texts: Microbot Alpha: how far does it consider others Microbots?

texts:
Microbot Alpha says "All of your minions are considered Microbots."

Does this mean while this card is in play, every single minion in play and in discard and in my hand are considered Microbots?

For every Microbot Fixer in play, does every single minion I have in play now get +1 because they are all microbots?
If Microbot Archive is in play, does every single minion I have now cause me to draw a card when destroyed?
If I play Microbot Reclaimer, can I shuffle any minions from my discard pile into my deck (by considering them all microbots)?

It looks like this link addresses the first item above: Smash Up: Microbot Fixer + Microbot Alpha

And it looks like this link addresses the 3rd item, implying that minions in the discard are not minions because they are out of play:
Do actions that affect all cards also affect cards in your hand.?


texts: Can I use the Power Grid Expansion "Northern Europe / United Kingdom & Ireland"?

texts:
I just bought the Power Grid expansion pack Northern Europe / United Kingdom & Ireland.
If you look at the photo, you will see the label Recharged Version and, at the bottom, you will see the following warning:

  The maps and power plant cards of Northern Europe/United Kingdom &
  Ireland in this expansion can only be played with a copy of Power
  Grid.

I have Power Grid 2004 from Rio Grande Games. Will I be able to use the extension with my copy of Power Grid , or will I have to buy Power Grid Recharged. It's still shrink-wrapped, so I could return it if necessary.


texts: What are the standard rules of etiquette for Rummy?

texts:
Most card games have a fairly common etiquette.  One rule for Rummy I know of is that you should announce any intention to adjust the visible cards before touching them, to indicate you are not taking one.

What are the other common rules of etiquette for Rummy?


texts: Should You Take "Your Opponent's" Sheep In A 2-Player Game?

texts:
As you may well have guessed by now I play a lot of online Agricola; here's a situation that comes up all the time.

If I'm the second player, and sheep come up as the round one action card, quite often my second action will be to take starting player, take 2 Clay at the beginning of round two, positioning myself to get an early Fireplace and score a sweet 6-8 Food in round four.

Obviously this is a powerful sequences of plays and if left unchecked sets you up quite nicely to expand without food worries in rounds five through seven.  Nevertheless, I'm always quite surprised at the alacrity with which most of my opponents like to take the sheep in response to my building a Fireplace, obviously having to release all but one into the wild.

I feel like I'm continually soundly beating the players who "waste a turn" depriving me of sheep; obviously I'm not overjoyed to be losing a few "free" Food, but equally I'm delighted that my opponent has spent a crucial early turn doing virtually nothing except trying to annoy me.

My question is simply, have I miscalculated the value of the sheep-stealing move?  If you are playing an opponent who aggressively takes 2 Clay and builds a Fireplace hoping to celebrate the first Harvest with an enormous sheep barbecue, would you spend an action taking sheep from under his nose and why?  Can anyone effectively break down the pros and cons of such an action for me?


texts: Can you choose to discard a card you don't have?

texts:
In "Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle", sometimes there are effects that say: "each player chooses to either discard an item card or else take two damage".

If you don't have an item card, can you choose to discard an item card and not suffer ill effects?

If you're stunned, can you choose to take two damage and not suffer ill effects?


texts: Does "Stink Bomb" damage the Paladin when he is the first hero?

texts:
Can the Paladin get damage from the Trap card "Stink Bomb" if he is the first hero when activating the Trap?

I don’t have the exact card text, but from my memory (translated from the German edition) it says:

Move the first hero to the last position (unless it’s a Paladin).
The new first hero gets damage.

As the card says "new", it could be argued that it doesn’t damage the Paladin. The Paladin was and is the first hero, so he isn’t new at this position. Is this interpretation correct?


texts: What is the meaning of this Joseki continuation?

texts:
In games against Leela with 7 handicap stones, Leela (white) plays the following variant of a well known joseki (knight move approach with one space pincer)

$$W
$$ ----------------------
$$ |...................|
$$ |...................|
$$ |.......X.XXX.O.....|
$$ |...X...xOOOX...X...|
$$ |......a....O.O.....|
$$ |..........1....X...|
$$ |...................|

The usual continuation of the joseki I have in my books is white a. However, Leela often plays white 1 and takes me out of book here. What is the meaning of white 1 in this situation? How should black continue? Should he tenuki?


texts: Cluedo with bonus cards. Does move anywhere card let you interact with the place you entered?

texts:
I own a Cluedo version that has some bonus cards, which are collected by ending your turn in a red question mark on the board. These bonus cards are: Bonus question, Make someone reveal a card, move anywhere, add six to your dice roll, take a sneaky peek, and take an extra turn.

My confusion is mainly about two cards: Add six to your dice roll, and move anywhere. The description of the other cards is pretty obvious; but what about the 'move anywhere card'? Am I allowed to move anywhere and interact with the place I have moved to? For example:

It is my turn and I drew a 'move anywhere card', can I move to another question mark and take another bonus card? Can I move to any room and make an accusation? Or am I only allowed to move (which could be very pointless, given that somebody else could move my character throughout the next round).

How about the 'add six to your dice roll'?

Both possibilities seem odd (if you are allowed to interact with the place you move to, then these cards are almost the same as 'take an extra turn'), but which one is correct?


texts:
I used to play regularly on KGS but have been inactive for several years. I am frustrated by the Catch-22 of the KGS system: in order to play rated games, you must have a solid rating. Solid ratings come from playing many rated games.

Does anyone have advice for an enthusiast who wants to play competitively online? Where should I go and how do I establish a rank?


texts:
My wife is interested in playing Warhammer Fantasy. We've tried to work out what army she'd like to play (we went through all the pieces on the GW website,  and she picked out these ones she likes the look of), and she actually wants to make an army from multiple different armies.  A mix of wood elves,  dwarves,  dark elves.... Etc.

We haven't invested in the rule book yet,  nor any pieces,  but I was wondering if this was possible (in the rules, or by house rules)  before we pick it what to buy. It's likely that she'd only be playing against me,  if that makes a difference.


texts: What exactly does it mean to "cast" a spell?

texts:
For example, Door of Destinies reads "Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen type-" what triggers this effect?

If I have Door of Destinies out and play Akroan Crusader, I know that would count, as would playing a equip card on it, also activating Akroan's ability.

But say that equipment card has " {R}: equipped creature gains +1/+1 until end of turn" does that activate Akroan's ability? Also, does the activation of his spell (and equip spell) trigger door of Destinies?


texts: Can a clue giver let team know they are almost right?

texts: Can a clue giver let his team know that they have the right word, but he wants a different form?  For example, the team players respond with “symphonic” and the word is “symphony”.  Can the clue giver say, “that word is right” and then gesture to keep trying other forms by rolling his hands?


texts: What happens when you blink a cipher-ed creature?

texts:
if I have a cipher ability encoded on a creature, and I cast a Restoration Angel, thus exiling and returning the creature to play, does the creature still have the cipher ability?

How about creatures returning from the graveyard (undying ability)?


texts: Does Effect veiler negate Decode Talker's ability to negate effect veiler?

texts:
Decode talker is on the field
Effect veiler is played during your opponents main phase 1
Does Decode talker lose the ability to tribute a card and negate effect veiler?

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Decode_Talker

Gains 500 ATK for each monster it points to. When your opponent activates a card or effect that targets a card(s) you control (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 1 monster this card points to; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Effect_Veiler

During your opponent's Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can send this card from your hand to the GY, then target 1 Effect Monster your opponent controls; that face-up monster your opponent controls has its effects negated until the end of this turn.


texts: Moment of selecting a target from an ability of a planeswalker

texts:
I have a Nissa, Vital Force at 3 loyalty in play and I know she will die next turn so I use her -3:

  Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand.

Can I return my Nissa, Vital Force from my graveyard with this ability or do I have to choose a target before the game checks if she has 0 loyalty and puts her in the graveyard?


texts: Can I use treasure to pay for a counterspell?

texts:
Many cards, including Depths of Desire, produce colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."

I have three Treasure tokens and a Cancel in my hand. My opponent plays a creature - can I sacrifice a Treasure token to pay the cost of the Cancel?

The way I see it, the Treasure token's abilities would go on the stack after the creature spell does, so I wouldn't have the mana for Cancel until the stack resolves and the creature is summoned. The only way to play it would be to sacrifice the treasures preemptively before my opponent tries to play the creature. Is that correct?


texts: Mishra's Factory - Rarity and Peasant/Pauper Legality

texts:
So, I'm getting my feet wet with Peasant Magic, and wanted to know what exactly Mishra's Factory counts as in terms of rarity.

For those who don't know, Peasant is an inofficial constructed format allowing cards from all expansions - the only limitations are that you aren't allowed to use rares, and your deck may only contain a maximum of 5 uncommons. If it was ever printed as uncommon or common, you can bring it along.

Now, there's this card called Mishra's Factory that I'm really fond of, and that I'd like to include in my deck. Mishra's Factory is listed as uncommon, and as such can be used. So far, so good.

But:

The rarity of one of its alternative-art prints is listed not as (U1), but as (C1) instead - which is weird because they're from the same set, and any later reprint too is listed as uncommon.

 VS

Now, here's my question: Is this particular old print in fact common? And as a consequence, does that mean I may freely run a full playset of Factories in Pearsant (or Pauper, even) without using up my uncommon slots on them?

If anyone could clear this up a bit, they'd be more than welcome.


texts: Is there any way to stop someone from sacrificing a Golden Urn?

texts: My friend had a Golden Urn on the board with 10 counters on it.  If I destroy it and he sacs it in response to gain the life, is there anything that can be done about that?  Like, can I put another destroy artifact on the stack to resolve before his sac resolves?


texts: When a creature that produces tokens is countered, does it still produce tokens?  I.e. if  Wurmcoil Engine is countered before it hits the battlefield, does it still produce tokens when it goes into the graveyard?


texts: Creating small flat bottom holes in plastic models for magnets

texts:
I want to insert and glue 1/16" diameter rare earth magnets into holes I create in my plastic models. The purpose of the magnets is to make it easy to swap weapons/options on my Warhammer 40K models.

Regular twist drill bits leave a wide concave hole in the plastic, making it difficult to glue a magnet flush to the bottom of the hole.

Forstner drill bits create a flat bottomed hole (with a small concave hole in the center), but only down to 1/4" diameter holes.

