be fun (NOT FOR THURSDAY) to play the role of the Herald, actively orchestrating the forces of the Mythos to pave the way for the Ancient One's awakening. Obviously you'd have to be very careful about what rules you alter as the "Herald" to not totally break the game in favor of the Mythos. Has anyone tried this before?


texts: Is kingmaking in multiplayer games a problem that can be fixed?

texts:
The original Kingmaker was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He was instrumental during the Wars of the Roses in the deposition of two kings. The term kingmaker has come to mean, "a person or group that has great influence in a royal or political succession, without being a viable candidate." The term in game theory has come to mean:

  Kingmaking: in a game of three or more players (on three or more opposing sides), during and endgame situation when a player who is unable to win is able to determine which player among others is the winner.

Kingmaking to me basically comes down to purposefully taking actions in a game so that someone other than yourself wins. It is slightly unusual that only the actions of the last player are considered kingmaking, when it is the total contribution of all players over the entire course of the game that determines a winner (i.e. If some else prevent you from getting 4 VP from shipping on boats in Puerto Rico on turn 5, but I prevent you from getting 4 VP on turn 19 and you lose by four points...why am I the kingmaker?)

Any game with more than two opposing sides is susceptible to kingmaking. In the world of competitive gaming, kingmaking can even occur in games with only two sides (due to rankings of multiple players). In Sumo Wrestling, for example yaochō or "match fixing" is where one wrestler who has already achieved a high paying rank throws a match on purpose to allow the opposing wrestler to secure a higher paycheck. In Magic: the Gathering tournaments, where a player may have no chance of making the top 8, they might concede a match to help a friend have a better win-loss ratio, while trying their hardest against any other opponents.

In a multiplayer MtG game, players may openly collude to help destroy the player with the best board position. In other groups, tabletalk and open collusion banned, but it is still expected that most players will gang up on the player with the best board position. The rules for MtG can also be exploited in multiplayer. A kingmaker player on the verge of elimination might cast an instant to hurt an unfavored player in hopes that they don't win or to make the game end earlier so they can play another game. A kingmaker might concede before damage is dealt so an unfavored player doesn't gain life from lifelinked creatures.

There are other examples from games like Ticket to Ride - purely blocking moves, and Settlers of Catan monopoly card ethics and future trades (these aren't the exact links I was looking for. I thought that one of these talked about the ethics of performing multiple trades circumvent the no zero card trade rule) , Monopoly trade before losing. Looking over the highest scored answers, it appears that there is still some question about whether kingmaking is a problem or the normal part of any game. In Risk Legacy, the line is blurred even further since the game is played over multiple rounds. A player without the chance of winning might purposefully lose to a particular player to improve their odds in future games.

Is kingmaking a problem that needs to be fixed? (Are only certain kinds of kingmaking an issue? Collusion, playing to lose/disrupt the game, etc.)

What steps/rules are helpful in mitigating kingmaking in games? (general concepts, but real world examples preferred)


texts: Can sheriff replenish his extra life point?

texts: Sheriff always starts with one extra health point. Can this extra point be replenished through Beer or through other means?


texts: Can models give up their Vengeance move to recover from Knocked Down?

texts: I have a unit of Troll Fennblades.  On my opponent's turn, they are attacked, and many are killed.  Some make a Tough roll, though, and so are merely Knocked Down.  In my next Maintenance Phase, all of the Fennblades are entitled to Vengeance, which allows them to advance 3" and attack.  Can they give up that 3" move to remove Knocked Down?


texts: Recommended strategies for the MTGO Cube

texts:
MTGO Cube Drafts were offered online a few weeks ago, and they'll be appearing again later this week. I didn't play any cube drafts the first time, largely because I was intimidated: I've never drafted any kind of cube before, a large portion of the cards are unknown to me, and there was no way I was going to be able to read through the 720 cards in the list and find a strategy on my own.

However, I'd really like to play the cube this time around, so I'm wondering: what strategies are recommended? How should I approach cube drafting in general, and the MTGO cube in particular?

Here is the current cube list. Have at it.


texts: Where can I find a chart or diagram explaining Magic's turn structure?

texts:
I'm looking for a turn structure diagram for Magic the Gathering to use for teaching new players.  There is a lot of information to keep track of in the turn: there is everything from the fact that the Upkeep Step comes before the Draw Step to when you can play abilities between the game actions of the Combat Phase.

For new players in particular, a graphical representation is particularly useful since I want them to gain an intuitive grasp of how the turn progresses as well as be able to reference particular details that become relevant.

I have seen charts that list the steps and phases in order but I need something more than that for teaching and reference.  Where can I find a chart that includes the order of steps/phases, when you can use various types of cards and abilities, and what game actions happen when?


texts: In Bridge, Is it Sometimes Good to Lead an Opponent's Suit on Defense?

texts:
I was "West," that is, the opening leader. My left and right hand opponents had alternated diamond and spade bids, neither supporting the other, suggesting something like 6-1 misfits in both suits (which actually turned out to be the case), and South bought the contract at four spades.

I held something like:

♠xx
♥Qxx
♦JTxx
♣Qxxx

led a low heart (the unbid major). This gave the opponents a free finesse, and the contract was (barely) made.

I had also given consideration to a diamond lead from the JT sequence. Since South had only one diamond, he couldn't finesse out the T or capture it when guarded by xx, after capturing the J with a higher honor. With honors in all three plain suits, I even thought of (and rejected) the "safe" lead of a low trump. The last alternative was to lead the fourth club, which at least left TWO guards for the queen.

Did I make a bad lead? Should I have led either a diamond or spade, instead, even though both had been bid by the opponents?


texts: Removal in response to the Helm of the Host's triggered ability

texts:
What happens if my enemy removes a creature equipped with Helm of the Host in response to the helm's triggered ability? Does the rule 112.7a apply? (the copy is generated normally). I am confused because the creature is not the source of the triggered ability.

  112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won't affect the ability. Note that some abilities cause a source to do something (for example, "Prodigal Sorcerer deals 1 damage to target creature or player") rather than the ability doing anything directly. In these cases, any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source because the effect needs to be divided checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. In both instances, if the source is no longer in the zone it's expected to be in at that time, its last known information is used. The source can still perform the action even though it no longer exists.


texts: Instants in response to your own abilities

texts:
If an ability I control is on top of the stack, can I cast an instant before it resolves?
For example, I have Sarkhan the Masterless and a dragon on the board.
An opponent attacks, triggering 1 damage from the dragon to the attacker.
Can I cast Alchemist's Gift to give my dragon deathtouch before that damage resolves, or would I have to have given it deathtouch before the opponent declared attackers?


texts: I am looking for the name of a board game that I played in uni (6 years ago). It's an heroic fantasy game where each player is god and can take control of any race on the board and have them fight any other race. Each player is secretly dealt a race that they have to make grow.


texts: Will a Theros God with low devotion enter the battlefield as a copy of Essence of the Wild?

texts:
Essence of the Wild has a rather unique ability:

  Creatures you control enter the battlefield as a copy of Essence of the Wild.

The gods of Theros say:

  As long as your devotion to (color/colors) is less than (five/seven), (this God) isn’t a creature.

Let's say my devotion is too low for the God to count as a creature once it's on the battlefield: I'm casting Thassa, God of the Sea with 0 blue devotion, or I'm casting Nylea, God of the Hunt whilst Essence of the Wild is my only nonland permanent (only 3 devotion, 4 once Nylea enters). Typically that God wouldn't enter the battlefield as a creature.

However, I'm unsure how Essence of the Wild will see that God as it transitions from the stack to the battlefield, and I'm unsure how this interacts with the recent rules changes to how we evaluate entering the battlefield.

Will the God enter the battlefield as a copy of Essence of the Wild?

Does the answer change if the God would add enough devotion to activate itself? E.g. consider if I have two Essence of the Wilds out, and I cast Pharika, God of Affliction who would bump my devotion to green and black up to 8 and see herself activated.


texts: Is" third seat, favorable vulnerabilty" the only appropriate time to pre-empt with "any seven" of a suit?

texts:
I would do this with 8765432 of a suit in third seat, and a "Yarborough" elsewhere in hand, and with favorable vulnerability (not vulnerable vs. vulnerable).

Opposite a passed partner, I don't fear missing out on a game, or any constructive bid, and I do fear that the opponents have at least a game in hand, if not a slam, if fourth seat gets to open.

If partner has one or two trumps, I will make four tricks on sheer length against an opposing 3-1 or 3-2 distribution (3-3 for that matter). Doubled, non-vulnerable, that is -1100, less than the value of an opposing slam and rubber bonus.

If partner has the three defensive tricks needed to hold opponents to game, s/he will contribute 2-3 tricks, and we'd be down two or three -300 or -500, less than the value of game and rubber for the opponents.

Are the above circumstances the only time to do this? Or are there some systems or experts that would go "beyond" this and bid "any seven" either in the first or second seat, and/or with equal vulnerability?

Or would most people refrain from bidding "any seven" even with third seat and favorable vulnerability?


texts: What happens when you copy an Epic spell?

texts:
You cast Eternal Dominion from your hand.

With Eternal Dominion on the stack, you activate your max-level Echo Mage to make two copies.

