texts: What do you do when one or more adults is upset or acting inappropriately?

texts:
As a host (and as a guest) to a gaming session, I like to help make the experience as gratifying for as many people as possible. I sometimes run into certain types of people or behaviors that are sometimes, but never always, anticipated.

Sore Loser Crankiness:
gets increasingly irritable as the certainty of his failure to win approaches.

Self-Pitying: repeatedly moping sadly and verbally over how desperate, pathetic and impossible his situation is.

Vendetta-bound: out for blood beyond any intra- or inter-meta-game statistics or standing reason. Spouses, Significant others, Politically mis-aligned players, someone who took the last pizza roll.

There are more, and I listed these as behaviors, not so much as 'types of people', although we probably all know various people who tend to repeatedly show these behaviors. Some might be "tolerate" and others might be "kick to the curb", but do people have good approaches that help address these issues and in the end make their gaming sessions and gaming groups stronger?

I'd also like to add that I'm more interested in courses of action during the ongoing game session or social event (excluding something like pulling the person aside for a word).  I feel there are various common carefully thought out ways to confront or appeal to people after the fact and that these approaches (in person, calling, email, tone of appeal/confrontation) could easily be another question/topic.

I've edited the original question to specify adults as interacting with children adds in a whole extra complexity of boundaries especially when they aren't your children and you're then thinking about how to interact around or with the parents.


texts: Do Thorncaster Sliver's triggered abilities go on the stack?

texts:
I was guessing, since you actually target things instead of just dealing damage (similar to Hellrider), Thorncaster Sliver's triggered abilities would actually go on the stack.

This came up in a separate game this past Friday when the Sliver deck attacked with two Predatory Slivers, one Thorncaster Sliver, and two Manaweft Slivers while his opponent had a Blood Artist as well as some 2/2.

The reason this even came up was because, if the triggers went on the stack, you could target things so they resolve in the following order:

Predatory Sliver targets Blood Artist, killing it.
Predatory Sliver targets the 2/2, dealing one damage to it.
Thorncaster Sliver targets the 2/2, killing it.
and 5. Both Manaweft Slivers target the player, dealing one damage each to him.


texts:
I have tried to read the Wikipedia article but it is too confusing on what the current accepted standard is.

My questions are:

If a pawn makes it to the last row can they stay as a pawn?
If a pawn makes it to the last row can they be promoted to a piece that hasn't been removed from the board e.g. 2 queens or 3 knights on the board?

If the last question is yes, do people normally carry around multiple sets with the same pieces?


texts: Can I use Lucky Cigarette Case on another player

texts: My question is rather simple, but we can't quite put a finger on the correct answer. Items such as the Lucky Cigarette Case ... can we use them on other player rolls or just our own? The text says to add 1 to the result of a single die roll ... but doesn't specify on whom you can use it. Any help would be neato, thanks in advance.


texts: When multiple monsters enter a Vortex during a turn do multiple Dunwich tokens get added?

texts:
From the Dunwich Horror rule book:

  For each monster returned to the cup in this fashion, raise the terror
  level by one. In addition, if there are fewer than three Dunwich
  Horror tokens on the Dunwich Horror track, add one Dunwich Horror
  token to the track.

Does this mean if three monsters move onto a vortex in one monster movement phase that three Dunwich Horror tokens are added (if none are there) or just one?


texts: Exploding kittens. How many turns can an attack card "really" skip?

texts:
Scenario:
P1 plays attack
P2 plays attack.
P3 has 4 turns on her.
P3 plays a turn and draws a card.
P3 has 3 turns left.
P3 plays her attack.

What happens?


texts: When I play a planeswalker, I know there is no summoning sickness. So, does that mean that I can increment or decrement its loyalty counter and use its abilities right after I play it since there is no summoning sickness?


texts: Why is Sword of Body and Mind regarded as the weakest of the Swords?

texts:
Sword of Body and Mind is part of a 5-card cycle:

Sword of Body and Mind
Sword of War and Peace
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow

All cards in this cycle have seen some amount of tournament play, but Sword of Body and Mind is generally regarded the weakest of the five, and is the least expensive in most stores.

Why is that? Sword of Body and Mind doesn't look any less powerful than the other swords, and it is the only one that directly improves your board position by making tokens.

Why is Sword of Body and Mind generally regarded as the weakest of the five swords? What advantages do the other swords provide that Sword of Body and Mind doesn't?


texts: When must an Instant be played that prevents damage?

texts:
Consider the card Harm's Way or similar. The Oracle text states:

The next 2 damage that a source of your choice would deal to you and/or permanents you control this turn is dealt to target creature or player instead.

When does this instant need to be cast to prevent a creature from dying? I guess the latest point by which it needs to be cast when blockers are assigned, if it were assigned later then it seems it would not longer be of any help.

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt. This is a change from previous rules.
510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)


texts:
What would be the key strategy points in dungeon petz which may improve the chance of winning? Which kind of pets are more beneficial to have? Having one pet seems like it is mostly not enough for winning.

What I know is choosing a pet with one or more similar color needs may help, however I'm not sure which colors are wise to pair or choose. Pets' food needs are sometimes really hard to fulfill. Mostly, it is really costly to be the first to the right food market or catch a potion card.


texts: Effective combinations of Shermans out of Blood, Guts, and Glory

texts:
The new lists for 4th and 7th armored divisions let you mix and match Sherman M4A3s, M4A3 76s, M4A3E8s, and Sherman Jumbos.  The various versions vary greatly in terms of firepower, speed, and points cost, so I'm having trouble coming up with an effective selection.  I would like to have a unit that is as homogeneous as possible, but I'd also like to use some Easy Eights.  Unfortunately, they are limited to only two per platoon.

What are some good combinations of Sherman types for both an Armored Company and as support in an Armored Rifle Company?


texts: What happens if an attacking creature is blocked by a creature with equal power and toughness?

texts: What happens if you block an attacking creature with a creature that has equal power and toughness as the attacking creature? Do they both die or bounce off each other?


texts: Can you identify this "memory" card game with 3 secret cards, lowest score wins

texts:
Last summer, my nephew taught our family a card game.  I think he learned it in Singapore.  We would like to find out what the game is called.

THE RULES - as best as I can remember them:

Each player is dealt three cards, face down.  He can look at them once, but has to remember the values from then on.

The rest of the cards are put in a drawing pile.  One card is flipped and put in a discard pile.

The players take turns, drawing either the top discard or the top from the drawing pile.  He can swap the card with one of his three face-down cards if he wants to.  Then he discards the extra card in the discard pile, face up.  This swap will allow the player (and others) to refresh their memory of which cards are in which positions.

Face cards are special:

If you pick up a Jack (from the drawing pile or from the discard pile), you can peek at any face-down card.
If you pick up a Queen, you can swap any two face-down cards belonging to another player.
If you pick up a King, you can swap one of your own face-down cards with one of someone else's.

The goal is to minimize the sum of your three face-down cards.  When the draw pile is depleted, everyone flips their face-down cards and adds up the values (A=1, J-11, Q=12, K=13).

You can play many rounds.  Just keep adding the scores from each round.  The lowest score wins.

--

I might have some of the rules wrong.

Please help us identify this game.


texts: What happens if multiple triggers on the stack would cause both players to drop to 0 life if fully resolved?

texts:
In Magic: The Gathering, if when the stack has been fully resolved both players will have dropped to 0 life, is the game considered a draw? Or alternatively, does the player who reaches 0 life first lose and the other player wins?

Here's the situation that caused me to ask this question:

I was playing a match where both my opponent and I were using Poison-Tip Archer. I had two of them on the field, my opponent had one.
I was on 4 life, my opponent was on 7.
I attacked with three 3/3 saproling tokens (I had a Tendershoot Dryad in play).
All three were blocked, killing them all and one blocker.
As the active player I ordered the stack so that the triggered abilities of my Archers resolved first. My opponent took 8 damage, but then if the stack was fully resolved I would take 4 damage, reducing us both to 0 life.

As you might imagine, I think I won but my opponent thinks it was a draw. Which one of us is correct?


texts: Using Wizard on another player when draw deck is empty?

texts:
Description of situation: A player's turn begins and they draw the last card from the deck and get a Wizard. The use the Wizard on the other player which forces them to discard their hand and redraw it. There are no more cards to draw. What happens?

The way my group played is that the player who has to redraw is automatically eliminated because they must first "discard" to get rid of their hand, but no card to draw means they will not have a card for the final showdown.


texts: Betrayal at House on The Hill, 2nd Edition - Monsters

texts: First time playing - I've read through the instructions (3 times) and it mentions MONSTERS - how do the monsters come into play? The instructions talk about monsters having turns and their abilities, but no where does it say how monsters come into play.... please help!


texts: Black creatures that cause loss of life when they enter the battlefield?

texts:
I'm looking for creatures that cause loss of life when they enter the battlefield, can you recommend any?

So far I've found Gray Merchant of Asphodel and would love to find more like it.

Thanks!


texts: We bought a chess set in which the rules state that pawn promotion occurs when the pawn moves to the light square in the upper left corner of the opponent's first row. So, this cannot occur when the pawn reaches any square in the last row?  All the other answers to pawn promotion do not address a specific square rule.


texts: Can Ghired, Conclave Exile and Helm of the Host go infinite?

texts: So in a Commander match a buddy threw down Helm of the Host and Ghired, Conclave Exile. He attached the equipment to his Commander and swung out. Given the cards' rules texts, what goes onto/off of the stack and does this interaction would result in an infinite combo?


texts: Is there a game that doesn't rely on luck or skill?

texts: I would like to know if there exists a game that does not use luck or skill in any of it's game mechanics, such as rolling dice.


texts:
This question is a followup of this question.

Let's say, we have A, B C and D again:

First round:
If A chooses Power plant, but D wins, then A will initiate another auction.
Again when A chooses Power plant, but C wins, then A will initiate yet another auction.
Looks like A has a slight adavantage here - it can potentially force others to bid higher for a power plant, or trick them into buying plants which it does not intend.

If A passes during an auction which it started, does it still get the option to initiate the next auction?

