texts: If the Rougarou flees after taking enough damage, do you add a doom token after the investigator phase?

texts: The third agenda card says to add a doom token when the rougarou isn’t engaged by the end of the investigation phase. Does this include when successfully damaging it and having it flee?


texts: What happens when I reanimate a creature with protection from black with Animate Dead?

texts: What happens when I reanimate a creature with Animate Dead which has protection from black? Will the creature keep being in play without the enchantment or die? Or can the creature be a legal target even in the graveyard?


texts: Arkham Horror Put a Clue Token on this card?

texts:
I can't seem to quite figure out how cards like Amanda Sharpe's Pass/Fail work where it states:

  ...put a Clue token on this Card

Do these clue tokens become usable as a bank of clue tokens, such as when sealing a gate?  Do you get to use them once the condition has passed or failed, and they are put into your normal clue token pool?  Or are these simply markers, unusable and lost when passed/failed?


texts: What happens when you hit a nature trail with a lock?

texts:
Rules offer no guidelines to this I believe. What happens when you get "LOST" in the woods, roll the die and get whatever result, after which you roll a d10 to learn you appeared at a nature trail with a lock on the square. (Example would be nature trail 3, on normal difficulty there's a lock there.)

I think the most logical action would be to re-roll the die.


texts: In solo play, can you play one Special Action every round in addition to placing family?

texts:
The rules state: "In each round, the Solo player can use exactly one of the Special actions shown on the face-up card."

My question is, can this be done in addition to placing each of my family members?  Or is it just like the 2+ player rules where you can either place a family member, or take a special action?  I just got the game and am not clear on this point.


texts: I've seen some references to the term "MLD" but have failed to find a definition in any list of MTG terminology or slang.  What does this mean?


texts: What are "triggered effects" in Unstable Unicorns?

texts:
In the card game Unstable Unicorns there is a card called "Blinding Light", whose description states:

  Triggered effects of your Unicorn cards do not activate.

Does this refer to the abilities starting with "When...", or to those with "If..." or something completely different?

I'm specifically interested in any possible distinction between recurring ("at the beginning of your turn") and one time events ("When this card enters your Stable") and between automatic ("discard a card") and voluntary ("you may sacrifice this card") effects. In other words, can we treat this card as if it only said: "The abilities of your Unicorn cards do not work"?


texts: Frigga's Protection multiple use in single battle

texts:
The card says

  You may pay 1 rage to prevent a figure of yours from being destroyed.

Can I pay 3 rage to prevent 3 figures from being destroyed in a single battle?


texts: Dungeon! Quick opening strategy for wizard

texts:
We have been playing the wizard for some time, but it looks like the wizard has a lot of challenges: The wizard cannot do well unless it makes it to levels 5 or 6. Having said that, one alternative is to blow the secret door on the way to the levels. Otherwise, it has to travel till it reaches a chamber on level 4, and then tele-porting to 5, then level 6.

So both ways typically take a up (on an average) much longer time, then by the time the wizard gathers the treasure, it is usually too late.

What is a quick opening strategy for the wizard which at least lets the wizard start at nearly the same time as the others?


texts: What abilities target Ashenmoor Liege that triggers 'Whenever Ashenmoor Liege becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, that player loses 4 life.'  Would deathtouch qualify?


texts: Re attack after “noping” a chain of attacks

texts:
In a game of Exploding Kittens, what happens when a chain of attack cards is followed by a Nope card, and the previous person attacks again?
For example:

Player A plays an Attack card
Player B plays an Attack card
Player C plays an Attack card
Player D plays a Nope card
Player C plays an Attack card

What happens exactly? It re starts with only 2 turns, or 6 turns for player D?


texts:
In Dead of winter, the rules state that an exiled player can use food cards to increase an action die value by one.

When attacking another survivor, you must have a dice value at equal or greater to your attack stat to initiate an attacl. You must then roll again and achieve a roll higher than their attack stat in order to wound them.

My question is, can this +1 increase be used only on unused action dice before the attack? Or can the +1 be added for instance to the attack roll aagainst their attack stat in order to guarantee a wound?


texts: Stone age expansion How trading works question

texts:
Just played our first game of Stone Age with the expansion and we have a question.

All the examples show a single use of the trading ability.  Does that mean that you are limited to a single trade per turn or can you do multiples but only towards a single card/hut?

So, can you trade 14 wood for 7 gold on a 1-7 hut using the lowest level of trade?  You would then be able to score 7*6 (42) points off of 14 wood.

Please help me understand the limits of trading in the Stone Age Expansion.

Lee


texts: My first question is: Is it true that if your opponents obtains more than 5 back field cards (traps, etc) that they automatically lose?  I realize you cannot lay more than 5 cards in that area, but suppose your opponent already has 5 trap cards, then you use a trap card (for example Creature Swap) to swap one of your monsters with theirs.... except that the monster you give them has 2 traps attached to it already.  Now they have a total of 6 trap cards on their side.  What happens?  I've heard that they instantly loose and there is nothing they can do.  True?  Additionally, any other cool ideas on how to win using such "glitches" in the game.


texts: After lethal first strike damage to an indestructible creature, will it still do damage?

texts: If I were to attack with a 4/4 indestructible creature and it's blocked by a 4/2 creature with first strike, would my indestructible creature still attack during the second combat damage step, or would it just tap, not assigning any damage?


texts: I just saw this funny cat video where the cat gets beaten in chess by a trick opening. It is not the well known fool's mate, but I guess it is a famous opening too. Can anyone identify the opening that is played here?


texts: I'm looking for something that would let me store the board setup and move the pieces manually so that I can play with a friend via email/msn. It doesn't have to handle mailing or anything for me as long as I can move the pieces around :)


texts: I am building a Toon Deck for my girlfriend. Toon Monsters are powerful, but their main drawback is that most cannot attack the turn they are summoned except for Toon Dark Magician Girl. Are there any cards that can help change that and make it to where they can attack the turn they are summoned?


texts: Is the bloodrush ability affected by cards that reduce casting cost?

texts:
If I'm playing Wrecking Ogre, a spell with Bloodrush 3RR and have a Ruby Medallion out (all red spells cost 1 less to play) does this also affect the Bloodrush?

In the same vein, can I use Smokebraider's ability ({T}: Add two mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast Elemental spells or activate abilities of Elementals) to pay the Bloodrush on a Scorchwalker (which is an elemental creature)?


texts: In either "party" or "rubber" bridge scoring, what is the value of a part score when you either stop playing or come to the end of a "party" round?  Some people award 50 points for a part score, some 100 points.  Which is correct?  Is there a difference if you are vulnerable or not?


texts: Do spells targeting creatures work on token creatures?

texts: My friend has Mystic Confluence and tried to target a token creature to be returned to the owner's hand. I have read that token creatures are considered creatures, but why would you be able to put a token creature into a hand since you can't necessarily spend mana to play it from your hand.


texts: Lord Windgrace; Resolving the First Loyalty Ability

texts:
Lord Windgrace's first ability reads:

+2: Discard a card, then draw a card. If a land card is discarded this way, draw an additional card.

If a land is discarded with this ability, is the order of events with this to draw, discard, then draw again because it doesn't specify to draw an additional card—or draw two cards—"instead?"
The confused other approach would be seeing the ability as reading to draw, draw, discard; which I believe is the way I initially interpreted it.
I believe I recognize that a replacement effect is not in place here.


texts: When a PDS 11 fires on an active player moving in an adjacent space and scores a hit, can a fighter be destroyed or does it need to be a non fighter unit? (not referring to advanced fighters)


texts:
While playing Yu-Gi-Oh! (via Duel Links), my opponent had Lady Assailant of Flames face down. Its text reads as follows:

  FLIP: Remove 3 cards from the top of your Deck from play to inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points.

I attacked it face down, which required it to flip face up. However, I attacked it with Element Saurus that had its negating effect active (I've bolded it below):

  This monster gets the following effect(s) while there is a monster(s) with the following Attribute(s) on the field:
  ● FIRE: This card gains 500 ATK.
  ● EARTH: Negate the effect of an Effect Monster that this card destroyed by battle.

The end result was the following:

Element Saurus declares an attack
Lady Assailant of Flames flips
The top three cards from my opponent's deck are removed from play (i.e. banished)
The animation plays for an effect being negated and no Life Point damage is dealt
Lady Assailant of Flames is destroyed

I was really surprised that Step 3 happened, and I would have expected that to be negated too (I would have expected it to not remove the cards nor inflict damage). Why does negating Lady Assailant of Flames' effect still require banishing cards?


texts:
I'm starting to play Warhammer 40k with Orks and I need a clarification to one of the rules for Orks.

Orks have Mob Rule so they can exchange their Leadership value with a number of models in unit. And if there are more then 11 models in unit with that rule this unit is given Fearless special rule (which make perfect sense because with 12 models you have 12 Ld value so you can't fail the test).

But the Fearless special rule isn't that great IMO because if changes leadership tests to wounds which in case of Ork Boyz means immediate casualties. This is written somewhere in manual where morale tests are explained but it's not mentioned in Special Abilities section of the manual. Can someone clarify if my understanding is correct or wrong, because this special ability sounds quite unfair.


texts: What amount of color overlap does intimidate require?

texts: I would like to make sure I understand intimidate well. If I have a green and blue creature, I can block a green creature with intimidate, because my creature shares a colour with it, right? And generally, creature is able to block creatute with intimidate if it shares at least one colour with it, colours don't have to be exactly the same?


texts: What is the appropriate way to snipe a king that castles through check?

texts:
In lightning chess matches (matches with time controls of 3 minutes or less on each side), some players play with the rule of "king sniping" - that is, to save time, if the opponent played a move that left his king in check, the other player can simply capture it (thereby winning the game) rather than forcing the opponent to retract his move.