Brad point drill bits create a flat bottomed hole (with a small concave hole hole in the center and a depressed ring around the hole) down to 1/16", but it seems brad point bits below 1/8" are not a "true" (?) brad point bit.

I have two cascaded questions:
1) does a 1/16" non-true brad point drill bit provide a good-enough flat bottomed hole for 1/16" diameter rare earth magnets?
2) if not, what is a workable method to create 1/16" diameter flat bottomed holes in plastic?

Update 2 Oct 2012: The root problem I am trying to solve is magnets being pulled out of their holes after gluing. I originally thought I had a tool problem (concave hole causing lack of contact surface area between magnet/glue), but CaulynDarr and Affe's comments point to a likely process problem. Experimentation and tenacity on my part will solve that. Thank you for your comments!


texts: Reanimating a creature with X in its cost

texts: Say I reanimate an Apocalypse Hydra using Rise from the Grave. How strong is the hydra?


texts: Sacrificing as part of a command, to fulfill other costs?

texts:
It is covered well in other questions that sacrificing one creature cannot fulfill the requirements for two abilities that are both activated abilities (have 'Sacrifice a creature: do something', like Falkenrath Aristocrat), or other costs ("As an additional cost to cast Altar's Reap, sacrifice a creature"), but can cause multiple triggered abilities (like Zulaport Cutthroat's).

However, there's one other type of sacrifice that some cards call for; when you're commanded to ("Target opponent sacrifices a creature" as in Cruel Edict), or optionally "may sacrifice" (like Brain Gorger).

Are those "commanded to" or "optionally may" actions costs (and therefore must have a creature sacrificed specifically to it and no other cost), or some other sort of trigger?

A complete example: I have a Falkenrath Aristocrat and a Bane Alley Blackguard in play. An opponent casts Cruel Edict on me. Can I sacrifice the Bane Alley Blackguard to the Falkenrath Aristocrat's ability (she gains indestructable for the turn and a +1/+1 token), and have fulfilled the requirements for what Cruel Edict needs me to do?


texts:
With Dark Ages cards only in play, what are some strategies for dealing with a deck clogged with ruins (assuming that each player has an equal clogged deck)?

The only strategies that seemed effective in playing DA is using a Storeroom (only promising a minimum of $4), Altar (which is nice because it trades Ruins for Duchies or good actions, but can be hard to raise the $6 with a clogged deck), or Beggar (when you have 5 coin in hand, using a Beggar adds 3 Copper immediately to the hand, giving you $8 for that province).

Any other ideas for effectively dealing with ruins, with only Dark Ages cards in play?


texts: Putting creatures into play in alternative ways to summoning them

texts:
Cards like Quicksilver Amulet or Sneak Attack allow me to put creatures into play.

I wonder if the following statements are correct:

Cards put into play this way cannot be countered in an ordinary way; such as with cards capable of countering summoning spells, such as Remove the Soul, or with a generic counter such as Cancel when summoning a creature by paying the mana cost, as usually happens.
It is possible to counter the respective activated abilities of the two cards above - for example, in the case of Quicksilver Amulet, with Rust; or in the case of Sneak Attack, with Trickbind.
Countering the activated ability in such a way will prevent the “putting into play” of creatures, even when is explicitly reported on their card text the phrase "[this creature] can't be countered", like Kavu Chameleon, or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
If Emrakul is put into play with the ability of Quicksilver Amulet or Sneak Attack, the text of the card  that reads "When you cast this spell, take an extra turn after this one" will not apply, so the player who puts Emrakul into the game will not be able to have an extra turn, since he has not materially "cast" it.


texts: What extra roles have you used with Werewolves?

texts:
The standard game Werewolf, has just a few roles: Citizen, Werewolf, Witch, Cupid, Hunter, Seer, Thief.  I know there are lots of other roles created.

Which roles do you use and what is the impact.

Default Roles

Citizen, cast a vote during the day.
Wolf, citizen, knows other wolves, chose each night a victim to eliminate from the game.
Witch, has two potions, each night the witch knows the victim of the wolves. She has one potion to save a victim and one to poison another player (hopefully a werewolf).
Cupid, choses two players the first night. These are the lovers. The lovers know each other and they have to survive together. If one dies the other dies too. If a werewolf and a citizen are lovers, they have to kill the others to win.
Hunter, if the hunter dies, he choses another player to die with him.
Seer, the seer can query a players role each night.

Other roles

Executer, during the voting, the executer can present himself and execute another player. Voting continues afterwards. The executer can execute only once.
Priest, if the votes are counted, the priest can present himself and use holy water on the victim. If it is a werewolf or the witch the victim dies, else the victim lives. Priests can have one or more bottles of holy water.
Guardian Angel, each night a guardian angel can protect a player. This player cannot be eaten by the werewolves. The guardian angel cannot protect himself.
*Alpha Werewolf *, this werewolf, can select another player to become a werewolf. This can happen only once.
Soul mates, soul mates are citizens that know each other. They can't become werewolves, if the Alpha werewolf tries to convert a soul mate, the attempt is failed.


texts: 1970s code-cracking game, similar to Mastermind

texts: I am trying to identify a 1970s game similar to Mastermind, which involved cracking a code consisting of a few numerals. I believe the name was something like Quikwit, or Kwikwit - I'm uncertain of the spelling. As with Mastermind, I think solving attempts were 'scored' with pegs.


texts: Munchkin Booty: is there a time limit for "Not so fast me bucko"

texts:
Is there a time limit in which the Not so fast me bucko card must be played.

The card text reads as follows:

  play this card Immediately after a card is drawn or played.

I drew into a low level monster which if i had beaten it would have won me the game, the other two players i was playing with discussed between themselves and worked out if they could play enough bonuses to stop me winning.

After discovering they didn't have enough between them one of them played "Not so fast me bucko" to prevent me from drawing the monster.

My argument was that the card states it must be played immediately where as they spent over a minute working out what they could have done.

Their argument was that immediately just meant before another card is played.


texts: Can a blocking creature fight? How is damage dealt if it dies?

texts:
As the title says, can a blocking creature fight? If so, what happens if the blocking creature dies before damage is dealt? How would damage be dealt during combat?

Example: Creature A is a 2/2 and it is blocking creature B, which is also 2/2. Before combat damage, I cast an instant forcing creature A to fight creature C, another 2/2, so that both A and C die.


texts: How to complete a district in Ticket to Ride London?

texts:
The rule says:

To complete a District, a player must link each Location with each other Location in that District, in no particular order.

Therefore my understanding is that the white player has successfully completed District 5. Am I right?


texts: In King of Tokyo advanced play, does the monster in Tokyo Bay move into Tokyo City if the Tokyo City monster yields?

texts:
Then the attacking monster would enter Tokyo Bay unless both spots are yielded and attacker enters Tokyo City?  This is important because when monsters are eliminated and there become fewer than 5 players, the rules state that the monster in Tokyo Bay vacates their position leaving only Tokyo City occupied, so the exact location of a monster in Tokyo becomes relevant at that point.

The rules state

  After a Monster that is not in Tokyo attacks, it must take control of Tokyo if either Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay are unoccupied or abandoned. If there is a choice, Tokyo City must be occupied first.

If Tokyo Bay monster doesn't take over, then there could be a scenario where the monster in Tokyo City dies because of a card leaving only 4 players and the monster in Tokyo Bay would be forced to leave, leaving Tokyo unoccupied.

Again quoting the rules

  If a Monster is eliminated and that
  brings the number of Monsters
  below 5, Tokyo Bay can't be occu
  pied anymore. The Monster in it
  must leave Tokyo.

It seems to make more sense that Tokyo Bay monster would move to Tokyo City, but it is not spelled out.


texts: Can "Phantom Knights's Sword" Prevent a monster from being destroyed because of "Call of the Haunted"?

texts: So let's say I use "Call of the Haunted" to summon a monster from my GY. Then I equip "Phantom Knights Sword" to it. So now that monster gains 800 ATK and if it were to be destroyed, I can destroy "Phantom Knights Sword" instead. If "Call of the Haunted" is destroyed, however, then the monster I summoned with it will also be destroyed. But can I still use "Phantom Knight's Sword" to prevent that monster from being destroyed? And if yes, then what happens to "Call of the Haunted?"


texts: Newbie go question: why can I do one move but not the other one

texts:
I am playing with SmartGo and I don’t understand one situation.

I am playing as Black.

$$Bcm82
$$ +---------+
$$ |O.O.OX.X.|
$$ |OOOOOXXXX|
$$ |.OXXOXXO.|
$$ |OOOXXXXXX|
$$ |COOOOOXXX|
$$ |2XO.OOOX.|
$$ |XXXOOXOXO|
$$ |nXOOOXXXO|
$$ |1XXO.XyXO|
$$ +---------+

Why am I allowed to play at G1 (marked y), but not at A2 (n)? I am surrounded by my own stones in both cases.


texts: Descent (Nerekhall expansion) bleeding mechanics

texts:
The bleeding condition reads:

"(One action): Discard this card or token. For each other action you resolve while you have this card or token, suffer 1 (one fatigue)"

Should "each other action" be interpreted to mean that every 2 actions my hero takes, the effect of bleeding is applied? Or should "each other action" be interpreted to mean that the effect of bleeding should be applied once to every action that is not the above noted "discarding" action?


texts: MTG Rhonas the Indomitable + Saving Grace

texts:
What happens if I cast Saving Grace on Rhonas the Indomitable after attackers are declared?
Does Rhonas block all damage even if the conditions are NOT met aka : don't have another creature of power 4?
Rhonas's deathtouch/indestructable combo seems perfect for blocking any creature dmg


texts: What's the difference between a tactic and a strategy?

texts:
Some people consider tactics and strategy to be distinct (as they apply to boardgames), while I regard them both as "structured methods and plans to win".

Are they distinct? And what are the differences? (I'm aware of the difference between tactics and strategy in the military).


texts: Can I discard clues from the Cover Up card when at a location with no clues?

texts:
When you would discover 1 or more clues at your location: Discard that many clues from Cover Up instead

This implies to me that I must be at a location that has at least 1 clue, even though the clue effectively is taken from Cover Up.  Am I able to use this at a location with no clues at all?  It seems at that location I would not discover a clue had I not had Cover Up so I cannot do that.


texts: How many units do you use to attack a dead zone in Axis and Allies?

texts:
How many units do you use to attack a dead zone territory? Is there a formula or computation that can be used to discover the optimal number of units to attack with?

