texts:
Out of all the Forbidden (banned) cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!, the one that confuses me the most is Pot of Greed. The card effect is simple:

  Draw 2 cards.

I don't see why this is so game-breaking that it has to be banned. You just get cards. What's the big deal? Heck, the anime uses it all the time (especially Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, where Jaden and/or his opponents use it in nearly every episode), and it doesn't seem to cause problems there.

Most of the cards on the Forbidden list are clearly there because playing them makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for your opponent to win. The rest of them seem to be there because there is a loophole in the rules that creates an unintentionally powerful effect. But neither of those seem to apply to Pot of Greed. You won't necessarily win by just drawing two cards, and there aren't any loopholes.

Unfortunately, the Internet has been less than helpful. I just seem to get forums where people say that it's an incredibly broken card, but don't explain why.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe having three of them in an Exodia deck makes it too easy to win before your opponent can do anything. But even then, I don't see why it must be banned instead of limited to 1 or 2 copies.

So could someone please explain to a casual Yu-Gi-Oh! player why this card is banned?


texts: What happens if the text of Hardened Scales is changed from "if one or more" to "if zero or more"?

texts:
The card More or Less, from Unstable, has the text:

  Add or subtract 1 or one from a number or number word on target spell or permanent until end of turn.

Suppose I use More or Less targeting Hardened Scales, which has the text:

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

I choose the number word "one" in the condition of the replacement effect to change the text from "if one or more" to "if zero or more".

When will this replacement effect apply? I know that when 0 damage would be dealt, the game treats that as no damage being dealt. But are there any rules that cover zero +1/+1 counters being placed? If not, conceivably I would put one +1/+1 on each creature I control each time a spell or ability doesn't put any +1/+1 counters on a creature I control. Is that really how it works?

And furthermore, if that's how it works, does the replacement effect only apply to spells and abilities, or are there other game objects that the replacement effect would apply to, so that I would need to put +1/+1 counters on my creatures at times I might not have expected?


texts: Pokémon energy cards with circled numbers

texts: I have these Grass type energy cards in my collection, they're from 2017, fairly new. But I have no idea why they're numbered. I can't even remember where I got them from. The numbers are on each card in a white and blue circle, not quite at the bottom, right corner.


texts: I've been playing Munchkin for about two years.  I just moved to a new city, and now that I'm away from my friends, I've realized that not many people know the game even exists and most have no interest whatsoever. How do I go about finding people to play with?


texts: Why do all Go board sizes have an odd number of lines? Why is a 19x19 board so much better than a 20x20 board?

texts:
Here are the number of games played on every different board sizes on DGS (Dragon Go Server):

| Size | CNT    |
+------+--------+
|    5 |   2464 |
|    6 |    466 |
|    7 |  11015 |
|    8 |    434 |
|    9 | 101230 |
|   10 |   1256 |
|   11 |   3166 |
|   12 |    716 |
|   13 |  65205 |
|   14 |    455 |
|   15 |   4656 |
|   16 |    315 |
|   17 |   1145 |
|   18 |     91 |
|   19 | 639319 |
|   20 |    293 |
|   21 |    371 |
|   22 |    104 |
|   23 |    265 |
|   24 |     79 |
|   25 |   3657 |

As you can see boards of odd size are much much more popular than boards of even size.

In total: 99.5% of games have been played on boards of odd size, while only 0.5% of games have been played on boards of even size.

There seems to be something severely wrong with boards of even size...

So my first question is: what is the problem with boards of even size?

I also wondered why 19x19 is the number one most popular size for Go boards...

Just like the accepted answer to this question says, the principal reason that the 19x19 board is considered to be the best is that:

  it is the largest board size on which there are more points on the sides (under the third line) than in the center (above the fourth line).

But I found that to be inaccurate! The board size with the best balance between territory (on the sides) and influence (in the center) is not 19x19, it's 20x20.

If Black puts all his stones on the third line, and White puts all his stone on the fourth line, then:

On a 19x19 board:

Under area scoring: Black has 192 points, White has 169 points.
Under territory scoring: Black has 136 points, White has 121 points.

On a 20x20 board:

Under area scoring: Black has 204 points, White has 196 points.
Under territory scoring: Black has 144 points, White has 144 points.

So my second question is: why not a 20x20 board?


texts: When and which board game was the first to be ever invented?

texts: Which board game is the first to be ever invented, when was it invented and where?


texts:
One of the keys to tournament performance in Magic is proper sideboarding. This seems to be a point of failure with many Magic players that want to move up from casual play and compete in tournaments such as Star City Games Open, Grand Prix, TCG Player MaxPoint Series, and even large Friday Night Magic tournaments.

The basic concept is easy: Take out cards that are bad and put in cards that are good. This basic advice relies on three important prerequisites:

You were able to correctly identify the metagame to determine which decks you would likely face
You were able to competently build a sideboard that fits with your deck
You correctly identified which cards to add and remove during sideboarding

Obviously, there is no canonical answer to the first point, but the second and third points should be able to be strategized in a general manner.

How do you approach the sideboarding conundrum?  Are there any shortcuts or rules of thumb that have served you well, or resources that you refer to? Do you build sideboards with different goals for the different archetypes you play such as aggro, control, midrange, or tempo?


texts: I've been playing Race for the Galaxy with a friend of mine for quite a while, and I've noticed the game seems to be going more and more in favor of a blitzkrieg strategy of conquering as many planets as possible as quickly as possible. Is there a valid produce/consume strategy to counteract this? It seems like it takes far longer to develop a good economy, and even at 2x VP the combat-oriented player still has the advantage of early gains made in prestige, granting them VP and a card every turn.


texts: In bridge, should East consider "overtaking" his partner's lead if able?

texts:
One example is if West leads a Q (top of a sequence) against a NT contract, and East plays K from Kx to unblock. If allowed to hold the trick, East would lead back the x.

My understanding is that bridge play is designed to protect certain vulnerable holdings, such as tenaces, in the declarer's hand from direct attack by the opening leader, West.

But if the tenace suit is led by East, its vulnerability will be fully exposed. Should East be on the lookout for potential vulnerable holdings in South, and overtake West's lead if an examination of his cards and dummy (and a review of the bidding) leads to a suspicion that South may have such a vulnerable holding?


texts: How do multiple power increases and reductions affect this creature?

texts:
So, I have on my board Chief of the Edge and Herald of Dromoka. My opponent plays Dovin Baan and uses his first ability on Herald of Dromoka.

What is the attack of the Herald now? Does it first go to 0 and then have +1 from the Chief or does it first gain the buff and then go to 0 from Dovin Baan?


texts: Is there a tool that will help me construct a list of games with a more specific game mechanic?

texts:
I would like to construct a list of games that have a particular mechanic, but with a twist. Dice rolling is the mechanic I am interested in but specifically with Non-numeric, partially numeric, or otherwise numbered dice (essentially, anything different from the ordinary 1 to n numbering with n being the number of sides of dice).

Obviously asking for such a list is outside of the rules, but if possible I would like to find tools to help me find them for myself. Unfortunately BGG, while it has search by game mechanic, does not allow easy drilling by specifics, and with one as broad as Dice rolling, searching through a list of pictures of 18k+ games looking for odd-looking dice would be a fool's errand.

Does anyone know of any site that categorizes games by this admittedly obscure mechanic, or anything else that might help me in this?


texts:
Necromancer's Magemark says

Enchant Creature
Creatures you control that are enchanted get +1/+1
If a creature you control that's enchanted would die,
return it to it's owners hand instead.

Is that a +1/+1 counter? Or is it just a modification to the P/T?

Also, given the language it reads as if it means to say any creature enchanted by any enchantment. Correct?


texts: How should I modify Risk to play with 7 persons?

texts:
I am planning on creating my own version of Risk in such a way that we can play it with 7 persons. For this I am planning to create my own map with a local theme.

What kinds of ratios/parameters are common in games with fewer players (e.g. countries per player, armies per turn)? Based on these, what kind of modifications do I need to make to the map (number of countries / connections between countries or continents) to make it suitable for 7 players? Or is the game playable with the current map  and 7 players?


texts: If a spell is countered, do on cast effects still get triggered?

texts: If I cast a spell that has an "on cast" effect, does the effect still trigger even if the spell is countered? For example, if I play Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and it gets countered by a counter spell, do I still get to exile 2 target permanents?


texts: Can House Arryn be used under the rules of the base game?

texts: In the Feast for Crows expansion a new house (House Arryn) was introduced along with a new set of rules for a 4 player game that changed the way you scored victory points. Is it possible to use House Arryn (i.e. the cards and unit setup) with the normal Game of Thrones rules, or perhaps with the Dance of the Dragons expansion cards and setup? This could lead to some new ways to play 5/6 player games. Has anyone tried it or thought about it?


texts: How many illusions will Lightning Bolt and Wild Ricochet get rid of?

texts:
My opponent has a number of illusion creatures on the board. Let's just say they're Phantasmal Bear.

I cast a Lightning Bolt on one bear. I then respond to my own bolt with a Wild Ricochet, which gives my original bolt a new target, and copies the bolt.

Assuming my original bolt targeted Bear A, and I redirected it to Bear B, and I target Bear C with the copied bolt, are all three bears sacrificed by my opponent? When does that sacrifice have to take place?


texts:
The card Now or Never says

Works as a
Ghost card worth 4. At the end
of the round, the one who played
this card places it on their side of
the 10th round and it will be worth -2.

It is clear how that works if the card is played during a normal round. But players can also pre-commit cards to round 10 - can this card be used like that? If so, is it effectively worth 4 (the -2 doesn't happen until "the end of the round", so it never happens), 2 (both the 4 and the -2 count), or -2 (the card effect implies that once it is on round 10 it is worth -2, so putting it there on purpose is self-defeating, but might theoretically still be useful as a bluff)?


texts: In Santorini, does a god power replace original win condition

texts:
Just starting playing this game.  My wife chose chronus, and I chose eros.  Both have alternate win conditions.

Do you have to win via these conditions? Or can you also win by reaching the third pillar as well?

