texts: Can cards from an invalid meld be used in a subsequent valid meld?

texts:
This is a follow-up to my previous question here: Canasta and the rules on invalid melding

In Canasta, if the “partner” of the person who laid down an invalid meld after exposing her cards, now comes down with a valid meld, can she now use any of the cards in the “invalid” meld that are lying exposed?  Or are they only used for discards still?


texts: Ugin's Conjurant vs. un-preventable damage

texts:
If I had Ugin's Conjurant with 10 +1/+1 counters on it (and no other effects modifying its toughness,) and my opponent cast a Banefire for 5 damage on it, would +1/+1 counters get removed from the Conjurant, as well as the damage being dealt, killing the Conjurant?

Relevant text on Banefire:

  Banefire deals X damage to any target.
  If X is 5 or more, this spell can't be countered and the damage can't be prevented.

and on Ugin's Conjurant:

  If damage would be dealt to Ugin's Conjurant while it has a +1/+1 counter on it, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from Ugin's Conjurant.


texts: Does anyone recognize this monster family board game?

texts:
I am gonna drive myself nuts because I can not remember the name of a board game from my childhood. It would have been between 1993–1999.

The box was shaped like a creepy castle or house and there was a laughing skull piece (like it's eyes glowed and it had this evil laugh). All your player pieces were tiny brightly colored skulls and the family of the house was all these monsters (granny mummy, Lord Skull?, a little girl vampire, I think a cousin or uncle was a werewolf) I think there was a rubber spider too. You had to go through the house (which may have been the box) and there was a goop soup monster. It Actually came with a book explaining how the soup monster was made.

It had the same humor of The Addams Family or The Munsters but was like a niche or indy game.


texts: Do triggered abilities still trigger if the creature is tapped?

texts: For example if Falkenrath Noble was tapped and another creature dies then would his triggered ability still trigger or only if it was not tapped?


texts: Bang! 6 Player Problem - It's unbalanced one way or another.

texts:
My group has played a good amount of bang of the year. 6 player bang however always seems to be unbalanced no matter what we try.

We've taken the advice of a message board to shuffle randomly a outlaw or a renegade instead of the third outlaw. But that conflicts with robbers roost who can do actions given an unbalance in players.

We've tried two renegades, or two deputies, but either way it becomes really unbalanced in favor of the law.

We've tried better informed players where the renegade is strongly encouraged to play as the law until the outlaws are eliminated. This has proven to be the most effective. But our data tracking sheet is still showing a clear biast for outlaws to win.

Also we've tried giving the sheriff a built in mustang. This helps, but is much like the random renegade/outlaw where it's still unbalanced it's just random which way its going to lean. Because it's just a matter of luck if the outlaws are able to get a gun or not.

The only thing that seems to come close is a general rule that no one can shoot bangs against the sheriff on turn 1. This prevents the sheriff from getting jumped early and rallying the outlaws before the other two players have time (or cards) to respond.

Any one else have any suggestions for 6 player bang~?


texts: Does the event card "Build Master" force you to put the card back under the same pile as you choose to search in?

texts:
I have a Dutch version of the Catan card-game so bear with me a little regarding translation to English.

My question refers to the event card that allows both players to search through a pile and put back one card from their hand. This event card is called "Bouwmeester" in Dutch, roughly translates to "Build Master" in English.

The Dutch text on this card is unclear about whether, when you choose to take a card from a pile, you need to put back your card under the same pile or may put it back under any pile.

So what is the formal ruling of this event card?


texts: What happens if I tap a creature in response to Tolarian Kraken's ability?

texts:
Tolarian Kraken says:

Whenever you draw a card, you may pay {1}. When you do, you may tap or untap target creature.

Let's say I pay {1} and target my opponent's Merfolk Looter with this ability. Merfolk Looter has a tap ability, and my opponent uses it in response to my Tolarian Kraken trigger. Does my Tolarian Kraken wind up untapping the Merfolk Looter? That is, which interpretation of the ability is correct:

When you pay {1}, you have already chosen to switch the creature's state, so if it's tapped it becomes untapped and if it's untapped it becomes tapped.
You may pay {1}, and then when this ability resolves, you can choose if you want to switch the creature between tapped & untapped.

Somehow in a couple of games on Arena, my opponent's Kraken wound up untapping my creature even though it's to my benefit the creature is untapped. I'm not sure if it's because my opponent misplayed, or if #1 is the correct interpretation.


texts: Kess, Dissident Mage and adventure cards

texts:
I have a question about Kess, Dissident Mage and interaction with adventures cards like Brazen Borrower.
Example:
When I have my Brazen Borrower in Graveyard and Kess on the battlefield, can I cast Brazen Borrower for its alternate cost?
Instant - Adventure
Return target nonland permanent an opponent controls to its owner's hand.

If yes where does my Brazen Borrower go? To exile as an adventure (and I can recast it for its creature cost) or to exile by Kess rule?
I tried to search that on internet but there is nothing that explain why it is possible.
Thank you in advance.


texts: What are the limitations on pillaging and battling a region?

texts:
How many times we can pillage or battle each region without using the Tyr's Challenge card ("As your action, you may pay 2 rage to repillage an already pillage")?
Is there a limitation?


texts:
Partner/Declarer opens  1 club
  RH opponent overcalls 2 diamonds

Responder has a balanced 9 HCPs:

 S: K J x x
 H: x x x
 D: Q J x
 C: Q x x

Should responder bid or pass? If bid, what is appropriate?


texts: Is sharing your ports with other players legal?

texts:
Catan 5th edition.

Assuming I have a settlement on say a 2:1 sheep port.

Can I let others use my port in exchange for a small/no commission? If yes, are there rules governing when they might be allowed to do this? Are they restricted to use it only on my turn out can they also use my port on their own turn as well?

Is it mandatory for me to pocket a commission ( say 3 sheep for 1 ore, where I pocket the extra sheep)? Or may I let others use it on goodwill?


texts:
I have four Burning-Tree Emissary and one Firefist Striker on the field. My opponent is in his Precombat Main Phase. We are under Competitive Rules Enforcement Level (REL). The following actions occur in order.

My opponent taps three Swamp.
My opponent announces that he is casting Bile Blight targeting a Burning-Tree Emissary, which he points at.
Silence for three seconds.
My opponent taps two Swamp.
My opponents announces that he is casting Devour Flesh targeting me.
I immediately offer to let Devour Flesh resolve (because I am super excited that I now get the opportunity to sacrifice the target of Bile Blight).

Here is where the problem begins. My opponent tried to back out of his play by declaring that he had not yet paid the costs for Devour Flesh. I had assumed that the mana he produced from his swamps was going to pay for his spell, but he didn't explicitly say that.

What verbal and nonverbal actions must one take to pay the costs for a spell? Are there any weird exceptions like "I didn't take my hand off the card" or other? How can I confirm that a cost has been paid without being ridiculously annoying and tedious?


texts: How to summon Number C107: Neo Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon

texts:
My favorite method of summon is the XYZ summon. However there's a monster I've been struggling to summon: it's my Number C107: Neo Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon.

I found this card called Rank Up Magic Cipher Ascension that let's you use an XYZ monster you control to summon an XYZ monster who's rank is 1 higher. However this card only works on "Cipher" monsters.

Can I still use this magic card on Number 107: Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon to summon it's chaos form? Or do I need to find another method?


texts:
Here is a hypothetical situation I am wondering about:

  I have in play a Omnath, Locus of Mana and 500 Green mana in my mana pool.

  My opponent plays a removal spell on Omnath (Path to Exile, Doom Blade etc)

  In response I play a Vines of Vastwood on Omnath (Vines makes Omnath not targetable).

Rule 114.1 says that:

  targets are declared as part of the process of putting the spell or ability on the stack

So Omnath was declared as the target when the removal spell was played.  Is it too late then for my Vines of the Vastwood to save Omnath?

Or is there somekind of rechecking of the target before the spell resolves (I could not find it in the targeting rules section.)


texts: How can I balance mandatory quests in two-player games of Lords of Waterdeep?

texts:
I am looking for a variant to balance out mandatory quests when playing 2 player. I understand that normally they are powerful, and exist as a catch up mechanic, allowing all players to target the leader.

This does not work in a two-player game.  In a three-player game when a mandatory quest is played, the biggest winner is the player not involved in the play. In a two-player game the biggest winner is the player playing the card.

What I find bad is not that mandatory quests are powerful, but how weak all the other Intrigue cards are.  Instead of getting a boost, they are mostly weakened.  Cards that get you agents and points get you less.  Cards that give things to opponents, make you give things to "all" opponents.

This seems to make the game much more luck-based, as drawing mandatory quests is just so much better than any other Intrigue card.  This is the aspect that I really dislike.

One solution might be to create a dummy player. This player would always do what the person playing the Intrigue card wants, giving agents or VP for instance. I would like to know if there are any other ways that would balance the cards out better.


texts: Can Wall of Blood and Transcendence be used to gain infinite life?

texts:
Just checking to make sure I am correct about this interaction.

Transcendence on the field.
Wall of Blood on the field.
Life total 19.

Pay one life to wall, Transcendence trigger on the stack, pay another life, trigger on the stack, etc. Repeat until down to 0 life. Allow the top 9 triggers to resolve, putting me to 18 life and leaving 10 "gain 2" triggers on the stack. Repeat until infinite transcendence triggers are on the stack. Nature's Claim the Transcendence on the stack, allow all triggers to resolve.

Am I correct on this interaction? I see no reason why not, but one of my friends is skeptical.


texts: Why are the extension cards in separate stacks?

texts:
I recently purchased several extensions for Catan card-game and noticed that the manual says to put the cards of the extensions into separate stacks at the beginning of the game. Before reading the manual I expected that the extension cards would just be shuffled into the regular stacks, and therefore I was surprised to read about the separate stacks. Unfortunately the manual is not very clear on why those cards need to be in separate stacks. What is the reason for this? And what is the disadvantage of shuffling them into the regular stacks anyway?

More info:
I'm referring to this game (notice the table setup next to the box): Kolonisten van Catan Kaartspel  At the end of the page you can see that there are 5 extensions for this game.

