texts: What happens if 7 Soldiers block a Phyrexian Obliterator?

texts:
This is a situation I am confronted with more often than I want to. My opponent attacks me with his Phyrexian Obliterator (5/5). The card says:

Trample;
Whenever a source deals damage to Phyrexian Obliterator, that source's controller sacrifices that many permanents.

I have a lot of small creature tokens available to block with, lets take 7 Soldier tokens to make it simple. They are all 1/1. My opponent has 4 Mutagenic Growth in his deck and I have reason to believe that he has one of those in his hands.

The situation forces me to block, otherwise I would die. Lets assume I only have 1 life left.

I decide to declare all 7 Soldier tokens as blockers, so that I survive even if he uses a Mutagenic Growth. The question is what happens if he does not boost it and I am blocking the 5/5 creature with 7 Soldiers.

If I would block with a single 7/x creature, I would deal 7 damage and I would be forced to sacrifice 7 permanents afterwards. But what about the 7 individual creatures? Do they still deal 7 damage or do they deal only deal 5? I am afraid the answer is 7, because they all deal damage at the same time, but I am not confident about my interpretation.


texts: How Closely Did Afrika Korps simulate the actual campaign conditions?

texts:
My understanding is that the Afrika Korps game parameters give the Germans and British about equal chances to win, that is, 50-50. Were the relative chances actually about 50-50 in real life? If not, what adjustments were made to the game to balance it? For instance, was Malta more or less disruptive to Axis supply convoys in the game compared to real life?

Example: Using Midway, which I know better, a number of adjustments were made in favor of the Japanese. That's because the large number of planes on Midway made it a "fourth" carrier, with all the American carriers larger than any of the four Japanese heavy carriers. That is to say that the Americans actually had the advantage historically.

So Midway, in the game, starts with perhaps one third of its historical complement of aircraft. Also, the Japanese carrier Kaga starts with three more toredo squadrons than she had historically (this is critical for game play). "Alternate" rules also prevent the American player from deploying B-17 bombers (which existed, but had no historical impact, but is a "random" factor in favor of the Americans). I believe these changes largely balance the game.


texts: Expansion // Explosion and Alms Collector

texts:
If I have an Alms Collector and my opponent casts Explosion where X is 4 targeting himself and my Alms Collector, should Alms Collector still replace the draw 4 effect?

I assume because Alms Collector doesn't leave the battlefield until state based actions are checked and that won't happen until after Explosion fully resolves.


texts: Is the black group dead in this game state? (From Nick Sibicky's lecture #246)

texts:
In Nick Sibicky's lecture #246, they state that the black group at T3 is dead:

They exactly say that both have 4 liberties and it's White's move so Black is dead.

But, after Black connects at S3 and white takes outside liberty at S5, Black can gain one extra liberty: T5 (threatening to run out), White S7, T6, S8 and Black now has 4 liberties and is on the move! Plays O1 and wins the race.

Like this:

$$Bcm1
$$ |...,.....,
$$ |..........
$$ |..........
$$ |.XXX......
$$ |7OOOX.....
$$ |.OXXOO....
$$ |.OXO.....,
$$ |.OXOO.....
$$ |.X1X2.46..
$$ |.XXX35....
$$ +----------

Or rotated to agree with their coordinates:

$$Bcm1
$$ ..........|
$$ ..........|
$$ ..........|
$$ ,.....,...|
$$ ..........|
$$ ........6.|
$$ ........4.|
$$ .....O...5|
$$ ....XO.O23|
$$ ,..XOXOOXX|
$$ ...XOXXX1X|
$$ ...XOOOOXX|
$$ ....7.....|
$$ ----------+

Or did I miss something?


texts: What happens when you lose an invention that has a one-shot benefit?

texts:
In Robinson Crusoe, the players are a collection of castaways on some remote island. There are 6 different scenarios, so the goals and perils of the game will change a bit.

During the game, you can "invent" items around camp, and various events can destroy those items. The trouble is that some items give one-shot benefits, while others give continual bonuses. For instance, the Shovel invention's benefit is "you have a shovel," which is useful because inventing the Cellar requires a shovel. On the other hand, the Spear (the Soldier's item) has a one-shot effect: +3 weapons.

What happens when an event destroys an item with a one-shot benefit? For instance, you build a Spear, get +3 weapons, use some of those weapons, and then you lose your Spear in an event when you only have 1 weapon in camp? Can you rebuild the spear again for another +3 weapons? Do you have to lose any of your existing weapons when you lose the Spear?


texts: What happens when I copy a spell with cascade?

texts:
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder states that when he deals combat damage to a player, spells you cast from your hand gain cascade.

Let's say that a hit with Yidris connects on a player and I cast a spell from my hand. Let's also say, for instance, that I have a creature with Dual Casting attached to it. If I copy the spell that I cast from my hand which now has cascade, does the copy also have cascade? I would think so, but I don't know where to look this up.


texts:
In most sets of rules for Cribbage [1], you score a point for playing the last card.

My first impression is this tends to nullify the "point for go" - if you manage to win "1 for go", probably the other player then has an extra card than you and is going to get "1 for last card". Of course if you get "2 for 31" you come out ahead.

Then I wondered if the point of forcing go is perhaps you get to play at least two cards in succession (e.g. you have a pair of twos, 2H and 2D; you arrange it so you plays 2H for "28"; opponent is blocked so "go"; now you can play 2D for a pair).  But the the opponent would have the same advantage at the end when they get last card (admittedly they will have played some cards before you forced go so have less chance of this opportunity.)

So, I have got as far as "if you don't have the '1 for last card' rule, it is worth winning 1 for go, and 2 for 31 is even better; if you have the rule, it's just more difficult to score over the opponent.

But I imagine there is more to it? So my question is What is the effect of the "1 for last card" score on tactics in cribbage?

[1] Closely related question - to my limited research it seems '1 for last card' is less common in British books than American books or websites.  Is it a regional variation, or more a 'house rules' thing?  Or are rule sets missing this rule just wrong?


texts:
Ok, I was playing an EDH game with my friend and I had 8 mana available to me. In order for me to win the game, I had to destroy one of his permanents with a Spine of Ish Sah (7 mana). Now I planned to play a Mana Vault (1 mana and produces 3 mana) so that I'd have enough mana for a Spell Crumple (3 mana) to protect my Spine of Ish Sah.

How I played the turn out is I try to cast Spine of Ish Sah, but I forgot to play Mana Vault first. By the time I've realized that I forgot a very important part in my plan, I've already tapped for 5 mana. At this point I stop tapping for mana and I am unable to pay for the Spine of Ish Sah and it should return to my hand (where I cast it from) and my lands should untap (rule 717). My opponent said that's not the game works. He says that since I started paying for the spell, I have to finish paying for the rest of it. Now, is my friend correct, that if you pay for part of a spell, if you are able to pay for all of the spell, then you must finish paying its cost?

Answer must have rules referencing this.


texts: Can making a creature unable to attack, after it has been assigned as an attacker, remove it from combat?

texts: Kulrath Knight has an effect that states 'Creatures your opponents control with counters on them can't attack or block.'   So a creature is assigned as an attacker and subsequently gets a counter placed on it prior to combat resolution, does that remove the creature from combat?


texts:
Are Magic: The Gathering booster packs "color random"? I've tried Googling it, but nothing tells me anything specific.
Can you get booster packs by color, or are they filled with random colors?


texts: How does Song of Freyalise chapters 1-2 work?

texts:
I have a question about Song of Freyalise. Chapters I and II say:

  Until your next turn, creatures you control gain '{T}: Add one mana of any color.'

According to the wording of this effect, my creatures will gain the {T} ability until end of turn or not? How does it work?


texts: Would Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker trigger Waste Not?

texts: I play Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker as a commander and his ability states that an opponent needs to put cards in their graveyard. Waste Not says when a player discards a card then one of three things happens. My question is in the fine details of what "discard" means: will Mirko trigger Waste Not?


texts: Does Experiment Kraj's passive ability work while he is dead?

texts: Let's say I have Experiment Kraj in my graveyard while I have a Reassembling Skeleton on the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter. Can I pay 1B to return Kraj from the graveyard to the battlefield tapped?


texts: Is there a damage phase in the final round of Steampunk Rally?

texts:
In Steampunk Rally - a player crossing the finish line triggers one more final round, and then the winner is determined by who finishes the furtherest along the track.

The question I have is - during this final round - is there still a damage phase - in which an invention may explode and be taken back to last place?


texts:
Games tend to have one of two philosophies on running out of pieces: the Risk philosophy, where pieces are theoretically infinite and you can use any suitable substitute; and the Monopoly philosophy, where components are limited and you cannot take an action requiring a component if the game is out of that component.

In Monopoly itself, the rules say you cannot build more houses and/or hotels than the pieces supplied with the game.  Unlimited houses and hotels is a common enough house rule that it is included as an option in many computer game adaptation of Monopoly.  Implementing this house rule is fairly easy to do if you have multiple monopoly sets, and even if you don't, the even build rule means that you can indicate the build state of an evenly developed monopoly with 2+ houses by simply putting the houses/hotel on one property in the group.

So why does Monopoly have this rule in the first place?  Is this just a historic artifact where early 1900's board game designers thought people would get confused about using substitute pieces or alternative representation of the game state?  Is there some compelling strategic depth that this component limit adds to the game?


texts: chair one opened 1 spade I was chair two and said 3 clubs,  saying , I have 7 clubs and a outside ace and not 13 pts to open? She says I would have to open 4 clubs for it to mean that, Who's right, of course SHE insisted she has played for 50 years and I'm wrong. Help!


texts:
When playing Henry Block, if you Cat Balou or Panic the rattlesnake from yourself for example, are you the target of a bang! ?

Edit:

Henry Block

  Any player drawing or discarding one of your cards (in hand or in play) is the target of a BANG!

