texts: What does it take to play a Battle of Wits deck successfully at a tournament?

texts:
Magic tournament rules specify that players must be able to randomize their decks in an appropriate amount of time (three minutes for pre-game procedures).

As Matt Sperling points out, this may be difficult with a 250-card deck. I can't even shuffle a sleeved 100-card Commander deck without splitting it in half!

Yet Battle of Wits decks, in all their piled-high glory, have clearly seen real tournament play over the years:

What shuffling techniques and procedural tricks do players use to make sure their oversized decks don't violate tournament rules for proper randomization, timely shuffling, and avoiding slow play?

Since Battle of Wits has been around for years, is there any consensus about how to handle this kind of big deck among judges?


texts: How little strength should I have in bid suits for a negative double?

texts:
In bridge, a "negative double" after my partner's opening bid, and my right hand opponent's overcall means, "Partner, I don't like your suit, and I don't fancy defending the opponent's overcall. I prefer one (probably both) of the other suits.

How weak should I be in partner's bid suit to make a negative double (as opposed to a raise)? Even if I like the two unbid suits, should I raise instead of doubling with three little ones opposite my partner's opening five card major? What about my partner's opening minor, and the opponent's one of a major overcall?

Should I refrain from a negative double if I have fair defense (say, Kxx or better) in my opponent's suit? Or should I make a negative double with (s) Kxx
(h) xxxx (d)Kxx (c) Qxx if partner bid one club and the opponent one spade?


texts: Do rounds progress independently from scenes?

texts: A crossfire card is drawn at the start of each round. When a scene is ended in the Crossfire mission, do rounds reset so the next player to go draws the crossfire, or are rounds independent from the boundaries of where scene endings fall?


texts:
I just bought the "Dominion Empires" expansion (German edition) and have a question about how events work.

Is my understanding correct, that the randomly selected events lie on the table openly, available to every player in each turn to be bought (and thus triggered) and since they are not taken, remain available for the next player?

Also, since they are not consumed or taken when bought/triggered, if I have played a card with "+1 buy", would I be able to buy/trigger the same event twice (using both of my buys), provided I have sufficient funds?


texts: If Thanos has an attack of 0, do I still need a hero with the attack symbol to fight him?

texts:
This seems unusual, but I encountered this last night. I was playing solo with Thanos as the mastermind and Steal the Weaponized Plutonium as the scheme. This scheme adds a villain group to the villain deck, bringing the deck total to 29: 16 villains, 8 scheme twists, 3 henchmen, 1 master strike, and 1 bystander.

When playing solo, the rules note that Thanos gets -2 attack for every villain in your victory pile. The way I was drawing cards off the villain deck caused me to be able to build up my victory pile very quickly, and I was at 12 villains in my victory pile about halfway through the game. This brought Thanos' attack to 0.

In order to fight Thanos in this situation, do I still need to play a hero with any attack value? The alternative seems to be me taking free shots at him for the rest of the game regardless of what I play on my turn, which seems sort of odd. Is there something else that I'm missing about this situation that would lead to a clearer ruling?


texts: Who gets to use a reanimated Gamekeeper's ability?

texts:
I was playing a clunky Gamekeeper build of mine against a Legacy Reanimator deck when the following situation occurred:

I had a Leyline of the Void in play (don't know if it's relevant). I had a Gamekeeper in my own graveyard which my opponent reanimated with Animate Dead. I destroyed the Gamekeeper with a Slaughter Pact.

Who gets to use Gamekeeper's ability?


texts: Does preventing damage also prevent poison?

texts:
These two cards were played against my poison deck.

His reckoning is that I cannot put -1/-1 counters on the creature as it prevents all combat damage and infect uses damage.

He also says that as the white card prevents damage this would stop him from getting poison counters.

Is he right ? can anyone cite me some official rules to clarify this ?


texts: Is an emphasis on card reading/counting well placed for a learner?

texts:
I am a "developing" bridge player who has come to the conclusion that card reading/counting ability is the most important skill to learn; more than say, new bidding conventions.

There may be a precedent in chess, whereby a number of world champions were the best endgame players of their time, without being the best at the opening. (The endgame also "informs" middle game play.) The analogy would be that bidding is the opening, and cardreading is the endgame. After all, if you can "see" all the cards, you'll know how to play.

Were there any world class/world champion bridge players who were reputed to be the best card readers/counters of their time, even while having other skills (e.g. bidding) that were not top notch? A lot of the "glory" of world championships goes to new bidding styles, but could card reading be a "stealth" road to high level play?


texts: Best way to solve vassal module version conflicts issues

texts:
Vassal is a great way to try out a game, but it seems that vassal versions and module versions frequently create trouble actually trying something out, i.e. you want to try something that requires the latest version, so you remove your older version and install the latest version. Then it will no longer open a module written for a lower version.

As vassal is Java (I think) it probably doesn't use the windows registry, but it could have some favorite directories it stores things in. If different versions use the same installed program GUID under windows, that could cause some serious pain. There are lots of ways things could go wrong with multiple installations, some of which might not be obvious right after installation.

So what is the most painless way to keep multiple versions of vassal around in windows so that they won't step on each other's toes? I don't really want to run one VM per vassal installation.

Any other way of solving problem that different modules need different vassal installations on windows is just as good, as that is the root problem.


texts: How Can I Identify How To Beat My Computer At Chess?

texts:
This is an embarrassing question to have to ask, but here goes.  Recently I've gotten a new Mac laptop which has a chess program on it.  I'm not a chess expert by any means: I can beat casual players most of the time, but I suspect I wouldn't stand a chance against anyone who was actually good at the game.  But it's becoming humiliating being utterly crushed by my computer every time!  I'm meant to be the boss of this relationship, but in our battle of wits I am utterly outclassed.

Obviously powerful modern computers have certain advantages over human beings when it comes to a game of pure analysis like chess; but I feel as though there must be some way I can up my game.  Are there any strategies I could adopt that would give me a chance of escaping defeat, or at least securing a draw?  Even if I can't win against my computer, I suspect that even attempting to get better at doing so will make me better aware of the weaknesses of my approach and thus a much less awful chess player.  Any ideas?

Different computers play chess at different levels. How can I find out how well my computer plays, and then beat that level?


texts: What are the major changes between Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization and the first game?

texts: Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is described as a new edition of Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization. What are the major changes between the two versions?


texts:
In The Hobbit: Enchanted Gold, you use jewels to defeat enemies. Step 2 of the "Make Encounters" says that you have to return the regular jewels you used to the bag:

  When you defeat one of the adversaries, return the required jewels for the encounter to the bag and place the defeated Encounter card face up in front of you if it shows one or more bonus jewels.

What do you if you used a bonus jewel to defeat the enemy? Since it's a card, you can't put it in the bag. Do you flip it face down? Do you keep it for subsequent rounds?


texts: Warkite Marauder and the timing for its effect

texts:
Whenever Warkite Marauder attacks, target creature defending player controls loses all abilities and becomes a 0/1 creature until end of turn.

What is the timing for this ability? Is it during assign attackers, where the defending player would be unable to activate an ability? Or would they be able to activate an ability and put it on the stack before their creature loses its abilities? I assume that Warkite Marauder is putting a triggered ability on the stack, or is this incorrect?


texts: How can I find a FNM-competitive affordable deck?

texts:
I've played Hearthstone for about 2.5 years and I'm looking to get into Magic. Since my favourite decks in HS are control, I'd like to try to get into Magic with a control deck. I'm aware a large part of playing a control deck is knowing what to play around, and how you use/save your removal. I went to a con recently where I played a couple of games with the starter decks, and the Blue deck was a lot of fun, despite just eyeballing what seemed good and when to use it.

I've played through the tutorials in Magic: Duels and I'm planning on heading down to my local store on Friday to see what FNM is like. I'm aware of MTG Goldfish's budget decks section, but I can't see any control decks in there.

Are there any good resources for finding decks (in my case, specifically control decks) that aren't going to break the bank, but will get me into MTG with a somewhat competitive deck for FNM? I've found things like TappedOut which lists a ton of decks, but has little explanation of what each one is or how it plays out.


texts:
In many games, it can be extremely helpful to know what cards have already been played and/or the number left in any given suit.

What are good ways to learn to count the cards played (especially in a game such as pinochle where you cannot inspect your taken-trick pile to see at least what you've claimed out of the hand)?


texts: Race for the Galaxy vs. San Juan and Puerto Rico

texts:
I've seen these games compared very often, with steadfast advocates on each side (that thread has a lot of interesting stuff as well). I'm mainly concerned with:

depth of strategy
suitability for new players (length of time to explain, etc.)
overall feel of the game
what situations you'd recommend playing each of them in.
anything else you think should be included in regards to comparing and contrasting them

Puerto Rico vs. San Juan is discussed here. I'm more concerned about how RFTG compares to both of them. If it matters, Puerto Rico is the only one I already have.


texts: How can I mana ramp in a Commander game without helping my opponents?

texts:
I'm working on a Commander deck and I'm looking at ways to ramp my mana that won't aid my opponents.  I may eventually use all the listed ramp cards, but, I'd like to keep the restriction for the early game at least (when the draw gods smile on me).  This deck will be a mono-red deck and one of the other players also plays mono-red (but not particularly effectively).

I want to avoid, where possible, handing the other mono-red player an advantage by playing cards like Gauntlet of Might or helping all the other players with something like Mana Flare.

An example of something I think will work is Extraplanar Lens with Snow Covered Mountains (SCM).  It would work since I can be the sole player using SCMs and it works by naming the land card to benefit.  I can also use Caged Sun since it's text specifically adds to my mana pool (presuming that tapping a SCM for red mana is "activating it's ability") and benefits creatures I control.

Gauntlet of Power is another obvious contender, since SCMs count as basic lands (they are, in fact of type "Basic Snow Land — Mountain" per Gatherer errata), but suffers the same problem as Gauntlet of Might with respect to aiding my red playing opponents.

If I pursue the Snow Covered strategy (they are very uncommon in this area) what other ramps can aid me without unduly aiding my opponents?