My question refers to the manual of the extensions saying that instead of making 5 equal stacks of cards, now there should be made 4 equal stacks of the base game cards, and 2 stacks of the cards of the extensions. So that makes a total of 6 stacks of which 2 contain ONLY extension cards. In my opinion this is a strange rule as it allows a player to search either the base set or the extension sets. I would argue that mixing all cards together and make 5 equal stacks makes a nicer game. Now why is the rule not like this? Is there any disadvantage of making 5 mixed stacks anyway?


texts: If I cast a targeted removal spell like Path to Exile and all creatures have hexproof I actually wouldn't be able to cast it in the first place because all creatures have hexproof and therefore cannot be targets right? Or can I still target them and it just doesn't do anything.


texts: Is this a correct formal heuristic for invalid moves due to Ko?

texts:
In the game of Go, there is the ko rule, which basically states that immediately recapturing a single stone is not a valid move.

I am working on a Go computer program and am trying to implement the ko rule. For efficiency, I am satisfied with a more relaxed definition that aims at two goals:

It always prevents moves that would illegally recapture a ko
It never prevents moves that are legal

Currently, I go with:

  If in the previous half-turn exactly one single stone was captured, then it is not allowed to play at the position of this stone in the immediately following half-turn (by the other player).

This is relaxed because it does not attempt to detect that a ko is actually present, it is only concerned with preventing an illegal move. For instance:

$$B
$$ -------
$$ | . . . .
$$ | X X O O
$$ | X O 1 O
$$ | X X . .

This situation is not a ko, because there is no way to recapture. However, playing at the location of the captured stone is still an invalid move, because it would be suicide. I believe that one or the other (illegal recapture or suicide) always applies.

My question is if my heuristic fulfills the two stated goals. (I think it does.)


texts: Alternative to Dixit Odyssey voting boards+pegs

texts:
I recently bought Dixit Odyssey to enable more players at the same time. One thing about Odyssey that I absolutely don't like, is the new voting system with the cards and pegs. It's a lot harder to tell who's already placed a vote and we generally end up needlessly waiting for everyone to vote (when everyone already has).

We'd really like to go back to using upside down numbered tokens to vote with. Where can I get those for 12 players (in the right colors)?


texts: Are the gods of Theros considered creatures in my hand?

texts: For example if I have one god of Theros in my hand like  Xenagos, God of Revels Can I play it using a  Quicksilver Amulet even though I dont have enough devotion?


texts: Can I use Nissa, Steward of Elements, to put out a creature with {X} in its mana cost onto the field?

texts:
I've tried to find out the answer to this online, but haven't found anything that explicitly determines it.

The exact situation is that I have a Nissa, Steward of Elements with 9 loyalty counters on it.

I want to use her +0 ability to bring in a Hungering Hydra.

What can I choose the X to be? Since she mentions "converted mana cost" can I choose X to be 8?

The closest thing I've found for a ruling is the following ruling on Flash:

  If the creature has {X} in its mana cost, X is
  considered to be 0.

Does this apply to Nissa, even though she explicitly mentions converted mana costs (and Flash does not)?


texts: Quorum cards like "Inspirational Speech" - Difference between results

texts:
I just played my first game of BSG (solo using the official fully cooperative rules). I've got the german edition so my card names might be a bit off...

The card "Inspirational Speech" says something like:

Action: Roll dice. If you roll 6 or higher you get +1 Morale and this card is put out of play. Otherwise it has no effect and is discarded.

Now apart from gaining the 1 Morale, what is the difference of what happens with the card?


texts: Do you announce when you have lost due to Insanity?

texts:
I was playing mansions of madness 2nd edition and I got the 'selfish motives' insanity card. The next turn I became wounded, meaning I lost.

When this happens, do you announce that you have lost? Do you keep playing? It just seems odd playing as normal now that my character has lost


texts:
Scenario is  a 10/10 with trample attacks. Defender blocks with a 1/1 and plays smite

My understand was that in order for smite to work, the attacker must be blocked. If the attacker is blocked, then isn't damage already assigned?

Would the defending player take 9 damage and the 1/1 is destroyed? Or would the destroyed creature not deal any damage?


texts: What's the Usefulness of Prognostic Sphinx's Second Ability?

texts:
I have a question regarding Prognostic Sphinx and its second ability (as you'll probably be able to tell, I'm very new to this game).

According to its second ability, I can discard a card so that it "gains hexproof until end of term" at the cost of tapping it.

I don't know if I'm reading this correctly or not, but does this mean I can only tap it during my turn and my turn only, and as soon as my opponent begins his next turn, it becomes untapped, loses hexproof, and is therefore susceptible to spells anyways? If this is the case, what's the usefulness of this ability other than protecting it during my turn?


texts:
How does Words of Waste interact with Varina, Lich Queen?

Because you have to draw and discard that many cards.

so if you draw 3 and discard 3, can you only use 1 mana for Words of Waste, since the Varina's ability has to complete?

or can you draw cards. pay 1 for each card. then discard.


texts: Is a monster taking damage and a monster having its toughness reduced the same thing?

texts:
This post I authored months ago questions the use of the term "toughness".  I recently found a reference in the Strange Remnants expansion that states:

  If the active Mystery requires an Epic Monster to be defeated, place two Health on the card. The Epic Monster's toughness is reduced by one for each Health on the active Mystery.

The act of placing health markers strongly implies to me that it is to be treated as if one did 2 damage on the monster, yet the wording here clearly states that the markers reduce the toughness of the monster and do not necessarily do damage.  This makes me question whether my original post regarding whether toughness was a measure of max or current HP was concluded incorrectly.  The only way it could be valid is if this treatment of Epic Monsters when advancing mysteries is explicitly different from the normal course of doing damage to monsters, which seems less likely, given that I haven't found any actual supporting documentation that clarifies that toughness is max HP.  Thoughts?


texts:
Case scenario:

Player 1: (9 points total)

3 cities (6 points)
3 hidden points

Player 2: (9 points total)

3 cities (6 points)
1 village (1 point)
longest road

Player 3: (9 points total)

4 cities (8 points)
1 village (1 point)

It's turn of player3, he puts 2 roads and a village, which 'cuts' the longest road of player2, which gives the longest road award to player1 (+2 points for him out of his turn)

In his turn, player3 reaches 10 points. But player1 has 11 points (3 of them are hidden points)

Who wins?


texts: Is there any backstory to the different races in Warhammer 40K...?


texts: Are gods treated as creatures before they enter the battlefield?

texts:
Gods, such as Purphoros or Mogis, are not creatures if your devotion is not high enough.

Does this count when casting them? If, for example, an opponent tries to counter with Essence Scatter when the player casting a god doesn't have the required devotion, is the god a valid target?

Or, if Purphoros is on the battlefield and the controller tries to cast another god, for which they don't have the required devotion, do opponents suffer the 2 damage?


texts: Can you have an aura attached to an aura that is itself attached to the first aura?

texts:
This question was inspired by this post on /r/BadMtgCombos.

In the post, the user makes use of three copies of Feedback and Aura Graft to get Feedback 1 attached to Feedback 2, Feedback 2 attached to Feedback 3, and Feedback 3 attached to Feedback 1, creating a "Feedback Loop".

Is it possible to remove a Feedback from this bad combo, and have two Feedbacks attached to each other?


texts: STD. AMERICAN - 2 over 1, Bidding with a 5 card major and 16 points

texts:
A question on which i think the Jury is still out - With a 5 card Major and 16 points - lets say 5-3-3-2 do I open 1 NT or bid 1 of the major.  And how do I show my partner a medium hand if I do open 1 Spade.  With a 5-4-2-2 I could bid 2 hearts as my 2nd bid but with a 4-5-2-2 I couldn't even do that as I would be reversing - which normally shows 17-18.

And if I bid 1NT then do I need to be playing Puppet Stayman?

Many thanks for your time and patience.


texts: In Settlers of Catan, is there a transition/evolution between "building" and "development" phases of the game?

texts:
By "building," I refer to those activities such as roads and settlements that are heavy on wood and brick requirements.

By "development," I refer to those activities that require the other three commodities, ore, grain, and wool, such as buying cities and development cards.

Is it possible to be "too good" at the building phase of the game, to the detriment of the development phase of the game? Conversely is it possible to be so focused on development that you fall critically behind in building?

How do you avoid these pitfalls? Is there a transition/balance between building and development, and if so, how do you manage it?


texts: Why does an open pinfu get 2 extra fu added to the score?

texts:
In riichi mahjong, a concealed pinfu hand is worth 20-fu if it goes out on a tsumo.  However, a hand with no points that has been opened gets a 2-fu bonus for no reason other than being an open pinfu.  Even if the hand has another yaku to go out on (since yaku is only given for pinfu if it remains concealed), the final score is calculated with a minimum of 30-fu (due to rounding) when going out on a tsumo.

One effect of this is that it is impossible to make a 20-fu 1-han hand, since any hand that goes out with 20-fu would be guaranteed two yaku: one from menzen tsumo (1-han) and one from pinfu (1-han).

Other than that, I can't see any reason why open pinfu should be getting those two extra fu.  Is there any actual reason for it, or is it "just one of those things" that's lost to the history of this game?


texts: Is it possible to move the Terran base on a defend order too?

texts:
Defend order states:

  He may then immediately move and/or transport units to the chosen
  area, as if he were executing a Mobilize order on the planet.

It does only say transport units, but the terran is the only one being able to move a base on a mobilize order anyways and specific trumps general in rules normally in a game.

So is there anything official? a post on fantasay flight game that had  a response? or what is the common practice on this?


texts:
Solid
When you are Solid, Contacts will buy
Cargo and Contraband from you. The
prices offered appear on the Contact
side of the Job Cards.