Thanks!


texts: If a player activated an Æther Vial with two counters on it to drop in a Meddling Mage and named a spell already on the stack, would the named spell resolve?


texts: Can Joe Diamond attempt to solve a puzzle twice with his magnifying glass?

texts:
In our latest session of Mansions of Madness, we allowed Joe Diamond to use his magnifying glass to make two attempts at a rune puzzle. However, at the time and shortly after the completion of the game, we questioned whether this should be allowed.

I came across this answer on the Geek stating that "a single investigator may not attempt the same puzzle more than once in a turn," but since it doesn't reference any specific rule I just wanted to find out whether this is the general consensus.

The Magnifying Glass card reads:

  Once per turn, immediately after you spend an action to explore a room, you may take 1 additional action.


texts: How does Only A Test affect the end-of-round honor bonuses/penalties?

texts:
In Ninja Burger, you can play the card Only A Test in response to failing a mission; it turns out that your manager was just testing you, and does not blame you for failing.

How does that affect the end-of-round honor bonuses and penalties? There's normally an extra Honor penalty if only one person fails, and there's an honor bonus if everyone succeeds. If Only A Test hid your failure, can you prevent everyone from getting the honor bonus if everyone else succeeded? Similarly, if your "test" is the only failure, do you lose the "additional" Honor even if you didn't lose Honor for failing the mission?

EDIT: Full text of Only A Test:

Play this card immediately after you fail a mission. It was only a test! You suffer
no loss of Honor or other penalties. Your manager made the task very difficult in order
to evaluate you and sharpen your skills, and he does not blame you for failing.
You cannot use this card to save yourself from a failed Errand!


texts: Can you eradicate a disease without finding a Cure first?

texts:
If you eradicate a disease in Pandemic without finding a cure first (ie remove all of one colour from the board) does it remain eradicated or can it still come back unless it has also been cured?

The rules are a bit unclear on this point ... Or I missed the rule that explicitly states this.


texts: Will Path of Mettle flip if I fullfill the conditions after declaring attackers?

texts:
Say I have a board state with an unflipped Path of Mettle, a Duelist's Heritage, one creature with first strike/double strike/vigilance/haste and another creature with none of that.
As  I head to combat, and declare attackers, Path of Mettle does not flip as the condition is not fulfilled:

  Whenever you attack with at least two creatures that have first strike, double strike, vigilance, and/or haste, transform Path of Mettle.

Now Duelist's Heritage triggers, and I decide to give the creature without any of the keywords double strike. My question is/questions are:

Does Path of Mettle still flip? I am clearly still attacking with two creatures which fullfill the requirements.
If not, can I stack the triggers in such a way that it will flip? Like, I declare attackers, this triggers the check of Path of Mettle and the Heritage, and may I stack them in such a way that Path of Mettle flips?


texts: Can I counter a creature by invalidating the target of its “comes into play” effect?

texts:
For example, consider Akoum Boulderfoot. It says:

  When Akoum Boulderfoot enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.

At what point does the player have to decide on the target? Specifically, is the following sequence of events correct?

Player announces the casting of Akoum Boulderfoot and declares my 1/1 creature the target
I cast Unsummon on my 1/1
Akoum Boulderfoot resolves, but its target is invalid, so the spell fizzles.

Or is the following sequence correct?

Player announces the casting of Akoum Boulderfoot
I cast Unsummon on my 1/1
Akoum Boulderfoot resolves, enters the battlefield, and then the player chooses a valid target


texts:
I have gained control of my opponent's Lazav, the Multifarious. I activate it's ability targeting the Clone in my graveyard. If the ability resolves, Lazav will die, becoming a 0/0 with no abilities, as it didn't enter, and so is unable to copy anything.

My opponent, in a desperate measure to keep Lazav on the field, casts Dominate with Lazav's ability on the stack targeting Clone. He then proceeds to cast Essence Flux on the Lazav that he now controls, flickering it.

In this scenario, does removing the source of the ability (temporarily) stop it from resolving properly, thus fizzling the ability? Or would his ability resolve, targeting Clone, as Lazav is now back on the field?

Does it work the same as flickering the target of a spell to make it fizzle if you flicker the source of an activated ability in this manner?

Additionally, would the ability fizzle because Clone is now no longer in the graveyard of Lazav's controller, or does it only check the location of the Clone relative to who controlled Lazav when the ability was activated?


texts: What happens after using Spinal Embrace on a Theros God?

texts:
Spinal Embrace:

  Cast Spinal Embrace only during combat. Untap target creature you
  don't control and gain control of it. It gains haste until end of
  turn. At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice it. If you do,
  you gain life equal to its toughness.

Phenax, God of Deception

  As long as your devotion to blue and black is less than seven, Phenax
  isn't a creature.

If I have Phenax in play, and my opponent plays Spinal Embrace targeting it, and then gains control of it, but does not have enough devotion to make Phenax a creature, what happens? Do they gain control of Phenax permanently?


texts: What is the no agressive variant (Peaceful Variant)?

texts:
Yesterday I played on Board Game Arena a non agressive variant of the game. The only difference I saw was a lack of wonders of age A (that could be just luck) and no agression cards.

The game itself was very boring, with nothing else to do only a rush to tackle VP without any other interaction between the players.

That's the only thing that this variation do, or there is something else that I miss??

How does the military cards are arrange in this variation?


texts: When are additional Dominion actions chosen?

texts: At what point do you need to decide which additional actions to choose?  To make this question explicit, suppose I play the Village (+1 card; +2 actions).  Do I need to decide which two actions I will play immediately, or do I decide on the second action after choosing and completing the first action?  For example, if I play the Smithy (+3 cards) as my first additional action, can my second action be an action I just picked up?


texts:
We had this issue come up in a game last night, and we weren't sure how to handle it. Player A had Welding Jar and another artifact in play. Player B cast Naturalize targeting the Welding Jar. In response, Player A sacrificed Welding Jar to regenerate itself.

Is this possible to do? I understand that Welding Jar is going into the graveyard either way, as sacrificed creatures can't be regenerated, but can Welding Jar legally target itself with it's own ability?

EDIT: If this seems non-sensical, let's assume that Player A has something in play like Furnace Celebration that gives them a benefit for sacrificing the Welding Jar.


texts: What defines "Isolation" in Third Reich?

texts:
I may be blind, but I can't seem to find any definition of "isolation" in the Third Reich (2nd edition) rulebook. I don't remember seeing it in my first edition book either, but that was a long time ago.

The are a couple places places where the term is mentioned in the rules, such as:

2.7 Fortress ... Can't be taken by Attrition or Isolation


texts: Glaring Spotlight anti-hexproof work on enchantments

texts: Does the  Glaring Spotlight's anti-hexproof work on enchantments? So if a creature is not hexproof but has an enchantment such as  Alpha Authority, does it still cancel the hexproof?


texts: Willbreaker vs. Silverfur Partisan who gets a wolf?

texts:
With Willbreaker (mine) and Silverfur Partisan (opponents) in play if I cast an instant on their Silverfur Partisan who gets the wolf? Do I get to choose the order they go on the stack to decide this or is it another process?

The wording of the rules confused me as there seemed to be some additional rules around things going on the stack if there are multiple players effected.


texts: Can I block with my Llanowar elves and then tap it for mana immediately afterward?

texts: My opponent attacks with a 3/3. I block with my 1/1 Llanowar Elves, and have all of my land tapped from my last turn. Can I now tap my Llanowar Elves after it has been declared as a blocker to play Giant Growth on it, make it 4/4 until end of turn, and destroy my opponent's attacking creature when damage is dealt?


texts: Flickerform - are returning auras being attached once they enter the battlefield?

texts:
I activate Flickerform and the ability resolves. Once the game moves to the next end step, the removed creature comes back, and then all auras which where attached to it (as per ruling in the Gatherer).
My question is: Does returning the auras qualify as "attaching" them, or is this more like "the whole stack comes back as it was"?
Asking for a friend.


texts: In Magic the Gathering, what block is the Homelands expansion set?

texts: I can't seem to figure out what block the Homelands expansion set belongs to. Is it Ice Age or something else?


texts: How fast should a competitive combo deck win?

texts:
I have a home brew Legacy combo deck that can win by about turn 4-5 reliably. If I change the deck a little to Modern it can win probably on turn 6-7. It is weak to burn and has a few counterspells to protect my assets.

My question is, how fast do competitive combo decks typically win in the various formats? By that I mean in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Standard, and EDH. Is a turn 5 win slow for Legacy?


texts: Is the Kansas flavor of Solitaire winnable

texts:
So I have recently started playing a variant of solitaire called "Kansas"
https://politaire.com/help/kansas
and either I'm really bad at it (have lost dozens of times over past month) or it might just be very unlikely for a person to win the game.  I was curious to if anyone had experience with it or any references to why it might be "unwinnable"


texts: Can the Runner prevent resources trashing via the "The All-Seeing I" if there is no bad publicity?

texts: The corp does not have any bad publicity tokens and plays the "The All-Seeing I". Can the runner prevent resources from being trashed?


texts: Can Circle of Protection:White prevent the damage from Leeches (Circle of Protection / Leeches Combo)?

texts: Can the damage caused by removing poison counters using Leeches be avoided using a Circle of Protection:White?  If it can be avoided, would the damage be considered "once" and cost {1}, or would it be {1} times the number of poison counters?


texts: Is it possible to intentionally draw a game?

texts:
I was told today that it's possible to do an effective "friendly mulligan" (draw to 7 cards) by intentionally tying the game and starting a new one.

I've heard of people intentionally drawing matches a lot of times, but is it legal to intentionally draw a single game?


texts:
What are some good general guidelines for strategies when playing Agricola? I know it will depend on the exact games, but are there any typical dos and/do nots?

John


texts: Kindle the carnage, repercussion and safe passage

texts: Let's say I have Repercussion on the table and I cast Kindle the Carnage. Can an opponent prevent the damage done by repercussion after Kindle the Carnage has resolved? A mate and I are in a debate about this as in my opinion Repercussion goes off instantly and in his opinion Safe Passage or any other damage preventing card has priority.


texts: Is this card worded correctly and balanced?

texts:
I created this card recently and just want to make sure that it's balanced and that its ability is worded correctly/functionally:

  Wojek Lionheart (1)RW
  Creature - Human Soldier [Uncommon]
  First strike
  Wojek Lionheart may block while tapped and blocks each turn if able.
  "The people may rise against us, but that does not excuse me of my oath to defend them."
  2/1

Is there a better way to word that second ability?


texts:
Bloodrush is confusing my friends and I. Suppose I have a Ghor-Clan Rampager in my hand:

Can I cast Bloodrush from my hand (discarding Ghor-Clan Rampager straight from there), without first having summoned Ghor-Clan Rampager to the battlefield? If so:

Can it be cast from the had as an instant?
Why is this the case? Can activated abilities really be used from the hand, or is there just something special about Bloodrush?