Cat Balou

  Discards a random card from the hand of any player or any card in play

Panic

  Pick a random card from the hand of a player or any card in play (at range 1)

Sorry if the wording is not correct, I'm trying to translate from the french version


texts: When are good times to build early roads "inland" in Catan?

texts:
In most cases, it is a good idea to build early Catan settlements, close to, but not on the coast, and then build roads toward the coast. This has the dual advantages of 1) heading toward key ports, and 2) minimizing conflict with other players, and the resulting wasted effort.
Like every rule, this rule probably has exceptions. Which might they be? For instance, might it make sense for both settlements to point their roads toward each other, aim for a "connection" (and intervening third settlement), and later on longest road?


texts: Enervating Mist vs Silent Wobby, which one is active?

texts: I recently asked myself a random question, what would happen if Enervating Mist (handsize down to 5) and Silent Wobby (limit handsize to 3) were active at the same time. Would it just be last or first one (based on activation order)?


texts: How does "Exile and return to battlefield" work with a Manifest

texts:
I am playing Brago, King Eternal as my Commander and I have a Cloudform attached to a Manifested card. What will happen if I use Brago's trigger (exile permanent and return to the battlefield) on both Cloudform and the Manifest?

Will the Manifest be revealed? Will it be flipped? If so, what happens if the Manifest is an instant/sorcery?

Please reference the rules when answering.


texts: In what zone do the lingering effects of spells reside?

texts:
Cyclopean Tomb, for example, creates an effect that continues for the rest of the game, even if it is destroyed.

Is there a name for the conceptual "board" of lingering effects whose originating cards are no longer on the battlefield?


texts: When you change the skill used, do any modifiers for the original skill still count?

texts:
There are several cards and powers that can change what skill is being used to pass a task: Incredible Ninja Leap uses Climbing for any skill, among others. ("I don't need to disguise myself to get past the Vatican tourists, I just leap over them from a nearby building!")

What does changing the skill you roll do to modifiers to the original skill roll? If your mission has a Combat test, and one of your opponents plays "Slipped!" on you to give -3 to your next Combat roll (i.e., this roll), but you change the skill to Climbing, does that -3 still apply to your roll? If there's a whole-mission penalty to Combat (such as "-2 to all Combat rolls on this mission"), does it still apply?


texts: What happens if I tap Aetherling to attack and in my 2nd main phase I exile it?

texts:
I'm talking about this card:

In my interpretation if I exile it after I tapped it to attack I instantly get it back untapped before the opponent's turn starts.

Am I right?


texts: What are the ramifications of turning a planeswalker into a creature?

texts:
An answer on another question tells of a way to turn planeswalkers into creatures:

  Basically you start by playing the Mycosynth
  Lattice
  which turns all your permanents into artifacts, this includes
  Planeswalker.

  Then you play March Of the
  Machines
  turning your Planeswalker into an artifact creature with power and
  toughness equal to it's casting cost.

What are the ramifications of doing this? In particular, I'm curious about the answers to the following sub-questions:

Can the loyalty abilities still be activated?

Can they be activated after the creature has attacked? (ie. during the 2nd main phase)

Does the creature die if it's loyalty hits 0?
Does the creature die if it has lethal damage counted on it?
Can damage applied to the creature be directed to apply to the loyalty, on only counted as damage on the creature? (ie. counted against it's toughness)
Since the permanent is still a planeswalker, can it still be attacked like a normal planewalker? (ie. a creature attacking the planeswalker instead of me, the player)

Is there any other interesting fallout of converting a planeswalker into a creature that I'm missing?


texts: Does Classic Egyptian Rat Screw have Marriages?

texts:
I've played Egyptian Rat Screw for years, and I've encountered one major discrepancy in the way others play compared to how I do. The combinations that were grounds to slap that I learned were -

Double: Two of the same card in a row.
Sandwich: Two of the same cards with a different card in between. Ex.2,3,2.
Joker: Any joker on the field.
Straight: Four cards in order ascending or descending, excluding face cards or aces.
Marriage: King and a queen next to each other.

Everyone I've played with who knew this game prior to me showing them played without the marriage. I've wondered for some time whether it was a valid part of the game. Does anyone know definitively? Thanks!


texts: When should Beginners finish a Game of Go?

texts:
I was reading the answers to this question, about who has won a game of Go and came across the two following statements.

  You pass at the end of the game when you do not think you can increase your score (explained below), and stop when both of you pass one after the other.

And

  You needed to finish the game...

As a beginner at go, I think an implicit part of the other question that has possibly been missed is "How do I learn when the game is over". Logically, assuming both players are beginners it is possible that they both think they cannot increase their score and the game is over; where as a more experienced player, such as those answering the question, disagrees.

Is there a suggested method of learning or teaching when the end of the game has been reached? For example continuing to play until only a "few" spaces are unclaimed?


texts: Bloodlord of Vaasgoth plus Warstorm Surge, then casting a vampire creature spell

texts:
I run vampire tribal and have a stack related question.
I have a Bloodlord of Vaasgoth and Warstorm Surge in play, my main phase I cast a Vampire Nighthawk from my hand, here is my issue, how does the order resolve.
In my knowledge I believe this is the proper scenario or I hope it is at least.

Cast Vampire Nighthawk.
Bloodlord triggers and gives it bloodthirst 3.
As Nighthawk enters Warstorm Surge puts its trigger onto the stack dealing 2 damage to a target I choose (an opponent).
Warstorm Surge resolves and my opponent takes 2 damage.
Vampire Nighthawk resolves entering the battlefield, bloodthirst 3 activates due my opponent taking damage and gives the Vampire Nighthawk 3 +1/+1 counters.

Again this is only my understanding and my hope of how it goes and just using sense of how things trigger and react to one another.


texts: Betrayal at Houseon the Hill - Can the Bell move explorers to unexplored rooms?

texts:
The Bell item card states: "Once during your turn after the haunt is revealed, you can attempt a Sanity roll to use the Bell."

5+ = Move any number of unimpeded heroes 1 space closer to you.

My question is: If moving an explorer one space closer to you means moving them in a direction that would explore a new room, is that legal?

If so, how would it be handled?
Neither The book nor the Avalon Hill Errata explain this.
Would the moved explorer have to agree to move in that direction?
Would the moved explorer deal with drawing Omen, Item or Event cards on the Bell owners turn? Or on their next turn? What happens if they draw a tile that moves their character further than one space?
You could potentially be dealing with turns within turns.

Besides, it seems too powerful to me to let someone with the Bell have their entire group start exploring new rooms. I think the purpose of the Bell is simply too allow 1 extra movement. Not to hand out entire free turns.

While it is true that the book does not say that you CAN'T use the Bell to move explorers to unexplored rooms - it is also true that the book does not say that I can't stand up and shout "We win" and therefore all explorers immediately win the game.
My point is that I do not consider, "Well the book doesn't say you can't" to be an acceptable or well thought out answer here."

Note: I only expect an answer for my initial questions so please no friendly notices about how this site prefers a single question per post.

Thanks


texts: Does the mayor count as multiple knights during taxes?

texts:
We were playing Carcassonne last night using the expansions Wheel of Fortune and Abbey & Mayor.  A situation came up where a player had his mayor on a large unfinished city with several pennants and the wheel landed on taxes.

  When taxes occurs, should the mayor be counted as multiple knights (as many as there are pennants), a single knight, or no knights?

Relevant rules:

In my interpretation, "when a city containing a mayor is scored (but at no other times, e.g. taxes) the mayor is counted as..." with the (but at no other times) implied would mean that the mayor has no effect during taxes and is treated as though it is not present.  However, arguably the taxes is a sort of "scoring the city" (though I see it more as scoring the knights).

In my opponents interpretation, any follower (be it the wagon, mayor, big follower, or ordinary meeple) when played in a city would be considered a knight from then on until removed from the board (or in the case of the mayor as multiple knights).

We allowed the mayor to count as a number of separate knights equal to the number of pennants (banners) in order to let play resume, which caused some very high points.  At the time, there were seven banners and only the mayor present in the city in question for a total of 7 knights x (7 banners + 7 knights) = 98 points.  The irony I suppose is that although my opponent scored massive points for the first taxes, I turned the tables on him by scoring massive number of points on the next two times taxes came up using the same ruling.  Still, 100+ points for taxes while the other wheel of fortune tiles scoring an average of 8 or so points seems absurd.


texts: MTG: Enchantments that require opponent to pay mana to attack

texts:
I had a deck many years ago that was blue/white and used a blue enchantment that made players pay 2 colorless to attack.  I can't remember the name of the card, but it was around Mirage, no later than Urza block.  I also had Kjeldoran Outpost and Thawing Glaciers.

The main concept of the deck was to get out the mana generating diamonds from mirage, then blow away the lands with Armageddon and keep the opponent locked out of attacking for a while.

This card is stuck in my head and I can't seem to find the name of it anywhere.  I remember seeing it reprinted as a white enchantment sometime ago as well.

If anyone knows what this card might be, please let me know the name.  I have not found anything via searching so far.


texts: Can players tap lands for mana with Enchanted Evening and Grand Abolisher in play?

texts: If I play Enchanted Evening and turn everything into an enchantment, and then play Grand Abolisher to disallow them activating abilities during my turn, can my opponents tap their lands during my turn (say, to make a payment for something)?


texts: What is the standardized format for Scrabble match annotations?

texts: I have seen graphical walk-throughs before of past Scrabble matches.  Watching the masters play is a great way to learn.  Is there a widely accepted manner in which to annotate games?  If so, is there anywhere a low-level description of such an annotation system?  I have looked at Go in ages passed and I know there is a very detailed specification for annotating Go matches.  I am looking for something similar with Scrabble.


texts: Why did I win "Asia Passport" achievement early?

texts:
I'm playing iPad edition. Fifth Legendary Asia achievement says:

Asia Passport: Win all achievements for the Legendary Asia map.

I thought it means that I have to win first four achievements.

For some reason I won it in the middle of the next game after winning Mountain Hermit. At that point I already had Double Trouble, but not two others.