What kind of action is selling cargo and contraband to a solid contact?
(We've ruled that it's part of a Deal action, in the same way that you can buy fuel in addition to going through the Supply in a Buy action.)


texts: I attack with an 8/8 double strike trampler.  My opponent blocks with a 3/5, and three 1/2 creatres.  How much damage does my opponent ultimately receive?  I said 5, he said 4. Who is correct?  Thanks


texts: Does double strike work whilst blocking?

texts: I'm attacking with a 1/1 Satyr Grovedancer. My opponent blocks with a 1/2 Two-Headed Cerberus with double strike. Does double strike still apply when the creature is blocking? I understand my Satyr will die either way but say it were the case with a 4/4 creature, what would happen?


texts: In Magic: the Gathering, what is being gathered?

texts:
Why does Magic: The Gathering have "The Gathering" in its title?

What is being "gathered"?


texts: Where does the Shoggoth come from in story 1B?

texts:
Am I missing something in the rules?  One of the objectives references a Shoggoth, but there is no mention of one on any clue, mythos, or Keeper action card.

I've read references to taking samples being involved in producing a Shoggoth, but can't find a reference to this anywhere in the rules or guides.
Help! Have I gone mad!?


texts: In Ghost Stories Black Secret what is the balance between the Taoists and Wu-Feng?

texts:
We played one game with this expansion on normal, feeling pretty confident that we can beat normal most times and the Wu-Feng player absolutely destroyed us. It feels like even on the easiest setting we would not stand a chance.

My question is, what is the balance between the two sides? How often should the Taoists be expected to win? Let's assume Wu-Feng has as much experience as the other players.

Also is there anything in setup that can even the odds and create a more balanced game?

Here is the basic breakdown of what we did. We had 3 Taoists. We did not have a red player and that may have been our mistake. Wu-Feng was able to focus dropping only ghost that had impact, and took away our resources. Any ghosts that would give us a break were instead dropped as curses or demons. The game was busted wide open when Wu-Feng got to haunt the key tiles directly with no chance of us to do anything about it. Once from rolling a curse die, once from doing it directly. We quickly got caught up defending our tiles, and instead got overrun, quickly seeing 3 flipped.


texts: Can a player choose not to move in Quoridor?

texts: The rules of Quoridor state that if a player has run out of walls, the player must move his or her pawn. However, is it a valid move for a player to choose not to place a wall (and therefore move), then choose to maintain the current position of the pawn? In other words, is remaining in place considered a valid move?


texts: Must a player disclose what deck they are using before play?

texts:
Our family is just learning this game. We were wondering if each player typically announces which deck they are using beforehand. If yes, in how much detail?

I could not find anything in the rules about this but wondered if there's standard etiquette around this in casual play. In our starter games, one player sometimes feels surprised and annoyed the other player made changes to their deck without announcing it.


texts: How can I reduce the planar die "whiff factor" with house rules?

texts:
I like to play Planechase sometimes. Mostly this variant, which gives players some additional choices when planswalking.

However, the most annoying part of Planechase is that the planar die has such a high "whiff factor" (incidence of null results). A particular thing I dislike is the handling time when a player has nothing else to do or desperately wants to planeswalk — rolling the die, tapping some mana, rolling the die again, &c.

Criteria for a house rule that meets my needs:

reduced incidence of totally null results
reduced handling time (compared to multiple rerolls)
whatever you change, the vast majority of the existing planes should still be playable as-is
it's okay to replace the planar die with some other game piece (including a custom die)


texts: Are there any dice games you can play with a standard 7-die set?

texts:
Are there any dice games that you can play with a standard role-playing 7-die set (d4, d6, d8, d10, d%, d12, d20)?

Maybe you have some time to kill before your tabletop session starts, or during a break. It'd be nice to have a game that doesn't require anything beyond this set of dice. I'm open to games that can be played alone or with friends.

This is an offshoot from another question: Is there a name for the standard 7-die set? I recently received a very nice set of dice as an anniversary gift. I'm not currently in a tabletop session, but I would like to play with the dice.


texts: Is it correct to play defensive high-lo or "echo" with two small honors?

texts:
I'm sitting East, defending a two heart contract with the following hand: (s) QJ (H) J642 (d) K743 (c) T72. Partner, West, leads the king of Spades, from what is likely an AK sequence. With two random small cards, say 82, I would "echo" by playing the 8 followed by the 2. I did the same here, playing the Q, followed by the J on lead of the A. (With say, Qx, I would have made a judgment call.) But here, my playing of the Q was meant to encourage by showing that I had either a singleton Q or QJ doubleton.

Partner protested, saying that I should followed with the J, then Q. Then today, I read a Larry Cohen column https://www.larryco.com/bridge-articles/actual/real-deal-23 that said, "when playing third to a trick on defense, play the cheapest of touching honors."

Are these people right, and if so, why does what they say go against what I was taught about echoes?

Note: I do not believe that my question is context dependent. Even so, for the record, with neither side vulnerable, the bidding was North 1C, East (me) Pass, South 1H, West, pass, North 2H all pass. Lead, king of spades.


texts: So if I have Kumena's Speaker on the battlefield with a +1/+1 due to his ability and a Combine Guildmage that can move +1/+1 from one creature to another. Does CG duplicate the +1/+1, and does KS get another +1/+1 due to having an island on the field or another merfolk


texts: If an effect would prevent a spell from doing damage, does it continue to prevent that damage after the spell changes zones?

texts:
Anthony casts Searing Blood, targeting Nathan's Elvish Mystic.

Nathan casts and resolves Dromoka's Command, choosing to 1) prevent all damage that would be dealt by Searing Blood this turn and 2) put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Mystic.

Searing Blood resolves, deals no damage, and goes to the graveyard.

Anthony casts and resolves Lightning Bolt to kill Elvish Mystic.

Searing Blood triggers from the graveyard, because Elvish Mystic died. Does the prevention effect created by Dromoka's command still apply to it after it changes zones? In other words, will Searing Blood deal 3 damage to Nathan?


texts: When does discard happen if player goes over limit after passing in Endeavor?

texts:
The rules state:

  When a player passes, they must discard cards down to their Card Limit if necessary.

also:

  Only when a player passes will they have to discard down to their Card Limit, which is determined by their Politics score.

Take the following scenario:
Black is at their card limit. During an Action Phase, Black passes. Later that same Action Phase another player completes a Shipping Track which awards a Governor card to Black. Black now has too many cards.

When does Black discard? Immediately, at end of turn, or not until they pass in the next Action Phase?

The above rule quotes pretty clearly indicate that Black would not need to discard until they pass in the next Action Phase. But, what if there isn't another Action Phase? For example, what if the phase in question is the last Action Phase of the game? Does this mean a player could score more cards than their card limit allows?

However, the following quote seems to imply that the card limit is lifted only during the Action Phase (because it's not mentioned anywhere else):

  When drawing cards during the Action Phase there is no restriction on how many cards a player may hold...

This could indicate that the card limit is enforced continuously after a player passes (because they are no longer able to draw cards), but it's not worded very well because what about the rest of the Action Phase when not drawing cards?


texts: What are the causes (and cures) for bridge experts' mistakes?

texts:
As an amateur, I will probably make (numerous) mistakes, through ignorance or lack of technical knowledge. Experts, by definition, don't have this problem. Yet bridge books that I have read report that even an expert will likely make a mistake or two during a session of bridge.

Why is that? Is it a fatigue/stamina issue after counting too many hands? Is it a matter of it being easier to "know better" after the fact? Is it because even experts can't calculate probabilities in real time in unfamiliar situations, so they choose a (slightly) inferior line of play?

And what about cures? I would guess that better physical conditioning might fix some stamina issues. And perhaps "drilling," particularly in areas of known weakness might make it easier to come up with the right answers.

Have I identified the most serious causes and cures of expert mistakes, or are there some that I have missed?


texts: If Dealer is dealt an ace, and then dealt another card, will he bust?

texts:
I recently saw this play (not in an official casino, but essentially friends playing with themselves):

  Dealer was dealt a 2 and an Ace. Being forced to hit, dealer was dealt a 10.

Player argued that it was a 23, therefore a bust (because Ace would be counted as 11).

Dealer argued that since Ace being equal to 11 would bust him, Ace cannot be 11 and therefore is 1, making his Hand 13, not 23.

Later on a judge decided that the hand was a bust because, and I quote:

  The 2+Ace is 13. That's set. 13+10 = 23. What's confusing? once an ace is 11, it's 11.

I find it rather odd that he ruled like that, and I suspect something screwy going on, because (at least from my understanding of the rules) if the Ace were to bust him, Ace is valued as 1, not 11. Which is the right call here?


texts: What board games have good quality versions available for play online for free?

texts:
What are some worthy online versions of board games?

They should be:

Complete working versions
On a site that is easily accessible (so no spam, lots of pop-ups or requires handing over excessive information to sign up)
Is a true version of the original (same rules, look and feel, game play) so no poor quality clones
Reasonably active community so there are enough players to have a game any time of day

EDIT:

To clarify they should be online games that replicate an existing board game. Not just any online board game.


texts: Is "The Aristocrats" the first WBR deck to top 8 a Pro Tour?

texts:
Tom Martell won Pro Tour Gatecrash with "The Aristocrats", a white-black-red deck that plays Cartel Aristocrat, Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Blasphemous Act.

This is a historically poor color combination. Is this the first time a deck using precisely those colors has top 8ed a Pro Tour? If not, what is the most recent other example? I've looked back through 2010 without finding any.

(Note: TCGPlayer's deck search claims that Ken Yukohiro's deck from PT Avacyn Restored is of this color combination, but it includes Forests and Borderland Rangers, so I'd say it shouldn't count...)


texts: Can Protective Field passive ability protect multiple cards?

texts: Let's say that my opponent plays an action that affects multiple cards on my track. Can Protective Field stop that action? Is this ability limited to stopping cards that only target a single card?


texts:
In Encounter 2 of the Respected Citizen quest of the Shadow of Nerekhall campaign the rewards include:

If Bertram is present during the quest and not defeated, during the next Shopping step of the Campaign Phase, the heroes reveal one additional Shop Item card per hero.
If Bertram is defeated, the overlord receives “The Scoundrel,” Corrupt Citizen card.

The setup for Encounter 2 includes:

If the heroes won Encounter 1, they place a villager token in an empty space adjacent to a hero figure. This is Bertram.