They resolve.

Are the copies you just made Epic? (Meaning you'll get multiple Dominions next turn?)

On your next upkeep, you activate Echo Mage again, targeting a copy of Eternal Domininion created by the Epic trigger.

Are Echo Mage copies of an Epic-trigger-generated copy Epic or non-Epic?


texts: How does Imp Temple scale with multiple people and multiple discards?

texts:
In Boss Monster 2, Imp Temple essentially lets you take a card from an opponent when you force him to discard it, however the language is ambiguous.  It says "Once per turn, when you force an opponent to discard a card, put that card into your hand instead."  However, we could not come up with a consensus for what "Once per turn" meant.  Does it mean:

This ability can 'steal' one card, one time per turn.
The ability can 'steal' one card per player you steal from.
This ability steals all cards discarded as the result of a single action.

Essentially, my friend used a Chump Chomper to destroy a Cursed Tomb, which caused all 3 opponents to discard 2 room cards, and he believed that by using the Imp Temple at the same time, he was entitled to all 6.  We compromised on #2 for the sake of time, but I'm curious how others interpret these cards.  What is the official meaning of 'Once per turn?'


texts: Do destination cards have to be completed in a particular direction?

texts: When completing a destination card, does the train have to be started from the beginning city on the card or can it be started from the destination city and worked backwards?


texts: When was "pennant" renamed "coat of arms" in Carcassonne?

texts: Carcassonne has historically used the term "pennant" to refer to the shield icons in cities but now appears to use the term "coat of arms".  They both do the same thing (add two points to completed cities and one point to uncompleted cities).  When did this name change happen?


texts: Can Slifer be summoned using Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon's effect?

texts:
I'm running the first gen print of Slifer. Before I get asked about it, no I don't do tourneys or follow the modern card rulings. I stopped playing yu-gi-oh back in 2007 so I use the same limited rules that we had back then. I don't think we had any banned cards back in 2007. I could be wrong.

Anyway, that being said, I usually only play against a friend of mine. We both decided to start playing again about a month ago. I'm running a dragon deck (yes, using all of the cards specially including the newer ones as you can tell by my use of Red-Eyes Darkness) and I came across this dilemma. Am I allowed to summon Slifer using Red-Eyes' effect?

Furthermore, upon re-reading Slifer's effect it states that it is also treated as a dragon. My question is, does this only become true when it's on the field? Would the graveyard count as well?


texts: Does a game exist where some win, some lose, and some don't?

texts:
In most games, everyone starts off with the potential to either win or lose.  At the end, they've all either won or lost.

Some games have a player who's like a referee -- they can neither win nor lose, they're just the referee, and they're in that state from the start of the game.

Has a game ever been made where everyone starts in the same state, then at the end, some win, some lose, and some neither win nor lose?


texts: Can I make a space marine army and then have them ally with the tau?

texts: I already had tau that my relative gave to me and I wanted to know if I could employ them as allies to the custom space marine chapter I'm making.


texts: When a land becomes creature, can you kill it?

texts: Some lands have an ability to become a creature, but they usually say they are still a land. If a land is a 3/3 creature and a land, can you target and kill it with a Lightning Bolt to send it to the graveyard, or does it remain in play as a land?


texts: How to grant haste en masse in a mono-green Commander deck?

texts: In my Elf Commander Deck (edited version of the Guided by Nature 2014 Commander Deck), I have Nissa Revane and as I was looking through the MTG tag of BCGSE I saw this question asking about if elves summoned with Nissa's -7 ability have summoning sickness. Since the answer is yes, I was wondering if there is a green or colorless card that I would be able to use to counter their summoning sickness (preferably an elf that grants other elves haste). Is there a card that would be able to fit into the restrictions of my deck?


texts: Do I win or lose if I play "Trade Hands" while tied for "10 Cards in Hand"?

texts:
I have 11 cards and have to play 2. You have 10 cards. My first card to play is the goal "10 Cards in Hand", which says:

"If someone has 10 or more cards in his or her hand, then the player with the most cards in hand wins.
In case of a tie, continue playing until a clear winner emerges."

We now both have 10 cards.
My second play is the action "Trade Hands". Does this take effect immediately (I now have your 10 cards, you now have my remaining 9 and I win) or is there a gap where I have played the card before we swap where I have 9 cards and you have 10 and win?


texts: Is it legal to trade 1 wood for 1 wood + 1 hay?

texts:
I ran into this situation. I had helped out a player by not placing the robber on them with my knight card. To sweeten the deal, she agreed to give me 1 wood + 1 hay in exchange for 1 wood. Is this legal?

The board mentions that trading 1 wood for 2 wood is illegal, but is 1 wood + 1 hay considered legal?


texts: Djinn of Infinite Deceits interacting with other control-changing effects

texts:
I have two closely-related questions regarding Djinn of Infinite Deceits.  I think I understand how both of these cases work, but my rules-fu is rusty and I'd love the opinion of the experts here.

Case 1:  A permanent control effect, such as Control Magic.  If I use the Djinn to give away a creature that I have enchanted with Control Magic, which reads "You control enchanted creature.", what happens?  My understanding is that after the Djinn's ability finishes resolving, states would update and Control Magic would cause the creature I gave away to return to my control.
Case 2:  An ongoing control effect, such as Rubinia Soulsinger's activated ability.  If I use the Djinn to give away a creature I'm currently controlling using Rubinia's ability that reads "Tap:  Gain control of target creature for as long as ... Rubinia remains tapped.", what happens?  My understanding is that Rubinia's effect doesn't continue to update, and so the creature would remain under my opponent's control.


texts: Will Kresh the Bloodbraided survive damage through his ability in a boardwide damage scenario?

texts:
Kresh the Bloodbraided is on the battlefield with another creature, let's say a 1/1.

Kresh has the following ability:

  Whenever another creature dies, you may put X +1/+1 counters on Kresh the Bloodbraided, where X is that creature's power.

The opponent deals 5 damage to both of them, which should kill them both. Will Kresh's ability trigger to make him a 6/6 and save him from being killed by the 5 damage?


texts:
I've seen some cards that say "remove from the game". For example, an old version of Swords to Plowshares says:

  remove target creature from the game.

What does that mean? Is it different from "exile?


texts: All armies and fleets destroyed - Still in Game?

texts:
Quick Diplomacy question.

If a country has had all armies and fleets destroyed but still have a home supply centre that hasn't been taken are they still in the game ?

I believe yes but not sure. Cheers


texts: What requires MTG players to remind their opponents of “may” parts of effects?

texts:
Section 3.7 of the IPG defines Tournament Error — Communication Policy Violation as follows:

  A player violates the Communication policies detailed in section 4 of the Magic Tournament Rules and the judge believes their opponent has taken an in-game action or clearly chosen not to act based on the erroneous information. This infraction only applies to violations of that policy
  and not to general communication confusion.

It goes on to list an example:

  A player casts Path to Exile, and forgets to remind their opponent that they have the opportunity to search for a basic land.

Which parts of the IPG and the MTR require players to make such reminders if they do not wish to commit a CPV?


texts:
Let's say I have a monster on the field. This is my best card, and I want to make it untouchable by anything.

An example would be a monster who's effect can't be negated, and is not affected by card effects, equipped with an equip card that means it cannot be destroyed by battle, and that card cannot be destroyed either.

Are there any scenarios that allow this possibility?

  Indestructible: Cannot be removed from the field by any means.


texts: Can you remove a spell counter to activate an ability during battle?

texts:
Breaker the Magical Warrior reads:

  If this card is Normal Summoned: Place 1 Spell Counter on it (max. 1). [...] You can remove 1 Spell Counter from this card, then target 1 Spell/Trap on the field; destroy that target.

I attacked my friend's Breaker with my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroying it. My friend said: "Well, before it dies, I remove the spell counter to destroy your trap."

Can she do that?


texts: Can I transform Westvale Abbey during either assign attackers or assign blockers phase

texts: Wanting to know if it is possible to sacrifice creatures during assign attackers or assign blockers in order to transform Westvale Abbey and use him as an attacker or blocker.  It would also require taping lands to generate the mana required or maybe artifacts.


texts: How does Humility affect Bestowable creatures?

texts: Humility says each creature loses it's abilities.  So how does that work with bestowable creatures? Normally, for auras, as I understand it, it depends on the timestamp that the aura vs. the humility came into play. But bestowable creatures are creatures still I think.


texts:
Say I ran four Outpost Sieges had two of them on the field, would the effects stack?

Moreover would the effect stack if I chose Khans/ Dragons twice?

Basically if I had two Outpost Sieges would it allow me to exile two cards and play them each upkeep/ deal two damage as opposed to one if a creature leaves the battlefield?


texts: How much does the difficulty change based on game 1

texts:
I have just started playing the game and realized that it would be a very different game depending on which virus gets the sticker in the first game.  I am wondering if my think is correct and which color would be the easiest verse the hardest?

February spoilers:

   I am talking about the virus which becomes incurable in February of the game


texts: What happens if a creature's ETB would bounce Thalia, Heretic Cathar?

texts:
So during a game I had this scenario:

On my battlefield I have Thalia, Heretic Cathar, whose ability says

  Creatures and nonbasic lands your opponent control enters the battlefield tapped.