Any ideas what happened?


texts: Is there a single player PC game with similar mechanics to Twilight Imperium?

texts: I recently started playing Twilight Imperium, and it's a blast. I really like the political aspect, technology aspect, and the mobilization of fleets. I really wish there was a PC game similar to this. I've been playing Civilization since Civ1 through Civ3, and that series is the closest PC game I can think of; however, it's not exactly what I'm looking for. I like how the production in TI is based on resources instead of production of a city. I also like how the politic cards change the rules as the game progresses. Does any one know of a PC game that has similar mechanics?


texts: Lord of the Ring LCG: Silvan Refugee forced effect

texts:
When I use "The Tree People" to return a Silvan ally in my hand, does the forced effect on "Silvan Refugee" trigger?
More generally, does returning an ally to one's hand count as this character leaving play/being dead?

The Tree People (Event)

  Action: Return a Silvan ally you control to your hand to search the top 5 cards of your deck for a Silvan ally. Put that ally into play and shuffle the other cards back into your deck. You can only play 1 copy of The Tree People each phase.

Silvan Refugee (Ally)

  Forced: After a character leaves play, discard Silvan Refugee from play.


texts:
When my opponent has a creature with triggered ability "At the beggining of each end step, this creature...." and it's my turn, what happens after this ability goes on the stack? Normally, I get priority at the beggining of each step, and here is the same?
Does it simply go on the stack independently on my opponent and I get priority?


texts: Can I target a Shrouded creature's ability?

texts:
A friend of mine tells me that an activated ability of a creature (for example, Goblin Fireslinger) can't be targeted (for example, by Reroute) if it's given shroud (for example, by Lightning Greaves).

Since a card like Reroute says "Change the target of target activated ability with a single target" and doesn't target the permanent itself, shouldn't this ability be a legal target?

If there is some ruling source about this, I'm willing to look on it.


texts: Does Goblin Arsonist's ability deal 2 damage when there are two in play?

texts: Does having two Goblin Arsonist on the battlefield cause their ability to deal 2 damage when one dies?


texts: When can you start using the Pirate in Catan Cities and Knights / Seafarers?

texts:
In C&K rules, the robber cannot be moved at all until the first Barbarian Attack. When playing C&K combined with Seafarers, does this also apply to the pirate?

It would make a lot of sense to me, but I can't find anywhere that specifically spells it out either way.


texts: Why doesn't the enemy's afterlife resolve first?

texts:
When my Dreadhorde Butcher destroys a Tithe Taker in combat and dies
 as a result of the combat during my turn, doesn't Rule 405.3 say that the afterlife should resolve first, since the Dreadhorde Butcher's effect should be lowest on the stack? I put Rule 405.3 below for reference.

  405.3. If an effect puts two or more objects on the stack at the same time, those controlled by the active player are put on lowest, followed by each other player’s objects in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).


texts:
We're learning to play Bridge from Gramma, who played the game a lot ~40 years ago but doesn't really remember the rules (or, at least, the reasons behind some rules and conventions).

One of the things she's adamant about is that the dummy sits the hand out completely, not to touch the cards at all once they're face up on the table.  The rest of us newbies think this is kind of silly - while we know the dummy shouldn't be offering advice, we figure he could could at least handle the cards and play what the leader tells him to play, and (when there's no choice to be made, like when there's only 1 possible card to play), just do the mechanical stuff that requires no decision making.

What are the limitations placed on the dummy player?  Are there etiquette rules about what he can and cannot do?


texts: How can I make alternative characters for BatHotH?

texts:
The people who I play Betrayal at the House on the Hill with are also the same groups that share my love of Supernatural. We'd love to make some Dean, Sam and John Winchester characters as well as some for Bobby, Jo etc...

How can I best do this? I found this article on Board Game Geek but it doesn't give me much of an idea as to how to make them on the pentagons (one aspect of the game I find very cool), just on how to replace the current ones with cards and paper clips (ugh!).

Is there a website/service where I can print cards or some such?


texts: What happens to a spell that is cast with flashback when it gets countered by a Remand?

texts:
I know if a spell that has been cast with flashback is countered with a regular counter it is still exiled, but what about cards that return the card to the hand like Venser or Remand or even a counter that returns the card to the top of the library like  Memory Lapse?

Where does the flash-backed spell go then?


texts: Relic - Activated Corruption Cards and discarding

texts: Quick question regarding corruption cards: If you have 5 corruption cards and one of them is activated because it has an activation value of 5, what happens if your discard one or several corruption cards later in the game? Is value 5 card activated forever until you discard it?


texts: In bridge, should a defender play differently with most, about half, or few of the partnership's points?

texts:
This example is from Victor Mollo's "Test Your Defense, Where the Points are Won."

You are East. The bidding has been 1NT pass 3NT pass. West leads what looks to be the fourth highest spade. You hold:

(s) Axx (H) KQJ9 (d) Kx (c) xxxx.

Dummy shows (s) Kxx (h) Txx (d) Axxx (c) Kxx.

You take the ace of spades. Normally you would return a spade, partner's suit. But Mollo recommends establishing the hearts for a "set."

The key features are: 1) Dummy's T falls under your J, making the 9 good 2) you have the guarded K of diamonds "offside" the ace, hence a sure entry and 3) You have 13 of your partnerhip's HCP.  West has the J of spades at most (Q if South has only 15 HCP).

So is your strength the reason you should deviate from the usual rule of returning partner's suit? Should you return your partner's suit if you didn't have the heart honors (meaning that partner has about 7 HCP), or if you had only the A of spades (partner has  about 10)?

Conversely, if you were "West" (on lead), would you lead differently with the three different hypothetical hands?


texts: In contract bridge, what are bonus points for?

texts:
I am a beginner and could not find out the application or the use of those bonus points above the line in contract(rubber) bridge. If the winner in a contract bridge is the pair that first achieves 2 sets of 100 or more points below the line (thus winning a rubber), what is the use of those bonus points? In what situations are these bonus points being made use of?

Could someone please enlighten me. Thanks a lot in advance.


texts: When a creature is summoned but still on the stack is it considered a permanent?

texts: Suppose I cast a creature spell, let's say Elvish Mystic. It enters the stack, then in response another player casts Counterspell targeting it. Could I, in response to that, cast Avoid fate or is the Elvish Mystic not considered a permanent until the spell resolves and thus Avoid Fate has no effect?


texts: Do creatures come into play tapped if they come into play at the same time as a card which says "Creatures come into play tapped"?

texts:
An example situation :

Living Death resolves while there is a Urabrask the Hidden in my graveyard and another creature in my opponent's graveyard. Urabrask says "Creatures your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped."

Will my opponent's creature come into play tapped if it enters the battlefield at the same time as Urabrask?


texts: How do I deal with Enchantments while playing mono-red?

texts:
I have played different mono-red decks in the past and my main problem with all of them is playing against decks with strong enchantments (e.g. Circle of Protection: Red). As soon as this enchantment is out on the battlefield, I have lost. This can be played on turn 2, and my opponent can even mulligan to increase his chance of having this card in his starting hand.

While playing mono-red, I don't have Counterspells and enchantment destroyers. How do I handle these threats? I am looking for ideas legal in Standard, and legal in Legacy. "Red must be fast and win before enchantments are out" is not a good solution, because in the example above the enchantment can hit in round 2.


texts:
I'm playing Magic Arena after quite a long time away from Magic. I still remember how to play but there's something that's keeping me confused about the priority system.

When I'm passing the turn, eventually the opponent plays an instant speed spell before his turn, and the game does not allow me to respond to it. I didn't remember this rule but still OK (although that make instants and permanent spells with flash much more powerful than I thought they were).

But in my last game I just played an enchantment with flash at the end of my opponent's turn, hoping that my opponent could not answer to it with a counter spell, but they were able to respond and indeed countered it.

I searched for rules of end-of-turn casting and I think that it's just a glitch of the game (it's still on beta and there's some of them), but I'm not sure. Any help will be appreciated.


texts: Occult Research for azathoth on Eldritch Horror

texts:
One occult research card for Azathoth states that in order to solve it, you must research Clue tokens found across the map. In a game just finished, I did a clue research and gained a clue but failed the overall encounter. Could I still place the clue I gained on the occult research card even though I failed the overall encounter?

The description for the occult research card is:

  After an investigation resolves a research encounter, he may spend 1
  Clue he gained form that encounter and place that clue on this card.
  At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Clues on this card equal
  to the number of investigators, solve this Mystery.


texts: Determining if/when to use trump in the "pre-game" of 2-handed Pinochle

texts:
When playing two-handed pinochle, the 'normal' rules of the game are suspended during the initial phase (when melding takes place along with trick taking while depleting the deck of undealt cards).

In other words, you cannot yet renege, you are not penalized for not following suit, you are not forced to out-trump trump, etc.

In this phase of the game, what is the best way to determine if it is a good idea to use trump cards?


texts: Me and my mom had a small conflict over this. Can you summon token creatures if you have the token, without a card effect that says to use it? I don't think so, but I don't know how to verify this.


texts: What is resolved first, an card when-player-summon effect or a summoned card effect?

texts:
I'm playing with an Alien deck, and one thing I like to do with this is to activate Planet Pollutant Virus combined with Alien Mars and Alien Psychic.

My question is when my opponent summons a monster that has a effect, which resolves first? E.g.

My opponent plays a monster that can destroy another monster when summoned
My Planet Pollutant Virus places an A-Counter on it
My Alien Mars negates my opponent monster's effect

or

My opponent plays a monster that can destroy another monster when summoned
My Planet Pollutant Virus places an A-Counter on it
My opponent monster's effect is resolved so it destroys my Alien Mars before it's effects are negated


texts: Can a Monster carry more than one Sample at a time?

texts:
The Take Sample keeper action does not seem to have a restriction around having more than one sample, other than it would require multiple turns.

  Action: One per turn, choose a monster in an investigator's space.
   Place 1 sample token on the monster and then move it 1 space.

Following on from the above, if the monster does have more than one sample token on it at the start of your turn can you turn them all in at the same time for 5 threat each?

  If the Monster is in an altar's space at the start of your turn, place the token on the altar and again 5 threat.

This seemed clear but a little strong for the keeper in our initial game of Mansions when playing the Fall of House Lynch 1B.


texts: What are the differences between Pandemic and Pandemic 2013?

texts:
I have seen that there is a new edition of Pandemic for 2013.

