texts: Tools to test surface control mechanics by computer

texts:
I'm currently working on designing a board game involving capturing and controlling points on a surface and was wondering if there are ways to test my rules in an application. I've been playing many rounds and it seems to do what I want it to do but I'd like to put 2 computers at it against each other and see if one manages to win.

There seems to be such tools for deck building games as outlined here:
What is a quick way to test or simulate card strategies for deck building games?

So my guess is maybe there are other similar tools for testing surface control, like something that could be populated with the rules of chess or checkers for example. Does this exist?


texts:
Can creatures with Undying or Persist escape from Grave Betrayal?

  702.78a Persist is a triggered ability. "Persist" means "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had no
  -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it."

  702.92a Undying is a triggered ability. "Undying" means "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had no
  +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it."


texts: Brushfire Side Mission - Counting Distance through walls

texts:
In this mission, the Rebel characters are tasked with disarming explosives that are around the map. The Mission Briefing has a special rule: "If the character is Fenn Signis or within 3 squares of Fenn," they can disarm the explosives and use them to help destroy an AT-ST that is also in this mission.

My question is that should we take in to account walls (black lines on the tiles) when calculating whether or not we are 3 squares away?


texts: When there are multiple "enters the battlefield" effects but "lasts until end of turn" is said once, do they all last until end of turn?

texts:
For example, Cavalry Drillmaster has two enters the battlefield effects separated with an and:

  When Cavalry Drillmaster enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.

Do both effects last until the end of the turn or just first strike? Where is this defined in the rules?


texts:
Custom Heroes is a new game (2017), and I need some clarification, if you were a playtester, rules writer, or game designer for it.

An Ascended Form can be played to beat any previous play. The rulebook example says "After an ascended form is used, play continues around the table as normal, though only another ascended form may beat a previously played ascended form ...."

It's the word normal that puzzles me. Is it simply referring to the order of play, or does it mean that the ascended form is like a wild card, but after that players can return to the basic pattern, for example

four 8s
ascended form
four 9s

I don't believe that's what it means, but if not, then playing an ascended form will quickly terminate that round/pile. It would be a power play to try to force the ascended forms into the shuffle.  Is that the idea?


texts: Do Get Out of Jail Free cards "have value"?

texts:
When going bankrupt in Monopoly the rules state that you must either turn over to that player all that you have of value and retire from the game if going bankrupt thanks to another player, or turn over all assets to the Bank if going bankrupt thanks to the Bank.

Versions of the game with Rules for a Short Game state that after the second player goes bankrupt:

  Each remaining player then values his/her property.

  Cash on hand
  Lots, Utilities and Railroads owned, at the price printed on the board.
  Any mortgaged property owned, at one-half the price printed on the board.
  Houses, valued at purchase price.
  Hotels, valued at purchase price including the value of the
  three houses turned in.

  The richest player wins.

This mentions nothing about Get Out of Jail Free cards.

Despite being a sell-able item, do these not have "value"?
If not, do these get returned to the board after a player retires from the game with one or both in their possession?


texts:
Time Vault has the following ability:

  Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step.

Is Seedborn Muse able to untap Time Vault?


texts: What is a quick way to test or simulate card strategies for deck building games?

texts:
Dominion is the specific example I would like to play with but this certainly applies to any game that involves decks of cards being shuffled and drawn.

I often see references to various simulations that people have run or built to test theories but whenever I dig through their code I seem to discover their simulation was custom-built for one or two test cases.

The question I am asking: How are people making these simulations so quickly? I assume that there are a few preferred (or common) ways to do this seeing how many times I see people talking about their simulations. What is a good starter kit for me to learn how to do my own?

Answers that will help: Specific languages, libraries, helpful mathematic formulae, links to projects, and typical pitfalls to avoid.


texts:
I've heard of a rule where if the same move sequence is repeated 3 times (6 moves total) the game ends in a stale mate.

Is this a de facto rule or a convention adopted outside the formal rules?


texts: Returning agents to pool in in Waterdeep Harbor phase

texts:
If I move an agent from Waterdeep Harbour and complete a quest which allows me to return agents to my pool, can I assign those agents again this round?

If so, can these agents be placed in the harbour?


texts: MTG Cards that interact with each other by name

texts: So I know that Bogbrew Witch, Festering Newt and Bubbling Cauldron all name each other in their rules text and I was wondering if there are any other cards that do this as well. How can I find more cards like that? (A list would certainly be useful, but how to find them would be even more useful.)


texts: Can Aesop's Pawnshop Remove Wyldside before the start-of-turn resolves?

texts:
Aesop's Pawnshop
When your turn begins, you may trash another of your installed cards to gain 3 [credits].