Now the opponent played a creature that said

  Whenever [this creature] enters the battlefield, return target creature an opponent controls to its owner's hand.

Now the question is, even if my Thalia is returning to my hand, I think that her ability still triggers or am I wrong? Would that creature be tapped?

In theory, since Thalia says that the creatures enter the battlefield tapped, this should resolve before the opponent's ability that says whenever the creature enters the battlefield, so according to the wording the opponent creature is already tapped before the ability resolves.

Is that correct?


texts: Can you fail to find a card in someone's hand?

texts: If I cast Inquisition of Kozilek, and my only target is a  Loxodon Smiter, do I have to make my opponent discard the  Loxodon Smiter, or can I "fail to find" just as I would if i were searching my library?


texts: Dropping the first three blocks on the top

texts: When playing Jenga, if you drop the first three blocks on the top, does that count as you losing or you can continue the game?


texts: Do I get to fetch a basic land when putting my commander in the command zone for Path to Exile?

texts: Someone told me this a couple of day ago, and I want a second ruling. I was told if your commander gets Path to Exile'd and you choose to put it in the command zone, you don't to search your deck for the basic land, just like with Swords to Plowshares you don't gain life, due to the way the card is written.


texts: Are There Any Good Tools For Developing CCG Or Other Card Games?

texts:
I've been brainstorming a new card game idea for a while, something that could be described as "Cards Against Humanity" meets "Munchkin" but while I mostly have the rules and everything together I have been at a loss to find something to rapidly prototype, print, change, and make the cards?

I would like something that could read from a database, Excel spreadsheet, or something similar and then be able to produce Word document files or PDFs that I could then easily print to be able to beta-test the game with friends.  Ideally you would be able to define the basic components/formats of each card and then just fill in the fields for each.

Anyone know of tools to assist in rapid prototyping and printing of CCG style cards?


texts: What is the Power/Toughness of a */* when it is not on the battlefield?

texts:
If a creature has a P/T of * / *, but is not the battlefield, What is it's P/T with regards to effects that care about P/T such as  Wild Pair and  Varolz, the Scar-Striped.

If I used  Varolz, the Scar-Striped to scavenge a  Boneyard Wurm, and I have X creatures in my graveyard, do I get 0 counters or do I get X counters?


texts: In Catan, how to ensure nobody lies when monopoly card is played?

texts:
I don't like that the rules assume players are honest. One time, we had a player that lied about not having the requested resource, but was caught in the next turn when he tried to buy a road with that resource. However, a cunning opponent can lie and get away with it.

What's the most practical way to handle this situation? How do you deal with it? I don't really like any of the solutions I can think of. Forcing everyone to show all of their cards, having a judge/game master who checks everyone's cards, relying on everyone's honesty, ... all of them are either impractical or unfair.


texts: What adjustments do good bidders make for seven card fits?

texts:
I don't mind playing in a seven card fit with say, AKxx opposite Qxx. There is a danger that I'll lose control because of the shortness of the suit, but having three top tricks and a chance at a long or ruffing trick for the fourth small trump represents compensation. On the other hand, I do mind playing with say, Qxxx opposite Jxx.

The other issue is that while 26 points is ordinarily enough to make a major suit game with eight trumps, it requires 28-29 with only seven.

So if there is likely to be a seven card suit, e.g. when an opener raises a major suit opposite a responding "one over one" bid or negative double with four cards, how do bidders deal with this issue? My understanding, for instance, is that openers will need Qxx or better to raise, not just xxx. Do the bidders make other adjustments to assure two or three top honors in suit between them? And what about the higher point requirement?

Or is one factor in the unpopularity of seven card fits due to the fact that there are "few" established bidding methods for them?


texts: If you hide alone in City of Horror, do items still get shared (to yourself) even though no vote takes place?


texts: Can Kaalia of the Vast put Slumbering Dragon into play tapped and attacking?

texts:
I was looking at Slumbering dragon on Gatherer and ran across this quote in the discussion forum:

  Finally a dragon that doesn't mesh well with Kaalia of the Vast

As I pondered this possibility, it occured to me that assumption might be wrong. Kaalia of the Vast puts a Dragon creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

My understanding of the rules of magic is that ability text on a creature card only applies once the card is on the battlefield, unless it specifically references another zone (exile, graveyard, in your hand). So by the time Kaalia puts it on the battlefield, the Slumbering Dragon is already tapped and attacking an Opponent, unfettered by its restriction that it cannot attack.

Or am I wrong? What if there was a dragon/angel/demon card with Defender? Could that also be tapped and attacking?

I'm going to do a bit more research on this myself, but if anyone has a solid comprehensive rules reference, that would be great!


texts: What Mahjong set of rules can be recommended to beginners?

texts:
I play Mahjong with friends every now and then, using a set of rules that we sort of invented along the way: we knew the basics, but had no internet connection for one summer and played with what made the most sense. Now, we'd like to settle on established rules, but there are so many of them... I'd like to have rules that are:

stable (no changing every year like American Mahjong)
uses a 14-tiles hand, 4 winds, 3 dragons, flowers and seasons, no jokers
scoring doesn't have to be zero-sum operation (we don't play money)


texts: Pokemon TCG: is there a way to remove energy from your own pokemon?

texts:
I'm starting to get into Pokemon TCG with my daughter and after the first few games I already have some questions to which I cannot find an answer in the official rulebook. One of them is - is there a way to remove an energy card from one of your own Pokemon?

I've found there are some cards that allow you to remove energy from your opponent's pokemon - which is also useful - but what about your own? Like, if I see that my Pokemon will soon be knocked out and I want to salvage the attached energy card(s), is there a way to do that? The rulebook doesn't mention that at all, and Google searching doesn't turn up any cards like that.


texts: Can one draw their commander to the command zone, and would that be a draw?

texts:
Let us assume my commander somehow makes it to the top of my library (for example by the effect of Nephalia Academy) and when forced to draw it I instead want to put it in the command zone (for any reason).
From the rules:

  903.9. If a commander would be exiled from anywhere or put into its owner’s hand, graveyard, or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead.

This seems to imply that one can, instead of putting ones commander in the hand, put the commander in the command zone from the library by a draw effect. Now this creates some questions for me:

Is the card drawn known to the player during the draw, or only after the draw?
Subsequently, if the top card is only presumed to be the commander, but is actually not, can the player be aware of this while drawing the card?
Does the replacement of the destination replace the whole draw effect, or just a part of it? Is the card still drawn, even though it didn't go to the hand?
Or, in other words: At which point during the draw action does the replacement of the destination occur?

P.S: This question can also be read as How does a draw work?, as rule 120 doesn't seem to cover details such as in the above questions.


texts:
In Scythe, one of the actions that you can take is to enlist a recruit. When you do, you get on ongoing benefit for the rest of the game. Does the "rest of the game" include the action that you just took?

If it does, then enlisting the recruit from the Enlist section of your player board will always give you +1 popularity right away, because that is the benefit associated with the Enlist action that you just took.

From page 20 of the Scythe rules:

  "For the rest of the game, whenever you or the player to your
  immediate left or right (these players are shown in the icon in the
  red circle) take the bottom-row action in the section of the Player
  Mat from which the recruit was taken, you may gain the specified
  bonus."

My group guessed "no", but we felt that the wording is ambiguous. Can anyone come up with a FAQ or designer comment that will clarify the issue?


texts: Is it right to refrain from making a takeout double in borderline situations?

texts:
In today's bridge column, this example was given:

North opened with one diamond. East doubled with (s) Qxx (h)AQxx (d) x (c) ATxxx.

This double technically met my 14 point requirement (12 for high card points, 2 for the singleton in the opposing suit). But I would have refrained from it for two reasons:

1) I have only Qxx in the spade suit. 2) My strongest suit is clubs, which partner would have to bid at the two level.

Upgrade the spade suit to Kxx, or Qxxx, and I would double. Or switch the diamonds and clubs, so that I was doubling with a singleton club and Axxxx in diamonds.

North and South bid to four spades. East West took the KA of clubs, and the ace of hearts. But then South's game depended on two "two way finesses" in spades and diamonds. From the double, he could infer that East did NOT have the Q of diamonds, and he DID have the Q of spades. Meaning that the double gave away crucial information (and the spade suit was too weak to withstand a finesse).

Here's another example of what I mean.

In Bridge, Do You Count Defensive Points In the Opponents' Suit When Making a Takeout Double?

In such cases, should one avoid making a takeout double using this level of "granularity"?


texts: Where can one find an up-to-date list of all accepted Scrabble words

texts: I would like a list of all up to date Scrabble words. Where can I find one in list form please? I have tried Tile Fish and also Collins.


texts: Lose Calm, if you make a creature attack does it become tapped?

texts:
Lose Calm says

  Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn except bye two or more creatures.

So it says untap the creature, but that is so I can attack them with it, so do I tap the creature when its back in their control if I used it to attack them?


texts: Magic the Gathering lingering spell effect

texts:
I have a question about a card sequence.

Let's say I play an instant card that says "all creatures who dealt damage this turn return to owners hand" in my first main phase.