What are the differences between Pandemic and the "New Challenge" version?

Can I convert my original edition to use any of the new rules?

Is the original Pandemic compatible with the 2013 expansion packs?


texts: Need help with the Peddler card in Dominion Prosperity

texts: I love Dominion Prosperity, and understand all of the cards perfectly except for Peddler.  Can anyone explain it to me?  For some reason I just can't get it. Thanks!


texts: Will Enduring Ideal and Dovescape played together leave Enduring Ideal countered?

texts:
I play Enduring Ideal and search and play Dovescape.

On the next upkeep Enduring Ideal should be cast again.

Is Enduring Ideal countered by Dovescape, or can I search for other enchantments?


texts: Pick up the not frozen discard pile having a Canasta meld

texts:
My wife and I have gotten into a bit of an argument.
If the discard deck is not frozen, and I have already met the minimum meld whether that be 50, 90 or 120, can I pick up the discard deck with a natural card and a wild card?
We are trying to use Hoyle to play by.


texts: In MTG, do Werewolves transform due to an out of range turn? Or an out of range player's spells?

texts:
The werewolves of Innistrad (such as Reckless Waif) transform from the following abilities:

[Human Side]
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform [this card].
[Werewolf Side]
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform [this card].

I am not sure how these behave in a multiplayer game involving Limited Range. Suppose I am playing a 4 person, attack left, Limited Range of 1 player, so there is one person in my range on my left, one in my range on my right, and one out of my range. In that game...
Are my werewolves affected by the out of range player's spells?
Are my werewolves affected by other player's spells on the out of range player's turn?
Those are the important two questions, but I think this might be easier to understand/answer with examples, so I'm specifically curious what happens in the following situations:

I have a human side werewolf such as Reckless Waif on the battlefield and no one plays any spells during the out of range player's turn, will the Reckless Waif transform? (On the next upkeep, of course)

I have a human side werewolf such as Reckless Waif on the battlefield and the out of range player plays one or more spells on their turn, but no one else does, will the Reckless Waif transform?

I have a human side werewolf such as Reckless Waif on the battlefield and the out of range player plays one or more spells during an in range turn, but no one else does, will the Reckless Waif transform?

I have a werewolf side werewolf such as Merciless Predator on the battlefield and the out of range player plays two or more spells on their turn, but no one else does, will the Merciless Predator transform?

I have a werewolf side werewolf such as Merciless Predator on the battlefield and a player in my range plays two or more spells during the out of range player's turn, will the Merciless Predator transform?

I have a werewolf side werewolf such as Merciless Predator on the battlefield and the out of range player plays two or more spells during an in range turn, but no one else does, will the Merciless Predator transform?

Are there any other common situations I missed?
EDIT: I mistakenly called the range "Spell Range" but I really meant "Limited Range of Influence", referenced by section 801 in the comp rules. I've read the section, and I THINK I know the result, but I am still very interested in another human's interpretation of the rules, because the result seems somewhat counter-intuitive to me.


texts: Will Hallowed Moonlight exile creatures from Starfield of Nyx

texts:
A continuous effect that changes enchantments to creatures (Starfield of Nyx) is on the battlefield and the effect is active.

During my upkeep, I target an enchantment to return.
In response, my opponent casts Hallowed Moonlight which creates a replacement effect that only affects creatures entering the battlefield.

I know that enchantments that enter the battlefield do trigger creature ETB triggers.

But, since the replacement effect occurs before it would enter the battlefield, is the enchantment exiled (aside from the "may" clause in Starfield)?


texts: Descent: Can you get rid of cursed items?

texts:
In Descent there are various cursed items, which we always played as bind on pickup?

Is this the case?  Can you wield any other weapon while you have a cursed item?  How do you work around this completely making useless a character that gets an item it can't use well (a mage with a two handed sword).


texts: What is the difference between thickness and heavy or over-concentrated stones?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the difference between thickness and heavy stones?

Many beginners and even advanced players have difficulties telling apart thick from heavy or over-concentrated groups. How are these terms defined, and how can I quickly decide if a result in a certain position is good or bad for me based on that?

Is influence the same as thickness, or is there a difference?


texts: Is using Quickshade a good way to finish miniature painting?

texts:
Recently I've discovered that Army Painter is selling a can of pigmented varnish called Quickshare. Has anyone had any experience with this or other similar products? On the pictures I've found models finished with this stuff look really amazing, but I'd like to know if it's really that good, or were the pictures Photoshopped?

Here's a sample photo comparing different tones:


texts: Which cards count as having been banned or restricted for Spike, Tournament Grinder's tutor ability?

texts:
In the new unset, Unstable, Spike, Tournament Grinder can tutor for any current or previously banned or restricted card from outside the game.

Specifically this ability:

  ϕϕϕϕ: Choose a card you own from outside the game that has been banned or restricted in a Constructed format, reveal that card, and put it into your hand.

Which cards are on that list, as of the last B&R announcement ( October 17, 2017 )?


texts: Does Valakut do damage if Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is in play, but dies before the trigger resolves?

texts:
Let's say my board is 5 Mountains, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Now I play a Plains. Because of the Dryad, the Plains is also a Mountain, so Valakut triggers. While the trigger is on the stack, opponent kills the Dryad. Which of the following is right:

Does Valakut deal 3 damage because I still control 5 real Mountains, or
Does Valakut not deal 3 damage because no Mountain entered the battlefield?

Relevant text of cards:

Lands you control are every basic land type in addition to their other types. (Dryad of the Ilysian Grove)

and

Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, if you control at least five other Mountains, you may have Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deal 3 damage to any target. (Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle)


texts: I'm wondering if spell casting only happens after attacks and blocking has been declared or if it's just at the second main phase? I've spoken to a few players in my area, but there aren't many people around here who play,  and I'm not sure I understand.


texts: In plain English, how does casting spells and using creature abilities work with the stack and priority?

texts:
I'm a relatively new player to Magic: the Gathering. I was reading the expanded rules to try to understand exactly when it's okay to cast instants (e.g. Cancel) and use some abilities (e.g. Goblin Diplomats should be tappable sometime during other peoples' turns), but I don't seem to be making much progress: as I come to understand some things, others make less sense.

My confusion is boundless

For instance: to cast Instants one needs priority. Spells go on the stack, and priority gets passed at some points (I have no idea when), and effects on the stack are resolved when both players have passed priority. But when is that? I can't find any mention of when the other player gets the priority to cast an instant, except on their own turn. Furthermore, The Complete Turn states that during the Main Phase:

  505.4. Second, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities. The active player may play a land.

So players (plural) may cast spells, but only the active player has priority, so only the active player can cast an instant. The turn rules, and the rules on Casting Spells, never mention any point at which the other player gets priority, so when can they possibly Cancel?

In addition, you can only cast a spell when the stack is empty, so the entire stack must be able to be resolved in your turn at some point.

I need an explanation!

I could go on a bit more. There is also Counterflux which can be overloaded to "Counter each spell you don't control", which seems like it could only possibly work with an understanding of the stack.

Could someone explain, in simple English:

When can Instants be cast?
When can tap abilities be used?
What do Instants and abilities have to do with the Stack and Priority?


texts: Can a player get the second place points with no Maki Rolls in Sushi Go?

texts: In a two player game of Sushi Go!, if only one player has Maki Rolls they would get the 6 points since they have the most of that type of card. Does the second player get the 3 points since they technically have the second most amount, or do they have to have at least one Maki Roll card to be able to get the 3 points?


texts: How Is the Magic Core Set 2015 "Deck Builder's Toolkit" Different From Other Core Set Offerings With Respect To Cards?

texts:
I'm getting ready to invest in the 2015 MTG Core Set and I'm confused by some of the offerings.  What is the difference between:

Magic: the Gathering - 2015 Core Set Deck Builder's Toolkit
Magic: the Gathering - 2015 Core Set / M15 - Sealed Fat Pack (9 Booster Packs & More)

The sealed fat pack seems to have other accessories like deck boxes (which I'm not really interested in).  I'm mainly just curious about the cards themselves.

Does the toolkit have inferior cards compared to the fat pack? If I were to compete with just cards from the deck builder's toolkit, would I be at a horrible disadvantage?


texts: What happens when I summon "Gameciel the Sea Turtle Kaiju" to my opponent's field by tributing their "Prank-Kids Battle Butler"?

texts:
As many people are aware of, the removal of monsters by tributing them for Kaiju monsters, or "Kaijuing", is a relatively common way of dealing with threatening monsters that are hard to get rid of.

In this situation, Battle Butler has a relatively unique floating effect, however. A line in Prank-Kids Battle Butler's effect reads:

  If this card in your possession is sent to your GY by your opponent's card: You can target 1 non-Fusion Monster in your GY; Special Summon it.

This line is odd, because instead of saying battle or card effect, it just says "card".

When I tribute a Battle Butler to summon Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju (or any other Kaiju), does it's floating effect activate? It has been tributed by a card in my hand, but now that it's summoned to the opponent's field, it's "their card".


texts: Do you LOSE points for uncompleted destination tickets in Ticket to Ride Japan?

texts: In the base game the instructions specifically say you lose points for uncompleted destination tickets. But the Japan instructions say "The game then ends and players calculate their final scores adding points for their Destination Cards and the Bullet Train Bonus described as follows." See the last sentence of the first column on page 3 here. It does not say you lose points. It seems arbitrary to change the rule, but that's what it says. Maybe it's a typo/oversight? Which understanding is correct?


texts: Is there a method that gets beneficial diminishing returns when adding more dice, yet stays random?

texts:
Short Story: I want to find a dice system where multiple dice are rolled and compared at once, but rolling more dice is only slightly more effective than rolling fewer dice, while still being fairly chaotic no matter how many dice are rolled.