We're having genuine trouble understanding definitively whether it can be used from the hand or not. I'd imagine that as an activated ability, the creature has to actually be summoned first, but then there's this quote from the Gatecrash mechanics feature on Wizards:

  The warriors of the scattered Gruul Clans spend a lot of time fighting for territory, for loot, or simply for enjoyment. A creature with a bloodrush ability is so eager to get into the fight, it might not even wait for you to cast it.

It's hard to know whether this is flavoursome description for which our interpretation has gone awry, or an author writing about how a creature with Bloodrush actually doesn't have to be on the battlefield before you use its ability. Plus this answer about Bloodlust quotes rule 602.2a which talks about using abilities from hidden zones, but that might not be the hand. We're trying to stick to the Basic Rules though and not overcomplicate things, and I can't find what those have to say about this.


texts: Is there a Scrabble word analysis tool that can find the highest possible scoring word of a certain length like 11-letter word (unlimited rack)?

texts:
I'm looking for a word analysis tool (website/software) like Zyzzyva that look for the highest possible scoring word per word length.
I.e., I want to know a list of high-scoring 11-letter words (contains a lot of high-scoring tiles like x, z, etc.), so I can play it on an 11x11 Scrabble board to achieve the highest possible score.
As a good feature, it would be nice if  I can specify bonus tile locations like a DL or TL score within the 11 word like if N=normal, DL=Double Letter, TL=Triple Letter, DW=Double Word, an 11-letter word formation may be like (DW-N-N-DL-N-TL-N-DL-N-N-DW).
However, I'd be fine without that feature, and I'll just look at the top scoring words of 11-letters and try to place them in the DL/TL/DW/TW formations to get the highest score.


texts:
The relevant part of Darksteel Juggernaut's rules text states:

  Darksteel Juggernaut's power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifacts you control.

When is Darksteel Juggernaut's power and toughness determined? Can they change?


texts: Orléans: endgame - beneficial deeds and development track

texts:
Recently played Orleans with a board gaming group here in Japan and ran into something interesting with the rules.

We first played it a month ago, but this month when we played it, they told me got the rules wrong the first time. Specifically, it was claimed that:

  the person highest on the development track gets all of the citizens from the unfinished beneficial deeds at the end of the game.

Can someone show me where in the rule book this is? In the rules from BGG, I see

  The game ends after 18 rounds. Before you proceed with the scoring, the player who has built the most Trading
  Stations receives the remaining Citizen Tile. If there is a tie, no player receives the tile.

But does this mean all of the citizen tiles or just one?


texts: Can a toilet be covered if the votes are tied in Drunter und Drüber?

texts:
In the game Drunter und Drüber a tile that covers a toilet must be voted on by all players. The rules say that the tile is placed if the yes votes exceed the no votes, and the tile is not places if the no votes exceed the yes votes.  But what if the votes are equal?

We ruled that in that case the tile is not placed, but the rules are not clear on this.


texts: Who chooses what order to apply damage prevention and redirection effects in a fight?

texts: If Swans of Bryn Argoll is involved in a fight and an opponent activates an ability to redirect damage assigned to the Swans of Bryn Argoll.  Which effect takes precedence?  My assumption is that the controller would chose which damage prevention mechanism to use.


texts: In Blackjack, does the dealer reveal his hole card if you bust?

texts:
I specifically like to know whether the dealer reveals his hole card when you bust in Atlantic City casinos (if the dealer doesn't have Blackjack).

Or does the dealer just pull the card away without turning it over?


texts: 7 Wonders, Babylon Side B: Using Resources and Coins from 2nd Wonder

texts:
When using side B of Babylon, after acquiring the 2nd Wonder Stage, I am able to purchase the last two cards in my had. Can I then:
1) Use coins from the sixth card (which I burn) to pay for the seventh card?
2) Use a resource of the sixth card that I payed for to acquire the seventh card?

Example:
John (playing with Babylon on side B, already completed his 2nd Wonder Stage) has three coins left in his sixth turn. He knows that he cannot use any coins his neighbors may give him at the completion of turn number six. He is holding two cards, neither of which he can afford. However, if he trashes the sixth card to gain 3 coins, he can afford to purchase the seventh card using resources from his neighbors. Is this allowed?


texts: If I have a card out like Animar, Soul of Elements and my opponent cast a Murder and targets Animar, would I be able to morph my Mistfire Weaver and give Animar hexproof in response so that he doesn't die, or does he still die?


texts: Can Jenny Barnes' enable someone to use acquire assets a second time?

texts: Can Jenny Barnes' use her ability to allow herself or another investigator to use acquire assets if the target investigator has already performed it? Typically you cannot perform the same action twice in one round, but would this special ability that induces an acquire assets action count as performing acquire assets twice? If so, one would think the same holds for disallowing a player to move spaces after they have moved before, counting it as a "travel".


texts: I just heard about the Farsight enclaves eight and I wanted to know if you could get them as separate figures or do If I have to modify the battlesuits in order to make them the eight?


texts: Does the Diplowinn variant play similarly to the original Diplomacy?

texts:
The Diplomacy Variant Bank contains a huge number of variants on Diplomacy, ranging from completely different maps and powers, to minor tweaks of the rules.  I was searching for a variant that would play well face-to-face, while being shorter than the original and I came across Diplowinn.

I tried Googling for this and didn't come up with much in the way of reviews or game reports.  I want to know whether Diplowinn has any problems compared to the original.  In particular, does this version result in draws more or less frequently.

Also the description says that stabbing is more attractive in this variant.  Is that the case, and does it consequently feel nastier to play?

Judging by the lack of references on the internet I'm not too expectant of a good answer, and so I'll endeavour to play this variant the next time I get a chance.


texts: Can one choose a card with Bestow when searching for an Aura?

texts:
Sovereigns of Lost Alara says "you may search your library for an Aura card that could enchant that creature".
Could it find a card with Bestow (that can be cast as an Aura), e.g. Ghostblade Eidolon?


texts: Canasta: Rules to pick up discard pile when frozen or not frozen

texts:
Is this a correct understanding of when you are allowed to pick up the discard pile?

If not frozen, you can pick up the discard pile if you can use the top card to make a meld from your hand OR to simply take the top card and put down and add to an existing meld on the table.

If the discard pile is frozen you can only pick up if the top card can make a meld from cards solely in your hand.  In other words if the top card is an 8 and you have an existing meld of 8's on the table but no 8's in your hand ( or wild card and 8) -you can't pick up the frozen discard pile?


texts: Soul Sculptor and creatures with cast triggers

texts: Suppose Soul Sculptor has turned a Ramos, Dragon Engine into an enchantment, and the Ramos player casts a (colored) creature spell. Will they get the +1/+1 counters for it? More generally, if Soul Sculptor hits a creature that has cast triggers, will casting a creature trigger those abilities?


texts: In Hearts, impossible to play first hand?

texts: I understand that this is extremely unlikely, but what happens in a game of hearts if you only have point cards in your hand after the deal. For instance, what if your hand is every heart in the deck, or 12 of the hearts and the queen of spades. The rules state you cannot play a card on the first hand, but is that waved in this specific situation? If so, there is also no way to play without revealing your hand to the rest of the players, so what would happen in this situation?


texts: Let's say I cast two Healing Salves on a creature. Each would prevent the next 3 damage that would be dealt to that creature. Does this effectively prevent the next 6 damage that would be dealt? Or do they both try to prevent the same 3 points of damage?


texts: Can I return Verdant Eidolon with the spell I casted with?

texts:
Can I return Verdant Eidolon to my hand with the muticolored spell I cast with mana from its ability? Is it in the graveyard as soon as I sacrifice it?

For example: if I sacrifice Verdant Eidolon to cast Boggart Ram-Gang, can I return it to my hand from the graveyard?


texts: Does Abandoned Sarcophagus exile Rebuild if I cast it?

texts: I have recently built a cycling commander deck and have a question about an interaction between Abandoned Sarcophagus and Rebuild. If I have Abandoned Sarcophagus on the battlefield and cast Rebuild, is Rebuild exiled from Abandoned Sarcophagus's ability or does Abandoned Sarcophagus's ability not apply because the Abandoned Sarcophagus has been returned to my hand?


texts: Game where you draw a path on an overlay

texts:
Some time ago I saw a video of a board game designed for children.

This game features cards with "levels" depicted on those, similar visually to levels from a platform video game.
Those "levels" would have a starting point, finish point, obstacles (e.g. enemies) and goodies (e.g. coins) drawn on them.
A player would look at the "level" card and draw a solid line leading from start to finish on a transparent overlay.
Then the overlay would be put on top of the "level" card. The more goodies the line is crossing, and more obstacles the line is avoiding, the better the player's score is.


texts: Can an Investigator move directly to the balcony without using the stairs in the Foyer?

texts:
The rules say that it costs 1 movement point to move into a different area of the same tile.

In the case of the Foyer it doesn't seem logical to move from the floor (1) directly to the balcony (2) without going through the central hallway/stair entrance area first.

Have I missed a rule to cover this special case?


texts: How can we stop the same person being the traitor each time?

texts:
I recently received Betrayal at House on the Hill. The last and only three times we've played it the same person/player has been the traitor. I know this is unlikely, but we've started joking that the haunt text says "Player X is the traitor". They don't seem to mind ("is the game trying to tell us something?").

I know there are rules for skipping haunts you've already played. Are there rules for skipping traitors that have gotten sick of being traitors?


texts: What are the standard time settings in chess

texts: What are some of the most popular time limits for chess games?  I'm looking for those used today as well as historically.


texts: Does the card color matter for untapping it?

texts:
If a card is tapped (from the effect "on vacation"¹), its activation number has to be rolled to untap it.