The heroes win Encounter 1 “if Bertram is knocked out”. Otherwise the overlord wins by moving him off the map.
Questions

Do the heroes get their Bertram reward if the overlord wins Encounter 1?
If the overlord wins Encounter 1, can ze not get zir Bertram reward?


texts: Can you win a two player Uno game by playing a skip card then your final card?

texts:
My boyfriend and I are playing a game of two player Uno.

It’s my turn, and I have a red Skip card and a red 9. The color of the pile is currently red. If I place down my Skip card, skipping his turn, then say Uno and put down my red 9, do I win?

I’ve heard of this being called “Uno out”, but I need to clarify since he doesn’t believe me.


texts:
I was recently taught a game with the following rules.

Deal 5 cards face down to each player in a line and then 5 cards on top of the face down cards. Then deal 3 cards to each player for their hand.

Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. The player selects a card from their hand and plays it face down. The next player plays a card with the following rules. The card must be of equal rank or higher, aces high. If a set of 4 of the se rank is ever on the stack, the stack is cleared and all cards in the stack are removed from play and the last player to play plays again. 2 and 10s can be played on any card. 10s also clear the stack and give the playing player a turn again. If a player cannot play a card they take the stack into the hand. Only once all cards in your hand are played can you play the face up cards in front of you. And only when all face up cards have been played can you play the face down cards.


texts: I used to have this game, not any more. It must be at least 10-15 years old, but possibly older. I don't remember the rules, only that you had to follow a certain path with your pyramids, and that they could be stacked in a way (perhaps blocking off others?). Searching on the internet, I have found pictures of the game, however I can't seem to trace it back to a name. One of the pictures I found shows the board clearly:


texts: What is Doppelganger's attack when in the HQ?

texts:
While playing the scheme Invade the Daily Bugle News HQ, I ended up having a single villain in the city: Doppelganger from Maximum Carnage. I drew a Scheme Twist card, which triggers the following event:

  KO a Hero from the HQ. Put the highest [attack] Villain from the city into the HQ space.

This required me to put Doppelganger in the HQ. Doppelganger's card reads:

  Doppelganger's [attack] is equal to the [cost] of the Hero in the HQ space under him.

Now that Doppelganger is in the HQ, what is his attack?


texts: Between prevention and replacement effects, which takes precedence?

texts:
Looking at the interactions between:
Fog versus Undead Alchemist
Abuna's Chant versus Soul-Scar Mage

In each pair, the first represents an effect that prevents damage, while the second represents a replacement effect that does something instead of damage.

In either case, assume that the appropriate event has happened such that damage is on the verge of being done. Does the replacement effect occur, or does the continuous effect pre-empt the damage?


texts: How does the Locket and Meenlock interact?

texts:
There is some disagreement about how these items interact.

Locket:

Gain 1 Sanity
Any time you take mental damage, take 1 less point of damage.
Lose 1 Sanity if you lose control of the Locket.

Meenlock:

Gain 2 Speed
When you take physical damage, you must apply it as mental damage instead.
Lose 2 Speed if you lose control of the Meenlock.
This omen can't be dropped, traded or stolen.

My friend thinks when you take physical damage it's converted to mental damage and reduced by 1. I think the reduction only applies if the original damage is mental. Is there an official rule for this?


texts:
If I SS Juragedo during the battle step, does it always cause a replay?

  During either player's Battle Step: You can Special Summon this card
  from your hand, and if you do, gain 1000 LP. You can only use this
  effect of "Juragedo" once per turn. During either player's turn: You
  can Tribute this card, then target 1 face-up monster you control; it
  gains 1000 ATK until the end of the next turn.


texts: How would changing the timing of the "starter" affect strategy/tactics?

texts:
As we know, the non-dealer cuts for the "starter" before the play happens. Is there any strategic/tactical reason why you couldn't cut for the starter after the play?

Just before the play, the players' hands (and therefore, the crib) have been decided. Does knowing the starter have any impact on the play? If so, how would this change if the starter were determined after the play?


texts: Returning an attacking creature equipped with Trepanation Blade

texts:
If my opponent attacks with Trepanation Blade and I use an instant that returns all attacking creatures to their owners hand, will the effect of the blade still play out?

The Blade says:

  Whenever equipped creature attacks, defending player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a land card. The creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each card revealed this way. That player puts the revealed cards into his or her graveyard.


texts: May you choose *not* to use the free construction chain?

texts:
If you could build a structure for free (thanks to the chain noted on the card), may you choose not to and use resources (whether your own or bought from your neighbours) to build it instead?

This is relevant for cases where you would earn money when "buying" from your neighbours, or where you would have to pay taxes when using the chain (Babel tile 13).


texts: Is it possible to have a tie in Munchkin?

texts:
One of my friends asked me this question recently, and I couldn't answer it, so I thought I'd pass it along:

Is it possible to have a tie in Munchkin (elf assisting in a victory to have two people land on level 10 simultaneously)?


texts: What counts as an interior square in the Witch House tile?

texts:
The rules for Cthulhu!!! Hastur La Vista Baby! cover named buildings:

  If the tile is any other “named building” (e.g. the “Pharmacy” or “Burial Hill”), place one cultist in each interior square (each square inside the building). Then place one bullet or one heart (your choice) in each interior square. For this purpose, “Burial Hill” is a named building.

This is easy enough for buildings that have a street running through the tile, but what qualifies as an interior square for named tiles like the Witch House tile?

Is it just the farthest row from the entrance? Or does it include the doorway, possibly the square to the right of the door, or even the entire farthest two rows?


texts: What happens if I mutate on top of a creature that I control until the end of a turn?

texts:
This constellation actually happened when I (PLAYER A) drafted Ikoria on MTG:Arena yesterday, but I was unsure whether it would work in my favor. And therefore I didn't try.
PLAYER B has a Cavern Whisperer on the battlefield.
PLAYER A has a Lore Drakkis and Tentative Connection in hand.

PLAYER A casts the Tentative Connection targeting the Cavern Whisperer.
PLAYER A gains control of the Cavern Whisperer until end
of turn.
PLAYER A mutates Lore Drakkis on top of the Cavern Whisperer.

Who will have control of the mutated creature at the end of a turn?
I'm looking for the specific rulings regarding this topic. All I could find were the following rulings on the MTG Wiki.

The resulting merged creature has all of the characteristics of the topmost card or token, and it also has all abilities from its other cards and tokens.

The merged creature is the same creature it was before the merge, so any Auras or counters that were on it remain on it, it remains tapped if it was tapped, it's still attacking if it was attacking, and so on. If it's been under its controller's control since their most recent turn began, it can attack and {T}.


texts:
I'm new to Texas Hold Em.  I know the difference between a blind and an ante but I'm confused as to how they are played. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

An ante is put up by each player. Then two players also put a small and big blind?  So now if someone who didn't put up a blind wants to play do they now give an additional amount equal to the big blind to play, or do they subtract what they've already anted from the big blind and just put up the difference?

Also how is the ante amount determined in regards to blinds?


texts: How Can One Create Game Balance Axis and Allies WWI?

texts: My gaming circle does not feel Axis and Allies WWI is balanced. None of us has yet achieved victory as the Central Powers. What rule modifications would you suggest to balance the game?


texts: Can a "hero" player voluntarily become a traitor?

texts: Can a player who is supposed to be a hero character become a traitor by their own will? For example: if the haunt doesn't specify any hidden traitors or others but  the hero character wants to help the monster any way is that allowed?


texts: Is Lighthouse from Dominion: Seaside overpowered?

texts:
Lighthouse in Dominion:Seaside costs only 2 yet is a duration card that provides +1 Action on the first turn and +1 coin per turn it is active. On top of that it provides protection against any attack cards while it activated.

It seems to me this is an incredibly powerful card for being worth only 2. If backed up by a couple higher coin you could easily get 8 coin and buy provinces. All the while you are protected from any immediate threats. The main advantage IMO is gained from having +1 each turn. This adds a lot to a players buying power.

So what can you do to stop someone from abusing this card?


texts: Does it cost more to counter Sphinx of New Prahv?

texts:
Sphinx of New Prahv says:

  Spells your opponents cast that target Sphinx of New Prahv cost {2} more to cast.

Does the counter spell countering the Sphinx also cost 2 more, or does the effect only work on the battlefield?


texts: How Does Wooly Bully 2's Waterproof Wings Variant Work?

texts:
I've started an online game of Wooly Bully (La Guerre des Moutons) 2 with the waterproof wings variant "on", but I'm not 100% sure how this rule plays out in practice.

The key line in the rulebook seems to be:

  2 enclosed fields containing the same color of sheep separated by the
  same pond are considered a single enclosure.

But can you have a "superfield" of more than 2 enclosed fields joined together by ponds?  What if a Wolf cancels out a field adjoining its Forest - does this cancel out fields of the same colour on the other side of ponds too?  (Does the Wolf get water wings of his own, in other words?)


texts: Is there a Magic the Gathering card that resembles The Hanged Man Tarot card?

texts:
I have been looking for any card which has artwork resembling an entity dangling upside down but with no luck.

Potential ideas could be something to do with the Rakdos circus, an over-confident assassin, someone entangled by a snare or someone slacking on a job. I have tried searching in-regards to card name (e.g. bound, hang, hanged, tangled, trap, snare, etc.).

Failing this, I'm also trying to look for a card that fits one or more of these properties in relation to The Hanged Man: "Pause, surrender, letting go, new perspectives".


texts:
My group and I enjoy Role-playing games.  However we can't always get the same number of people together week after week in order to finish one campaign.  What would be great is a boardgame that we could finish in one evening that has one person (The GM) against everyone else (4-6 other people).

Is this a recognized style of game?  What would it be called and how could I identify such games?


texts: What are some good unofficial scenarios for Robinson Crusoe?

texts:
Enjoying this great game and have finished all the scenarios. I know that there are several official mini-expansions and The Voyage of Beagle. I already own The Voyage and have no interest in buying minis.