Are there other cards that might come to my aid if I dropped the snow-covered idea?


texts: I remember playing a game when I was younger you had 4 plastic pegs and 9 blocks. only 3 blocks could fit onto a peg at a time. The blocks had different colours and numbers. You pulled a card out of a pile and had to arrange the blocks into the same order as was on the card. You could only move a 1 block 1 peg forward or back at a time. You could play by yourself or against another player.


texts:
I played a card and dice game called “Help Your Neighbor” several years ago. When the player rolled the dice, he/she could discard the number that matched the sum of the dice.
Is a complete set of rules available? I saw rules posted here but can no longer find them.


texts: In what order do single spells or abilities that target multiple targets trigger?

texts: When a spell (for example, Dauntless Onslaught) that targets more than a single target, if both of them have a reaction (Heroic, for example) to being targeted which happens first? The specific case I'm wondering about is if I have a Vanguard of Brimaz and a Phalanx Leader, the order in which they are triggered matters because the newly created creature token may or may not have the +1/+1 counter that Phalanx Leader could give it, though this is something that could happen with any spell or ability that has multiple targets, where there are multiple thigns that could be triggered in some way by the effect of the spell.


texts: Can damage be removed from creatures after it's already been dealt?

texts: When a creature takes damage from any source, that damage is tracked. If there is enough damage to overcome their toughness, they die. Are there ways to remove damage from creatures after they've been dealt damage?


texts: Promised future trades as part of legal trades? (Solution described, alternatives/comments requested)

texts:
When making a trade in Settlers of Catan, there is no official rule encouraging or prohibiting making a promise (to make a certain type of trade or perform some kind of action in the future) during a current trade. Assuming the group you play with decides to allow such promises, what mechanisms can be used to ensure "future trades" occurs smoothly?

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

Note: A similar question was asked that could be considered a duplicate:

What are common contracts in Catan?

See my comment below which advocates keeping this new question open and possibly closing the old question.


texts: If my opponent has Sensei's Divining Top in play on my turn, can he activate it in response to my attack phase in order to play Terminus for its miracle cost?


texts: If maximum stamina gets reduced during an environment card, when the card is discarded, do I return to max?

texts: If an environment card makes my max stamina go down 1, I would lose a stamina token.  However, if a new environment card shows and I haven't taken any stamina damage, do I get to move it back up to my maximum?


texts: Border Token Placement in Battle for Rokugan

texts:
The rulebook says that when placing tokens you can only place one token on a border with an ajacent province. Is this limit of one token per player or one token total?

For example, I place a token on a border attacking an opponents province, can they also place a token on the same border attacking my province? Or does the fact I've already placed a token prevent this?


texts: Card (must be enchantment or artifact) that allows multiple of the same legend in play at once?

texts: I think its an older card. I've been googling for about a half and hour and cant find it.


texts: What item should I use to keep track of my creature’s Power and Toughness?

texts: I’m a new player to MTG and I was wondering what item I should use to keep track of the Power and Toughness in my creatures. Like if I would enchant one of my creatures with a +1/+1 I would need to be able to show it right? I thought I could use dice but I saw many people online discourage it because it can get knocked down easily and other problems. I don’t know if I should use dice or use something more convenient and better.


texts: Can I copy a spell that's in my graveyard?

texts: If I cast an instant and then activate League Guildmages ability, can I use the ability again next turn if that card I cast is in the graveyard?


texts: Does Chimeric Mass stay a creature in the grave for the rest of the turn it dies?

texts: I control a Chimeric Mass with no charge counters on it. If I were to turn it into a creature and it dies, would it stay a creature in the graveyard until end of turn, or would it turn back into an artifact once it entered the graveyeard?


texts: Axis & Allies Revised - Strategic Bombing broken?

texts:
We're playing A&A Revised, and USA and UK both got Heavy Bombers tech. Rules-as-written seem to say that each bomber is able to hit Germany for 10 IPC each turn... so 4 bombers per turn could do 40 per turn.

Considering only AA fire is able to defend... doesn't that seem insanely overpowered? Am I misreading the rules? Has this been errata'd? We're all confused and a little scared.


texts: 15 years old card game with ancient battles theme and complex mechanics

texts:
I used to play a PC game about 15 years ago that was based on a card game.
I remember the following details:

It contained cards
It had ancient battles theme
Each card represented battle unit
There were factions like Romans, Carthageneans, Egyptians, Maccabeans and more.
Some factions were inherently stronger than others. Battles were often assymetrical.
Game battles were based on real battles.
Some of the units were - heavy infantry, light infantry, phalanx, chariot, elephants.
Each player would put the cards in a row against the oponents row.
There was some rule on when to draw the cards from your own deck and how to put them.
Each card could attack only 3 cards which are approximate to it.
If a card was attacked from leftmost or rightmost, it was considered "flanked" and depending on the unit, the attack might have got significant bonuses.
The combat mechanics were not easy to understand

I've searched google with all the keywords I could think of, but can't find it.
Any idea?


texts: Does a creature that has both double strike and first strike deal damage three times or only twice?

texts:
In the new Dark Ascension expansion, the card Markov Blademaster has double strike. Stormkirk Captain gives all other Vampires first strike and +1/+1.

This means that the Blademaster has double and first strike. Does that mean it deals combat damage three times?


texts: Items already in possession of another character

texts:
What happens if a player should gain an item but that item already is used by another character?

For example, if the Spy comes into play (because your old character is dead/insane), she possesses a .45.  If you defeat a maniac, you gain the axe.  What happens if those item are already in play in another player's hand?


texts: How do you handle drawing more flood cards than there are tiles on the board in Forbidden Island?

texts: Pretty much what it says on the tin--when you're drawing, say, 5 flood cards and there are 4 tiles left in the game, are you supposed to keep shuffling and re-drawing one of those 4, thus automatically sinking one tile per turn?


texts: Does "prevent all damage to target creature" save the other creatures in a gang block?

texts:
In The Great Designer Search 2, one of the participants designed this card:

  CW15 - Improvised Shield

  1W

  Instant

  Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn.

  Draw a card.

MTG designer Ken Nagle said this in his review:

  KEN: Nice enough. This kind of effect got better when we changed the
  combat rules in Magic 2010. You can gangblock and the creature with
  the Improvised Shield will protect everyone else.

Is this correct? Which rules (in the comp rules) make it work out this way?

For an example, say I attack with a 7/7 creature, and you block with a 3/3, 2/2, and 2/1. I arrange damage to the blockers in the same order. After blockers are declared, you cast "Improvised Shield" (or Indestructible Aura, if you want a real-card example) on the 3/3. What will happen during the combat damage step?

If one of the blockers has or acquires a relevant protection ability, does the same thing happen?


texts:
It's really not clear to us how ships work in Game of Thrones

Can you use a ship (an empty one, not carrying land units) to attack a castle/fortress/territory/port?
What happens if you attack such areas with ships and those areas are defended by land units?
If you have ships in a port and the connected castle is conquered, what happens to the ships?


texts: Do I have to play a Dead of Winter event card as soon as I draw it, or can I choose to play it later?

texts: When you draw an event card which says to add new people to your colony, does that go into effect right away or can you decide when to play it?


texts: Is the dealer's hand considered soft if he hits himself with an ace?

texts:
In Blackjack, is the dealer's hand considered soft if he hits himself with an ace after dealing himself a hand which did not initially have an ace?

To clarify alternatively, is it only soft if his initial hand has an ace or is it always soft so long as he acquires an ace at any point in time (other than blackjack of course)?


texts: If I wanted to buy a card protector for every card in Arkham Horror (and expansions), how many would I need of each type?

texts: I've been considering purchasing a whack of Fantasy Flight Supply board game sleeves for my Arkham Horror game and expansions.  Does anyone know how many of each type of sleeve I would need to purchase to cover the various cards in the main box and all of the expansions to date?  Thanks!


texts:
One of our investigators I1 was lost in time and space. Then, another investigator I2 got a dark pact triggered, and the effect was "Another investigator of your choice is devoured".

1) Can I1 be targeted by I2's dark pact effect?

2) If 1), would I2 actually be devoured? The text says that an investigator lost in time and space cannot be affected by anything.

We reason two things:

a) the wording means that I2 could be targeted but not affected by the devouring

b) given the general theme and the unspoken rule that "if there are various interpretations of a rule in a cooperative game, choose the least helpful", it feels like a loophole that breaks the rules. Therefore, we chose another investigator to be devoured

We chose b). Did we choose "right"?


texts: Strategy for succeeding at Crisis skill checks

texts:
I've played my first real BSG game last week with three players and the humans got wiped out before we even jumped once...

I did some calculations to figure out if things get easier or harder with more players. What I found out made me wonder how player manage to beat the crisis cards at all.

Average difficulty of a crisis is 9.95 points.
Average value of a skill card is 2.14 points.
Average chance of a skill check in a crisis card is 58.6%.

Every human player gets 5 cards in his turn.
Every cylon player gets 2 cards in his turn (when revealed).

Assuming every card can be put to good use in a skill check we can calculate the amount of points the humans can field and the amount of points the cylons can field in every full round (where every player had his turn). The difference is the amount of points in favor of the humans. That divided by the number of players and 58.6% is the amount of points in favor of the humans per skill check.

Depending on the number of players/cylons the points in favor of the humans are:

2:1 ...  9.75
3:1 ... 11.89
2:2 ...  5.49
3:2 ...  8.05
4:2 ...  9.75
3:3 ...  5.49

Aside from the best case scenario at 3:1 there is no situation where it reaches the average of 9.95 points per skill check. The destiny deck is roughly balanced (average of -0.1 points per check) so we can ignore this.

Conclusion: Aside from somehow drawing more cards the humans cannot win every skill check even if they were to play their cards perfectly.

Question:

So how should the humans approach the skill checks on the crisis cards to win as much as possible?

Option 1: Discuss which ones to fail and which ones to beat. Doesn't work so well since the cylons will also know when they need to fight a check and when they can save their cards. Thus the ratio of cards remains the same.

Option 2: Use XO's exclusively to draw additional cards. One additional card per turn would be enough statistically.