Then if my opponent flash summons a creature card in my second main phase that says "when this creature enters the battlefield do two damage to target creature/player", does that creature return to my opponent's hand because I played the instant spell card in my first main phase and it says this turn and my turn hasn't ended? Or does that effect of the spell resolve and the effects no longer affect subsequent events?


texts: Is the Pandemic expansion "In the Lab" available in multiple languages?

texts:
I like to play Pandemic. I have bought the game and the expansion "On the Brink" in Dutch.
Is the expansion "In the Lab" available in multiple languages? Even in Dutch?


texts: Does Precursor Golem let me target all golems in the graveyard?

texts: Assuming I had Precursor Golem (and many other golems) in my graveyard, if I use Refurbish on Precursor Golem, would it return all my golems from the graveyard to the battlefield?


texts: Should trample damage get through a creature with protection from the attacker?

texts:
I had the below scenario happen while playing MTG Arena.
I have a 1/1 soldier token.
I have given it protection from Red, by sacrificing an Alseid of Life's Bounty.
My opponent has a Rimrock Knight equipped with an Embercleave.
My soldier blocks the Rimrock Knight.
Damage still gets through.
I was under the impression that protection from red would force all damage to be absorbed by the soldier.  That was not the case.  I'm assuming this is a bug in my understanding of the rules, as opposed to a bug in Arena?


texts: When can you counter a suspend card (when it is suspended or when the final time counters get removed) and would I need to play a counterspell (counter a spell) or a stifle (counters an ability) to do so?


texts:
My friend and I sat down one day and made up some "Secret Missions" for all of the countries in the board game Axis and Allies. For example, if Japan takes Western United States, they are immune from counter-attack for one turn. Also, if Russia takes Berlin within 3 turns, they receive an additional 15 IPC's from the bank.

There were 3 Secret Missions for each country, but I want to add more.

Do any of you have any more suggestions?

Please post them here as answers.

Here are the Secret Missions! Sorry it took so long!!!

Russia (U.S.S.R.)

-Take Berlin by Round 5 and gain 25 extra IPC's from the bank
-Take 3 German territories in ONE round and get 2 free tanks in any territory you control that has a factory (paying attention to the production limit)
-Take 3 Japanese territories and get 3 free infantry in ANY territory you own (not including the ones you took that turn)

Germany

-Take London by Round 2 and gain 1/2 of the air units you used in the attack (rounding down to the nearest whole number. Example: you send 5 planes, you get 2 extra)
-Control Algeria, Libya, Anglo-Egypt Sudan, Trans-Jordan, and Persia for ONE whole round and get 2 free tanks in Anglo-Egypt Sudan
-Take all of Africa by Round 3 and get a Battleship in the Mediterranean sea; take all of Africa by Round 4 and get a Cruiser in the Mediterranean

United Kingdom

-Destroy 3 Japanese boats and get 1 free Cruiser in a sea zone bordering one of your territories
-Destory all German boats (leaving none on the board) and get 3 free Fighters in the U.K.
-Take Western Europe by round 2 and all of the units left in W.E. gain a +1 to their defense for the first round of marriage

Japan

-Do the "Pearl Harbor" attack and lose no units and get 2 free Fighters in Japan
-Take China AND India by Round 3 and gain one free tank in any Japanese territory in Asia (excpet the ones just taken)
-Take the Western United States and become immune from counter-attack for one turn

United States

-Take both North African territories AND one European territory by Round 4 and get 2 free Artillery in any territory you own that is NOT in Europe (except ones you have just taken)
-Liberate an ally's capital and gain 10 IPC's from the bank
-Take one island every round for 3 consecutive rounds and gain one Transport and 2 Infantry in Hawaii (if you own it; if not, put it in the Western U.S.)


texts: Can the Armory district card destroy a district in a completed city?

texts:
Armory/Powerderhouse/Poudrière: During your turn, you may destroy the Armory in order to destory any other district card of your choice in another player's city

We are wondering if this district can be used against a player who just finished it's citadel.


texts: Has Marty Bergen's hand evaluation system been validated experimentally?

texts:
The classic hand evaluation system in contract bridge assigns 4 points to each ace, 3 to each king, 2 to each queen, 1 to each jack, and in a suit contract, an additional 3 points for each void, 2 points for each singleton, and 1 for each doubleton.

Marty Bergen's writings describe a more complex system that makes a number of adjustments to this system:

Slightly different values, supposedly from computer simulations, for high card points (A:K:Q:J:T = 4.5:3.0:1.5:0.75:0.25)
Downgrades for dubious singletons and doubletons
Upgrades for long suits and quality suits
In a suit contract, upgrades for declarer only for extra trump length and 4+ card side suits
Short suit points are counted using different systems for declarer and dummy

I'm curious whether people have run computer simulations that compare Bergen's system as a whole with the simple classic system, and whether or not they find that Bergen's system is significantly more accurate at hand evaluation than the classic system. If so, where can I read about the methodology and results?

I'm also curious about various subsets of Bergen's system. For example, how much improvement we get over the classic system by incorporating downgrades for dubious holdings only (something that should be easy to explain to beginners).


texts: Tony Morgan: Bounty Contracts during Setup

texts: During setup of the adventure my group was doing (Night of the Zealot II) caused several cultists to be placed on the map. Am I allowed to place bounties on them as a result of them "entering play" or am I not yet in play (and therefor Bounty Contacts isn't in play in order to trigger)?


texts: How can I quickly calculate the shanten number in Mahjong?

texts:
I am able to calculate the shanten number myself, but it often takes me more than a minute. I'm looking for ideas how to become more efficient.

Background: I'm currently writing a paper about determining the shanten number with a computer algorithm. This works very well so far, but there are likely some ideas for improvements that I missed. I am a really poor Mahjong player myself, so input by experienced players would be most welcome.

This is a rough description of my (manual) strategy right now:

First, detect any tiles of which the usage is certain. This means tiles that are alone (no adjacent tile within a radius of 2) and sets that are completed (chi, pon).

I keep count of how many single tiles there are. Next, I look for incomplete sets (in a shape similar to any of 11x, 12x, 1x3, x23). I insert one of the singles into any of them and increment the shanten number in my head. During this step, I attempt to keep up to 2 pairs for later though.

There will be some singles or incomplete sets be left over, I split them up and multiply their number with 2/3 (because any 3 tiles can be made into a set by exchanging 2 of them). I also check if there are one or two pairs, if not, I create one (increasing shanten by 1). So far no problem at all, this only takes me a few seconds.

The trouble starts when there are multiple options how to combine tiles. Should I split this set up, or should I keep it? Should I add this tile here or there? Especially pure (only one suit) hands are annoyingly complex, and I could not figure out a fast way to solve them.

My algorithm of course just laughs at the hands I have trouble with, as it is able to solve even the most complicated hands in fractions of a second. It explores all reasonable ways how to combine the tiles in a tree (with heuristics) and yields the best option.


texts: Why is Trade Secrets banned in EDH or Commander?

texts:
Ban list for commander

I don't see any announcement for Trade Secrets. Why has it been banned? Is there any mention of this card from Wizards, a card they made specifically for Commander?


texts: Is there a good place to find information about strategies, tricks and caveats for specific cards?

texts:
Sometimes, I'm surprised when I see that a certain card is considered good. I don't get it!

For example, when I first saw Skullclamp, I just saw a card that increased power by one at the cost of reducing toughness by one - not a very good deal. I didn't see why it was considered so good it was almost broken. I had to be explained that for a small cost (typically a token creature), it would draw you two cards, a very good deal in most decks.

Ok, I admit that I should have spotted that one, but I have experienced the same feeling several times. I look at a card and think "why the heck is this card so expensive" or "why is everybody talking about this card, saying it will ruin Magic". Or, in my playgroup, someone will play a card and the whole gang goes "ooh, I love that card, it's so awesome", and I just nod and smile and pretend I know what they're all so excited about.

Where should I go to find out why a card is considered so good by so many? Is there some database online that will explain why a card is good? I usually end up googling the card's title, and sometimes get lucky and get that aha-feeling, but not always.

I would like to find a source online where I can look up a card and someone will explain the strategies they use that makes that card effective.


texts: What happens when, and can I return face-down non-creature cards to my hand?

texts: Say I manifest an instant or sorcery card which I'd like to use, and I have a card like Temur Sabertooth in play. Can I use Temur Sabertooth's ability to return the card to my hand, and do I have to reveal it?


texts:
What is the Card type of "Emblem Sorin, Lord of Innistrad"?

mtgmint lists it as Creature but I am not 100% certain.


texts: probably antique French game - asking for identification

texts:
This is on the back of a board for French Chequers called Jeu de Dames. I have found out that it is  possibly from the mid 19th century!
qq


texts: Timing/Stack question about abilities triggered during combat

texts: Helm of the Host states: at the beginning of combat create a creature token.  Is there a stack to put this on and resolve, or is there no way for your opponents to respond to this triggered ability, or cast some other spell? A similar question regarding Sigiled Sword of Valeron. That happens later in the combat phase: 'Whenever equipped creature attacks, create a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance that's attacking.' Is there a stack where this goes, allowing your opponent to respond?


texts: How is the CMC of a spell obtained for Vial Smasher?

texts: Suppose I'm running a Vial Smasher the Fierce deck and I cast Blazing Shoal with X = 5. I've read in other answers to different problems that the converted mana cost of Blazing Shoal would be 7 while it is on the stack. I assume that then Vial Smasher's ability would trigger. Looking at Blazing Shoal, would the CMC be 7 or 2?


texts: Is it legal to check the number of resources in the bank?

texts: Could a player, during their turn, count the number of resources of each kind in the bank? I would typically do this before playing a monopoly card for instance.


texts: In King of Tokyo, can you get more than 1 evolution per turn?

texts: In the rules, it states that you must roll AT LEAST three hearts to earn an evolution card.  If you are able to roll/use card(s) to garner, for example, 6 stars, can you apply the 'at least' statement to mean per heart, or does AT LEAST indicate that a maximum of 1 evolution can be earned per turn?


texts: What does "starting life total" mean, and why do cards say that instead of saying a number?

texts:
At the end of Happily Ever After, it refers to your “starting life total” (emphasis added):

  At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are five colors among permanents you control, there are six or more card types among permanents you control and/or cards in your graveyard, and your life total is greater than or equal to your starting life total, you win the game.