What I really want to have is some PDFs with printable scenarios. If you have played and enjoyed some, please tell me about them.


texts: 1/1 goblin, with Skullclamp attached, making its P/T 2/0 so it dies. Could it be sacrificed using Goblin Bombardment to deal 1 damage?


texts: Name of a board game about American politics

texts:
I can't remember the name of this board game I played many years ago. It was about American politics, the players voted on someone to become President, which lasted one round.
You could pursue different agendas like business, religion, environment, etc. When an event card was turned over, if it had the same agendas you were invested in, you got cash. The board had 4 spaces, Wall Street, Main Street, White House, and ?Campaign Trail?. In each round, the whole table visited each location.
You could spend the cash to buy new agenda cards or give it to other players to buy their votes.
President candidates could vie for votes by promising to pursue other players' agendas when they are in office, but were under no obligation to keep their promises.
That's all I can remember.
[Edit] I think the title was a pun about money in politics


texts: How are you supposed to build space marines in 8th Ed?

texts:
I've been playing Warhammer 40,000 since the last year of 7th Ed and I've had some extreme problems with Space Marines since the swap. While the army was still in 7th Ed, it worked great: 3+ or 4+ saves all around, lots of boots on the ground, could reach out and touch just about anything that i came up against (aside from Belial cheese lists) to the extent that i won about as many games as i lost. With the change to 8th Ed they lost about all of their advantages: AP reduces the armor saves instead of ignoring them on certain thresholds, the detachment and price updates reduce the number of units on the table and BOTH of these utterly kill the my ability to reach out and touch whoever-the-heck. I've tried just about everything with these guys; cram a captain, lieutenant, apothicary, ancient and a few command vets into a vehicle and give them multi-meltas while the rest of the army distracted the enemy (didn't work), built a screen of 6 scouts while 3 sniper squads and the rest of the army fired from behind them (didnt work), built an army with deepstriking terminators with Cyclone rockets and chainfists that killed the big stuff while snipers, thunderfire cannons and librarians took on the little stuff (didnt work either). Just about the only useful thing i learned while trying to make these guys work is that StormTalons are a 174 point unit that kills a maximum of 2 units before it's promptly crushed under the shear mass of fire from everything shooting at it.

I spent a good deal of money on my collection and there's simply too much on my person to even THINK about getting anything else, and i truly want to make this army work, so how are you supposed to field the run-of-the-mill Space Marines?


texts: Name of a board game with a world map and an airplane traveling to different cities

texts:
I am trying to find the name of an old board game.

It had a picture of the world on the board with different cities. A line is drawn from each city to a destination. That is the only place that city can fly too.

The pieces are an airplane and cards that has pictures of each city on them that can be flown too. The plane can only go to where the line is drawn to another city. Example: if the plane is in Rome, the plane may only go to London, Paris, or Rio de Janeiro.

Also there are fake 100 dollar bills. Each player bids on the flight. Whoever wins the bid sends the plane to one of those 3 cities then from there bidding starts again to go somewhere else.

The idea is to go to all the cities you have in your hand. I believe the name of the game is Holiday or something like that.

If anyone knows the name of the game, please let me know.


texts: Is there any data on most common way to get to 10 VP in Settlers of Catan?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Settlers of Catan Data

I sometimes track this for myself when I play online, and almost half the time when I win, I have Longest Road and either 3 Cities/2 Settlements or 2 Cities/4 Settlements.

I rarely win with Largest Army, but I have noticed from reading online that one of the more common winning combos is 3 cities, Largest Army, and either 2 VP or 1 VP and 1 settlement.

Is there any data on this sort of thing? Have you noticed and 1 or 2 combos coming up most frequently in games you play.

(Of course I realize there are many possibilities, strategy often changes mid-game, etc.)


texts: What is the colored part of a mana cost called?

texts:
Suppose I wanted to author a homebrew spell that would require paying just the colored portion of another card's mana cost as an additional cost. Is there a "proper" way to format that with the rules as written?

For example, imagine a creature with the following ability:

  {T}, Reveal a creature card from your hand and pay the colored part of its mana cost: Put the revealed card into play under your control.

Using this ability should give me a Terastodon for {G}{G}, or a Blightsteel Colossus for free.

I know there are cards that refer to the number of colored mana symbols of permanents (devotion), but I don't know any that refer to them while they are cards or spells.


texts: Can I use the red 5 to move someone out of their safety zone?

texts: I'm playing Sorry! The Disney Edition. If I am the red player, and I get a red 5 card (lets people move opponents backwards 5). Can I move someone out of their safety?


texts: What are the dragonflies used for in Little Balancing?

texts:
My question is about this game for little people: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/134434/little-balancing

The set is nice quality, it's fun and quick to play, and very collaborative without much strategy.  Along with the stems, lilies and frogs, the set includes a dozen dragonfly tokens.  But nowhere in the (small) rulebook or online can I find reference to how the dragonflies are used in the game.

Any ideas?  What do you do with your dragonflies?


texts: If you are fourth seat after a third seat raise, can you make a takeout double with "intermediate" values?

texts:
If first seat opens, and you are in the second seat, you need opening values in order to make a take out double (that is 13-14 hcps, maybe 12 with 4-4-4-1 or 5-4-4-0 distribution, while short in opener's suit). Even then, you fear that third seat will have an "opening" hand, that is most or all of the remaining points, leaving your partner with nothing.

If you are in the fourth seat (that is the "balancing") seat after and opening and two passes, you can make a takeout double with about a king less, that is, 9-11 high card points. That's because third seat has shown less than 6 points by passing opener's bid. If opener has close to the minimum 13, third seat has 5, you have 9, your partner would have passed in second seat with close to the maximum, 12.

If you are in fourth seat with in third seat raising the opener's bid, you are in an "intermediate" situation. Third seat has 6-9 hcps, basically the intermediate value of the range. If opener has 13, that would leave 18-21 for you and your partner.

I wouldn't want to make a takeout double with 9-10 hcps in such a situation, but do I need 13-14, assuming I have good distribution? Or is an "intermediate" 11-12 sufficient in this "intermediate" situation? Larry Cohen refers to these as "OBAR BIDS." (Opponents bid and raise, balance in direct seat.)


texts: What is the current state of the art in hearts AI?

texts:
Occasionally I google around looking for the latest research into hearts AI, and I never find anything. As far as I can tell the best hearts AI out there is still far below the level of an expert human.

I'm wondering if anybody knows of any recent papers or results. I'm particularly curious if a Monte Carlo Tree Search based approach combined with deep learning and reinforcement learning has been attempted.

(Please let me know if there is a more appropriate Stack Exchange community for this question.)


texts: What is this oversized playing card deck for, with numbers 11-15 and Barons and Knights?

texts: Just this past weekend, I got my hands on these playing cards. They contain all of the amino acids encoded as numbers ranging from 2 to 15, Aces, Barons, Knights, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and two Jokers. Barring the Jokers, there  is one of each number/face card per suit. The suits resemble those of your standard decks of cards. The game came with some sort of instructions that are in Japanese (I don't know enough Japanese to translate them), but I was wondering if anyone could point me towards the name off this set of cards (if it actually exists) or at least some games that I can play with them. I know that I can take out 11-15 and the Barons/Knights, but it would be cool to play something with all of the cards.


texts: What are effective strategies for playing control against aggro-control?

texts:
In Magic, there's a style of deck known as "aggro-control", which plays a mixture of cheap threats and disruption (especially counterspells). Against a pure control deck, aggro-control seeks to set up quickly in the early turns and then protect its board position from sweepers and spot removal using countermagic, long enough to get an opponent to 0 life.

From a control player's perspective, this can be a difficult situation because you're on a pretty fast clock, but your normal tricks against aggro decks (like Day of Judgment on turn 4) just don't work with any degree of consistency.

What are some strategies that you can employ, either during deckbuilding or in play, to improve a control deck's performance against aggro-control?


texts: What state and trigger events apply when you "put creatures onto the battlefield?"

texts:
For instance, the -8 ability for Liliana Vess says,

  Put all creature cards from all graveyards onto the battlefield under
  your control.

This sounds distinct from casting/summoning, and there's no casting cost paid, which might imply (to me) that there's no summoning sickness. But, these creatures are also technically entering the battlefield, which implies that those abilities would trigger. Is that correct?

Do the creatures enter without summoning sickness?
Do "when this card enters the battlefield" abilities activate?
Are there other potential "casting" or "playing" abilities that could trigger?


texts: Are there big differences in gameplay (not just theme) between Munchkin sets?

texts:
I have looked around and was overwhelmed by the number of Munchkin base sets out there. I googled what the best Munchkin set is, but so far, all I found is that I should pick the theme I like best. But I'm not sure if there might be other factors.

In reality I'm looking for the answer to the question: what Munchkin set is the best in terms of card functionality, bad stuff, and surprising and interesting turnouts? Or is the gameplay broadly similar between them and the theme is the only big difference?


texts: What is the point of Legendary Magician of Dark's effect?

texts: Legendary Magician of Dark says that if it attacks reduces the opponent's life points to 0 and some other conditions are met, you win the match. But wouldn't you win anyway just by having reduced their LP to zero? What's the point?


texts: What are the differences between the 2009 and 2011 reprints of Twilight Struggle?

texts:
I'm interested in getting a copy of "Twilight Struggle", having enjoyed "1960: The Making of the President" and seeing that the former is currently the top ranked game on BoardGameGeek.  It seems that there are two versions that are available to buy new at the moment:

The 2009 Deluxe Edition reprint.
The recently released 2011 Deluxe Edition, available from GMT games.

The slightly earlier reprint is rather easier for me to get hold of, but I'm having trouble finding out whether there are any significant differences between these editions.  Could anyone here give me an idea of how different the 2011 edition is?


texts:
I could not find an official rule that states directly what exactly to do when 2 pawns are face to face. It says that you can jump over it to go it's behind if there are no walls between the opponent and it's behind.

At this point it is not certain if we can also move diagonally whether or not the behind of the opponent is blocked.

Please check the visuals below (red is about to make a move):

In the first one above, red can move diagonally and it does not care if behind of the blue player is blocked or not.

In the second one below, red cannot move diagonally because behind of blue is not blocked by anything (edge, other players, wall).

I have seen both usages but there should be 1 original rule. I do not want to use house rules. This is not directly documented in the original game. What do you think?