Option 3: Try to undercut every crisis just a little in the hopes that the destiny deck will make at least some of them pass...

Other Options?


texts: Does the first piece in a standard blokus game have to have a square on a corner cell?

texts: When a player plays his first piece, does it have to cover the corner square? For example, can one play his X piece as first piece?


texts: Do people commonly play collectible card games without shuffling?

texts:
I was watching the Garfield lecture on luck last night, and he mentioned that Magic eventually adopted a discard rule for the first hand drawn if it was a "dud", so that defeat is not so dependent on luck of the draw.

By contrast, in my Jyhad playing days, during which I amassed quite a collection of cards, I tested a no-shuffle rule, where competitors, having access to the same library of cards, could arrange their decks in any desired sequence. This actually resulted in satisfying gameplay, in that hidden information and complexity still resulted in a state where outcomes were indeterminate.

My question is:

Are there any formal variants of collectible card games that allow deck arrangement as opposed to shuffling?


texts:
How do abilities work when card controller changes?
Playing MTGA I saw these:

Taking control of Rekindling Phoenix and having it die creates the egg for the new controller, which makes sense to me.

But taking control of a creature with Rogue's Gloves and damaging opponent lets HIM draw a bonus card, not the creature's current controller.

Is that a bug in MTGA or some strange rule?


texts: How does Accelerated Aging effect Lenara Kahn with an Engineering Pad

texts:
My opponent has a Lenara Kahn (whose first listed skill is Astrometrics) in her team, together with an Engineering Pad (which gives all Engineers, like Lenara, Astrometrics).

On a mission attempt I play Accelerated Aging (which makes the first listed skill unusable).

Now its unclear to us what happens:

Either the Padd goes first (that means she had 2 Astrometrics) and the Aging removed that skill from her list (so she had none left).
-> This argumentation says that as she already had the Padd with her on the mission attempt, the addition must come first.

Or the Aging goes first which removed her Astrometrics and then the Padd which gave it back to her (so she ends up with 1 Astrometrics).
-> This argumentation says that the Padd is active only when required, so it adds an Astrometrics in the end.


texts: Can you play a reaction to an event, if that event is the thing that let you draw the reaction?

texts:
I attacked, and broke, my opponent's "The art of war", which says that you get to draw 3 cards when it breaks.

One of the cards my opponent drew, had as an ability "Reaction: when you lose a military conflict, play this card from your hand."

It was a military conflict that broke the province. Would she be allowed to play the card in response to losing this conflict?


texts: Easy way to see changes between core sets?

texts:
Is there an easy way to see which cards were added and removed between core sets?

For example, by looking up the card Giant Growth I can see that it was in both M10 and M11, but was not included in M12.  Now on a single-card basis, it's not too hard, but I've got a lot of M11 that I want to go through and see which cards are still legal in standard, and searching Gatherer by card will get pretty tiring.


texts:
If I want to use Lochmere Serpent's first ability, can I tap an island for mana and sacrifice the same island?

{U}, Sacrifice an Island: Lochmere Serpent can't be blocked this turn.


texts: Why does Diregraf Colossus see itself in the graveyard?

texts:
The release notes for Diregraf Colossus says:

  If Diregraf Colossus enters the battlefield from your graveyard, its first ability will count itself among the Zombie cards in your graveyard. Similarly, if it enters the battlefield at the same time as another Zombie card enters the battlefield from your graveyard, the ability will count that other Zombie.

and its ability is:

  Diregraf Colossus enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card in your graveyard.

If it is entering the battlefield, how can it see itself in the graveyard?


texts: Does the Ward keyword trigger Baral's card draw clause?

texts:
Ward, the new keyword introduced in Strixhaven, counters spells and abilities that target that creature unless you pay a cost.

Ward {2} (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {2}.)

Now, Baral, Chief of Compliance says this:

Whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.

Does the Ward keyword count as an ability for the purposes of Baral's draw ability?


texts: Place road card in between the Treasure cards

texts: If I have a continuous road to a Treasure Card, and that treasure card is not the Gold Card, can I place a new road card right in between the Treasure Cards and to flip the next Treasure Card, or do I have to build a new road starting from begining ?


texts: Does Containment Priest exile Dryad Arbor?

texts:
Containment Priest has this effect:

If a nontoken creature would enter the battlefield and it wasn't cast, exile it instead.

Dryad Arbor is a Land Creature — Forest Dryad. If I play Dryad Arbor as my land for the turn does it get exiled by Containment Priest?
A strict reading of the rules indicate "yes", but it's very weird (since playing a land is apparently a special action that cannot be responded to) so I'd like to check.


texts: Why is chasing the low considered a trap in Omaha Hi/Lo?

texts:
In the Omaha Hi/Lo Poker variant you hear advice like do not chase the low. But what is the difference between chasing a low draw and a high draw? Many people are satisfied with their low draw only when they already have a pair, or a draw to win also the highest hand.
I don't see a reason for not chasing the low:

The pot is divided 50/50 between the high- and the low-hand winner
Low draw can be close/open-ended like a high draw, too

This makes the same pot odds and equity for trying to win the high and the low hand, so why the "bad practice"?


texts:
1) How do you get better at this? Is it just memorizing pro games or does it just come with time?
2) Does it actually improve your game or is it just sort of nice to have.
3) At what point should I actively try to improve on this?


texts: Why are there multiple version of Magic The Gathering Game on Steam?

texts:
I'm new to this famous card game. I searched it on steam and found multiple version e.g. 2012, 2015, etc
I'm planing on purchasing this online version of the game to see it but I got curious. Does the game has a new version as an entire new game every year? If so do I have to purchase the 2016 version next year to stay up to date?
Thanks


texts: What's the best way to get a good food engine going in Agricola early on?

texts:
I've played Agricola a couple of times and really like the game. But I have a problem: getting a good enough food engine going so I don't have to concern myself with taking too many important actions getting food, and not other really beneficial things. Any advice?

(Sorry if that was too weirdly worded)


texts: Does Eclipse under-estimate the game length, or are we playing it incredibly slowly?

texts:
On the box, Eclipse says a game takes 30 minutes per player. We've only played it three times - two-player each time - and our games have taken between two and three hours, rather than the one hour predicted.

I don't think we're particularly slow players (we both get frustrated by slow players in other games), so I was wondering how long other people found the game takes. Does it take proportionally less time with more players? Does it get quicker with practice? (If anything it's getting slower for us as we understand the game better and realise more the consequences of our choices!)


texts: Is there a 10 player expansion for Settlers of Catan? Where can I get it?

texts:
Somebody told me that he has an extension for Settlers of Catan that allows play with up to ten players. Who made it?

Is it still sold?


texts: When do "when you cast this spell" effects resolve?

texts:
If I cast Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and target my opponent's two Plains on the board, does the exile effect resolve before my opponent has a chance to tap one of the lands to play Path to Exile?

My guess is that the cast effect would go on the stack & resolve prior to Ulamog being on the field and in play as a legal target for Path, but I'd like some confirmation to be certain.


texts: Looking for name of a double ended connector

texts:
I'm building a board game that connects pieces together, like  a puzzle, but they can be flipped over, so I have found a picture of what I think would be a good connector piece, but I'm not sure what it would be called.

A piece like this would help me connect my double sided pieces together in any configuration. What is this connector piece called?


texts: What do the numbers in parentheses mean?

texts:
In Gosu (Goblin Supremacy), what do the numbers in parentheses on each card's description indicate?  For example:

(Justice) When Justice comes into play draw 3(+1) cards.

We had been playing that the player with the Advantage token got to do the () actions.


texts:
Projex is like Hex, in that it is connection based. It is played on a board that looks like the following

     h i A B
    g . . . C
   f . . . . D
  e . . . . . E
   d . . . . F
    c . . . G
     b a I H

That is, opposite hexes are labelled with the same letter. Players alternate putting X's and O's. If you play on a letter, you also put a piece on the opposite case letter.

The main way to win is by connecting an uppercase letter to its corresponding lowercase letter (for example, F and f).

     h i A B
    g . . . C
   X . . . . D
  e X . X X . E
   d X X . X X
    c . . . G
     b a I H

You can also connect n letters to n corresponding opposite-case letters (the above way to win is a special case, actually), where n is odd. For example, here is a connection involving, A, d, and F.

     h i O B
    g . O . C
   O O . O O O
  e . O . . . E
   O O . O O O
    c . O . G
     b O I H

This game has the property that for any board configuration without empty spaces, exactly one player is in a winning position (like in Hex).

Quoting Bill Taylor

  Of course the first player has a huge (indeed automatically winning)
  advantage, and this can be dealt with in various ways, which is not
  the main theme of this post, however.

Have the designers, fans, or someone else found a way to balance this game?

Some things I've thought of:

Use a bigger board. Player 1 technically still has a winning strategy, mathematically speaking, but among imperfect players, skill plays a much bigger role.
On the first turn, the first player makes one move. On other turns, players make two moves. So at the end of each player's turn, they are one move ahead. The problem is that this kind of changes the game into a entirely different one.
One thing that does not work is the pie rule, since all opening moves are basically the same. The board is actually a real projective plane. EDIT: Actually, its only topologically equivalent, not isometrically. The center is objectively better than any other tile, since there is a shortest path between any two letters that goes through it.


texts: Scrabble - Parallel Words joined at one letter

texts:
Parallel words joined at a single letter forming a second word.
I cannot seem to find a clear answer to this scrabble question.
Say player one plays, "scrabble" as their first word.
Is it valid for player two to then play, "hello," parallel to "scrabble" but starting with the "h" in "hello" next to the "e" in "scrabble" to make the second word, "he." Here is an example:
       HELLO
SCRABBLE


texts: Do Aftermath cards count as two or one card for Enigma Drake?

texts:
Enigma Drake's power is equal to the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard.