Combined with the rule that the king cannot castle through check (cannot move two spaces if the space between the origin and destination is attacked by an opposing piece), the problem arises of what the appropriate way is to capture the king if this actually happens in a lightning match, as the king is not in a position of check either before or after the opponent's turn. Simply taking the king away might confuse the player because the other piece will have made a technically illegal move, but moving to the square that the king castled through (which amounts to a sort of "en passant" capture, capturing a piece/pawn that moved two squares in a special case as if it had only moved one square) captures the rook instead of the king.

Is there any convention for this?


texts: In Cosmic Encounter, where do my ships go when I pull them from the warp if I already have 4 ships on each of my planets?

texts: For example if i lose an encounter (as defense) my ships go to the warp. Say they get returned to me where would i put them? Because the rest of my home planets already have 4 and thought 4 was the max you could have on a planet. Obviously cant put them on the planet i just lost during the previous encounter just curious where i could put them.


texts: When can opponents react to the lifegain from the mana ability of Pristine Talisman?

texts:
I have a Pristine Talisman on the board, alongside a Well of Lost Dreams. I activate the Talisman to add 1 mana and gain 1 life. Gatherer says

  01.06.2011    Pristine Talisman has a mana ability. Its ability doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to.

But is this true for the lifegain, too? Or can opponents react to the lifegain and e.g. destroy the Well before I can use the mana to draw a card?


texts: Does a gold field draw a resource and commodity, when combining Seafarers and C&K?

texts:
Played Seafarers/Cities and Knights recently with someone new and they insisted that a gold field would allow a city to draw a resource and a commodity.  I may have missed something, but I checked my rules and the FAQ and didn't find anything specific.

His reasoning was that in C&K a city can produce commodities, so naturally a gold field would allow you to get one as well.  Additionally, that the rules say a city can't choose to take two resources instead of a resource and a commodity (for a city that produces a commodity) so the ability to take two wood/ore/sheep would also be against the rules.

My reasoning was that the Seafarers rules specifically mention resources only and the rules for combining the two make no mention of any changes, so the Seafarers rules should apply.

While we settled this amicably (after all, we play to have fun), for future reference, who was right?


texts: Casting Autumn Veil in response to opponent targeting my creature

texts:
I have a creature in play.

My opponent casts Dismember (A black spell), targeting it.

In response I play Autumn's Veil, will the effect counters my opponent's spell?


texts: Why might a leader propose a team they don't plan to approve?

texts:
In a previous question a commenter mentioned that team leader might propose a team, that they don't intend to approve.

Presumably this has something to do with either seeing how other people vote to ascertain if they are spys or not, or sowing discord if the leader is a spy themself.

Can you provide some specific examples where a leader might do this?


texts: Why do player start with fighting for the corners in go?

texts: I saw that in most go games the opponents started by placing chips 3 vertices away from the corners. Both players started fighting for the centre only after half of the game had passed. Is there any particular reasoning for this?


texts: What does Will of the Council do with 2 Players?

texts:
Will of the Council -- Starting with you, each player votes for X. The X with the most votes does YZ.

What happens when you have only two players, therefore making it in some cases impossible for there to be a larger amount of votes than the other?

For example, Council's Judgement:

Will of the Council -- Starting with you, each player votes for a nonland permanent you don't control. Exile each permanent with the most votes or tied for the most votes. With two players, one might for one permanent, and the other for another permanent. What happens then?


texts: After using Act of Treason and Cloudshift, does a creature re-enter the battlefield under my control?

texts:
If player A has a creature, and then on player B's turn, he/she uses Act of Treason on it, and then Cloudshift, does that card, once it has been cloudshift-ed, return to the battlefield under the control of player B, and thus, not return to A after B's turn has finished?

My thinking is that the card will be under player B's control until the end of the game/ or until the creature in question has been put into the graveyard or removed from play - because, Act of Treason states that you 'gain control of target creature until the end of turn' but cloudshift states that you 'exile target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control.'.

Any thoughts? Can this be done?


texts: Monopoly: Can you go bankrupt by having someone else go bankrupt on you?

texts:
Here's an example with 3 players:

Player 1 has $0, and only owns the cheapest property, which is not mortgaged
Player 2 has $0, and a lot of properties which are all mortgaged
Player 3 has $0 and no properties

Is this interpretation of the rules correct: Should Player 2 land on Player 1's property, Player 2 would go bankrupt; Player 1 would then owe the bank 10% of the value of all of Player 2's properties, and would therefore go bankrupt to the bank, causing Player 3 to win the game.

Could Player 1 do anything to not lose the game?

Also, if Player 3 went bankrupt before Player 2, would Player 1 win the game because Player 1 would be the only player left before going bankrupt to the bank himself?

And a side question: if instead of landing on Player 1, Player 2 got the "Pay $50 to each player" card, what would happen? He would instantly owe money to both players, and going bankrupt to either would cause the other to win the game.


texts: How to determine starting player in Betrayal Legacy chapter 12?

texts:
The setup card for chapter 12 tells us that the first player should be (forgive the inexact quote - I don't own the game so am working off memory from 2 days ago):

   the player who most wants to destroy Him

Our eventual interpretation from a quick group consensus was that it should be the player who had least often been the traitor (this narrowed it down to two of us, and we picked from there based on who had directly defeated the traitor in the previous scenario).

But some other possible ideas for it have occurred to me since, including the player with the most family deaths, the player who had least recently been the first player (purely for some fairness),

   by consulting the helm, or the player with the most family crests on the helm.

Is there any established criteria that we should have used to determine starting player, or is what we did as correct as we could have gotten?


texts: Bonus points using card combinations in Tute

texts:
The other day we were playing the card game "Tute" using Spanish "naipes" and we were told there were some card combinations that score bonus points: gaining a King and a Knight, things like that.

Is there a list of all card combinations that score bonus points?


texts: Do any Cluedo versions have different numbers of variables?

texts: Are there any versions of Cluedo that do not have exactly 6 suspects, 6 murder weapons, and 9 rooms?


texts: When can the "build a wonder stage for free" tokens be used?

texts:
In the Seven Wonders - Babel Expansion, when can the reward tokens that allow a player "to construct a Stage of their Wonder for free" be used?  Can they be used immediately or do they just remove the cost (except coin costs, as noted) but still need to be played on a normal turn by discarding a card?

The question came up during a recent game when a player with Rhodes (B-side), who had participated in the successful project that awarded these tokens, wanted to immediately complete a stage, thereby giving them military dominance over a neighbor.  Without finding anything explicit in the rules, we denied the request, supposing that to build a stage the player must have a card in hand to discard and place under their board for that stage.  I'm hoping someone else has a ruling that can help.


texts: Clever Impersonator copying Liliana Heretical Healer

texts: I'm copying my opponent's non-transformed Liliana, Heretical Healer with Clever Impersonator. Then one of my other creatures dies. Does my Clever Impersonator come back as Liliana non-transformed again or does it come back as Clever Impersonator with a possible new choice? If it comes back as Liliana do I get a zombie? It says "If you do, put a 2/2..." is it saying if I do return her, or if I do return her transformed?


texts: On-attack triggers and removal for attacking or tapped creatures

texts:
My opponent controls creatures with on-attack triggers (e.g. Ulamog, the Infinity Gyre with its Annihilator trigger or Edgar Markov with its buff trigger).

I have in my hand instant-speed removal that is concerned with (or targets) attacking or tapped creatures (e.g. Settle the Wreckage or Seal Away).

My opponent attacks me with said creature(s). I think it goes as follows:

my opponent declares attacks
the creatures become "tapped" and "attacking", at the same time the on-attack triggers enter the stack
Case 1: I cast Settle the Wreckage, nothing else happens, the creatures are exiled and their triggers leave the stack, everything else resolves.
Case 2: I cast Seal Away, nothing else happens, the targeted creature is exiled, its triggers leave the stack, everything else resolves.

Is that correct? Or do the on-attack triggers somehow come together with the attack before I get priority?


texts: Are there red cards that offer protection against mass token destruction?

texts: I was playing MtG with a mono red goblin deck, and someone used Virulent Plague on my tokens and they all died! Is there any way to counter this with a mono red card?


texts: Do Flash Duel character abilities supplant main actions?

texts:
Many of the character cards in Flash Duel contain what might be considered a main action (e.g. Jaina Stormborne's Charged Shot stipulates a push).  Does using this character ability prevent me from exercising a main action?  The rules state you can play exactly one "main action" on your turn.

For example, can Jaina use Charged Shot to push her opponent, who is 3 spaces away, back 2 and then immediately attack with a 5?


texts: If, during the play of a hand, dummy touches a card in the dummy hand, is that card considered to be played?


texts: What are the odds of drawing a given card after discarding my initial hand?

texts:
Let's say that I have 4 of a card in my 60 card deck.

What are my odds of drawing at least 1 of that card in my initial 7 card hand?

If I discard those 7, what are the odds of drawing 1 of the 4 in another 7 card draw?  (I guess you could think of a Wheel of Fortune type situation)


texts: What is the best way for one character to check multiple other characters loyalty cards, without knowing who each card belongs to?

texts:
I'm designing a game with loyalty mechanics similar to Secret Hitler or Battlestar Galactica. In it I have character abilities. One of the abilities will allow a player to choose three players, take their loyalty cards and shuffle them, look at the loyalty cards, and then RETURN them to the correct player. Basically the goal is to have it so the player with this character (and ONLY that player) can look at 3 people and know how many of them are on the bad team and how many are on the good team, without knowing which one is which.  Now obviously there are a few problems with this, how can I have it so that who each loyalty card belongs to is hidden from the player using the ability, while still being able to return them to the right players?

Now I have ideas on how to achieve this, but I want to do it in the fewest amount of steps possible, hopefully without adding any extra cards other than the basic loyalty cards.


texts:
I have Risk: Legacy, I have an 8 year-old son who loves Risk, and I have three other household members who don't like games. I'm tempted to try Risk: Legacy two-player, either head-to-head or with the Classic-style "neutral" faction. But since I don't actually know all the rules to Legacy I don't know if this will be fine, "just okay," or "crash-and-burn."

Given the audience "just okay" is playable result. But if it's going to crash and burn I'd rather not waste the investment and wait until we find/create a third.