The 3rd one is interesting. It may solve the question or add another question.(because this time, the direction of the movement may be a parameter too.. Should diagonal-rule work only while going towards north or not..):


texts:
When does priority actually matter in magic?  I have been playing Magic since Time Spiral and have never once seen the rules for priority matter.  I've never heard a question from a player about a game situation to which the answer was, "Oh, well it's right here in the rules for priority."

Let me elaborate.  Most other games handle questions of precedence (I want to do this but my opponent wants to do something conflicting) with a system of priority.  Magic handles questions of this type with the stack.  Here are some examples:

What tap effect has precedence?
I have a 2/2 and I want to play Giant Growth on it while my opponent wants to kill it with Lightning Bolt?  Resolved by the stack.  Priority doesn't actually matter here.  It's not a question of who has the option to act first, it's about who does act first, and because the person that acts first in this situation loses, the solution (given both players run Telepathy) is for both players to pass and the game to move on to the next step or phase.  But this isn't a quirk of priority, this is that the Nash Equilibrium given perfect information and how the stack works is for neither player to cast his/her spell.
I want to cast Silence on my opponent during his/her upkeep but he/she wants to cast Lightning Bolt on me first.  Sure, a player get's priority on his/her turn before other players, so he/she has the option to cast a spell before I can cast Silence, but it doesn't matter!  Since this all happens during the upkeep, the spell I want to cast has to be instant speed anyways, so it can be cast in response to Silence while Silence is on the stack.  Since Silence only takes effect on resolution, what order it and another spell are cast in won't change either spell's resolution (unless the other spell is a counterspell).  In almost all situations, Silence only changes the ability for the player to cast things post-upkeep.

In all of the above situations, the stack is what determines what happens.  Players priority in putting things on the stack doesn't matter since in the above cases (and the overwhelming majority of cases I've seen), as it is the ability to react that matters, not the ability to act first.

So, given how the stack works, does priority actually matter in Magic?  If so, what types of situations are the rules for priority needed to actually determine what happens?

For reference, here are the rules for priority:

  116.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:

  116.3a The active player receives priority at the beginning of most steps and phases, after any turn-based actions (such as drawing a card
  during the draw step; see rule 703) have been dealt with and abilities
  that trigger at the beginning of that phase or step have been put on
  the stack. No player receives priority during the untap step. Players
  usually don't get priority during the cleanup step (see rule 514.3).
  116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
  116.3c If a player has priority when he or she casts a spell, activates an ability, or takes a special action, that player receives
  priority afterward.
  116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player's mana pool, he or
  she announces what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order
  receives priority.

  116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability
  on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or
  step ends.


texts: If I buff an infect card, is the new damage infect as well?

texts: Let's say I have Rogue's Passage and Phyrexian Hydra and I use Rogue's Passage's ability to make Phyrexian Hydra unblockable.  Then, after no spells are played that effect Phyrexian Hydra, I play Titanic Growth on the Phyrexian Hydra. Does the 11 infect kill the opponent that I am attacking as long as no other spells are cast?


texts: In Catan Cities & Knights, can you use a Knight action before you roll the dice?

texts:
In base Catan, the rules allow you to play a Knight card before you roll the dice. Obviously, there are no Development Cards in Cities and Knights, and instead there are physical knight tokens.

The rule book doesn't seem to specifically address if you can use your activated Knight token to chase away the Robber on your turn before you roll the dice.

Since the rules do not specifically say you can, and by default the dice roll is usually always required as the first action of your turn, our group agrees to play that you can only use a Knight action after you roll the dice.

Are we missing something in the rules? Does a Catan FAQ somewhere answer this?


texts: What happens to a permanent I gained control over using Agent of Treachery, and I leave a multiplayer game?

texts:
Let's say Alice took control over Bob's Leyline of Abundance using Agent of Treachery, and then Alice leaves a multiplayer game. What happens with Leyline of Abundance? According to rule 800.4a

  800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game, any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end, and all spells and abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game.

I thought the permanent would be exiled, but there is a ruling on Agent of Treachery that states

  Agent of Treachery’s effect lasts indefinitely. It doesn’t wear off during the cleanup step, and it doesn’t expire if Agent of Treachery leaves the battlefield. In a multiplayer game, it does expire if you leave the game.

Which I assume means that the controlled permanent goes back to Bob. However, looking at a similar card Beguiler of Wills, which also takes control of a permanent (creature), there are no special rules that state "In a multiplayer game, it does expire if you leave the game.". Which means that the controlled creature will be exiled when Alice leaves the game (according to ruling 800.4a if I am not mistaken).

Here are some similar questions:

Do I lose control of a creature if the aura which granted me control of it is destroyed?
In MTG, what happens when a player loses in multiplayer?


texts: What's the cheapest way to buy a large number of Magic: the Gathering cards on Cardmarket?

texts:
I need cards for my new EDH decks and I want to buy them on cardmarket.com. They have this neat feature called the Shopping Wizard, which does all of the work for you. Last time I needed around 60 cards and I ended up buying from four different sellers to get all the cards in the most cost-efficient way.
The way the Shopping Wizard works is to try to combine low-cost cards in a way that minimizes both card cost and shipping costs. Since shipping costs tend to be fixed per seller, it is typically beneficial to have as few sellers/packages as possible.
Problem is, the Shopping Wizard can only handle lists of up to 150 cards. And I need 250.  So I will have to use the power of the Shopping Wizard algorithm at least twice. But I don’t know how to proceed. I sorted the cards by price, with the most expensive card on the list at about 15€ and the cheapest one just 0,06€. My goal is to minimize the overall cost of this purchases (including shipping). So now I don’t know if I should start with the 150 most expensive or cheapest cards. (Or some other combination).
Buying lots of really cheap cards usually results in few (or even just one) recommended sellers. Maybe I could get those cheap cards from someone else even cheaper, but less sellers means smaller shipping costs. A list with more expensive cards usually gets divvied up between multiple sellers. This obviously increases shipping costs, but if someone sells a card for way less than everyone else, it might sometimes be best to buy just one card from them.
In an ideal situation, all 250 cards would be split into groups for cheapest total cost, and then I would just have 2 orders based on those groups. But since I can't know the groups, I want to minimize breaking up the groups and causing more packages & shipping cost.
So my question is:
What’s the cheapest way to buy more than 150 cards of varying price levels on cardmarket.com?


texts: What is this 4x4 board with black and white sided, numbered pegs?

texts: I found this little boardgame but cannot figure out what it is. Hopefully you can help me?


texts: Does the ship saved by the Bio Integration Circuit get rolled on the turn the Circuit is used?

texts:
The Bio Integration Circuit says:

  Discard at the beginning of your turn to reclaim your ship docked at the Terraforming Station instead of returning it to the stock. Reclaimed ship goes to Maintenance Bay.

As it happens, you also pick up all of your dice/ships and roll them at the beginning of your turn. So do you get to roll and use the ship saved by the BIC as well? The rules are mum about the order of multiple effects at the beginning of your turn.


texts: Does Summary Dismissal Send a Transformed Card to the graveyard?

texts: If the transform ability of a card has triggered and then the opponent plays Summary Dismissal, what happens to the card that would have been transformed? Does it un-transform or go the graveyard?


texts: What's the etymology of the term "rez" in the Netrunner games?

texts:
In the Netrunner games, "rezzing" a card is the act of revealing and paying for it when you're playing as the Corporation (in the new LCG anyway; I'm not familiar with the original CCG, but I believe it's the same).

The games take a great deal of inspiration from real computing terms for all of their "keywords" but this isn't one I'm familiar with. It must be short for something: "resurrect" is the best I can come up with, but doesn't really make literal sense since you're playing something for the first time. What's the origin of the term?


texts: If I buy a Mint, do I still get to use the coins from the treasures I played that turn to buy a Grand Market?

texts: In the  Prosperity rules it says "if you have 11 coppers in play and 2 Buys, you could buy a Mint, trash all of your played Treasures, and then buy a Grand Market." My question is: What are you going to buy the Grand Market with if you have trashed all your treasures?


texts: Dance with Dragons: Margaery Tyrell vs. Mance Rayder

texts:
In the Dance with Dragons expansion, the house card for Margaery Tyrell reads "If you are defending your home or a territory that has power token on it, the final combat strength of your opponent is 2". The house card for Mance Rayder reads "Your final combat strength is equal to the wildling threat".

What happens when these two cards are played against each other? How is the final strength of the Baratheon player resolved?


texts:
I am looking for some rules clarification on the sub steps during attacks.

Q1a- I am told that Reconnaissance can be used AFTER combat damage has been dealt to an opponent, thus granting your creatures a pseudo vigilance. Can this be done even without additional Combat-triggers to respond to? (Something about gaining priority after damage?)

Q1b- Does the same rulings work with Berserk. To destroy unwanted creatures of my opponents after they deal damage?

Q2- How does Berserk on one of your own creatures interact with Maze of Ith or Reconnaissance? Are you able to prevent a creature from being destroyed? Or will Berserk's effect still trigger because said creature is still marked as having attacked at all?


texts:
Some effects that say “you may cast” let you ignore timing rules. For example, Descendants' Path lets you cast creature spells during your upkeep. It doesn’t explicitly say that you can ignore timing rules or cast the spell as though it had flash, but it’s implicit (because otherwise the card wouldn’t work at all).

On the other hand, Emry, Lurker of the Loch has a “you may cast” effect with reminder text stating that “Timing rules still apply.” Since this is reminder text and not rules text, that means the rules text on its own already implies that you can’t ignore timing rules.

Those two are clear-cut cases, but in general, how to determine whether a “you may cast” effect lets you ignore timing rules? It seems like punctual effects let you ignore timing rules, while ongoing effects (“You may cast (…) this turn”) don’t, but I couldn’t find a reference to that in the comprehensive rules.


texts:
Bishop steals 2 coins from the richest player and Inquisitor steals 4 coins from the player who doesn't know their character.

My question is - in case I am the Inquisitor, and I am challenging a person who doesn't end up knowing his/her character, and has less than 4 coins, will I get everything and the game ends? Or am I now allowed to challenge a person with less than 4 coins?