If one has Spring//Mind (or some other Aftermath card) in their graveyard, does that grant 1 or 2 power? Does it matter if both halves have the same or different types, e.g. two Instants vs an Instant + a Sorcery)?


texts: I recently began using tappedout.net to keep track of my cards and I couldn't help but wonder if there was an Android app that fulfilled the same purpose. Might you assist me in my search?


texts: Are there times to double for a one trick set in duplicate, when you would not do so in rubber?

texts:
In rubber bridge, I would "never" double a part score contract for a one trick set. The reason is that a successful double will increase your score from 50 to 100 if the opponents are not vulnerable, and from 100 to 200 if vulnerable, that is produce a gain of 50-100 points. On the other hand, doubling opponents into game will add a 500 to 700 game bonus to their score, plus 50 in penalties, and double the value of their original part score contract if they make it. The "skewness" of the two possible outcomes argues strongly against a "hair trigger" double.
In match points, a successful double of a part score will increase the penalty from 100 to 200 when opponents are vulnerable, likely enough for a "top" if this is truly a part score battle. It will be a "bottom" relative to other part scores if it fails. But at least the results are "symmetric."
Given the difference between "skewed" and "symmetric" results, are there situations in matchpoints where one would double for a one trick set when one would not do so in rubber?


texts: Betrayal at House on the Hill: Haunt 2: The Séance

texts:
During the Séance Haunt, the hero's summoned the Ghost and started traveling around to complete their quest.

The traitor then, attacked and killed the Hero who completed the Séance.

Does this mean the Hero's fail their quest because the Turn/Damage track can no longer progress?

The rules say, "Set up the Turn/Damage track with a plastic clip on 1. At the end of each subsequent turn of the player who completed the Séance, advance the clip to the next number on the track. You have until the start of the Turn 5 to bury the Ghost's bones."


texts: In theory, one scores 5 points for each card moved from the "devil's 6" and 1 point for each of the other cards. So a win should score 98 + 30 = 128 (ignoring any bonus for winning in a short time). Yet my score for a win is sometimes less than 128 and sometimes more.  What am I overlooking?


texts:
The other day whilst playing an epic, 4-deck game of Munchkin, I found myself well behind and in a position to let someone win so we could quit. I didn't want to leave early (I did anyway!) but the game had gotten out of hand somewhat.

Would it have been ok to King-make? I'm considering a non-game specific answer to this wherever possible. I realise this isn't the sort of thing you do in munchkin.


texts: Can you spend one production unit to offset population loss from plague cubes on a population 0 location?

texts:
At the end of a game in Pandemic Legacy Season 2, population is adjusted for locations which have supply houses and plague cubes (up and down, respectively). The manual specifically mentions the case where a location has both - the population does not change.

You can also spend production units to increase the population of a location. 1 population for 1 unit, except if the location has a population of 0, in which case 2 units are needed to bring it back to population 1.

Consider a case where I have a plague cube on a location with a current population of 1. The plague cube will decrease the population by 1, making it a 0 population location. I want to spend production units to keep it at 1, but do I need to spend 1 unit or two? That is, does the population adjustment from plague cubes happen before population adjustment from spending production units? Or do they happen at the same time?

As part of the game end, the manual has the adjustment due to plague cubes as step 1 and the adjustment due to spending production units as step 4 , so I'm guessing they happen in a distinct order and I would need to spend 2 units. I couldn't find any clarification though.


texts: What are the odds a player doesn't draw a monastery or garden tile?

texts:
I just played a frustrating 3 player game of Carcassonne with the Abbot expansion, where I didn't get a single opportunity to use my Abbot Meeple.
What are the odds a player doesn't draw a single tile usable by the Abbot in a 3 player game? Note there are 6 monastery tiles and 8 garden tiles for a total of 14 tiles the abbot can use (out of 72 total tiles).


texts:
I've played a dozen or so games of Flash Point so far and always find it necessary to have someone be the Driver/Operator, stay in the firetruck, and just use the Deck Gun all game. The right roll can put out five fires at once, the Driver/Operator can use the gun twice per turn, and there's the option to re-roll both attempts at no cost. In other words, it seems like the Driver/Operator is overpowering but essential to the game.

What changes can I make to the rules or to my general strategy if I want to remove the Driver/Operator and still keep the building from collapsing?


texts: In what location do assets gain "advertisement" via Rebranding Team?

texts:
Rebranding Team says

  All assets gain advertisement.

Does it matter where the asset is located? Say, do assets from HQ or Archives also gain "advertisement"?


texts: Can you place any three cards in Monopoly Deal, eg 3 properties at a time or 3 action cards?

texts: I read the instructions as stating that you can place an action and/ or a money and/ or a property. But others say you can do any combination of the three in any of the three piles.


texts: What is the value by percentage of Lindel's reroll special ability?

texts:
Here is an image of Lindel's card.

  After rolling dice ofr an attribute test, you may reroll one die; you must accept the second resul

As you can see his stats are 6, 6, 6, 5. He needs to roll equal or under with 2d6 to succeed on a test. His ability allows him to reroll one of the d6's once after the initial roll.

How much does this ability increase his chances of success?

% of success on a 2d6 test

2 3%
3 8%
4 17%
5 28%
6 42%
7 58%
8 72%
9 83%
10 92%
11 97%
12 100%


texts: Confused with Bidding in Contract Bridge

texts:
I'm building an Android game based on Contract Bridge, where 4 players will be playing simultaneously once they are connected with the Game Server.

I have no prior experience of playing any card game, and have been learning Bridge while working on this project. I understand most of the concepts of the game, things like Deal, Trick, strength of a hand, major suit, minor suit, the actual game play, etc.

But I'm still a bit confused by Bidding, the key part of the game. Since I'm a developer, and will not be working on creating an artificial CPU player, I'm more interested in getting the Rules of Bidding right, rather than strategies for making a great Bid.

Here are my rule questions:

How long does the bidding process continue? I know that when a certain bid is made by a player, and the remaining three call "Pass" subsequently, the last bid is agreed as a final contract. But what if players continue to bid, "double" or "redouble" the last bid forever? Do the cards need to be re-dealt in that case?
When a player calls "double" for a last bid, what exactly happens on the score card? I've read that you double your stakes for the game, i.e. if the player who bid makes that contract, he wins double points, and if he fails, you win double points, but I need a more figurative explanation with examples. Same with "redouble".
How is the declarer (or the attacking team) decided? Does the player whose bid is chosen as a final contract (with the suit he chose becoming the trump suite) become declarer? Or does the player who was first to mention the suit, which becomes the trump suit of the game, become the declarer?
What would be the purpose of a dummy player in the game if his cards are played by the declarer? In the Android game that I'll make, he'll be just sitting idle in-front of the phone and watch the show doing nothing (except the time when he exposes his cards and is done).

I know I've asked many questions here, but they all relate to rules of bidding. Any help with getting these rules clear in my mind would be appreciated.

Update

Following are the sources I have referred so far to understand the game:

http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=intro_to_bridge&f=bbeg5.html
http://www.acbl.org/learn/howToPlay.html
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-to-play-bridge
Videos of channel iBridgePlayer on YouTube.

P.S.: I'm a software developer and not an enthusiast, so please keep your answer jargon-free where possible.


texts: How can I make a fast, MTG Modern Glimpse-based mill deck?

texts:
I have always been fascinated with MTG milling decks and, since Ravnica, have wanted to build a fast Glimpse the Unthinkable based mill deck. I've tried numerous times but the deck is always too slow, puttering out before I finish off my opponent. Further, it's tough to find a balance of aggressively milling while simultaneously defending myself from attacks.

So, is there a way to make a speedy Glimpse the Unthinkable mill deck?

My deck constraints are:

Build around Glimpse, the Unthinkable
Only use Modern legal cards

The latest iteration of my deck is:

Lands

Island x12
Swamp x9
Watery Grave x2
Drowned Catacomb

Creatures

Hedron Crab x4
Wall of Frost x4

Planeswalker

Jace, Memory Adept

Enchantments

Memory Erosion x4
Jace's Erasure x4

Instants

Grasp of Darkness x4
Visions of Beyond x4

Sorceries

Glimpse, the Unthinkable x4
Mind Funeral x3
Mind Sculpt x2

Artifacts

Keening Stone x4

The older versions of this deck relied on Ravnica Transmute cards like Shred Memory, Muddle the Mixture, and Dimir Infiltrator to quickly retrieve the Glimpses but, without mana acceleration, it still took 5-6 turns to get three Glimpses out.


texts: In cribbage, do you get points for doubles after getting to 31?

texts: My opponent pegged for getting to 31 by playing a jack. If I play a jack after that, do I peg for the doubles?


texts: What is the best response to a 1NT opening bid when responder has 0 HCP and 5 clubs and you have agreed with partner to use Staymans?


texts: In Arkham Horror, how many gates wakes the Ancient One?

texts:
If the max number of gates allowed on the board is, for example, 6, does the Ancient One wake up on the 6th or 7th gate?

I'm pretty sure that the answer to that should be that the Ancient One wakes up on the 7th gate, but I'm not too sure.

Additionally and as a clarification, all gates count regardless of if they are on the expansion boards, right? It's the monsters that don't count if they're outside Arkham itself.


texts: What happens when multiple "when this creature dies" triggers happen at the same time?

texts: In Magic the Gathering, If I have Gate to the Afterlife and Shadows of the Past on the battlefield and one of my creatures die which ability activates first?  Would I have to scry first or would I have to heal/draw/discard first?


texts:
A friend and I recently ran into a scenario and we're not sure how it would play out.

My friend plays Shade's Form on one of his creatures. (B: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn."
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, return that card to the battlefield under your control.
On my next turn I play False Demise on that same creature. (When enchanted creature dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control.)
On the next turn, the creature is put into a graveyard. Who gains control of this creature? I assume False Demise would resolve first putting it under my control—but does Shade's form then resolve too, moving it back to my opponent?


texts: Why would one player ever need more Army units in a battle than their opponent?

texts:
I am learning the rules of Risk, but am failing to understand why, during a battle, one player would ever need more Army units than their opponent?

According to the rules of risk, during a battle each player compares their highest dice rolls. The player with the lowest roll of the two removes one unit from the battle. The players then compare their next highest rolls (if they have rolled more than die).

My misunderstanding can be explained in the following two scenarios I have created.

In both battles, the attacker rolls 2 die and the defender rolls 1.