Subsequent rounds:
If A chooses Power plant, D wins, who initiates the auction again? A or B?
If A initiates, then how is a subsequent round is any different from the first round?
If B initiates, does this mean A never gets the chance to initiate an auction again in this round?


texts: If I attack with a  Primeval Titan (6/6 Trample) that has  Necrobite (Deathtouch), what happens if my opponent blocks with another  Primeval Titan?


texts: In Diplomacy, how does a time limit per round affect overall gameplay?

texts:
I want to introduce a group of people to the game Diplomacy. To make it manageable, I want to impose a 10 minute time limit per round (7 player game). I heard this type of limits are sometimes used in Diplomacy tournaments.

How would this time limit affect gameplay?


texts: Does the "unnatural" blackjack after splitting push with the dealer?

texts:
If I split aces, and get an "unnatural" (as they say in casinos), does the ante push if the dealer draws into a blackjack too, or does the dealer win?
I know, that it usually pays 1:1 at the casinos in this case. But what if it's a draw?
The word `unnatural' just confuses me.


texts: What is the correct way in terms of damage to the card/have a deck well shuffled for competitive tournaments, since you can make piles; I personally consider that the best way, just one for the game.


texts: In Duplicate Bridge, does the person holding a particular set of cards open the bidding in all times that particular deal is played?

texts:
Say the same deal is played by 5 different pairs of people. Is the person opening the bid each time that particular deal is played have the same set of cards in his hand? Or is the dealer/opener also changed?
For e.g. take a deal where North has
AKQxx
Axx
xx
xxx
Now North opens the first time this deal is played.
Now every other time this deal is played by 4 other people, is the person who has this same set of cards or not?


texts: Which creature deals damage with the Ninjutsu mechanic, and can I block the creature that comes in?

texts:
Ninjutsu allows you to return an unblocked creature to your hand and put a creature card from your hand into play tapped and attacking.

Does this mean if I didn't block, my opponnent could attack me again and deal damage again? Or does ninjutsu simply replace an unblocked creature, and if it was replaced the first creature doesn't do damage?

Also what happens if my opponent attacks me with a creature that can't be blocked, declare blockers step never happened so I could block the second creature that enters the battlefield tapped and attacking (the ninjustu creature)?


texts: Spy Kit gives a creature the names of all non-legendary creatures.  Leyline of Singularity makes all creatures on the battlefield legendary.  If I have the Leyline on the battlefield, as well as a Grizzly Bears equipped with Spy Kit and then cast Storm Crow, does Grizzly Bears lose the name Storm Crow, or is one of the two put in the graveyard because of the legend rule?


texts: Can multiple activated abilities be resolved after each other while something is on the stack

texts: This came up during a commander game this evening. Someone targeted Ghave, Guru of Spores with a damage spell doing just enough to kill him. Can I use his first activated ability to take a counter off another creature and create a Saproling, then after that resolves sacrifice that Saproling to put a counter on Ghave, all before the spell on the stack resolves? It was decided this didn't work, but I'm not sure.


texts: Where can I find more Brood War scenarios?

texts:
The Brood War expansion of Starcraft introduces the idea of the Scenario Game Mode, which basically comprises a pregenerated galaxy setup with special victory conditions.  Often, playing scenarios provides a more enjoyable (or at least quicker) alternative to playing the normal game.

Unfortunately, the rulebook for the expansion only provides four Scenarios, each with its own particular requirements for number of players.  This puts a significant limit on my options.

Designing my own scenarios is of course a possibility, but due to the time and effort involved, and the inescapable fact that some other avid gamer out there has inevitably done it already, I pose the following question:

Does there exist, somewhere on this wide vast internet of an Internet we call home, any  collection of further Scenarios which can be used to augment the playing experience?  Ideally these should be at least somewhat balanced and play-tested, of course, but I'm desperate enough to play anything really.

Other than a few posts on the BGG forums, randomly interspersed among what is a clear majority of non-Scenario variants and house rules, my own searching has come up with naught.


texts: How does Dredge work with drawing more than one card?

texts: How does dredge work with drawing multiple cards at once? For example, let's say I cast Windfall and discard three cards, a Golgari Grave-Troll, and a Stinkweed Imp. With the at least five cards I am drawing from Windfall, could I dredge two of the draws with the troll and the imp? If so, how exactly do I do that properly? Do I get to select which of the five draws I am dredging?


texts: What's up with the New X-Wing Core Set? 2015

texts:
The Force Awakens X-Wing core set is currently shipping now. There are new paint schemes for the X-wing and TIE fighter miniatures. The fantasy  flight website reveals this:

  The Force Awakens Core Set introduces rules for playing with your Resistance and First Order forces alongside the game’s three existing factions, and that means you can look forward to giving Luke Skywalker an Integrated Astromech, flying your swarm of TIE/fo fighters alongside “Howlrunner,” and shutting down focus tokens with Carnor Jax , only to Juke your opponents.

When can I get this?

Does anyone know the changes to the rules?


texts:
Could I get a comprehensive clarification of the rules surrounding mustering and supply limits in territories that have ports?

My understanding is:

When mustering, all territories (whether land, port, or sea) must adhere to supply limits.
When mustering at a Castle/Stronghold territory with a port, units can be placed in either the land, the port, or adjacent sea territory.

Is my understanding of these rules correct?

What it seems is that a player could keep a single infantry on their Castle/Stronghold territory, and because they have two adjacent territories (the port, and the sea) they can muster into, it makes it possible for them continually muster every turn, using the special consolidate power token.

Is this correct?


texts: Ticket to Ride: May a train segment count for 2 different routes?

texts: We have a question regarding Ticket To Ride. Can part of one train be used to fulfill two different destination routes? For example, my clever son completed his San Francisco-Atlanta “Destination Ticket” (17 bonus pts.). He then drew the Portland-Nashville “Destination Ticket” (also 17 bonus points) and decided this would be a cinch since he had already completed San Francisco to Atlanta. He simply added another 5 train cars, from San Francisco to Portland, and claimed another 17 bonus points for the Portland-Nashville ticket! I think he should not be allowed to do this, but should complete a whole separate train between Portland and Nashville to earn those 17 additional points. I may be reading the rules too quickly, but I don’t see where the rules explicitly address this one way or the other. Do you know if there is an “official” rule on this? Or is it up to people to determine this in their own house rules? Thanks for any tips you have!


texts: Where should plot tiles go after choosing one to place?

texts: When draw 3 tiles to place one, should the 2 remaining ones go on the top or on the bottom of the draw pile? The rules only say that the player draw 3 and chooses one.


texts: Which player is affected by Tolarian Winds?

texts:
Tolarian Winds says

  Discard all the cards in your hand, then draw that many cards.

Seems simple, but my opponent and I disagree. I take the text literally, draw is directed at the controller - he tries to play it if worded "Have target opponent (or any player)...

I tried looking at gatherer for this, but no relevant rulings. He claims 'house rules'. I say boo-ya, I want MTG rules only.


texts:
Since most moves in Catan are public knowledge, one could count cards and keep track of the opponents' hands at all time.  However, it seems that there are a few obstacles to doing this.

  Have any of you had success in card counting?

In particular, how do you get around obstacles like under the table trades, discards when a 7 is rolled, and randomized robbing?


texts: Find Spell cards self banish or cards banish spell in grave

texts:
I'm using a "Gishki Hieratic Deck" and I find this deck has a big weakness which  is some cards like D.D. Crow can ruin my deck by banishing my Gishki Aquamirror in the GY.

Luckily, I have found Parallel Selection, but now the problem is it only usable in a few special situation, so now I want some cards that could banish other spell card in my GY to do something useful or some spell cards could Self banish.

One more thing is I only play with friends and we have a rule that we only accept cards before 2015, you guys can check when the card out here.


texts: In Arkham Horror, can my investigator only use Dragon's Eye on the drawn gate if she is the 'first player'?

texts:
Dragon's Eye says

  Any Phase: Exhaust and lose 1 Sanity after drawing a gate or location card to draw a new card in its place

Does this mean the investigator owning it must be the 'first player' in order to affect the drawn gate card?


texts: Is BGA-Studio friendly to new programmers?

texts:
I love Board Game Arena (BGA), imho, it is the best real time board games site.

They have a studio where anyone can build and post new games.  I tried to build a simple bidding-tic-tac-toe, however I got stuck in all kinds of places.

Is BGA studio a friendly site to new programers?  I ask since on first (and second) glance it does not feel very friendly.  What I must know in order to build a small simple game on BGA-studio?


texts: Will an 8/8 with trample die if it's blocked by 4 2/2 creatures?

texts:
When attacking with a creature that has trample, can it die if the blockers' power succeeds or equals the attacking creatures' toughness?
Example: A 8/8 with trample attacks. 4 creatures, all 2/2, block. So all 4 creatures blocking and the attacking 8/8 with trample would die correct?


texts:
A cold contract usually means that a contract, which makes on most reasonable lines, as the cards lie. You hear people say, "He managed to find a line to go down in a cold contract".

(Note: the meaning could slightly differ based on region etc).

I am curious, how this term came into being. There is a past BBO forums thread: http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/43444-what-is-a-cold-contract/ but that does not seem to help.

Does anyone know the origin of this term?


texts: What would happen if I hand more than one Into the Wilds in play? I was curious if I get an extra use of looking at the top card of my library and playing it if it's a land, or do I only get that once no matter how many I have in play?


texts: How do you make Settlers of Catan work well for 2 players? (Problems and play-tested solution described, alternatives requested)

texts:
The basic Settlers of Catan game is designed to work for 3-4 players (or more with 5-6 Player Extension). No 2 player variant is suggested by the rules, and for good reasons:

Trades (an exciting part of the regular game) rarely make sense
No slow-the-leader mechanisms like trade embargoes or coordinated robber placement
The normal board setup offers too little constraint/competition
An early game non-moving robber too strongly influences game outcome

Normal rules/setup therefore result in quick but dull games where whoever gains the early lead wins over 90% of the time.

The question is how do you modify Settlers of Catan to make it good for 2 players, without including auto-generated additional players?

I provide one such answer below that we've used in many games, but I'm totally open to suggestions for improvements on my answer, and/or alternative play-tested systems developed by other Catan enthusiasts.


texts: Where can I find a spanish language copy of the rules of Settlers of Catan.

texts: I have found a link from a 2008 blog, but this fails now


texts: I have the Alhambra base set only, in which order should I buy the expansions?

texts:
I have the Alhambra base game, and now I'm curious about the expansions:

In what order would you suggest I buy the expansions?
What does each one add to the game?
How do the added components affect the gameplay?