Consider the Eastern European front with Russia holding Karelia and Germany holding Eastern Europe, with the Ukraine as a dead zone (3 IPC). Presume Karelia has sufficient infantry support to resist a German invasion and vice versa, and that the only sort of attacking that's going on at this stage in the game on this front is the tit for tat taking and retaking of Ukraine.

Now, say it is Russia's turn and that they have, say, 25 infantry in Karelia and 2 fighters and Germany has one infantry in Ukraine. How many troops does Russia attack with given two fighters? What if Germany has two infantry in Ukraine? What if Russia has only one fighter?

I'm curious if there is a general formula for ascertaining the optimal attack ratio. Using a calculator like this one seems a necessity, but what sort of likelihood of winning the attack do you aim for? 60%? 80%? Higher?

Thanks


texts: Blackjack: If you're insured, and bust, do you collect on the insurance?

texts:
In Blackjack, if the dealer's initial draw reveals an Ace, players are allowed to "insure" against a dealer having a natural blackjack.

If the dealer turns out to have a natural blackjack, the player collects a 2:1 payout on the insurance - so that you don't wind up losing your bet!

Here's the specific scenario I'd like to understand: Imagine that you're a blackjack player who has $1,000 in chips:

You bet $200 (so you have $800 left).
Cards are dealt, dealer shows an Ace.
You buy insurance (cost: $200; you now have $600 in-hand).
You hit, and your hand busts: you've gone over 21.
Dealer reveals their hand, it's a natural blackjack.

Which of the following outcomes would apply?

Outcome A: You don't collect your insurance, because you busted. You have $600 in-hand.
Outcome B: You collect insurance, even though they busted. You now have $1,000 in-hand.


texts:
House of Music guild card states:
"Whenever you use the Tavern, you may also capture a monster from the Forest or fight a captured monster."
Witch's Hut location states:
"Use the ability at the Location of the King's Guard"

So, do I get to capture/fight a monster when using the Witch's Hut, and the King's Guard is at the tavern? I don't know if "use the ability" and "use the location" are synonymous. (Normally' it's irrelevant, because you can't separate the two ideas.)
This Q/A is related, but not the same.


texts: Can Termi-Nation Unity's power be used if you don't have a Mechanical Golem in play?

texts:
The variant Termi-Nation Unity character card has the following power:

Reconfigure
Power: Shuffle a Mechanical Golem from play into your deck. Move a Mechanical Golem from your trash into play. You may draw a card.

There was debate at our table about the first sentence. We were in agreement that if an Mechanical Golem is in play, you must shuffle it into your deck (since the text was worded as a command). However, we had two conflicting interpretations about what happens when a Mechanical Golem is not in play:

If you don't have a Mechanical Golem in play, you can't continue to the rest of the text (thus you can't use this power).

If you don't have a Mechanical Golem in play, you just ignore that sentence (or think of it as a command that has no effect) and continue on.

Which interpretation is correct?


texts: Why first strike wouldn't work in a single fight?

texts:
I've been playing on Android Magic 2015 game and noticed that first strike damage aren't dealt in a single fight (with Hunt the Weak for example).
Is this a bug in the game or is there a rule that prevent first strike to apply in this case?


texts: It is not a Checkers variant, nor did it originate in China, how could this name possibly make sense?


texts: Can King Macar the Gold-Cursed be tapped without attacking?

texts: So a buddy and I were playing a game of Magic that turned out to be a really quick game because he got King Macar, the Gold-Cursed out on the battlefield early. He was tapping it without attacking because of its obviously awesome ability but I don't know if you can tap a creature for its Inspired (untap-triggered) ability without attacking for it to then be tapped. Are you allowed to tap a creature whenever you want?


texts: Can flip effects be in response to something?

texts: I cast a spell that would destroy my opponent's face down creature, and in response she flipped it to trigger its flip effect. Can she do that? I thought you could only do that as a Flip Summon during your Main Phase.


texts: Can an Adaptive Automaton trigger Champion of the Parish's ability?

texts:
If I have a Champion of the Parish in play and play an Adaptive Automaton, choosing human, does the Champion's ability activate?

I believe it does since

the declaration of human occurs "as the AA enters the battlefield", not "once the ..."
the declaration takes place immediately and is not stack based (per gatherer ruling)
Champion's affect reads "whenever a Human enters the battlefield"

Thus the AA is a human when it enters the battlefield.

Can anyone clarify this more conclusively?


texts:
For years I've been trying to remember what game was this I played as a kid mid-1980's.

It had a huge board and within the board there was a road. The board tiles were drawn stone-like. There were also cards involved but I can't remember any mechanics.

What I remember the most are the player pawns, that were made of hard, shiny plastic in vivid colours and had the shape of sheep. Given that it was played in a Christian environment, I think it was some sort of Christian-focused game, but I'm not 100% sure if that was the purpose of the game.

The sheep pawns were rather simplistic and had only two legs and the body looked like rings together.

Thing is that I would love to have them but people don't seem to remember that game.

It's not any farming game, nothing with the word "sheep" in the title and it's not a pre-scholar game. I was the only kid among a group of young adults.


texts: Can the owner of the largest army move the robber every turn?

texts: Someone told me that in catan the possessor of the largest army card can move the knight each time it is their turn.  Is this a common house or tournament rule?  I could find no such statement in the rule book.


texts: Is pawn promotion to rook or bishop something that is seen in play?

texts:
Reading What is the proper Algebraic Notation for a pawn being promoted? made me wonder whether pawn promotion to rook or bishop ever happens.  The only time I can think this might happen is when promotion to a queen would provide stalemate.

Are there any other situations where one might choose a rook or bishop over a queen (or knight)?  Secondly, has this ever been a case where promotion to a rook/bishop gave an advantage in an actual game?


texts: How does playing for "survivor" work in a Diplomacy tournament?

texts:
I've never seen the following happen in an informal game, but tournaments appear to be different.
There, a player that is "hopelessly" lost may make a deal with another player to hand over all but one of his supply centers in exchange for being able to survive with one center (e.g. Italy is allowed by Turkey to "strand" an army in Tunis in exchange for handing over his "homeland"). In informal games, Italy would just declare civil disorder and resign/leave.
Most of the props go to a "solo" winner, but apparently some tournaments allow points for people who are still playing (not in civil disorder) when one person reaches "18." Other variations of "survivor" means that Turkey promises not to take Italy's last supply center before a certain date, thereby allowing Italy to finish with a higher standing.
How do the above arrangements work in various tournament formats, exactly?


texts: Is there a strategy for consistent winning in the base dominion game with the base setup?

texts:
I've just started playing dominion a little while ago, so I'm pretty new. I get the basic tactics (big money, deck thinning, don't buy copper, etc.) and I do ok when the kingdom cards vary. However, when playing the "basic" game [moat, cellar, village, workshop, woodsmith, militia, etc.] I can't ever seem to win and I don't understand why. No one is playing militias (I've tried them to disrupt others strategies...to no avail)

We play "tournament style" where you can pick your first 2 cards to purchase.

Maybe my initial buys are not so good?

I usually start out with smithy+silver, and then pick up a mine when I get my first $5. From then on I usually do: $2=cellar, $3=silver, $4=silver, maybe one more smithy, $5=market, maybe silver, $6-7=gold, $8=province.

Basically I'm trying to do some variant of "smithy big money" but it isn't working out so well.

Does any one have a consistent strategy for the base game that works?


texts: How to counter BOOM! + Breaking News + 24/7 News Cycle?

texts: How a runner could counter BOOM! based combo (BOOM!, Breaking News, 24/7 News Cycle) in the corp's deck?


texts: Amulet of Sun artifact: lasts one turn, or the whole round?

texts:
Amulet of Sun reads

  If played during the Night, ...

It doesn't say whether it lasts just one turn, or the whole Night (one round). Which is it?


texts: How to apply the effect "You may treat all Constructs as Mechana Constructs" in Ascension game?

texts: Could I treat any Construct in center row as Mechana Construct and accure them acquire it as a Mechana Construct?


texts: Can I cast Tactical Advantage multiple times on the same creature?

texts:
I'm new to Magic the Gathering. I have a question about Instants and Tactical Advantage:

Target blocking or blocked creature you control gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

Am I allowed to use 2 Tactical Advantages in a row on the same creature on the same turn, if I have enough mana? So I'd bring my creature up +4/+4.


texts: Volatile Rig blocks Xathrid Necromancer: What happens?

texts:
My opponent has a Volatile Rig in play. The Rig has some silly coin flipping abilities:

  Whenever Volatile Rig is dealt damage, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, sacrifice Volatile Rig.

  When Volatile Rig dies, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 4 damage to each creature and each player.

I attack with some creatures, including a Xathrid Necromancer. He blocks the Necromancer with his Rig.

When we get to combat damage, the Necromancer is going to die, and the Volatile Rig is going to take damage, triggering its first ability. I'm going to get a 2/2 zombie off the Necromancer's ability.

  Whenever Xathrid Necromancer or another Human creature you control dies, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped.

If the Rig blows up, will I possibly lose my zombie to the second ability of the Rig? Or do I get the zombie after all the Rig abilities have resolved?


texts: Voracious Wurm and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: Which trigger happens first?

texts:
Here's the situation:

Trostani, Selesnya's Voice is in play (Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you gain life equal to that creature's toughness). Then, Voracious Wurm is cast (Voracious Wurm enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the amount of life you've gained this turn).

Which trigger happens first?

Gain 2 life, then the wurm enters play with 2 +1/+1 counters, or
The wurm enters play with 0 +1/+1 counters, then gain 2 life


texts: In a multiplayer game, who can see a player's revealed hand?

texts: If a player reveals their hand in a multiplayer game, does everyone get to look at the player's hand, or only the controller of the ability that forced them to reveal?


texts:
Sometimes when the table is large enough, or people don't want to reach too far, a single draw pile is split into multiple draw piles.  This has always bothered me.