When referring to the “starting life total”, why doesn't it say “20 life” instead? Are there ways to change the starting life total?

Or, more likely, does the card say this in order to adapt it to different game formats? Would the “starting life total” be 30 in Two-Headed Giant, and 40 in Commander, and so on?


texts: In 4-player Unspeakable Words, what is the likelihood of more than one player not going insane?

texts:
Unspeakable Words is a word game where each player tries to score 100 points without going insane. Each player begins with 5 tokens that represent their sanity. Whenever a player scores a word, they roll a d20, and if the roll is greater than or equal to the points you scored, you don't lose a sanity token. If you lose all your sanity tokens, you lose the game.

What are the odds that 2 or more players would survive to 100 points in a 4-player game?

(Note: Assume players can always score words of the point value they wish between 1-20, and will not attempt actions that leave them with a less than 50% chance of winning)


texts: How is the "Longest Route" calculated in Ticket to Ride?

texts:
This had never even crossed my mind as an issue before, but someone brought it up in a comment on another TTR-related question, and having checked the USA rulebook I'm no longer 100% sure:

When calculating who gets the "Longest Route" bonus card, do you go by number of train cars in the route, or number of links/cities in the route?

I suspect the official answer will be well-known to anyone who plays a lot of Ticket To Ride online, but for those of us who don't... what's the correct interpretation?


texts: Can the Wand of Dowsing Draw from Door Cards?

texts:
I was a level 7 Cleric who won my fight, drew a level up card, then played the Wand of Dowsing to take a previously discarded Divine Intervention for the win. Being such a cheap way to hit level ten, a debate ensued as to whether or not go through the discards to find any one card you want means door cards as well as treasure cards.

The only solid argument against my play was that dowsing wands are used to find underground wells, but also gold coins or other treasure (in real life, that is). It seems that, being a trasure card, it could be interpreted this way. I couldn't find anything about this card's specifics in the forums...does anyone know if my play was a legal one?


texts: Are there any systems or experts that factor in "intermediate" cards in deciding when to bid?

texts:
With a hand like (s) KJT864 (h)Kxx (d) Ax (c) xx, I'd open one spade, that is, with 11 hc points and six spades. (Under the rule of 20, I have 11 hcps+ 6 spades + 3 cards in my second suit=20). And the T, behind the jack, is worth a good fraction of a point, so I really have "11+," almost 12.

But in today's bridge column, a declarer came to grief with a similar hand because his spades were KJ7653. Dummy bid NT trump with 42 of spades, and they ended up in a 4 spade contract, with the opponents' five spades (divided 4-1) being AQT98.

Are there either systems or individual experts that would subtract one point in bidding for the "baby" trumps (specifically no spots above an 8, the "average" card in the suit)? Or make other adjustments, positive or negative, for presence or absence of "intermediate" cards like 8, 9, T?


texts: How do I make this zombie mill deck faster?

texts:
Although I'm not that bad at sealed deck format (I usually end up in the first 5 places) I suck at draft. This is my first attempt to build a T2 deck.
I need help because I think the deck is too slow.

Deck Objective: Milling

24 lands (I don't have trouble with lands)

Non-creature spells:

4 Sever the Bloodline
1 Grindclock
1 Black Sun's Zenith
4 Increasing Confusion
1 Black Sun's Zenith (this was listed twice)
1 Endless Ranks of the Dead
1 Go for the Throat

Creatures:

2 Mindshrieker
2 Havengul Runebinder
4 Undead Alchemist
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Geralf's Mindcrushers
1 Gravecrawler
1 Havengul Lich
2 Evil Twin
2 Ghoulraiser
2 Cemetery Reaper

I am thinking about taking out the Gravecrawler and the Havengul Runebinder,
the Gravecrawler because it can't block and the Havengul Runebinder because it won't work until my turn 5, and I can't block with it that turn because it might be die.

I don't know about the Evil Twin because it's a destruction but it can't block the turn it enters the game, I mean it can but if it dies it won't be of a lot of help.

The Captain is pretty good because it has dead touch. Maybe the spell that gives him undying until end of turn, but I don't know what to take out.

My idea is to gent alive to my (4-5) use the Undead Alchemist (but I won't use it to block) and use Increasing Confusion next.

I think that's a good combo, and since Undead Alchemist is a zombie and I think Geralf's Mindcrusher is a good card (although I might be wrong) because if he dies that's a total of 10 milled cards, that's also a zombie, I thought the black cards will support and help me to stay alive until I start milling, especially with so many destructions.

Maybe I need other black cards or another color (not excluding the mono blue possibility)?


texts: Element, wind melds worth it to reach minimum han requirement?

texts:
Just wanting to confirm whether I'm understanding these rules correctly. The rule set from which I'm deriving most of my (Rīchi-)Mahjong knowledge only has this short paragraph about tiles being worth han:

  三元牌、圏風牌、門風牌を飜牌とし、その刻子、槓子組ごとに一飜とする。
  連風牌はニ飜とする。

Which I translate to:

  Elements tiles, prevailing wind tiles and player wind tiles are han tiles, with each triple or quad meld of them being worth one han.
  Double wind tile melds are worth two han.

In a game with a one-han minimum requirement, does this mean if I have any element meld or a meld of any of the two relevant wind types, I can complete my hand? Meaning, it may be worth it to make a call for these tiles and opening my hand, even if the rest of my hand is not really worth much?


texts: Which city is destroyed if there are 2+ to choose from?

texts: The barbarians attack. The player with the smallest army controls 2 cities, neither of which is a metropolis. Can they choose which one gets destroyed, or is this chosen at random?


texts: Does Hardened Scales interact with the undying mechanic?

texts: Would a creature with undying (like Young Wolf) get 2 +1/+1 counters instead of 1 when it dies if I had Hardened Scales out?


texts: Coup: Do you lose your coins when trying to assassinate a Contessa?

texts:
In Coup if you claim to be an assassin and try to assassinate someone. If they claim to be a Contessa and you believe them you lose you three coins to the bank correct?

I had this argument with my friend, but to me it just makes sense it would be the same as if you try to take foreign aid and someone claims to be a Duke and blocks you. You can call them out and then if they were lying your action would go through. But if you don't the action is blocked so in this case the assassin would lose their coins and no one would be assassinated.


texts: Do we have Go endgame tablebases, just like Chess?

texts:
I am a relative newcomer to Go and more interested in the programming aspects of designing a Go Engine.

 Do Go engines use a systematic list of Endgame positions with known wins, the way chess engines do? And do professional-level Go players memorize a list of endgame positions as part of their training?

Some online digging turned up  this Wikipedia article  and  computer science paper  suggesting that Solving Go Endgames by computer is really hard problem, guaranteed to take up plenty of time. Perhaps that's the reason why Go endgame tablebases don't exist / aren't widely used?


texts: How does Frenetic Sliver interact with the Unearth from Dregscape Sliver?

texts: If I Unearth a sliver with Dregscape Sliver's ability and then use Frenetic Sliver's ability, what happens when I win my coinflip? Does the sliver come back at the end of turn?


texts:
Is it possible to pay extra spades (with for example workers) when you choose power action 5 or 6?

Thanks in advance.


texts: I'm looking for a magnetized mat solution to a game that is played on a large laminated mat. The mat is laminated and currently the cards, once sorted, have to be affixed to their spaces on the mat with sticky tack (the goal at the end is to have a completed mat where the cards don't move around so the "results" can be shared with others--each person has his/her own mat). Since each person has a mat (or game board), I need a solution where each person can have a 3x3 mat (folded into 4 squares and unfolded to full-size) and magnetized cards to move about on the mat. Ideas?


texts: May I use the Merchants to achieve victory by having the complete set of resources cards (1 through 9 and the Inca relic)? When should I show my cards and achieve victory?


texts: Perplexing Chimera + Hypnotic Siren. Do I control all of my opponent's spells?

texts:
Say I have a Perplexing Chimera.

Text: Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may exchange control of Perplexing Chimera and that spell.  If you do, you may choose new targets for the spell.

Then I bestow Hypnotic Siren on my own Chimera (I still control it).