Feel free to comment about any of them that you have as I know not many people may not have all of them.


texts: In monopoly, if a player owns all of a set of properties but one of the properties is mortgaged, is the rent still doubled for the other properties?

texts: In monopoly, if a player owns all of a set of properties (e.g. all three green properties) then the (unimproved) rent of those properties is doubled. Imagine now that one of the properties is mortgaged and somebody lands on one of the unmortgaged properties in the set. Is the rent still doubled even though one of the properties is mortgaged? On the one hand, the player still owns all three properties. On the other hand, only 2 of the properties are "active" in the sense that they aren't mortgaged.


texts: Must take net damage vs prevent net damage

texts:
If a runner hits a shi.kyu can the runner use guru davinder to prevent the damage and both effects?

Can the runner decide to take the net damage and then prevent the net damage with guru davinder?

or

If the runner does number 1, does that satisfy the "OR" condition and the effect is finished? Or does the runner have to add the asset to their score area now, since they did not take the net damage?

The confusion is that shi.kyu says "MUST take". Which implies, unless they take the netdamage one of the conditions has to be met. So the runner would be forced to do the second condition.


texts: What card sleeves should I get for Cards Against Humanity?

texts:
They measure 63mm wide by 88mm tall.

The base set has 550 cards (460 White cards and 90 Black cards).

The expansion has 100 cards (80 White cards and 20 Black cards) plus 12 blank cards (8 white, 4 black).

For the uninitiated, Cards Against Humanity.


texts: Can Descent: Journey in the Dark be played by non-English speakers?

texts: I'm Italian and I'm really interested in buying Descent: Journey in the Dark, but I don't know if it's better to buy the Italian or the English edition. I know some non-Italian speakers and I would like to have a game that can be played by all. I think my English is good enough to play a board game, but is that a risk?  I'm worried about how much an average non-native English speaker (i.e. any other player) is able to understand the game during real gameplay. So, my question is: how much heavily is this game dependent on the language?


texts: I'm confused about the "Timeshifted" cards. I looked at the Wizards of the Coast rarity scale. How rare are they and are they valid in Modern? (example Undertaker)


texts: Why is the original Pandemic set for up to 4 players when there are 5 role cards?


texts: How to play Ticket to Ride with children?

texts: I know that "Ticket to Ride: First Journey" exists but since I have a base game already (Ticket to Ride: Europe) I was wondering whether it could be streamlined for 5y-old children.


texts: In go, is it possible to guess the opponent's strength from their play?

texts:
Context : while playing against a complete stranger that hide its rank/level.

I feel like it would be possible to guess the opponent's strength by analyzing its responses to tesujis, probes, etc. during the game.

Is there some patterns (or moves or errors) that indicates that a player has or has not reach a certain plateau ?

If it's the case, is there any on-line resource on the subject ?


texts:
I was down to a single tile, a joker, and I wanted to place it next to any set already on the table. However, my opponent said a wild tile must always be played with two other tiles from your hand.
Could I have played the joker in this case?


texts: Do I need to call Uno after swapping hands?

texts: I play the card Swap Hands. As it happens I got the hand of the person who said Uno when he was down to his last card the turn before me. Now I have his one card. Do I need to say Uno now? I ended up winning and I was called out for it.


texts: Is it possible to design a two player game of skill with absolutely no luck?

texts:
I really do mean absolutely no luck. This would disqualify even games like Chess as White has an inherent advantage, winning between 52 and 56 percent of all games. A good test for a game with absolutely no luck is:

If player 1 plays again as player 2 and vice-versa, both playing to the best of their abilities, then the second match would be played out exactly the same as the first match.

Is it even possible to design such a game? If so then what would the rules of such a game entail? If not then why?


texts: What is the easiest way to play DarkForest, probably the strongest publicly available go AI?

texts: The strongest publicly available go AI is probably this: https://github.com/facebookresearch/darkforestGo, since there is currently no way to play AlphaGo.  Is there any way to play this without building it on a local machine?  Is it available on a server somewhere?  Looks like the name on KGS is darkfmcts3 .


texts: Is Loyal Cathar's ability a "delayed triggered ability"?

texts:
Loyal Cathar - When Loyal Cathar dies, return it to the battlefield transformed under your control at the beginning of the next end step.

Question reposted from user Zacula:

  I believe that Cathar's ability is not a delayed ability that triggers at End of turn. The ability reads: "When Loyal Cathar dies, return it to the battlefield transformed under your control at the beginning of the next end step." It is triggered upon Loyal Cathar's death! it doesn't say: "If Loyal Cathar dies, at the beginning of the next end step return it... blah... blah... blah...

From the rulings, a triggered ability begins with the words "at", "when", "whenever". Loyal Cathar's aility triggers upon its death, so it is up to the controller of the two triggered abilities (Undying, and cathar's) to place them on the stack any way he/she wishes to. He will of course prefer the Undying to resolve first, hence the result will be the same as everybody else answered to this question.

My question is: am I right regarding the Cathar's ability not being a delayed triggered ability that triggers at the End step?"


texts: If a player completes all their routes, are they required to pick up new destination cards even if the game is almost finished?

texts:
Let's say Player 1 has just finished playing all their trains and everyone is now taking their final turn. Suppose Player 2 completed all their routes on their previous turn. Is Player 2 still required pick up 3 new destination cards and keep at least 1? Doing so will cost Player 2 points unless Player 2 had previously completed one of these new routes earlier in the game.

Would it be possible in this situation to allow Player 2 to pick up 3 new destination cards and have the option of discarding all three of them should they find keeping any would cost them points?


texts:
I'm trying to learn Pokemon TCG so I can play with my kids; and I'm trying to figure out whether benched Pokemon heal or not? If so: are there any constraints ("healing rate", etc.) which apply to this healing process?

If not, can we remove Pokemon from the bench and return them to our hand and have them heal then? Or is the only way to heal via potions or trainer cards?


texts: Will Irencrag Pyromancer's ability trigger when it's killed by Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted?

texts: An opponent kills my Irencrag Pyromancer with Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted's minus ability ("Destroy target creature. It's controller draws 2 cards.") on their turn. Would I get a trigger on Irencrag Pyromancer for drawing my second card this turn before it is destroyed, or is it destroyed first, and only then I would draw my two cards?


texts: Do Surge triggers happen "on cast" or when the spell resolves?

texts:
Consider this new card from Oath of the Gatewatch -- Crush of Tentacles.

I realize the first part -- "Return all nonland permanents to their owners' hands" -- happens when the spell resolves, but what about the second part of the card text -- "If Crush of Tentacles surge cost was paid, put an 8/8 blue Octopus creature token onto the battlefield."

Does that trigger when the card is cast or when the spell resolves?


texts: What is the standard rule for running 12-1?

texts:
In Phase 10, in specific phases, you have to complete "run"s of cards, like this:

  4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

But recently I've come across the discussion whether this is a valid run?

  11, 12, 1, 2..

According to the rulebook, you have to agree on this before the game (elsewise, you can play runs like this).
But according to Wikipedia:

  Runs can go from one to twelve.

In my understanding, this does not include from twelve to one!

What is the common agreement for this?


texts: How to play Werewolf/Mafia with exactly 6 players?

texts:
Wikipedia claims that werewolf/mafia requires "At least 6 people" but all calculations for that I can figure out results in the "evil" side winning the vast majority of the time.  I would like to play something similar to this game live but have not been in a large social group (more than 6) that might enjoy such games for a number of years. I do, however, meet up with a group of 6 people where we do play board games occasionally. We have played 1 Night Ultimate Werewolf but that (though sometimes fun) ends up being a completely different game because players don't know their roles. I want to know if there is a smaller variation or modification to Werewolf or Mafia which can be played with the following requirements:

Exactly 6 players are involved initially (though this number will obviously decrease)
Players are eliminated by a voting process.
All players know their own identities.
Each side has a reasonably even chance to win.
The game is fun

As of yet, Resistance (very fun) is the closest I've found but no players are eliminated.  I think incorporating multiple "lives" into the game would work but I'm not aware of how that rule would be implemented.


texts: Double the rent doubles the house value also in monopoly deal

texts:
If there is one full set of blue card the rent value is 8m, with a house on it it is 11m.
If a player plays double the rent cards, what amount should be payed? 8+8+3m or 11+11m?


texts:
If you lose to the Shrieking Geek and fail to run away, the Bad Stuff that happens is described as:

  Bad Stuff: You become a normal boring Human. Discard any Race or Class cards in play.

If I have both a race and a class, do I lose both or only one?


texts: Anyone know what game uses these six-sided dice with letters and a dart-like glyph on them?

texts:
Does anyone know what these cubes are used for? Is it a board game?

The dice are all identical, with sides, [D,S,S,T,M,Glyph].


texts: Does Zada, Hedron Grinder work with Soul's Fire and other similar instants?

texts:
Does Zada, Hedron Grinder work with

Fall of the Hammer
Soul's Fire
or Tail Slash?

Would it spread to the other creatures? Does Soul's Fire's ability to target a player change this?


texts: Does sister Mary pass with rolls of 3-6 when Blessed and 5-6 when Cursed?

texts:
The faq says

  Sister Mary and each other investigator on her space adds 1 to the result of each die rolled as part of an effect printed on a Condition card that has the BANE or BOON trait. This modification applies whether the die is rolled as part of a test or not.

(Yes I see the grammar error with "adds" in there.)

I know this applies to testing whether to keep or discard the cards on a reckoning, but do we get to add 1 also to all tests and effective nullify the Curse and boost the Blessed to allow rolls of 3-6 as successes? This just seems so powerful!


texts: How many of each fish does Traders and Barbarians have?

texts: How many 1, 2, and 3 fish tiles are in the Traders and Barbarians expansion and Traders and Barbarians 5-6 Player extension? The most I've garnered from various web sites is that there are 20 fish tiles total in the base expansion and 14 more fish tiles in the extension, but I would like a breakdown.


texts: Is the ability of Sphinx of New Prahv cumulative?

texts:
The passive ability says

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

If I have two copies in play, does the opponent has to pay {4} extra to target one Sphinx with a spell?


texts:
So I expect most of us Agricola nuts have already got a tackle box for all the meeples and counters.  But now that I own the base set, Farmers of the Moor, the Gamers Deck, AND the Goodies, I'm finding the cards pretty unmanageable too.