Does it bother anyone else?  Are there any statistical reasons to not split the draw pile?


texts: In Go, is there any aji left in this corner enclosure (3-5, 4-4, 6-3), and if so, how can it be invaded?

texts:
I often see the following three stone corner enclosure made in high level games, when the player wants to further secure his corner.

This enclosure does not appear on the sensei's library page for 3-3 invasions:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?AllAbout33PointInvasion%2FDiagrams

Does any aji remain for white to invade this position in some way?  If so, what is the best way to invade it, and what is the expected result?


texts: Is there a Magic card that rearranges the stack?

texts:
I'm thinking of a card that can do this:

I have Niv-Mizzet, Parun on the battlefield.
Opponent casts Aether Gust on Niv-Mizzet. Niv-Mizzet triggers.
Usually the trigger would resolve before Aether Gust. Instead I cast [mystery card] (or activate [mystery ability]) which rearranges the stack to make Aether Gust resolve first, which allows Niv-Mizzet to draw itself.

Does the mystery card/ability exist? Using the Scryfall database, I'm not getting results for the words "rearrange" and "stack", but it's possible I'm looking for the wrong words.


texts: In Phase 10, can a Skip card be played in the first round of a hand?

texts: Can a Skip card be played before all the players have had at least one chance to play? Or can it be played at anytime?


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

texts:
Left hand opponent opened 1 heart. Partner doubled for takeout. Right hand opponent passed. I "had to" bid 2 clubs with something like (S) xxx (H) xx (D) Jxxx (C) Jxxx.

We were doubled for penalties, and went down five, (vulnerable) after partner partner laid down:

(s) Axxx (H) Kxx (D) Kxx (C) Qxx

In defending the takeout double, partner said, "I had 12 points and four spades. That's a standard takeout double."

I said, "I need 14 points for a vulnerable takeout. I don't even consider your hand worth 12 points (even though technically that's the case), because of the 4-3-3-3 distribution." What bothered me most about the double was not the minimum point count, but the "stranded" king, and three cards in the opponents' suit.

Give partner a better distribution by changing her hand to  something like: (s) Axxxx (h)--- (d) KQxx (c) Kxxx, and I wouldn't have complained. Because all her "values" would have been OUTSIDE the opponents' suit, for offense, not defense. (FWIW, Kaplan and Rubens evaluates this hand as 15 points, and the actual hand at 11 points because of the flat distribution and stranded honors. That's true, even though the traditional Milton Work count for both hands is 12 points.)

Was partner right to make the double? Or was I right to protest it? Is vulnerability the deciding factor? In either case, why?


texts: Ancient One Yig's reckoning Effect Spawning 1 cultist

texts:
Part of Ancient One Yig's's setup is to set aside 6 cultist monsters. Yig's reckoning effect is Spawn 1 cultist monster on the active expedition space.
My question is what happened if I ran out of the set aside 6 cultist monsters? Meaning all of the 6 cultist monster is still on the board.


texts: What's the best strategy to win a tic-tac-toe variant on a 5x5-board?

texts:
First: We assume that every player is playing at its best

Rules 5x5 board

Player 1 begins and puts every turn one cross “X”.

Player 2 puts every turn two circles “O”. They don’t have to be next to each other.

A player wins as soon as he has five of his pieces in a horizontal or vertical line.

We also agree that player 1 “X” wins if the board is completely full.

What is the best strategy for each player to win the game?


texts: Mairsil, the Pretender Out of Battlefield abilities

texts:
Does Mairsil, the Pretender ability work on activated abilities that are not reliant on being on the battlefield?
Or is his second ability only in effect while he-himself is on the field?

For instance Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow activated keyword Commander ninjutsu? Or Reassembling Skeleton?
(If either is a bad example please use a better example of an activated ability usable from another zone, hand, graveyard, etc.)


texts:
Everyone loves the Diabolic Tutor:

But how many tutors is too many? If I'm running a mono-black or black-heavy deck, is there any reason to not just put in four Tutors? What are the possible downsides?


texts: When choosing cards for a deck, one of the most important things to consider is the number of land you put in. The biggest issue is mana curve, of course. What shortcuts are best for determining the proper amount of land with a given mana curve?


texts: What card should I play when my partner has bid nil and I can't follow suit but do have Spades?

texts:
Setup:

My partner has bid nil or blind nil. The player to my right led the trick, and I can't follow suit, but have one or more Spades in my hand.

Possible situations:

I know my partner has no Spades left.
I know my partner has no card of the led suit left, but may have Spades.
I don't know whether my partner has any Spades or led suit cards left.

My response:

Play my lowest Spade. I know that this will allow my partner to get rid of any high cards.
Play my highest Spade. My partner may have a Spade, so playing high will allow them to play their high spades to get rid of them.
Play my highest Spade. My partner may have or may not have to follow suit, or may or may not have to play a Spade.

Is this a valid (i.e. good) strategy? How would additional knowledge of what cards have been played affect my strategy?


texts: How many epidemic cards to use with the Bio-Terrorist challenge?

texts:
I've had Pandemic and On The Brink for a while, recently we tried giving the Bio-Terrorist challenge a go. We weren't sure how many epidemic cards to use.

For the standard game (no purple cubes but using the role cards from On The Brink) we usually use 5 epidemics and with experienced players win probably about half the time. As the Bio-Terrorist I suggested using 5 epidemics, but the other 2 players wanted to use 4 so we went with that. In the end I won quite early on when the first epidemic card caused a massive chain-reaction.

So, is the Bio-Terrorist variant harder than the standard game? The other players thought so, as you have a 5th disease to deal with. I'm not so sure as the purple disease is quite easy to cure and the cards that the Bio-Terrorist draws and discards ought to lessen the impact of epidemics.


texts: If an effect destroys multiple creatures, in what order are they destroyed?

texts: If I use a card like Gateway to Dis to destroy multiple creatures, how do we decide in which order they are destroyed, what effects can be applied, and in what order they land in the discard pile?


texts: How do you determine the winner of a hand?

texts:
In Texas Hold'em poker, there are some cases where a particular card, often called kicker, acts as a tiebreaker between players to determine who wins the pot, or if the pot has to be shared.

For some combinations such as three or four of a kind, there is no doubt: the kicker is the 5th card of the chosen combination, and determines the winner.

Example

  Alice has 7 and 10
  Bob has 7 and K
  On the board are 7, 7, 2, 3, 4

In that case, both have a three of a kind. But because Bob has a king and Alice only a 10, he wins.

Most of poker websites explaining the rules clearly mention the role of the kicker applying to three of a kind and double pairs. But much fewer say something about colors, straights and full houses, and I found many contradicting answers. I also asked the question to some used online poker players and they also gave me contradicting answers.

I have tried to search for official tournament rules, but most of them only explain what happens with bad behaviors, bad deals, incorrect or confusing betting, showing cards when you shouldn't, acting when it's not your turn, etc. without mentioning subtleties about combinations at all.

To simplify my question, I will take three examples; I think it's better to start with examples before getting to the general answer if one exists. So, what's happening in the following 3 examples? Could you give a more generalized answer?

Example 1 - Flushes

  Alice has 2♣ and 3♣
  Bob has 4♣ and 5♣
  On the board are 6♣, 8♣, 10♣, 2♥, 5♦

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the highest card included in the flush is the 10, which everybody chooses to include in their 5 showdown cards.
Contradicting answer 2: Bob wins, because he has the greatest private card that is part of the flush

Example 2 - Straight

  Alice has 6 and K
  Bob has 6 and J
  On the board are 4, 5, 7, 8, 10

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the greatest card in the straight is the 8 for both Alice and Bob
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins, because she owns an extra king, compared to the jack of Bob

Example 3 - Full house

  Alice has 3 and 7
  Bob has 3 and 6
  On the board are 3, 3, 2, 2, 5

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because one is supposed to choose only five cards to make a combination, and a full house is already five cards. There couldn't be any kicker, and thus their showdowns are strictly equals.
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins because of her extra 7, compared to the 6 of Bob

Thank you very much for your answers.

Note: I'm unable to post next to you, so I edit my own post; strange not be able to answer to an answer.

Ok, So if I summarize what you are saying :

In the flush case, Bob wins because at some point, their hand differs. Technically, I can continue comparing the highest private card to decide who wins. I had it correct.
In the straight case, if the highest card of the straight is public, then it's technically always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (asuming that only one of the two cards was part of the straight).
In a full house if both players have the same triplet and the same pair, it's always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (assuming again that only one of the two was part of the full house).

Please confirm me that what I summarized is correct.
Thank you for your answer.


texts: Are there any published games of Bobby Fischer as world champion?

texts:
Between the World Championship Match against Spassky in 1972 and his rematch against Spassky in 1992, Bobby Fischer played no tournament games, not even to defend his title.

Are there any published games in existence played by Fischer during this period?


texts: Parasite + Wyrm combo - is it an insta-killer?

texts:
Wyrm has the following text:

  1[Credit]: Ice has -1 strength.

Parasite has the following text:

  Host ice has -1 strength for each virus counter on Parasite and is trashed if its strength is 0 or less.

If I understand this correctly, if I place a Parasite card on an ICe's, and use Wyrm's (somewhat expensive) ability to lower an ICe's strength, I can bring it down to 0 and then Parasite will kick in and kill it. Am I missing something?


texts: Ambiguous mission objectives and scenarios

texts:
In the newer form of Mission Risk (link), where each player has 4 mission cards of varying difficulty, there are a number of ambiguities that are not covered by the manual. After an exhausting (if not exhaustive) search of the intertubes for an official stance on mission objectives (particularly relationships between similar missions), I have landed here to seek advice.

Overlapping objectives

This is when different mission cards can be fulfilled (in part or in full) from actions taken to complete other missions.

This was brought to a head in my last game, where I had the following 3 missions: "Conquer 4 territories", "Conquer 1 territory on 4 continents" and "Take 1 territory from each opponent". Do these objectives need to be completed independently, or can a single conquest count towards each mission?

I was tempted to say that they were, but, in another recent game, I had "Control 2 continents" and "Control 3 continents". If treated the same as the first example, that's nearly the entire map and therefore way more difficult than almost every other mission.

Update (2012-01-30): Using the 3 Mission Cards from the first paragraph, let us say that in my opening turn I manage to conquer 4 territories on different continents, all owned by different players. This fulfils the objectives of each Mission Card. Am I entitled play all 3 Mission Cards over the next 3 turns?