Now when I use the Chimera to steal my opponent's spells, I think the siren will keep it under my control, because I'll still control Siren as an aura.  I can gain control of everything my opponent casts.

Does this work??


texts: What do the abbreviations BB, SB and D mean in Texas Hold 'Em?

texts:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/Holdem-Expected-Value-10-Players.php

Maybe D is dealer and B is blind, but what is BB?


texts: How do I combine regular Munchkin with Munchkin Zombies?

texts:
I have Munchkin 1 & 2 and recently I was given Munchkin Zombies. At the instructions of the latter, it is said that I combine these three (any kind of Munchkin to be honest), but it doesn't say how.

How can I combine Munchkin 1 & 2 with Munchkin Zombies 1?


texts:
I'm looking to see why certain cards are banned in certain formats. It doesn't seem to make sense. The specific cards I'm looking for are:

Jace, Memory Adept (ok, sort of makes sense)
Daggerdrome Imp
Dimir Aqueduct
Mind Grind
Pilfered Plans

Can anyone tell me where I can get these rulings at?

tappedout.net says that my deck is not standard legal because of these cards.


texts: In Broadside, what methods are most effective for probing and/or circumventing the fixed defenses?

texts:
I asked a question about strategies for deploying the fixed defenses in Broadside. As the attacker, how do you deal with the cannons and mines?

The cannons can't be defeated. The best you can do is try and probe the setup to determine where the decoys are, but how do you do this?

What class of ship do you use?
Do you pick a channel to send the fleet through and hope both guns aren't located there, or do you send scout ships ahead and then move the rest of the fleet based on what you find?

The mines are single use so once they're revealed they're cleared from the board.

Do you move around the mines or do you try and clear them out?
What class of ship do you use to clear them with?
Do you ever just try and completely avoid them?


texts: In bridge-contract player 1 wins hand with dummy and claims the trick before playing her card. This was discovered at the end of the hand. What is the proper way to handle this?


texts: Do creatures with summoning sickness count as tapped?

texts: My friend played Sheer Drop (Destroy target tapped creature) and targeted a creature of mine with summoning sickness. Is a creature with summoning sickness considered tapped?


texts: What happens to Death Cloud when there aren't enough legal targets

texts: Probably a really easy one but if I play Death Cloud where X=5 and my opponent only has 4 creatures does Death Cloud get countered because there aren't enough legal targets or does it just force him to sacrifice them all and ignore the last one?


texts:
I've been googling away, but I just can't find any resources that explain the rules of how to play World of Warriors (the Topps card game, not that app).

Does anyone know a resource? Or could anyone explain the rules?


texts: Is Duplicate Bridge (standard Matchpoints) a game of pure skill?

texts:
I'm inclined to say "no" because because each of the following could be considered lucky:

A finesse can be tried 2 different ways and your partnership selects
the one that works
You play a routine, obvious hand against the strongest partnership of
the match
You play a challenging hand against the weakest partnership of the
match
You play a hand that better maps to your bidding system than that of
the other partnerships playing the same hand
You purposely pursue a poor risk/reward chance at an overtrick and
make it, earning top score, in order to avoid an average result

But in discussing this a few minutes ago, I got to wondering what if you controlled for most of these things - assume 2 human partners playing a Duplicate Bridge (standard Matchpoints) tournament against a bunch of expertly programmed robot bridge players, all at the same level, all using the same bidding system.

In these more controlled circumstances, would Duplicate Bridge be a game of pure skill?


texts:
I enjoy giving anniversary or otherwise "nicer" editions of games to family and friends.  Last year for Christmas, I got my sister and brother-in-law a copy of Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition.  It was a bit more expensive than the basic version, but I felt it was well worth it.  They have played the game on a regular basis ever since and have not yet seen the (much) lower quality pieces of the basic releases.

That being said, I have been looking towards the future and what the next gift will be and I would love to find some of the additional maps (such as Asia, Legendary Asia, India, etc...) in the larger size as to accommodate the larger pieces.

Are there such larger maps available anywhere?  (even if only as pnp)
Are the regular sized maps too small to use the anniversary pieces?

This image from bgg would make it seem that the answer to the second question is an unfortunate yes, but have people tried using them anyways and have any experience with doing so?  Allowing the pieces to either hang off the edge or placing them slanted, etc...?


texts:
It's not specified if, when pushing, does the monster need to be adjacent? Some cards say specifically adjacent some don't, so the ones that don't does that mean infinite range?

Sources with answers please!


texts: How does a firefighter "recover" after being knocked down?

texts:
In the Experienced rules, it says that a firefighter that is Knocked Down (by fire advancing to their location) is placed on the nearest ambulance parking spot.  It also says that they must "visit the ambulance to recover".

Is this just adding the "story" behind why they end up in that spot?  Or is it meant to be literal, that they cannot take other actions until they (or someone else) radio the ambulance to that location?  We decided to take it literally, since it seemed to add a bit more "cost" to being knocked down (otherwise it can actually be advantageous at times), but I couldn't find anything concrete one way or the other.


texts: Whispersilk cloak - does it protect from Sudden Spoiling and Condemn?

texts: If my creature is equipped with Whispersilk Cloak, can my opponent play Sudden Spoiling and then they play Condemn to put my creature on the bottom of my library?


texts: Does March of the Machines make artifacts in hand creatures as well?

texts:
I looked over the Gatherer rulings and it didn't mention anything about it, nor does it mention permanents on the card or in the rulings.

I ask because I wanted to know if I could use Æther Vial to summon any artifact from my hand with March of the Machines in play.


texts: Eldritch Horror skill test for multiple combat encounters on same turn

texts: I bought the base game for Eldritch horror recently and I have one point that I needed clarification on. I have two monsters on a particular space and I cast the Wither spell for my first encounter successfully gaining three strength. I did not defeat the monster and for my next combat turn, would I still have the three extra strength or would I have to pass a lore test again? Also, on the next turn, would I have to cast the spell again for its effect or would the effects stay since I am battling the same monster. Kindly advice.


texts: The interaction between Omniscience and Trinisphere

texts: If there is an Omniscience in play and a Trinisphere do I still have to pay 3 for everything?


texts: Triggered abilities from multiple players. Whose resolves first?

texts:
If triggered abilities from sources controlled by multiple players all trigger at the same time, in what order do they resolve?

For example, if I control Obzedat, Ghost Council and at least two other creatures on my side of the field and my opponent plays Archfiend of Depravity, can I use Obezdat's ability of exiling him to save him from Archfiend's ability at the end step? Since both abilities trigger at the beginning of the end step, whose ability resolves first?


texts: Can you use an instant such as Sarkhan's Catharsis to kill a Planeswalker before they can use an ability?


texts: How many kings is it possible to have on the board at once?

texts: Keeping in mind the force capture rule, how many kings is possible to have (of one colour) on the board at once in Checkers? What is the sequence leading up to this?


texts: Are there any Xanathar Strategies for Skullport

texts: I played a game of Lords of Waterdeep and received The Xanathar as my lord, who in my opinion is the worst of them all.  My question is are there any viable strategies to win with the Xanathar, knowing that my opponents will avoid having minimal if any corruption tokens at the end of the game?  When playing this lord I always seem to end up in dead last, due to not having access to any bonus points.


texts: When using the Research role, does the symbol on the role card count towards meeting the cost?

texts: If I select Research during the role phase, does the symbol on the role card count towards the requirements for the technology I acquire or not?  In other words, if I want to acquire "Improved Survey", do I need 3 Research cards in my hand, or just 2 (assuming I have no other research symbols)?


texts: Can I Mindslaver my opponent and then cast his Panglacial Wurm and have it come under my control?

texts: If I Mindslaver my opponent and I play one of his rampant growths can I cast one of his Panglacial Wurms and have it come under my control?


texts: Do on-death triggered abilities of creatures happen in multiplayer when a creature's owner loses at the same time?

texts: So my friend had gained control of my Wurmcoil Engine and attacked me. When damage resolved Wurmcoil Engine and myself had lethal damage, so both myself (player) and my creature with a "when this creature dies" effect die at the same time. Would my friend controlling the Wurmcoil Engine still receive the two tokens from Wurmcoil Engine dying? my understanding is that when I die, everything I own is removed from game thus when the check is made on the ability of Wurmcoil being in my graveyard to generate the tokens, it would not be in my graveyard but instead be in exile along with everything else.


texts: Does an attacking creature have to deal lethal damage to the blocking creatures before dealing damage to the other blocking creatures?

texts:
This rule:

510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage. If exactly one creature is blocking it, it assigns all its combat damage to that creature. If two or more creatures are blocking it, it assigns its combat damage to those creatures according to the damage assignment order announced for it. This may allow the blocked creature to divide its combat damage. However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that’s blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. An amount of damage that’s greater than a creature’s lethal damage may be assigned to it.

Who chooses the assignment order?

If I attack with a 5/5 and he has a 2/4 and a 2/2 would he have to deal 4 damage to the 2/4 first before dealing any damage to the 2/2? Could he instead give the 2/2 lethal damage instead if it was a better card to kill?


texts: Can I activate Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar's ability in response to itself?

texts:
I recently played a game of EDH that I think I won, but my opponent was convinced I didn’t. He had a board state that would win if he untapped. I played a Seismic Assault.