Is Risk: Legacy playable two-person, or will game developments fundamentally fail two-person?


texts: How does Pandamonium work with effects that destroy unicorns?

texts: If somebody plays the "Pandamonium" card on my stable, and then on their next turn they play a unicorn card in their stable that can destroy unicorns at the beginning of their next turn. Would that mean they can destroy the formerly unicorn cards in my stable even though they’re technically pandas?


texts: Do you have to spend resources on boosting your skill through talents before you draw the chaos token, or can you see what the token is and then spend resources to boost your skill?


texts: Can Harpie Dancer re-summon a monster on the turn it was returned to the hand?

texts: Recently, some buddies of mine were having a duel, and one of them used Harpie Dancer’s effect to remove a Wind Monster from the field, then used its second effect to re-summon it.  Is this move legal? None of the rulings on this card are relevant to this question, so I figured I’d take it to stackexchange.


texts: Why should I buy Booster Packs over Battle Packs?

texts:
While grabbing some booster packs today I saw a Booster Battle Pack.  Looked them up online to see what they were and grabbed one.  Doing the math, I determined the following:

Booster Pack - $0.26 / card
Battle Pack - $0.13 / card

So why would I ever buy a regular Booster pack?  Seems like it makes more sense to always buy the battle packs.


texts: Did Wizards ever write a followup for the 2003 card face redesign?

texts:
I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 1997, when the Fifth Edition had just been released. The game immediately captivated me, and I especially loved the visual design.

A radical card face redesign was announced in early 2003 for the Eighth Edition. Today, in 2016, this is ancient history, and the "new" look has been the standard for more than half of the game's existence.

My question is this: Wizards of the Coast has repeatedly written followups for card mechanics, such as a lengthy blog post explaining design mistakes that led to several Urza Block cards being banned. Has anything like that (positive or negative) ever been published by Wizards employees about the 2003 visual redesign? I'd really love to know how they view their decision in hindsight.


texts: How do I create an account with Wizards of the Coast if I have a very old DCI number without activation code?

texts:
During Battle for Zendikar prerelease yesterday I played my first "real cards" MTG tournament since GP Vienna around 2003-ish. Now I learned that there is now a DCI website where you can look up your tournament results, Planeswalker points, etc. Apparently, it is this one: https://accounts.wizards.com

Now I am wondering how to actually create an account there using my existing (8-digit) DCI number from way back. Using Create Account won't do, as it seems to create a new, unchangeable, DCI number. Using Activate DCI number functionality does not do what I want, since my number is from long before activation codes were a thing.

I have considered contacting support, but based on previous interactions I was hoping that there is an easier solution.


texts: How does Armed // Dangerous interact with trample?

texts:
I have a Ghor-Clan Rampager on the battlefield and I fuse Armed/Dangerous on it. It is going to be a 5/5 with trample and double strike, and all of my opponents creatures are going to be forced to block it.

If my opponent has Burning-Tree Emissary (2/2) and Skarrg Guildmage (2/2), which are going to block my Rampager, will the resulting damage from each combat reduce my opponent's life total? In other words: my Rampager deals 5 damage on the Emissary, which dies, and yet my opponent loses 3 life due to the trample and then another 5 due to the second strike? And then, the same thing against the Guildmage?

If that's correct, my opponent would lose 3 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 16 life, Is that correct?


texts: Would Panharmonicon give my Myojins extra divinity counters?

texts: If I control a Panharmonicon and I play a Myojin of Seeing Winds (or any of the Myojins for that matter), would the Myojin enter the battlefield with two divinity counters instead of just one?


texts: How does Charmed Pendant interact with Reaper King?

texts:
Charmed Pendant has the ability

  {T}, Put the top card of your library into your graveyard: For each colored mana symbol in that card's mana cost, add one mana of that color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant.

Reaper King has a mana cost made entirely of colorless hybrid symbols. If I turn over Reaper King with Charmed Pendant, can I add any mana to my mana pool? If so, do I have to add one mana of every color? Can I add any colorless mana to my mana pool instead of colored mana?


texts: "If a creature would enter the battlefield and it wasn't cast..."

texts: Can someone explain precisely what this means (i.e. all the technical details)? I'm referring to cards like  Containment Priest and  Hallowed Moonlight. I don't understand this mechanic at all.


texts: Weird Problems with Starving Venom Fusion Dragon

texts:
My friend and I were dueling, and he summoned Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon can copy an opponent's card's effect. So he copied my Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect. Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect allows you to target one face-up monster on the field and attach it to Cyber Dragon Infinity as material.
However, my friend used Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's newly gained effect to add my Cyber Dragon Infinity as material to his Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. My first question is can a Fusion monster ever have Xyz materials?
The next turn, my friend used Starving Venom Fusion Dragon to copy my Cyber Shadow Gardna's effect. Cyber Shadow Gardna is a Trap Monster and part of it's effect says that during the End Phase, set this card back. So my second question is, can a monster be set like a trap?
Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's Effect:

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

Cyber Dragon Infinity's Effect:

3 Level 6 LIGHT Machine monsters
Once per turn, you can also Xyz Summon "Cyber Dragon Infinity" by using "Cyber Dragon Nova" you control as material. (Transfer its materials to this card.) Gains 200 ATK for each material attached to it. Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up Attack Position monster on the field; attach it to this card as a face-up material. Once per turn, when a card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 material from this card; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it.

Cyber Shadow Gardna's Effect (Trap):

Activate only during your opponent''s Main Phase. After activation, Special Summon this card, it is treated as an Effect Monster Card (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK ?/DEF ?). (This card is still treated as a Trap Card.) If this card is selected as an attack target, the ATK and DEF of this card become the ATK and DEF of the attacking monster. This card is Set in its Spell & Trap Card Zone during your opponent''s End Phase.


texts: Activating Charnel Troll's ability during upkeep

texts: In MTG Arena, I'm having some trouble with Charnel Troll. You are supposed to be able to activate it's ability to discard a creature in response to its triggered ability that makes you exile a creature from your graveyard. But MTG arena doesn't seem to be letting me do so. If I have a creature card in my graveyard it automatically makes me select one and I can't seem to find a way to activate its ability. If I don't have any creatures in my graveyard, Charnel Troll is immediately sacrificed and nobody ever seems to get priority to respond to the ability. What is going on here?


texts: What happens to the target of Oko, Thief of Crowns' second ability when it is put in the graveyard?

texts:
An artifact or creature becomes a 3/3 green Elk creature due to Oko, Thief of Crowns' second ability. What happens to that artifact or creature when it is put into the graveyard? Does it remain a 3/3 green Elk creature? Or does it revert back to it's original state once in the graveyard?

For example, Death's Shadow is turned into a 3/3 green Elk creature. For the purposes of using Unearth, when in the graveyard does it remain as a 3/3 green Elk creature, or does it revert back to being 'Death's Shadow'?


texts: Thinking about using an existing game as inspiration for a new version of the game, and wonder how to go about doing this in a way that if for some odd, unlikely reason that my version takes off that it's unlikely that I'll have legal liabilities that at best would have been avoidable.  How to use an existing game legally for inspiration?


texts: If a player takes control of your Chasm Skulker, then it dies while they control it, do they also get the tokens it creates?


texts: How much damage does Acolyte of the Inferno's ability deal?

texts:
Acolyte of the Inferno has this ability:

  Whenever Acolyte of the Inferno becomes blocked by a creature, it deals 2 damage to that creature.

Does that mean it deals 2+current power to blocking creature?


texts: How do I properly place handicap stones?

texts:
Handicap games are very common in Go. The weaker player, taking black, gets to place (usually) up to 9 stones on the board, depending on the difference in skill.

Both free and fixed placement are possible, with fixed placement being far more common. This question refers to fixed placement.

Traditionally, both in handicap and regular games, black opens in the upper right corner, making him "bow down" to the (stronger) white player thus paying respect.

$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

How does proper placement continue after the first stone?

The second stone in handicap games is, as far as I know, always placed in the lower left corner, but is the third stone in the upper left or the lower right? And what about the order of the next moves?

Is there a difference in tradition between Japan and China (or elsewhere)?


texts:
In a multiplayer game, I'm playing Exquisite Blood and resolve the second ability of Aetherflux Reservoir, dealing 50 damage to an opponent who's life total was only 10. I was able to pay the 50 life - that's not part of the question.
What I want to check is if, when Aetherflux Reservoir's ability deals 50 damage to my opponent, Exquisite Blood's ability will make me gain 50 life, or if I only gain 10 - because that was my opponent's "available life" before.
Rule 119.2 says “Damage dealt to a player normally causes that player to lose that much life”, and Rule 119.6 says “If a player has 0 or less life, that player loses the game as a state-based action”. The “or less life” makes me think that a player's life can be negative, and so I would gain 50 life - but I may be missing any other relevant rule here.
I know I can't pay more life than I have per rule 118.4. But that doesn't tell me anything regarding losing more lives than I have.
(not sure if tagging mtg-multiplayer since this can happen in 1v1, but can't think on a situation in which it matters)


texts: How does Paranoid Delusions work with Ingest

texts:
Lets say I've ciphered Paranoid Delusions on a Mist Intruder and successfully deal combat damage to a player, which card would get exiled and which go to the graveyard?

Does the first card on the players library get exiled and the next three go into a graveyard? Or the other way around?


texts:
Glacial Chasm reads:

Cumulative upkeep—Pay 2 life. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
When Glacial Chasm enters the battlefield, sacrifice a land.
Creatures you control can't attack.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you.

Wondering what the strategy to use this card is? In a 2-player game, the game is essentially over regardless who controls the card. Please give me your insight, thanks.


texts: If I cast Flicker on an unearthed creature, does it remain exiled?

texts:
The rules for the Unearth ability are as follows:

  702.82a Unearth is an activated ability that functions while the card with unearth is in a graveyard. Unearth [cost] means [Cost]: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. If it would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

If I unearth a creature, and then cast Flicker to exile and return it, does the replacement effect cause Flicker to lose track of it, or is Flicker still able to see the exiled card and return it to the battlefield?