Is there a distinction between the two types of mission other than their relative difficulty, and if that is the only distinction then how is the line drawn?

Sparse reinforcements

Also in a recent game, I had the mission "Gain 18 reinforcements this turn" (played after gaining reinforcements). I gamely attempted to suggest it might be possible to play this mission after eliminating another player and playing the captured territory cards for further reinforcements.

My argument went that it satisfied both criteria of being "after gaining reinforcements" and occurring within "this turn" as specified by the mission description.

Nobody else agreed and I accepted that it was a stretch, but I'm keen to hear thoughts.

Eliminated players

Somebody other than me tried to claim that a player eliminated that turn (by them) should count for the purposes of the "Have twice as many territories as any 1 enemy". This was swiftly rebuffed. Edit: We assume an implied equal-to-or-greater-than for all quantity-based missions, so the mission in question would, for practical purposes, read "Have at least twice as many...".

In short, any general rule or standard that could be consistently applied to any combination of overlapping/ambiguous mission combinations would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Do Dunwich monsters get removed from gate closings?

texts: When a gate is closed, do matching monsters in Dunwich get removed? I'm aware the monsters in Dunwich do not count toward the monster limit  as the vortices handle that dynamic. I would think the gate closing does affect all monsters across both boards.


texts:
In this game, when you land on the hospital space, you must pay half your salary to the doctor or to the bank.

There is no further clarification about this issue. So what if there is more than one doctor playing? they divide the amount received?


texts: Is there an optimal swing die value for Changeling VS Iago?

texts:
Button Men is played until one player wins 3 rounds. For the first round, Swing Dice selection is done in secret. On following rounds, only the player that lost the round is allowed to change it's value.

Changeling: dX, dX, dX, dX, dX

Iago: d20, d20, d20,dX

Swing Dice (dX): Values for X may be any number between 4 to 20 inclusive, including nonregular dice like 13 or 7 sided dice. If a character has multiple dX dice, the value of X must be the same for all dX dice.

Is there an optimal swing die value for Changeling, and if so what is it?


texts: Order of enter the battlefield effects in multiplayer (Warp World)

texts:
In a four player EDH game, Player 1 casts Warp World. Each player begins by shuffling their permanents into their library. Player 2 has a Banisher Priest on the battlefield, which currently has a Yarok, the Desecrated, owned by Player 3, under it. Next, everyone reveals an amount of cards from the top of their library equal to the amount of permanents they owned. They put all artifacts, creatures, and lands onto the field, and after that, enchantments. Then they put all cards not put onto the field onto the bottom of their library. Player 1 flips, among other cards, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, and Faithless Looting. Player 2 hits Solemn Simulacrum and Panharmonicon. Player 3 flips Murderous Redcap, Panharmonicon, and Solemn Simulacrum. Player 4 hits Harvestguard Alseids, Doomwake Giant, and 4 enchantments.

What is the order of resolution on abilities?
Can Enchantment Creatures be put out AFTER other creatures during the enchanment phase of flipping? Or must they be put on the battlefield at the same time as other creatures?

Assumed:
If possible, the Murderous Redcap will target Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, to attempt to stop him from putting the Faithless Looting in his graveyard after it goes to the bottom of his library.

Player 4, if possible, will use Harvestguard Alseids to keep Player 1's Grenzo alive.

Player 4, if possible, will have Doomwake Giant enter the battlefield as an enchantment

The order of play is Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, Player 4.


texts: You have to discard, but have no cards in your hand

texts: If I play a spell that makes an opponent discard a card, but they have no cards in their hand, would they have to discard those cards from their library, or would nothing happen?


texts: Skulk Hollow: what information is available in a discard pile?

texts:
Knowing what has been discarded already can be beneficial to both players.
Is the rulebook maybe going with a standard definition of "discard pile" that I'm not aware of?
This sponsored how-to video shows it as having the top card visible. But I'm thinking that might just be for the sake of the camera frame, and conciseness. (i.e. Rodney didn't feel a need to explain this.)


texts: Leading from the wrong (nondummy) hand in bridge

texts: While playing bridge you were supposed to lead from the dummy's hand, but you pulled a card from your hand by mistake. After putting it back in your hand, do you have to play the same suit when you play from the dummy hand?


texts: Can I get a go and last card when opponent is out of cards in cribbage?

texts: My opponent runs out of cards during pegging, I have 3 left, can I get a go and then last card?


texts: Where can I find the value of cards from the Dragon Ball Z Trading Card Game?

texts:
I've got a bunch of old Dragon Ball Z Trading Cards from 2000-2004 that I'm trying to find values of, but I can't seem to find anywhere that gives me prices for any of these old cards. Is there somewhere I can go to find old card prices?

I've found sites like RetroDBZCCG, but it only shows images not prices.


texts: Has anyone made regular-themed version of the Star Trek Catan role cards?

texts:
I see that "Star Trek" catan has some extra role cards, which add a new element to the game (and are the only things that do).  I'd like to try these, but I don't really like the "Star Trek" theme, and it's expensive.

Has anyone made some printable versions of these cards that fit the original Catan theme?


texts: How can I use chess piece value to balance my homemade TCG?

texts: I want to make use of the chess piece value to make 2 decks equally strong and Powerful. I have read the full article on Wikipedia but it didn't helped at all. Can one of you suggest a way to use it to balance a deck?


texts: Where can I find the rules for Word Thief?

texts:
I recently inherited a handful of games from a family member. One of those games happened to be Word Thief. When I sat down to play, I realized that the rulebook had been lost or was not included in the box. Is there anywhere that I can go to find the rulebook for this game?

The publisher appears to be Faby, which doesn't seem to have any sort of web presence.


texts: Does "whenever a creature attacks" count for each attacker separately?

texts:
Hissing Miasma is an enchantment that says:

  Whenever a creature attacks you, its controller loses 1 life.

Does the attacker lose one life per attacking creature?


texts: If you buy a house at "auction," can you put it on any property?

texts:
A housing auction occurs when there is a housing shortage, and people want to buy more houses than there are houses available. Then houses are auctioned to the highest bidder.
My question occurs under the following scenario: Suppose you have the orange and navy blue monopolies (one cheap and one expensive). Normally, I would pay $100 a house for the ones I wanted to put on the oranges, and $200 a house for the one I would put on the navy blues.
But let's say we were short on houses so there was an auction whereby I bought the house for $300. Can I put it on New York Avenue, or must I put it on Boardwalk or Park Place, since $300 is closer to $200?
All other things being equal, I would put the house on the higher valued blue properties. But suppose Boardwalk/Park Place already had three houses each. Then the difference between the third and fourth house is $300 for Boardwalk. The oranges have only two houses each. The difference between two and thre houses is $380 for New York Ave. Would it then make sense to put the extra house on the "cheaper" property?
(In my question, I meant "can" in two different senses. The first one is "Is this allowed under any reasonable interpretation of the rules?" The second is, does this make sense under the scenario I have outlined?)


texts: Can you cast a creature with Bestow while you control a Steel Golem?

texts:
You control a Steel Golem, which says "you can't cast creature spells". Can you pay the Bestow cost on, say, a Hopeful Eidolon, and cast it as an aura enchanting the Steel Golem?

My reading of the rules is that you can't: Paying the bestow cost doesn't make the card into a (non-creature) Aura until after it's on the stack, and Steel Golem's restriction doesn't let you put a creature spell on the stack.

In general the ordering of steps in casting a spell is:

Choose a spell to play and place it on the stack.
Choose modes and targets.
Choose which costs to pay and pay them.

When applied to a Bestow spell, these become:

Place the bestow creature on the stack.
(No modes or targets to choose yet, since it's a creature spell).
Choose to pay the bestow cost.
The spell stops being a creature and becomes an Aura (702.102a).
The spell's controller chooses a target (702.102b).

But if "you can't cast creature spells", then you can't complete step 1, since your Hopeful Eidolon is still a creature. And (per 601.2) "If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal".

(The converse situation seems to arise with Aurelia's Fury, where a Bestow card is playable because it's not a noncreature card until after the Bestow cost is payed.)

Does this sound correct or am I missing something?


texts:
In Modern/American canasta can I meld with a canasta that contains wild cards if I also have a natural to meld with it?
For example, I have five J’s and two 2’s, and three 9’s.

Counting card points it is not enough points to make the initial meld, but as a canasta it would count as 300 points for the canasta and 30 points for natural.

Can a player make the initial meld with this dirty canasta?


texts:
In Warhammer Fantasy characters could join units to move and fight alongside them. In Age of Sigmar characters have different Warscrolls and there don't appear to be any obvious rules to allow them to do so. Is it possible?

The reason I ask is largely to do with battleshock, obviously if a character is part of a unit suffering battleshock then they have a higher bravery value.

So, in Age of Sigmar can characters join units?


texts: What are the rules for "Level Up" cards?

texts:
There are 5 cards that require you to spend some number of "Level Up" cards in order to play them. (DarkCannon, All About Endurance, Double Power, Infamous Dr. Wily, and Pink Pixel Brat)

The "Level Up" cards themselves come in 3 types - MegaMan, GutsMan, and Roll.

All of these cards were only distributed through tournament participation rather than through the regular card sets. Perhaps for this reason, I did not see any mention of these "Level Up" cards in the rulebooks, so I do not know how they are meant to be played. The Level Up cards have no text on them to explain how to get them into play.

I am looking for a complete explanation of the rules for these cards. This would include any deck building restrictions, when and how the Level Up card comes into play, and what happens when it is spent for another card's effect.


texts:
Dealer opens 1D and Partner responds 1H.  Dealer then rebids 2NT.
What does Dealer's 2NT rebid mean? Opponents have passed throughout.


texts: What happens to other Auras on a Creature enchanted with bestowing, when the Creature dies?

texts:
Case in point:

Ill-Tempered Cyclops has the Auras of (bestowed) Thassa's Emissary and Aqueous Form.

Then the Cyclops changes zone (returned to library, hand, gets exiled or moved to graveyard by any means necessary).

Would I be correct to presume that the Aqueous Form goes to graveyard (like Auras do) and Thassa's Emissary stays on the battlefield as a creature (like Enchantment Creatures do)?