Similarly, if I am a Bishop, what's the take if the richest person (or everyone in the game) currently has only one coin?


texts: Mechanic for secret actions in a card game

texts:
Is there a good mechanic for taking an anonymous action in a card game, specifically one that still moves resources?

For context, in one phase of this game, each player will give the target player a card. These are shuffled face-down and given to the target player, each having a certain effect on him.

I'd ideally like a way that a card could do something like steal gold (represented with tokens) without having to reveal who played that card.

I'm also trying to avoid too much of an honor system, so having someone just add gold to their own count by tracking with a pencil and paper isn't a great solution really.


texts: In 8th Edition, do you always make a to-hit roll?

texts:
In 8th edition of 40k, several weapons have the phrase "This weapon always hits." Or some slight variation.

If a weapon with an ability that depends on a to-hit roll, like Hellblasters, were to get this ability on their weapons, would they still be required to make a to-hit roll?


texts: In Sorry, can I be forced to move out of my "safe zone"?

texts: For example, if I draw a 4 (move 4 spaces backward) and the only piece that could make the move is in my "safe zone", do I have to make the move?


texts: How does the cost of designer board games compare to other forms of entertainment?

texts:
Some people complain about the cost of designer board games. With most board games near the $50 mark, and some approaching $100, they might look at the price of a movie ticket, DVD, or video game and think that this is an expensive hobby.

What do you think is the approximate cost of playing board games per hour of enjoyment when compared to other forms of entertainment?


texts: Can one block with a protection from color creature?

texts:
With the upcoming prerelease I'm currently wondering about the new protection creatures. When playing a creature which gets protection from a certain color, is that creature then able to block an attacking creature with the color it is protected from?

For example, if you play Blightbeetle, and the opponent attacks with a green creature, am I able/allowed to block with my Blightbeetle?

The reason I'm asking is, because I'm a little confused by the text. It says "can't be targeted". Is declaring the creature as a blocker considered targeting then, or does that only include other spells and stuff?

  Protection from green (This creature can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, enchanted, or equipped by anything green.)


texts: After playing a Swap Your Hand card should the player draw in Saboteur 2?

texts:
When player A plays a Swap Your Hand card he or she changes his or her cards with somebody else (player B). Then player B draws a card. Should player A draw a card too?

The general rules say that

  Play an action card... then draw 1 card.

, but in this case player A gets an extra card. On the other hand the rules of the Swap Your Hand card say

  Discard the action card, then the other player gets to draw 1 card!

Does it mean that player A should not draw?


texts:
Ultimate Tic Tac Toe is played on 3x3 setup of regular Tic Tac Toe boards.
Playing on a spot inside a board, determines the next board in which the opponent must play their next move. The goal is to win a three in a row boards. You can play your next move at any board if you are directed to play in a full board or a board that has been won.

If the last sentence (rule) is excluded, then the game has been solved and has a winning strategy for the first player. But otherwise, the game is unsolved it seems. This was mentioned on the site some years ago.
I known of computer implementations of the game that use Monte Carlo or similar methods.
But are there known strategies that a human can apply and use?
Something like favorable or recommended openings for 1st player, and responses for 2nd player?


texts:
How should the "and/or" text of a card be interpreted? For example on a card like Nahiri's Wrath the text reads:

  Nahiri's Wrath deals damage equal to the total converted mana cost of the discarded cards to each of up to X target creatures and/or planeswalkers.

For the remainder of this question, let's fix X at 2 to keep things simple.

Should the "and/or" be interpreted such that the effect is applied to a combination of targets the player chooses. That is to say for Nahiri's Wrath the player could perform one of the following options:

Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of two target creatures.
Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of two target planeswalkers.
Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of one target creature and one target planeswalker.

Or should the card's effect be expanded and applied to both sides of the "and/or". With this interpretation the player would have to the following two options when playing Nahiri's Wrath:

Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of X target creatures and Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of X target planeswalkers
Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of X target creatures or Nahiri's Wrath deals damage to each of X target planeswalkers

The confusion stems from comments on the Pinnacle of Rage's discussion page (which was formerly formerly worded using the same phrasing) where some commenters have said things like:

  So this lets you do a total of 12 damage? 3 each to 2 target creatures AND 3 each to 2 target players, one of which could be a planeswalker? That's how the "and/or" works, right? You can choose. Otherwise it would just be "or"...


texts: Do obstacle abilities work until the moment they are defeated?

texts:
The Trickster Initiate has the ability

  Obstacles ignore colorless damage applied to them

Does this mean if I play 3 colored and 3 colorless, could I then use the colored damage to finish killing him and then apply the colorless damage that very turn toward another obstacle?  Essentially, does the ability become nulled the moment he dies?


texts: In the card game "War", what happens when a player plays their final card in a War?

texts:
For the card game War, what happens when a player plays their last card as part of the war?

When their last card is the first card of the war (face up), before the three face down cards are dealt
When their last card is one of the three face down cards


texts: A creature with undying has already come back to the battlefield due to its ability (and gained the +1/+1) dies again. Raise Dead is cast and once more returns that creature to the hand, which is then summoned again. Is its undying "reset", or does he still have that +1/+1?


texts: Do you know any rules that make Pandemic's difficulty more even?

texts: Pandemic varies vastly in difficulty depending on the number of players. Does anyone know of any custom rules that make it more even?


texts: Tournament-legal to use a d20 to represent amount of similar tokens on the battlefield?

texts: I created a deck that creates lots of tokens (mono-white servos), and I don't want to buy 50+ servo tokens. Is it tournament-legal to put 1 servo token with a d20 or two on top of it to track the amount of servos I create?


texts: What are the possible ways to test a deck?

texts:
Naturally when you make a new deck, you test it on your friends but mine have all stabilised their tournament decks now and the game ends so quickly that I don't get a feel for how my deck flows.

What I want to know is if there is ways of testing decks to see their potential without another player. I really need to give the deck a thorough test so I can see what cards don't fit and which combos are better than expected.

I have seen people play games against themselves but I don't believe this works very well.

What methods do tournament players use to test their decks?

Please note that simply playing games is not an acceptable answer as I do not know people that will just play for fun; they are all super competitive.


texts: When playing Cribbage, if I played a 7, and my opponent played an 8, (making a 15 for 2 points), can I then play a 6 for a run of three, or do they have to be in consecutive order?


texts: Is the four move checkmate the fastest way to win a game of chess?

texts: Is the four move check mate (1. e4 e5 2.Qf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5?? 4.Qxf7#) the fastest way to win a game of chess, or is there a quicker way?


texts:
I bought a used copy of Munchkin (bundled with several expansions) to play with my family while we are on summer vacation. While reading the instructions of the game to the other players, we noticed that someone scratched out this rule...

  Decide who goes first by rolling the dice and arguing about the
  results and the meaning of this sentence and whether the fact that a
  word seems to be missing any effect.

... and, scribbled above it in pencil, was...

  The player with the stinkiest armpits goes first!

My family (especially the kids) decided that they love this rule, but we have no idea how to objectively determine who has the smelliest armpits. How can we determine this in a fair, preferably objective, way?


texts: In Axis and Allies, Does It Make Sense For Japan to Attack Sinkiang on the First Turn?

texts:
The idea would be to prevent America from building a factory there. The attack would be with two infantry from Indochina, supported by fighters from there and Manchuria. (Japan would replaced the two infantry in Indochina during the non-combat phase.)

The chances of success, according to the combat simulator software, are about 70%, better than 50-50, although by no means certain. There is the possibility of America's recapturing it on its turn, but it then couldn't build the factory until at least the following turn (a country has to own a territory at both the beginning and end of its turn to do this).  And even if Japan's attack didn't totally succeed, it would probably weaken the American defenses by "strafing" the troops there.

Is it worthwhile for Japan to try to disrupt the American factory building program? And even if this wasn't the issues (America doesn't like to build factories, or there is a no-factory "house rule,") is Sinkiang, which abuts on both India and Russia's Novosibirsk, strategic enough for an early attempt at its capture?


texts:
I've been playing a lot of whitchapel with friends lately and we were wondering about a certain rule:

It states that a prostitute may not be placed on the same location as a previous murder.
What would happen if a prostitute moved to another location and was murdered there? In the next night can a prostitute start on the same location the last prostitute started, seeing as the murder didn't happen on that location?


texts: Are there any cards in Yu-Gi-Oh that let me interact with face-down banished cards?

texts: Pot of Desires is a card where you banish 10 cards from the top your deck, face-down to draw 2 cards. Is there anyway I can change those cards, like flipping them face-up or returning them to the Graveyard?


texts: If I block my opponent's Ornery Goblin with my Ornery Goblin, whose Goblin dies?

texts:
Recently this situation happened to me on Magic: Arena. My opponent attacked with Ornery Goblin, and I blocked with my own Ornery Goblin. Surprisingly, my Goblin died while his did not.

I don't understand why. Here's what I think should happen:

He's the active player.
He attacks, I block. Both Goblin's triggers go on stack, but mine resolves first, since he's the active player (CR 101.4).
My trigger kills his Goblin.
Since his Goblin is dead, it can't deal damage anymore, so my Goblin survives.

Am I missing something or is this a bug?


texts: Can you buy with a copper after buying Grand Market?

texts: If you buy the Grand Market in your turn, can you then use spare copper to buy something else? Or does doing so forbid you from having bought the Grand Market?


texts: Where can the Ladder card be placed in Saboteur 2?

texts:
Most path cards in Saboteur can only be placed if they connect to the entry ladder  The Saboteur 2 rules say that a ladder path card is connected to the main entry ladder. Does this mean you can essentially place a ladder path card anywhere (presumably anywhere that connects to some other path) even if that path does not connect to the entry ladder?  (This would occur if some mean saboteur had played a rockfall on a key path card in the middle of stuff.)

