texts: Does a creature block when it is declared as a blocker or when damage is dealt?

texts:
Suppose the following scenario:
It's Bob's turn. He has five open lands including a Labyrinth of Skophos and a 10/10 creature. In combat phase he declares the 10/10 creature as attacker and passes priority to Alice who now has to declare blockers.
Alice controls Grizzly Bears equipped with Dead-Iron Sledge. She declares the Grizzly bears as a blocker for the 10/10 creature. As far as I know the triggered ability of Dead-Iron Sledge now goes onto the stack.
I have read the rulings of Labyrinth of Skophos in the gatherer but can't seem to make sense of it:

If a blocking creature is removed from combat, the creature it blocked remains blocked. Unless that creature has trample, it won’t deal combat damage.

Once creatures attack or block, they remain attacking or blocking creatures through the end of combat step unless removed from combat (by Labyrinth of Skophos or a similar effect).

Dont these two rulings contradict each other?
Will Bob be able to activate the ability of Labyrinth of Skophos targeting his own creature or the grizzly bears in response in order to prevent it from dying?


texts: Will Recoil still have creatures controller discard card?

texts:
I play recoil on a creature of my opponent. He responds by playing  a vapor snag on this target.
Will recoil still have him discard a card or will it fizzle completely?


texts: I have inherited over 20,000 Magic cards. What is the best way to find out what they are worth for selling. Do I need to look up each card? How? Where?


texts: What is the expected duration of a game of War?

texts:
In the card game War you deal a standard 52 card deck between two players. The players than flip cards with the higher card winning. In the case of ties (wars), each player plays N additional cards an the player with the highest Nth card wins all the cards (subsequent ties follow the same rules). The game can last a very long time and seems to never last a short time.

What is the expected number of "turns" until the game is completed?

I learned to play war with N equal to 3 (i.e., a total of 10 cards are played in a war: the original tie, 3 face down, and a final comparison card).

For completeness assume the game is over if a player has less than 5 cards and gets into a war (i.e., does not have a final card to flip).

Assume that upon playing your last card from your hand, you shuffle the winning cards into a random order and resume.

Assume the cards are in random order to start.


texts: Unique Assets with same name in my possession

texts:
When Encounter instructs me to gain new Unique Asset and I receive the same card that I have in my possession.

What happens? Do I get both of them or I should discard the card I have?


texts:
How are skills counted for the victory condition?

The first tie-breaker for winning the game is the number of statuses each contested player possesses, followed second by how many skills they possess.  When counting skills for this reason, are skill tiles counted as 1 skill regardless of level (Talent vs. Mastery), or do Mastery skills count as 2 skills each (similarly to how they are most commonly gained by receiving a skill twice)?


texts: What happens if you run out of cards in Streaking Kittens

texts: I know this question has already been asked, but this situation is different because we use the Streaking Kitten expansion of Exploding Kittens.


texts: Do you need a program to make a run in Netrunner?

texts:
The definition for interaction in netrunner seems a tad vague and I was hoping to clear up some points. I know you can run through ice and accept subroutines if you do not have the appropriate ice breaker. You choose not to interact and bypass the ice but suffer the consequences.

Can you still do this if you have no programs installed as the runner? For example, couldn't I, without any programs, make 4 runs on my first turn? Even if the corp put down 3 ice on their turn, Most likely they will not or cannot rez them all. This gives me several, maybe even four succesful runs on my first turn.

Is this possible?


texts: What is the expected number of turns required to get the required roll for Complete Destruction, given no evolutions or other cards?


texts: What happens when I copy a card with awaken?

texts: If I copy Part the Waterveil for which I pay 6UUU with Mirrorpool, do I get to turn one or two lands into creatures?


texts: Coloretto vs. Aquaretto and Zooloretoo, what are the differences and how can I tell which to buy?

texts:
Coloretto Aquaretto Zooloretto

What are some of the differences between the three? I've noticed that Coloretto is smaller and doesn't take as long to play (30min vs. 45min for the other 2). Zoo and Aqua can be combined and Coloretto seems to stand alone, but other than that I'm at a loss for which to get.

A few questions:

Are there any differences in gameplay between them?
Do they have different levels of strategy, player interaction, or replayability?
Any other prominent differences between them?


texts: How can I clearly detail all possible destinations from every point of the map in my game?

texts:
I'm making a game about traveling the world and I stumbled across one big problem, so I hoped you could give me some good suggestions.

In my game players can choose to which cities they want to go on the map in a limited radius. I thought I could just draw lines from each city to each destination, but I ended up with a really confusing map. My next idea was to write down all destinations where a player can go from a given city, but this approach wasn't illustrative enough so players couldn't think ahead where to move next.

What are your suggestions?


texts: How difficult is Axis and Allies to learn and teach new players?

texts:
Axis and Allies seems to be a very popular game to the point where I've even seen copies in Toys 'R Us! Before I jump on the bandwagon, I want to be sure I'll be able to get some use out of it.

How difficult is it to teach new people? Is it the kind of game you need to play several times before you really get it?
Would it be a good game to play with family?
Do you have to be a Game-Geek to have a chance at enjoying it?


texts: Saboteur 2 - How many saboteur cards do you take out for 4 players?

texts:
I'm playing with 4 players in total in Saboteur 2 and we are not sure whether we are supposed to remove the other 2 Saboteur cards so that there is only 1 Saboteur.  I guess what I'm really asking is what's the exact preparation with 4 players in regards to which cards to leave in or take out for the Miners and the Saboteurs.

The way I understood it was to take out 2 of the 3 Saboteurs and leave the other miner cards in but there may be a chance that no one is a saboteur.  We then thought of taking out 2 of the 3 saboteurs but leave in only exactly 3 miners but the question then is how do you choose between 2 blue dwarves and 1 green or 2 green and 1 blue?


texts: In Monopoly, Can I mortgage properties as I am bankrupted?

texts:
Rules state that properties can be mortgaged at any time.  But if I can't raise enough money to pay rent, I am bankrupt and out of the game.
Mortgaging properties just prior to handing them over to the new owner would be a nuisance.  Since the new owner is required to pay a 10% fee to the bank.
As the player being bankrupted, am I allowed to reduce the spoils I turn over in this fashion?

Note a similar question about making deals with other players when going bankrupt.


texts:
Can talents of the samurai be used after the attack overcame the samurai?

The rulebook doesn't specify anything about this at the talents and the only effects the overcome seems to have is that

  Case 3: If the total is GREATER THAN your Kiai value, you are overcome by raiders: Immediately remove one village Barricade.

and in the next round

  Important: If your Samurai meeple is already past your Kiai value (i.e. on the flame), then you MUST PASS.

For some talents it would make sense that it can still be used as they are passive looking (at least to me). For example if Gorobei is overcome, he should(?) still be able to ignore the penalty on a Raider with an even value.

The real, specific question is: after Kikuchiyo becomes overcome by an attack, can he still use his talent and choose to fight another opponent even though he is already overcome?


texts: Can a continuous effect that gives haste wear off?

texts:
For example, let's say I have a Thopter Engineer which has the ability:

  Artifact creatures you control have haste.

I then cast an Artifact Creature. If my opponent were to cast Lightning Strike targeting Thopter Engineer in response, it would go on top of the stack and resolve first, destroying Thopter Engineer.  The Artifact Creature would then resolve, enter the battlefield, and not have haste.

Otherwise if I cast the Artifact Creature with no response, it resolves, enters the battlefield, and gains haste thanks to Thopter Engineer's continuous effect.  What would happen if I passed priority after this and my opponent decided to then cast Lightning Strike on my Thopter Engineer?

Would the Artifact Creature keep haste and be able to attack during combat that turn? Or would it lose haste due to the continuous effect no longer applying and not be able to attack?


texts: Why has Mass Driver been banned from play?

texts:
Mass Driver:

  You can tribute 1 monster to deal 400 points of damage to your opponent's life points.

I can sort of see why this card has been banned, because it deals 400 for every monster you tribute. But however if you were reduce your opponent's life points to 0, you'd have to tribute 20 monsters. Even if you have a full field of 6 monsters that would only do 2400. And if you used Soul Charge (which is limited to one) you'd have to pay 6000 life points to revive every one you tribute. But even then you'd still only do 2400 more.

So basically, what has landed this card on the forbidden section of the Yu-Gi-Oh ban list?


texts: Would Averna, the Chaos Bloom allow you to get out all of your lands if you cascade and don't have a lower CMC spell in your deck?

texts:
If you fail to find a lower CMC spell in your deck while cascading, would Averna, the Chaos Bloom drop all of the land in your deck into play on one turn?
The wording on the card is:

As you cascade, you may put a land card from among the exiled cards onto the battlefield tapped. (Do this after the last card is exiled but before deciding whether to cast a nonland card.)


texts: In Mancala, can you pick up the stones if your last stone lands in a hole that isn't empty?

texts: The way I played when I was growing up was that if your last stone lands in a space that has stones  in it, you pick them all up and keep going until you land in an empty space.  Is there a version were these are the rules?  We also did no 'capturing' in our version and the game ends when there are no more stones on the whole board, not just one side.


texts: Are you required to call a judge if you're not involved in the game?

texts:
If you're a spectator to a game at either competitive or professional REL and you see a gamestate error occur, should you call a judge?

What happens if you don't call a judge?

Is it different if you see blatant cheating or bribery instead of a gamestate error?


texts: Do train stations cause an opponent's route to count towards longest route?

texts: In Ticket to Ride Europe a player may use a train station to use an opponent's route to complete a ticket. When a player does this, does the opponent's route count toward the player's longest route? The rules do not seem to explicitly address this issue.


texts: Does a card with "put into play" trigger an "enters the battlefield" effect?

texts:
Say I have a card which says:

  when a horse enters the battlefield give it +1/+1

and a card that says:

  put two horse tokens into play

Do my horse tokens get +1/+1 even though it says they are put "into play" and not "enters the battlefield?


texts: Why doesn't 'Bite Shoes' trigger the effect of 'Tragedy' in Duel Links?

texts:
Is it a bug in Duel Links, that when I turn an enemy card from attack to defense position with Bite Shoes, then I can't activate the effect of Tragedy?