Long Story:
I'm designing a game that involves assigning dice to various cards for bonus stats to those cards.  Cards fight, victor wins, etc.
The formula right now involves starting at 5d6, getting a die each time you are hit, up to 10d6.
Problem is, it's hard to balance a card around an expectation of having both one die (a 3.5 average) and 10 dice (35 average).    Set an average expectation of "10 points", and now the person with 5 dice is only effective with 1 card, while the person with 10 dice is effective with 3.
We ended up with an issue where it mostly became about dice-trading, where the victor was almost always the one with more dice, as well as the dice mattering more than the card itself.  The cards ended up feeling like "placeholders" for stacking dice on rather than strategic choices to invest in.
What we really want is to have the system reward assigning dice to multiple things on the board, so that the game becomes more chaotic and stressful the later into the game it gets, not more predictable or even necessarily much easier for the player with more dice.
We've looked at rolling all the dice you would for a card, keeping your highest roll. The good thing about it was that it was relatively balanced, but it was far too predictable.
We've looked at exploding dice + keeping high, where you keep the highest value + any dice that match it.  It was chaotic, but it basically ended up being an excessive "crit" system that we didn't like and wasn't easy to balance.
In case it helps, dice are colored differently for each player.

Does anyone know of a dice resolution system that can do this?
(EDIT) This is the RPG.SE question that turns the resolution method that solved this question (Roll high, add +1 for each match of that die) into an Anydice formula that can be reviewed.


texts: Most important elements of easy-to-learn hard-to-master?

texts:
I'm researching the logic necessary for an internally-consistent rule system that is easy to learn, but has enough complexity/subtleties that it keeps someone coming back and striving towards mastery.

In my case, I'm creating a video game magic system, but the core elements of game logic/rulemaking are much more applicable to a card game creator.

Question: Other than a crapload of playtesting, what logical/rulemaking elements should always/almost always exist in an internally-balanced game such that there are few barriers to entry, but many barriers to full mastery?


texts:
I was looking through the Black Legends with thoughts of building a mono-black EDH deck, when I came across Phage the Untouchable. Am I right in assuming that if she is cast from the command zone, you lose the game? (As the command zone is not considered your hand.) Is there any way to get her from the command zone into your hard or graveyard so you could cast her without losing the game?

The only one I can come up with is having a Platinum Angel in play, so you don't lose the game when you cast her.


texts: How much would the cards from Dominion: Alchemy cost if you wanted to use them while not playing with potions?

texts:
I've been looking at the cards from Dominion: Alchemy and want to use some of them in my own games through proxying of the blank cards. However, I don't feel like delving into the whole potion thing, especially since it would be annoying to have to proxy at least 4 different cards (the potion and 3 kingdom cards to get the recommended amount of 3-5). So I figured I'd just give them costs in $ only and not potions. Another application of this might be playing with the alchemy cards if for some reason you didn't want to use potion as well.

However, I'm not exactly sure what costs to use. A potion is roughly equivalent to a silver, but that seems like an oversimplification. One of the interesting things about alchemy is that you have to buy the potions in order to access these cards and balance them with your other currency. This scarcity makes me lean more toward counting a potion to add +3$ to the cost.

Does this seem about right? If not, could someone perhaps provide a case by case basis for the 9 cards this would pertain to (since Alchemist in a potion-less game would be rather odd I'm not planning on including it)?


texts: does gaining control of an aura gaining control of a permanent give me the permanent?

texts:
If my opponent steals a creature from me with Control Magic, I could steal it back by casting another Control Magic on it and (I think due to timing?) I would control the creature.

If instead I cast Steal Enchantment on the Control Magic, does the "You" become "me," and would I now control the creature?


texts: Gloomhaven - are monster abilities in effect prior to their turn

texts: If a player with the lowest initiative attacks a monster, is that monster’s shield or retaliate in effect yet?


texts: Can you replace a Joker with a bonus joker?

texts:
If I have 3,4,J, can I replace the Joker with a Double Joker?
If I have 3red, 3blue, Double Joker, can I replace it with a regular joker?

I understand the rules to say:

you cannot replace a Joker with a Joker.

You must replace it with the tile it represents to clear it.  Is that true?  My friend says you can take a group of three tiles, one of them being a Joker and simply add another Joker to the other end to clear the other Joker... Who is correct?


texts: If I search for a Miracle and put it in my hand, can I cast it for its Miracle cost?

texts: Lets say I use Mystical Teachings to grab Thunderous Wrath out of my library during my upkeep and put it in my hand.  Can I then cast Thunderous Wrath for its Miracle cost?


texts:
The now-defunct magazine The Games Journal has this to say about the Library building in San Juan:

  Simply put, this card is too powerful, even in a four-player game. Even with a cost of 5, you should devote all your energies to building it the moment you draw one. Although it is (usually) not that useful when choosing Producer or Trader, the fact that it gives a 2-card advantage when choosing Builder or Prospector means that the other players must altering their actions to counter this advantage, much moreso than with any other card. In fact, the best way to address this, is to build your own Library but this requires that you actually draw one. Ultimately, this means that there's a great deal of luck in whether you draw one of them or not.

Is the library really this strong? You give up six cards to get the Library (the Library card itself plus the five other cards it costs to build it). If it gets you one extra card every turn, as you choose prospector or builder, it seems to me that it's generally going to take much of the rest of the game to pay for itself. I think that's not so different from other cards. For example, the Carpenter and Quarry cost three and four respectively and both give you one more card every time you build a violet building (in slightly different ways, much as the Library gives you one extra card in slightly different ways as Prospecter/Builder). Is the Library going to pay for itself so much more handsomely than those cards (or many other cards)?

For reference the rules are available here.


texts: In a multiplayer game, if a player is controlling another player's turn, may they reveal that player's hand?

texts:
With cards like Mindslaver and Emrakul, the Promised End, a player can take control of another player's turn. The controlling player can make most decisions for the controlled player, but they may not, for example, concede the game for that player, or look at their sideboard. Mindslaver's Gatherer rulings even provide a very general explanation:

You can’t make any decisions that aren’t called for or allowed by the game rules, or by any cards, permanents, spells, abilities, and so on.

Now, since when controlling a player, you also gain access to their hidden information, such as their hand cards. In a two-player game, this usually means that until the end of the turn, one player has access to all hidden information in the game, since they see both their own as well as their opponent's information - in a multiplayer game, however, there will be other players not permitted to see this information.
All the Comprehensive Rules have to say about it seems to be:

402.3. A player may (...) look at [his or her hand] as much as he or she wishes. A player can’t look at the cards in another player’s hand but may count those cards at any time.

The Tournament Rules elaborate on a player being allowed to reveal hidden information available to them:

3.12 Hidden Information
(...) players may choose to reveal their hands or any other hidden information available to them, unless specifically prohibited by the rules. (...)

This is a dilemma, because even if the above-quoted Gatherer ruling prevented the controlling player to decide that the the controlled player reveals their hand, the controlling player themself has access to this hidden information, so they could always state exactly what was in that player's hand. The point of bluffing aside, this effectively is the same difference.
Now, the entire hidden information rule is part of the tournament rules, and while it's sensible to assume a player may just as well reveal their hand in a casual game, I do wonder if it's a difference in this example.
Questions

Is a player allowed to decide that the player they control reveals their hand?
In case they aren't, are they allowed to share the knowledge they themselves gained, therefore achieving about the same?
May the controlled player still decide to reveal their hidden information?

All of those questions would be interesting to hear about whether it makes a difference if played in a casual environment vs. in a sanctioned event, or in other words, whether the applicability of the Tournament Rules changes things (knowing that there aren't any actual multiplayer formats with more than two teams.
Concerns
These aren't really part of the question, but may help understand why I think it's a relevant question.
If the answer to either 1 or 2 is yes, that would make an effect like this surprisingly strong in multiplayer games, seeing as you're not only getting the already strong effect of taking over someone's turn, but you're also gaining a lot of diplomatic power from revealing certain cards, or not doing so.
Furthermore, if the answer to 1 is no, but to 2 is yes, this means a player may rightfully state that they're not allowed to reveal the cards, but could state what they can do. Since it's not forbidden to misrepresent hidden information, they could effectively bluff that any given card is in that player's hand.
Both of these points aren't game-breaking on their own, but are promoting to decide games not by skill or the contained amount of randomness in Magic, but instead by skill of diplomacy, deceit or other traits that aren't suited for tournament matches, and could spoil casual or social matches just as well.


texts: When Exchanging Items Does It Have To Be a Trade?

texts: I tried to find the info on the wiki but it is difficult to find stuff there.  When heroes do their "Exchange" phase, does that means they have to trade items?  Or can a hero just give an item to another hero in their space?  Logic would dictate the latter in my opinion, but I don't believe the rules are explicit enough about that.


texts: As you can see, I am a noob in MTG. I have been looking at the top standard decks in order to catch up some guidelines about the deck distribution (quantity of lands, spells and creatures; rares, uncommons and commons; types; colors; repetition of the same card). What I have seen the top of these competitive decks don't have to much card's variety, like having most of the time 3 o 4 cards of the same kind. So the question is: in order to be competitive, is it better not to have a variety of cards or is it easier to build a strategy when you decide to focus only on certain cards?


texts: How can I efficiently filter MagicCards.info searches down to cards castable with only certain mana colours?

texts:
I've been constructing a green/white commander deck, and doing a lot of searches on MagicCards.info for its cards. To cut out all the cards I can't use, I've been using the search term c!gw to get just green and white cards. But I just realised that's a terrible way to search — it filters out all the off-colour hybrid mana cards!

For example, a search of c!gw o:"enchant land" o:"mana pool" yields a lot of green/white land ramping enchantments. But it excludes Trace of Abundance, which costs {R/W}{G}, making it red and excluded from the search, despite being perfectly castable with just green and white mana and exactly the kind of card I want.

Using a more inclusive filter of c:gw would also include lots of three-colour cards which I cannot cast.

How can I filter a MagicCards.info search down to only those cards I can cast with particular mana colours? If my mana pool is exclusively green and white, is there a filter that will include cards I can cast with those colours, even if they're off-colour cards like Figure of Destiny and Trace of Abundance?

(Colourless cards can be included or left out. They are simple enough to search for separately with c:c, or exclude from the search with -c:c.)