The base set comes with E, I, K and Z decks (for both Minor Imps and Occupations), plus the Occupations have to be subdivided into 1+, 3+ and 4+ player sets, if like us you often play with fewer than 4 players.  Farmers of the Moor has Minor Improvements with different backs, subdivided into (confusingly) another E deck and an F deck.  The Gamers deck adds a G deck, and the Goodies brings the L, Cz, Oe and X decks!  (All of these including Occupations suitable for different minimum numbers of players.)

The temptation is just to give up and mix them all up together, apart from the Farmers of the Moor improvements, and sorting the Occupations by minimum player number; but maybe there's a better way.  Can anyone recommend a method of boxing and dividing Agricola cards so we can quickly play with any subsets of cards we choose?  Are there any commercially available card boxes that are the perfect size for Agricola cards, have enough capacity to accommodate my growing collection, and preferably come with dividers too?


texts: Different between Capsa, Big two and Daifugō

texts:
Is there any rule difference between Capsa (Indonesia), Big two (USA) and Daifugō (Japan)?
Can someone explain it to me?


texts: Betrayal at House on the Hill characters: Strength and Weaknesses?

texts:
The character cards for Betray at the house on the Hill are very complicated, in so much as the track you move the traits along are not linear. Different character's traits start in different places and progress at different speeds.
How can I factor this in when picking a character?
I can easily tell that Ox/Flash are the two physical characters and that Reinhardt/Longfellow represent the mental characters, but is it that simple? I've heard from articles that Flash, despite his speed is a weak character, but when I played him last he seemed balanced.
How should I interpret the other 6 characters, who seem to have a blend of traits?  What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Are all the characters born equal?
Are any of the characters weaker, overall, due to their traits? Or are they all balanced? Are there other strengths/weaknesses not shown in their traits?
A good answer would have a run down of the strengths, weakness and general strategies for playing as each character.


texts:
I played a deal online as South and ended up as 3NT +3 (490 points). The deal analysis page indicates that this deal can be played at 7NT.

I retried several times, went straight for 7NT, but all attempts ended up as 7NT -1. West's ♠K is a serious problem that I failed to avoid.

Anyone suggest how this deal can be done at 7NT, with South as the contractor and West plays ♣Q as the first hand?

Note: All other three players are robots and know all cards, so tricking them into thinking the wrong way is impossible.


texts:
In love letter there are some situations, when players have to compare their hands (after using the Baron card or at the end of the round).
What happens if there is a draw?
Situation 1:

A: House maiden (4), Baron(3), B: House maiden(4) , C: Priest(2)
A plays baron on B, both have House maiden.

What happens? Also what happens, if there is no player C?
Situation 2:

End of the round
A: House maiden (4), B: House maiden(4) , C: Priest(2)

Who wins this round? Both A and B? C? No one?
Edit
the answer in How can we determine the winner in Love Letter if the last two players tie and have the same value of cards discarded? answered only for the second situation. the first one is answered by Ken.


texts: Losing points for partially completed destination tickets in Ticket to Ride

texts:
I have the game Ticket to Ride: Europe and I'm a little confused about the points for destination tickets. I read somewhere that if you don't start to complete one of your destination tickets, at the end you don't lose any points. Not sure if this rule it's real, but if it is...

Let's say that I have done these 2 tickets: Frankfurt-Wilno, Danzig-Kiev and I have one more route from Wilno-Athina. Does the last one count as unfinished or does it count as not started?

I consider it started because it goes from Wilno to Kyiv and from there you can continue towards Bucharest-Sofia-Athina.

So, if you can clear things up.
What's the deal with the unfinished and not started tickets?


texts:
I would like to surprise somebody by spelling out a phrase in Boggle. When we start playing, they will instantly recognize the phrase.

When we have play in the past, the other person is virtually always the one to mix up the letters right before starting. If we didn't need to shake up the letters, it would be easy—just pre-spell the word. But I need to have each particular dice have the same letter on each of its sides (different dice will have different letters) so that no matter how they are shaken up, they will always spell what I want.

Are there any dice (Boggle size) that have the same letter on each side?
If not, what would be the best way to modify existing Boggle dice to produce this result?
Are there any other ways to go about this that wouldn't cause suspicion?


texts: Odds of 100% first turn accusation in Clue?

texts:
Last night my family played clue for the first time in years. It was a 4-person game, though i don't think that matters for this question.  I went first and rolled high enough to get to a room for which i didn't have the card.  I picked a person and weapon i didn't have as well.

No one had any of the three,  so on my first move I'd guessed the right answer.

Obviously the odds of guessing if you are unconstrained relate to 1 in 6, 1 in 6, 1 in 9. Probably 1-(5/6 × 5/6 × 8/9). But then there are the odds of being placed near the correct room and rolling high enough to get there.

Anyone work that part out already?

Edit: the complexity comes entirely from the number of players,  the locations of the pieces they get,  and the rolls (which in some cases can get you to two rooms from the starting position), and whether they have that room already. Then you make a suggestion,  which has to miss everyone.


texts: Can trap monsters and defense zone create a valid field lock?

texts:
The setup is this:

Field spell: Defense Zone
Column 1: Any trap monster / Field Barrier
Column 2: Any trap monster / Imperial Custom
Column 3: EMPTY / Reserved zone for trap monster
Column 4: EMPTY / Reserved zone for trap monster
Column 5: (Anything, preferably something that can prevent battle damage)

The logic goes that Field Barrier protects Defense Zone, The trap monsters combined with Defense Zone protect themselves AND Field Barrier / Imperial Custom from destruction and Imperial Custom protects the monsters from battle.

Save for field-wide bounce or sending, it looks like a perfect lock, but is it rules-legal?


texts: What happens if you cast a card that says "Target Opponent" in Two Headed Giant?

texts:
Let's say I'm playing a game of 2HG, and I cast Tribute To Hunger, which reads:

  Target opponent sacrifices a creature. You gain life equal to that
  creature's toughness.

Do I get to pick which opponent has to sac a creature, or do I cast it at them (being my two opponents) and they pick?


texts: Can I tap equipped artifacts for Improvise?

texts:
The reminder text for the Improvise keyword states:

  Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you're done activating mana abilities pays for {1}.

Can I tap an Artifact that is equipped to a Creature? And does the equipped Artifact retain its effect applied to the Creature it is equipped on?


texts: Why did Simic become the preferred Nexus colors in M20?

texts:
In War of the Spark, Bant Nexus was a legitimate deck. That's not to say Simic Nexus was not a competitive deck, and in fact Mattias Leveratto won Mythic Championship III with it, but Bant was a real variant.

However in M20 it's become clear that Simic is now the dominant Nexus colors. Why?

Did Teferi, Hero of Dominaria become less powerful as a win con? If so, why?
Did Simic gain some great new cards that cover the same bases as the white cards, which rendered them not worth it?
Did the meta shift in a way that made the white cards less important?

For comparison M20 Simic lists look like this. The differences are the win con (Simic generally runs Callous Dismissal, which is more versatile when you're not comboing, but is slow enough that Chandra, Awakened Inferno's emblem is deadly, and narrow enough that you can't beat Unmoored Ego naming Nexus), mana base, and sideboard.


texts: How many cards do you trash when you play a Chapel after having bought a Sewers?

texts:
Chapel reads

  Trash up to 4 cards from your hand.

Sewers reads

  When you trash a card other than from this, you may trash a card from your hand.

Because the cards Chapel trashes are all at once, do you get to trash up to 4 more cards, or 1?


texts: If player 1 plays a dealbreaker for player 2, can player 3 place a just say no card or can it only be the person the card is played to? In this example, can only player 2 place a just say no?


texts: If a fighter can't land during combat, can they land on carriers moved to them during the non-combat move phase?

texts:
If I move my fighters into combat and they can't make it back to sea, can I use my non-combat move phase to move my carriers to make it possible for them to land?

I am playing Axis and Allies 1940, 2nd Edition.


texts: Our copy of Mansion of Madness, second edition doesn't contain the original 8 investigators cards, is this correct?

texts:
we had Mansion of Madness, second edition (core game) for Christmas (don't have the original) but the game doesn't have the original 8 investigators. Is this correct? We have 16 other investigators cards. The box say it should come with 8 with matching 8 figures, we have 8 figures but 16 cards. (Not sure if they match) the game comes with a conversion pack which it says has the 16 extra cards. Are we missing the 8 investigator cards??
I'm so confused!
Thanks for any help.
(The box was all sealed, etc.)


texts: Can my opponent tap lands for mana when I have Sen Triplets on the battlefield?

texts:
I have been wracking my brain, trying to come up with interesting ways to use Piracy.

UU, Sorcery
Until end of turn, you may tap lands you don't control for mana. Spend this mana only to cast spells.

With Sen Triplets in play, target opponent can't activate abilities of their permanents:

This turn, that player can’t cast spells or activate abilities and plays with their hand revealed.

Since tapping a land for mana is an activated ability (activation cost is T:), then does this mean that the opponent can't tap their lands?
If so, can I then cast Piracy to use their lands to generate mana in addition to my own, safe in the knowledge that when I pass priority, the opponent won't just tap their lands?
Bonus: Further, if I have Strionic Resonator in play, then could I do so to multiple opponents in a multiplayer game, by copying the Triplets' triggered ability?


texts: If I rez Rasmin Bridger after an ICE, does the Runner have to pay its bit immediately?

texts: If I rez Rasmin Bridger after the Runner has passed a piece of ICE, does he get to pay its bit immediatly, or does it take effect only after the following ICE?


texts: Could the Japanese player suffer anti-aircraft losses under the Midway reduction rules?

texts:
One optional feature of the game, "Midway reduction," forces Japan to conduct an air (or sea) bombardment of Midway before the transports accompanied by the Atago invade it. There is a detailed table of the damage inflicted by Japanese bombers on Midway's firepower. But the rules don't provide for Japanese aircraft losses.
Could there be a house rule providing for some such losses? One might use the air to ship tables to estimate Japanese air losses. That would still result in "disproportionate" damage to Midway but the Japanese would not go unscathed.
Put another way, did Midway historically have anti-aircraft capability to inflict "some" losses on Japanese aircraft?


texts: What is a good modern miniatures Tank combat game/system?

texts:
Short story; I'm working on a 3-d printer, and I have a passion for tanks and games. So I thought I would make a miniatures game! a friend gave me a reality check, and now I'm checking around to see if there already is a system out there that does what I want, namely;

Modern armored vehicle warfare with miniatures. I'm hoping for something that's fairly realistic, dealing with modern vehicles and equipment and goes into some depth; perhaps accounting for things like armor thickness and shot angles? I'm not terribly interested in infantry (even if they would play a huge role in real life) but I'll take just about anything under advisement.