Does the card’s color matter here? Does my green/purple card get untapped if my opponent rolls its number? Does my red card get untapped if I roll its number?

¹ I don’t know the English translation. In German it’s called "im Urlaub".


texts: How do I find out a fair price for my Magic the Gathering cards?

texts: Back in the day, I would check Scrye magazine to figure out how much my Magic cards should sell for, but they folded two years ago. Where's a good place to price my collection these days?


texts:
Is there any known variant of Gin-Rummy that includes the Jokers?

If yes then, what are the rules about jokers?

How much deadwood a joker counts?
Can be used only for Runs or also for Sets?

A similar question on BGG: (with no good answer)

  Aside from the fact that jokers are forbidden in Gin Rummy, does
  anyone know what the next nearest, "quais-official" rules are for
  including Jokers in Gin Rummy?


texts: How to interrupt a loop with multiple players?

texts:
Assume there are three players, Alice, Bob, and Chris. The turn order is Alice, then Bob, then Chris, with it currently being Alice's turn.

Alice has a loop that can infinitely create creatures, two creatures on the field, and 20 life.

Bob has a Leyline of Anticipation on the field and a Deadly Tempest, and is planning on casting it when Alice has twenty creatures on the field to deal 20 damage to her.

Chris has a Fumigate in hand and plans to use it on his turn to gain a lot of life and clear the board. Chris also has a Soul Warden and an Aethersphere Harvester on the field.

Alice proposes a shortcut to do her loop a hundred times. Bob wants there to be at least 20 creatures on Alice's board (but wants to minimize this number to minimize how much life gain Chris's Soul Warden gains him), so he proposes to stop at only eighteen loops. If Chris weren't in the game, Alice would be required to accept this new loop (despite the fact that she just got information about Bob's plan). However, Chris and Alice both want Alice to stay alive (at least for now), so Chris proposes only seventeen loops (after which he uses Soul Warden to crew Aethersphere Harvester). Crewing the vehicle does nothing to stop Alice from resuming her combo, but both players just got information about Bob's hand, which causes her to not put another creature on the field.

Is this legal, or does Chris have to provide some kind of 'legitimate response' to interact with Alice's loop, other than the fact that Bob gave away information by proposing a stop to the loop?

Edit: Or is my understanding of the order in which players propose shortcuts wrong?


texts: How does the help system work in munchkin?

texts:
The rules say to add your combat strength to theirs and in a separate section it says that your combat strength is your level plus weapons etc.

In our first few games this essentially meant that every monster was easily beaten so we were wondering if maybe it was just your level you add to them and any enhancement cards.


texts:
So in a hypothetical jenga game we have two players, let's call them player A and player B. Player A completes a turn, and the tower remains standing for the 10 seconds until player A's turn is over. But before player B touches the tower, it falls over. Does this count as it falling over during Player B's turn? Does player B's turn start 10 seconds after player A places a block, or when player B first touches the tower?

Thanks.


texts: I know lands are colourless, but is a land a colourless spell? Would it activate Molten Nursery or any other card that is activated with a colourless spell?


texts: Can someone Bioshift counters off a creature after combat damage has been assigned?

texts:
A friend has a Primordial Hydra with 10 +1/+1 counters on it, giving it trample.  I block it with a Vampire Nighthawk, causing it to die. My friend then uses Bioshift to take the counters off "in response to it taking lethal damage".

A: Can he do this?
B: Would my creature die and I take the remaining damage if he does it?


texts: Platinum Emperion and Smash to Smithereens

texts: If player A is at 3 life and has a Platinum Emperion in play, does player A lose if the big robot gets targeted by a Smash to Smithereens?


texts: How can I find out when a specific comprehensive rule was introduced?

texts:
I wrote this answer, and I feel like it would benefit (slightly - it's not exactly a crucial part of the answer) from knowing when rule 706.4 was introduced. I feel that if I can find out when a rule was introduced, I can more easily research why it was introduced, and then I can write a better answer.

In general, how can I determine when a comprehensive rule was introduced?


texts: How can I play Dominion with 5+ players without expansions?

texts:
I am going to get a Dominion expansion (probably intrigue based on its popularity) but in the meantime I'm curious about what I can do with just the basic set. I know it was designed for 2-4, but I don't see any real solid reason why it can't go to at least 5. I'm perfectly fine with adding any sort of house rules.

The game ends when the provinces or gone or 3 stock piles are exhausted. I figure you could counteract running out of kingdom card piles by possibly adding a few more kingdom cards. To combat the number of provinces we could just add some regular playing cards at the bottom, since they won't go through shuffling too much. My games are pretty relaxed and fun oriented, so some little hacks like that would be fine if they let more people join in.

Does anyone with experience with playing Dominion with 5+ players, with or without expansions? Any other strategies to making it possible for an extra player or two to join in? How will the game change with more people and is there anything I should keep in mind to make things run smoothly?


texts: Are tribal spells with changeling considered creature spells?

texts:
Does Heartless Summoning make Tribal Changeling Instants cheaper to cast? Crib Swap's type line says:

  Tribal Instant - Shapeshifter

In the reminder text it says:

  Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.)

So is Crib swap a creature or not, and if not, does Heartless Summoning affect it in any way because of the Changeling clause?


texts: How likely are you to lose because Fool's Landing sinks into the abyss?

texts:
Since I like probability questions, and tttpp brought it up, I figured it might be interesting to calculate how likely you are to lose on the first turn in Forbidden Island, because Fool's Landing sinks into the abyss. This question is only interested in figuring the odds of losing the game during the first players turn. It would be slightly more difficult to figure the odds of losing during the first round, where each player has taken one turn at most. If this question gets enough attention, I might decide to ask that question and figure out the odds. To figure out the odds of losing, you will need to calculate the following:

What are the odds that the first player cannot shore up Fool's Landing? (depends upon the first player's character, their starting location, and Fool's Landing location)
What are the odds that no player has received a Sandbag/Helicopter (depends upon number of players)
What are the odds that a Waters Rise card is drawn?
What are the odds that Fool's Landing is redrawn after Waters Rise? (difficultly level effects this)

What are the odds range of losing on the first turn for a 2-4 Player game? Calculate each individual component separately, and then provide a range of maximum/minimum odds of losing on the first turn based upon the individual components above. Assume the following:

The all players will attempt to shore up Fool's Landing. (use Sandbags/Helicopter)
The default island map is used.
The first player and their character are randomly determined, per the rules.
Ignore the odds of losing because a player sinks into the abyss. (optional:)
Ignore the odds of losing because both tiles for a particular treasure sink into the abyss. (optional)

Note: Calculate this if you want, but I am not uninterested in the minimal effect on the result of losing first turn.


texts: My game of Rummikub came with a die. Why could that be?

texts: My newly bought, first-hand game of Rummikub (from Philos) came with a die. However, the game doesn't seem to use a die. Is there any variant that uses a die, if so, what for?


texts: What is the statistically favorable amount of lands for Yennett?

texts:
Recently I have been brewing up Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign, as a commander deck. The deck was going well, with only 3 cards with even mana costs, and those being  Lightning Greaves, for protection, and Strionic Resonator and Helm of the Host, which serve to increase my statistical chance of hitting an odd card with Yennett's trigger.

This was fine until I remembered that lands have an even converted mana cost, since 0 is considered even in magic. So now I run into a problem where to increase my chances past 60% or so, I need to decrease my land count. This can be compensated for by replacing lands with odd CMC mana rocks, but this still makes my deck low on lands and still dependent on them, as most of the mana rocks would end up at 3 CMC. To allow my deck to function, it needs Yennett on the field.

This leads to a few questions:

What is my optimal amount of lands to increase my chances to a consistent amount and still have the mana to make my deck function?  How few lands can I realistically go?
What should I do to compensate for the lack of mana?  Which mana rocks are worth it?
Can this be compensated for with library manipulation and draw such as Ponder, Brainstorm, and Portent?  If so, how many of these small cantrips must I run to make them effective?


texts: When does an opponent make the decision to pay extra mana in response to a spell?

texts:
I have a rules question.  Let's say I have 2 Judge's Familiar's in play and an opponent casts
Lightning Bolt on another one of my creatures.  In response, I sac one of the Judges to counter the spell.  Here are the questions:

When does my opponent make the decision to pay the extra mana?  Is it when the spell is cast, or do I have to pass priority first and let it resolve before they make the decision?
Would I get priority after they make the decision to pay the mana (so if they did pay the mana, I could sac the other Judge and they couldn't insert anything into the stack beforehand)?


texts: Does untapping an attacker stop its attack?

texts: If someone declares an attacker and that creature does not have vigilance, if I untap that creature, for example with Burst of Energy, does it stop the creature from attacking?


texts: What exactly does "will not pursue" mean in Munchkin?

texts:
My friends and I were playing Munchkin last weekend and we had an interesting experience.

I happened to be lucky enough to have the "Kneepads of Alure" (and not much else).  I was level 1.  My friend who was winning was level 6.

On my turn, I opened a door and came across a high level monster that would not pursue anyone of level 4 or below.  I wanted to make sure that my friend would be included in the fun so I used the Kneepads to bring my level 6 friend into the fight.

We were not going to win the fight and my friend (who himself was in the fight) promised to help the monster should we be able to win.  He wanted to force me to have to run away (and him as well), but I argued that because the monster wouldn't pursue characters of level 4 or below I didn't have to roll to escape the "Bad Stuff".

What is the correct rule in this situation?  Do we both have to roll to escape or just my friend who was level 6?


texts: Unlcear about noise making as a useful tactical move

texts:
One of the actions one can take is to make noise. This adds one noise token to one's current location. In addition, as far as I understand the rules, each character makes a noise automatically.

This means that making a noise is only useful in a very narrow set of circumstances: zombies have no line of sight, there is no big group of characters, and no other noise around (breaking doors, some spells, etc...)

Have I missed something?


texts: Where can I find new map ideas for Settlers of Catan Seafarers?

texts: basically my group has played through all the scenarios in the book and I was wondering if anyone knows of a place to get more map layouts?? is there like a sequel book or anything? i didn't have much luck online.


texts: Is resistance Coup worth getting if I already have resistance avalon?

texts: I've played regular Resistance and I have Resistance Avalon, but I've never played Resistance Coup is it worth getting? I like that you can play with just 2 people but, besides that I don't know much about it.


texts:
In Commander / EDH players have 40 life. In normal magic 10 poison counters results in a player being eliminated. Is it still 10 poison counters in Commander / EDH?