Currently I can activate it only with Sphere Kuriboh, Enemy Controller, or Windstorm of Etaqua.


texts: Where can I find the story of Magic the Gathering?

texts: I have been playing MTG for a few months now and was told that there is a story behind each set of cards.  I have several small bits of the story that came with the decks, but I would like to read the full story and see if I can construct my themed decks to match how they would be in the story. Where can I learn more about the back-story to these cards?


texts: In bridge, do people go through cycles of under- and -over bidding?

texts:
In the board game Go, there are two basic styles, high and low. "High" is all the rage for about ten years, until people have forgotten how to play "low." Then "low" gets "rediscovered," and people win tournaments with itfor about ten years until high becomes popular again.

In bridge, people used to "underbid" in competitive situations. That is, they failed to overcall, make takeout doubles or "balance," even when it was to their advantage to do so (that is when the penalty for going down was less than the opponent's probably game). Then people learned these techniques and did them a lot. Have they ever overdone such competitive techniques (that is, give away more games or gone down more than they should have)?

Have people made "mistakes" in the past that would be considered such by today's standards, even though they may have been acceptable bids at the time they were made?


texts:
In every game of Thud! that I have played, the Dwarves win hands down.

It is somewhat off-putting as whoever is playing the Trolls seems to have to simply minimise the losses.

Are there any opening gambits that allow the Trolls at least a fighting chance?  The instructions imply that there are, but don't give any hint as to what they are.


texts: Necromunda: what happens to plague zombies when they go down?

texts:
My brother and I play the skirmish game Necromunda (made back in the '90s by Games Workshop, its a spin-off of Warhammer 40k).

My question is, what happens to zombies when you have wounded them and they get the 'down' result (roll a 6 sided dice, 1 has no effect, 6 taken off the board, 2-5=?).

This relates specifically to damage from anything other than close combat, i.e. shooting, but also fall damage, seeing as any down result is out in close combat, unless its a multiple combat.

So, do zombies start to crawl after the damage, like a normal ganger? Or do they shrug it off?


texts: Sacrificing a creature I control that my opponent owns

texts:
If I were to cast Hijack on one of my opponent's creatures then, while that creature is under my control for the turn, I cast Blood Divination choosing to sacrifice the creature I took from him/her, does that creature go into my graveyard (since I control the permanent), or does it go into my opponent's graveyard?

This happened recently while playing with friends and we just decided to put it in the original owner's graveyard.


texts:
I read the rules on the winning condition and I check on forums for that also.
What are the winning conditions of a game of "power grid deluxe"?

  In the following Phase 5 (Bureaucracy) players do not earn money for powering cities. Instead,
  they check to see which player supplies electricity to the most cities in his network using the
  resources and power plants he has. This is the number of cities he normally earns cash from
  during this phase. This player that can power the most cities wins the game! If there is a tie,
  the player with the most remaining money wins. In rare cases, a player may win the game with
  more cities in his network than necessary to end the game

There's a confusion on the "supplies electricity" conditions that I see on forum and in the manual. Because there's 2 supply electricity measurement, there's the raw supply electricity and there's the effective one.

What I mean is that you could power up to 20 cities (raw) but if you only have 13 cities on you end up powering 13 cities ( effective).

So what measurement is the right one? The raw or effective one? I will leave an example and you tell me who should win the game:

  P1, 20 power supplies capacity, 12 cities connected, can power up to 20 cities.
  P2, 15 supplies capacity, 13 cities, can power up to 14.


texts: Do the sides reveal their goals when the haunt begins?

texts: On Betrayal at House on Hill, once haunt is revealed and everyone knows their parts do both sides then reveal what their ultimate goal is? Such as I , the traitor, have to release a demon and kill you all.  And do the players then say ok well we have to collect this item and do this to win?


texts: How many agendas of each type of agenda can be scored? It is possible that only one of each type can be scored and the corporation wins the game with 7 agenda points total.


texts: Can I deal damage to the opponent’s health after I kill their creature trying to block my attack?

texts: I’m a new player to Magic the Gathering and I was confused about this particular situation. Can I deal damage to my opponent’s health after I kill their creature trying to block me? For example, I have a creature on the field that has 5/5 and the opponent has a creature on the field with 3/3. I declare attack but the opponent decided to let the 3/3 creature block my 5/5 creature. I kill the 3/3 creature because I have more toughness. Do I deal 5 more damage to my opponent’s health?


texts: Destroying a permanent with ability "as long as this card is on the battlefield"

texts:
Example scenario is:

P1 plays a creature like Skilled Animator that says:

  When Skilled Animator enters the battlefield, target artifact you control becomes an artifact creature with base power and toughness 5/5 for as long as Skilled Animator remains on the battlefield.

P1 has an artifact, so it becomes a creature with base power and toughness 5/5
P1 goes to attack with at least the artifact
P2 plays an instant card that deals enough damage to the Skilled Animator to kill him. But the artifact creature is not blocked

What happens to the artifact/creature? Does it still deal combat damage, or does the instant resolve first, killing Skilled Animator, and causing the artifact to lose its creature status before dealing damage?


texts: How Unethical Is A Purely "Blocking" Move In Ticket To Ride?

texts:
Here's a scenario to illustrate my question.  My wife and I were playing Ticket To Ride: Nordic Countries earlier this evening - apologies if you don't own this particular edition, but hopefully the basic situation will be obvious to anyone who's played any TTR, even if you're unfamiliar with the map.

We'd both drawn a poor selection of Destination cards and kept only two each.  My first play was Orebro - Stockholm.  The next two routes were played by my wife: Kobenhavn - Karlskrona, and Karlskrona - Norrkoping.  At this point, with a spare red ticket in my hand, I opportunistically played Stockholm - Norrkoping!

With both the southern entries to Stockholm blocked, my poor wife now had no choice, if she wanted to link Kobenhavn to the top right segment of the board, to undertake a cruelly circuitous route, involving three turns and ten tickets, instead of one single ticket and a single turn.  I patiently endured the two minutes of dire recriminations and imprecations that followed my dastardly move, and ended up winning the game by in the region of 20 points - hardly a landslide.

I'm just wondering whether this kind of thing would be considered poor sportsmanship in other groups.  I ask because there was a question on this very site about whether it was poor form, in Settlers of Catan, to pretend to want to trade for a good, to sneakily fish for information before playing a Monopoly card.  To me that seems like a perfectly sensible procedure, but a lot of people seemed horrified at such unsportsmanlike practice!

There's an argument that one should play Ticket to Ride only "by the book" - making only plays that actively help to score Destination cards in one's hands.  I would counter that, in an exclusively 2/3 player game like Nordic Countries, blocking one or both of the other players can be just as beneficial as straightforwardly aiming to score routes, if not more so.  If another player has drawn and kept 5 amazingly compatible routes and I am going to struggle with my 2, why is it unfair for me to "even the odds" a little by throwing a spanner into my opponent's works?  Essentially, I don't understand why it's okay for me to try to crush an opponent by "above board" means, and not okay to do that by "devious" play.

In a game with many players I think a purely blocking move could be slightly more dubious, on the ground that it will probably only mess with some players, allowing others to pull ahead: it's kingmaking, basically, and that can be really annoying.  But is there anything wrong with such tactics in a 2-3 player game, where it can obviously be an effective route to victory?  Would a player who regularly tries to spoil your plans rather than concentrate on his own be persona non grata before too long?

Certainly it really gets my wife's goat - I'm lucky I'm not sleeping on the couch tonight!


texts: 8 letter word beginning and ending on triple word scores

texts: I played the 8 letter word emerging, using the middle e already on the board, and starting and ending on triple word scores.  Is the score tripled, and then tripled again before adding the 50 pt bonus, or is it 6 times the word score before the bonus?


texts: What the key minis for a new Ultramarine player to get?

texts:
I am starting to play Warhammer 40,000 as an Ultramarine Space Marine player. I got the starter kit: Assault on Black Reach and have been enjoying painting stuff since.

Where should I look next to start building up my army? My goal is to have an army of around 2000 points eventually, while I build up my understanding of the tactics of the game.


texts: Can you play three skips then a reverse?

texts: In a two-player Uno game, can the same person play 3 skips and immediately continue with a reverse of the same colour?


texts: How do Rum and Lucky Duke/Horse Shoes interact?

texts:
With the introduction of the Gold Rush expansion, there is no FAQ on how to handle Lucky Duke/Horse Shoes with Rum.

Lucky Duke says each time he "draws!" flip the top two cards and chose one. Horse Shoes says whenever you "draw!", you reveal 1 additional card and choose the result. Rum says "Draw!" 4 cards: you regain 1 life point for each different Suit revealed.

So how do these interact? It's not clear if Rum means to draw 4 cards, or draw 4 times. My play group has ruled that it is intended to draw 1 card 4 times, which would mean Lucky Duke and Horse Shoes would take full advantage of it. But that may not be the case; it's hard to say since Lucky Duke was created before there were any cards that had a draw of multiple cards.

Here are the different ways I can see this working.

1) Based on the wording of Lucky Duke he only draws two cards for Rum and would draw a 3rd card if he had Horse Shoes, putting his use of Rum at a disadvantage compared to all other characters. This would also mean all other characters would draw 5 cards from Rum and they would chose the 4 that they would want.

2) Based on the assumption that Rum is intended to draw 1 card 4 times, Lucky Duke would get 4 draws of 2 cards, and chose one after each two card draw to determine how much life he gets back. If he has Horse Shoes he would draw 3 each time and any other character would draw 2 each time.

From my searches I have seen people arguing for both sides. Personally I'm thinking the second choice is right since it seems that Lucky Duke should have an advantage when it comes to draws.


texts:
The rules state

  the Beast can move 5 spaces on a turn, but can attack the Agent only
  if it shares the same space that turn

I believe this means that the beast can only attack the Agent it shares a space with if it moved 5 spaces that particular turn. However...

If the Beast moves less than 5 spaces, does it attack from a distance like normal?


texts: How could you change what creature a creature with soulbond is paired with?

texts:
I'm trying to make a custom card. It's a creature with soulbond. I would like it to be able to tap to change what it's paired with. I was thinking:

  {T}: Unpair this creature, then you may pair it with another unpaired creature you control.