I'm hoping someone can point me to a good system. Or if there not one, then one that could act as a base for one...Or even chicken scratches that someone once made. I feel like I'm going to have to homebrew what I want anyways, but any sort of base to work with would be appreciated.


texts: If I copy a creature spell and it resolves, is the new permanent a token?

texts: If I copy a creature spell while it is on the stack, and then this copy resolves, I will get a creature object on my battlefield. Is this object a token? Or is it a nontoken object that happens to not have a physical card associated to it?


texts: Does the mission to conquer 9 territories in one turn require them to be occupied?

texts:
In Risk Legacy there is a mission to conquer 9 territories in one turn.

Do the territories need to be occupied by another player before you capture them to count towards this mission objective?


texts: When do transformed creatures go back to their original forms?

texts: It's not clear to me from reading Double-Faced Card Rules: do transformed creatures revert back to their original type automatically? And if so, when? End of your turn or beginning of your next turn?


texts: Do you restock hand cards at the end of each turn? Different language editions seem to have different rulings

texts:
Do you restock hand cards at the end of each turn, yes or no?

We've always played it so you restock your hand to four cards, as is explicitly stated in the Dutch rules. Other languages aren't as specific.

The English rules for Alhambra, by Queen, describe the actions at the end of a turn as follows:

  English
  When your turn is over it is the next player's turn. Before the next player decides what to do, any money cards or building tiles which have been removed are replaced with new ones so that there are four of each again.

Now, if I look at the Dutch rules (also by Queen) and translate them, there's a significant difference.

  Dutch
  When your turn is over it is the next player's turn. Now all money cards and missing building tiles are supplemented until every player once again has 4 cards.

Normally I would look to the German rules (also by Queen) for an answer, since the game is made in Germany. This one reads:

  German
  After you end your turn, the next player is up. For that, missing money cards and missing building tiles are restocked to four each.


texts: Does Sylvok Lifestaff work with Bronze Bombshell?

texts:
Suppose I use Endless Whispers to gift a Bronze Bombshell to my opponent.  Do I have enough time to equip a Sylvok Lifestaff that I already have on the field to the Bronze Bombshell before the opponent sacrifices it, so that I can gain 3 life from Sylvok Lifestaff's second ability?

For reference, Endless Whispers' rules text reads: 'Each creature has "When this creature dies, choose target opponent. That player puts this card from its owner's graveyard onto the battlefield under their control at the beginning of the next end step."'  Bronze Bombshell has the ability: 'When a player other than Bronze Bombshell's owner controls it, that player sacrifices it. If the player does, Bronze Bombshell deals 7 damage to the player.'

And Sylvok Lifestaff has the relevant ability: 'Whenever equipped creature dies, you gain 3 life.'


texts: In Dungeon Fighter, what is the priority between death and activating an ability?

texts:
I've got this question because I cannot find it in the rule book:

I roll the dice, I miss (so the monster attacks me), I die because of the miss, but the dice shows the "eye" (so for example I activate an ability that works even when the dice misses). In this case, the ability is activated before I die or I die before activating the ability?

Thank you in advance.

EDIT, right answer: the ability activates before dying when there is a "miss" with the dice.


texts: What game, possibly a children's board game, is this die from or used to play?


texts: If a player has 7 unicorn cards and a magic card have they won or do they need to get rid of the magic card before they can win.


texts: Can equipment be re-equipped to another creature?

texts:
With Artifact equipment, say I've equipped it to one creature, and I want to move it to another, can it be equipped to another creature if I pay its equip cost again?

My thought process is that they aren't like Enchantment-Aura's which target a creature specifically, more so like an item that is not bound. Am I right in thinking then that they can be equipped more than once?


texts:
I remember download a file in the emule some 15 years ago, with a lot of cards that works as an addon for Risk. For e.g., one card give you terrorism so you can attack from Irak to some region in US, or sattelite, so you can jump a region to attack another one.

Some one knows anything about it? Name, location to download, or anything?
Some similar addons will be value also.

Thanks a lot!


texts: Why do cards from Alpha have to be in opaque sleeves?

texts:
In this answer the tournament rules are quoted:

3.3 Authorized Cards
[...]
Players may use cards from the Alpha printing only if the deck is in opaque sleeves.

Why is this? As far as I remember there was an idea of having different card backs for each edition/expansion, but it was decided later to have the only one card back, which makes all cards compatible.
What makes cards from Alpha different so that they could be recognized without an opaque sleeve?


texts: Is there an online platform for collaborative development of a board game?

texts:
I`m interested in developing a few variants of a DIY board game in open source fashion.
For a start, I need to choose an online platform for that.

What could be a solution for public elaboration and publicizing? Is there something like SourceForge (a hosting, bug tracking and community site for open source software), but for board games?


texts: In Warhammer fantasy, is it permissible to make an army using an old version of a race's codec?

texts:
In Warhammer fantasy, new codecs for the races are released periodically that tweak units' attributes, cost, etc.

About 15 years ago I remember comparing two versions of the High Elves codec, which among other changes had increased the cost of a bolt thrower from 50 points to 100 points. I assume this is because the weapon was under-priced at 50 and 100 was a more fair and balanced valuation.

It is against the rules (either explicitly or in terms of etiquette) to build an army using  an older version of a codec? For example to take advantage of the cheaper bolt throwers at the cost of not being able to use any of the material in the newer book?

(Obviously anything that a given play-group decides is acceptable they can do; I'm asking in the context of official tournaments or an event where strangers would be playing.)


texts:
What is the best way to feed your people, and why do you consider it such?

I constantly go back and forth between
A) placing a person in the Field to move my food marker up
B) trying to grab up all the Food Civilization Cards  I can, and
C) placing people in the Hunt space to generate food with a dice roll
-or-
Does it make any sense feeding your people by using resources other than Food?

I generally play a 3 or 4 player game.


texts: Are there any consequences, if you cannot block Loathsome Catoblepas?

texts: Loathsome Catoblepas doesn't tell on it's card about consequences, so I felt it's important to make sure, what happens if you cannot block this creature in any way.


texts: Damage dealt by creatures and the order of damage

texts:
So I had an interesting one recently at our local win a box tournament.

Scene - I have 12 life remaining, my opponent has 9. I have an un-monstrous Arbor Colossus and a Polukranos, World Eater(monstrous 4), my opponent has no board at all apart from lands.

It's my turn, I attack with both my creatures. My opponent casts
Titan Strength on my Polukranos and then casts
Deflecting Palm on Polukranos so I am now dead to my own Polukranos (12/12).

The game ended here because my opponent started shouting so loud about how he had won with such a play that I missed a vital part of the board.

I could have used the monstrous ability on my Arbor Collosus and made that a 9/9. So I have this question:-

If I had used my monstrous on the Arbor Collosus - would that make the game a draw (we both die at the same time) or could I have had my creatures deal their damage in an order of my choosing, and thus win the game before being killed by my own Polukranos??


texts: Do Attacking Creatures Deal Damage Simultaneously or Sequentially?

texts:
When I declare multiple attackers, do they deal damage at the same time, or do they attack sequentially?

For an example, I attack with Aethergeode Miner and Ninth Bridge Patrol. If they attack simultaneously, I've got a 3/1 and a 1/1. If they attack sequentially, I could use the Miner first, flicker it, and then I'd have a 3/1 and a 2/2, since the Patrol gains +1/+1 for each creature that flickers.

Do attacking creatures work simultaneously?


texts: Do other wolves wake up during the werewolf phase in ONUW?

texts: Do all werewolves awake during the werewolf phase or only characters explicitly titled "werewolf"? Does Mystic Wolf wake up? What about Dream Wolf? I would think yes because otherwise how would you know who is on team werewolf, but I'm also lead to believe no because Dream Wolf doesn't wake up.


texts: Can Band of Misfits be played as a reaction card?

texts:
Band of Misfits is an imitation action card from Dark Ages expansion:

Suppose there are also reaction cards in the Supply, such as Moat or Beggar:

For simplicity, I will refer to the player who has Band of Misfits in their hand as myself.

Can I play Band of Misfits as a reaction card when I am being attacked? The card says, "Play ...", which seems to mean that it can only be activated on my turn.
If I can play it as a reaction card, does it mean that it is still a Moat when my turn really comes?


texts: Are there viable alternatives to a "three level pre-empt" with a good seven card suit?

texts:
Some people I know would "pre-empt" three spades with a hand like the following:

(s) AKQxxxx (h) xx (d)xx (c)xx.

My preference, however is to open with a "weak two," (spades) basically treating my seven card suit as if it had six. With some partners, I might open one spade even with only nine hcps, because it has 12 points counting distribution, seven (probable) tricks, and should make game opposite an opening hand that has three tricks.

On another question someone asked me what I would do with KJTxxxx KTxx x x. Again I prefer a weak two in first and second positions, pre-empting only in third. (Take away the side king, and I would pre-empt three spades in the first three positions.) The reason is that my seven hcps (eight counting the two tens) is close enough to the "average" of 10, so that I don't want to take up bidding space that my partner might be able to use.

I would even open a "weak two" with Axxxxxx and nothing else in other suits. That's because the ace (unlike a K or KJ) has real defensive value, and I feel less need to pre-empt.

Are all (or most) of the above viable alternatives to pre-empting? Or should I be pre-empting more than I actually do?


texts: How competitive are MTG Arena qualifier events?

texts:
I finished last season ranked mythic on MTG Arena. I wasn't paying attention to the season, had no idea something was up, and was simply playing for fun (like, if I'd known what was at stake and was playing to qualify, I would've stopped playing immediately after reaching mythic at rank ~150). Therefore it came at a great surprise to receive this email from Wizards:

Looking at the magic.gg website, it seems this is going to be a BO3 constructed event coinciding with a set release. I suspect this format is not my forte, because making and testing completely new decks is not something I'm very interested in - I usually just copy some established deck and change some cards. If there is a new set then everything is in flux and I would have to figure out the metagame.
Questions:

How competitive are these events? In particular, how do they compare against paper Magic events such as Friday Night Magic, Grands Prix, GP Day 2s, Pro Tours?
How much preparation is necessary to succeed in these events? How do people even prepare? I'm not part of a testing team or anything like that.
If I decide not to play, can I pass the invite to someone else?


texts: Who gets to "search target player's graveyard, hand, and library?"

texts: When a spell says, Search target player's graveyard, hand, and library for X, as is the case with Memoricide and Surgical Extraction, does that mean the casting player gets to look? (Thereby being able to take a mental inventory and gain insight into what he or she would apply a subsequent Memoricide to?)


texts: How do fish and road building cards apply to bridges?

texts:
How many fish does it take to build a bridge?