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

Questions:

If I wish to use Aesop's Pawnshop to trash Wyldside, which one happens first?
Could you stop Wyldside from activating it's start of turn action by Aesop's Pawnshop -ping it?


texts: Do Collective Restraint and Nylea's Presence work together in a non-5-color EDH deck?

texts: Say I have a four-color commander deck that includes blue and green. I have a Collective Restraint on the field and I cast Nylea's Presence on one of my lands. Do my opponents need to pay 5 to attack me now, even though my deck is missing a color of mana?


texts:
Here is a scenario that happened to my friend and I last night: we were playing Carcassonne with extensions 2 (builder & cie) and 8 (bazaar & cie). My friend was adding tiles to a castle he owned. His builder was in his castle as well. At some point, he picked a tile (let's call it tile A) which had a bazaar on it and he added it to his castle. Then we made the bid with two tiles and he was left with a tile (tile B) which he added to its castle with a builder.

The rule state that for tile A, one must wait after the bid related tiles have been placed to pick the builder bonus tile. However, the rules state nothing for tile B.

Should my friend have picked yet another builder bonus tile for tile B?


texts: Can I get multiple effects from Alhammarrett, High Arbiter when using Brago, King Eternal's ability?

texts:
I'm playing a commander deck with Brago, King Eternal as commander. I also have this card called Alhammarret, High Arbiter I'm considering adding to the deck.
If I cast the arbiter, chose a spell (let's say Shock) and then blink it via Brago's ability, I know I can choose another spell (maybe Goblin Locksmith), but can I have both Shock and Goblin Locksmith 'blocked' at the same time? Does the effect on shock disappear when the arbiter blinks, limiting to one spell 'blocked' at once?


texts: Is it possible to get 3 success markers on an unopposed story?

texts:
Played my first game of Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game the other day and I was able to get 3 success tokens out of the 5 required from my first story due to the other player not having any characters on the board.

I played a character that had one investigator icon, which means he wins the investigation struggle and gets a success token, and then he wins another success token for having the most skill, and then the third for the story being unopposed.

Is this correct? Would you still get three tokens even though the character does not have an investigation icon?


texts: Are there cards which work differently on Ink-Treader Nephilim depending on who controls it?

texts: Are there any cards I could play on Ink-Treader Nephilim that would act differently based on who had control of the creature, for that matter, are there any cards in the game that do this at all?


texts:
How do the cards "The Silver Key" and "The Shining Trapezohedron" from Lovecraft Letter interact with each other? Specifically, if you are not insane and have both cards in your hand, do you need to discard both of them?

The rules for both cards state:"If you ever have the Silver Key/Shining Trapezohedron and another card, that has a number higher than 4, in your hand, you must discard the Silver Key/Shining Trapezohedron." Both cards have a value of 7, so they seem to trigger their abilities respectively and you need to discard both of them, thus losing the round.

There is no mention of an order of play within your turn or any specific rule in the book. I also looked around on the Internet and didn't find anything concerning this interaction.


texts: What is the best resource for Card Trays?

texts:
I'm looking for some card trays for a game I've been designing.

Ideally, they would be six-slot trays that hold standard playing card sized cards.
In my mind, they are similar in appearance and quality to the trays that are used to hold money in monopoly.  I've found some things that are similar, but nothing exactly like that.
I'd need one for each player.

Any recommended resources for something like that?
My best solution right now is pillaging thrift store games.

This could be expanded into a broader question -
what are the best websites and box stores for buying game-making materials?

Something like this tray is what I'm looking for:


texts:
The Wikipedia page is kind of vague on when the different board designs were produced.

I’d like to know more specifically when the original 4-player board with a backing was replaced by the folding 6-player board that did not have a backing?

Also, does anyone have photos or recall for sure what color was the face of the board?  I do recall that the outside edges of the side of the box were a sort of pale gold.

Did it come with a specific color and size of die?  I recall a transparent green die but that might not have been original.


texts: Does it make sense for a defender to occasionally adopt a slightly inferior line in order to "mix up" the play?

texts:
Here's the original question that inspired this one: It was about whether West should lead a short major instead of a long, weak minor when the opponents failed to find a fit using Stayman. A number of people weighed in with both statistical and experiential analysis of why the long weak suit was (somewhat) better. That result doesn't surprise me.