(Are there similar combinations of spells or abilities that would result in a different outcome?)


texts:
Two questions about how Persephone's super move Mistress's Command function in 2v2 mode.

1) If Persephone hits with Mistress's Command and then tags out to an ally (2v2 mode) before the next turn (either through powering up at the end of that turn, or using a Super Cancel Tag out of Mistress's Command), does the effect of Mistress's Command come into play on the next turn with her ally now active? If so, which player controls the enemy character, her or her ally? (Naturally, teammates can collaborate with each other, but one of them has to have the authority to make the plays).

2) Does the Super Cancel Tag rule of "half damage rounded down" have a clause of "to a minimum of 1" that was overlooked in the manual and was errata'd in? It occurs to me that Persephone's Mistress's Command is the only move in the game presently that would be affected, and the difference between it doing 1 damage or 0 damage is probably non-trivial based in various technical cases.

EDIT: Onimaru's Clockwork Soldiers would also be affected by #2.


texts: Do I get to play a planeswalker's ability when I transform the card?

texts: Assume that I played an ability of Garruk Relentless and I successfully transformed him, do I get to play his transformed ability or do I have to wait for the next turn?


texts: Can lands that say “Add one mana of any color to your mana pool” be used in a colorless EDH deck?

texts:
A couple of other questions have been asked regarding cards that "Add one mana of any color to your mana pool", but

One is for EDH decks in general (which, in most cases, have at least one color)
The other is for colorless mana in general (which would likely also be used in a colored deck, or a non-EDH deck where extra colors don't matter)

What I'm trying to answer now is if those sorts of cards can be used in a colorless EDH deck.

So, for example, if I have one of the big Eldrazi as my commander, I know I can have Coalition Relic in the deck because it has a colorless color identity. But, once it's on the field, can I use it to generate usable mana?


texts:
When I started looking up Warhammer 40k, I had selected the regular Space Marine book and a few models as a reference. After finding out how incredibly powerful scouts could become, I decided that a good chunk of my forces would be scouts; luckily, I found a specific chapter online that did just that: Storm Giants. Unfortunately, I found out later that Storm Giants are not a selectable chapter in the Codex, only the vastly different Storm Lords. So, considering that specific chapters in the codex get a bonus for every unit being from that chapter:

First, Are the Storm Giants listed in a specific Codex?

And second, What chapter would the Storm Giants be considered as far as bonuses go?


texts: Untapping a Creature that has "does not untap during its controller's untap step"

texts:
If I have a creature enchanted by Ice Over

Enchant artifact or creature
Enchanted permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.

Can it be untapped with Initiate's Companion?

Whenever Initiate's Companion deals combat damage to a player, untap target creature or land.

If it can untap, does Ice Over go away?


texts: What errata or house rules help balance occasionally-broken scenarios?

texts: Many of the haunt scenarios can be exceptionally unbalanced depending on precisely where all the players are standing (particularly the revealer and/or traitor) when the haunt is revealed. When my group was playing this game on a regular basis we simply opted to never play certain haunts (that list has since been lost). Are there any better solutions? Perhaps a large list of errata or special cases that fix some or all of these sorts of problems?


texts: How much would you revalue your hand after finding a "double fit?"

texts:
Suppose you hear your partner open one spade. You, the responder (North) have:
(s)Kxx (h)xx (d)xxx (c)AKxxx, and respond two clubs. Opener now bids three clubs, showing you a "double fit" in spades and clubs.

You have ten high card points, and presume that opener has at least 13, for a total of at least 23. Normally, that's not quite enough for game, but the double fit has increased the value of your hands. Can you go directly to four spades on the theory that the double fit is worth 2-3 points, thereby bringing you to 25-26 (adjusted)? Or should you stop at three spades and let partner decide based on whether he has a minimum or more?

Suppose you were opener, and heard partner (responder) stop at 3 spades. You have (s) AQJxx (h)Kxx (d)xx (c) QJx. You assume that he has a bare 10, and you have only 13. Can you go to 4S on the basis of the double fit?


texts: Do Native Help cards apply when replacing another player's settlers?

texts:
In Century: A New World, Native Help cards allow one to use less settlers than normal when activating a location. When a location already has opposing settlers, you usually need to place the number of settlers already present +1, regardless of the location's cost. Does this also get reduced by having Native Help cards or do they only apply to the base location cost?
For example, if a location has 3 of an opponent's settlers and I want to oust them while having an appropriate Native Help card, do I need to use 3 or 4 settlers to do so?


texts: Can I use my Dark Angels with my Space Wolves?

texts:
I got a Dark Vengeance box recently so I could use the Dark Angels with my Space Wolves, but after reading the history about them it made me think.

Can I use Dark Angels with Space Wolves?


texts: In MTG, Can Rhox redirect its damage when it blocks?

texts:
My opponent blocks my creature with a Rhox, and instead of dealing damage to the attacker, would prefer to deal that damage to me. Does Rhox's ability work that way?

The same ability can also be seen on cards such as Thorn Elemental.


texts: How does metalcraft work in Two-Headed-Giant?

texts:
I'm playing Two-Headed-Giant and have a creature with metalcraft. I control 1 artifact and my teammate controls 2. Does my creature's metalcraft ability 'trigger'?

I know metalcraft says "if you control 3 or more artifacts", but since THG obscures the idea between player and team so much I'm having trouble figuring our what 'you' refers to in this case.


texts:
If I activate Matsu-Tribe Decoy's ability targeting opponent's Trap Runner, can he activate Trap Runner's ability, blocking my creature, and making Trap Runner an illegal target for Matsu-Tribe Decoy's ability?

https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=75247
https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=22288


texts: Is there an Eldritch Horror variant for playing against two ancients at once?

texts:
Has anyone tried modifying the rules of Eldritch Horror so you can play against two ancients at the same time? How was your experience?

Mysteries

Do I solve alternating or in parallel?

Mythos

Do I take a sum or average of myths cards? (Mythos Deck Composition)
Do I buy one or two Mythos Cards?

Doom Token

Greater, average or lower to start?

Handicap combos

Extra Action?
Bonus for tests?
Acquire bonus?


texts:
I'm looking to buy a set of fine (but not luxurious) go equipment (board, stones, and bowls).

I have a cheap set of glass stones with a blue plastic sheet "board". Unfortunately my home's floor is covered in ceramic tiles, so when the glass stones drop on the floor, the stones easily shatter or break in halves (I have broken a few already).

Would shell and slate stones be just as fragile? Or are they generally resistant to breakage from dropping? Alternatively, would yunzi be solid enough?

While I could go completely practical and just buy a magnetic set, I would like to avoid that. I find that magnetic sets just don't have the right feel to it and detracts from the appeal and esthetics of the game.


texts: Does "number of heroes when the haunt was revealed" include the traitor? (Haunt 17)

texts:
Haunt 17 in the Secrets of Survival book states:

   When you have placed a number of Candle tokens equal to the number of heroes when the haunt was revealed, you exorcise the Poltergeist.

Does "number of heroes when the haunt was revealed" include the traitor? If the game began with 3 players, will the heroes need to place 2 or 3 Candle tokens?


texts: Why is the Warhammer Fantasy species "Cold One" named as such?

texts: The Warhammer Fantasy universe has a raptor like species called "Cold one", used as mounts by Lizardmen and Dark Elves. Why are the creatures called "Cold one"?


texts: Are Summon - [insert-creature-type-here] cards creatures?

texts:
Back in the day we didn't have Creature - Name card types, instead we had Summon - Name card types. Long ago in magic, cards were printed entirely differently, and this actually creates some interesting situations with the present day rulings. For example, in the past the Defender ability was non-existent. There were instead creatures printed Summon - Wall and such creatures with the Wall subtype were ruled to not be able to attack.

It's supposedly possible now with the introduction of Defender that such old walls without Defender can actually attack, drastically changing how some cards have been used.

My question is, if my opponent has such a card, Summon - Wall, or perhaps Summon - Goblin, etc., does that count in the present rulings as a Creature Card? Can I target it with "destroy non-black creature", or perhaps "return target creature to opponent's hand"? The confusion between my group of players is the word Creature is actually not on these cards, and it is on every other creature card that's out in this time and age.


texts: Does No Mercy get triggered by Blood Scrivener?

texts:
Let's say I control the card No Mercy. The card states that whenever a creature successfully deals damage to me it gets destroyed.

Now let us suppose:

I also control Blood Scrivener
I have no cards in hand.
I need to draw a card.

Because of Blood Scrivener's ability, I draw 2 cards and I lose 1 life.

Question: Does the loss of life induced by Blood Scrivener count as damage? (And does it cause Blood Scrivener to be destroyed?)


texts: What happens when Progenitor Mimic copies a legendary creature?

texts:
In a recent multiplayer game I played Progenitor Mimic to copy an opponent's Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

  You may have Progenitor Mimic enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it has "At the beginning of your upkeep, if this creature isn't a token, create a token that's a copy of this creature".

The table explained to me that because Niv-Mizzit is a legendary creature, Progenitor Mimic couldn't continue copying the creature. So the next turns only one Niv-Mizzet copy remained in play under my control. And we left it at that.

Now post-game I'm wondering, which permanent was actually on my battlefield? Did the original copy of Niv-Mizzit with Progenitor Mimic remain (destroying the token copy each turn), or did the token copy remain because the original copy got destroyed when the token copy came into play with the same name?

I'm still pretty new to the game, so it would be great if anyone could tell me what happens exactly when you play Progenitor Mimic to copy a legendary creature. Please include the turn of playing it, and the next one (or more turns, if anything changes).

Related:

Does Progenitor Mimic create copies of itself even when it isn't a creature?
Progenitor Mimic copying a creature with counters


texts:
I have Westvale Abbey, it reads:

  {5}, {T}, Sacrifice five creatures: Transform Westvale Abbey, then untap it.