Is this the correct formatting? Is there a better way to do it? Does this idea even work within the rules?


texts: How many cards can I access in R&D / HQ?

texts:
My girlfriend and I started playing Netrunner this weekend, and after our first game taking roughly 4 days, we're now enjoying it!

I'm assuming that I'm just being thick here, but the manual never actually states how many cards you get to access in R&D / HQ. It says what happens "When accessing multiple cards", so in our first game we just assumed it was a choice about whether you wanted to carry on accessing cards or not.

However, when we ran across The Maker's Eye, this method of play suddenly seemed wrong. Am I to assume that I only get to access ONE card from R&D/HQ unless I have a card that allows me to access more?

Thanks!


texts: What happens when I blink a Manic Scribe multiple times?

texts: If I have a Manic Scribe and 2 Momentary Blinks, is it possible to use Momentary Blink on Manic Scribe multiple times, and if so, does his ability trigger again?


texts:
Some people refer to Magic: The Gathering Online as "MOTO" or "MODO". None of them can tell me what it stands for, so at first, I thought they just got the acronym wrong. It turns out to be pretty popular, that's all I've been able to find out. The term is not in the Magic Jargon article, and not one person in this thread spelled it out.

What does MOTO stand for? Is it different from MODO?


texts: Creatures pumping each other and combat damage

texts:
Suppose I have two Myr Galvanizers, so they give a +1/+1 to each other.

If I attack with both, and my opponent blocks one with a 5/5 creature and kills it, does the surviving one still deal 3 damage to the defending player? Or the damage to players is assigned after the blockings among creatures are solved?


texts: Can a runner trash ICE or Operation cards after a run on the HQ?

texts:
A sneaky runner managed to make his way into my corporate HQ. I let him pick a card at random from my hand (I had no upgrades), and it just happened to be a piece of ICE or an Operation or maybe even an Agenda.

Does the runner have the option of trashing the card? There's no listed trashing cost, so if they are allowed to trash the card, what does it cost?


texts: If Maiden with Eyes of Blue is targeted for an attack and is face down, can it still activate?

texts:
I have Maiden with Eyes of Blue and it says that when targeted for attack, it can change position, cancel the attack, and bring forth a Blue Eyes White Dragon. But can its effect still activate if it was face down when attacked?

The reason I'm asking is because if it doesn't activate when face down, then everyone will know that it will bring forth a Blue Eyes White Dragon.


texts: Regarding chains with trigger effects when summoning

texts:
My friend uses Aether, the Evil Empowering Dragon, whose monster effect reads as follows: "When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 monster on the field; banish it."

The question is: is my opponent forced to be chain link 1? so that I can chain torrential to his Aether's effect? That way, when the chain resolves, my monsters are already gone by the time Aether tries to banish one of them.

Or can he wait until I activate torrential in response to his summon so that he can be chain link 2? How does it work?

Thanks


texts: What to bid in this situation (xx-Kx-AQTxx-AQxx, 1D-1S-2C-2D...)? (System: Simple SAYC)

texts:
I open 1D -- Partner 1S -- I bid 2C (my holding was xx-Kx-AQTxx-AQxx) -- Partner bids 2D --
What do I bid, and why? (since I have to respond when partner keeps changing suit and no NT has been yet bid)


texts: What board game does this die belong to?

texts: I found a red and black die in my pocket. The sides are a T, a Roman column, two people, a clock with x2, one person, and another T; each image is bordered by a circle. I have no idea what it's from; any help?


texts: What are good games to play during a one-hour lunch break?

texts: On any given day we can have any number of players, up to ten, so that's not a limitation. Keep in mind that setup, play and packing up needs to be done in the hour. My coworkers are all experienced board gamers, so complexity is not an issue.


texts: How are the Spiel des Jahres decisions made?

texts:
The Spiel des Jahres is one of the biggest, if not the biggest award in European gaming.  It is estimated that winning Spiel des Jahres can increase the sales tenfold.

I am interested to know what process is used to come to the decisions for the winner of the Spiel des Jahres. Obviously there is a jury and a list of nominations; but how are the nominations and the final decisions about the winners made?


texts:
Is it possible to cast a card twice, first with Flashback AND then with Kess, Dissident Mage "play from graveyard" ability or vice versa?

Flashback says - You may play this card from your graveyard for the Flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.

Kess say - you may cast instance or sorcery card from your graveyard. If it would go into the graveyard, exile it instead.


texts:
There's one of those cheap random items/party supplies stores at the local mall that sells copies of Exploding Kittens for $10 each.

It's a bargain price - it's $15 on Amazon here in Australia, $40ish at most FLGS.

So that makes me suspect that it's a counterfeit copy - but how would I know?


texts:
If I summon a creature with the flash rule in my opponent's turn as a response to their attack is it able to block?

Or is it suffering from summoning sickness and can't do anything?


texts: What does "Gunblade" refer to in Netrunner?

texts:
I'm just starting to look into Android: Netrunner and encountered some decks that referenced a "Gunblade". For context, I was looking at some Shaper decks that utilized Cloak/Dagger to break ICE. What is this actually referring to?

Is this in some way a reference back to Dagger (ie: a blade)? If so, where does the "gun" portion of the reference come from?


texts: Is it legal to use a paper and a pen during Android: Netrunner play?

texts: Can one make writings or log during the Android: Netrunner play? Or every player should use only its own memory?


texts:
How many counters does Wickerbough Elder get when returned to battlefield with Cauldron of Souls? Assume that it died with no counters on it and was targeted by Cauldron of Souls. I can't tell if gets two -1/-1 counters or one when returned to battlefield.

Wickerbough Elder:

  Wickerbough Elder enters the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.

Cauldron of Souls:

  Choose any number of target creatures. Each of those creatures gains
  persist until end of turn. (When it dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters
  on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a
  -1/-1 counter on it.)


texts: What happens with Poison Counters in Two Headed Giant?

texts:
I know that in Commander, 10 poison counters kills a player.

However, does the same apply in Two Headed Giant?

There are technically two players, even though they share a life total of 30.

Also I believe counters would only be placed on the targeted player of an attacking infect creature.

What are the conditions for losing due to infect in THG?


texts: Precursor Golem + Saheeli's Artistry + non artifact golem

texts: Suppose I have a Precursor Golem and a non-artifact Golem, (let's say Moonglove Changeling) on the battlefield, and I target Precursor Golem with both modes of Saheeli's Artistry. What happens? The Changeling would be a valid target for half of the spell, but not the other half, so it's not clear to me whether it will be copied or not.


texts: Is there an industry standard definition between "Board", "Card", and "Table Top" game genres?

texts:
A friend and I have been developing a game but we've had some difficulty establishing the specific genre we think it should fit in.

Our game design uses printed cards to be distributed CCG-style in randomized, rarefied (common/uncommon/rare/etc.) sealed packs and starter boxes, but these cards are used to represent the unit stats, leaders, equipment, special abilities, and so-on for a tactical table-top based game (think Magic The Gathering meets Mage Knight 2.0).

Are there specific ways to determine how we should identify our game that are identified by the industry as a whole, or do we simply need to pick our 'closest match' and try to clarify how we cross genres in the actual description of the game?

Is there an industry standard set of definitions between game generes? If so, what is it based on (game mechanic, distribution mechanic, production medium, etc)?

For example, in the automotive industry, pretty much all cars get categorized as either "coupe", "sedan", "truck", "van", or "SUV", but then they try to identify themselves as something more specific (e.g. "Crossover Hybrid SUV"). I imagine there are pretty simple and standard concepts of why something is a sedan instead of a coupe, so I'm hoping there are similar ways to identify the root 'type' of a game.


texts: When does showing a card in hand become free information?

texts:
Say I'm playing a game, and I start to cast a spell at the wrong time (e.g. an enchantment when I could only cast an instant). As I reveal the spell, an opponent points out that it's an enchantment and I pull it back into my hand.

Now, if this was two-headed giant and one opponent player saw that it was an enchantment while the other read its name, it would be free information for them to check the effect of the card based on its name.

If, however, I pull the card back straight away and they know nothing about it (other than I want to cast it), am I obliged to reveal the card/provide details about it?

Additionally, is this different if I accidentally reveal a card from my own hand, which the opponents glimpse, without any intention of casting?


texts:
If Alice draws an Exploding Kitten which she tries to Defuse, can Bob Nope that, making the kitten explode and eliminate Alice?

At the time of asking, I had only played it once, an hour before. As it wasn't my own game, I had no access to the rule book leaflet.


texts:
Is there a quick-short list of each of the Root's factions and something like bullet points concisely explaining how each one scores? While playing I am constantly finding I need to ask for everyone's base sheet, or the rule book to try and guess out my opponent's strategies, or niche things they may attempt to pull. I enjoy the game but the asymmetry is a little hard for me to keep track of.
Reading the rules book is accurate, but long winded, all I really would like is a quick reminder of an aspect. The player board's are written more concisely but their layout is sometimes a little random, or lacking in some minor cases, not to mention that someone else is usually using it and can't afford to pass it around every time one asks.


texts:
Long ago, I think it was in the 1980s-1990s, I once played a game that really made me dizzy.

I think it was a game made by a German game maker. It was a 2 or 3 player game played on a round board, consisting of 6 concentric circles and connecting lines and spirals. The goal of the game  was to create certain combinations of stones, by which you could capture stones of your opponent.

Because you were constantly looking around circles and spirals, you just became dizzy, something you didn't notice while playing, but you noticed when you stood up...

I would like to buy this game , but I don't know the name.


texts: Does Redshirts Deluxe fix the stalemate issues of the original game?

texts: It took two hours to end the game originally, and by that point everyone was just glad to have finished. Does Redshirts Deluxe, the new version of Redshirts, fix any of the stalemate issues experienced in the base game or is it still stuck in an endless loop of attempting to end the game?  Is the new expansion worth getting to make the base game playable?


texts: Which games are most rewarding to review?

texts: I play Go online and have by now quite a few sgf's of past games available which I could review. I'm however lazy so I certainly wont review all or even most of them. So which ones can I learn the most from reviewing? Ones against stronger players or against weaker ones? The ones I lost or the ones I won?


texts: Must a caught novice walk back to her cell even when passing out of sight?

texts:
In Nuns on the Run, when a novice has been caught by one of the guards, she must walk the shortest route back to her cell so long as the abbess or prioress can still see her.