(Also, it's been pointed out to me my group's been accidentally playing without the color identity rule. Doesn't matter! Still good. Question ahoy!)


texts: Can multiple Thorncaster Slivers grant multiple copies of the same ability?

texts:
If I have two Thorncaster Slivers, does their effect stack? That is, do the other slivers I have get the "1 damage" ability twice?

If not, why? What rule makes it so they can't have the ability twice?  If I had a different card with same ability would they get it twice? What if the different card had a slightly different wording? Or caused 2 damage instead of 1?

In what situations would a creature be allowed to have two copies of the same ability (if ever)?


texts: If no cards in discard pile, when playing swashbuckler but have 4 coffers, are you allowed to take the treasure chest?

texts: When playing the swashbuckler, if my discard pile has no cards in it, but I have at least 4 coffer tokens, can I take the treasure chest? (not sure if that only applies to the taking an additional coffer or to everything following.)


texts: The card says something like "paying install cost" (Hayley Kaplan, Shipment from MirrorMorpt). Is the click a part of install cost?


texts: Can I save my Bristling Hydra by responding to removal with something that gives me energy?

texts: If I attack with Bristling Hydra and my opponent plays Vraska's Contempt to exile it, can I play Harnessed Lightning to get 3 energy to give my hydra hexproof?


texts: When claiming victory in 011, can one select a character other than the Chosen One or Fenrir?

texts:
According to the rules, for a normal Heroic victory:

  ...you must move the Chosen One (by the normal movement methods) to
  the building where the Organ of Eternity is located...

However, the rules later state that one can select any character when one claims victory:

  A player who declares victory can choose to move any character,
  even one already used by another player during that Hour, or
  which is blocked by an event of ability.

The rules for claiming a Fenrir victory are similar, except one has to move the Fenrir character to the Chosen One; the "any character" provision applies to both a heroic victory and a Fenrir victory exactly as worded.

Now, moving the Chosen One (or Fenrir) by the normal movement rules implies that that character is the one selected since normally one can only move the selected character, and it stands to reason that the right to choose any character is just to prevent the Chosen One/Fenrir from ever becoming unavailable and thus making victory impossible for that Hour.

However, it's unclear whether either of the following scenarios would be valid:

Claiming a Fenrir victory, selecting the Chosen One, and moving him or her to Fenrir rather than vice-versa.
Claiming a victory, moving an unrelated character to the victory location, then using the "swap 2 characters" tile on the Chosen One/Fenrir.

The first scenario doesn't involve Fenrir moving at all, so it doesn't seem to count as "moving Fenrir to the location of the Chosen One" by a literal interpretation of the rules.  The second scenario could count if one considers that the Chosen One/Fenrir "moves" when the swap action is played on him/her.

Of course, I may just be overthinking this.

Are these legal plays?


texts: What board game was found in this Viking tomb?

texts:
I was reading an article on the first genetic proof of female viking warriors, which mentions the inclusion of a game in the tomb:

  Furthermore, a full set of gaming pieces indicates knowledge of tactics and strategy, stressing the buried individual's role as a high-ranking officer.  SOURCE: A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics | American Journal of Physical Anthropology

The image in the paper is too small for me to make out much detail.  A good assumption would be it is a hnefatafl game, but wondering if anyone has more info or a confirmation.

See also: Tafl games


texts: Insufficient resources for full resupply

texts: At the end of Bureaucracy, what happens if there are not enough available resources to fully resupply a given type? For example, assume the game dictates resupplying 5 Coal but only 3 are available from “the bank” because one player has 2 stored on a plant.


texts: Is "create a token" the same as "put a token onto the battlefield" in Kaladesh?

texts:
I'm looking at the new Kaladesh set, and there's the word "create", as in:

  Create two 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature tokens. (from Servo Exhibition)

Does that mean the same thing as:

  Put two 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature tokens onto the battlefield.

or is there some subtle difference I'm missing?

(The fact that the Oracle Text for Raise the Alarm now uses "create" tells me that it probably means the same thing, but I'm not sure.)


texts: How does the double strike mechanic interact with other mechanics like lifelink or trample?

texts:
I understand that the double strike mechanic allows a creature to attack in both a first strike combat damage step and a normal combat damage step.

It's clear that when a creature with no other abilities aside from double strike is blocked that even if the defender has lethal damage marked in the first strike step that the additional damage does not carry forward to the player.

How does this view of double strike change with relation to trample and lifelink?

I believe the correct interpretations are (not accounting for other effects or abilities) that 2 times the attacker's power is marked as damage on the defender.  For trample this amount is reduced by the defender's toughness and additional damage carries forward as normal.  Similarly for lifelink the active player gains life equal to 2 times the attacker's power.

Thus a 10/10 trampling double striking life linker blocked by a 1/1 creature would deal 19 points of trample damage and the active player would gain 20 life.

Is this interpretation correct?


texts: List of blue counterspells that can be played for free?

texts: I looked around on the internet for a list of blue counterspells in Magic: the Gathering that can be played for no mana. (Alternative costs or a mana cost later is fine.) Does anyone have a list or know where to find a list?


texts: Does Travelin' Farmer deal damage when owner replaces him?

texts:
In "Adventure time Card Wars Finn vs Jake" there is a Travelin' Farmer creature with description:

When Travelin' Farmer leaves play, deal 1 Damage to your opponent for each card in his hand.

Can player replace the creature to trigger this ability and deal damage to opponent?


texts: Recently the Icehouse game system has caught my eye.  I've looked through a ton of rules on the Icehouse Wiki but haven't found any really engaging game for two players.  What well designed Icehouse games are available for two people? The amount of stashes is not really and issue for me.  I'm looking for games that flow well, are not too complex, and are enjoyable for two players.


texts: Does attacking zero strength units (eg. routed units, siege engines) require a full combat resolution?

texts:
Say I march into a territory that has either some routed units, or a siege engine (both having zero combat strength).

Does this start a full combat resolution- ie calling for support, playing house cards, or are the units instantly destroyed without combat?

It seems very plausible that if a combat round is necessary, the routed/siege units could still win the battle with support and house cards.


texts:
I play bridge casually and mostly have learned from other players (and occasionally from online resources). While playing recently another player suggested that I was counting my hand's points incorrectly and the justification was something I've never heard before.

The hand I was holding had 13 high-card points and a doubleton consisting of QJ. After my hand was revealed (I was dummy) we discussed the point-count of my hand and one player suggested that I should have only counted it as 11 points because the 1 point for the doubleton replaced the three points for the honors in that suit.

Is this a common point-counting technique and, if so, what is it's utility?


texts: Will a Havengul Vampire get its +1/+1 counter for killing a creature and prevent it from dying?

texts:
Suppose my opponent has a Havengul Vampire, and I have a Young Wolf which has a +1/+1 counter on it so it is 2/2.

What happens if they deal damage to each other, for example during combat? Will the vampire die or not? I think that the vampire will die since at the time he would receive the +1/+1 counter for killing the wolf he is already in the graveyard. Is that right?


texts: Can an interrupting settlement allow opponents to move previously unmovable ships?

texts:
Take a look at the following setup:

Given this board state, can blue move any of his ships? He was previously unable to, then white built the circled settlement, breaking blue's trade route.

The rules in seafarers say that a ship can be moved only if it doesn't connect two cities and it is not in the middle of a line of ships. Since a settlement interrupts a longest road, does it also count as breaking the above sea route into two disjoint lines of ships?

(NB Blue's settlement on the right was an original, the blue settlement on the left was placed after being reached with the shown sea route.)


texts:
Is there a good Euchre bidding strategy guide?

I like the game, but find my bidding to be very hit or miss. And I've been unable to find a strategy guide for Euchre bidding patterns.

Either a good strategy or a link to a good preextant guide would answer my question.


texts: Indomitable Creativity + Sacrifice Outlet

texts:
Indomitable Creativity says:

  Destroy X target artifacts and/or creatures. For each permanent destroyed this way, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until an artifact or creature card is revealed and exiles that card. Those players put the exiled cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle their libraries.

Let's say I have Commander's Sphere on the battlefield, which says:

  {T}: Add one mana of any color in your commander's color identity.

  Sacrifice Commander's Sphere: Draw a card.

I cast Indomitable Creativity and target, among other things, my own Commander's Sphere. While Indomitable Creativity is still on the stack, can I sacrifice Commander's Sphere to get the card draw trigger and still get the positive benefit of Indomitable Creativity? I'm assuming not because it says "...destroyed this way...", but I wanted to make certain.


texts:
The rules say  "When the treasure is split, a Geologist gets as many Gold Pieces as there are crystals visible in the maze of tunnels."

I find this ambiguous. How should I interpret this?

Is it that:

"visible" means "visible to the people playing the game", that is, any crystal card that was played but not rock slid? OR
"visible" means "visible to the miners", that is, if there is no connection between a ladder and a crystal, it is not counted?


texts: Can you activate the abilities of a creature once its been destroyed?

texts: My question is about Zacama, Primal Calamity or any creatures with abilities that are activated using mana. If such a creature is destroyed, can you activate its abilities as an instant after it's been destroyed.


texts: Is it okay to have a multi-language deck?

texts: I want to buy a few booster pack from a local shop that only gets them in French. Is it generally acceptable to show up to a tournament with cards in different languages?


texts: Does anyone know of a place that compiles extra story cards for Firefly: The Board Game? I'm aware of the 'First Time in the Captain's Chair' official one, but I'd like to try some others too.


texts: Do spells that change power/toughness of all creatures until end of turn affect creatures played afterwards?

texts: If I play Overrun or Infest, THEN play a creature after the prior spell resolves, is that creature affected? I assume so, but is this ever not true?


texts: When should a player decide to fold in Texas Hold'em Poker?

texts:
In Texas Hold'em poker, when it is a player's turn, he tries to make a best hand out of his hole cards (private cards) and the communal cards.