If you get a road building development/progress card how does that apply to bridges?


texts:
Suppose two players in a game of poker (assume Texas Hold'em) have cards with the same values. For example, Player A and Player B have the cards 4 & 9.
The board shows a 2,3,4,7, and 8 face up.

Who would be the winner, Player A or Player B?


texts: How many poison counters warrant an EDH loss?

texts:
I tried Googling the answer, but it seems like different sources say different things, and I can't find anything about it in the Commander rules (on the official Commander website). My main takeaway is that it's arbitrary based on your playgroup, but it seems like a rather unsatisfying answer.

Does anyone know definitively how many poison counters it takes to kill someone in EDH?


texts: What kind of cost is the effect on Trinisphere?

texts:
At a tournament this past weekend my opponent controlled a Trinisphere. I drew a Temporal Mastery as my first card for the turn, and the judge told me that it costs three to cast.

Five minutes later against the same opponent, I had a similar question about Gigadrowse. The judge said that I need to figure out the total cost, including whatever I would pay for Replicate, and if its still less than three, then I pay three.

I want to learn how to calculate the cost without calling a judge, but I can't figure out what kind of cost Trinisphere's effect is. It doesn't seem like an alternative cost, additional cost, or a cost increase. What kind of cost is it?


texts: Is there a (tournament) standard for character picks?

texts:
The Dark City expansion increases replay value for casual play by adding extra character roles. But what about tournament play? Is there a combination of characters that is commonly used in a tournament setting? Or maybe there's a character (or combination of characters) that's banned/excluded from official events?

There already is a (somewhat subjective) question about balance and preference. I'm looking for a source with authority, like a publisher, or (inter)national tournament host, or anything that comes close.


texts: What game uses dice with shields, fleur-de-lis and rapier hilts?

texts:
A while ago I bought some dice from the "discount dice jar" of mismatched dice at my local games store. The store personnel claim to have no idea where these dice came from.

From what I can gather, the symbols on the dice are shields, fleur-de-lis, and the basket hilt of a rapier (or similar renaissance-era sword). The blue dice show two of each symbol, whereas the red dice show three shields and three swordhilts. Dice are 15mm in size.

So, which game uses this kind of dice?


texts: Can the Mage Wars Warlock be played without any Demon cards?

texts:
As the subject states, I was wondering if the Mage Wars Core Set comes with enough Fire type cards to allow the Warlock Mage to build a spellbook with absolutely no Demon cards. Without seeing the cards, I will assume that most, if not all of the other Dark magic cards are OK, but I would ultimately prefer a pure Fire Magic spellbook.

So as to preemptively answer the almost inevitable 'Why?', I will simply say that, as an orthodox Christian, my conscience doesn't allow me to play a game with such cards. I would prefer not to debate/explain this further, as I believe such a discussion is well beyond the scope of this site.


texts:
According to the MtG wiki, the symbol  is a "Generic mana symbol", specifically representing

  Generic mana in costs that only can be paid with mana from a source that can produce two or more colors of mana.

However, I can't find any reference to it in the Standard Rules, and I've never seen or heard of it before.

Where does this symbol come from? What cards does it appear on? And what does it mean, exactly?


texts: Can you cast Polymerization on your first turn?

texts:
Reading the text of the card, it seems you could cast an insanely powerful creature on your first turn. Is there anything stopping you? If you happen to have the fusion materials in your hand, can't you put out something very strong the second the game starts?

Maybe that's normal for Yu-Gi-Oh? Coming from MTG it seems really odd to be casting a game ending creature on turn 1.


texts: Does qGo + GNU Go save or load handicap games incorrectly and how can one work around it

texts:
When I save a 2-stone handicap game with qGo 2.0.0 using GNU Go 3.9.1 as engine and then open it with the same software, the handicap stones are missing. This is quite annoying, as one has to imagine the missing stones and the scoring function will count them as territory or dame or treat the position as unsettled.

I can add them to the SGF file by hand, in which case they appear as unnumbered stones when I click the button for the first move, followed by white’s first move numbered 1.

It is evident that either the save or the load function is incorrect, and I suspect that it is the former, as handicap stones need not be on hoshi.

Does the file format prescribe how handicap stones should be saved?

If so, does qGo+GNU Go do it right?

Is this function performed by qGo or GNU Go?
Is the manual addition of the stones the best workaround?

Here is an example of an SGF-file saved and edited, with the handicap stones added by hand (AB[pd][dp] at the end of the second line):

(;GM[1]FF[4]AP[qGo:2.0.0]ST[1]
SZ[19]HA[2]KM[0]PW[Human]PB[Computer]AB[pd][dp]

;W[pp];B[cd];W[ed];B[hd];W[fc];B[np];W[qm];B[cg];W[cc];B[bc]
;W[dc];B[dk];W[cn];B[en];W[cq];B[cp];W[bp];B[bo];W[bq];B[bn]
;W[dq];B[gq];W[eq];B[oq];W[pg];B[nd];W[bb];B[pq];W[qq];B[qr]
;W[rq];B[qf];W[qg];B[pe];W[qc];B[rd];W[rb];B[pj];W[pb];B[nb]
;W[qd];B[re];W[rc];B[sc];W[ri];B[gb];W[gc];B[hc];W[fb];B[hb]
;W[ef];B[bd];W[nc];B[mc];W[oc];B[sb];W[mb];B[lb];W[md];B[ma]
;W[od];B[ne];W[oe];B[kc];W[of];B[me];W[ld];B[le];W[qe];B[jq]
;W[mg];B[eg];W[gf];B[fg];W[ff];B[rr];W[sr];B[qp];W[rp];B[qo]
;W[ro];B[po];W[qn];B[hj];W[gg];B[ep];W[mj];B[ml];W[ok];B[kk]
;W[on];B[mn];W[oo];B[op];W[pn];B[fi];W[gr];B[fr];W[fq];B[hr]
;W[gp];B[hq];W[fp];B[hp];W[er];B[cm];W[ho];B[go];W[fo];B[gn]
;W[fn];B[fm];W[gm];B[hn];W[hm];B[io];W[in];B[ho];W[fk];B[im]
;W[em];B[fl];W[el];B[gl];W[hl];B[gk];W[dn];B[dm];W[eo];B[fj]
;W[ek];B[dj];W[dg];B[dh];W[df];B[cf];W[ij];B[ji];W[ii];B[ik]
;W[jj];B[kj];W[jh];B[ki];W[hh];B[gs];W[co];B[nj];W[nk];B[pp]
;W[mk];B[kh];W[jg];B[mi];W[ni];B[nh];W[oi];B[mh];W[oh];B[lg]
;W[ng];B[nl];W[ol];B[ab];W[il];B[jk];W[cb];B[je];W[if];B[nm]
;W[om];B[ie];W[ll];B[lk];W[nn];B[mm];W[mo];B[mp];W[ln];B[jn]
;W[lp];B[lq];W[kp];B[kq];W[lf];B[kf];W[mf];B[no];W[lm];B[ko]
;W[kn];B[jp];W[jm];B[lo];W[in];B[hk];W[jo];B[ge];W[fe];B[ob]
;W[kg];B[jf];W[lh];B[li];W[ig];B[hi];W[gh];B[ih];W[lg];B[mn]
;W[mm];B[gd];W[gi];B[gj];W[de];B[fh];W[ce];B[be];W[rs];B[pr]
;W[ao];B[bm];W[an];B[am];W[ap];B[dl];W[oa];B[ej];W[en];B[jl]
;W[im];B[ii];W[nf];B[ke];W[ga];B[ha];W[fa];B[jn];W[km];B[qs]
;W[es];B[fs];W[hf];B[sq];W[sp];B[ss];W[rn];B[sq];W[lc];B[mb]
;W[sr];B[jo];W[sq];B[mo];W[ac];B[ad];W[dd];B[rs];W[ba];B[ac]
;W[aa];B[af];W[pa];B[he];W[na];B[fd];W[kl];B[lj];W[tt];B[tt]
TB[ae][ag][ah][ai][aj][ak][al][bf][bg][bh][bi][bj][bk][bl][ch]
  [ci][cj][ck][cl][di][eh][ei][gr][hs][ia][ib][ic][id][ij][ip]
  [iq][ir][is][ja][jb][jc][jd][jj][jr][js][ka][kb][kd][kp][kr]
  [ks][la][lc][ld][lp][lr][ls][md][mq][mr][ms][nq][nr][ns][or]
  [os][ps]
TW[aq][ar][as][br][bs][ca][cp][cr][cs][da][db][do][dp][dr][ds]
  [ea][eb][ec][ee][ep][hg][ml][nj][nl][nm][og][oj][pc][pd][pe]
  [pf][ph][pi][pj][pk][pl][pm][qa][qb][qf][qh][qi][qj][qk][ql]
  [ra][rd][re][rf][rg][rh][rj][rk][rl][rm][sa][sb][sc][sd][se]
  [sf][sg][sh][si][sj][sk][sl][sm][sn][so]
)


texts: Can you avoid the Boss in Munchkin Quest?

texts: Are you able to use magic/tricks (e.g. a Teleport spell) to circumvent the final creature, and thus win the game?


texts: Are there any cards that permanently take control of opponents creature

texts: I know that the cards I'm familiar with such as Act of Treason and Act of Aggression all specify gaining control until end of turn. I'm wondering if something such as Illusory Gains, Beguiler of Wills, or Blatant Thievery would take control of a creature permanently. I know that the answers on this question Does Illusory Gains make someone else's Commander my own forever? indicate that is not the case but I'm wondering if there is a rule that indicates that effect doesn't last when it's not specified and furthermore are there any cards that do specify the effect lasting permanently?


texts: What's the use of blinking a creature out (such as with Essence Flux)?

texts:
Essence Flux says:

  Exile target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control. If it's a Spirit, put a +1/+1 counter on it.