(Questionable interpretation being that the Aqueous Form stays on the "new" creature of Thassa's Emissary)


texts: When resolving Extract, do I need to know what card I'm looking for?

texts:
Extract is a Sorcery which reads:

  Search target player's library for a card and exile it. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

Which option below, if either, is equivalent to the actual card text above?

Name a card, and then look through opponent's library for it. Exile a copy if any are found in the library. Opponent shuffles the library afterwards.
You may look through opponent's library; exile any card of your choice. Opponent shuffles library afterwards.

In short, do I need to know what I am looking for?


texts:
I am looking for some information about a pokerlike game where 2 cards with numbers from 1 to 60 are dealt to each player and and bets are related to number representing an average number from of all not dealt cards. I only heard once what this game is about, I don't know the name of this game. I am trying to get some info about it.

Do you know what are the name and rules of this game?


texts: Has black’s moyo already given them an advantage

texts:
Playing white against the Linux programme kigo1, I (c. 6 kyu) reached the following situation, which seems typical of my games with it: (unfortunately one can only put 10 moves in a diagram, so I have split the game into three; the first two diagrams are at the end)

$$Bcm21 21-29
$$ ---------------------
$$ -???...??...????????-
$$ -???...??...????????-
$$ -???X.O?.O.X???X????-
$$ -???,.....,.????,X??-
$$ -??X..8....9????????-
$$ -??..........???????-
$$ -??..........????X??-
$$ -..7..........??????-
$$ -.............??????-
$$ -..O,.....,....?,X..-
$$ -??............1....-
$$ -??..............O..-
$$ -??O.........6....??-
$$ -??...........??????-
$$ -??...........???O??-
$$ -??O,X....,..???,???-
$$ -???OX?5..X.O???O???-
$$ -???423???...???????-
$$ -????..???...???????-
$$ ---------------------

Counting roughly and conservatively the fairly definitely claimed points of territory (shaded) I estimate that I am about 22 points behind, on my move. I give kigo about 89 points (18 top left + 64 top right + 7 bottom middle) and myself about 67 (5 top middle + 22 bottom left + 40 bottom right). This is roughly consistent with the final result3.

This analysis seems to mean one of three things, each of which leads to a follow-up question:

(A) I have already fallen behind badly in the fuseki.

If so, where did I go wrong so soon? (See earlier moves below.)

(B) I am overestimating black’s moyo (or other territory).

If so, how should one estimate such territory, and how does one reduce it2 from what it looks like?

(C) My move is worth 15 to 20 points (depending on komi).

If so, which move could be worth that much?

So my question is: which of these is the case, and what is the answer to the follow-up question?

While I am not uninterested in other comments on this game, what I really want is to understand better how to cope with a moyo strategy such as kigo appears to deploy.

Earlier moves

$$Bcm11 11-20
$$ ---------------------
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...X.8..2.9...1....-
$$ -...,.....,.....,X..-
$$ -..X................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -................7..-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -..0,.....,.....,5..-
$$ -...................-
$$ -................6..-
$$ -..O................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -................O..-
$$ -..O,X....,.....,...-
$$ -...OX....3.4...O...-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ ---------------------

…

$$Bcm1 1-10
$$ ---------------------
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...3...............-
$$ -...,.....,.....,1..-
$$ -..5................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...,.....,.....,...-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -..0................-
$$ -...................-
$$ -................6..-
$$ -..4,9....,.....,...-
$$ -...87..........2...-
$$ -...................-
$$ -...................-
$$ ---------------------

Notes

1 kigo 0.5.6, a KDE programme by Sascha Peilicke available with SUSE Linux. It appears to be roughly my strength when set to its maximum level (10), or maybe a little stronger.

2 How do I chose invasion or reduction points? sounds relevant, but seems to be more about invading a rather more solid territory.

3 In spite of some blunders on my part.


texts: What are examples of Go played on non-flat surfaces, like on a sphere?

texts:
I know there was some thought put into how Go looks or feels like if it's not plaey on a flat, rectangular surface, but the surface of a 3-d object like a sphere or a donut. I'm mostly interested in:

How is the grid mapped to the surface, so that every node has 4 neighbors (the number of neighbors is important for how hard it is to capture stones)?
What does the absence of a border and corners mean for the game?
What are variants that are actually taken seriously as a game and played, and not only seen as obscure applications of weird topologies?


texts: Which battleforce should I buy as a newbie player?

texts:
After playing some Mordheim games we decided with my friends to buy a Warhammer 40k battleforce and start playing Wh40k. I started reading all the codexes/forums but I feel a little overwhelmed with information. What I would like to sort out is which battleforce should I choose as a newbie? My friends will buy Dark Eldar and Tau battleforces and we agreed that for start we all should buy one.

I ruled out a lot of factions since I don't like them and these are the remaining ones:

Imperial Guard (Catachan)
Necron
Space Wolves
Dark Angels (Ravenwing or Dark Vengeance pack?)
Grey Knights (maybe?)
I also like Tau but I don't want to play a Tau vs Tau game

I'm not trying to choose against Tau and Dark Eldar but something which fits my playstyle:

I usually like to play long ranged hard hitting units with little focus on melee (I know it is necessary but I like kiting tactics more). I also like units with troll (fun) factor. For example the Necron Reanimation Protocol is one of them. I also do not like horde-like factions like the Tyranids (and IG possibly).

If nothing changes I will buy Necron but I'm just not sure at the moment.


texts: International rules for a king how many moves can the king take if there are no opposition pieces to jump?

texts:
We started to place international rules and just watch a video on youtube that seems to indicate, that a king cannot move unlimited spaces if there are no opposition pieces to jump. Is this correct?

Second question, Is my assumption correct in as much that once a king has jumped one or more pieces in one direction, that after jumping the last opposition piece the king can be moved beyond the last jump piece to any square beyond that will allow the king to take another direction if there is an opposition piece that can be jumped. Is that correct?


texts: Can other pieces capture a threatening piece and prevent a checkmate?

texts:
Total beginner here. I have a board setup that an app I'm using to learn described as a "checkmate" -- see below (the white pawn just moved below the rook and is threatening the king):

If I were playing black, I know I cannot capture the pawn with the king, as I would placing my king in check.

But: Why can't I use the rook or the queen (right next to the threatening pawn) to capture the pawn and get out of the check?

For example:

Keep the king where it is.
Use the rook to capture the threatening pawn.


texts: Traditional 1-stone handicap before komi

texts: In "traditional" handicap, when there is a ranking difference of 1, black plays first and there is no komi (Sensei's Library uses this term). But if you play without komi anyway, this is no handicap. In the days before komi, how was the 1-stone handicap handled? Or did the weaker player just take black, and handicap started at two stones?


texts: starving venom fusion dragon with venom swamp

texts:
When I was playing yugioh dueling nexus I wanted to make a venom deck but when I played starving venom fusion dragon it still lost attack and defence from venom swamp. The card does not say its not treated as a venom monster so I was confused on why it was still effected by venom swamp can someone tell me why? i didn't use its effect either. they negated it with skill drain.
venom swamps effect

During each player's End Phase: Place 1 Venom Counter on each face-up monster, except "Venom" monsters. Monsters lose 500 ATK for each Venom Counter on them. Destroy a monster if its ATK becomes 0 by this effect.

starving venom fusion dragons effect

2 DARK monsters on the field, except Tokens
If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can make this card gain ATK equal to 1 opponent's Special Summoned monster, until the end of this turn. Once per turn: You can target 1 Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, this card's name becomes that monster's original name, and replace this effect with that monster's original effects. If this Fusion Summoned card is destroyed: You can destroy all your opponent's Special Summoned monsters.


texts: If I cast Perilous Research and I choose to sacrifice my Chromatic Star, can I sacrifice Chromatic Star and get one mana and also draw two cards?


texts: Does order matter when drawing player cards? (Efficient to Sequence + Epidemic)

texts:
One of the positive disease mutations in Pandemic: Legacy is Efficient to Sequence.  A disease with this mutation is cured immediately when a player discards the correct number of cards.  The rules note that this doesn't have to occur on your own turn.  (For example, another player can, on his turn, give you the last card, and you can immediately cure the disease if you are at a research station or don't need to be.)

How does this interact with drawing player cards at the end of the turn?  If one of the cards you draw is the last card you need then clearly you can cure the disease -- if you can do it on someone else's turn then you can do it during the draw phase of your own turn too.  But what happens if you draw the last card you need and an Epidemic?  There are three possibilities:

cure the disease first
resolve the epidemic first
process the cards in the order drawn

The order matters if there are currently no cubes of that color on the board -- curing the disease would also eradicate it, so the epidemic city wouldn't gain cubes if of that color.  (I realize this is a corner case, but the question has come up in our group.)


texts:
In X-Wing, there are several ships (such as the Y-Wing) which use ion canons.

The description says:

  If this attack hits the target ship, the ship suffers 1 damage and
  receives 1 ion token. Then cancel all dice results.

Assuming the target ship has shields is the damage dealt to the target ship's shields or it's hull?


texts:
I'm playing an online game of Agricola right now and we've just reached Round 14.

I have a 3-room Wooden Hut with 4 Family Members in it, and a Reed Hut containing my fifth token. I have also played the Church Warden.

Obviously I'd quite like to convert my Reed Hut person into a Family Member for 3 extra points this turn, but what is the interaction with the Church Warden?  I see at least three possibilities:

(1) I can use the Reed Hut person to carry out a Family Growth action at any time, at which point he converts to a newborn.  Would get +3 VP from the Church Warden.

(2) I can only use the Reed Hut person to carry out a Family Growth as my fifth action of the turn (in the unlikely event that Family Growth Without Room is still available then!), at which point he converts to newborn.  Would get +3 VP from the Church Warden.

(3) I can use a Family Member to carry out Family Growth at any time but this will immediately wipe out my Reed Hut person.  I won't get VP from the Church Warden and all I will have achieved is saving myself 1 Food.