Battle 1

In battle 1, the attacker has the highest roll and so the defender removes one of his units. Now the defender has no more dice and so there is no defending die to compare the attacker's 2nd die with. The attacker wins this battle.

Battle 2

In battle 2, the defender has the highest 1st roll and so the attacker removes one unit. As by the rules, the players should now compare their next highest dice. The defender does not have a next highest dice, only the one which they have already used in the battle. So what happens here? Am I right in thinking that once this stage is reached, the defender can reuse their die that have already won during this battle? And so 'Battle 2' would now look like:

Now, the defender wins again and so the attacker has lost all his units in the battle. The defender wins this battle.

Battle 3

Here is a 3rd scenario following the logic I have proposed:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Is this the correct process in which battles should be played?


texts: Are Keeps and Mage Towers the only sites where failing to defeat an enemy forces you off the space?

texts: Since one can visit other sites such as Ruins and Dens and choose not to enter or engage, if you fail in battle against enemies here, I believe you are not forced off the space. Are Keeps and Mage Towers then the only space types where losing a battle forces you to leave the space?


texts: What are the key card combos to look out for in Agricola draft?

texts:
I do quite a lot of Agricola drafting, and one thing I've been noticing is that just taking the most powerful Occupations each pick is often not enough - finding synergies is usually better.  To give an example, I'm just finishing a game where I took Mason, Architect and Wooden Strongbox inside of the first three picks: individually none of these would be considered especially strong, but as a team they allowed me to pull forward to an unbeatable lead in the late game.

I could give lots more examples of obviously good combos I have seen or managed to draft myself (Bricklayer/Clay Plasterer? Well Builder/Village Well/Water Carrier/Flagon? Renovator/Manservant/Plough Driver?) but what are the strongest combinations that a top player should always be on the lookout for from the moment they sit down to an Agricola draft?


texts: Protection, damage and Leyline of Punishment

texts:
I was wondering about the following scenario:
I have a Leyline of Punishment on board.
My opponent has Auriok Champion
I cast Anger of the gods.

Will the damage from the Anger of the Gods still come through? As far as I'm aware, prevention by DEBT (Damage, Enchant/Equip, Block, Target) prohibits the damage according to rule 702.16e:

  702.16e. Any damage that would be dealt by sources that have the stated quality to a permanent or player with protection is prevented.

However Leyline of Punishment says damage can't be prevented. Or does the prevention by protection has priority over Leyline of Punishment? If so, by what rule is this applied?


texts: Can I use more than one option card at a time?

texts: I don't see any explicit rules in when or how to use option cards. The rules on page 8 talk of option card priority and refer to using 'an option card'. Can I use two at the same time, such as Ramming Gear (which doesn damage to the pushee) and Reverse Gear (which alters how far you back up)?


texts: "If you end your turn on this tile gain X stat." Power farming?

texts:
So i was playing Betrayal at house on the hill, and there's several tiles that say: "If you end your turn on this tile gain X stat."

I couldn't find any rule preventing the players from just standing on that tile and ending their turn as soon as their turn begins. Is this a legal move?

I had a game where we were 4 people playing and 3 of them were just standing in the gymnasium while i was walking around finding items and such. Then i ended up being the traitor and i got madman, so my character an all my items was lost. While all of the others had max Knowledge, Speed and almost max Sanity to fight me with.

Is this legal moves? I tried reading through the Rule book but couldn't find a rule that was against this. And it's no fun being the only one exploring the house.


texts: Can any spell be played as a face-down 2/2 creature for 3 colourless mana?

texts:
According to rule 707.1:

  707.1. Some cards allow spells and permanents to be face down.

Does this mean the fact that some cards allow this behaviour that any spell can be played in this way?

This theory is further reinforced by rule 707.7

  707.7... Spells normally can’t be turned face up.

In addition, all morph spells I've seen have the same cost (3 waste) and they all come into play as 2/2 colourless creatures.

Finally, rule 707.11 starts:

  707.11. If a face-down permanent would have an “As [this permanent] is turned face up . . .” ability...

Which suggests face-down permanents may not have such abilities...?

My thoughts are that this ability would help in cases where a player is struggling with mana flood, such that they have no other spells to cast, but could (for example) play a basic land face-down for 3 waste as a 2/2 colourless creature in a pinch.

There are other games that permit this kind of play.

However, I feel I am probably incorrect in my theory and perhaps the bit I'm misreading is rule 707.1, in so far as the "spells and permanents" mentioned are specifically those from cards that allow this ability.


texts: Can I cast cost-less cards like Living End with Dream Halls?

texts:
I think the title is self-explaining :)

Can I cast cost-less cards like Living End with Dream Halls by discarding a black card ?


texts:
I've used the RGG 1st edition scoring rules because I was unaware until recently that there are 3 different scoring systems for Carcassonne. Without having tried the (now most common) 3rd edition scoring rules, it is obvious that there is a decreased emphasis on gearing the whole game towards winning a mega farm at the end. But I'm guessing there are other less obvious ramifications I haven't thought of.

I'd like to hear a more detailed answer to this question from those who have used both 1st and 3rd edition, both with respect to the basic set and with respect to any expansions that have been heavily impacted:

How is game feel and strategy different between the 1st and 3rd edition scoring rules?


texts: Creature kill and resurrect effects on the stack interaction?

texts:
For example, casting Murder on a creature while Rally the Ancestors is on the stack (and would effect the creature if it was in the graveyard)?

I would think so, because the creature should die and be in the graveyard once the Murder resolves. Or, maybe it is in the process of moving to the graveyard like the murder until the stack is empty.


texts:
I've played a couple games of Crisis Mode from the Crisis Expansion (Pack 1) of the DC Comics Deck-Building Game with one, two, and three players. While we like the cooperative mode of it (it always seemed weird in the base game that the heroes were competing against each other), the biggest issue we have is that the game takes so long. While the base game takes about 45 minutes, the Crisis Mode has never taken less than 2 hours (and once almost made it to 3 hours).

The main reason it takes so long of course is that we have to go through so many villains and their crisis events. If we reduce the number of those, then the game would be faster but would be easier because it means you're less likely to run out of the deck cards. So I'm not sure that this is feasible.

What houserules can we employ to make Crisis Mode take an hour or less without reducing difficulty?


texts: How can we avoid big money in casual games?

texts:
My girlfriend and I have recently discovered the Big Money strategy in Dominion, and it's killing the game for us. We're not very competitive, so we don't want to spend a lot of time and effort trying to play even better than Big Money (as the answers to this question propose). But Big Money is so easy that it's hard to not just play it, and then we lose all the fun of the kingdom cards.

Are there any house rules we could add to simply keep us from being able to play Big Money, so that we can go back to casual games with plenty of kingdom card excitement? I know that if we really wanted to we could learn to play better than Big Money, but the games wouldn't be as fun and easygoing.

We also have almost all the Dominion expansions so we can use them.


texts: Can I put Lich's Mirror into play with The Ur-Dragon's ability to save me after drawing out with the same ability?

texts: Let's say I have The Ur-Dragon and a ton of dragons on the field. I attack with enough dragons to draw my remaining library (as per The Ur-Dragon's  ability "Whenever one or more dragons you control attack, draw that many cards"), I draw Lich's Mirror and use Ur-Dragon's "put a permanent from your hand onto the battlefield" effect to play Lich's Mirror. Would I lose as soon as I draw my entire library? Would I get a chance to trigger Lich's Mirror?


texts: Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights - Rule Clarificarions

texts:
The rules of Cities and Knights state the following:

"...you may not purchase any improvements beyond the third level of a given color unless you have a city where you could build a metropolis."

Let's say someone has a metropolis built for Science (level 4) and I am currently holding a metropolis for Trade (level 4) though own no other cities. Does the rule imply that, even though the metropolis has already been taken for Science, I still cannot go past level 3 for Science?


texts: In Gloomhaven, can you get the effects of winning a scenario twice?

texts: I am not sure what the answer is. It doesn't say you can't, but I assume you can't


texts: Can an Influence Disc be moved to an adjacent hex if there is no other influenced hex adjacent to that target hex?

texts:
The rules state the requirements of moving from and to hexes, but don't clarify whether the action of moving a disc "from" a hex invalidates that hex as an influenced neighbor.

Put another way, can I move a disc from one hex to a neighboring hex if there is no other influenced (or ship-resident) hex next to that destination hex?


texts: Can I use a "Counter Target Spell" on Enchantments?

texts:
Can I use a Counter Target Spell on enchantments? Enchantments are considered spells right?

Thanks.


texts: Where can I find out-of-print Catan geographies?

texts:
Anyone have any ideas? I see a bunch on the Catan shop, but only a select few are actually for sale. http://www.catan.com/board-games/settlers-catan/variants-and-scenarios/regional-editions

I've tried ebay, I've tried Amazon, a bunch of sites...  Any suggestions on where I would find a used "Austria" Catan Map (English edition), and the like?


texts: How does Kajia's Swarming style work against attacks measured from markers?

texts:
For example, say we have the following board setup
S = Kajia Salix
B = Karin Brandtford
bold = Jager's marker

ooSBooo

Karin has an insect token in each discard pile.

Kajia plays Swarming Drive.
Karin plays Howling Grasp.

Because of the insect tokens opponents at range 1 or 2 cannot hit Kajia. Karin is at range 1 so she should not be able to hit. However, the attack is coming from Jager's position, which is range 0. Does Karin hit in this situation?


texts:
For an action space which states:

  After A, also B

such as:

  After Family Growth, also 1 minor Improvement

Does it mean that I must do both Family Growth and Minor Improvement?


texts: Do Collectible Card Games without shuffling exist?

texts:
All Collectible Card Games (like Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh!) I know require the players to shuffle their decks before the game begins. Also, the deck's card order is unbeknown to the players.

For the game I'm currently designing I thought about letting the players arrange their decks beforehand (so they know exactly which card they draw when, assuming a perfect memory or a virtual match). However, to find out if this is a good idea, I'm looking for at least one CCG that incorporates this mechanic to study it's rules. Do you know any?


texts:
I have played Euchre for years.  Often a group of us finds ourselves one player short of the required 4.  We then usually joke that we should play Canadian Euchre, which apparently allows rules for playing the game with three people.