Can I just sacrifice 5 creatures? Or do I need another creature or sacrifice spell to carry out the sacrifice?


texts: I'm aware of three cards in Dominion: Prosperity that use victory tokens and have seen some in Dominion Empires as well. In a definitive list, what cards utilize victory tokens?


texts:
Say I have a hand like follows: Estate, Upgrade, Upgrade, Estate, Copper. 1 card in Draw pile.

I play Upgrade (+1 card, +1 action) -> Draw the last card from my Draw pile -> Trash Estate from my hand and gain a Silver card. This silver card goes into discard. So far so good.

Now, I play my second Upgrade. Since there's no card in my Draw pile, I need to shuffle my Discard pile. Do I shuffle my silver card that I just gained or does do I leave it in the "discard-of-the-current-turn" pile.

The general question is, if I need to shuffle my discard, do I shuffle all cards that I gained during the current turn? I know that I do not shuffle cards that I have set aside.


texts: Question about '...only as a sorcery.' abilities

texts:
This is a (hopefully) quick question, there are several abilities that can be cast 'only as a sorcery', like a planeswalkers loyalty, or the Outlast ability.

Can these be used multiple times in one turn, if not forbidden (i.e. because the card is tapped)?


texts: If a card with a pull has an effect that boots the character, do they boot only if successful?

texts:
Consider a card like Soothe from Faith & Fear:

  Noon Miracle 10, Boot: Boot this Blessed to unboot another dude at this or an adjacent location.

This card has a pull and an effect that includes booting the character. Am I right in saying that the character only gets booted if the pull is successful, and the character is not booted if it is not? (The Miracle would of course be booted either way, since that is the cost).


texts: Is using a distinct pitch or tone in your voice for your hint legal in Codenames? I.e., "colddd" to link "blanket" and "Arctic"

texts:
To link "blanket" and "Arctic", "cold" could be a clue because the Arctic has subzero temperatures and a blanket is something you put on if you are cold at night. Saying "cold" with an extension of the sound in your tone like "colddd" could help your guesser hit "blanket" better because it gives the clue that cold can be an expression of someone who is cold.
Other examples include sounding out "ding" to "dingggg" if you want to hit "dent" but also "bell" and "phone" better since it might suggest to look for clues that sound like ding.


texts: Does recasting Omnath, Locus of creation, reset it's "Landfall Counter?"

texts: I have Omnath, Locus of Creation out. I play 3 lands, triggering his landfall ability 3 times. I gain 4 life, add some mana, deal some damage. I decide I want to gain some more life, get some more mana, and deal some more damage. So I return Omnath to my hand, then recast him. My understanding is that if I now play another land, Omnath's landfall will trigger and I will gain 4 life, because this Omnath has no memories of his previous triggers. Is this correct? Does bouncing or flickering Omnath reset his landfall ability?


texts: What is this four-player card game with only Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces?

texts:
Deck dealt contains only Jack, Queen, King, Ace. Four players. Each player gives one card to his neighbour in each round. Each player tries to get pairs and gets rid of them. Once one person is finished, everyone tries to put his hand on the pile of cards (the cards not used in the deck, penalty cards) in the middle of the table.

The last one has to take the penalty card.


texts:
If there are three War Raptor minions on a base, how do you count them? Would it be 15 or 9? Each has a base power of 2, and the following ability:

  Ongoing: Gains +1 power for each War Raptor on this base (including this one).


texts: What are these cards used for in cooperative mode?

texts: What is the use of the "Interruption" card in cooperative mode, or for the Captain's "Log Key" item and "Command" cards. The command can, maybe, be used as a free move for someone, but I don't think the "Log key" has any use, whatsoever.


texts: Resource Monopoly when player only has one of the named resource

texts: Does the opponent have to give you the selected resource ONLY if they have 2, or do they have to give the selected resource EVEN if they have only 1?


texts: Cribbage scoring for one hand less starter card

texts:
What would be the score count for a hand with 3 - fours and 1 - seven
my thought is 12.  For 3 - fours equal 6 points (3 royal pairs) and the three royal pairs of 2-fours and the seven = 6 points.


texts: Terra Mystica - Taking a bonus card with coins on the final turn as an Alchemist

texts:
The Alchemists' special ability is to turn gold into victory points at any point in the game.

So on the last turn, when passing, could I take a bonus card with coins built up on it, and immediately trade them in for victory points? I assume you gain the stacked-up coins as soon as you gain the card.

But my friend thinks it is illegal to make the trade to victory points, as my game is technically over. Who is right?


texts: Can you cast Hangarback Walker for X=0 and have it survive with Hardened Scales?

texts: I'm building a deck with Hangarback Walker and Hardened Scales, and I was wondering if I could cast Hangarback for X=0, and it would activate Hardened Scales. Just a thought.


texts: Creating a copy of a creature with "entering the battlefield" abilities

texts: The other day, while playing, my friend triggered Glimmervoid Basin, which gives each player a token which is a copy of a targeted creature (except the creature's owner). He chose to copy the Noggle Hedge-Mage, which has two enters-the-battlefield abilities. The question is: when these copies are generated, do they trigger the enter-the-battlefield abilities? Do token-copies "enter the battlefield?"


texts:
After owning Agricola for quite sometime, I finally got a group of experienced players and decided to use the I (interactive) deck. I just opened it, and inside the deck there are cards marked with an E, which means the card is from the basic (easy) deck.

Was that a mistake? Is it on purpose? If so, how the heck am I supposed to figure out which card goes on which deck?


texts: Monopoly : Is buying properties second time round a house rule or official rule?

texts: Just wondering that when playing a normal game of monopoly, can I buy a property when I haven't passed go yet. Anything will help. thanks!


texts: How can I play a short/small, but still satisfying round of Diplomacy?

texts:
I liked playing Diplomacy back in university, where I had almost no problem gathering seven people with a whole day (including the nights) to spend.

Nowadays however, I'd consider myself lucky to find maybe four like-minded people who have the better part of an evening to play board games, and my beloved Diplomacy set is gathering dust.

So, especially considering all the variants out there, I'm looking for ways to play and complete a satisfying round of Diplomacy in an evening's time (maybe 3h?) and with four to five players.


texts: Can I view rules for Crayon Rail games online?

texts: Where can I find the rules to a given crayon rail game online?  I have tried looking on a game page (i.e. EuroRails), but there is no link to the rules there.  I did manage to find a link to the Empire Express rules, but I'd like links to the other rail games, if possible.


texts: Can I Wish for a card outside my Commander's colors?

texts: I have been told that Wishes work differently in Commander than in normal casual Free-For-All (FFA) mtg. Do the comprehensive rules cover how wishes work in Commander? Do the rules for wishes differ from normal FFA multiplayer?


texts: Does the Preacher affect the Booty/Loot on the ship or in a den?

texts:
In Libertalia, the character card Preacher says:

  Discard all booty tiles but one.

Do you discard booty tiles from the ship, from your den, from every den, or some other variation?

An official FAQ, or designer response is what I am looking for.


texts: How does Jandor's Ring work with modern Magic rules?

texts:
A 2004 Oracle ruling for Jandor Ring, above, states:

  If you do not have the card still in your hand, you can't pay the cost. There is currently no way to prove that it was the card you drew except to get a judge or 3rd party involved, or to put cards you draw aside until you decide whether or not to use this.

This sounds incredibly mimsy in an age where the Miracle mechanic exists and is (I would hope) watertight for tournament play.

How does Jandor's Ring work under latest MtG rules?

ETA: If you (say) just resolved  Divination, and wanted to use Jandor's Ring, could you discard either of the two cards drawn, just the last one drawn, or what? (Sorry to be so obsessed about the arcane workings of a card which presumably never actually sees non-casual play...)


texts: In Gin-Rummy, who start after a round was played to the wall?

texts:
In Gin-Rummy, when the deck reach the last 2 cards and no player have knocked, the rounds end in a draw.

Who starts the next round?


texts: What happens if I must attack with two creatures, but am only allowed to attack with one?

texts:
I'm a little confused about what happens when the enchantment Dueling Grounds and Juggernaut.

Juggernaut must attack each turn if able. Dueling Grounds only allows one creature to attack each turn. What happens if a player has multiple Juggernauts and Dueling Grounds in play?

I'm thinking there are a couple options here. The first is that rule 717.1 applies, which reads:

  717.1. If a player takes an illegal action or starts to take an action but can't legally complete it, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. [...]

This rule would indicate that both Juggernauts become untapped and neither are declared as attackers. If this is the case, is the whole Declare Attackers step reversed? The illegal action occurs as part of rule 508.1 at the beginning of the game:

  508.1. First, the active player declares attackers. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack. To declare attackers, the active player follows the steps below, in order. If at any point during the declaration of attackers, the active player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the declaration is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the declaration (see rule 717, "Handling Illegal Actions"). (emph. mine)

Because the player declares two attackers as part of 508.1, but the player isn't allowed to, this seems to indicate that the game returns to pre-508.1 conditions. But if this is the case, does the player get to declare another attacker?

My intuition tells me that the Active Player must declare both Juggernauts as an attack, which is illegal and is reversed, sending the phase back to the beginning of Declare Attackers. At this point, they could declare one of the two Juggernauts as an attacker. However, this is an inordinately complicated interaction, and I have very little confidence that I'm right.