My question is, must the novice complete her 'caught' movement honestly even if it takes her out of sight, or can the novice jink to the side as soon as there's a door between her and the guards?

Example: Ann Marie is caught two spaces from the south door to the chapel.  Her first two moves have to be south, but do her last one or two also have to be south, or can she turn and head into the garden?


texts:
Are there any available computer engines that play the game Mancala? I know that there are many versions of the game but it would be interesting to know if there are computer engines that play the game, whether through AI or some form of alpha-beta pruning.

Note that this is different from the other question based on Mangala. I am asking specifically on the game of Mancala, not Mangala. As a result I am not sure why this question was flagged as a duplicate.


texts: Watchtower when someone uses a Masquerade

texts:
As a reaction card, Watchtower can be revealed whenever you gain a card.

Does this apply to the card you receive from other players during a Masquerade?


texts: Can a creature with summoning sickness be targeted?

texts:
Can I target a creature as soon as it is played, even with summoning sickness?

Example: If my card, Beguiler of Wills, reads "Gain control of target creature," or Dungeon Geist's "tap target creature opponent controls," can I gain control or tap a creature my opponent just played? I have a friend arguing I can't, because they're in summoning sickness, but I thought that just stopped their tap-ability and attacking for the first turn.


texts: Dominion Nocturne: Why is Raider not better than Gold

texts:
The Raider from Dominion Nocturne (Plünderer in German) has a value of 6 (the same as the Gold card). It gives you +3 coins, and you may play as many as you have in your hand since it's a night card. It's essentially the same as Gold, except that the Raider also includes an attack against the other players.
This makes it significantly more valuable than Gold, yet it has the same price.
In my opinion, the +3 coins the Raider gives which are delayed until the next round does not diminish the Raider's usefulness.
Is Raider just a more powerful version of Gold that costs the same, or am I misunderstanding something about Raider’s strength?


texts: How likely is it to survive a game of Barbarian Prince?

texts:
Barbarian Prince is a brutal paragraph based game. Your character must collect 500 gold and return to his homeland to win the game. Unfortunately, there are unfriendly guards, wolves, mobs of peasants, deadly ruins, and worse trying to end your life.

What is the best strategy to use when attempting to survive?
What are your approximate chances of staying alive for 70 days?


texts: Getting priority after putting a spell on the stack

texts:
I have a two questions connected with priority and stack:

It's my turn, during the combat phase, after the declaring blockers step. Blockers are declared. At the Combat Damage step, I get priority and I pass. My opponent gets priority and decides to put a spell on the stack. Can I respond to him, adding my spell to the stack?
And generally, do I always get a chance to respond after spell is put on a stack, independently from the situation?
Can I hold priority during opponent's turn?
By hold i mean for example when my opponent in his turn cast an instant, i decide to respond, and now basically he would get priority again, and my question is can i hold it by telling that i hold and cast second instant after first one. I know that there is possibility to do it.


texts: Is it possible to jump back into MTG after 20 years away?

texts: So I haven't played any Magic the Gathering since the Ice Age expansion and now I have a friend who is interested in playing.  If I'm interested in playing where is a good starting point? I am guessing that my best bet is to go buy a starter box, but I do not want to fall down the rabbit hole again if avoidable.  Are some of the rules still applicable? Are any of my Ice age cards even legal to use? Thanks in advance!


texts: Are there any other spells in bant colors that will cause Enduring Scalelord to go infinite?

texts:
Are there creatures, artifacts, enchantments, etc that will make Enduring Scalelord go infinite in Bant?

I'm building a Bant counters EDH deck and it'd be fun to have ES blow up in a couple of different ways. I have Progenitor Mimic in the deck and I know ES would also benefit from the Archangel of Thune/Spike Feeder combo.  I'm blanking on anything else that wouldn't just stop at 1 trigger.


texts: How do Strionic Resonator and Charmbreaker Devils interact?

texts:
I'm working on a red instant and sorceries deck featuring Charmbreaker Devils. As I understand it, this ability:

  At the beginning of your upkeep, return an instant or sorcery card at random from your graveyard to your hand.

is a triggered ability. So I should be able to use Strionic Resonator to copy it. How exactly does copying it work? Is there a chance that the same card in my graveyard is chosen twice, or will I always get two instants or sorceries back, as long as there are two to start with?


texts: Looking to identify a particular form of solitaire played in-hand, not on a table

texts:
Back in college I had a friend teach me a different way to play a solitaire-like game.  It was played in-hand which meant you could play it while standing in line or any time you were bored and had a deck of cards handy.  Here's the rough idea of what I remember of the rules:

Cards held face down in a stack.
4 cards drawn from the bottom of the deck, flipped and put on top
Goal was to match the outside 2 of the top 4 cards (cards 1 and 4 if you number them from the top)
Matching may have been based on suit or card number
Might have been matched as all 4 of the same suit or outside matching by number, I can't quite remember
There were rules I can't remember that let you rearrange the top cards
If top 4 cards can't be matched then you draw from the bottom until you can match
When a match was made it was moved to the bottom of the face-up cards to get it out of the way

One nice feature of the game was that it always stayed in a stack other than fanning out the top cards.  If you have to stop playing you just collapse the fanned cards, put the deck back in the box.  Later on you can pull out the deck and start right where you left off.  It was a fun way to burn time while waiting for something.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?  I've looked for the rules but I have no idea what the game is called and I haven't been able to find anything similar.


texts: Are there cards that turn opponents' life loss into my life gain?

texts: I was wondering if there is a card that says something like "whenever opponent loses life, you gain life." It doesn't matter how much life gain, just need to know if a card like this exists.


texts: Do multiple return to battlefield effects "stack"?

texts:
If a creature I control without flying has a coin counter from Athreos, Shroud-Veiled dies, and I have Luminous Broodmoth and Athreos on the field.  What happens?

Do I only get the original creature back? With or without flying counter? Does this cause me to get a copy of the creature since both cards say return to battlefield?


texts: How does Proliferate interact with Exalted and other temporary +1/+1 buffs?

texts:
I understood Proliferate to be an ability that allows you to, given any number of permanents and players of your choosing, add another counter of each existing counter type that is already on there. Like adding another poison counter to a player that already has one, or buffing a creature with a +1/+1 counter even more, or giving an opponent's creature with at least one -1/-1 counter another one.
There are some edge cases I'm unsure of:

What if an attacker is exalted (+1/+1 until end of turn) and they proliferate during their attack? Do they get an additional +1/+1? Does it affect combat in the current turn? If they get an additional +1/+1, does it wear off at the end of the turn like the exalted buff?
Similar situation with Hand of the Praetors: could you proliferate the +1/+1 buff it gives other creatures?


texts:
Risk Express (or Age of War if you prefer) is a great game and I'd like to create my own version. That's easy, the game contains just a bunch of cards and 8 dice. I'm interested in such dice, they are six sided, but have army symbols (a cannon, a dragoon(?), musketeers e.t.c.) instead of numbers.

Where can I find such dice? Not necessarily with the same symbols, anything war related may do, I'll re-theme the game anyway, no sci-fi or modern guns though, I want to keep it in ancient, medieval or Napoleonic age. I searched a lot in dice shops but found nothing...


texts: Can you construct a railway to Toulon through Marseille? (Paris Connection)

texts:
A round in Paris Connection will end, when someone constructs a route to Marseille.

If player A has enough pawns to construct a route also to Toulon, can he/she also make a route to Toulon on the same turn as he/she places a marker on Marseille? (see the attached picture).


texts: Spell targets player in multiplayer game, and that player leaves. Does it still resolve?

texts:
Let's say I have infinite mana, Soulfire Grand Master and Crater's Claws. I play a multiplayer game with 5 other players. I use Soulfire Grand Master last ability with infinite damage crater claws on first opponent. He doesn't wait until the spell resolve, and leave the game.

Will the spell resolve, so I can take it back to my hand and kill 4 other opponents?


texts: How to view cards in the stack below the top card in MTG Arena?

texts:
Fairly often in MTG Arena, my opponent will cast a spell that triggers effects that go on top of the original spell in the stack.  How can I see the full text of the original spell or anything else below the top card in the stack?

I need to be able to see such details to decide whether to react (e.g. cast a counterspell).  I'm not sure whether this is a design flaw or I'm just being dense.


texts: Am I right in understanding that if my supply drops due to losing territory, this won't affect my armies until the supply card is drawn?

texts:
I'm getting prepared to play GoT for the first time, I just wanted to clarify this rule.

Let's say I have 2 supply, this allows me to have one 3 army, and two 2 armies.

I muster up until I'm at my supply limit.

Now the territory providing the supply gets taken from me.

Am I right in understanding that I don't need to disband units until the next Supply card comes out in the Westeros phase?


texts: Where can I find scans of D&D:TFBG board game cards?

texts:
My friend has bought second hand Dungeons and Dragons The Fantasy Board Game and about half of the cards is missing. He'd like to print the missing cards himself to be able to play the game.

Are the scans of the cards available anywhere for download and print?


texts: In Tzolk'in, can you be at negative points?

texts: On the second turn of the game, I angered the Gods when I needed to beg for food. I wasn't up on any of the temple tracks, so moving backwards is supposed to give me negative points. At this point, I was still at zero victory points. Can my total VP drop below zero?


texts: What is this Old French Game board with 10x10 squares and dark and light circular pieces?

texts:
I have this old 10x10 wooden game board with dark (black) and light (brown) circular pieces for a long time and am trying to find out a little bit about it.