Now my question is: On what factors does he decide to add more chips and play for the next round or fold?


texts: What games have plan-moves-in-advance mechanics like Robo Rally?

texts: I'm looking for games with pieces on a board that move and interact according to actions taken previously in the game. In Robo Rally you give your piece instructions in advance. I recall a similar game where you alter parts of the board before your piece reaches them. Any other games with similar mechanics to these would be welcome answers here.


texts: Gloomhaven: road events and scenario reset

texts: When you encounter a road event, it could cause your party to take damage. When you die in a scenario according to the rulebook you can retry it at full health, without doing another road event. Unless I miss understood, wouldn't it make more sense resetting the party health at the value after the road event? Feels like I can just exploit this rule and avoid the effects of the road event by dying intentionally in the encounter.


texts: How to store and organize cards for Magic the Gathering?

texts:
I know there exist people who collect more than play, but I want to know how people organize cards who frequently build new decks and therefore want to be able to find cards quickly.

After a few months of playing my family is already spending a considerable amount of timing organizing cards so we can quickly find cards.

In our specific case: We store cards (not in our 12-13 decks) in a shoe box, sorted into about 25 sections: Red creatures, Red Sorceries, Red Instants, Red Enchantment Creatures, and so on, with a few extra sections for creature collections like slivers, beasts, or minotaurs. Sections are divided by color-labeled index cards cut to poke up a bit. Within larger sections we sort by mana cost with identical cards clustered.

While this is working for our 2000-3000 card collection, I'm not sure it will scale.

What solutions have evolved to meet the needs of magic players at various numbers of cards? A good answer will divide into sections of < 1000 cards, 1000-5000 cards, 5000-10000 cards, etc. or whatever numbers are appropriate for common card storage techniques.


texts: Fluxx - When should I carry out actions / use keepers?

texts:
At the start of a turn before drawing cards? Or at the end?

(Zombie Fluxx in this case, but common to all variants of Fluxx I think?)


texts: Are effects from attacks mandatory or optional?

texts:
Very new Pokémon tcg player (father trying to learn the rules here).

I wonder if the effects of an attack are mandatory or optional. Like I have a Alolan Sandslash whose Smash Turn attack  (requires 3 energies, deals 50 points) says to switch with a benched Pokémon afterward. This can be: very annoying if I am forced to switch with a base or otherwise weak Pokémon or it can be helpful if by switching I remove some condition or it can be impossible if I don't have benched Pokémon.

So, is it mandatory or optional? What if it is impossible to fulfil, can I attack nonetheless?


texts: How many times can you pillage the same province in Blood Rage?

texts:
In Blood Rage, one of the Clan upgrade cards from the second age is Tyr's Challenge, which states, "As your action, you may pay 2 rage to "repillage" an already pillaged province."
In a recent game experience, a player repeatedly used that card in the center Yggdrasil province, which offers 3 stat increases on a success.  My question is, how many times can a player "repillage" a province?


texts: How does Humility affect creatures with an Echo cost?

texts: If I cast a card with Echo and Humility is in play do I still have to pay the echo cost?


texts: Can Haphazard Bombardment destroy something with two aim counters?

texts:
Haphazard Bombardment says:

When Haphazard Bombardment enters the battlefield, choose four nonenchantment permanents you don't control and put an aim counter on each of them.
At the beginning of your end step, if two or more permanents you don't control have an aim counter on them, destroy one of those permanents at random.

Note the last line says "have an aim counter". It doesn't say "have at least one aim counter".
Does this mean that if a target somehow gains two aim counters (e.g. via proliferate, or because the creature gained more aim counters from Hankyu), it cannot be destroyed by Haphazard Bombardment?


texts: Is Dimir's milling strategy viable in Gatecrash sealed deck? If not, what can they do instead?

texts:
The situation is similar to wesdfgfgd's question MTG Gatecrash Simic Strategies for a Prerelease event

I'm a habitual Dimir player.  In Gatecrash, many Dimir cards are strongly themed towards their millstone strategy or generating card advantage.

In sealed deck, and to a large extent in draft, millstone wins seem hard to pull off.  Many of the capstone cards for this approach are rare, so I probably won't have them.  (Milling is hard in general, and the format makes this kind of one-method-to-win focus inherently unreliable.  To win on turn ten, I'd have to average milling 2.3 cards per turn - while defending myself.)

While many Dimir creatures are rather nice for reasons of evasion or card advantage, I'll hardly win with a direct creature approach against Boros or Gruul.

Looking through the non-rare spells with Cipher, most are two or 4-drops, with a few areas of effect.  Most either generate card advantage (Last Thoughts) or fend for time (Hands of Binding, Voidwalk).  With 18 uncommons I can hardly count on getting enough Call of the Nightwing to token flood the ciphers through, and that's the most aggressive card.  (I don't feel Shadow Slice compares particularly well to a 5-drop creature in a sealed deck format.)

So, can the basic milling approach be made to work?  And if not, where should I be going for the win?  (And which splash colours would help me achieve it?  That decision depends on my draws, obviously, but of the obvious white-splash Orzhov or green-splash Simic, what would you recommend?)

(EDIT: This question originally referred to the Gatecrash prerelease, but has been edited to be less time-dependant.  The focus is primarily on sealed, but most answers are probably just as relevant to draft format; answers discussing the differences are particularly welcome.)


texts: Is it allowed to win a game of cribbage with the single point from a "go"?

texts: When playing cribbage and you're at a score of 120, can you then win the game by playing the last card and getting 1 point for the "go"? I've seen people play where you're not allowed to win via the "go", but my personal feeling is that's not correct.


texts: Can Charon move the opponent whatever the height?

texts:
Charon allows you to move an adjacent opponent to the space directly opposed (using your builder as mirror point), before moving.

While playing Charon :

Can I move the opponent accross different heights ? (for example, he's on a height2 space, I move him to the ground - It's a legit move usually)
Can I move the opponent on a space he should not be able to move directly from the space he's in ? (from ground to height2 for example - not a legit move usually)


texts: How vital is it to trash Estates in the early rounds of a Dominion game, given that there is an action card available to trash Estates?


texts: Can I summon Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon in response to The Monarchs Stormforth?

texts:
Player A activates The Monarchs Stormforth, tribute summons a monster from hand by tributing 1 monster on player B's field and sends it to the graveyard.

Player B has Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon in hand, can he special summon it in response?


texts: If a card were to have every keyword created, what would the order of them be?

texts:
I've looked around and haven't been able to find a complete answer so I'll ask in case anyone has an answer or can point me to one.

I know the order isn't alphabetical, the keywords usually appear in a specific order. Take Akroma and Sphinx of the Steel Wind for example, which puts the keyword order as:

flying, first strike, vigilance, trample, haste, and protection for Akroma

and

flying, first strike, vigilance, lifelink, and protection for the Sphinx.

As with both, it goes flying, first strike vigilance, then some other evergreen keywords, then ends with protection. So is there any distinct order that WotC follows for these?


texts:
A player told me that attacking a planeswalker with a creature with lifelink doesn't provide lifegain. It sounds strange to me since damage are dealt by the creature (whatever to who, what).

This player was a judge but since he was also my oponent, I query about this point of rule...


texts: Why can an ability resolve even if I exiled the creature it came from?

texts:
I just started learning magic a week ago and I've been playing duels of the planeswalkers 2014 to kind of get a hang of things.

I'm confused with something that has happened twice now. I'm playing against a campaign deck with a Goblin Fireslinger which has an activated ability that says:

  {T}: Goblin Fireslinger deals 1 damage to target player.

So this gets cast while I have the instant Path to Exile in my hand, which "Exile(s) target creature." So I cast that.

Now it is my understanding with the way the stack works that once the GF uses its ability and then I follow it up with the Exile, the exile is resolved first so the GF should be exiled before it can resolve. And that's what the game does, but it still resolves the GF's ability while that card is exiled and deals me one damage.

I tried looking for why this could have happened, but I haven't been able to find an answer myself. I can't find anything that says an exiled spell still casts... I'm just confused about the way this works.


texts: Picking up opportunity card on exiting career path

texts:
I recently bought a board game called Careers for a themed party. It looks a lot of fun, I am just reading the rules but cannot work out something.

On exiting a career path you are allowed to take a number of experience cards up to 3, based on the number of times you have been through the career that bit is quite clear. What it doesn't explain is that the same square you return to the main board is usually an opportunity square, which would allow you take a card that would move to another career almost immediately. Is that right?


texts: How can I efficiently build a deck from a box of random cards?

texts:
Recently I've become interested in playing Magic The Gathering. One of my friends, a long time player of the game, has offered me a large box with many random cards in it. He says I'm free to take whatever I like.

I know what colors I enjoy playing, so I've begun digging through hundreds of cards and keeping aside the cards that seem good to me. I'm a real beginner, and although I know how to play, it's hard for me to know which cards are good and which are bad. Some of the good cards hide their strength in subtle ways to use those cards; it's not always blatantly obvious how strong a card really is (to a beginner like me).

After taking something like 120 cards from the box in the colors I liked, I set out to make a deck from it. But it dawned on my I actually have no clue how to build a deck with completely random cards. I know a deck needs to be at least 60 cards, and you are not allowed to have more than half your deck in Land cards.

I know the very basics of deckbuilding, but usually you start with cards from the same series that are already having some kind of synergy. How can I efficiently build a deck from a box of completely random cards, spanning series from as old as 1994 to recent modern cards of 2015 and 2016?

This question is prone to receive a lot of subjective answers, so I'm looking for an answer that is complete, is written from experience rather than opinion and backs up opinion with facts or references.

What I have done so far, and I feel is inefficient:

Build a stack of 'cards that I like'

This part is the most time consuming, as I don't recognize any of the cards and I need to read what the card does, then understand if it fits my style of play. The only 'quick filter' I had was looking only at cards that matched my desired colors. How do I speed up the process of finding cards that fit my play style from a box of random cards?

Lay out the collected cards

Then I placed the cards in front of me on a table, grouped by mana curve and separated by creature cards and spells. This resulted in two rows per color, each column increasing the converted mana cost. To speed up this process, I first split my stack into new stacks per color. Then, one color at a time, I built up the rows and columns.