Even so, does it make sense to lead the spade one or two times out of ten in order to confuse declarers that are accustomed to West's leading long suits? Meaning that a declarer might be led to "finesse" into the East hand or make other misplays? Plus the fact that doubt is then cast on his ability to read West's hand in general.

Making the occasional "suboptimal" play is a staple of poker for "bluffing purposes." (If you are bluffing, you are making an inferior play and hoping to "get away" with it. And if you are "caught," your opponents can't be sure that you are playing "honestly" next time.) Is there anything that stands in the way of doing this in bridge?


texts: Can I build on a different tile to the one I terraform?

texts:
In a game I played recently, there was an adjacent territory that was my home terrain that I wanted to build a dwelling on, but also the bonus for that round was terraforming, so I wanted to do a terraform on a separate tile as well.

Am I allowed to do that as Action #1?

On a related note - I take the two spades power action - can I use it to terraform two different tiles?


texts: Behavior of Linked Abilities if their Source Object Changes Zones

texts:
I have Karn Liberated with 20 loyalty counters.  I have exiled an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with Karn.  I activate Karn's -14 ability:

  −14: Restart the game, leaving in exile all non-Aura permanent cards exiled with Karn Liberated. Then put those cards onto the battlefield under your control.

In response, my opponent casts Beast Within targeting Karn to destroy him.

When the game is restarted, do I have Emrakul?

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

Since cards stop tracking other cards when they change zones, does Karn's ability use the cards that were tracked by Karn when the ability was activated or when the ability resolves?  If it is the later, then presumably the same thing happens when Karn's ability is activated when he has exactly 14 loyalty counters and is destroyed as a result of the activation.

What if Karn is targeted with Flicker instead?


texts: Why does Wizards of the Coast print terrible MTG cards?

texts:
I understand that there needs to be a wide variety of power levels in Magic: The Gathering. Even bad cards will see play in limited formats, some because they fill a specific niche (flying removal, fat colorless flyer, providing a counter to certain decks), and others because those decks can't afford to be too picky. However, some cards are just unforgivably terrible. I'm talking about cards that you would only run in sealed if you had absolutely no other options:

Mindless Null: Black 2/2 for 3 with a big disadvantage

Defensive Stance: literally does nothing in exchange for you getting card disadvantage

Merfolk of the Depths: Would still be bad if it only costed 5...

Archangel's Light: 8 mana just to gain some life and put cheap cards back into your deck. And it's a mythic rare....

There are many more examples, but I think these best illustrate my case. Obviously I'd rather have these cards in the game than not have them at all, but I feel like Wizards of the Coast could have made Magic a more enjoyable game just by keeping the flavor and making all of these cards a tiny bit better...yet they didn't. Why?


texts: Is bribing off the robber a good addition to Settlers of Catan?

texts:
When I play Settlers of Catan with my family we sometimes allow bribing of the person placing the robber to not place it in a particular spot.  Does anyone else play this way and if so do you find this a net benefit to the game?

Clarification: This is a house rule and we realize it is not part of the normal rules.  The question is more to determine whether anyone else plays this way or not.


texts: Picking up multiple dropped objects following death or toad-ification in Talisman (4th ed.)

texts:
As I understand it, if a player is turned into a Toad they instantly drop all their followers, objects and gold on their current space.  Similarly if a character dies.

If a player lands on that space, do they have their choice of a single item (f/o/g) to pick up, or can they can they pick up multiple things, say, a follower and 2 gold pieces?

Moreover, do they have to encounter the space first, or the cards?  Sometimes a card may be helpful for handling the encounter, so the order is important.

There is a short description in the rules section called "Encountering a space - other spaces" but it is not clear to me what the ordering of events is, or whether "any f/o/g may be taken" means any amount, or any single thing.


texts: Risk Legacy "Riots" event card is ambigious

texts:
The "Riots" card has three ambiguities:

Do the troops that get removed have to die in the "major city" territory or just from anywhere controlled by that player? Can the last troop in a territory get removed in this way?
If a player owns two major cities, do the troops on both major cities count towards the total, or just one of them, or each of them independently?
If a player owns two major cities and has an HQ on one of them, does the HQ get destroyed, or is it possible to consider the other major city as the "territory" in question?


texts: If Soulflayer exiles a Winged Sliver from the graveyard via delve does it gain flying?

texts:
Soulflayer has delve and reads

  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.

Winged Sliver reads

  All Sliver creatures have flying.