Could somebody possibly clarify what happens in this situation?


texts: If your partner opens with a "pass," does that make you the "captain" in a bridge partnership?

texts:
There are two instances: You are either third or fourth seat, and partner has passed.
In fourth seat, you are clearly the driver. After three passes, you are the one to decide whether the hand will be played or passed out.
Suppose you are in the third seat, after partner and one opponent have passed. You know that partner doesn't have an opening hand, and therefore has a hand that's no better than average. You, on the other hand, could have a passing hand, a minimum opening hand, or a powerhouse. In the first two instances, you may be worried about what fourth seat may have to say.
Does that fact give you extra liberty in bidding, knowing that your partner's choices are restricted? For instance, Larry Cohen suggests bidding strong four card majors in third and fourth seat, even though most people wouldn't do that in first or second seat.* Is it "less bad" to possibly mislead partner after s/he has passed?
*An extreme example of this is to bid "one spade" under the "rule of 15" as a semi-preemptive move.


texts: If my partner sorted my cards for me, what would the official ruling be?

texts:
We were playing the very first board of the first round of an ordinary session at the local bridge club. I was delayed in getting my cards out of the board as I was learning to set up the computer system and BridgeMates. My partner is very elderly. She was eager to start playing so after she sorted her cards she took MY cards out of the board and sorted them for me, leaving them face down on the table. When I came back to the table I was amazed at what she had done and so were the oppenents. However the opponents said not to worry this time and to start the bidding but that she shouldn't ever do it again. It turned out that the one of the opponents had 23 points in her hand and probably wanted to bid rather than call the director.

I now know that we should have called the Director - but what would his ruling have been in this case?


texts: Ways to handicap in Magic the Gathering?

texts:
I play Magic the Gathering with my kids a bit.  But, the games are often very one sided (in my favor) as they haven't mastered all the rules, and intricacies of game play.  For most board games, I can come up with reasonable handicaps when playing with them.  I haven't found a way for Magic the Gathering that feels right.  Things I've tried include:

Having them add 3-4 land to their initial hand (so they start out
with 10-11 cards).  (not enough advantage if game goes long)
Making sure they draw a land if they are mana screwed.  (Not enough advantage if game goes long)
Having them draw two cards per turn (way too much advantage for them)

Are there any other house rules that you have used to address this situation?


texts:
We played our first two rounds of Descent a few days ago and we (3 heroes) always lost against the Overlord.

The biggest issue we experienced was the summoning of enemies in direct attack distance (still out of sight, but around a corner).

We were arguing about whether the Overlord can summon and move/attack his new summoned fellows in the same round but we couldn't find anything that clarified this in the rules.

I have no idea which edition we played, but I think it was 1E...


texts: Does my Scrabble play have to be all adjacent tiles?

texts: Do all tiles played in one move need to be adjacent to each other? Example - there is a Y on the board, can a player place the letter E on both sides to make the word EYE ?


texts: Countering Villa + Jeweler in Puerto Rico: The Nobles

texts:
A while ago I played a game of Puerto Rico with all of the buildings from Expansion II: The Nobles.  One of the players pretty much had a run-away game using Villa + Jeweler, and we were pretty much at a loss as to how to stop it.

With the new expansion, each time the Colony Ship is refilled, one of the colonists is replaced by a Noble.  Each Noble is worth 1 VP at the end of the game, but more importantly they can trigger other buildings.

Mayoring became the hot action of the day, and the Corn player pretty much forsaking all building until they hit 6 doubloons + quarry + building privilege to buy the Jeweler (they were pretty much Captaining the rest of the time, if you're curious).  The Jeweler gives you 1 doubloon in the Craft phase for each Noble you have, which isn't exactly overpowered given it's cost, until you bring Villa into the picture.

Within two turns of Crafting, the Jeweler player had enough money to buy a Villa, which lets you take an additional Noble from the supply when anyone mayors.  Thus, if he would Mayor, he could actually get two Nobles, one from the ship and one from the supply.

This is pretty much where the game got silly, because every Mayor gave him +1/2 endgame VP which translated into +1/2 more doubloons during the crafting phase, which, in turn let him buy the Royal Gardens (+1 VP for each noble at end of game) and other big-ticket items quickly.

I'm not sure which part of the combo is broken, though, the Villa or the Jeweler?  The Jeweler is more expensive than the Factory, but rewards you for something you already want to do (collect Nobles).  The Villa simply gives you an extra Noble each turn (1 VP a turn isn't unreasonable), but put them together and the free money starts to roll in.

Short of all other players buying Villas as soon as someone buys a Jeweler, or applying a house rule, how can you counter this?  Or have others seen that Jeweler + Villa is degenerate enough to simply not allow both buildings in the game at the same time?


texts: Does the priority antenna direct a line straight toward the main board before sweeping clockwise?

texts:
In Roborally 2016, page 4 of the rules states to

  ...imagine an invisible line pointing straight out from the antenna's dish. Once this line reaches the tied robots, it moves clockwise, and the tied robots have priority according to the order in which the line reaches them.

Their example claims Zoom Bot goes first as a result of this algorithm, yet Zoom Bot is first in the counter clockwise direction, unless I am misunderstanding.  Basically Zoom Bot is around the hour hand's "11:30" on the clock and Smash Bot is at "12:30".  Is the example wrong or does the antenna actually face a different direction than toward the board?


texts: Why couldn't I declare Tsumo with this hand?

texts:
I recently played a game of Mahjong on the internet, and I had gotten this hand

[2 Characters]
[3 Characters]
[North Wind]
[North Wind]

[4 Characters] <- Drawn Tile

[Melded Pon of 2 Bamboo]
[Melded Chi of 3-5 Bamboo]
[Melded Kan of 1 Characters]

but it wouldn't let me declare Tsumo.
I had a few possible reasons why I couldn't but I don't know the game that well. Can you not have a pair of Winds to complete your hand? Or is my hand invalid in some way?

Here is my discards, it might serve some purpose -

[Characters] 7
[Bamboo] 4, 3, 1
[Dragons] Red, Green, White
[Winds] East, West


texts: Spades rules on trumping in after spades are broken

texts: In Spades after spades are broken can any player trump in even if he has the suite that was led?  Or does he have to be out of the suite that was led before he can trump?


texts: Is this the correct way to play the "Spoon" card?

texts:
Whenever we play the game with the "Spoon," we always follow these steps:

  First, all players choose a card from their own hands. Then, before
  the cards are revealed, call out "spoon!" and announce the name of any
  card you would like. Starting from the player to your left, he checks
  to see if he has this card in his current hand (which of course excludes the card he was about to reveal). If not, the second player checks her current
  hand, and so on until a player announces they have the card. Take this
  card, and give the SPOON to the player whose card you took, and all
  players then reveal their cards simultaneously.

I always thought this was the proper way to play the "Spoon" card, because it prevents you from knowing if a player will or will not play a certain card, such as the "Miso Soup," unless of course if the card that you were asking was already chosen by the player and was about to reveal prior to playing the "Spoon" card.


texts: How does Spellheart Chimera count Fuse or Split cards?

texts:
I have a Spellheart Chimera. The creature gains +1/+0 for each sorcery or instant in the owners graveyard.

How does this work with such cards as Far // Away?

I've seen a few opinions on this matter, but cannot find an official ruling from WotC (or whoever hands down official rulings).

Can someone provide references to the official rulings, or the location of these rulings so I can look it up?


texts: Do you score points for claiming a route in Ticket to Ride Pennsylvania?

texts:
Do you score points for claiming a route in Ticket to Ride Pennsylvania as you do in all other variants of the Ticket to Ride game?

The rules aren't explicit and there is no scoring guide.


texts: How is a Gin Rummy hand scored if both the knocking and defending player have Gin?

texts:
I am playing with the Big Gin variant, which is not part of the base game.

Say I pick up a card from the deck which makes me a Gin hand. Only, I don't realize it due to say, misreading my hand, or I questionably decide to try for Big Gin for extra points, and simply discard my remaining deadwood card without knocking.

My opponent now draws from the deck, makes Gin, and knocks.

How is the hand scored?
In particular:

Does the defending player receive the Gin bonus?
Since the defending player has equaled the knocking player's deadwood count (0), do they receive the undercut bonus even though the knocking player made Gin?
If so, does the knocking player still receive the Gin bonus?


texts: When does Devotion change & when does a god's type change?

texts:
A friend of mine said that he was playing a game of magic when he went to use Suspension Field on his opponent's Keranos, God of Storms.

Keranos had enough devotion to be a creature at the time Suspension Field was cast, but in response to Suspension Field his opponent destroyed one of his own creatures to reduce his devotion and reverted Keranos to just an enchantment again, claiming to make Suspension Field fizzle on the stack.

Does devotion change at instant speed?


texts: How far can a knight travel without visiting the same square twice?

texts: How many Knight moves is it possible to execute on an empty chess board before the Knight lands on a square it has already landed on in its previous moves?  The most I've ever been able to land on was 54 squares, usually 50-52.


texts: What happens when the attacking player dies to damage triggers after killing the blocking creatures in the first combat step of double strike?

texts: We were playing a commander game and the attacking player had a bunch of trample creatures, well call him Andy. The defending player, Bob, blocks with a Zulaport Cutthroat, Cruel Celebrant, Teysa Karlov, and at least 2 other creatures. Normally that would be enough to save him as he was at 37 life but then Andy played Savage Beating choosing to give his army double strike. Andy was at 3 life. So the question is does he die before the regular damage gets to kill Bob or is it too late and they're both dead?


texts:
If I buy a card that does damage to me, and I have camouflage, do I get to roll to negate that damage? The card says when I take damage I roll to negate it, so I would think I could get rid of the damage by rolling hearts.

  Camouflage: If you take damage, roll a die, on a heart roll you do not take the damage. You roll once die for each damage you take. Does this apply to damage from cards?


texts: If I try to kill a face down creature, can my opponent save it by flipping it?

texts:
I played a Lightning Bolt during my turn (3 damage to target creature or player) to kill a face down creature. Then, my opponent said he was going to morph the creature which was a 0/5 defender with flying (Monastery Flock).

Can my opponent morph a dead creature, or does morphing the creature save it because it is a 0/5 and Lightning Bolt only deals 3 damage?


texts: Isn't secrecy quite pointless for Bio-terrorist?

texts:
My buddies and I have been hooked on Pandemic lately and I just picked up the On-the-Brink expansion for Pandemic.

I was reading the rulebook yesterday and I'm not quite sure if I get the Bio-terrorist (BT) challenge right. So the BT is off the board, and plays mostly on pen-&-paper, and the pawn comes to the board only when BT happens to be in the same city as one of the players (timing of putting the pawn on the board is also interesting, but I'll ask that separately).