Is this even a real thing?  Has anyone ever played it?  I imagine it would be cut-throat, but I can't think of how it might work outside of that.


texts: What are the differences between Rise of the Runelords and Skull and Shackles?

texts: I am thinking of getting Rise of the Runelords or Skull and Shackles. From your experiences, which game would you consider better, and is there even any noticeable difference in between the two games? From what I have heard so far, the two games are pretty similar. Is that true, or are there differences in the two games that make one better than the other? What are the differences, if there are any, in between the two games? If I knew the differences maybe it would help me on deciding which game I would rather have. You can also give me your own opinion on the two games.


texts: Loki's Blessing clan upgrade in Yggdrasil during a game of Blood Rage

texts: The card says If you lose a battle, you may invade that province with a warrior for free. Does that mean that if you lose in Yggdrasil you get to invade Yggdrasil with a warrior as well?


texts: In bridge, how low an "unlucky" percentage would a good player guard against?

texts:
If a contract depended on say, a finesse, most good players would look for plays that would give a better than 50-50 chance of succeeding. (Unless the finesse was marked by the bidding or early play.)

Most good players would make, or consider making, a safety play to guard against a 4-1 split (except maybe in matchpoints). This occurs with a greater than 28% frequency (or 14%+ if it was relevant with the singleton on one side and not the other).

But I read of a situation in a tournament where a world class declarer took an inordinately long time to study the play of a hand, to the point where his opponents called the tournament director (TD). When the TD asked the player why, the player answered that he had just worked out a way to make the hand against a distribution with only a 2% chance of occurring (a 5-0 trump distribution with the 5 "offset" a finesse).

He looked like a genius when the relevant opponent admitted to having that hand.
Apparently, there was little time to play the game out, but the TD awarded the point to the player after the player described his game plan and the opponents conceded, showing down their hands. All the other declarers on that board went down.

Is that unusual? Do good players routinely study ways to guard against 2% chances over the board? Or do most players have a higher threshold, say in the 5%-10% range?


texts: Dropping from a sanctioned event mid-draft

texts:
The tournament rules say:

  Players who drop during limited events own the cards that they
  correctly have in their possession at that time. This includes any
  unopened or partially drafted boosters.

Does this mean that if, in a sanctioned draft, I open a booster pack with two mythic rares (one in the foil slot), I can immediately drop and keep both (in addition to any cards I have already drafted)?

If the answer depends on the Rules Enforcement Level, please explain how it differs at each level.


texts: What does "cannot be countered" mean in MTG?

texts: Mistcutter Hydra says it "cannot be countered." What does that mean? Is it like saying that it cannot be blocked? Or it can not be stopped from being summoned this turn or what? I have no idea what this means.


texts:
Serenissima is a game of trade during the renaissance. Players have ships to carry the cargo across the Mediterranean. They try to controll the harbor cities in order to set the price and collect the victory points.

Each ship has 5 positions that can be filled with either cargo or sailors. Ships move faster with more sailors and they have better defences but the goal of the game is to move the cargo across the map.

What are good strategies for this game, and are the strategies different with different starting areas?


texts: King of Tokyo: When can you buy a card and when can you start to use them?

texts:
I have two questions related to purchasing cards:

When can you purchase a card? Is it only during your turn or you can just go ahead and buy cards as long as you have cubes even if it's another player's turn?
When does the card take effect? If you purchase a card during your turn, can you already use it on that turn or do you have to wait for your next turn?


texts: Tales of Arabian Nights -- Story versus Destiny and variants?

texts:
In the ZMan version of Tales of Arabian Nights, you choose 20 points between Story and Destiny. I tend to do 10 of each or something similar. Is this the best strategy?

Also, the game is very random, which I'm OK with, but are there any variants where there is some strategy or planning involved? Especially with some of the quests, it's like it doesn't really matter where you go on the board, just that you go somewhere.


texts: What happens when you put a +1/+1 counter on a planeswalker?

texts: Some commander decks have Planeswalker commanders.  What happens when you put a +1/+1 counter on one of them, such as with Opal Palace?


texts: Can a space marine chapter consist of marines from other chapters?

texts:
I'm new to warhammer so I wanted to know if I could run a custom space marine chapter and then use soldiers from other factions

For example could I run a space marines chapter that included soldiers from the grey knight or space wolves faction?


texts: Abhoth - where should I put defeated cultists

texts:
When I play Abhoth (from Under the Pyramids expansion) as the Ancient One, his Setup section says:

  Set aside 8 Cultist Monsters and all Abhoth Special Encounters.

Then the Reckoning effect for this Ancient One states

  The Lead Investigator spawns 1 Cultist Monster on a Wilderness space that does not contain a Cultist Monster. Then, if there are 6 or more Cultist Monsters on the game board, advance Doom by 1.

Cultist fights are special for this Ancient One, you do not have normal Combat Encounter, but as described on the Ancient One sheet:

  Whenever an investigator encounters a Cultist Monster, he draws and resolves a Spawn of Abhoth Special Encounter.

The Spawn of Abhoth Special Encounter cards do not specify what happens with the cultist card/token, you can just win/lose the fight.

When I played, I assumed that I spawn the Cultist from the Ancient One sheet, from these 8 Cultists I set aside.

What should I do when I defeat the cultist? Should I put it back on the Ancient One sheet, or should I put him to the normal monster pool, as with any other non-epic monster? (or some combination of both.. should I put the cultist back on AO, but only to the original count of 8, and then put the cultist to the normal monster pool..)

When I played, I did not think about it much, and just put them back on the Ancient One sheet. This could result in having more than 8 Cultists on the sheet, since you can draw Cultist Monster from the monster cup when you have Monster surge or open a gate (although the chance is lowered because 8 of them is already set aside).

But I started having doubts when the Ancient One awakened. Then you have to spawn all cultists from this sheet except 3, and then whenever Doom would advance, you spawn another cultist from the sheet. When there is no cultist left on the sheet, investigators lose the game. This condition is the one that made me doubt my decision to put them back on the sheet, since generally, in Eldritch horror, the rules are against the players, to make the game harder, so I started to think that I might be doing it wrong.

I did not find any mention about this in the rules for the expansion.


texts: How to decide if I should use a counterspell in MTG?

texts:
I always have a hard time to decide if I should use a counter spell in a given situation and one step earlier if I should save enough mana for a counter spell this round.

I am currently facing this problem with my variation of Solar Flare. The main idea of this deck is to stall the game for at least 5 to 6 rounds while building up your graveyard and overpower the opponent with fat creatures afterwards when the fifth or sixth land is out there.

My counter spell of choice is Mana Leak. My dilemma is, that I usually want to use it early in the game, because it is harder for my opponent to pay the additional mana cost and my plan is to stall him anyway in the beginning. On the downside I have used my counter spells often before the real threats are out there and my opponent feels comfortable in the middle to end game because he knows that it is unlikely that I have any more counter spells available. I also do not want to use my counter spells after round 5, because I usually need my mana in those rounds to pump out and resurrect creatures. Without any ramps in this deck I have no flexibility to save up mana each turn instead of playing my creatures.

What is the expert opinion on that dilemma? How do I decide when to use my counter spells? Can I even formulate such a strategy without knowing the deck of my opponent well?


texts:
Liliana's Influence

says: "Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature you don't control. You may search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Liliana, Death Wielder, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle it."

Can i search for a card named Liliana Death Wielder even if there are no target creatures for put -1/-1 counters on them ?


texts: Lord of the Ring LCG: Gandalf and Expert Treasure-hunter

texts:
When using "Gandalf" as a hero, one plays with the top card of the deck faceup. If I attach "Expert Treasure-hunter" to one of my heroes, does it mean that I automatically get a card in my hand after this hero quests successfully (since I am able to see the type of the card)?

If I attach one copy of "Expert Treasure-hunter" to each of my heroes, do I first turn the top card of my deck faceup before each guessing or do I have to guess 3 cards at the same times, seeing only the first one?

Gandalf (Hero)

  Play with the top card of your deck faceup. Once per phase, you may play the top card of your deck as if it was in your hand. [...]

Expert Treasure-hunter (Attachment)

  Attach to a hero. Limit 1 per hero.
  Response: After attached hero quests successfully, name a card type and discard the top card of your deck. If the discarded card is the named type, take it into your hand.


texts: When a land is granted a basic land type, what effects does that have?

texts:
For example, Quicksilver Fountain says

  At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player puts a flood counter on target non-Island land he or she controls of his or her choice. That land is an Island for as long as it has a flood counter on it.

  At the beginning of each end step, if all lands on the battlefield are Islands, remove all flood counters from them.

I imagine this card is useful specifically because it denies the opponent the appropriate color of mana, if they are not already playing a blue deck. If I make a Swamp into an Island, then it produces U instead of B.

But what about with non-basic lands? If I turn Hinterland Harbor into an Island, does that mean it can no longer produce green mana? What about Seat of the Synod? Will that still be an artifact?


texts: Is Ashaya still a land while enchanted with Kenrith's Transformation?

texts:
Ashaya, Soul of the Wild has a static ability that turns all of your creatures into Forest lands.  Kenrith's Transformation turns enchanted creature into a 3/3 Elk creature with no abilities.
My Ashaya has been enchanted with Kenrith's Transformation.
Because type setting is in Layer 4 and ability removal is in Layer 6, Ashaya still turns all my creatures into forests despite losing their abilities.  However, Ashaya itself is being affected by two type-changing abilities - their own which turns them into a land, and Kenrith's which turns them into an Elk creature.
I would expect that the end result is that Ashaya's type line would read: "Legendary Creature - Elk".  But in the Arena game I just played, Ashaya's type line read "Legendary Creature Land - Elk Forest"
Which is correct?


texts: How does fire on sidewalk spaces affect vehicles (outside of the building)

texts:
When fire spreads to spaces outside of the building, how does this affect vehicle movements and usage?