Is anyone confident enough to offer a definitive ruling for this corner case?


texts: If I build the Builder's Chambers at the same time as someone builds his first wonder stage, should he be charged?


texts: Why Valki returns stolen card even after the transformation?

texts: Why Valki returns stolen cards even after the transformation? It is obvious, why Valki returns the stolen cards without the usage of its activated ability. But after becoming a copy of one of the stolen cards Valki loses its text with "... until Valki leaves the battlefield"?


texts: Do all expansions have to be bought in pairs to maintain playability for 3-4 players?

texts: I've read that Arkham Horror the Card Game can support 3-4 players if you purchase an additional copy, but does this mean that to continue to play with 3-4 players, every expansion would need to be purchased twice (including the mythos packs as well)?


texts: Which Axis and Allies Game Takes the Least Amount of Time to Play?

texts: I have A&A Europe.  I generally just play with one other person.  The problem is that the game takes so long to play that we rarely play - because it takes so long.  Do different editions take more or less time to play?


texts:
It seems that 1980 was the all time peak year for board wargaming, and Baltimore was the center of the industry and hobby. I gather that there has been a tradition in the U.S. of game stores providing in-store play, so presumably there would have been many stores in Baltimore at that time with people hanging out playing war games.

Is there any information on such available these days? I've been able to find some articles on games and companies from those days, but not on stores. The ideal would be detailed firsthand accounts, but even fragments like store names would be interesting.


texts: Good tips for first-time Power Grid players?

texts:
Disclaimer: I know there's already been some discussion on this topic, but I'm going to ask the question anyway because I've never played the game before, and thus, have yet to use my copy of Power Grid in the context of actually playing the game.

What are some general tips for people who have never played before to get started and have an actual idea of what they're doing in Power Grid? Also, what are some tips for explaining the game to people who have also never played the game before?

P.S. Sorry if this question seems like it's been asked before (and thus, horribly redundant), and altogether a dumb question


texts: Breaking ICE - exactly how should strength be treated?

texts:
Sorry if this is quite a basic question, but I've reviewed the rule book a few times and haven't been able to answer it myself (although I appreciate that doesn't mean the answer isn't there, but I've just not been able to find it!).

When a Runner encounters a rezzed piece of ICE, that ICE has a numeric strength and perhaps a number of subroutines (as well as encounter events/abilities, but those are not relevant to my question). I think I understand that when it comes to the subroutines, as long as they are either broken or do not include "End the run" as an effect, the Runner is not prevented from proceeding past the piece of ICE, but I'm not 100% clear on how the strength of the ICE factors into this.

I know that the Runner must have an installed Icebreaker with at least the same strength as the ICE being encountered in order to be able to interact with the ICE (and therefore break the subroutines). But my question is: Does the type of the Icebreaker need to match that of the ICE being encountered to be able to use the strength to gain access to interact?

So for example, if the Runner has an installed Mimic icebreaker, which has a strength of 3 and the ability to break Sentry subroutines, can it be used to gain access to a non-Sentry piece of rezzed ICE which equal or lower strength, with a different icebreaker (with a strength lower than that of the encountered ICE) then used to break some/all of the subroutines (or not, if the Runner is happy to let the subroutines run)?


texts: Can items be added to the stack after it has started resolving?

texts:
I've been working on streamlining the rules for the abandoned TvTropes TCG project, but the description of the "Stack" system confused me greatly since  the stack so rarely sees actual use in Magic (disclaimer: I am not a magic player, but I have passing familiarity with it, and have also recently been reading columns on it by the designers to help with this project), in opposition to the Yu-Gi_oh! chain system, which is central to countering in that TCG.

Basically what happens in TvTCG is that once top item on the stack resolves, players get to respond to the action, resulting in a potentially "branching" stack (all players get to potentially counter an action in turn), whereas the YGO chain is strictly linear, once things start resolving they must all resolve before new items can be added.

So my question boils down to: a) is the MtG stack "branched" in any comparable way? and b) is any comparison with the stack useful in regard of its obscurity in actual play?


texts: Can anyone tell me what the name of this 2 pack solitaire game is called? I have played it since I was a child but would like to discover the full rules. It is much like standard one pack solitaire except the middle column can only be moved directly onto the ace piles. Other cards can just be moved into black and red sequences


texts:
We all know by now that Cheat only allows you to use items you would not usually be able to use.

Is there anything in the rules to stop you from giving Cheat to a Monster, and if not, is "being a Monster" a condition that Cheat circumvents?


texts:
I want to design custom laser-cut boxes to hold my Dominion sets, and I need to calculate how big a box is needed for each expansion. I can easily get the card dimensions online for height and width (91mm x 59mm), but if I'm going to put 500 cards in a box, I need to know how thick the stack will be.

I can't seem to find dimensions on the thickness of a stack. Does anyone know?


texts: Should I respond to 1 NT in a suit or NT holding 17 HCP and a void?

texts:
My partner opened a "strong" one NT. I am holding:
♠ void
♥ KJxx
♦ AKQxxx
♣ KJx

What should I bid?


texts:
What happens if I pocket my last c/m along with striker?
Opponent's n C/m are still on board.

Will I win with minimum n points?
Will it be a double-due?
Will I lose the game?


texts: Monopoly Deal Wild Property and paying debts

texts:
If a player has a wild property down and is charged a rent, are they able to withhold the wild card?

Specifically, if it is their last card, and they still owe, can it be kept?

According to this site, the wild cards have no value and cannot be used to pay debt...  however, does that mean a player gets to keep them if they owe and cannot pay otherwise?


texts: Which dual lands count as having the name of their respective basic land types for certain effects?

texts:
For example, let's take a look at Arbor Elf, which has the ability "T: Untap target Forest"

Which types of dual lands count as a Forest and thus can be untapped by Arbor Elf?

Is there a comprehensive heuristic I can use for this? I've never actually seen the rule anywhere and these lands never mention that fact, nor have I seen it in errata or card rulings. But apparently it's a thing because I heard it mentioned in forums and cards that mention basic lands have worked on some dual lands before in MTGA.


texts: What happens if I can't make a legal move?

texts:
If I am moving as Dracula it is possible for me to get into a position where I have literally no legal moves left.

For example: I could go to the Mediterranean Sea, go to the Tyrrhenian Sea, and then go to Cagliari. From that point, I do not have the cards to go to either Sea anymore, and there is no land location I can go to.

What happens?


texts: We are currently playing above game and card no. 59 is missing. Could anyone please post the text on the back?


texts:
I have the German version of the game so the card may be named differently in the original or might not exist at all. The card "Versicherungsvertreter" says under "bad things" that you lose items worth at least 1000 gold. If you don't have that much then you lose everything.

What does it mean by "lose everything"?

Lose all your items carried and still in your hand
Lose all your items and your entire hand
Lose every card in your possession
Lose every card and all your levels


texts:
I found this question but I am interested in a commercial or bulk printing company to print my game. The GameCrafter seems like the only solution but its rather costly per game to print which means I wouldn't see any profit.

I need a location where I can print the entirety of my game and have it assembled already when shipped. The only other places I can find that print cards are business card printing places or playing card printing places and neither of these will work since they only allow 1 design per order and I don't want to make 30 different orders since my game won't have the same amount of every card in them...

I'm interested in US based companies, but location in the US doesn't matter.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


texts: Could someone stay in market points more than one turn?

texts:
It's about the Timeline game from Cheapass Games.

Could a player stay on market points and somehow skip his/her turn for multiple turns, waiting for buying some goods for high value?


texts: Does Proliferate work with Energy Counters?

texts:
Can a players Energy Counters be increased using Proliferate?

This seems like it would be the case, as Poison Counters seem to work in a similar way.


texts: Axis and Allies 1942 SE First Turn Builds

texts:
I used to play Axis and Allies the original classic version a long time ago. I read Don’s essays about strategy and the infantry push mechanic here: http://donsessays.freeservers.com

But the game has changed so much since then.   With 1942 SE, there are new units, the map is different and the unit attributes and abilities are different.

Assuming standard rules and fairly standard opening moves, what would be the best first turn builds for each power?


texts:
We've just played a game of Fluxx, where the following occurred. There was a Draw3 and a Poor Bonus in play, so this player got to draw 4 cards. He then removed the Poor Bonus and changed the Draw3 to Draw4.

Option A: Since he raised the number of drawn cards, he needed to draw an extra.

Option B: Since the resulting rules require 4 drawn cards and he already had drawn that many he did not need to draw another.

So which one is it?


texts: Can you cast an instant damage spell between first strike and normal damage?

texts:
We had a situation occur in a game where my opponent had a creature with first strike, and I had one that didn't.

They attacked and I blocked, first strike creature did it's damage which didn't kill my creature, then before I was to apply damage my opponent tried to cast an instant which would have killed my creature.

Is this legal?

If the instant hadn't resolved I'd have killed my opponent's creature, but because we ruled that it did resolve before my creature did combat damage my creature died and her creature lived to fight another round.


texts: Where can I get good-quality boxes of custom sizes, so I can store my board games compactly?

texts:
I want to store Dixit Odyssey + another Dixit expansion in a box.
The original Dixit boxes are too big. Not convenient for transportation...

As I've searched around, and didn't find any suitable box, I was thinking of getting a box with the dimensions of my choosing. This would be helpful for many other games as well.

Are there specialized products for this? Custom-sized boxes, eventually with the option of defining separators inside of the box?

Which box types and dimensions should I be looking for to store and transport expansion sets of Dixit cards?


texts: Does token creation count as successfully casting a summon spell?

texts: My opponent wants to spam/create 500 goblin tokens while Soul Barrier is in play, does he take 1000 damage from Soul Barrier or do tokens when created not count as a creature summoning when generated.


texts: What should I know before my first MTG draft?

texts:
As a birthday present, I'm taking my cousin to a MTG draft at a local game store this weekend. I haven't really played Magic since Tempest block, but I've been keeping up with rule changes and so forth on this site. My cousin is in high school and has been playing casually with friends for a few months.

We're not expecting much victory, really just to have a good time. I've glanced at a couple questions about draft strategy, and I'll probably read up on BREAD, but is there anything else I should know? Things I should bring? Etiquette? Non-strategy-related tips?


texts: The spell temper (old card) effect in combat damage resolution

texts:
Temper prevents the next 'X' damage and puts 'X' +1/+1 counters on a creature.  Do those counters increase the damage done by this creature in the combat resolution step?
Also how does it interact with an 'Nomads en-Kor' style damage redirection or a Boros Reckoner?


texts: Does Ada Wong's Level 1 ability trigger Infected text?

texts:
In the Resident Evil Deck Building Game (base set), Ada Wong's level 1 ability allows her to look at the first card in the Mansion and choose to leave it on top or move it to the bottom. It is unclear whether the effect of the Infected would be applied or not, given that there is no actual combat.