According to the rulebook the BT has 2 actions and a move, so the BT can essentially:

spread disease locally (L)
spread remotely (R) by discarding
travel remotely (F) by discarding
sabotage (S) by discarding
draw card (D)

I don't quite get the point of secrecy (writing on paper), especially considering that the actions have pretty obvious consequences:

purple cube gets placed on the board
BT discards a card and a purple cube is placed on the board
BT discards a card (destination is the city on the card), BT announces that he was seen at an airport.
BT discards a card, a station is removed from the board
BT draws

So unless I misunderstood something, all BT actions are obvious to any alert player. What's the point of secrecy and note-taking?


texts: How many allowed scrabble words are there in different languages

texts:
I just read about Nigel Richards winning the french scrabble championship after learning 370,000 french words by heart. There was also mentioned that the Islandic scrabble society invited him to the local championship, saying that they had over 2 million allowed words. So I wondered how many allowed scrabble words there are in the different languages.

Obviously I don't expect any single answer to be exhaustive, there are a lot of languages out there. Maybe start with English (and there seem to be differences between UK/US) and then see for whatever other languages you can find the relevant information.


texts: Number of possible hands in last two rounds of Texas hold-em

texts:
In the paper for the Poker AI, Libratus, the following is said:

The last two betting rounds, which are exponentially
larger, are more coarsely abstracted. The 55 million different
hand possibilities on the third round are grouped into 2.5 million buckets, and the 2.4 billion different possibilities on the
fourth round are grouped into 1.25 million buckets.

I don't understand how the 55 million and the 2.4 billion hand possibilities in the third and fourth round are calculated. This seems like it would be obvious, but the calculations I'm doing give me different numbers, and I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong. I also know very little about Poker, so it's very possible I'm missing something.
Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Identify a fantasy board game from the 90's

texts:
I had a game in the 90s when I was a kid. These are the traits I remember:

Some kind of fantasy game.
A big carton board consisting of two pieces: upper level and underground level.
The game paths were perpendicular to each other. There were carton doors that were set up all around the board. They can be unlocked with the card that has a key on it.
A couple of playing card decks.
As far as I remember only two usual dices.
There were a couple of figurines (not players) that were positioned across the board. Players had to fight them if faced. I remember they were plastic and nicely done. If I am not mistaken one was green and looked like the Grim Reaper, but not as tall.

Unfortunately, that is all I can remember. I played it in the late 90s, but I am from Ukraine so it might have been issued earlier than that.

Thank you in advance for your help.


texts: What does "each other player" mean on Unwinding Clock?

texts: If I am playing a four man free for all, when do my artifacts untap using Unwinding Clock's ability? I'm having trouble understanding. The card says "each other player". If I am player one, are players two three and four "other players" or is player three the other player since it says "each other player"?


texts: WH/40k - The age-old instant death and multiwound models question

texts:
I'm asking this because I can't find an up-to-date and credible source of information on the subject (since it has apparently changed at least once over the years). My question is, when does instant death take place during wound allocation in close combat (and shooting for that matter)? Do you allocate wounds and THEN apply instant death (meaning some of it could potentially be wasted), or do you allocate a wound, apply instant death, then allocate another and apply instant death, and so on?

For example, say we have a 3 Centurions in CC with a Bloodthirster. The BT scores three wounds, one of which being ID. Do we, (a) apply the ID wound to the first Centurion, apply the ID rule and remove him, then apply the next two wounds to the second Centurion and remove him too, or (b) apply the ID wound and another wound to the first Centurion and remove him (essentially wasting the ID) then apply the third wound to the second Centurion, leaving him alive?

The last time I played, years ago, you would choose path "b" and waste the ID. But now I'm being challenged and can't find up-to-date evidence to support my argument.


texts: What are the original 16 base cards in Smash Up?

texts:
A friend loaned me Smash Up with all the expansions but I'd like to start out playing just the "base" set.  Which 16 bases should I use?

(He already removed the duplicate bases from Level 9000 so I cannot identify them that way)


texts: I can't for the life of me can't remember where these dice came from, but I remember liking the game (it was from my childhood). Does anyone recognize where these came from?


texts:
I watched a review of this one a couple of years ago. It's set in France, I think, roughly late medieval / early Renaissance. There's religious unrest which is causing a lot of church burning, and you're trying to get the books to safety before they're burned up. It's a standard counters-on-a-board game.

Can anyone identify this?


texts: Sacrificing a creature you don't own but you control

texts: I use a Thief of Sanity and exile a Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger from my opponent's deck. I cast Kroxa, but then of course would have to sacrifice it because it wasn't escaped. Would it go back into my opponent's graveyard or mine? Am I able to escape it without the correct mana still?


texts: Is the player being bribed allowed to see how much cash is offered?

texts:
In Power Struggle, to bribe a player, you put money secretly in a folder and pass it to the player you want to bribe.

Can the player who is being bribed see how much is offered?

If not, what is the point of offering more than 50,000?
If yes, what is the point of secrecy?


texts: What interesting 3-player strategy games are available?

texts:
In my apartment there tend to be 3 of us wanting to play board games regularly, and we're fond of strategy games. Unfortunately, 3 is not the optimal number for most of the more interesting ones that we've come across.

We're familiar with Carcassone, Cataan, and Forbidden Island, but we've been wondering if there are games that are more towards the Quorridor, Blokkus, etc style of game that are somewhat quicker to play and where moving and/or placing pieces is the main part of the game. And, for that matter, if there are games like this that explicitly work optimally with 3 people (We've tried 3 person Blokkus and it's messy).


texts: When will Arena's Workshop: Uncharted Paths be held?

texts:
In MTG Arena: State of the Game — February 2020, Wizards introduced a three-part workshop series: Power and Glory, Heroes of Theros, and Uncharted Paths.

I see on the Arena events calendar that Power and Glory is scheduled for February 24–26, followed by Heroes of Theros for March 2–4. However I can't see the date for Uncharted Paths. When will it be scheduled for, or has it already happened?


texts: What do the colors mean on Better Settlers?

texts:
Answers to this question about tile layouts for Catan suggests Better Settlers. When I open Better Settlers, the page shows a board setup for Catan. What do the colors in the setup stand for?

My guess:

maroon/dark red: brick
dark green: wood
light green: wheat
yellow: sheep
grey: ore

Is that correct?


texts: Attacking someone that is using the Ring

texts: The person holding the ring was being attacked by a werewolf. They claimed that since they were holding the Ring, the werewolf and the hero have to roll for Sanity instead of Might. I thought that since the werewolf was attacking, they roll for Might, since that is the trait the werewolf is attacking with? Is this correct? Would the dice roll be for sanity or for might?


texts: Can a Great Unclean One ruin regions immediately on summoning?

texts:
The Great Unclean One upgrade card says

  Immediately place two corruption tokens in a region when you summon a
  Great Unclean One there.

These corruption tokens appear outside of the normal Corruption phase, so it's not clear how they interact with region ruination. The rules (p.19) say

  To resolve the corruption step... players count the total number of corruption tokens in the region... If this total is 12 or more, that region is RUINED.

  Then each player who placed at least one corruption token in that region during this corruption step immediately scores the same number of victory points indicated for ruiners on that ruination card.

If placing the Great Unclean One pushed the total number of corruption tokens to 12 or more, is the region immediately ruined? Or does ruination not occur until the Corruption phase?
The Nurgle player's corruption tokens were not placed during the corruption step. Does the Nurgle player count as a ruiner for VPs?


texts: Why are there fewer board games with a triangular grid?

texts:
Many games have a rectangular grid, some even use hexagonal but it's quite rare to see triangles. I have heard the argument that hexagons confuse players. Is that true? Is there any evidence to suggest it?

My inner game designer thinks that hexagonal games have more choices. So a casual player might be paralyzed by so many options compared with what he "knows as normal". So a 'hardcore' player will love it, again for the extra choices. If that's true, and not just a rationalization I made up, then will a triangular board feel constricted to both demographics?

Is that line of reasoning sound? Is there something I'm missing?


texts:
Dominion is designed to take 20-30 minutes, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.  However, I find that the card Saboteur causes the game to take much longer if more than 1 or two are purchased (which they almost always are) simply because it's nothing more than reverse progression.

All the other attack cards have at least some benefit to you, this just seems to be reverse progress, with no upside to the player.  The only exception to this would be Sea Hag, however Sea Hag has a much smaller (and much less aggravating) effect on the flow of the game.

Besides "it's a good attack", are there any reasons to actually use Saboteur?


texts: Is there a consensus on if blocking king and pawns together so opponent cannot move in Tablut (Hnefatafl) is stalemate, or a win?

texts:
In Tafl games (I'm specifically playing Tablut if it makes a difference) Black wins if they capture the White king by surrounding it on all four sides.
Suppose the king and one or more adjacent pawns in a block are all completely surrounded and White has no other pawns so they cannot move.  Is there any consensus on whether this is stalemate (like in Chess if the player can't move), or, a win for Black?  Or is it just "house rules"?
Most of the rule sets I've found do not mention it explicitly.  So the implication is it's a stalemate,  but they aren't very official.
(This ruleset suggests you take away one pawn in a blocked group per turn, in my scenario it would amount to the same thing as an immediate win.)


texts: Can two players tie for first place in Hearts?

texts:
At Pagat's website, it says game of Hearts (the card game) ends when a player reaches 100 points or more: http://www.pagat.com/reverse/hearts.html#scoring

This implies that the game ends even if two players are tied for first place. I've always played it this way.

But recently someone told me that they use a rule so that you must continue playing until there is a single first-place finisher (i.e. single low-scorer).

Is there a clear rule for this, or does it vary a lot?


texts: Does Harmonic Sliver have to destroy a permanent?

texts:
If I am the only player with any permanents then does Harmonic Sliver mean I must destroy one of my permanents? Can it destroy itself?