So, say I have a 1/1 Sanctuary Cat cast onto the battlefield. According to above, I would exile it, then return it right back? Is that right? I don't see what purpose this serves unless it was a spirit. Could you clarify if I have this right and what the benefit is?


texts: How can I identify games that would work better on the computer?

texts: What are the things that the electronic version can do to enhance gameplay? Conversely, what could the board game version do to overcome this view? Feel free to use examples if it would help clarify your answer.


texts:
I suck at Scattergories. I've played the game dozens of times, and as far as I can remember I have never gotten anything other than last place. Usually the gap between me and the next lowest score is large. I just finished a full 16-round game with a final score of 51. Only 24 words were crossed out due to others having them; 1 or 2 words tops were crossed out due to challenge. That's an average of just 4.7 words that I filled in per 12-word list. I believe that putting something down for each line is the most important aspect of the game, so clearly I'm doing something wrong.

Here are my strategies for filling up the slots on each list:

Think of any and all words starting with the letter and find a category that they might fit in, selecting the most obscure category to avoid overlapping with another player.
Think of any and all words associated with the category on the list, and see if any of them start with the letter. Usually this involves visualizing the category. For example, with “things in a junk drawer” I visualize my own junk drawer, name each item, and check the first letter for a match.
Read the list, the instructions, and any text in the room for words that start with the letter. Any that do, find a category for them if possible.
Sound out in my head the letter followed by a common next letter, waiting for my brain to fill in a word. For example, the letter is “S,” so in my head I say “sh...” and “se...” until words like “shout” and “seer” pop up. Then, find a category for that word.
Write the first letter to see if my brain will auto-complete a word simply by muscle memory.

You might be tempted to comment, “it's a party game, just have fun with it.” Since I'm not particularly competitive, that's basically what I have done in my dozens of attempts. However, at this point the pattern of suckage is hard to ignore, and I'm quite curious what key aspect of the game I must be missing.


texts:
What happens when a Commander is hit with an effect such as Flicker or Otherworldly Journey, and that Commander's owner chooses to send the Commander to the Command zone instead of exile?

Will the Commander come back to the battlefield at the end of the turn, or will it stay in the Command zone and have to be re-cast again? Does the answer change depending on whether the exiling card would bring the creature back immediately (Cloudshift), at a specific later time (Vanish into Memory), or an unspecified point in the future (Oblivion Ring)?


texts: duplicate bridge rules for revoke,and any penatly should be imposed

texts:
In a recent game we found 3 players had  4 cards left and one player had 3 left. This was noticed on the 9th trick and no one knows when this happened.

What, if any, is the penalty?


texts: In LOTR with Sauron, what's the timing of Nazgul cards?

texts:
We were playing the LOTR board game (Reiner Knizia) with the Sauron expansion (me as Sauron).  On a player's turn, I played a Nazgul card.  They interrupted the card with yellow cards, putting the ring on, and Frodo's special power, and managed to end the scenario, and therefore avoided the entire Nazgul card's effects.

Is this right? I'd argue that although the interrupts seem reasonable, as the Nazgul card is based on a player's turn, and not the scenario, the affects should still happen.  What do others think?


texts: What happens when I copy Precursor Golem with Rite of Replication?

texts:
I came across this issue with my friend a while ago and came up with many possible answers:

How many golems will you get if you copy Precursor Golem with a kicked Rite of Replication?


texts: Do harbor pieces count for determining the end game phase in Ticket to Ride Rails and Sails?

texts: The game moves towards its end once a player has “6 or fewer pieces”. Question: are the “harbor” pieces included in this count or only “locomotives” and “ships”?


texts: Magic the Gathering - What to do with permanents that only work "until end of turn"?

texts: I specifically have a Trial of Solidarity that is only active "until end of turn." I am wondering for this and other relative cards, whether they are to be discarded at end of turn since they are used up, or if they remain as permanents with no use? It is especially important for this card, since it has an additional effect that depends on another card's entering the battlefield AFTER its been played.


texts: Can I give a creature spell hexproof to prevent it from being countered?

texts:
The card Dive Down states:

  Target creature you control gets +0/+3 and gains hexproof until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)

If I cast creature and opponent casts counter, can I Dive Down on the stack to give creature hexproof?


texts: Blinking face down Auras and Non-Permanents

texts: When I exile a manifested permanent like an enchantment or creature with something like Roon of the Hidden Realm, it comes back face up (from what I understand). What happens if I exile and return an instant, sorcery or aura enchantment? Do their effects take place on the end of my turn?


texts:
Ok, First I have zero  knowledge about boardgames, I browsed some in the past and have watched some youtube videos a while ago and this will seem really , really weird, but today I woke up witha  really vivid dream about a board game, I don't know if I have just made it up or I have seen it being played and that made went into my mind.

The game was like this. the first (darker) rows from each side , were the "teachers" and the second (lighter) the students, I actually remember some rules:

Students can move forward 1 circle
Teachers can stack upon students,
when student has 1 teacher it can move 1 circle in any direction,
For each aditional teacher upon a student it can move the amount of
teachers upon itself: 2 teachers = 2 circles in any direction, 3
teachers = 3 circles in any direction.
A piece can only take another
piece of the same value or below a student can take a student a
student+1 can take a  student+1 and a student a student+2 can take a
student+2 , student+1 and a student
teachers can't move unless there are no students on the board
once this happens teachers can be stacked in the same manner as students
a player loses when there are no more teachers available

I know it may be taken as offtopic, It just seems awfully specific for a dream and is bugging me , so I had to post


texts: How are mines triggered in Captain Sonar?

texts:
For all normal system activations, the real-time game is put on hold:

  To activate a system...announce "STOP" and raise a fist. All other players stop what they are doing and listen.

This seems important for multiple reasons, including making sure the game is in a single consistent state during the resolution of the activation.

However, the rules also seem to treat triggering a mine differently from activating a system:

  At any time, except while surfaced, the Captain can trigger a mine by raising a fist, announcing "TRIGGERING A MINE"

So: does triggering a mine count as a system activation?

If yes, does that mean that you have to charge the system once to drop and then charge it again to trigger, and that the engineer must have weapons systems online for both drop and trigger? Or if no, does that mean that the game isn't on hold while the trigger is resolved, even though the game is on hold while the very similar torpedo explosion is resolved?


texts: Can the Runner/Corporation trash their own installed cards?

texts:
This mostly came up last game with a player that had Wyldside.

  When your turn begins, draw 2 cards and lose [Click].

He was using it to good effect up until a few turns in, when he had too many cards and not enough money to do anything with them. The question becomes, can he voluntarily trash his own installed cards without a prerequisite action?

I know that the Corporation can trash their own installed agendas/assets in servers they control by simply installing something over what they want to trash, and Runners can trash programs by installing a program that would be above their storage limit.  But for Wyldside, there's no way to trash it unless you have Aesop's Pawnshop.


texts: Teysa, Orzhov Scion sacrificing one creature multiple times to exhile

texts:
I have a rules question for you all. I run Teysa, Orzhov Scion and many black/white creatures in my decks, and I'm wondering if I can sacrifice a black/white creature for her exile ability, and then sacrifice the white spirit token that I get for having a black creature go to the graveyard towards that same instance of her exile ability.

If not, do I have to sacrifice all of the creatures at the same time, or can I, for example, sacrifice two, play a third, and then sacrifice that one?


texts: Glory to Rome: play a role, perform no action

texts:
In Glory to Rome, if a player leads with a role, say Architect (using a Jack, as it is important to this example) can I follow with an actual Architect card if I either have no legal plays (all in-town sites are built or my stockpile is empty/not applicable to my under construction buildings) or if I want to perform no action other than to get an architect role into the pool at the end of the turn?

(Specifically this is so I can patron an Architect to win the game through the Forum's special ability, and Architects don't make it/remain in the pool.)


texts:
The game of Pentomino is a tiling puzzle game played on a grid. A Pentomino piece is a shape of five non-diagonally connected tiles. There are 12 unique pieces (ignoring rotation/reflection). The goal of the game is to fill the board with the available pieces without overlapping.

I'm interested in which strategies I can use to find good pathes to a solution faster. So far I primarily researched non-rectangular boards, possibly with 'holes' inside, that have exactly one solution. Later, I want to also try boards with multiple solutions.

I've identified a few ideas that were quite helpful:

Do not search where to place a piece, but search the grid for connected spaces. In other words: instead of asking "where can I put this piece?", ask "what piece could be put here?".
This search should start in cells with few options (i.e. narrow alleys). This often leads to long, forced sequences, which is good.
If unclear, assume that two cells are separated (not part of the same piece). Then try to refute this assumption by showing that the board cannot be solved anymore. This means they must be connected. Rinse and repeat.
If a subspace is created (that is not connected to other open areas), check if its number of cells is a multiple of 5. If not, it is impossible to solve.
Point symmetric subspaces of 10 cells cannot be solved.
(Some others that are more complex)

These came to my mind while just playing the game for many hours (I was a test subject in a study about Pentomino). Are there any resources, links, books, etc where I can learn about more advanced strategies?


texts:
My husband and I like Splendor, but once someone manages to get one high level card, the game is pretty much over in minutes. Increasing the number of points you need to win doesn't make the game last much longer, either. And by the end, it's more just who-can-grab-the-card-first.

Can you think of a good alternative way to play? The game is beautiful and I'd like to use it more often if I had a better set of rules.


texts: How many different variations/editions of Monopoly are there?

texts: Is there a website that has a comprehensive list of all the various editions of the Monopoly board-game there are? I'm sure there's hundreds... but I'm not having much luck finding it online.


texts: Suburbia - what is the rule of Reputation?

texts:
Introduction
In Suburbia you track your population, reputation, and income. The goal is to have the most population when the cards run out. Income is needed to purchase tiles to increase your population.
Question
As I understand from what the rules say about reputation is that in the event of a tie with population at the end of the game,  the one with the highest reputation is the winner. My question is, does reputation do anything else in the game other than that? If that's the only reason for it, and ties are pretty unlikely, I have no reason to keep it up.


texts: Spawning from special zombie cards inside buildings

texts:
In Zombicide, when spawning zombies inside buildings when a player opens a door, what do we do when we draw a "special card"?

By "special card" I mean "additional activation of zombies", "sewer spawn", etc.

For example:

During the player's turn, one of them opens a door.
In one room they draw an "additional activation of runners".