Do vehicles extinguish fire as they drive over it?
Are vehicles unable to drive through fires (until they are extinguished). Pretty tough mechanism if so.
Do vehicles simply ignore the fire but firefighters on foot do not?


texts: Can an ability that returns a creature to hand save it from an ability that would exile it?

texts: So I was playing a friend and he had a Lantern Spirit on the field. I used a card ability to exile it, but he said he could pay that one blue mana to put it back in his hand. I'm pretty sure that's not legal, but I couldn't prove it wasn't, so I let him (it was OK in the end I completely crushed him). Does anyone know where the rules regarding this kind of thing are?


texts: Warhammer 40K 7ed: Haemonculus Covens "It Will not Die" rule effect on units with 1 wound

texts:
In Warhammer 40K 7ed, the Dark Eldar's Haemonculus Covens "power from pain" rule gives their wracks the "it will not die" (IWND) special rule by turn 4.

My question is this: Does a unit with one wound (wracks for instance) stand to gain anything from "it will not die"?

In my reading of the rules this would be useless because "IWND" rolls occur at the end of your turn while models that are reduced to 0 wounds are automatically removed from the game as casualties.

Does this mean they never get a chance to use "IWND" to get their wound back before they die?


texts: I'm the farthest thing from a magic know it all, so I have a question for you. If my opponent has a 40/40 with trample and I have a 20/20 with lifelink that is blocking it. and I have 20 life left. Do I gain life from lifelink at the same time the damage is dealt to me? Thanks for taking the time to answer!


texts: How does drawing then discarding work with a full hand?

texts:
If my opponent has a full hand of 7 cards and I cast wistful thinking, what happens?

Do they discard the two cards they draw and then discard four more for a total of six cards discarded?


texts:
If I have a Geier Reach Bandit / Vildin-Pack Alpha whos allows my werewolves to transform upon entering the battlefield. Or just a Moonmist

What happens if I have a Conspiracy / Arcane Adaptation then I cast one of the Flip-Walkers (Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Liliana, Heretical Healer, Nicol Bolas, The Ravager)
My assumption is that without the self-exiling effect card flips to the walker side with no loyal counters and instantly kills itself. Please confirm?


texts: Where can I find the most reliable information on upcoming boardgame releases?

texts:
Usually I just troll my FLGS to see what new has popped up and that works for me.  However, right now I have a pressing need to figure out what games have been recently released, and which will be released very soon.

Now I can (and have done) some Google searches to try to figure this out.  I'm not looking for answers with barebones information like that.  What I'd really like is to hear from people who have been keeping a better eye on game release cycles for a while.

What sites or sources of material have you found to be truly reliable?  I'm particularly interested in shorter lists of popular hobby games.  I don't have a  need to hear about new Monopoly expansions or tracking down every Indy game release.


texts: Does Babylon's wonder count for scientific structure victory points?

texts: In 7 Wonders, do the science symbols on Babylon's wonder mat count for victory points? Say I've built the second level of the A side and I have no other science symbols. Do I get one point for each of the three symbols and seven for the 1 set of three symbols?


texts: Too few resource cards to distribute, but only one player receiving that resource type. Do they get the cards?

texts:
Let's set up a simple example to illustrate what I'm getting at:

A player has a city bordering an ore tile, and they are the only player with a settlement bordering an ore tile.
There is only 1 ore resource card left in the "bank".
Someone rolls for resource production and it causes the ore tile to produce 2 ore for the city owned by the player in question.

Do they get the 1 remaining ore resource card?

Personally, I would assume no. The rules do state that if there are not enough resources of a given type to distribute, nobody gets anything. But this situation is a little different just because there is only one player receiving resources.

I'll note that I've never actually had this happen, but am working on a computer based simulation and am trying to be precise.


texts: can keepers kill creepers in same turn over and over again?

texts:
In Monty Python Fluxx, there are keepers that kill creepers.

Can they be played and also kill in the same turn, or is it 1 turn to play them and 2nd turn to kill?

Also, can they be used over and over again?


texts:
Say I have an empty battlefield and use Cloudform to manifest the top card of my library. The manifested card is Heliod, God of the Sun. Can I turn this card face up for the mana cost if I do not have enough devotion to white for it to be a creature?

The rule of thumb I've been told is "it's a creature everywhere but on the battlefield" which would seem to indicate you can't, but I know this is a simplification of the relevant rules. If this can be done, what makes it possible?


texts: Is it possible to count cards by literally counting cards?

texts:
Typical card-counting, which treats 2,3,4,5,and 6 as "+1" and 10's as "-1", requires card counters to keep track of each card as it's dealt. I wonder if you can get a reasonable approximation of this by just counting the number of cards that are on the table and ignoring what cards they are.

For example, when a player stands after exactly two cards, they usually have something like 10-8, 10-10, 9-7 (against dealer 6), etc. so the count is usually negative.  If a player stands after three or more cards, there's usually a 2 thru 6 in there, often more than one, so the count is usually positive.

Through simulation, general averages could possibly be determined; for example, hypothetically, Two cards = -0.75; Three cards = +0.6, Four cards = +1.8, Five or more cards = +3.25.

I'm envisioning a system where instead of counting +1, -1 as each card gets dealt, you begin with a negative "x" count (under the assumption that each player will use exactly 2 cards), and then increase the count by "y" for each card beyond the second that any player receives, regardless of its value.

Edited to add: This would be a cumulative count, and at the beginning of each new hand you'd continue by again subtracting "x" from your current count.

Could such a system provide enough advantage to be useful to a beginner?  Thank you very much.


texts: Can I block enemy's port if my navy is on the sea sector next to a factory zone?

texts:
No House Rules

So lets say I have a navy as the Japanese on the american port of western america.

Is that port now blocked? Or does America have to build its navy at the other factory or build a navy on that sea zone and go into instant battle?.

I don't see going into an instant battle being realistic to the game rules because that's not the attack phase.


texts: If I play two or more Aura of Silence or have them active at the same time, do my opponent's spells cost an additional 4, 6, or more mana?


texts: When I cast an encoded cipher spell, can I encode the copy on another creature?

texts: When my creature successfully attacks with an encoded cipher card attached, does the copy also have cipher? Wouldn't I be able to encode the copy of the original spell onto a new creature, having 2 creatures encoded, 1 from the original cipher and 1 from the encoded copy?


texts: There are a few cards that allow you to exile cards and then cast them later (Narset, Enlightened Master for example). After a spell cast this way resolves, does it go back into exile, or does it resolve normally including being placed in its owner's graveyard? (assuming nothing else effects where it would go after being cast)


texts: Can you get infinite turns with this 2 card combo?

texts: Lets say I have imprinted Medomai the Ageless on the Mimic Vat, have at least 3 mana and an opponent wide open for attacks. Do I get unlimited turns?


texts: On my opponent's turn, during main phase 2, I Quicken a Seize the Day. My opponent gets an additional combat phase, correct? One of my friends is convinced that the caster of the Seize the Day "controls" the extra combat, and so can attack on an opponents turn, but I'm pretty sure this is not the case. Clarification?


texts: Can you discard inactive jobs in Firefly

texts:
When you deal during your action and you finish having more then 3 inactive jobs in your hand, can you choose 3 to keep from all of your jobs or no ?

Game rules are not clear about this and in something that looks like unofficial game FAQ it looks like you can do that.


texts: What do I use the curse and coin randomizer cards for?

texts:
I have the big box Dominion which includes Prosperity and Alchemy. It came with randomizer (purple-backed distinct) cards for curses and coins. What are these used for?

I understand the Kingdom randomizer cards can be used for playing with unknown Kingdom cards sets.


texts: Is bringing packs that have a higher chance of a mythic rare to a draft cheating?

texts:
There is an issue with US Eldritch Moon booster boxes so that all of the mythic rares in a box are in a single artwork.

My LGS has a policy where you may bring your own packs and only pay a table fee. Last week I won 3 packs, which I decided to save for the next draft. One of the other players opened their prize packs from the same box and with the same art as mine to find they contain a mythic rare.

Now that I know there is a good chance there is a mythic rare card in at least one of my prize packs, does using these packs with this knowledge constitute cheating?


texts: The rules states that you cannot have two of the same conditions.  You can take a debt condition to gain two additional successes on your influence test to gain assets from the reserve. Thus if you already have a debt, does that mean that you automatically gain two additional successes for each gain asset actions?


texts: I've got a Weldfast Monitor, an Artifact Creature — Lizard. For one mana, it "gains menace".  What does "gains menace" mean?


texts: What's the name of the type of expansion set "packs" that MTG players can buy at release events?

texts:
I've heard that MTG vendors can have release events for expansion sets.  During these events, players can spend a relatively small amount (say, $20 bucks) and get a collection of cards from that set (enough to build a deck or two).

What is the name for these value sets?  It seems like they're somewhere between a booster pack and a booster box in size. Can they only be purchased at release events?


texts:
So far, we have always played under the assumption that you can play an extra action/minion before playing the standard one. Another player just challenged that interpretation claiming, "it's not an 'extra' until you've played the normal one first."

Can you play an extra action/minion before playing the standard one?


texts: Which Experts Seem to Interchange Trumps and Points in Bridge Bidding?

texts:
Most bridge players know that you can make a major suit game with combined partnership holdings of 26 points and eight trumps. (Plus the absence of "bad breaks" in trumps, finesses, etc.).

My observation is that one usually can also make such a game with 23 points and nine trumps and 20 points and ten trumps. Put another way, an extra trump is worth a king.
(Take 40 HCP divided by 13 tricks= 3 1/13 HCP per trick. One "long" trump is worth a trick, by definition.)

I believe this is the basis of Larry Cohen's "law of total tricks." What is (Larry Cohen's) the "Law of Total Tricks" In Bridge?. Which other experts have systems that seem to follow this principle.


texts: Can a single card use Dredge multiple times?

texts: My Stinkweed Imp was in the graveyard, and I used Dredge to return it to my hand, and replayed it.  Later in the game, the imp died a second time.  Can I use Dredge on it a second time, or is Dredge a one time use?


texts:
The rules say that characters should receive scars that have an outbreak.