In Commander / EDH a player is eliminated if they receive 21 commander damage. If the commander does poison damage does this count double toward the poison threshold, or somehow different than normal poison counters?


texts:
We recently purchased some Carcassonne expansions, and I have some questions about the pigs.

First, pigs can be placed on your field to increase the multiplier. But what if fields are merged? Do pigs count as farmers, or are they just multipliers? Example:

Red has a field with one farmer and a pig.
Blue has a field with just one farmer.
The fields are combined. Does red win, or do both red and blue share the spoils where red has the x4 and blue the x3 multiplier?

Second, the expansion with the dragons introduces portals. Is it possible to place a pig through a portal, or is it meeple only?


texts: What's the number of cards per rarity in a regular set of MTG?

texts: I am trying to do a calculation for modern masters that is coming out next year and to complete it I need to know, How many commons, uncommons, rares and mythics are in a regular set of mtg(Scars of mirrodin for example)?


texts: When are targets chosen in Final Fantasy TCG?

texts:
In the FAQ, some cards, like Hades (1-046U ハーデス) mention a need to have valid targets when the card is used. This entry also implies that some targets may become invalid before resolution time. This implies that targets are chosen at cast time. However, in the official rules, the only place where choosing a target seems to be mentioned deals with thing happening at resolution time (11.11.4.1.1.). Since there's no special rules mentioning it, this implies that choosing a target is just part of the effect and so is done at resolution time.

I don't know how to resolve this. When is the choosing of a target supposed to take place?


texts: Are there any English servers where I can play Mahjong online?

texts:
I recently stumbled upon the Asian game Mahjong and came to like it.  I already play Go and Chess online, but had difficulties finding a good, English-language Mahjong server.

Are there any English servers, and if so what are they?


texts: Can the original Ticket to Ride (US) rules be applied to the Europe map?

texts:
I am planning to get the Ticket to Ride: Europe and introduce the game to a new player. For a beginner, I was thinking of playing the European map with the original US rules. I will be ignoring tunnels, ferries and train stations.

Is the European map playable and balanced with just the original rules?


texts: In Elder Sign, does defeating a monster with a spell count as a completed task?

texts: My understanding is that a 'completed' task is one in which you fulfill the roll requirements and thus can roll the remaining dice without discarding one as a penalty.  If I use a spell to defeat a monster after I roll, do I then need to also complete an additional task in order to re-roll without discarding a die? This is how the iOS game "Elder Sign: Omens" works, but I don't see any indication in the rules of it. I'm looking for documentation that implies this is how it should play.


texts: Can an untapped creature "become untapped?"

texts: If an untapped creature is targeted with an "untap target creature" spell or ability, will it be considered becoming untapped?


texts:
In endgame, you typically have a hand in tenpai that is waiting for 1 more tile to be complete. Usually, it is better if you are able to wait for multiple tiles so your chance to finish are increased. From the rules, some typical wait patterns are derived. For instance, if you got 3 sets and a pair and an incomplete 23, you're waiting for either 1 or 4 to complete a chii (street).

Experienced players know that certain patterns lead to especially high chances to finish. What are the most common patterns to know and strive for?


texts: Does one need to bid Stayman with a flat distribution?

texts:
This example is from a book. South opens 1NT (15-17) with:

(s) AKx (h) JTxx (d) Kxx (c) Axx.

North has (s) Qxx (h)Axxx (d) Axx (c) xxx and goes to 3NT. The author (George Coffin) says that North ought to bid 2 clubs, Stayman, with four hearts. That's technically true.

But I don't fancy playing for ten tricks with a 3-4-3-3 distribution. Would rather take my chances for nine tricks with 3NT. (And I do have a bias toward NT.)

With a flat distribution, may responder jump directly to 3NT over 1NT? Or must s/he call a Stayman two clubs since he has four of a major? Which bidding systems allow a 3NT call in this situation?


texts: Is this double ko played reasonably by AlphaGo Zero and AlphaGo Lee?

texts:
In the 8th game of the series1 between AlphaGo Zero and AlphaGo Lee the following position with a double ko at {A,C}×{13,14} arises:

On the next move AlphaGo Lee (Black) plays the double ko exchange A14-C13 before its next effective move at T15 and subsequent three effective moves; then AlphaGo Zero joins in the fun and also makes double ko exchanges before its effective moves. This continues until move 272; after 276 Black resigns.

I do not see the benefit in these exchanges as against immediately playing at T15 etc. Are these exchanges useful or merely something that their respective training never taught them how to do? If they are useful, what purpose do they serve?

1 See the article in Nature at https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24270#t1; the full text is not free but selected game records are, in the download at https://media.nature.com/original/nature-assets/nature/journal/v550/n7676/extref/nature24270-s2.zip


texts: Can I use Lingering Souls' flashback ability the same turn I cast it normally?

texts: For Lingering Souls once the spell is played on my turn it is put into the graveyard. However if I have enough mana can I instantly play the flashback ability or do I need to wait until my next turn to take it out the graveyard?


texts: Are there statistic/probabilty applications specifically made for card game designers?

texts:
I am developing a card game that involves building out sequences of matching symbol pairs and also has a lose state for a (different set) of symbols that is hidden to the player. Trying to create an atmosphere of paranoia.

I want to be sure I'm balancing the deck to create probably winning and losing sequences and can code a bit - but I was wondering if any of you used a specific application to run probabilities? Mac OSX would be great.


texts: Who determines the target creature or player when a card says "deals 1 damage to target creature or player"?

texts: Vigilante Justice says "Whenever a Human enters the battlefield under your control, Vigilante Justice deals 1 damage to target creature or player." Do I decide if the damage goes to the creature or player or does my opponent?


texts: What happens when you cast a spell with multiple copies of Krark, the thumbless

texts:
Using the partner commanders Krark, the Thumbless and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. Krark has the ability:

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, return that spell to its owner's hand. If you win the flip, copy that spell, and you may choose new targets for the copy.

With Sakashima removing he legend rule (and likely entering as a copy of Krark) it gets complicated. The question is what happens to the other Krark triggers when you lose a flip? Do they still resolve and copy the spell, or do they fizzle with the spell no longer on the stack?


texts: Can I sacrifice the same creature twice with Blood Host?

texts: So for example I am using Blood Host and I sacrifice Reassembling Skeleton, then revive him using his ability. The description says "Sacrifice another creature" to activate the ability. Because I have already sacrificed reassembling skeleton that turn, can I still sacrifice it again after it has been revived.


texts: Are number of cards in hand public knowledge?

texts: Are the number of cards in a players hand public knowledge? If a player requests to know the hand size of another player, does that player need to reveal the number of cards they have?


texts: In Monopoly, if your Community Chest card reads "Go back to ...." , do you move forward or backward?


texts: Should a judge fix a solution agreed to by players?

texts:
Alice and Nathan are playing in a Competitive REL tournament.
Alice mulligans to six cards but accidentally draws seven cards. Alice and Nathan agree to not to call a judge, and instead apply their own solution where Alice mulligans to five cards. After drawing her five cards, Alice has a change of heart. She calls a judge to get an official ruling.
If Alice had called a judge before applying the solution she and Nathan agreed to, then the judge would have applied the remedy described in the Infraction Procedure Guide.

If the player has too many cards in hand, he or she may choose to reveal his or her hand, and his or her opponent chooses a card from it to be shuffled back into the library. If more than one excess card was drawn (for example, eight cards drawn during a mulligan to 6) his or her opponent continues removing cards until the correct number has been reached.
If cards are not removed from the hand this way (either due to an error that didn’t lead to too many cards, or by the player choosing not to reveal), that player takes an additional mulligan.
Players may continue taking mulligans after the remedy has been completed.

Should a judge fix or partially fix a solution that was implemented by the players, or should the judge let the situation stand?


texts: Small world, spider's web, when lava conquers, does it give victory points at the end?

texts: When using the Lava special power from the Spider's Web expansion, do spaces with lava count as 'occupied' to score victory points?  Or do they just count as a 'defense' until your next turn?


texts: How to replace Leatherback Baloth in the post-Zendikar environment in a deck of this type?

texts:
Artifacts

2x Birthing Pod

Creatures

2x Thrun, the Last Troll
4x Acidic Slime
4x Cudgel Troll
3x Dungrove Elder
2x Elvish Archdruid
2x Garruk's Companion
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Primeval Titan

Land

22x Forest

Spells

2x Genesis Wave
2x Green Sun's Zenith
2x Lead the Stampede
2x Beast Within
2x Hunter's Insight
3x Rampant Growth

Since Zendikar/M11 rotates out I did not include  Leatherback Baloth into my deck, do you have some ideas for replacing it?


texts: What can be played during an opponents turn?

texts:
What types of cards can you play on another players turn / i.e. sorcery or enchantments? Or can only instants/flash be played?

It seems foolish to us as new players that every card other then land can be sent straight to graveyard by an instant counter spell card but can you cast a sorcery based counter spell card during an opponents turn? this basically tells me that you can simply make a deck of counter spells and the opposing player can't play anything but land.....


texts:
Player A's board consists of:

1/1 first strike with 4 +1/+1 counters
1/1 creature

Player B's board consists of:

2/2 lifelink creature

Player B has 5 life and has to block the creature with 4 +1/+1 counters.

Can Player A, after dealing first strike damage, transfer the remaining counters to the 1/1 creature and then deal lethal damage to Player B?


texts: Can you still battle a monster even if it will not pursue you?

texts:
Can you still battle a monster even if it will not pursue you due to low level?

For example, if I'm level 1 and am fighting a monster that "Will not purse anyone level 2 or below."


texts: In response to Meren's end of turn trigger, could I sacrifice a creature?

texts:
When the end of my turn comes around, Meren of Clan Nel Toth lets me target a creature in my graveyard to either bring back to the battlefield or return to my hand. In response to this trigger being put on the stack, could I sacrifice a creature with something like Ashnod's Altar or High Market, thus killing it and sending to the graveyard and being able to be targeted by Meren of Clan Nel Toth's ability?