The entire board with storage is approximately 14 X 17 3/4 inches. There are 18 white and 20 black pieces about 1 1/4 in diameter. The slide covers are marked


texts: Can the Mermaids create towns with +1 shipping bonus?

texts: Is it possible for the mermaids to create a new town with their special ability when they have the bonus +1 shipping card?


texts: How do I promote a board game to the masses?

texts:
I created a board game for playing while watching American Football with your friends. We always had a great time playing it and anybody outside of our group who saw it immediately loved it. So I thought it's a no brainer, it's time to sell this.

The name of the game is Big Bucks Football. And I built my website and twitter and Facebook and YouTube, and I believe I have about 8 hits. I am active, I tweet on twitter, I share on Facebook, I have instructional videos on YouTube, but still no success.

My question is, has anyone here had any success, or have any ideas on how to promote the game? I have a limited budget but I'm willing to put the time in. I just started my Kickstarter campaign, but I'm already worried if that doesn't work I may start pulling my hair out cause I'm out of ideas.


texts: Which board game released in the 90's involved medieval combat?

texts:
In the game, you could have castles and fortresses. There were ballistae and catapults and little sets that could be purchased to build upon your original set. The game had a rulebook and turn-based gameplay. Some units rolled special dice to determine actions' outcome.

What was this game called?


texts: So some cards say “from your draw stack” but the game doesn’t specify each players draw stacks, how does this work? Do we both use all 4 piles or do we each have two of our own?


texts: Smallworld: Can I conquer regions occupied by my own In Decline token?

texts:
I want to conquer a region featuring a Cavern (since I have Underworld as my special Ability). But this region is already occupied by my Amazon token, which is currently In Decline.

Can I do this or is it an illegal move?


texts: How do Opalescence and Humility interact?

texts: How exactly do Opalescence and Humility interact with each other?


texts: Can Disallow prevent me from crewing a vehicle?

texts:
It is my turn and I have Veteran Motorist and an Aethersphere Harvester on the battlefield.

Entering the declare attackers phase I announce/tap my motorist to crew the harvester. In response my opponent plays Disallow to counter my crewing the harvester.

Does this prevent me from crewing the harvester?


texts: When does Vertigo's villain action happen?

texts:
I recently got Legendary: Dark City and it seems like there's a misprint on the Vertigo card from the Marauder villains.

Her card says: Each player discards their hand then draws as many cards as they discarded.

Unfortunately it lacks a designation of either Fight, Escape, or Ambush, so we had no idea when the effect was supposed to take place. Has any official word come out on which trigger her power works off of?


texts: How do you play Winter Tales (in a non-gamist manner)?

texts:
I recently bought Winter Tales and had my first two games with five friends last night. It was kinda fun, but we really felt like we were missing something or misinterpreting the rules somehow.

The problem was, that we found it exceedingly difficult not to play the game in a gamist manner. Most of us have played pen and paper RPGs and are not averse to storytelling, and we were all well aware that the main focus of Winter Tales is to tell a coherent story. However, the way the game is designed, pitting two factions against each other, obviously means that players will do what they can to ensure their side is victorious.

The main issue in this regard, to us, arose during quest battles. Player 1 would start a quest and the five other players would then try to affect it with story cards. The thing was, story cards all went into one big pile, and everyone could see how many cards each side had gathered. This meant that the last few players could always tell their story and weave in just enough story cards to win the quest.

The rule about the active player being allowed to throw in one (and only one) last story card to wrap up the story likewise seemed useless, since one story card would never be able to impact the results anyway.

Additionally, since a player can pass on activating a character during other players' turns, we always ended up with one ready character and one open quest. This meant that the player with the last ready character could wrap up the game by activating that character, starting the specific quest and ending it immediately, since no one else around the table would have a ready character (or a character in that quest location). This guaranteed an automatic memory favoring whoever ended up with the last ready character.

On a final note, the game is supposed to consist of several chapters; whenever a player activates his last ready character and finished his turn, the chapter ends and a new one begins. We played the game twice, with 3 and 4 memories, and during both games we finished the final memory during the first chapter.

All this leads me to conclude that one of the three following is the case here:

A) Winter Tales wants its players to focus on the story and not actively try to win the game. However, elements such as the opposing factions and the battle/trap mechanics lead me to believe that the game does in fact expect its players to attempt to win.

B) Winter Tales is a poorly designed game. Since the game is still relatively new I guess this could be possible, but the reviews lead me to believe that this can't possible be the case.

C) Our group misinterpreted the rules or otherwise missed something important. This is supported by the, quite honestly, poorly worded/translated rule book, and is what I hope and expect to be the case.

Thus, my questions are these:
is C the case here, and if so, what did we misunderstand?


texts:
I have a friend who loves this card.  I know that every time it's on the table, he will load up on them, and chain long turns that take ages.  It's even more powerful when Scout and/or Apothecary are available, too.

Obviously, I should be able to defeat this strategy by 1) beating him to it (which winds up being more of a luck thing), or 2) augmenting it with a particular card he may not have noticed on the table.  But to me, that makes all Alchemist games very monotonous.

I realize that sometimes an Alchemist deck is just the best strategy, but I also know that this shouldn't always be the case.  What are the weaknesses of this strategy?  Are there sorts of cards I should look for to play an alternate strategy that can still win out over an Alchemist-heavy deck?


texts: Can you place two Buddha statues on the same turn?

texts:
In Ghost Stories, players are Buddhist monks trying to stave off invading ghosts before yielding to their (nigh-inevitable) deaths. Each monk chooses one of two similar special abilities at the beginning of the game. The Blue Monk has the potential to make the same action twice in one turn - using a villager twice, or exorcizing ghosts twice.

The Buddhist Shrine, when you use it, lets you pick up a Buddha statue, which you can place on a future turn to instantly kill a ghost that arrives there. The rules seem to assume that you will only have one Buddha statue at a time, and only place one at a time, but the Blue Monk can easily pick up two statues in one turn.

Can a Blue Monk carrying two statues place both of them on the same turn, in different ghost locations, if they're standing at a corner of the village?


texts:
My opponent has a Think Twice in their graveyard and then pays its Flashback cost to cast it.

Could I respond to the Flashback by casting Memory Plunder and casting my opponent's Think Twice before he gets to flash it back?


texts: Inspiring Statuary = Improvise for Planeswalkers?

texts:
The card Inspiring Statuary states:

  Nonartifact spells you cast have improvise. (Your artifacts
  can help cast those spells. Each artifact you tap after you're done
  activating mana abilities pays for {1}.)

Are Planeswalkers considered Nonartifact spells, and therefore gain the keyword Improvise?


texts: Do Spirit races persist in decline indefinitely?

texts:
In the game Small World, do races with the Spirit special power persist in decline indefinitely, or do they get bumped off the board after the player has two additional races go into decline?
Here is the situation we faced in a 2-player game I just played. I started the game with Spirit White Ladies, grabbed and managed to hold five spaces through my opponent's turn, and pushed them into decline on my third turn. Because White Ladies cannot be conquered while in decline, these five spaces were unassailable and significantly shrunk the board. My second race--Hill Tritons--suffered heavy attrition and went into decline fairly early, but the Spirit special ability kept my White ladies on the board. When my third race--Flying Dwarves--went into decline near the end of the game, the question arose as to whether the White Ladies and the Tritons should be removed from the board, or just the Tritons.
I think under most circumstances this wouldn't be an issue because most races can be eliminated in decline and opposing players normally would try to quickly wipe out the Spirit race in decline. However, in this case the White Ladies' racial immunity to conquest in decline prevented them from being eliminated as I sent two more races into decline after them. So should my White Ladies have stayed on the board after the Dwarves went into decline and the Tritons bowed out?
(In this game, we ruled that the White Ladies stayed and I won thanks in large part to shrinking the board and easily controlling the three spaces the White Ladies had blocked off with Flying Dwarves... but was it the right call?)


texts: Where can I find a printer friendly version of the settlers of catan rulebook?

texts:
My copy of Settlers of Catan has been missing the rule book for a while. The Catan official site has the rule book available for download, but since it contains a lot of block backgrounds, it's not really printer friendly.

Is there anywhere I can download a printer friendly version of the base game full rules?


texts: Why is 20 the starting life total for Magic the Gathering? How would the game be different if this number was changed?

texts: To my knowledge, each player starts with 20 life in nearly every MTG game ever played. But why exactly was the number 20 chosen? How would the game be different if we started with more or less life? If my friends and I started playing with a higher or lower starting life total, how would that affect our deck construction decisions? Which colors, types of cards, or general strategies would become more or less powerful?


texts: Fate Reforged Booster Pack contains a Khans of Tarkir Fetch Land

texts: I'm kind of new to Magic.  Today I opened a Fate Reforge booster pack that instead of containing a basic landed contained a Windswept Heath.  That is a fetch land from Khans.  Is it normal for the Fate Reforge boosters to contain Khans cards?


texts: We just finished playing a 2 person game of Carcassonne with the Abbey and Mayor expansion. We ended up with both mayors in one city. One of us was able to bring in an additional meeple. Does that one meeple break a tie in a huge city with multiple pennants? I know we can’t put two mayors in one city, but if they’re joined together it gets tricky. How does this city end up scoring?


texts: Does the robot's 6-cost development counters count towards Galactic Federation?

texts:
During solo-play, if the robot successfully places Galactic Federation, do each of the 6-cost counters earned by the robot also earn the additional 2 VPs from Galactic Federation?

This is from the Gathering Storm expansion to Race For The Galaxy.


texts: Does setting a new type clear the rules text for non-lands?

texts:
In CR 305.7:

  If an effect sets a land’s subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type. It loses all abilities generated from its rules text, its old land types, and any copy effects affecting that land, and it gains the appropriate mana ability for each new basic land type. Note that this doesn’t remove any abilities that were granted to the land by other effects. Setting a land’s subtype doesn’t add or remove any card types (such as creature) or supertypes (such as basic, legendary, and snow) the land may have. If a land gains one or more land types in addition to its own, it keeps its land types and rules text, and it gains the new land types and mana abilities.

is the phrase "It loses all abilities generated from its rules text" unique for land changers like Blood Moon or Spreading Seas, or is it derived from another rule?