Can the runners be activated in the player's turn? Or do we discard this card and draw another? Or does nothing spawn in that room?


texts: I tried searching the game, but all I got were complicated instructions. So in basic rules, how do you play senet and what do the different symbols mean?


texts: Can I use Moonlace to allow a Lightning Bolt to target a creature with protection from red?

texts:
The action of casting a spell is only apparently simple.  There are many steps, and it is for this reason that I propose this question.

Taking into account rule 601.2a only (without taking into account the several successive steps, by now, and in particular without referring to the choice of targets which is however essential), which reads

  To propose the casting of a spell, a player first moves that card (or that copy of a card) from where it is to the stack. It becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has all the characteristics of the card (or the copy of a card) associated with it, and that player becomes its controller. The spell remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, or an effect moves it elsewhere.

and using at the same time the blue rare card Moonlace, I wondered if it was possible, by keeping priority, to use the latter card to make another spell colorless before making my choice of its possible targets.

For example, if I have a Lightning Bolt and I want to cast it on a creature with protection from red – e.g. Repentant Blacksmith – may I use Moonlace to make the Bolt colorless, thus allowing to legally target the Repentant Blacksmith – or, possibly, other cards that have the ability "protection from colored spells", too?

The question is set in an open way, because at the moment I don't know if the action described is or is not possible, based on my current knowledge of the rules. In other words, thinking about the question by myself, I don't think it is possible to cast the Lightning Bolt first and then the Moonlace, since for a correct casting of the Lightning Bolt I think it is included the choice of the target, which cannot be legal since the creature is protected from red. On the other hand, casting Moonlace first is all the same wrong, because the spell that should target doesn't exist yet, and therefore this action would be illegal too, for the same reason. That's the reason why I said to refer to rule 601.2a only.

The key to the question then is simply: is there someone knowing  any “sleight of hand” to grant devoid ability on Lightning Bolt, before his target is chosen - via Moonlace, or via any other ways, otherwise? And, if that kind of sleight does exist, what spell should I cast first? It is possible to cast two spells simultaneously?


texts: Can you attack again after I decide not to block?

texts: We are both new to MTG. He will attack me, and when I decide to take the hit and roll back my life, he then likes to attack me a second time. This doesn't feel right to me, is this allowed? Can he hit me twice after I've blocked or taken the hits?


texts: Can Fabled Passage generate two mana with Amulet of Vigor?

texts:
Fabled Passage has this text:

  [T], Sacrifice Fabled Passage: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library. Then if you control four or more lands, untap that land.

Amulet of Vigor says:

  Whenever a permanent enters the battlefield tapped and under your control, untap it.

With Amulet of Vigor + 3 lands on the battlefield, can I play Fabled Passage, sacrifice it, find a basic land which enters tapped, Amulet triggers and untaps the land, tap it for mana (floating one), and then untap the land again using Fabled Passage's effect?


texts: Can Act of Treason allow a Detained creature to attack?

texts:
Suppose an opponent plays a card such as Lyev Decree to detain one or two of my creatures until the opponents next turn. If I have Act of Treason in my hand, would I be able to use Act of Treason to gain control of, and attack, with target creature once my turn comes around again?

I know Act of Treason states that I gain control of target creature until end of turn and that creature also gains haste until eot. Just wondering if Lyev Decree would prevent me from gaining control again of my creature, basically countering Act of Treason.


texts:
I have a card that says:
"At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this card unless you return a land you control to its owner's hand."
If I have two of these on the battlefield, do I return one land for each or is returning one land enough to satisfy both conditions?


texts: How many Number Monsters have been released in Yu-Gi-Oh thus far?

texts: I know a few cards of the Numbers have been released in Yu-Gi-Oh card game. How many have been released in the TCG so far?


texts: Can I use chapter specific characters in a custom space marine chapter?

texts: I have made my custom space marine chapter, currently I have only a generic apothecary and captain as my HQ. What I wanted to know is if I could use specific HQ units like the imperial fists Captain Lysander or the Whites Scars Kor'sarro Khan in my custom chapter.


texts:
I've had exploding kittens for a while but haven't really played it because every time I try to play, nobody really knows whether they are supposed to keep what they draw secret or show it to everybody to prove it isn't an exploding kitten.

Are you supposed to show everybody what you draw when you draw it (allowing more complicated strategies based on remembering what cards people have) or do you just trust that nobody hides an exploding kitten?

The instructions make no mention of this.


texts:
The majority of deck building card games use the following winning condition:

You and your opponent are the central figures on the battlefield, and the game ends as soon as one of you (or both) is killed.
You start the game with some positive amount of life that goes up and down (usually down) as you battle.
Whenever your life total is at or below 0, you are dead and you lose.

A slight variety of that is when there is no central figure and you have to destroy all your opponent's creatures to win.

I was able to find only two games that use different winning conditions: Gwent the Witcher and Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. Could you please name some more?

In particular, I'm interested in the following condition: you and your opponent start at 0 points, you earn (or lose) points as you play and whoever has more points at the end of the game wins. (Both Gwent and Ascension seem to be examples of this mechanic.)


texts: Thorncaster Sliver and Venom Sliver vs. Priority or Lack Thereof

texts:
I have been gone from MtG for some time now and recently played a couple games with some of my old friends. Midgame the same thing happened that always happens when I play with that group. A fight.

Long story short, it happened like this:
My opponent had a Thorncaster Sliver, Venom Sliver as well as several other slivers out; while I currently had a Master Transmuter, several artifact creatures out and a Ethersworn Shieldmage in my hand.

My opponent declared their attack step and then proceeded to deal damage to my Master Transmuter. In response I played my Ethersworn Shieldmage, he then dealt damage to that with another creature and then damaged my Master Transmuter again with another one of his attacking slivers. I tried explaining to him that although I messed up and played my response a little too early, he could not damage something and kill it before I responded to the damage.

Eventually after fighting for a couple minutes, I just gave in and had him kill all my creatures, and gave him the game.

He has been hounding me now for weeks about the actions and still telling me I am wrong. Looking for some answers to prove my point to him, I decided to research a previous inquiry here:
Do Thorncaster Sliver's triggered abilities go on the stack?
However it did not provide all of the information I needed.

Now here is the real question (again been away from MtG for a while, so I might be wrong), am I right or wrong in the following train of thought. Using the previous thread as an example, however inserting our previously stated creatures into the equation.

As in the example let's say he attacks with 5 slivers, one being a Thorncaster Sliver and a Venom Sliver.
Using the previous thread as an example he moves straight to step 3, while skipping over step 2. Basically trying to resolve damage before he declared all of it. I tried to tell him that all of his creatures attack at the same time, thus he would have to declare the damage at the same time BEFORE he can pass me priority (during the game I kind messed this up by playing my Shieldmage when he first applied the damage and waited for my response). Is this correct?
That being said the damage that he declares cannot be resolved UNTIL I have priority, correct? Meaning that he would have to pass me priority after he declares all of who he wants to damage, but before it is applied or that (if in the case he does not pass priority) the damage carries over until the declare blockers step (CR 112.3c) when I would have priority, correct?
As I said during the game I kind messed things up by playing my Shieldmage when he first applied the damage and waited for my response; however his ability still goes onto the stack and he cannot damage it or other creatures until he resolves, correct? Meaning that any creature damaged before he comes into play would be destroyed via Venom Sliver's Deathtouch ability, however after he comes into play all creatures I had in play would not receive damaged. So technically it doesn't matter when I play him because once he resolves it nullifies anything before he was on the stack and after (especially if I played him during the example thread's step 2, like I was trying to do), because the damage would have to resolve and he can't be dealt damage before he comes into play.

That being said, am I right or wrong in this? I'm trying to understand "Priority" and how it would relate to the above scenario. I believe that I'm right, but I could be just as wrong in this...


texts: How am I supposed to position my link monster?

texts:
I am brand new to Yu-Gi-Oh, and after playing a few games with Kaiba/Yugi duel decks I have bought a cyberse deck and encountered Link monsters, which confuse me.

For example I have an Encode Talker, which has eight arrows around its art, three of which are "lit up" which I'm assuming means "enabled"(?).

But these "enabled arrows" on Encode Talker point (1)down, (2) down and to the right, and (3) up. None of them point left or right.

But my understanding from the play mat is that monsters all go in a row. So if his "enabled arrows" can't possibly point at other monsters since they would be to his direct left or right, and monsters are the only type of cards he affects, what are the arrows supposed to point at?

What am I missing?


texts: Can you add the same hit as someone else?

texts:
Can you add the same hit card as someone else did?
Suppose I'm playing with 4 people, it's my turn and I laid down my phase and then hit on a run of 4,5,6,7, ... I added an 8 and 9. The next player has her phase and wants to play the same hit that I just did. She wants to add an 8,9 and 10. I told her she can't add the 8 and 9, only the 10, because I already added the 8 and 9.
The rules say this:

HITTING: Hitting is the way to get rid of leftover cards after making a Phase. You make a hit by putting a card directly on a Phase already laid down. The card must properly fit with the cards already down.
EXAMPLES: You may add one or more “4s” to a player’s existing set of “4s.” You may add a “2” to a player’s existing run of “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”. You may also add a “7” and an “8” to this run, if you have them. You may add one or more green cards to a player’s seven green cards in Phase 8. You may also add a “Wild” card of any color to any of these card situations. Before you can make a hit, your own Phase must already be laid down. You may hit only during your turn. You may hit your own cards, another player’s cards, or both.


texts: Can you banish maiden with the eyes of blue even if it is face up?

texts:
I play Yugioh at school and the main person I play against has a Blue-Eyes deck. He uses Maiden with Eyes of Blue and says I can't destroy it. But I read somewhere that you can banish it.

Is this correct?


texts: Where does the term "sacred discard" come from?

texts:
In most variants of Mahjong with restrictions on when a player can complete their hand off a discarded tile (especially Japanese Mahjong with furiten), the English rules refer to the situation as a "sacred discard". This confuses me, because the kanji etymology for furiten (振聴) seems to mean something more like "thrown-away tenpai" (as in 振り聴牌, furi-tenpai), and no other variant that I know of has a specific word for it like Japanese does.

Where did the term "sacred discard" come from, in that case? Was it just a culturally interpretive term invented by English-speaking players? Or does this term actually exist in some variant?


texts: How does Humility interact with graft creatures?

texts:
Would Humility actually make my Aquastrand Spider bigger (assuming the spider was already in play when the humility was cast)?
Would the same spider entering the battlefield after a humility has been cast be a 1/1 without any counters?
Would the spider die if the humility left the battlefield then?