Most of the effect text is obviously inconsequential; the Infected is neither defeated nor revealed so none of the effect text that triggers on defeat or reveal would apply anyway.  However, the Hunter and the Uroboros Aheri cards in the base set both trigger when the Infected in question is not defeated.

In particular, the text on the Uroboros Aheri card reads:

  If this Infected was not defeated, shuffle it into the Mansion

Although Ada's ability doesn't actually "defeat" anything, it's unclear whether the effect text applies at all.  If the card is placed on the bottom of the Mansion and the effect text is skipped entirely, that makes this the only way to guarantee the position of the Uroboros Aheri card without triggering a reshuffle, which just feels wrong to me.

So the question lies: Does Ada's ability bypass the Infected card entirely, effects and all, or would the effects still trigger (when applicable)?


texts:
I have a question about a particular combat scenario and it's going to need a diagram!

This is a scenario which came up in our game last week. My units are blue, I'm in the front and the flank of a single unit of 3 monstrous cavalry (bloodcrushers I believe). My champion from the unit at the bottom is engaged in a challenge with the champion of the Bloodcrushers.

In my last turn of combat the marked bloodcrusher was killed by my flanking unit. As such they are no longer in base contact with the enemy unit (and even if they were they would touch the champion and so couldn't hit the regular troop).

What happens in this scenario? We came up with several options but couldn't agree.

The flanking unit are released from the combat
The flanking unit move into base contact with the champion but due to the challenge they cannot strike or be attacked
The flanking unit moves into contact with the champion however they can only strike against the unit


texts: Name of this interesting variant of Tic-tac-toe?

texts:
A group of grad students and I regularly meet up at conferences. Often, we spend our coffee breaks between talks playing various suggested generalisations of common pen-and-paper games to see if we can find an interesting one. This has lead to some quite interesting games in the past such as connect 4 with changing gravity, and tic-tac-toe on more general surfaces (such as a cylinder and Klein bottle). A group favourite, which was suggested a few months ago seems to be an interesting variant of Ultimate Tic-tac-toe.

For want of a better name let us call it Spillage-tic-tac-toe or Spillage for short.

Before stating the rules I shall ask my question.

  Is the game Spillage a well-known variant of Ultimate Tic-tac-toe? If it is, is there a reference to the game being solved in the literature? If it is not, can any insight into winning strategies be offered?

I'll now attempt to give the rules of Spillage. I apologise for not including any images with the rules (which would help to illustrate certain game states) and if anyone feels like editing the question with such illustrations, you are encouraged to do so.

Spillage

Players: 2
Board size: 9x9 - separated in to 9 smaller 3x3 'meta squares' similar to Ultimate ttt.

We will label the 9 smaller 3x3 meta boards in the obvious way with the numbers 1 - 9 (using bold to indicate a meta square) reading from top-left to bottom-right, and the individual 81 squares by subscripts n_m to denote the m-th square in the n-th meta square. So for instance the four corner squares would be labelled 1_1, 3_3, 7_7, 9_9.

As usual, player O and player X alternate placing their respective symbols, O's and X's, on the board, with X going first, until a player wins or all available squares have been played in without a win (resulting in a draw).

There is no restriction to where a player may place their O/X (this is the first major deviation from Ultimate ttt).

When a player creates a line of three consecutive identical symbols anywhere on the board, if the central symbol is in a meta square which has not yet been claimed, then that player claims the meta square which that central symbol lies in. Chains of more than three consecutive symbols are considered to be separate instances of three-symbol chains, each with their own central symbol.

For instance, if no meta squares have yet been claimed, and the squares 4_2, 1_9, 2_4 all have O's in them, then 1_9 is the central symbol of the chain and so O claims the meta square 1 . If O later plays 2_2, then (if 2 has not been claimed yet), 2_4 is a central symbol and so O will claim the meta square 2 as well.

Once a meta square has been claimed, it can not be claimed by the other player. A player wins, when they claim a chain of three consecutive meta squares as in the usual tic-tac-toe. So, for instance if player O later claims 3 in the above scenario before X can win, then O has won the game.


texts:
Some cards in magic has something happen for each {something}. For instance: Alive // Well makes you gain 2 life for each creature you control. Tapping Selvala adds one green mana to your mana pool, and you gain 1 life for each non-land card revealed.

How is this life gained: all at once or "one bit" at a time? Say I tap Selvala and 1 land, and 2 non-lands are revealed: do I gain 2 life, or do I gain 1 life two times? Would Ajani's Pridemate have one or two +1/+1 counters placed on it if I had it in play at that point?


texts: Can a player swap more than 4 resources of the same kind with another player

texts: In one of the games I played recently, I was finally in competition with another player, the rest of the 2 players effectively having conceded. A 3rd player who I had a rivalry with swapped 8 lumbers for 1 sheep from the player I was in competition with, effectively helping that player win and finish the game in that turn itself. Is this kind of trade allowed according to the rules? I am sure it is something to be frowned upon, but I still wonder if it is possible to make the trade legally.


texts: In Dominion, what happens when you Ambassador (Seaside) a Hovel (Dark Ages)?


texts: Is it ever advantageous to pretend to be the "hidden" team if you are on the majority team?

texts:
According to this BoardGameGeek post, it is never advantageous for a “good” character to pretend to be part of the “bad” team in a social deduction game.

  every. single. time. you explain these kinds of games, you need to hammer the point home that it makes absolutely no sense to pretend you're a spy/fasist/werewolf/whatever when you're in fact a villager/good guy/liberal.

Talking specifically about The Resistance and The Resistance: Avalon (since they are more or less the same game), the "hidden" Loyalists are expected to pretend to be Resistance members and the "hidden" Evil characters are expected to pretend to be Good characters, respectively.

Is it ever advantageous to pretend to be on the a Resistance member and pretending to be a Loyalist, or being a Good person and pretending to be Evil? Or is this person correct: it is never worthwhile?


texts: How many units can a new factory produce?

texts:
Playing my thirty-year-old copy of Axis & Allies for the first time in 20 years...I recall a rule from my childhood that a factory that is purchased and placed during the game can only produce units during a turn equal to (or less than) its territory's IPC value. I.e. if the UK builds a factory in South Africa it can only output two units per turn.

Now I'm teaching my son and told him this rule, but can't actually find it in the book: is it a real rule? Was it released via some errata? Was it a commonly-applied houserule in the 80's/90's that I somehow internalized?


texts: Can I place a row of letters that makes multiple new words in combination with tiles already on the board?

texts:
player A makes LACE as a horizontal line play.
player B adds Y to make LACEY then puts E A vertically to make YEA down in the same play
I claimed that was not legal as it is two  turns in one. The other 3 players all disagreed and allowed the play


texts: Special Summoning After the Seal of Orichalcos

texts:
My question is this, after you activate the seal can you Special summon monsters from other places?

The Seal of Orichalcos destroys all monsters that you had special summoned when it activates and It specifically calls out that you can't from your extra deck.

  When this card is activated: Destroy all Special Summoned monsters you control. You cannot Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck.

However once the card has been out on the field can you Special summon again or is the effect continuous and would destroy any addition Special summoned monster?


texts: MTG. Using goblin chirurgeon's ability only for sacrifice

texts: I had a Goblin Sharpshooter, sixty-some goblin tokens, and a Goblin Chirurgeon on the field (all with haste). My opponent had an enchantment that kept me from directly attacking him (2 life or {W} for each attacker), so I wanted to use my Chirurgeon's ability ("Sacrifice a Goblin: Regenerate target creature") to kill a creature which will untap my Sharpshooter. Do I NEED a regenerate target to sacrifice a goblin?


texts:
I've heard of the Infinite Squirrel Deck, and it looks as though it revolves around Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest.

Is this the only distinguishing feature of an Infinite Squirrel deck?


texts: Are players who are turned into monsters by the traitor affected negatively by the house?

texts:
This question is predominately about Betrayal at the House on the Hill Haunt #27. Spoilers below:

  The other night I was playing Haunt 27, and I was too close to the blob at one point and was turned into a blob person (a specific monster determined by the haunt who gets its own speed stat and some limitations, but otherwise operates under the player's discretion).

At one point another player pulled the event card that required all players in certain rooms/near windows to roll a sanity check (I BELIEVE it was a sanity check, at least) to not be tempted by the howling wind and immediately move to the patio. I was one of the players that would be affected, and we were unsure as to whether or not my blob-person status would exempt me from having to roll.

Because the traitor book said my speed was now 2, does that mean I disregard my character card and ONLY have a speed stat and therefore don't have a sanity stat and wouldn't be able to roll in the first place? But as a follow-up, does becoming a blob-person (or any other player-turned-monster) now align you on the traitor's side so that the house doesn't affect you negatively in the first place? (Such as being able to avoid taking damage for falling through the collapsed room, etc.) We were split on this but I feel like the intention of the game is that you're now working for the traitor's side and the house will help you accomplish your goal without hindering your progress.

Any thoughts? Thanks!


texts: How exactly does Xenograft work, and not work?

texts:
The Blue Enchantment Xenograft (New Phyrexia) reads like this:

  As Xenograft enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.

  Each creature you control is the chosen type in addition to its other types.

Discussion on The Gatherer about this card is avid, complicated, and at times, contradictory.
What exactly does this card do? I was first under the impression that it affects all creature cards I control from the point it hits the board and continues to do so for the rest of the game. Then I was under the impression it only affected creatures that were in play at the time of its casting, and NOT creatures that come out later. Now I'm just totally confused and unsure about anything other than that I can obviously add creature types to some or all of my creatures, at some point or another.

Too much confusion. Someone set me straight! Specifically:

Does Xenograft apply to creatures that are already on the battlefield when it's cast?
Does Xenograft apply to creatures that enter the battlefield after it's been cast?
The Gatherer's details page says, among other things, this about Xenograft:

  Creature cards not on the battlefield and creature spells are not affected.

What does creature spells are not affected mean exactly? Aren't all creatures creature spells? I'm lost here.

Please go the extra mile if possible and cover anything I haven't mentioned here if it comes to your mind. I'm so lost with this card that I wouldn't be surprised if you end up answering questions I have that I can't even put into words yet.