In other words: is there a rule about setting types, from which we could derive, that if a "All creatures are elves" card existed, then it would turn all creatures into vanilla elves?


texts: OZ fluxx Tin Woodman vs the Fighting Trees

texts: The "Tin Woodman" can chop down the "Fighting Trees", now the question is: is this ability played as an action (like playing one card) or a free action, my searches have been unable to find out, is this ability an action or a free action?


texts: Can a pawn move to the last line in chess as part of a promotion even if the square is blocked by an opponent's piece?

texts:
My reason for asking is I believe the promotion to be instant: As the pawn's toe crosses the line into the square, it transforms into the promotion piece's toe...
Meaning that even though the route was blocked for a pawn, the promotion to a queen (for example) would allow the move to proceed.


texts: What should be considered in constructing a balanced team of investigators?

texts:
I haven't played much Arkham Horror, but from what I've seen it's important to have a balanced team of investigators. What key attributes need to be represented by the team as a whole to have at least a fighting chance at survival?

For example, in my first game I played a "street sweeper" who basically hung out in the streets all game mowing down monsters and clearing paths for others; however, I didn't have any magical items so there were some monsters I really had no chance against without some help or a special item.

Also, to what extent are the particulars of a balanced team impacted by individual player's styles, any expansion packs in the mix, and which dark one you've drawn?


texts:
I play Catan rather competitively with a few friends, and since we're all seasoned players, the time taken for a turn is pretty quick, maybe around 20s per turn.

Sometimes because of the fast pace, some players may miss their die-roll turns, or a player taking consecutive turns, without the other players realising it. I want to know if there is a systematic way to log the die rolls taken by each player so that the occurrence of the above events are reduced. I am thinking of a mobile apps which preferably support die rolls of 1 to 12, and with a unique colour identifier for each player, but I can't seem to find such applications. Does anyone have a solution to my problem?


texts: How many Development cards can a player play on their turn?

texts: Is there a limit to the number of development cards one can play on their turn?


texts: Pixel Tactics - static stat modifiers and damage calculations

texts:
Recently I was playing a game of Pixel Tactics and I had a scenario where a card in my middle row was giving the card in front of it +2 life.  The card in front had damage counters from a previous wave equal to its original life, but, due to its supporter, was still alive.

If I moved the card in front to a different position (say, in front of my leader), would the lethal damage cause it to be defeated instantly because the damage occurred in a previous wave?


texts: Correlation between a destination ticket's point value and the leastnumber of train cars it would take to fulfill it

texts:
I've been making my own new destination ticket for Ticket to Ride America. I noticed that for most of the destination tickets that come with the game, the point value is equal to the least number of train cards you would need to fulfill it (basically the distance between them). But then I found 2 tickets in the game that don't follow this rule:

  Sault Ste. Marie - Oklahoma City 9 points

  Sault Ste. Marie - Nashville 8 points

If this rule were followed, those point values should be flipped.

Is this an 'error' in the destination tickets, or was it done purposefully? I've looked at the difficultly to fulfill them and haven't found any significant reason for this.
When creating my own destination tickets, how should I set the point value? Should it always be the shortest distance between them, or should I account other factors, like availability of routes needed to complete them? If so, what other factors should I look for and how should I react to them when deciding the point value?

I understand that this is a really specific and nit-picky question that no one who actually had a life would care about, but I'm still very curious as to your opinions. :D


texts: My grandma taught me this game as a child and I can’t find it to learn it again. You have four piles on the left of the table. You have to somehow uncover aces to start playing the cards of that suit. I can’t remember if there is a stock pile but I think there is. Anyone know any variations similar to this that I could look into? Once you uncover the aces I think you make horizontal rows of cards.


texts: Would a Cloudshift targeting Zada, Hedron Grinder also target tokens?

texts: Zada, Hedron Grinder copies instants and sorceries that target him only for all the rest of my creature that the intant or sorcery could target. If I cast Cloudshift, targeting Zada, would it create copies that target the token creatures I control?


texts:
I have Kukemssa Pirates and several copies of Ashnod's Transmogrant.  (Plus Cloak of Mists and similar cards.)
If I attack with my pirates and they aren't blocked, can I use my transmogrant before triggering the pirates' ability?
In other words:

Attack
Not blocked
Use transmogrant to beef up opponent's creature, and turn it into an artifact creature
Use pirates' ability to take control of the creature I just transformed.

(I believe this is a fairly basic rules question, but I never learned much about the order in which spells and abilities resolve or how fast are "fast effects" in various cases.)


texts: FreeCell: How many cards can be moved at once?

texts:
I'm working on a FreeCell implementation and I'm currently stuck determining how many cards the user is allowed to move from tableau to tableau at once. I've seen multiple formulas for this, but no explanation them. (empty_columns is decreased by 1 if we move to an empty column)

2 ^ empty_columns + free_cells
2 ^ empty_columns * (free_cells+1)
(empty_columns+1) * (free_cells+1)

What I'd like to know is if one of these is correct or (even better) anyone knows a small algorithm to move cards like the in Microsoft implementation

I'm asking this in this stack because this question is not about the implementation itself, but about the game mechanics.


texts: Blocker with First Strike and Blocker with Double Strike

texts: I'm playing Magic Duels: Origins and I blocked a 2/2 with a 1/1 double strike and a 1/1 first strike. My interpretation is that that equals 2 damage during the first strike phase and 1 damage during the combat phase from my creatures, and 2 damage during the combat phase from his. However, this resulted in all three creatures being destroyed. Is there an interaction between first strike and double strike I'm unaware of, or is the game coded wrong?


texts: Do I get the continent troops on every turn I have conquered the continent?

texts: If I have conquered the entire continent do I get those bonus continent troops on each turn I play or just one turn after I have conquered it?


texts: Are there any cards capable of modifying the mana symbols?

texts:
Are there any cards - old ones, or newest ones - capable of modifying the mana symbols?

For example Shivan Dragon has the ability "{R}: Shivan Dragon gets +1/+0 until end of turn". Can this ability be transformed, for example, into "{W}: Shivan Dragon gets +1/+0 until end of turn"?

It should be noted that, obviously, I am not referring to either "Sleight of Mind" card - which can only modify the text of a card containing a color, but not mana symbols - nor to "Magical Hack" card - which is able to modify the basic land types, but not mana symbols.

Crimson Hellkite has an ability that uses the phrase "red mana". In a case like this, would Sleight of Mind be enough to change the type of mana required in the Helkite's activated ability?


texts: Betrayal at House on the Hill: Do I have to pickup items that I draw?

texts: Do the rules specify that you must pick an item you draw? Since the amulet is a double edged sword I would rather not have to deal with it.


texts: What are legal ways to use the Dispatcher's special ability in Pandemic?

texts:
I don't quite understand what the person playing the Dispatcher role is allowed and disallowed to do.

If the Dispatcher wants to move i.e. the Medic's pawn, does he need the approval of the owner or can he do it against the Medic's will?
When making a flight with another pawn, does the Dispatcher use his cards or the player who's pawn is flying?
Can the Dispatcher move his pawn to the city with another pawn or does this only apply to moving other pawns?


texts: Can I have two similarly-named legendary creatures on the field?

texts:
If I have two different Ulamogs, can they both be on the field? They both share Ulamog as part of their name, but their entire names are different.

One is Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, while the other is Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. Does legend rule carry across instances like this, or would it only apply if I had two of either of them on the field?


texts: What happens to loyalty counters on a double faced Planeswalker?

texts:
When a double faced planeswalker, like Garruk Relentless transforms into Garruk, the Veil Cursed there is no new loyalty symbol at the bottom of the card.

Does his current loyalty carry over or is there some new mechanic to deal with DFC Planeswalkers?


texts: How much replayability can I expect from a core set LCG

texts:
I've been considering getting one of the various LCG that are available from FFG (GoT, Star Wars, Cthulhu) but was wondering what the replayability is like for just having the core set?

I do not want to have to keep buying the expansions every couple of months to keep the game fresh - at this stage, it will only be for two players. I am assuming any more than that will require each player to have their own core set.


texts: How to design the end of a race game such that over-rolls do not break the logic of the game?

texts:
I created a race game. Players start at one end and roll dice until they reach the end. Some players became confused when they reached the end. For example, if a player was three spaces from the end, but rolled a "5", they were uncertain if that meant a "win" or if the player should move 3 spaces ahead, then 2 spaces back.

 _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
|     |     |     |  *  |     |     |     |     |     |
| End |     |     | *** |     |     |     |     |Start|
|_____|_____|_____|__*__|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|

Either way does not seem ideal. Is there any way to design the end of the track such that over-rolls do not lead to any confusion?


texts:
Is an Enchantment Creature also an Enchanted Creature? For example, Spiteful Returned states

  Whenever Spiteful Returned or enchanted creature attacks, defending player loses 2 life.

If I have Spiteful Returned and Nyxborn Eidolon on the battlefield - both cast as creatures, not bestowed - and attack with both, does the defender lose 2 life or 4 life? Nyxborn Eidolon is an Enchantment Creature, but it has no enchantments on it. Is it technically an enchanted creature?


texts: How would Progenitus affect the game as a commander?

texts: I recently purchased Progenitus with the intent to use it as a commander. However, it has been long enough since I’ve played the commander format that I do not remember how commanders and their abilities affect gameplay.


texts:
I'm designing a board game about gem collecting. To collect gems players must invest on different gems in their turns (i.e. resource collecting is done using investment). Investment part in my design is as simple as follows:
There are 6 mines that can produce different gems, numbered 1 through 6. Each player chooses 3 gem mines then toss a d6 die. If the die number is equal to one of the chosen gem mines, then the player collects a gem.

This mechanic doesn't work too well for me, so I am looking for suggestions to improve it.
If you have a suggestion and you know that another game exists that uses a similar mechanic, please include that in your answer.


texts: For Star Realms, what's the appropriate ratio of Wealth-per-Card-per-Faction?

texts:
I have lots of cards for Star Realms (2 decks of the standard game, 1 expansion deck), and I'm trimming everything down to fix balance issues and the overall deck size.

However, the tricky part is adjusting for the viability of certain Factions between the early-late game phases, the viability of Explorers throughout the game (2 cost, 2 Trade, Scrap: 2 Combat), and the prioritization of early-game resources (Trade) vs. late-game resources (Draw, Combat).