The reason I am asking is so to see if I can flicker a creature with Conjurer's Closet, then sacrifice it, then reanimate it with Meren of Clan Nel Toth.


texts: If a creature takes lethal damage and would also get a +1/+1 counter, does it die?

texts:
I have an attacking 4/4 creature blocked by an Ajani's Pridemate and a Bishop's Soldier.

Is the attacking order relevant? I.e., does it make a difference to the outcome of the fight whether I attack the Pridemate first or not?
Will the Pridemate die, or will the lifelink of the Bishop grant it a +1/+1 counter, ensuring it survives the turn?


texts:
When exactly does Drug Dealer trigger?

It says "When the corp's turn begins, draw 1 card."

When does that trigger on the corp's turn?

Does it trigger before the corp gets priority on turn 1.2?

Example:

The runner has 0 cards in hand at the end of the runners turn. The runner has Drug Dealer out. The corp has Bio Ethics Association rezzed. Does the Bio Ethics Association fire first and kill the runner or does the runner get to draw a card before taking net damage with Drug Dealer?


texts: In Pandemic, do certain setup and card order combinations make it impossible to win?

texts:
My family has won most of the Pandemic (2 or 3 player games) we've played, but we ran into one recently that I thought impossible to win due to the 2 and 3 cube infections being far from Atlanta, far from each other, and not accessible with any of the cards we were dealt or received in the first few turns. We lost very early before we obtained even a single cure.

It would have been great if I could have recorded the exact initial setup and card sequence to see if a win was possible - but I didn't.

Has anyone done the work necessary to answer the question: Do certain setup and card order combinations make it impossible to win?


texts: Does a creature have its abilities while being on the stack?

texts: I have a question. When creature is on the stack, does it have its abilities? For example Syr Eleonora, the Discerning, has an ability that says that spells which target her cost 2 more mana. But when she is on the stack and I would like to counter her, does she have her abilities? And generally, do creatures have their abilities while being on the stack?


texts: Evolution: Symbiosis Cards and Carnivorous/High Body Weight

texts:
The Symbiosis card states that:

  [Symbiosis is] played on a pair of creatures in a tandem. Choose the first creature as a "symbiont". The second creature can not be attacked as long as the "symbiont" stays alive, and can receive red/blue food tokens only after the "symbiont" has been FED.

I was wondering if there were any restrictions for carnivores and/or high body weight as the "dependent" symbiont.

For instance, I had a marked a small creature the symbiont, and its dependent was a high weight carnivore. During my first action in the feeding round, I used my dependent symbiont to eat another creature. Do I pass on the two blue tokens since my symbiont partner had not been fed yet? This didn't make sense since eating another creature has no bearing on the relationship.

Are there any annotated rulesets that might help clarify these types of pairwise card plays? I for one find it odd that a high weight creature could be dependent on a low weight creature for food. This is especially true if the dependent is also a carnivore.


texts: Are hosted power counters and advancement tokens the same thing?

texts:
For example:

VIKTOR 2.0:

  Hosted Power Counter: Do 1 brain damage

Aggressive Secretary:

  trash 1 program for each advancement token

Can I advance a card that makes use of Hosted Power Counters in the same way that I can advance an agenda or a card like Aggressive Secretary?


texts: What happens when playing a single Treasure Map?

texts:
I'm wondering if I can play a Scheme Card and then a Treasure Map and put the Treasure Map back on top of my deck at clean up.  But I can only put the Treasure Map back on top if it's in play and not trashed.

So if you play a single Treasure Map with a 2nd Treasure Map not in your hand, does it get trashed or does it only get trashed when you trash 2 Treasure Maps?


texts:
I've played my friend and he used his new mono white deck. After some turns, he plays Phyrexian Unlife. This is the first time I've seen it. It says even if his life is 0 he never loses. I'm using black deck at that time and I don't have any sorcery or instants to kill that enchantment. So I just conceded the game. Now I'm still skeptical about that card.

My question is how can you kill your opponent if he has that on the battlefield? I know that there's some other ways to defeat your opponents, but my black deck was built to be aggro/discard deck. So how can a player defeat an opponent without anything to destroy an enchantment?


texts: Deathbringer Regent and Phantasmal Image ETB Clause

texts:
Deathbringer Regent is a dragon that reads

  When Deathbringer Regent enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand and there are five or more other creatures on the battlefield, destroy all other creatures.

And Phantasmal Image:

  You may have ~ enter the battlefield as a copy of any  creature on the battlefield, except it’s an Illusion in addition to its  other types and it gains “When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.

My question is if I play Phantasmal Image copying a Deathbringer Regent, it does copy the ETB but does it also count as "cast from your hand" and destroy all other creatures if there are 5 or more other creatures?


texts: What is the typical DPI at which playing cards are printed?

texts:
I recently had a deck of custom cards printed at MakePlayingCards. They accept bmp,png,tiff and jpg images at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. I have a bunch of SVG vector images that I can convert to whatever DPI I need, but I thought 4 times the minimum would be more than enough, and used 1200 DPI png images.

They came out looking fairly well, but grainy in the detailed portions. I know the resolution needs to be higher, but I don't know by how much. I would like to print at the best possible DPI without making the images overly large for no good reason. The MakePlayingCards site does not mention what the maximum resolution their printers can print is, nor can I find that sort of information on other card printing sites.

I don't even know a good ballpark for this number, so the maximum DPI of any reputable playing cards is an acceptable answer. eg. The DPI at which Bicycle cards are printed is x.


texts: Does Illusory Gains make someone else's Commander my own forever?

texts: If I play my Illusory Gains on my opponent's commander, does their commander become mine indefinitely? I have not played this card and I am unsure as to how playing it on a commander works.


texts: Who gets the copies from Eye of the Storm when control of a spell is switched before exiling the spell?

texts:
Say we have 3 players, A, B, and C, in that turn order. Player A plays an instant or sorcery spell, player B has an Eye of the Storm, and player C has an Perplexing Chimera. So said spell goes on the stack, the Eye of the Storm trigger goes on the stack, and the Perplexing Chimera trigger goes on the stack. Player C decides to switch control of the spell and Perplexing Chimera between them and player A, so the spell is in control of player C. Now Eye of the Storm exiles the spell, and

  Then that player copies each instant or sorcery card exiled with Eye of the Storm. For each copy, the player may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.

Now is 'that player' player A, the one who casted and owns the spell/card, or player C, who took control of said spell?


texts:
I just got Quadropolis, and I'm confused by the Urbanist rule.  The rule is that, when you take a tile, you place the Urbanist in the place where the tile used to be, and the player after you can't point an architect at the Urbanist.

This seems unnecessarily complicated.  In practice we regularly forget to move the Urbanist.  Also, people frequently seem to forget that they can't point an architect at the Urbanist -- I've caught a few people doing this, but I'm not sure how many have done it and not been noticed.

Here's the calculation I usually perform.  I have three opponents, and clever placement of the Urbanist will inconvenience at most one of them.  It probably won't inconvenience them very much, since they probably have two or three tiles they want, and multiple ways to get those tiles.  If it does inconvenience them, at best I am kingmaking by hurting one opponent but not the other two.  On the other hand, if I take a suboptimal tile in order to inconvenience one of my opponents, that could hurt me a lot!

Also, it takes me a lot of thinking to figure out which tiles are even good for me.  If I also want to spend time evaluating my opponent's board state, that starts to get into analysis paralysis, and I want to respect the other players' time by not taking forever to evaluate something that's probably inconsequential.

Why was this rule added?  If we ignore the rule, what mechanics in the game will break?

(I suspect the rule might be more important in a two-player game.  I've been playing with four players.)


texts: Can books be counted as books even if some points were used to cover points left in the hand and foot?

texts:
Say that partners meld and made one clean book (A's-140 points and one dirty book of 8's-80 points=220). The other team went out.  The partners had cards remaining from their hand plus those in their foot=300 points.   The points left in their hand and foot equaled more than the points left on the board.

Can they count the books as books (one clean and one dirty=800 points) even though they had to use some of the points from the books to cover the points left in their hand and foot?


texts: Does Admin Privilege allow you to set your robot to any priority level?

texts:
The upgrade card Admin Privilge says

  Once per round, you may give your robot priority for one register.

Does this mean I can make it go first, last, or anything in between?  Having admin privilege would imply I would be able to alter this setting to any level.


texts: This book states that "a player who is furiten, is not allowed to win on a discard." What does furiten mean, and how does it affect the game?


texts: Can I imprint my commander and move it to the command zone?

texts:
I would like to know if it is possible, if the following Criteria are met, for me to imprint my commander and return it to the Command Zone:

Commander is in my hand
Soul Foundry has entered the battlefield
I choose my commander to be imprinted

When I remove my commander from the game this way, am I then able to move it to the Command Zone instead and keep it imprinted with Soul Foundry?


texts: Return of the Dragon Lords and Torrential Tribute

texts:
This just happened to me while dueling with a friend. I activated Return of the Dragon Lords and revived Red-Eyes B. Dragon from the graveyard. My opponent responded to the summon with Torrential Tribute. I then used the effect of Return of the Dragon Lords that allows me to banish it instead of destroying my monsters (when they would be destroyed).

My question is: Was this right? Should Return of the Dragon Lords had been in the graveyard by the time my opponent activated Torrential Tribute?

Thanks


texts: Fury of dracula: skipping your turn as the hunters

texts:
Apparently in the game (Fury of dracula, third edition) you, as a hunter, can skip your turn and do nothing. Personally I think this defeats the purpose of supplying at night. I think a lot of people will skip their night turn in later turns because they have a big disadvantage supplying as that could be there only action left.

From the rules reference book:

  During the hunter phase, each hunter performs one action during the
  day and one action during the night.

  During each day and each night, hunters perform actions in activation    order.
  Hunters can only perform move actions during the day.
  If a hunter is in a sea zone during the day, he must move by    sea—he cannot    pass.
  If a hunter is in a sea zone during the night, he must pass—he       cannot perform an action.
  If a hunter is delayed, he must stand his    figure upright instead    of performing an action.
  A hunter can forfeit his action by passing.

  Related Topics: Movement, Reserve a Ticket, Search, Supply, Trade

You can find the pdf here.