But how do we determine which scar the character receives? Do we choose it ourselves?


texts: Is the China Card removed from the Early War deck before the initial shuffle in Twilight Struggle?

texts:
I have just been given the 2016 edition of Twilight Struggle. Quoting the rule book ...
3.0 GAME SETUP
3.1 Shuffle the Early War cards and deal each player 8 cards.
Place "The China Card" face-up in front of the USSR player.
... so clarification is needed. Should the first sentence have been, "Remove The China Card from the Early War Deck"? If not, three possible scenarios present themselves

The USSR player is dealt the card.
The USA player is dealt the card.
The card remains in the deck.

If scenario 2, then the USA player is now short of a card. If scenario 3 then the shuffled deck has to be turned face-up in order to extract the said card.
I believe that this is how the rules ought to look:
3.0 GAME SETUP
3.1 Remove "The China Card" from the Early War cards. Shuffle the remainder of the deck and deal each player 8 cards. Place "The China Card" which was previously removed, face-up in front of the USSR player.


texts: If I deal multiple types of damage, do I need to deal them in the order listed?

texts:
Consider a power like Fanatic's "Exorcism":

  Fanatic deals 1 target 1 melee damage and 1 radiant damage.

Can I choose to deal the radiant damage before the melee damage? Or do I have to deal the melee damage first because it is listed first? This would be important if I have an effect that deals bonus damage to the next damage that I deal, and one of the two damage types is preferred.


texts: What's the proper etiquette when a Euchre trick is earned?

texts:
When a team has 3 tricks and the other scores a trick, you can throw in all the cards because you know the team of 3 tricks will get one point only. There is no sense playing out the final trick. I have played both ways and do not have a preference as long as everybody is consistent.

What's the best way to determine the "speed" at which the game is played?


texts: Spend mana as though it were mana of any color and Sunburst/Converge

texts:
There are some effects that allow players to spend mana as though it were mana of any color, e.g. Mycosynth Lattice.

  ... Players may spend mana as though it were mana of any color.

There are also cards that care about the colors of mana spent to cast them, notably Sunburst/Converge, and some others. e.g. Azorius Herald.

  When Azorius Herald enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless {U} was spent to cast it.

If I cast an Azorius Herald with {G}{G}{G}, can I spend it 'as though' it was {W}{U}{U} or similar, so that I don't have to sacrifice it?


texts:
Just a quick question to be sure we are playing the right way.

Is getting a Great Hall by playing Ironworks let you draw a card and play another action since the Great Hall is both an action card and a victory card?

Reminder:

Ironworks

Action
cost 4
Gain a card costing up to 4 Coins. If it is an Action
card, +1 Action; Treasure card, +1; Victory card, +1 Card.

Great Hall

Action - Victory
cost 3
+1 Card, +1 Action, 1 VP


texts: Why are stones placed with index and middle finger?

texts:
I have read that stones should be picked out of the bowl and placed on the board by pinching them between the tips of the index and middle finger. This seems to be a long-standing tradition.

Is this standard around the world? Why is this grip used instead of the more obvious thumb and  index finger grip?


texts: What happens when Mathas, Fiend Seeker's bounty counters go away and come back again?

texts:
Mathas, Fiend Seeker is a new Commander card with this ability:

  At the beginning of your end step, put a bounty counter on target creature an opponent controls. For as long as that creature has a bounty counter on it, it has “When this creature dies, each opponent draws a card and gains 2 life.”

A Gatherer ruling clarifies I can pick the same creature multiple times, and it stacks:

  If Mathas’s ability resolves two separate times targeting the same creature, that creature will have two instances of the triggered ability. Each triggers separately when that creature dies.

This regularly means I can pick the same creature three times, and when it dies, each opponent will draw 3 cards and gain 6 life. (The extra bounty counters are redundant -- it just needs to keep at least one.)

However, what happens to those triggered abilities if all of the bounty counters vanish, and then later the same creature is bountied again?

Let's consider this scenario:

I place a bounty on someone's Charging Badger. It gets a bounty counter, and acquires a new triggered ability: “When this creature dies, each opponent draws a card and gains 2 life.”
Someone else plays plays Aether Snap, Thief of Blood, or Vampire Hexmage — the bounty counters vanish. If Charging Badger dies now, nobody draws cards or gains life, that's OK.
When it's my turn again, I bounty the exact same Charging Badger a second time. It gets a bounty counter, and acquires a new triggered ability (again): “When this creature dies, each opponent draws a card and gains 2 life.”
That Charging Badger finally dies.

How many bounties trigger then? Do we draw 1 card and gain 2 life (from one bounty), or draw 2 cards and gain 4 life (from two bounties)?

I can see this mechanically working out two different ways and I'm not sure which one's accurate:

We draw 1 card and gain 2 life: in step 2, the Charging Badger's bounty triggered ability vanished. In step 3, it gets one back, but it's as if it's never been bountied before.
We draw 2 cards and gain 4 life: in step 2, the bounty triggered ability just became sort-of-not-there in some way. In step 3, when the Charging Badger gets a bounty counter again, the previously-there triggered ability also comes back along with the new one we just placed there.


texts:
I found Rally the Righteous, and I'm wondering: are the creatures (after the first) being targeted to untap and does that affect heroic creatures?

And if I untap a multicoloured creature, like Anax and Cymede, does it effect red and white creatures or only red white creatures?


texts: When a creature comes back to the battlefield from the graveyard, does it trigger its abilities?

texts: I'm talking of course about abilities that trigger "when entering the battlefield". For instance the Channeler Initiate is returned from the graveyard, does it require to put 3 -1/-1 counters?


texts: Who takes the trick in All Five (variant of All Fours) if the 10 and Ace are played from the trump suit?

texts:
Who takes the trick in All Five (a variant of All Fours) if the 10 and Ace are played from the trump suit?

The Ace has 4 pts but the 10 has 10 points. The rules say that the Ace is the highest ranking card. I am confused.


texts: Are card modifications from Continuous cards thought of as "effects" - what happens to them?

texts:
I'm trying to determine what happens to modified cards when the Continuous card in question is destroyed.

From the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia;

Continuous Monster Effects (Japanese: 永続効果 Eizoku Kōka) are a type of monster effect that is active as long as the monster is face-up on the field (although some don't have any effect until certain requirements are met), and don't disappear until the monster is no longer face-up on the field.

Which monster? The monster that has the effect or the monster that affected it?

I'm assuming the former.

Example card:

NIGHTMARE PENGUIN

Description: All face-up WATER monsters you control gain 200 ATK. When this card is flipped face-up: Target 1 card your opponent controls; return that target to the hand.

What happens to the other monsters when this card is destroyed?

I'm assuming that when this card is destroyed, the monsters that were modified by this card would reset or be negated.

The text is rather unclear about this and only refers to "effects".
Is a card modification a type of "effect"?

Thanks


texts: Claiming a route using only locomotives in Ticket to Ride

texts: Are you able to claim the route between Little Rock and New Orleans using only locomotive cards.


texts: Does the bonus die for Captain of the Guard's Battle Steed ability have to be assigned a target color before the roll?

texts:
One of the new heroes in Expansion #1 is Captain of the Guard, and he gets a bonus die when initiating attack in a new location. Does this extra die have to be assigned to a color of minion on that location?

For instance, I move to a location with 1 red and 1 blue minion, I can roll 1 red and 1 blue die, plus 1 bonus (assume I choose a green die for my bonus). If this is my roll: Red 3; Blue 2; Green 5.  Can I use the green die to eliminate the blue minion? Can I  choose after the roll, or do I have to assign a color to my bonus before the roll?

The Elf Lord character has a similar bonus, but has to choose before the roll. The Captain of the Guard character card does not specify. We played a game last night with both of these characters, and for the Elf Lord, he chose before the roll. For the Captain, I used my bonus die as a wild card and assigned it based on the roll results. I want to know of I played correctly or not.

I am looking for official errata or clarification from the game designer. I've been told it exists, but have not found it for this question.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Take Back Turns / Forgotten Privileges

I recently played and during my final turn, I placed five roads to reclaim the Longest Road. However, I quickly realized that I could place two roads and a settlement elsewhere which would break up the Longest Road, let me reclaim Longest Road, and give me the additional one point for the settlement that I needed for victory. So - I rerouted two of my roads, took back three brick and three lumber from the bank, and made a settlement. 10 points - victory. Was this legit, or is a road laid a road played? I assume from my guilt that it is not legit, but wanted to check with the pros. I didn't pass the dice and then realize my mistake. This was all pretty immediate. Had I only done it to begin with, there wouldn't be the guilt.


texts: Does an enter-the-battlefield effect count the permanent that created the ability?

texts:
Filigree Angel has an ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield, which has you gain 3 life for each artifact you control.

It is itself an artifact creature. If I have no other artifacts on the battlefield when it comes into play, do I gain 3 life?


texts:
My understanding is that artifacts and equipment are permanents. When playing the Ring of Valkas, it states that at the beginning of every upkeep you can add a +1/+1 counter to equipped creature. My confusion is the ability to equip the creature says to "Equip only as a sorcery".

My Understanding is sorcery only lasts until the end of the turn. With that said, how would the creature be equipped at the start of your upkeep to receive the +1/+1 counter? Also would the creature lose the +1/+1 counter at the end of your turn?

EDIT:
Actually I think I may have read the sorcery definition incorrectly which is what is confusing my understanding.


texts: What happens when each player has to draw a card with no cards left in their library?

texts:
So I was wondering, if all players had no cards in their library and you cast a card like Skyscribing that makes everyone draw a card, does this make the game a draw  or is there a draw order and one person wins?

I think it has the same order as resolving like Living Death but I would like to get this cleared.


texts: If Soulflayer is returned to play from your graveyard, does it retain abilities it was granted?

texts:
The abilities for Soulflayer are...

  Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for 1.)

  If a creature card with flying was exiled with Soulflayer's delve ability, Soulflayer has flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, reach, trample, and vigilance.

...but if you play the card and exile a creature with Flying using Delve, then Soulflayer is put into your graveyard, then you return Soulflayer to the battlefield will Soulflayer still have flying?