For example:

Red (Machine Cult) and Green (Blob) are very effective in the late game stages due to their high Combat values and deck efficiency/combo potential.
Yellow (Empire) is good for mid-game, due to the fact that their easy draws can accelerate your early game (when draws would normally be impossible) and their discard effect synergizes with itself to gain effectiveness in late-game.
Blue (Trade Federation) is good for early-game, since it deals mostly in accelerating your deck by producing a massive amount of Trade and purchase high-impact cards earlier than your opponents.

What is the ideal curve that should be used?

E.G. Should Blob have a limited amount of early-game Trade to force players into splitting off into other solutions that have less late-game potential?

By 'ideal', I'm referring to any mention of this topic from the developers, common trends of the various sets, or reasoning from experienced players.


texts: Can Selective Adaptation be used to get equipment or enchantments?

texts:
Selective Adaptation, a green sorcery, says:

Reveal the top seven cards of your library. Choose from among them a card with flying, a card with first strike, and so on for double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance. Put one of the chosen cards onto the battlefield, the other chosen cards into your hand, and the rest into your graveyard.

Will this work for equipment and auras? For example, Basilisk Collar says

Equipped creature has deathtouch and lifelink.

If I understand keywords correctly, Basilisk Collar gives Lifelink to equipped creature, but it doesn't have lifelink.
So - can I put Basilisk Collar on the battlefield with Selective Adaptation?


texts: In Monopoly Deal, can you pay with houses or hotels?

texts: Can you pay with houses or hotels or do they remain with you forever?


texts:
The text for Ulvenwald Tracker says:

  {1}{G}, {T} : Target creature you control fights another target creature. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)

Does this have anything to do with combat? Or is it just direct damage between two creatures? For example, can one of the creatures have defender? Or what if one of them is tapped?

I've been assuming it is more like the damage dealt by a Prodigal Pyromancer.

Also: are the two creatures then “tapped” until their next untap step? ie: could you use Ulenvald Tracker to make two creatures fight in your pre-combat step, then enter the combat phase with a creature who just “fought” untapped? Could you make two creatures fight who are both tapped?


texts: When you call a bluff and are wrong, how is the card that dies chosen?

texts:
In Coup, if you don't believe someone has a card, you can call them out and they must reveal a card. If that card isn't the one they've said it is, it dies.

However, if it is, one of yours dies.

How is that card chosen?


texts: How much damage do I take when I Trample a Stuffy Doll that has Pariah attached?

texts:
Last game I played I faced the following combo:

Stuffy Doll played by an opponent, opponent chose me
Pariah attached to Stuffy Doll

This resulted in an invincible opponent, as long as Pariah is attached to that player.

How exactly will rules be applied when e.g. a 8/8 creature with trampling attacks and is blocked by the Stuffy Doll (enchanted as stated above) that has 0/1 this turn? Do I (as the attacking player) get

1 damage
2 damage
8 damage
some other value?

… when my opponent blocks the 8/8 creature with trampling with his Stuffy Doll?
All mentioned values of damage have been discussed during play.


texts: Magic card has clear deformity, options?

texts:
I recently pulled a Padeem, Consul of Innovation from a Kaladesh booster box, and placed it into a deck I was working on. When playtesting the deck with some friends, I noticed a card with a clear visual marker on the card on the top of my deck. When I pulled it my next turn, it was my Padeem I had recently obtained.

Its a very, very clear marker, a white oval on the backside of the card. If it was on the front, I would just live with it, but I don't want to bring these cards to a LGS event and get accused of marking my cards, or having one of my friends always know whats in my hand. The frontside of the card is completely clean.

Do I have any options here? Can I get a refund or sell this type of card to someone who collects misprints? Am I just going to have to fill in the circle, and hope its not noticeable?


texts: Magic: The Gathering - Why is it possible to activate some cards abilities from graveyard and some others not?

texts:
There are some cards, that have activated abilities, that a player can activate when the card is in the graveyard. For example, the ability of Stitchwing Skaab to return it from the graveyard to the battlefield.

However, most of the other card abilities, a player can't activate from the graveyard. For example, Drogskol Cavalry's ability to put a spirit token to the battlefield can not be activated when it's in the graveyard.

So my question is, which rule of the game allowing a player to activate some abilities from the graveyard?


texts:
On some cards I've read "Place to one side" and I couldn't understand does that mean that it is removed? If said for a building does it mean that it is destroyed or has a different meaning? I couldn't find that in the rules.

The card that baffled me was Bloody Stupid Johnson: "Roll the die. If the City Area card of the same value is in play then that card is placed to one side. The owner of the card must also remove one of his minions from the same area as the card."

How is this played out?


texts: Can I target an indestructible creature with a 'destroy target creature' spell?

texts:
Of course the spell won't resolve, but is the indestructible creature a legal target for a spell with the effect "destroy target creature"?

For example, can I target Gideon, Champion of Justice, animated by its second ability, with Rapid Hybridization?


texts:
When playing with progressive Draw 2 and Draw 4 and (say that there are 2 players playing) and

Player 1 goes out with a Draw 2
Player 2 puts down a Draw 2

Does player 1 have to pick up 4 cards?


texts: Do I lose the "High" or "Dark" modifer if I gain a race?

texts: The Reloaded expansion for standard Munchkin adds High and Dark modifiers to your class. If I get the High card without already having a race, I become a High Human. If I then get a Race card such as Elf, do I become a Dark Elf? Or do I lose the High card because I changed races?


texts: Basic strategies for each country in Diplomacy

texts:
I found out one of my friends has Diplomacy and wants to play. He's never played before, and neither have I, nor anyone else in the group. I'm confident I can explain the rules, but I don't really know a lot about the strategy as I've never actually played. I'll be able to convey the general strategies, like backstabbing at key times and making sure to make their key borders as well protected as possible.

However, I don't really know what to do about the strategies for specific country, and I think we'd all enjoy it more if I didn't end up advising them what to do due to time constraints and its opposition to the spirit of the game. Ideally, I want everyone to be as independent as possible, meaning not relying on other players for their strategies and moves because I think that's more how it was meant to be played.

Does anyone know of some brief, meaning a few paragraphs long, descriptions of strategy for playing each country? Something like this:

  Germany: Since you are in the center of the board, you will be in the middle of many other countries' way. Try to make alliances with 1 or 2 of them so you won't be fighting on all sides. [country] is most likely to attack you in [place] because it's critical to their expansion and future development, so watch for this early in the game. If you make friends with Italy, the two of you can proceed to conquer this area of the board and quickly grow in strength...

  Your ideal alliances would be with A and B, but if A refuses then you can do this to minimize your vulnerability...

As I said, I know nothing about diplomacy yet, so I don't know exactly how the game develops. But if I could give each player a piece of paper with some advice on it for certain situations, I think it could help a lot, especially in the beginning with answering the question 'what they heck do I do?!?!'.

Does anyone know of some good brief summaries that I can give each player to help them get off to as good a start as possible? Naturally these would be kept secret from other players and I wouldn't read any before-hand except for the one for the country I'm playing.


texts: In Settlers of Catan, is it possible to avoid "losing a won game?"

texts:
Here's the kind of sequence I'm talking about. You finished your last turn with eight victory points (VP)s. Between then and your current turn, one opponent interrupted another opponent's longest road, and you now have longest road and ten VPs at the beginning of your turn. If you have the required VPs at the end of your turn, you win.

Is it true (in some variants), that you might possibly draw a card that increases your VP requirement from 10 to 11 so that you don't win at the end of the turn?

If the above is true, is there an antidote for this? Is it possible for you to follow a course of action that doesn't prevent you from having the requisite victory points at the end of your turn? Or does every course of action (in a particular variant) have a chance (however slight) of derailing your victory?


texts: What happens to spells on the stack when a player leaves the game?

texts:
Let's say, in a multiplayer late-game (3+ players) I want to cast/activate anything during another players turn. Everyone is rather low on life, and in response to my spells/abilities on the stack another player reduces the life of the player whose turn it currently is to 0 or below, because of which he loses the game.

It is obvious, that anything that player controls/owns is taken from the stack and the battlefield and his turn ends immediately. But what happens to my stuff on the stack? Does it fizzle or still resolve?


texts: Does the "Disease Zones Expand" emergency event only apply to cities with cubes of more than one color?

texts:
The Disease Zones Expand emergency event card states to

  Add 1 cube of every non-matching color to each city with different colored cube(s).

Does this mean to add cubes to cities which have cubes of non-native colors (e.g. LA has a blue cube but no yellow cube, so it gets a second blue cube, and Mexico City has a blue and a yellow, so it only gets a second blue), or add cubes to cities which have cubes of 2 or more colors (e.g. LA has a blue cube but no yellow, so it gets no new cubes, whereas Mexico City has both a blue and a yellow, so it gets one extra of each)? Or is it something in between?


texts:
I am trying to find a solution to game 9371310 and the online solver at
https://fc-solve.shlomifish.org/
instructions try to use 6 free cells when only 4 exist. Here is where the instructions go terribly wrong.
Is there a more reliable solver out there?


texts: King of Tokyo (2016 version): Battery Monster and Friend of Children

texts:
In the 2nd edition of King of Tokyo (2016 version), the Battery Monster Power Card states:

  (Keep) When you buy Battery Monster, put 6 [energy symbol] on it from the bank. At the start of each turn take 2 [energy symbol] off and add them to your pool. When there are no [energy symbol] left discard this card.

The Friend of Children Power Card states:

  (Keep) When you gain any [energy symbol] gain 1 extra [energy symbol].