Seismic Assault has an activated ability:

  Discard a land card: Seismic Assault deals two damage to any target.

I had a Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar in my graveyard. Multani has an activated ability:

  1G, Return two lands you control to their owner’s hands: return Multani, Yavamaya’s Avatar from the graveyard to your hand.

I have Chromatic Lantern in play (all my lands tap for any color). I had enough untapped lands that, if I could bounce them to hand, I could discard them with Seismic Assault for enough damage to kill my opponent.

I contended that, in response to activating Multani’s ability, I could activate Multani’s ability again, and again, and again, bouncing all my lands to hand. My opponent argued that, since activating the ability required Multani being in the graveyard, and activating it caused Multani to leave the graveyard, I shouldn’t be able to do this. Obviously, it’s a really weird way to use her ability, but I should be able to activate the ability in response to itself as many times as I can pay for it, right? Then most of them will fizzle?


texts: Where can I find a good source for  standard decks in Magic: The Gathering?

texts:
I am just getting back into Magic: The Gathering, and I see a lot of people talking about specific decks, like CawBlade. So my question is two fold, is there someplace that lists what cards make up these specific decks, and are these specific decks always the same (does every CawBlade deck have the same cards) or are they just similar decks with the same theme?

Maybe this is two questions . . .

Thanks!


texts:
In Gin-Rummy, besides several exceptions, in most rounds the best move is to Knock as soon as possible.  What are those exceptions? When it is better to go for Gin / Undercut?

While this question generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, I presume that some guidelines are a consensus.


texts: When a pushing enemy moves toward a character, does it stop moving on the first push?

texts:
If an enemy that pushes characters moves into his node but still has moves remaining, does it push the character away and then stop moving altogether, or does it continue to move forward?  Page 24 of the rules says:

  When an enemy model is moving towards another model, it will stop moving when it is on the same node as its target.

so, I gather that being on the same node triggers all moving to stop, or does the fact he pushes him away make him continue to move.  I would expect it to be the former as the target node is chosen at the beginning of movement, not updated each step.

Update: on page 25 it says

  is attack targets all characters on each node the enemy moves into. (Note that it does not target characters on the node on which the enemy started.) If an enemy moves 2 or more nodes, this can even result in the same character being attacked multiple times as the enemy tramples and smashes its way through its hapless victim.

So, does this mean if the enemy is 1 node away from its target but can move 2, it will aim to move only 1 space to the target's destination and then stop after it pushes the target away?

Are the hapless victims that get attacked multiple times only in extreme corner cases where the player cannot choose to have his character pushed to any node other than the one the enemy is trampling toward?  Otherwise I would expect they would simply choose a safe node since it is the player's choice where they get pushed to.

Further update:

On Page 30, a demonstration of boss movement clearly has the boss moving not to the initial position of the target (seems to pick the location after pushing, too). It moves toward and keep moving again after the character has been pushed back.  Unfortunately the player chooses to move the character directly away so we don't know if the boss would continue in that direction or turn and keep going toward the target if he had veered in the push.

and this faq implies the boss picks the target character and for the entirety of its movement heads toward him, no matter how he gets pushed.  See the ENEMY MOVEMENT section under moving toward nearest or aggro and the looped section within.


texts:
Can monsters use the mystic slide? In one of the rooms we had the slide that leads to the basement. The haunt was the one where the betrayer controls one zombie-lord and many zombies.

How we played it:
When a zombie enters the room with the slide, they can go to any room they choose from the basement. The heroes themselves played as normal - they roll dice in order to use the slide. Is this correct?


texts: MTG question about stack/effect resolving

texts: Lets say my opponent have Zada, Hedron Grinder in play. Then proceeds to use instant spell that target Zada to trigger its effect. Then i play Stasis Snare in response to his instant spell. Does Zada, Hedron Grinder still resolves even if my Stasis Snare resolves first by exiling Zada? If its effect still resolves, how do you prevent Zada from using its ability if i have the instant removal (stasis snare, lightning axe, grasp of darkness etc...) in my hand that can be played in response ?


texts: Does an exiled Aetherling come back into play untapped?

texts: Let's say I attack with Aetherling. After it deals damage I blink it out. When it returns at my end step, does it come back untapped and ready to block?


texts:
What are “Outs” in Texas Hold'em Poker?
What are Outs in Texas Hold'em Poker?


texts: Dealing Damage to Creature soulbonded to Deadeye Navigator

texts:
A scenario played out last night that at the time I felt was correct, but the more I think about it, the more I feel uncomfortable about it. I had on the field:

Goblin Bombardment
Furnace of Rath
Dictate of Twin Gods
~10 0/1 creature tokens

My opponent had:

Deadeye Navigator
Nevermaker
6 blue mana available

Here's what happened:

I sacrificed a creature token to Goblin Bombardment to deal 4 damage to the Nevermaker.
In response, my opponent paid 1U and exiled the Nevermaker.
As the Nevermaker leaves the battlefield it's ability triggers, it targets my goblin bombardment to place on top of my library.
Before the Nevermaker resolves, I sacrifice 2 tokens and deal 8 damage to the Deadeye Navigator.
My opponent pays 1U to exile the Deadeye Navigator.
Deadeye Navigator leaves the battlefield, and then returns, soulbonding to the Nevermaker.
I sacrifice two more tokens to deal 8 more damage to the Deadeye Navigator.
My opponent pays 1U to exile the Deadeye Navigator.
Deadeye Navigator leaves the battlefield, and then returns, soulbonding to the Nevermaker.
My third Goblin Bombardment fails to resolve as the Deadeye Navigator is a new instance of the creature and thereby a new object.
My second Goblin Bombardment fails to resolve as the Deadeye Navigator is a new instance of the creature and thereby a new object.
Nevermaker's use of Deadeye Navigator's ability resolves and it leaves the Battlefield.
Nevermaker's ability trigers and my Goblin Bombarment in placed on the top of my library.
Nevermaker returns to the battlefield and is re-soulbonded to Deadeye Navigator

I feel like somewhere in the 10-12 range is where it goes awry. None of my abilities resolve because her cards are new instances of themselves, but this does not seem to hamper her at all. Was this all resolved correctly. Is there I way that I could have destroyed either the Deadeye Navigator or the Nevermaker?


texts:
I often read on the internet people referring to Chronicles expansion as a disaster, the worst mistake ever made by Wizards, the biggest drop value in Magic's history.. but nobody explains what happened!

I understood that Chronicles was the reprint of some cards the first four expansions (that went sold out in a really short amount of time) excluding some of the most powerful cards, but I miss how this has led to 70% drop in cards' value, sellers leaving their job, people not trusting Wizards anymore and finally to the Reserved List.

Can anybody explain me what happened and what made Modern Masters different?


texts: How can I create that sharp, intense sound when placing a stone?

texts:
No matter the material (board, stones) being used, pros are able to create a very sharp, loud, intense and beautiful sound when placing a stone (which immediately sits perfectly placed on its intersection). I've been playing for a few years and taught myself how to place stones, but I've never been able to constantly reproduce that sound.

Do you know the secret behind it? Or is it really just experience by placing millions and millions of stones?


texts: Does a God's own mana cost count towards its own devotion?

texts: I'm quite new to playing MtG, and had a question about Erebos, God of the Dead. It needs five devotion (5 black mana symbols on permanents on your field) to be a creature. Does the 1 black mana symbol on that card count toward my devotion to black? My friends and I were unsure.


texts: Do you have to play a (replaced) joker immediately with 2 tiles from your hand?

texts:
I don't have the paper rules here as a reference, but I grew up playing Rummikub with the rule that, if you replaced a joker on the table you must immediately replay the joker in a run or set with at least 2 tiles from your hand. This rule could make the endgame particularly interesting. We also played that the joker froze whatever group of tiles it was in--they couldn't be manipulated without replacing the joker. However, I just looked up the rules online to settle a dispute about making the initial meld, and noticed that both of these special joker rules are missing.

I'm pretty sure that way back when they were official, not house rules; were they? If so, when (and for bonus points, why) were they changed?


texts:
My opponent has Goblin Brigand on the battlefield. It says: "Goblin Brigand must attack each turn if able"

I control a Norn's Annex. My opponent is unable to produce white mana, but can (of course) pay for the attack with his life.

The question is:

Is the Goblin still "able to attack" since my opponent has no other option (in this particular game) than to pay for the attack with his life? Is my opponent "forced" to pay 2 life for the attack?


texts: What happens if Perplexing Chimera is used on a Storm spell?

texts:
Perplexing Chimera is a newly spoiled card with the rules text:

  "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may exchange control of
  Perplexing Chimera and that spell. If you do, you may choose new
  targets for the spell. (If the spell becomes a permanent, you control
  that permanent.)"

If a player exchanges control of Perplexing Chimera with Tendrils of Agony or Grapeshot, who controls the storm copies?


texts:
I: I am not sure how many cards can best suit our manufacturing until I know the size of your cards.

  Customer: I expect the cards will be "poker" size.

  I: Poker also have different sizes, the most common poker size is 63*88mm, is this size ok?