Isn't this a big disadvantage for dracula?

This way he will never/almost never get any dracula event cards late in the game and will be on his own with the cards he has.

Is there a way to forego this rule or would that make it to difficult for the hunters?


texts:
opening bid, I have:

S: AKQ9873
H: AQ
D: xx
C: Qx

Could I ever justify opening 4 spades?

I have more than eight tricks in my own hand, with seven of them in spades. At the same time, I fear the weakness of my minor suit doubletons.


texts:
I'm playing/studying SAYC. So I know that game in major comes first then notrump then game in minors.

When I open with 1 Club partner responds with 1 Spade -- I have 18PTS and 4 hearts and NT distribution, should I bid 2Hhearts, 3Hearts, or 1NT?


texts:
A friend got some new survivors with Zombivors (zombified survivors) on the back side of their character card.  But there are no rules explaining how to play a Zombivor!  What are the rules for Zombivors?

When does a survivor turn into a Zombivor?
Which "side" does a Zombivor play for?
Do they have free will?
Do the Zombivor skills replace the survivor skills?  (Does XP start over from 0?)


texts: Blocking multiple creatures with multiple creatures

texts:
Let's say I have a two 2/2s (A and B) and also Brave the Sand.
my opponent attacks with two 2/2s (C and D)

And C is blocked by A and B and D is also blocked by A and B.

Can I assign damage in such a way that A deals 1 damage to C and 1 damage to D and B also deals 1 damage to C and 1 damage to D?

I believe you choose for each creature how they assign damage and you can only assign damage to the second creature if the first creature has lethal damage assigned. Does this mean that this must be true at the end of all assignments or when I first decide for creature A how he assigns damage, and then he has to assign 2 damage to the first creature.


texts: In Catan, should you try to exclude others players from one resource?

texts:
In Settlers of Catan (the board game), in a game with four players, is it considered a good strategy to try to lock one (or two) other player(s) from a given resource in order to have an upper hand for later trading? I mean, placing your cities so that you prevent someone from accessing any ore, for example. (Ore is the easiest, because people tend to neglect it in the very beginning of the game.)

I never do it, but it happened on its own once or twice, and it is really great. You can get better bargains because people are desperate for it. So, is it a known strategy? Do you look for that kind of advantage when playing Catan?


texts: Gloomhaven - movement dance to gain momentum

texts: The Brute in our party has an attack that is based on movement. Using 4 movement, does using 4 Move to back out of their hex and back into it 2x count as moving 4 spaces?


texts: Lazav, Dimir mastermind, copying Growth-Chamber Guardian, and wearing spy kit

texts: Question: So, a Lazav, Dimir Mastermind watches a Growth-Chamber Guardian die and decides to copy it.  Then a Spy Kit is equipped to him.  When a +1/+1 counter is placed on lazav, does it change both names in the text? I know copy effects with self referential names use the new cardname, but does it let me tutor for any creature too?


texts: How does this Example Endgame work in Scrabble? Playing Out Scenario

texts:
In Wikibook's Scrabble guide, they have a Scrabble/Endgame section.

In the Example Endgame Subsection, they show how a person could play out his letters, knowing through tile-tracking that the opponent has a W. They note that the opponent has only two places to play the W, as OW or WAG. The first move they play is OTIC, blocking OW. Then they go on to play three more times, leaving the opponent with W and winning the game.

How does this work? If I were the opponent and OW was used I would play WAG directly after, ending the game.

What am I missing here?


texts: Is there a German version of the "game" Mad Libs?

texts:
I am looking for a German version of the game/activity Mad Libs. I played it in English before and it was always fun. But some of my friends do not speak English well enough to participate in the game.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a German version yet.


texts: Using the Deserter card in Catan Cities & Knights after realizing you can't place a knight instead

texts:
Please help me to determine if the following move is legal:

The active player uses the Deserter card and chooses another's player knight to steal.
After revealing the card and asking to steal the knight, the active player realizes that he can't place a knight of it's own since he/she doesn't have valid spot for him.
The active player wants to build a road so he could place a knigh instead (after revealing the card earlier).


texts: Can Gearseeker Serpent's cost be reduced below two mana if exiled by Gonti, Lord of Luxury?

texts:
I see in the wizards rules explanation for Gearseeker Serpent that it says the cost cannot be reduced below {U}{U}. However, isn't this considered an alternative cost (because of Gonti, Lord of Luxury) and with any mana allowed to cast it, can now be reduced below two if I have more than 5 artifacts in play?

Could you help me understand how this works out?


texts: Current 'Axis & Allies: War at sea' Rulebook?

texts:
I recently a booster pack for this game, so I don't have the rulebook.

Reading in other sites and reading the website I found the one listed here but it appears that there is yet one more. I can't find a digital copy of it!

If there really is an electronic revised/newer rulebook, where can I find it?


texts:
I started playing Netrunner quite recently. Love it so far. However, we're finding it slow--or rather, I think Netrunner is finding us slow. I've only played a handful of games with one friend so far, but our fastest game has been close to 2 hours (and for a single game, not a match!). The impression I get from BGG and the tournament rules is that this is much to slow.

To encourage us to speed up, I thought using a clock would be a good idea. (Also open to other suggestions.) My question is, what time settings and rules should be used? The goal is just to encourage speedy play by introducing a small penalty for slow play.

Run out of time => forfeit doesn't sound like much fun, probably run out of time means your turn immediately ends (after current actions resolve) could work... which would mean having time that resets every turn. And maybe switch the clock while waiting for reactions, e.g., runner declares run on HQ, punches clock while corp decides whether or not to rez first piece of ICE.

How much time should go on the clock? What time settings and rules should we try? Are there established conventions for this?


texts: In Quarriors, can the Portal Dice be used multiple times?

texts:
Say I've culled most of my dice. I have 3 portals, 3 basic quiddity dice and 1 assistant.
I draw all but 2 portals from my bag, and the one portal die I do draw I roll a "2 portal". I draw two portals from my bag and roll them, and put the portal die I just used into my Used pile. Both portal dice come up "2 portal" I set one in my used pile, and refill my bag from my used pile.

I imagine you can see where this is going. Is it okay to tournament-short-cut 2 of the three portal dice to "1 quiddity" and then roll the last one? Or can dice rolled this turn not go back in the bag?


texts: Damage Trample and Lifelink which cause Damage

texts:
Both attacking and defending players have 1 life left
Attacking player is attacking with a 3/1 creature with trample
Defending player blocks with a 1/1 creature with lifelink
Defending player also control an artifact with "Every time you gain life, deal 1 damage to target opponent"

What would happen?
I cannot figure it out.
I think the artifact's ability will be ignored because the combat damage was made and defending player already lost.
Therefore the game ends and attacking player wins.


texts: The most significant difference between the New Zealand rules and the other rules for Go is that suicide is not forbidden.  In most cases, the only time this can come in handy is that you can suicide for an extra ko threat.  However, are there any instances where suicide can make the difference between life and death of a group?


texts: What game is this d6 with a blank two for?

texts:
All the other sides have numbers on them, except the side that would have a two, which is instead blank, as shown in the picture.

What game would this die be for?


texts: Sample Wares Intrigue Card Disambiguation

texts:
The card Sample Wares states:

  Assign 1 of your unused Agent to a Building in Builder's Hall.  You immediately use the effect of that Building as though you controlled it.

This is very strange wording. The rules regarding buildings says:

  Owner Benefit: Once a new Building is in play, it is available for
  anyone to assign an Agent to, just like any other Building on the
  game board. However, when someone other than the owner
  assigns an Agent to that Building’s action space, the owner gains
  the benefit described in the tile’s “Owner” line.

First of all the Sample Wares card uses the term "controller" where the rules use the term "owner". To resolve this I will just assume they mean the same thing.

The rules say that the owner benefits are only relevant when a player who isn't  the owner moves there. This implies when the owner moves to a build he owns he gains the regular benefit of the building, without regard for his ownership. The Sample Wares card specifies that the player should use the building as though they are the owner, which according to the rules would mean there is no special benefit and the player would get the regular benefit of the building.

The question is then why would the Sample Wares intrigue card specify "as though you controlled it." it could just as well leave this part out. So the card seems to imply that there is some additional affect that should be considered.

My own ruling on this when I play: This extra clarification of "as though you controlled it." is to imply that no other player should get the owner benefit, and that the card simply lets the player take the regular benefit of the building without any other player getting the owner benefit.

I think this is probably what they meant, but the wording is confusing and it causes some argument when I play. Does anyone have a better clarification on this?


texts:
This variant played as a normal Whist, with the last card dealt face-up to determine the trump suit.  the other suit with the same color as the trump suit is now the point suit.  For example, if hearts is trump, then diamonds is point.
There are there new rules:

You get points by how many point-suited cards your partnership has taken (same as in Hearts).
The "breaking hearts" rule - A player can not lead with a point suit until a point suit has been discarded. This rule to prevent the partners with high point suits from dominating the game early.
Point cards are anti-trump - If a player leads with a point suit, then any other suit can trump it. (Trump will trump non-trump trumps, obviously).

(Personal Note: This variation also makes use of the fact that there are four suits but only two colors in a traditional deck, which always bothered me a little.)
Questions:

Are there any problems with this variation which make it unplayable, or unbalanced?

Is there a way to exploit the rules, or a way to play where understanding the rules more deeply conveys an advantage?

Does this variation add to the complexity and fun of the game, or is it merely a complication which adds nothing unique or interesting to standard whist?

Would the game play better with only one of the rules rather than both?


texts: First-player advantage in Puzzle Strike?

texts:
Does Puzzle Strike favor the player who goes first?