If you have Friend of Children and buy Battery Monster, does this then mean that you get 3 energy cubes each turn for the next three turns? I am unsure about this because Battery Monster does not explicitly say "gain energy". On the other hand, other Power cards like

  We're only making it stronger (Keep): When you lose 2 [heart symbol] or more gain 1 [energy symbol].

and

  Metamorph (Keep): At the end of your turn you can discard any KEEP cards you have to gain their full cost in [energy symbol].

do explicitly say "gain" so I would expect that these two cards synergize with Friend of Children?


texts: I was playing Forge last night and the computer brought out Wall of Denial.  What an annoying wall!  Is there any way to destroy it other than attacking with a big creature and having the wall block the creature.  It says it can't be the target of spells or abilities.  Any other ways to destroy it?


texts: What are the differences between the various version of Nosferatu?

texts:
I am struggling to find the difference between the various version of Nosferatu.
New version

Old Version

There is this one also but I know nothing about it

(source: lapouleapois.fr)
What are the difference between the old and the new version of Nosferatu? Is it just the box?


texts: What are the different merits of the Khet opening set-ups - Classic, Imhotep & Dynasty?


texts: In Spades, what is the probability a suit is distributed in a way, given I hold n cards from that suit?

texts:
In Spades, (or any other trick taking game), when I hold n cards of a certain suit, what is the distribution of the other 13-n cards in that suit?

In particular, what is the probability that ♦'s are distributed either 4-4-4-1 or 5-4-4-0, given I hold 4 ♦ cards? (my partner and one of the opponents both hold at least four ♦'s, and one opponent is holding either 0 or 1 ♦'s)?

The situation that led to this question:  I bid nil with 4 ♦'s cards, after 3 ♦'s tricks were played, the opponent led a fourth ♦, I had to play my A♦ hoping that by the fourth trick my partner will be able to cut, however my partner had also 4♦'s, thus the nil was set :( .


texts: Good travel games for two players, especially for playing on trains?

texts:
I would be interested to hear if anyone had recommendations for 2-player games that are particularly suitable for playing while travelling on trains.  (I ask this as someone who mostly enjoys games like Carcassonne, Power Grid, Agricola, Pandemic, etc. around the table at home.)  To be specific, the things that I think are important properties for these games are:

Needing minimal table space.  Most trains have a small table you could use, but not much more.
Being quiet to play, so that other passengers won't be disturbed.  For example, I imagine that games that involve repeatedly rolling dice wouldn't be appreciated.
Packing down small, so that they don't take up much luggage space.
Not requiring batteries or a power socket.  (I appreciate that an iPhone or a Nintendo DS for each player might be a good solution more generally, but it's not what I'm after in this case.)
Not being so delicate to arrange that motion from the train will unduly disrupt the play.

I think it would be best to recommend one game (or class of games) per answer, if that's appropriate, and explain why you think it's particularly suitable.  (Incidentally, I've read the guidance on good questions about game recommendations and hope this question meets the criteria.)

Update: Thanks for so many excellent suggestions - we certainly won't be short of games for our next long train journey :)

Update 2: Unfortunately, I can't really playtest this many great games in any reasonable time period, so I'm going to accept the top-voted answer (Cribbage) and try out the others as soon as I can.  Thanks again...


texts: Does a shadow effect that doesn't do anything return Mountain Warg to staging area?

texts:
When a shadow card is dealt that has the shadow keyword but the effect doesn't do anything, does Mountain Warg go back to the staging area?

For example, "If this attack is undefended..." and the attack is defended.


texts: Order of resolution on same player controlled cards

texts: I have a Cathars' Crusade in play. I then play Zealous Conscripts. If my opponent's permanent I gain control of is a creature, does this creature also receive the counter from Cathar's Crusade?


texts:
I have just learned about Hidden Move Go and I have a problem.

Let us assume that one of our opponent’s hidden stones has only one liberty, i.e. it is in atari. But they don’t know that, because one of our three surrounding stones is hidden. So they play somewhere else and we play a stone filling the last liberty of their hidden stone. In this position we have no idea that we have captured a stone and our opponent has no idea that their stone is captured. Because of this, the table is wrong and it mustn’t be. How can we avoid that situation without the help of a third person? Any ideas or experiences?


texts: Which enemies count in Time Stories - A Prophecy of Dragons?

texts:
In A Prophecy of Dragons, there is a point

   when the scenario is won, when defeated enemies count for victory points

where it mentions enemies counting and mentions a location name that seems vague - does it just mean in the one previous location, or something larger than that?

(It seems like it could be hard to remember beyond the immediately previous encounter, but I wonder if an official answer is out there?)


texts: Can you enchant yourself with an aura that enchants a permanent?

texts:
I'm relatively new to MTG so maybe I'm way off, but I can't find any conclusive answers nor official rulings on the following:

If one can enchant a permanent,
and a planeswalker is considered a permanent,
and the player is considered a planeswalker...

Can you enchant yourself? It sounds ridiculously overpowered (you could do such insane things as turn yourself into an indestructible artifact) but I can't find any real reason you wouldn't be able to


texts: Are special body slots reserved for equipment with the exact same name?

texts:
In Zombicide - Black Plague, survivors have a body slot, which can also be used to equip other equipment which should normally be equipped in hands. For example, Samson can equip a shield in his body slot.

And here is the shield card mentioned on Samson's survivor card:

Now: is this body slot strictly reserved for this exact shield or could any shield be equipped in it, like the Shield of Ages? I am looking for "rules-as-written" answers, because I already house rule this as any shield can be equipped.


texts:
So my friend had an Uno dilemma over the weekend...

They ran out of discards and draw pile somehow.  Then what?

I'm guessing this is impossible "mathematically" or they were missing cards, but is there a solution?


texts: How long before I can move on to a different phase?

texts:
I was on one health and had two creatures in play. One of those was useless due to a card my opponent played to stop it doing anything. The other had an inspired ability that might have helped me catch back up. He had a buffed up creature and on 19 health (it was a 1v1v1 just us 2 left). Now I decided to play a card I had already said I was playing, but hadn't decided whether to bestow or not. I decided after a minute or so to play as creature so I had one to block. I then said shortly after probably 3-5 seconds "I will attack with my inspired creature".

Now as I understand it, when I move on to attacking phase he can't then play an instant to counter me casting my creature spell as that phase has passed (correct me if I am wrong). He then decided to do this but did admit that the phase had passed so technically he couldn't counter it but that I hadn't waited long enough for him to decide whether to counter my creature spell. So my creature spell was cancelled and I then attacked. He did allow me to take my attack back though.

How long do I have to wait before I can move phases, at which point the creature counterspell would have been impossible to play?


texts: Odds question from mindblowing Pinochle hand

texts: What are the odds of a player getting dealt a double run, and another player also getting a run in the same suit?  We almost fell out of our chairs when we saw this unbelievable result.


texts: How do you use this card strategically?  Since you don't know where any other cards are in your deck, how do you choose where to put this one?  Are there other cards this combines well with?


texts: How many times can you cast a card exiled by Release to the Wind?

texts:
Release to the Wind has the following Text.

  Exile target nonland permanent. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may cast it without paying its mana cost.

Is there a limit to the number of times you can cast it?


texts: What’s the name of this three row solitaire?

texts:
Start building three rows/piles, one card at a time in each. When three adjacent cards in the same row together add to 10, 20 or 30, remove them and put them in the bottom of the draw pile (in your hand). If you empty a row entirely, don’t put any more cards in it. The goal is to empty all three rows, thus having all 52 cards in your hand.

IRL this game sometimes uses an entire table, so it’s better to play electronically. I had it in my computer some 20 years aco, but don’t remember the name and haven’t been able find it again. Anyone here who recognises it and can help me?


texts: Does Gleam of Authority care if a creature gains extra counters?

texts:
The rules text on Gleam of Authority is as follows:

  Enchant creature

  Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on other creatures you control.

  Enchanted creature has vigilance and "{W}, {T}: Bolster 1."

If a creature were to gain more counters, would that enchantment also raise in power as well or just stay as it originally was?


texts: Simplest bidding system for introduction into bridge

texts:
What is the best bidding system which can be used for teaching beginners (who never played bridge before)?

I suspect that showing any complicated system, or asking to learn some long manual would burn all "initial interest". I think it is better to start with real game, and after playing some time (if interest would not be extinguished), having real game experience, beginners would feel natural need by themselfs to improve bidding system.

I can develop some very simple system, but I am curious if there is any standard simple system for learning?

EDIT: After several answers I have to put additional emphasize on what I am trying to achieve. This question is not about mastering Bridge skill from very novice to beginner, but it is about introduction for players who never played bridge (though played some simpler trick-taking games).

I cannot imagine how I supposed to teach beginners rules, game mechanics + material of "first 10 chapters in Commonsense Bidding" or Stayman and Blackwood within 20 minutes just to have first time game. That would take hours without any gaming, and it would become boring and would kill any "initial interest".

Just imagine: "- Guys, let's play Bridge, it is fun and interesting game. But before playing you have to sit down and listen two hours lecture."

What I need is very simple (extremly simple) bidding system, where everything is natural, without any artifical bids. Again, I can develop some very simple system, but I am curious if there is any such standard simple system for learning game play first time?


texts: Can Dismember kill my Gloryscale Viashino after I cast Armadillo Cloak?

texts:
I have a Gloryscale Viashino creature on the board. I cast the spell Armadillo Cloak to enchant this creature. My opponent responds playing Dismember.

His intention is to kill my creature before it gets the bonus from the enchantment and before it gets +3/+3 (Armadillo cloak is a multicolored spell). Here is the rules text from Gloryscale Viashino:

Whenever you cast a multicolored spell, Gloryscale Viashino gets +3/+3 until end of turn.

I think that he cannot kill my creature, because he already got the +3/+3 from its ability when I cast the spell, not when it resolves. This means that my Gloryscale Viashino should be 6/6 before Dismember resolves. What is the correct ruling here?


texts: Does Scrabble allow playing words which contain diacritics in their original spelling?

texts:
I know the fact that the words which are always capitalized aren't permitted in Scrabble. But there are some French loanwords incorporated into English, which aren't capitalized and aren't proper names in any way but contain a letter with a diacritical mark. Perhaps most well-known examples are café, né (and née), fiancé (and fiancée), and naïve.

But standard English Scrabble set does not have É or Ï or any other letter with a diacritic.

I wonder if the words evidentiated in bold are OK to play in English Scrabble. (E. g. if I can play CAFE instead of CAFÉ.) I'd be very glad if I could watch an actual game with such a word. Thanks.