My question is... does Soulflayer gain flying if a Winged Sliver that was in the graveyard is exiled?


texts: How can I get rid of indestructible creatures with a Red and White deck?

texts: I am creating a Red-White commander deck using Gisela as my commander.  I noticed that my deck is incredibly weak against a deck with any sort of indestructible creature.  I know of the board sweeper Terminus, but I was wondering if red/white has any other tricks up its sleeve to get rid of tricky creatures.  I'm looking for both sweepers and target-specific cards.


texts: Are there any websites for keeping score of various boardgames?

texts:
My friends and I are pretty competitive.  We play a lot of various games with various scoring systems used by each (i.e. 7-wonders, Catan, Dominion, etc...).

Does anybody know of any website or system that can be used for keeping track of who won which game and by how much?  Doesn't need to be applicable to all games, but would be nice to keep a record.


texts: How does "it's still a land" affect a permanent that would not otherwise be lands?

texts:
The situation: I have a creature, and my opponent casts an Imprisoned in the Moon on it, which has this ability:

  Enchanted permanent is a colorless land with "{T}: Add Colorless to your mana pool" and loses all other card types and abilities.

Then I cast a card with Awaken (perhaps Coastal Discovery) and choose to Awaken that land. The Awaken ability has this text:

  If this spell’s awaken cost was paid, put N +1/+1 counters on target land you control. That land becomes a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste. It’s still a land.

After that, I remove the Imprisoned in the Moon. At this point, there is just one relevant continuous effect applied to the creature:

  It is a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste. It's still a land.

So, is the creature also a land, or is it just a creature? In other words, does the "it's still a land" clause actually change the permanent's type, or does it just mean that it retains any existing types


texts: Does Doubling Season creates attacking tokens with Hanweir Garrison?

texts:
I have a doubt about the interaction between Doubling Season (or the more recent Anointed Procession) and cards creating attacking tokens, like Hanweir Garrison or Hero of Bladehold.

I know that token-copying abilities like Populate wouldn't carry over attacking state.

If I'm understanding it right, Doubling Season's ability is a replacement effect, meaning the "extra" token(s) are still created by the original effect, carrying over any additional effect it would give them.

In that case, an attacking Hanweir Garrison with a Doubling Season on the battlefield would create 4 tokens, all tapped and attacking.

Is this interaction working that way ? If it does, is there a specific rule about it, apart from general replacement effect rules ?


texts: Thematic relevance of credits when icebreaking

texts: I find Android: Netrunner to be one of the most thematically rich games I've ever played. The role of credits is obvious in many of the interactions and mechanics; in the game, much like in real life, everything costs money. One major use for credits, however, I find thematically elusive: the runner spends credits to strengthen their icebreaker programs and break subroutines. Much of the core action in the game, running on servers, comes down to whether the runner has made enough money and can afford to turn it into a successful run. How does this use for money make sense, in-world?


texts: When casting a spell with Cascade, when do the exiled cards go on the bottom of the library?

texts: Say I cast Bituminous Blast and with cascade I exile Angrath, the Flame-Chained then Vampiric Tutor. Can I use Vampiric Tutor to search for Angrath, or is Angrath still exiled until Vampiric Tutor resolves?


texts: Improve the Power of creatures in the graveyard?

texts:
So I have a deck that relies a lot on the Scavenge1 mechanic, and I was wondering if there was a good, effective way to improve the Power of creatures in the graveyard, so that I get more +1/+1 counters when I Scavenge it.

I already have Corpsejack Menace for +1/+1 multiplication, but it struck me as a neat idea to be able to pump up the Power of, e.g., Slitherhead to get more “free” +1/+1 counters. I’m playing Standard (as of writing, Return to Ravnica, M14, and Theros), but I’d be happy to hear about cards in other formats that work. I’d appreciate markings of the legal formats for any card suggestions, since I’m kind of new to Magic and am not familiar with older blocks.

1 Creature ability: pay a cost and exile the creature from the graveyard, add a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the creature’s Power to another creature.


texts: I've played this game several times, but I am still confused when it comes to supply and the amount of armies you can have. Are you allowed to go over your army limit, but when a supply card comes up, you just have to diminish your armies? For example, if I am playing as Lannister and I start the game with 2 supply which means I can have one army of 3 and two armies of 2, am I allowed to have an army of 4, but go down to three if the supply card comes up?


texts: How much strategic depth is there in Quarriors?

texts:
I've played Quarriors a few times and I love Dominion.  The one game of Quarriors that I won, I just happened to roll my monsters attack side up many times in a row, I didn't make any coherent plans nor perform any tactical countering of my opponents.  This has me worried about the lack of depth in Quarriors.