  Customer: See, this is an example of how communication can break down. There is ONE size of cards which are called "poker size". Just because you can play poker with different card sizes (e.g. mini, bridge, jumbo), doesn't mean there are different "poker card" sizes.
  I don't have a "poker size" card or ruler in front of me, so I don't know if the size you mention is actually "poker size" or if it's a "Chinese" (e.g. mistaken) poker size.

Question: I mean if he just tells me "poker size", I still don't know the exact size because people in different countries play poker with different sized cards. Am I wrong? What does he mean?


texts: When I search for a card, do I have to reveal it to my opponent?

texts:
Consider a card like Sangan, which involves searching for a monster of a specific criteria and putting it in your hand (emphasis mine).

  If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand, but you cannot activate cards, or the effects of cards, with that name for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of "Sangan" once per turn.

Similarly The Shallow Grave involves searching for a monster and placing it face down.

  Each player selects 1 monster in their Graveyard and Special Summons it in face-down Defense Position.

In both cases, the card I chose is now in a location where my opponent cannot verify that I picked a valid card (in Sangan's case, they can't look at my hand to confirm that I have chosen a Monster card with 1500 or less ATK). This makes me wonder: do I have to reveal the card I have searched for? Or are my opponents just supposed to trust that I picked a valid card?


texts: Occupations and minor improvements break the game?

texts:
After playing several games of Agricola in the family friendly mode, I played a couple of games of the full version with a friend.

What we've found is that adding the additional occupations and minor improvements:

Adds a lot more time to each person's turn as they consider their strategy for utilising their improvements/occupations.
Adds overwhelming complexity to decision making, to the point that the game is simply not fun.

I'm wondering if we're playing it wrong.

What we're doing is we're somehow selecting seven minor improvements and seven occupations to start with. See this thread for more details.

The player then can look at his two hands at anytime. This is where the additional time comes in, as each player turn the player is considering how they'll use their cards.

Is this how the game is meant to be played, or have I misinterpreted a rule somewhere?

If this is how the game is supposed to be played, are there some good house rules that will reduce the complexity of the game?


texts: Secret Hitler: is asking another player to choose which card to discard "cheating?"

texts:
To signal one's allegiance to the Liberals as President, one could say to another player, "all my cards are Fascist and it matters not which one I discard! Tell me which card of the 3 to discard!"

Similarly, the Chancellor could hold out two cards to another play and say, "all my cards are Fascist; choose one to discard" and also pass the choice onto another player, again signaling trustworthiness.

Is this kind of move allowed (or should it be allowed)? Is it in any way "cheating?"


texts: Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, and cards with a * as their power

texts: So my question is if I have Alesha, Who Smiles at Death on the battlefield can I use her ability to bring back a creature where * is the cards power, for example Kolaghan Forerunners?


texts: Can you cast Squee, the Immortal when it is exiled with a bomat courier?

texts: Can you cast Squee when it is exiled faced down with Bomat Courier or can you NOT cast a face-down exiled card?


texts: Early to mid 70's 2-player maze race game - What was the name?

texts:
It's not Pathfinder.
This one came with a vertical red plastic board that had pegs on half of each side with which you would build a maze using several dozen white "T"-shaped blocks placed between 2 pegs. When your maze was complete, you would close the clear plastic door, covering the whole playing field, to lock the pegs in place. Your opponent did the same thing on their side.  The other half of your board was the back of the other player's maze and you had a magnetic tool that you used to pick up a steel ball from the bottom of the playing area and blindly navigate their maze until you hit a block and the ball fell. Then it was the other person't turn.  Your maze had to have a navigable path to a hole in the board, near the top, that, if you successfully solved the maze, you would retrieve the ball bearing through. First one to do so, won the game.


texts: Countermeasures to "analysis paralysis"?

texts:
Several of my gaming friends are victim to more or less chronic analysis paralysis, which can drag down even the simplest of games.

We've occasionally used an hourglass to combat this, but it tends to aggravate the slow-playing contestants and doesn't work well in interactive games (such as when trading in Settlers of Catan).

What kinds of countermeasures to this common issue you have found to be effective?


texts: How do Humility and Mishra's Factory interact?

texts: Can someone explain the layer order and interaction between Humility and Mishra's Factory?


texts:
If I target my own Rancor with a Terastodon will the effect still take place and give me a 3/3 elephant token?

I ask this question because there is a ruling on Terastodon that says:

  If a targeted permanent has indestructible or regenerates, its controller won't get an Elephant token for it. Similarly, if the targeted permanent is destroyed but a replacement effect moves it to a different zone instead of its owner's graveyard, its controller won't get an Elephant token for it.

So I suppose the question is, does the effect of Rancor returning to its controller's hand count as a replacement effect?


texts:
I would like your advice about what I should bid in the following situation. Partner opens 1C, I answer 1H, he bids 2H. My hand is:

S : none
H : K Q J x x x
D : A K Q x x x
C : J

What should I bid now?


texts:
How does awaken works in battle? What if i have a 4/4 elemental creature that is still a land, got beaten by a 5/5 creature, will i lose the tokens or my land?

I also tried to find more information about this but couldnt find the battling system somewhere


texts:
I am starting a diplomacy game with the "TROJAN" rule.  Does anyone have any hints on how to adapt strategy from a game with more typical rules?

  TROJAN (BLIND modifier)
  A TROJAN game is a BLIND mixture in which units only "see" units of the opposite type (army or fleet) and supply centers do not report information.


texts: Can I deal extra damage if I copy Booby Trap's ability with Strionic Resonator?

texts: Can I copy Booby Trap's ability that states if you sacrifice Booby Trap it deals 10 damage to that player with Strionic Resonator, or am I only able to copy the section that states when the target player draws the named card sacrifice Booby Trap? In which case I can't sacrifice another Booby Trap and it wouldn't go off a second time.


texts: Adjacency of non-corner connecting spaces in Escape from Innsmouth

texts:
We had an argument about an adjacency question in the board game Mansions of Madness. In the "Escape from Innsmouth" scenario the upper left corner of the map looks like this:

The question is whether you can move from B to C directly, in other words whether those two spaces are adjacent. I argued that they are separated by a gray border (meaning a border between outdoor spaces), so they are adjacent spaces and a player or creature can move directly between them.

Everyone else in the group took the position that even though the curvy line did not match up to the corner with the library, that it was the intention of the game designers for it to be considered a mutual corner. Therefore, a player can only move between A and B or between A and C, and that it is not allowed to move directly between B and C.

Who is right?


texts: Use exactly 36 combinations instead of two dice

texts:
I like playing Settlers of Catan with one extension: "Catan: Event Cards"

The deck consists of 36 dice cards to represent the 36 different combinations that can be rolled with 2 dice. This means that number "rolls" are evenly distributed according to its probability.

How can I get this running on Android? Is there a way to roll two dice with predictable probability?

There is one Android app, where you can use those cards, but unfortunately there is one card in it that causes shuffling of all cards, which destroys the probability sorting.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/20038/catan-event-cards?
http://www.catan.de/spiel/ereignisse-auf-catan

Especially in settlers I would also like to take the sevens out of the pile and roll each turn only to have random amounts of sevens but if I didn't roll a seven I would take one card instead.

Also optimal, I would like to have such a dice app that allows to set the number of dice to one or more and roll accordingly to play other games too.

How can I get this running on Android?


texts: Is killing an enemy scout considered a battle?

texts:
The game manual says that if you conquer an enemy scout that is alone, you can take a loot as if you had won a battle. It doesn't specify that it is a battle.

The reason we need to know is for Code of Laws. Upon winning a battle, you can get a coin token to place on that research for future investing. So is conquering a scout that is alone considered a battle?


texts: Can an investigator carry more than one weapon?

texts: The rule book doesn't say anything specifically about this (or I'm just missing it).  Does anyone know if an investigator can carry more than one weapon and if so, do you choose which weapon you're attacking with during your turn?


texts: What scale are Warhammer Fantasy models?

texts:
What scale are the models in Warhammer Fantasy?

I have searched for the answer to this and found many different values. Can someone please provide me with the correct scale in the "xmm" and "x/xx" format.

Where it would be something like "28mm" and "1/35" scale. These are just examples and some of the numbers i have seen.


texts: "Whenever you draw a card" trigger w/ an empty library

texts: In Magic: The Gathering, let's say you have out Ormos, Archive Keeper as well as Psychosis Crawler and you're down to an empty library. Something allows you to attempt to draw a card from the empty library and you trigger Ormos's ability, but what about Psychosis Crawler? I would guess since no card is literally being drawn, Psychosis Crawler's ability wouldn't trigger, but I wonder if the act of drawing in the first place would trigger it anyways, regardless of whether a card was taken to hand from the library or not.


texts: Can an imprinted spell be kicked when it is cast?

texts:
Can an imprinted spell be kicked when it is cast ?

For example : Isochron Scepter and Orim's Chant

Can I pay the kicker cost each time I activate Isochron Scepter?


texts: Are some pieces better than others in Blokus?

texts: Obviously the smaller pieces are generally easier to get rid of than the larger pieces, but I'd be interested to know which pieces I should aim to get rid of first, and which pieces I should save.  I'm sure this largely depends on the gaps on the playing board, but are there some pieces that go better in the majority of cases?