The only thing I could find in the rules was that a ladder card cannot be placed next to the 3 final cards. What does that mean, exactly? Can I arbitrarily not place a ladder path card as the last card in a path to one of the end cards? Or are the rules just trying to say you can't use the ladder to teleport straight to the end when the groundwork (hah) has not yet been laid?


texts: Myram Lamm - how to apply magic abilities?

texts:
In A Prophecy of Dragons, how does one correctly apply the magic abilities of Myriam Lamm? As an example, Myst Bolt shows 1 star: remove 2 shields from your space. What happens if you roll more than 1 star?

Does it mean that you can remove 2 shields for every star you roll, or merely that if you roll one or more stars you can take 2 shields off, no matter how many you roll?


texts:
With the arrival of new summoning spells in the End of Times expansion there is a new spell which allows the wizard to summon a character (worth up to 65 points).

Can this spell be used to summon a character directly into an existing unit or do they have to appear nearby and walk in during the movement phase?


texts: It's my turn I have priority I control a Martial Law ... I detain my opponents Zacama, Primal Calamity ... My spell goes into the stack then I pass priority to my opponent. He uses Zacama's ability to destroy target enchantment in this case my Martial Law. His spell goes into the stack over mine he then passes priority back to me I have nothing else to do and the spells resolves. If both spell resolves this means my enchantments gets destroyed and his Zacama is detained? Or my enchantment survives because he can't active his activated abilities? Sorry still trying to understand the stack! I know his spell resolves first does that means he destroys my enchantment and is not detained?


texts: When I take a mulligan, should I shuffle my library first?

texts: When I decide to throw away my hand and use a mulligan, should I simply draw a new hand from the library or shuffle my thrown hand into the library before redrawing? I'm mostly interested in magic-the-gathering mulligan rules, but I believe a "mulligan" isn't system-specific; I'd accept a well-sourced system-agnostic answer as well.


texts:
Last weekend my group played Battlestar Galactica's Exodus Expansion using the Ionian Nebula option. In a determined moment of the game, an Ally Card was located at the Sickbay (it was Simon O'Neill, but the same applied to Dr. Cottle in a later moment in the game). My question is, considering that players cannot move their characters on their own to the Sickbay and an encounter with Allies only occurs after the Movement Step of a player, when an encounter with an Ally in Sickbay or Brig should happen? My thougths are:

Players sent to Sickbay can encounter an Ally in Sickbay if they stay in Sickbay in his Movement Step (this is possible?). If they move out from the Sickbay, they do not encounter the Ally.
Players sent to Brig must encounter an Ally in Brig while they are in the Brig

Is that correct?


texts: Dictate of Erebos and Bestowed creatures

texts:
Bestow is a mechanic with the following reminder text:

  (If you cast this card for its bestow cost, it’s an Aura spell with enchant creature. It becomes a creature again if it's not attached to a creature.)

Dictate of Erebos has the following effect:

  Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature.

Consider the following case:

My opponent controls a Dictate of Erebos
I control a Creature which has, as an Aura attached to it, a card with Bestow (in my case, an Underworld Coinsmith with Hopeful Eidolon as an Aura)
I control a single other creature, which I want to avoid sacrificing (in my case, a Doomwake Giant)
A single effect kills two of my opponent’s creatures (in my case, the Doomwake Giant’s Constellation effect triggered while he had two 1/1s)
I choose, as my first sacrifice, the Creature enchanted with the Bestowed card (in my case, the Underworld Coinsmith above)

In this situation, does the Bestowed card (e.g. the Hopeful Eidolon above) revert to being a Creature in time for me to choose it as the next sacrifice?

Or does it only revert to being a Creature after all triggered instances of Dictate of Erebos have resolved, forcing me to sacrifice the creature I want to save (e.g. the Doomwake Giant above)?


texts: Do older versions of cards use the card types printed on the newest version?

texts:
On the older versions of the Magic: The Gathering card Lord of Atlantis the card type was listed as "Summon Lord" but on the newer versions it is listed as "Merfolk Lord".

If I play the old version of the card does it use the new card type or the old card type?


texts: How does Sundial of the Infinite help you avoid losing turns to Eater of Days?

texts: This article on Wizards of the Coast website claims that Eater of Days "lose your next two turns" can be avoided by use of Sundial of the Infinite.  I can't figure that out.  There are no rulings on Eater of Days, and it is not an "end of turn" type of effect.  Is the author just wrong?  [seems unlikely]  Or maybe the rules have changed?


texts: What is the name of this red creature card

texts:
In Magic the Gathering I played a guy that was using a mono - red goblin deck which exploited Impact Tremors ability with a certain creature that "blinks" out of the game when another spell is cast now I cant for the life of me remember the name of the card.

I tried the card database on Magic wizards and got no luck. All that I can remember was that it was mono - red goblin creature of some sort. that had something a long the lines of this in its effect text:
"Whenever a spell is cast remove (said creature) from the game until end of turn then return it to the battlefield".

Can anyone help me out? I really want to obtain this card...


texts:
Spoilers for Commander 2018 have begun, and one card in particular has caught my attention:

This card is like no other I know. What may be truly interesting is how it interacts with the enchantment Blood Moon:

Here's a blog post about this by a level 3 judge. I don't agree. How I see this interaction is as follows:

Blood Moon is on the battlefield. I cast Arixmethes.
Arixmethes resolves and enters the battlefield. As it must exist on the battlefield with at least one slumber counter in order to be a land, Blood Moon does not see it until after it has entered the battlefield as a land, tapped, and with five slumber counters. So far, I agree with the blog post.
Blood Moon finally recognizes Arixmethes as a nonbasic land. Arixmethes loses all subtypes and abilities and gains Mountain as a subtype (by Gatherer's second ruling on Blood Moon: "Nonbasic lands will lose any other land types and abilities they had.").
The effect that makes Arixmethes a land as long as it has a slumber counter is an ability (the example for rule 112.2a is very similar: "Example: '[This creature] can't block' is an ability."). This effect is therefore lost, and Arixmethes is no longer a land.
Immediately, Blood Moon begins ignoring Arixmethes. The ability that makes Arixmethes a land is regained, and Arixmethes becomes a land once more.
Repeat ad infinitum.

All of these happen too quickly for any player to do anything. The way I see it, Arixmethes and Blood Moon on the battlefield simultaneously will immediately end the game in a draw (unless, of course, Arixmethes has no counters).

Is there an error in my thinking?


texts: Is there a list of the cards included in Scuttle! and its expansions?

texts:
So I have the card game Scuttle! and two of its expansion sets: Scurvy and Curse of the Black Jack.

Stupidly, I shuffled all the cards together and now I want to separate them out again.

Luckily, 'the Scurvy' cards are pretty easy to find as they're very distinct. Now I'm just trying to separate the cards from the base Scuttle! deck and the Curse of the Black Jack cards.

Is there a list of the cards anywhere? I checked the jellybeans games website and there's nothing there. Help me please! Thanks!


texts: Does a face-down creature with morph retain its damage when it is turned face up?

texts: I have a face-down morph creature that has received 1 point of damage. If my opponent casts Shock or another thing to kill it, can I flip at that point to make the damage disappear or my card still have it (now flipped) until the end of my turn?


texts: Can this sequence of events cause a commander to be permanently phased out?

texts:
Suppose that you have a three-player Commander game. The players are Alice, Bob, and Carol. Bob's commander is Isamaru, Hound of Konda, a vanilla creature.

On Alice's turn, she:

Casts Dominate to gain control of Isamaru.
Casts Song of the Dryads to turn Isamaru into a colorless Forest land (that's not a creature).
Activates the first ability of Memnarch to permanently turn Isamaru into an artifact (an Artifact Land — Forest).
Casts Bludgeon Brawl, turning Isamaru into an Artifact Land — Equipment Forest.
Casts Grizzly Bears (a vanilla creature) and equips Isamaru to Grizzly Bears.
Casts Reality Ripple to phase out Grizzly Bears. (Isamaru phases out indirectly per 702.25f.)
Concedes the game.

For reference:

  702.25f When a permanent phases out, any Auras, Equipment, or Fortifications attached to that permanent phase out at the same time. This alternate way of phasing out is known as phasing out “indirectly.” An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification that phased out indirectly won’t phase in by itself, but instead phases in along with the permanent it’s attached to.

...

  702.25m In a multiplayer game, game rules may cause a phased-out permanent to leave the game or to be exiled once a player leaves the game. (See rules 800.4a and 800.4c.) If a phased-out permanent phased out under the control of a player who has left the game, that permanent phases in during the next untap step after that player’s next turn would have begun.

Will Isamaru ever phase back in? That is, does the negative rule “An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification that phased out indirectly won’t phase in by itself” trump the positive rule “If a phased-out permanent phased out under the control of a player who has left the game, that permanent phases in during the next untap step after that player’s next turn would have begun.”? If so, is there any sequence of actions that would cause Isamaru to phase in? (Time and Tide won't do it because Isamaru is not a creature.)

If Isamaru would phase in, then does the situation change if Alice casts Donate to give Isamaru back to Bob before casting Reality Ripple?


texts: Should dying have won us the game when playing the voodoo haunt?

texts:
We were playing the voodoo haunt in Betrayal at the house on the hill and a few factors came into play, to paraphrase the rules of that haunt:

  ...You win if all the dolls are destroyed and at least half of the explorers don't die.

And,

  ...If you die your doll is automagically destroyed...

We played with three explorers (one traitor, two heroes). After my friend destroyed his doll I ended up succumbing to the voodoo doll and died, thus my doll was destroyed. Half of the heroes still lived (as did the traitor), and all the dolls were destroyed. We won.

It seems a little odd that the heroes won by one of them dying. In fact had he been more ruthless, my partner may have killed me to win. It was bit of a let down. Should he have had to fight the traitor still? Or was this a legit win?


texts: Can you raise the CMC with Geist-Fueled Scarecrow?

texts:
Say for example, I cast Sylvan Messenger, normally {3}{G}, but there is also a Geist-Fueled Scarecrow in play - thereby bringing up the cost to {4}{G}.

In response, my opponent casts Horribly Awry. Can Horribly Awry counter my Sylvan Messenger?


texts:
How useful is that rule and how many times we can use that in one game?

Under what conditions can the en passant rule be used?

How often does it come up and is it a good idea to use it?