Puzzle Strike takes a lot of cues from Dominion, and Dominion is well-known for having a distinct advantage for the first player, as discussed in various other places.  However, Puzzle Strike also has a very different victory condition and a lot of back-and-forth "combat" that eventually determines it.  Does this fix the first-player-problem with its peers, and by how much?


texts: How do the Investigators Collectively Decide?

texts:
So in Arkham Horror, we're playing with the "Lurker on the Threshold" expansion.  It introduces the idea of 'pacts'.  When these pacts are received, cards from the 'reckoning' deck are resolved.  We pulled a card in the middle of a game with the title "Prisoner's Dilemma":

The investigators must choose: either the investigator with the most
Power is devoured, or the investigator with the least Power is driven
insane.
Card Info

Nowhere in the rules does it specify how that choice is arrived at.  The pluralization of 'investigators' suggests that it is not up to the First Player, but how is this meant to be resolved?  In our game, we deadlocked on the issue for a time, as there was fierce and spirited debate over the best course of action.  We eventually settled it with a roll-off, but how should this be resolved?  Specific citations of applicable rules would be highly appreciated, as various theories were bandied about throughout the remainder of the night to the vague dissatisfaction of all.


texts: In two-player games with perfect information, if both players play optimally, will the game always end in a draw?

texts: I've been running simulations of two strong agents playing Chess which always ended  in a draw.  Followed by this simulations, can we state that two-player perfect-information games like Go and Chess will always end in a tie when both players play optimally?


texts:
I have played Yahtzee with people with differing strategies.  Some, I'm not so sure I agree with.

Roll for 6's every time
One friend believes that if he tries to roll 6's on every throw, he'll end up with a high 6 roll, sixes for his 3-of-a-kind, 4-of-a-kind, chance, and Yahtzees.

I have found this strategy to blow up in my face all too often; not enough attention is paid to rolls of the lower pips.

Roll for Yahtzees every throw
Another friend plays in this mode all the time.  Similar to rolling for 6's, this one is a little better...it incorporates the other pips.  This strategy is a compromise between the first one, and my general strategy:

Just roll with it
I find it best to focus on generating Mojo on my first roll, and going wherever the dice point to.  If I'm presented a 2-3-4, or 3-4-5, my mode goes into straights.  If I am presented a collection of the same pips, I focus on trying to get 3+ of the same.  I think it might be most important to get at minimum 3 of each for the top bonus.

Also, on my first roll if I get two pair, especially early in the game, I often pass up going for a full house.  Although I can't back it statistically, I feel it's easy to land a full house in Yahtzee.  This one backfires on me every so often.

Does anyone have a solid Yahtzee strategy?


texts: Do defeated keeps increase the hand size for allies?

texts:
Defeated keeps increase the hand size by 1 for each keep owned when you end your turn adjacent or in a keep. Does it also increase the hand size for allies in the coop games?

If not, is there some coop situation where an ally's hand size is increased? I feel like I've read a ruling on this but can't find any documentation.


texts: Does the commander count as part of your deck?

texts:
Say I have an EDH/Commander deck with Omnath, Locus of Mana as my commander.

Does that count as being in my deck?

Or can I have another Omnath, Locus of Mana in my deck?  (If so I imagine I would have to follow all the Legendary rules about playing the second one.)

If I could include a second one in my deck that could be useful (if the commander version gets killed a few times I would be able to play the one from the deck for only 3 mana.)


texts:
Sure Strike has the text

  Target creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.

I don't understand what "first strike until end of turn" means.  Does this mean the creature gets first strike until my opponent starts his turn, and then the "first strike" effect is canceled forever?  Or does the creature get first strike every time I start my turn?


texts: Corner variation which is not in Josekipedia


texts: Have I Been Misplaying France in Diplomacy?

texts:
France is considered one of the "better" countries to play in Diplomacy. That's true insofar as it a "corner" and not a "center" country like Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

In descending order, my favorite strategies are 1) Go for the Mediterranean, 2) Ally with England vs. Germany 3) Ally with Germany Vs. England. But I've found France a tough, frustrating country to play when one can't use a Mediterranean strategy (because of what's going on elsewhere). A couple examples:

In one game, England "allied" with me against Germany, than stabbed me, leading to a Franco-German alliance (my least favorite). Meanwhile, Italy stabbed Austria, A Venice-Trieste, and got two builds in 1901, three in 1902, and had her choice of allies: with Russia vs. Turkey and Germany, with England vs. France.

In another game, I had to ward off an Anglo-German invasion. But the English army that went to Belgium marched into the Ruhr, again leading to a Franco-German alliance. But by the time we reshuffled the alliance, Austria-Hungary had stabbed Italy, overextended in a Lepanto opening, captured Venice and Rome, and dominated the Med. With Turkey, Italy, and the Balkans, Austria and Russia had the 18 centers to declare themselves co-winners.

Have I been misplaying France? Or has my inability to control the Med been due to my northern troubles, and the Austro-Italian imbalances? Can I hope for a more "fortunate" result playing France in future games, against, say, random opponents?


texts: In Seven Wonders can you use the "Play card from Discard Piles" ability to play an age III card?

texts:
In Seven Wonders one of the the wonder abilities allows you to look through discarded cards and pick one to build for free. If you use this in your very last turn can you pick a card from Age III, i.e. can you pick one that has only just been discarded?

I guess similarly could you use it in the last turn of Age II to pick up an Age II card but that is not nearly as powerful.


texts: Does Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K.'s ability used by a copy make the copy retain the rules text beyond end of turn?

texts:
We're playing an Unstable draft. A player cranks a Duplication Device, targeting one of his tokens and copying a Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. Once the ability resolves, he activates the token's ability targeting the original Pheobe. We're wondering whether the token still has Pheobe's rules text after the end step (after Duplication Device's effect ends).

Follow-up: if Phoebe has her text box stolen in this fashion, would targeting her with Duplication Device on a later turn result in the other target getting her card text, or not since her text box was stolen?


texts:
Several years ago I was taught a card game that was called "Oh Sh*t."
Recently I looked it up online and found another card game with the same name, but completely different rules, so I'm hoping someone on BG.SE knows what the game I was taught should actually be called.

Overview

Cards - 2 x Standard 52 card decks + Jokers
Jokers and 2's are wild cards
Each round, players are dealt 11 cards.

A full game consists of 8 rounds, with the ending condition for each round being the first person to play (lay down) all their cards.

Play within each round is regulated based on a contract to which each player must conform, before they are able to play their hands:

Round 1 - 1 set of 3 cards
Round 2 - 2 sets of 3 cards
Round 3 - 1 set of 4 cards
Round 4 - 2 sets of 4 cards
Round 5 - 1 set of 5 cards
Round 6 - 2 sets of 5 cards
Round 7 - 1 set of 6 cards
Round 8 - 2 sets of 6 cards

A "set" is a series of cards of the same rank, but runs of values are not permitted (eg, a set of 7, 8, 9 is not allowed) - wild cards (the jokers and 2's) can substitute for any card needed to complete the set, but there must never be more wild cards in the set than actual value cards.

Players are also issued 10 buys/lives at the beginning of the game, with which they can purchase additional cards from the deck at the beginning of their turn.

At the end of each round, scores are tallied, and accumulated until all rounds are completed.

If you can shed some light on the real name for this game, it would be appreciated.


texts: In Arkham Horror, does a third separate instruction after a pair of pass/fail clauses imply that it occurs in both cases?

texts:
Here is the text in question from the Celeano world:

  On a failure, a monster appears from the book. On a success, you are drawn into the book for a time. Stay here next turn.

I know the last sentence sort of seems to follow from being drawn in for a time, but I'm used to considering separated sentences as always being applied (pass or fail). What is the ruling here?


texts: What first turn kill in multiplayer FFA provides the best ratios?

texts:
People love to figure out first turn kills in Magic: the Gathering, and have been around since the beginning, when someone threw together a deck with Channel, Black Lotus, Fireball, Mountain. Pulling off a first turn kill in multiplayer is much harder, because you need to do much more damage to your opponents.

Assume the following:

You have 4 opponents.
Legacy Banned List.
You get to determine every card you draw (including starting hand).
Your opponents take no actions. (goldfish).

What is the maximum amount of total life loss that is possible? Not sure of the best way to rank submissions, perhaps fewest cards used, least mana used, most life loss, or least expensive cards. Perhaps an average of those values.


texts: Phase 10 - Do I have to lay down as soon as I have the cards?

texts:
MUST you lay down your phase as soon as you draw the cards to play the phase?  If you know someone picked up cards from the discard that will be able to play on your phase and go out do the rules allow you to hang onto the cards until you can lay down and potentially go out all in the same hand?  Of course the risk being that the ofher player goes out anyways and you are stuck with all of your cards and don’t move forward.

Judging by the context and language used in the rules there are many places that say a player MUST do something but in this instance it says a player “may” which leads me to believe holding onto the cards is allowable.


texts: What happens if Matter Reshaper reveals a land?

texts: When Matter Reshaper dies, it lets me reveal the top card of my deck. If it is a permanent with a converted mana cost of 3 or less, I put it onto the battlefield. If not, I put it into my hand. What happens if I reveal a land card? I assume it puts it onto the battlefield, but I just want to double check.


texts: Drover of the Mighty + Raptor Hatchling + Fiery Canonnade

texts: Let's say I have a Drover of the Mighty and a Raptor Hatchling in play and then someone casts Fiery Cannonade, dealing 2 to each of them. Does the 3/3 dino arrive in time to save the Drover or does it briefly drop back to 1/1?


texts: In Pass the Pigs, when is the optimal point to stop?

texts: I can imagine that there is a point at which a single player would always be wise to no longer advance. I see it being a function of all of the various combinations. The problem is, I've never quite been able to figure out all of the probabilities of a given combination coming up. Does anyone out there know what the optimal value is where you are more likely to lose then to continue onward? BTW, the version I have is this one, not sure if it makes a difference... Thanks!


texts: Are you allowed to shuffle your library at any time?

texts:
Of course, there are some spell cards that allow you to look through your deck to find some sort of card, usually sorcery cards that let you find basic lands in your library or something and then shuffle it.

Anyway, what if I am in a situation where I seem to only be drawing cards that are too expensive in mana cost or I'm only pulling lands? Am I allowed to shuffle my library at any time, or do I have to deal with what I get or cast some kind of sorcery or instant that lets me find a card/cards then shuffle my library?


texts: Does Laboratory Maniac's ability cause me to win before state-based actions are triggered?

texts:
The situation: I have 9 poison counters and no card in my library, and I control a Laboratory Maniac.

I cast Steady Progress, and I choose to proliferate the poison counters on me. Do I win the game due to Laboratory Maniac's ability before state-based actions would cause me to lose from having 10 poison counters?