Apply deckbuilding basics

Now that I have a good idea of the cards I collected, I can pick the right mix of creatures and spells with a good mana cost distribution. This is the fun part of deckbuilding, and also the part I don't feel I need help with. It's also highly subjective.

I'm looking for answers that can make the first two steps more efficient and less time-consuming. In total I've spent a good 2 hours on the above and I feel I've only scraped the surface of the box 'o cards' potential...


texts: If British and American spellings of a word differ, which one should I prefer when playing Scrabble?

texts:
I have looked for some words in Scrabblewordfinder and Collins Dictionary. I found that in every pair like metre–meter, colour–color, defence–defense and so on, both words in each pair are usually considered legal and acceptable. So, according to both dictionaries, one can play either METRE or METER etc.

However, if a player on each his/her turn just always chooses randomly between BrE and AmE spelling, it is pretty weird. At least for me. It shows that the player is very inconsistent.

So my question is: if I am playing a game of Scrabble in English (but I am not an Englishman or an American, and I am not playing in United Kingdom or United States), which spelling should I prefer, British or American? Are there any common preferences or traditions? Thanks.


texts: A player to skip combat phase in Two-Headed Giant

texts:
What happens if a particular player is said to skip his/her combat phase in a Two-Headed Giant game (for instance, if someone had cast Moment of Silence)?

Is the whole team unable to attack, or is only that particular player unable to?


texts: Prismatic Piper card availability in Commander Draft

texts:
I've been planning to organize a Commander Legends draft with a few people at work. I've been looking into just how the drafting works with this format (it has a few oddities to account for the commander format, after all) and I have a few pracical conserns over The Prismatic Piper.
The sources I've been looking at indicate that you have the same level of access to the Piper as to Basic Lands. However, it doesn't seem that they're as readily available, but rather come in the draft packs same as any other card. Be that, at a special rarity, averaging about 6 per pack, replacing a common (as far as I've gathered).
Lets say I organize an 8 player draft and bring a booster box and a land station.
What happens, is someone needs a Prismatic Piper?
Do they just grab one from another players draft pool?
I get that it's propably just draft chaff, bit just feels... wrong.
A Card Game Base guide suggest that people wouldn't need to pick these cards, but they still seem to be part of the 20 draftable cards?

The Prismatic Piper appears roughly in one per six packs. So that means you’ll usually get around 6 of them in one booster box. This should be enough for everyone, since you don’t need to actually spend picks on them. However, if you’ll need more you can just use proxies during the draft.


texts:
We've just started to play the Village board game recently with friends and we're not sure about this rule in Council chamber action:

  You may perform the privilege action which is shown below either the current or a previous stage of you family member.

Does a previous stage mean only one previous stage or all previous stages? In example if I have a villager on the last stage with action "exchange 1 coin to 3 points", can I also choose to take a starting player ring located on the first action?


texts: Sea of Blood seems broken, what did we miss?

texts:
We started some time ago a Descent campaign on Sea of Blood, but ran across some heavy problems.

Currently we are stuck on a battle with a lieutenant of the evil lord on a sea chain siege, trying to stop it. The problems are:

Apparently the ship can't turn and can only go forward, with a bit of steering.
The rocks sink the ship oneshot, and are hardly avoidable right at the beginning on the battle map we got (Wild Vortex)
The lieutenant (Siren) can move freely 10 spaces in the water and go behind the ship.
Because of this the players are forced to swim ti go hit the siren, but they don't have Swim and the current is moving them in the opposite direction.
The cannon is also useless here because of distance and accuracy.

What could we do to tweak this? Did we miss some rules? Is the game supposed to be this hard?

Feel free to correct me and suggest anything related with SoB player/game master balance.


texts: Hive's freedom of movement rule - can you 'pass over' a gap that you can't go into?

texts:
Imagine the unpassable gap exists in both directions. Can a piece move over it?

I'll just illustrate my question with an example, can the ant move to the tiles marked yellow?


texts: Monopoly Deal: Fairest way of removing extra cards

texts:
It is not explicitly specified how the remaining card(s) should be removed before finishing your turn.
The obvious option is to put it at the bottom of the deck, but in this way a player can manipulate the odds (for instance, if a player needs a red property to win then he can throw to the bottom of the deck a property of that color).
So, is there a better option than putting the remaining cards at the bottom of the deck?


texts: In Bridge, How do I Differentiate Between My Partner's Signals on Defense?

texts: On defense, there are attitude, suit preference, and count signals. My guess is that the play to the first trick would represent an "attitude" signal for a suit. Beyond that, how do I differentiate between this, and one of the two other signals. Is it mainly the context of the play? Are some signals more useful in no trump hands, and others in defending suit contracts?


texts: Is there a naming convention for the various standard-formats as they existed throughout history?

texts: It's very typical to say "current standard". Right now that means Innistrad (with Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, and M13) and Return to Ravnica (with Gatecrash, Dragon's Maze, and soon to come M14). Years from now, when these long past rotated out of standard, how might I reference the name of this set "standard" play (or any other "previous current standard"? Is there a convention for it?


texts: If I have a net negative number of dice, how many clue tokens do I need to spend to attempt a roll?

texts:
Say that my investigator currently has their Sneak score at 1. If I am called upon to make a Sneak (–2) check, that's a net result of –1. If I want to be able to roll one die, how many clue tokens do I have to spend? I have heard it two ways:

You have to spend a clue token to counteract each negative. Thus in this case you would spend 2 clue tokens to roll a single die.
Negative dice doesn't make sense, so you consider it having zero dice. Thus in this case you would spend 1 clue token to roll a single die.

Which way is correct?


texts: Two Headed Giant - do I gain life when my teammate gains life?

texts:
I'm playing Two-Headed Giant. I have Ajani's Pridemate, which has "Whenever you gain life...".
My teammate plays a card, that makes him gain life. As we share our life total, my life is also updated. Do I get to activate Pridemate's ability, when my teammate plays the card?


texts: Should I forfeit an agenda when rezzing Archer via Priority Requisition?

texts: I've got an unrezzed Archer. I score a Priority Requisition and use it to rez Archer. Do I have to forfeit an agenda?


texts: Can I conduct an auction to sell my property?

texts: In Monopoly, I can sell an unimproved property (mortgaged or non-mortgaged) to another player at any agreed price. Instead of negotiating the price with individual players, can I just conduct an auction?


texts: In my monopoly game there is one chance card that reads "Advance to Illinois Avenue". It does not mention whether you collect money if you pass go. The rest of the cards that tell you to advance, specify whether or not you collect money. Do I get to collect on Illinois Avenue?


texts: Interaction between Time of Ice and Rescue

texts:
If I play Time of Ice and immediately tap down creature A, then next turn tap down creature B, then play Rescue and replay Time of Ice to tap down creature C. On my opponent's turn after that, do creatures A and B stay tapped, since I still control Time of Ice, or do they untap since I stopped controlling that instance of time of ice after it went back to my hand briefly?

Below is the rules text for Time of Ice:

  (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)

  I, II — Tap target creature an opponent controls. It doesn't untap
  during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Time of
  Ice.

  III — Return all tapped creatures to their owners' hands.


texts: Mystery at Stargazer's Manor: Doable with only 2 players?

texts:
My SO got me Escape the Room: Mystery at Stargazer's Manor with the intent we could do it together but didn't see the game was labeled for 3+.

Without spoilers, was wondering if anyone who played this thinks it could be done with 2 players or if I should follow the box advice for maximum fun.

From light reading (again avoiding spoilers), I expect this is a one shot, so am seeking advice rather than trying and seeing=)


texts: Deep Space cannons: how many times can they shoot?

texts:
In Twilight Imperium 3rd ed you may get a technology advance that lets your PDS fire to a system adjacent to the one that contains them: The Deep Space Cannons.

The rules of firing in their same system stand but there is one extra scenario not described in the rules:

If the enemy is at distance 2 and moves to an adjacent system, passing through an adjacent system  will the PDS fire once or twice? (Meaning, will they fire once the enemy enters the first adjacent system and once more once the enemy reaches the destination adjacent system?)

Of course, what if the enemy is moving to the system that contains the PDS, would they shoot twice?


texts: What happens when I successfully attack a player's home stronghold?

texts:
Each player has a home stronghold, which has a bonus token, which adds combat strength.

The question is - if I attack it and successfully take the territory - what happens? - Is the token discarded? What happens if that player retakes the territory?


texts:
Is it possible to assign damage to a single blocking creature that is less than the attacking creature's power? If so, it is possible to assign less than lethal damage?

Suppose I attack with a big 20/20 creature, and my opponent blocks with Saber Ants (Whenever Saber Ants is dealt damage, you may put that many 1/1 green Insect creature tokens onto the battlefield). I don't want to give him 20 tokens, so can I just assign 3 damage and not the rest? Maybe I want to keep his Ants alive for some reason - can I assign less than lethal damage?


texts:
Diplomacy question about resolving a difficult order set:

French Fleet in Tyrrhenian Sea move to Ionian Sea
French Fleet in Tunis support Tyrrhenian Sea moving to Ionian Sea
Ottoman Fleet in Aegan Sea move to Ionian Sea
Ottoman Fleet in Eastern Mediterranean Sea support Aegan Sea moving to Ionian Sea
Ottoman Fleet in Ionian Sea move to Adriatic Sea

Ottoman Fleet in Ionian Sea fails to move to Adriatic Sea due to a non important reason.

What happens?

Ionian Sea is attacked by French and Ottoman, both with a force of 2. If there was no unit, it would be a standoff.

But Ionian Sea is already occupied by an Ottoman Fleet which failed its movement, making the region defended only by one.

The Ottoman player can't dislodge its own fleet with its force 2 attack.

Does the French player, with its own force 2 attack, can?


texts: Repeatedly targeting one creature with the same "target creature gains..." effect

texts:
Main question
Is it legal to target the same creature with the same effect that would give it an ability over and over again?

Context
In my case, I run Broken Fall in my Omnath enchanter commander deck, and with some Enchantress's Presence effects on the field I like to return it to my hand by regenerating Omnath, then re-casting it to draw one or more cards over and over again. Is this a legal strategy?