Harmonic Sliver says

  All Slivers have "When this permanent enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact or enchantment."


texts: Do Mox Opal + Arcbound Ravager + Scrap Trawler make an infinite combo?

texts:
Is it possible to do an infinite combo with those cards?

Using Arcbound Ravager I can send my Mox Opal to the graveyard. And with Scrap Trawler I can take the lesser converted mana cost from my graveyard to my hand.

The question is, can I take Mox Opal? Or does Mox Opal not have a converted mana cost?

What is the Rule I can find the solution?


texts: In Monopoly Deal, can I put properties of the same color on the table, but not in a "set"

texts: I want to get properties on the table, but not complete the set. I am trying to avoid having a complete set stolen. I realize by keeping same color cards separate, they could be taken in a forced deal or sly deal, but when it is my turn, I can arrange my properties how I want to collect rent or if I get three complete set, arrange them on my turn for the win. But by keeping the same color cards separate, at least I won't lose an entire set when the deal breaker is played.


texts: Can I special build after rolling the dice?

texts:
This is during a 6 person game of catan with the fish. I am somewhat new to the game and when I was handed the dice I rolled them. At this point, one of the other players said this player wanted to special build. This player wanted to put a road right where I was going to put a road and in fact had the cards to do it prior to the roll.

I was told that because I had rolled the dice I had forfeited my opportunity to special build in that place, though if I had not rolled the dice I would have had the priority to build there. It seemed to me that the roll of the dice was not legitimate, as I had forgotten to call for the special building phase, and so should be disregarded and the special building phase should be called for.

How would you interpret this situation?


texts:
A friend and I are splitting a RTR Booster box, mostly with hope for some chase rares, but we also wanted to have some fun while opening.
What are some Draft modes that only require two people?


texts: Can you play an instant (airlift) to move quarantine specialist prevent infection after the infection card has been drawn?

texts:
We had a situation where in the infection stage, a city was drawn that was about to cause an outbreak.

To stop this, we used an instant to move out quarantine specialist there.

Is this within the rules, or cheating?


texts: Can Relic of Progenitus be used to prevent a card being fetched from the graveyard?

texts: I played a Relic of Progenitus on my first turn. My opponent (who went first) activates a fetch land, then casts Wrenn and Six. Can I force the opponent to exile a card from their graveyard in response to stop them from returning the fetch land to their hand?


texts: Why was Reinforcement of the Army limited?

texts:
Reinforcement of the Army:

  Add 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior monster from your Deck to your hand.

Why is this card limited? There are many cards out there that allow you to add a monster from your deck to your hand, or even better special summon it. So why would they choose this card?


texts: Does this still happen in Haunt 16 even if the traitor dies?

texts:
The traitor's instructions for haunt #16, "The Phantom's Embrace", reads:

  You Must Do This On Your Turn
  At the end of each of your turns, advance the Turn/Damage Track to the next number. Then roll a number of dice equal to that number. The house blows up if you roll the following number or higher: [...]

If the explorers kill the traitor, does the track continue to advance each round?
My playgroup was divided between two interpretations:

Dead players don't get a turn. The traitor is dead, so he/she no longer does anything 'at the end of each of your turns". The house is no longer in danger of blowing up.
Dead players do get a turn, but ordinarily can take no actions because a corpse can't move / use items / etc. But they can carry out special instructions like the one indicated in this haunt. And anyway, it makes more thematic sense that the bomb would continue to tick down even after the demise of the person that set it. The house is still in danger of blowing up.

Which is the correct interpretation?


texts: Can Winds of Qal Sisma trigger Willbreaker's ability?

texts: If I use Winds of Qal Sisma to prevent damage from a creature, does Willbreaker trigger and let me gain control of that creature?


texts: Settlers of Catan Cities and knights - Knights VS Barbarians

texts:
From the official introduction video of Settlers of Catan Cities & Knights, it mentioned that if barbarians value is "equal" or less than the knights value, catan wins. If there's a tie, each one player gets a progress card.

So doesn't "eqaul" values of barbarians and knights = a tie?

Often, the overall amount of knights value is the same as the cities (barbarian value), and in that case, player with more knights cover those with extra cities, which is a win or tie?

And in that case, do we all get progress card? or does that player who has the most knights get 1 VP?


texts: Does excess Planeswalker damage hit the player?

texts:
A friend said that excess damage will spill over and hit the player, but I can't find anything to support that. I've seen 306.7:

  306.7. If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal
  that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This
  is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal
  rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent
  chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is
  applied.

but that doesn't mention excess damage.

For example, in any of the following scenarios, does the excess damage hit the player after killing the Planeswalker?

If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with a 5/5 creature like Collasapede?
If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with a 5/5 creature with trample like Giant Warthog?
If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with an instant or sorcery that does 5 damage like Explosive Impact?


texts: What is the advantage to starting your meld and laying it down when it isn't complete? Why not just wait until you have all seven?


texts: What happens when I use Feast on the Fallen on Bloodcrazed Hoplite?

texts: Me and a friend were playing magic, and I cast the enchantment Feast on the Fallen, I dealt 3 damage with Jagwasp Swarm. Then at the beginning of his upkeep I put 2 +1/+1 counters on Bloodcrazed Hoplite saying its heroic ability allows it to get a second counter because it's being target by a spell that I control.


texts:
When using Alvin & Dexter with TtR:Europe what are the rules about cities with existing train stations?

Do train stations prevent them from entering a city?  Do they have to be moved to place a train station?


texts: With what kind of trump holdings is a 4-4 trump fit superior?

texts:
One poster has noted on other questions that a 4-4 trump fit was better almost a trick better than a 5-3 trump fit,and had a smaller premium over a 5-4 fit because of the ability to make either hand the master hand.

I could see that being the case where the two hands both had HHxx, where the "H's" are honor cards, and the x's are random small cards. But about "extreme" cases like AKQ6 opposite 5432, or JTxx opposite xxxx? How would the 4-4 advantage still hold? In the latter case for instance, I would welcome a fifth trump in either hand, because if it were a "spot," it would be a "long" trump after the opponents take their honors, and if it were a Queen or better, it would be a third honor?

In response to my Stayman question, the same poster (Pieter Geerkens) noted that one of the weaknesses of the four card heart suit was its lack of a ten (an honor) or nine (close enough). Could a lack of honors in "four card" major suit like 8632 dissuade one from using Stayman, or otherwise seeking a 4-4 fit?


texts: If I use Procession on Pillage, what happens? I'm guessing that I would gain 4 Spoils, but no action worth 6, since the Pillage was already trashed by the time Procession finished resolving?


texts: Can the same player bid for Relics twice?

texts:
At the end of a round when a Royalty has been eliminated, players can trade shards for a Relic Item.

If players have enough shards, can they buy into the Relic draw more than once?


texts: Opener's rebid of 2NT (system: Simple SAYC)

texts:
I opened with 1H - Partner bid 2C - (I have 5 hearts, 12 pts, 3spades 3diamonds 2clubs). I have to respond, but responding 2NT would mean I have 18 pts (my written source on this is: http://www.math.cornell.edu/~belk/opening.htm#1.5Notrump: "With 18 or 19 HCP and a balanced hand, you should open in a suit (usually a minor) and then jump to 2NT on your next bid.")

I've been told that in this case (the case where partner responded on 2-level) - 2NT rebid would not mean 18pts (e.g. that it's ok to bid 2nt here). Can someone point me to the appropriate material on the web that discusses this?


texts: How to reduce slow starts at the beginning of the game?

texts:
We recently played a game of Settlers of Catan where for the first 3 rounds none of us got any brick at all, so there was no road construction at all and it dragged a little. I'm not looking to reduce the randomness, but a slight alteration of the game setup could probably do the trick.

Here's what I've thought of:

Give players more starting resources. If everyone began with 2 of everything things could get going faster.
give everyone an extra free road at the beginning.

Are there any other good ways to give Catan a bit more of a jump start? I find if one player gets a slow start in the beginning (like no brick) they can get screwed for most of the game. Different players being strong in different resources is core to the entire game, but a tiny early lack of wood can make one player suffer through the entire thing.


texts: My friend and I were playing an epic game a few days ago (in the end, he smacked me for 117 damage, only 16 of it was trample, but I only had my Phytohydra out).  I'm kind of the rules guy in my circle, so, the way the Phytohydra's worded, I let the trample damage from his Liege of the Tangle through it the turn before. Now, I know there was no way for me to win after that point, but was I supposed to let the damage through like I did? or should it have completely massacred that LotT?


texts: In Spades, what is the meaning of a high/low sum of bids?

texts:
In Spades, when playing with 4 competent players, the sum of the four bids on most rounds is about 11.  However some rounds have a very high or low sum of bids, mostly due to rare hands distribution.

What can a player deduce about the other hands when facing a high sum of bids of 12-13?
What can a player deduce about the other hands when facing a low sum of bids of 8-9?

to simplify the question assume no Nil bids were made.

Edit: David Robie gave a very good answer for the meaning of individual high/bid bid meaning, however I am looking for the meaning of the sum-of-bids.
For example, can a player assume in a round with high bid that the probability for trumping her side-suit high cards is higher?


texts: Does doubling counters trigger Hardened Scales?

texts: I have a Hardened Scales and Setessan Oathsworn with no counters on the battlefield. I cast Solidarity of Heroes on the Oathsworn, it gets three counters from it's heroic trigger which happens while the Solidarity is still on the stack. When the Solidarity resolves will it have 6 counters total or 7? Does doubling counters translate to "add as many counters as it has" or is it some special rule that changes the count without "adding" (thus not triggering the Scales).


texts: Picking up wild cards from the discard pile

texts: Can you pick up a wild card from the discard pile with two wildcards from your hand to start a Canasta of wildcards?


texts:
Some of the encounter cards in Wrath of Ashardalon have you put a treasure token on a tile. How do the adventurers pick up a treasure token? What can we do with the treasure tokens? They are worth gold, but I don't see anything to buy. Is it just for bragging rights?

P.S. Can someone with more rep than me create a "dnd-wrath-of-ashardalon" tag and add it to this question?