How much depth is there to Quarriors?  Do good players analyze a board and come up with good, kingdom-specific combos?  How often do you pass up buys for the most expensive cards for something that better fits in your deck?


texts:
Can you build a stage of your wonder with resources from yellow cards?

Or only with brown and gray cards


texts: Can the pirate be placed on the edge of the board?

texts: In "The Seafarers of Catan" the pirate can be used to steal resources from another player by putting him on a hex adjacent to one of their ships. Is it also allowed to place the pirate on the water frame around the edge of the board? In certain circumstances this is the only water next to a player's ships.


texts: In Bridge, What is the Merit of Taking a "Double" Finesse?

texts:
Suppose I am declarer, and dummy has a "side" (non-trump) suit with AQx or AQxx, and I have xxx in my hand. I have been told NOT to finesse the Q (a 50-50 chance), except as a last resort, or late in hand. (And to "refuse" the finesse, probably taking the ace, if that suit is led in say, a NT contract).

Change dummy a bit to AQTxx. Now I'm told that I have a double finesse, because I am finessing against both the K and J. In such instances, I have been told that I SHOULD finesse (assuming that going twice to my hand to lead doesn't cause problems elsewhere). If the KJ are both with LHO, I win twice, if both with RHO, I lose twice, but most likely, I win one and lose one because the honors are split. If the opponents have a 3-2 split (a 68% chance), I can treat the lost finesse as a "ducking" play, and run the suit for four tricks after I clear it with the ace.

What makes the "double" finesse so much better than the "simple" finesse? Is it because the extra card in dummy might allow me to win a fourth (long) trick? Or is it because I have a second potential stopper in dummy if the first finesse fails? Is it in the double finesse I PROBABLY win once, whereas in the simple finesse I POSSIBLY win once?  Or have I been given the wrong advice about double finesses?


texts: In Catan Jr, what happens when a resource is gone and players should receive more of it?

texts:
When playing Catan Junior, if all the resources from a stockpile get handed out but more are needed, what happens?

For example, if a player rolls to receive a wood resource but none are left, or multiple players should receive the same resource but there are not enough available for everybody.


texts: In Puerto Rico, When should I NOT take a Quarry when I have the opportunity to?

texts:
It's fairly easy to choose between the different plantations when the settler phase comes around as you just have to evaluate which you have the production capacity for or which you would be able to buy the production capacity for, and take into account what other goods you can produce and what other players can. However, Quarries are a little different, and sometimes I find it difficult to choose if I should take one or not. Here's some rules I use:

If I don't have 2 quarries yet and there's at least 4 builder phases left.
If there's no plantations I want.
If there aren't many left and I want to deny another player the privilege of having one.
Only take a 3rd or 4th Quarry if it will make a big difference in being able to get a very valuable building, usually from the third or fourth tier.

What rules do you use when determining if you should take a Quarry? What are the most notable situations when you should NOT take a Quarry when you are able to?


texts:
While in Japan recently, a Japanese colleague taught me an excellent card game.

It involved a standard 52 card deck, and the game play proceeded like Uno in that each player could lay a card whose suit or number matched the top card on the discard pile.  However, the most important difference is that in this game your opponent can not end on a card which matches with any of the following operations on your cards: average, sum, geometric average, difference (2 cards) multiple, etc.  In addition, many of the cards have special meanings such as reverse, opponent shows cards, draw two, etc.

My colleague told me that this was a common game for him and his school mates during high school.  I've spent a while googling, and I can't seem to come up with the name or official rules.

What is the name of the game?  What are the official rules?


texts: Can I advance an agenda over it's scoring cost?

texts: Say, can I put 3 advancement tokens on Hostile Takeover?


texts:
Specifically, we are running into the following points of contention:

When a piece is removed, do you have to place it neatly on top to build a new complete layer, or can you build incomplete layers?
Are you allowed to remove and/or place tiles with both hands?


texts: Sundial of the Infinite and "Sacrifice at the end of turn"

texts:
The card Sundial of the Infinite allows you to abruptly end your turn.

What effect does Sundial of the Infinite have on cards like Incandescent Soulstroke which the card states

  "Sacrifice it at end of turn"

but gatherer.wizards.com states

  "Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step"

Would this creature still have to be sacrificed? And why the discrepancy between what the card actually says and what the rules text is on gatherer?


texts: Doom: The Boardgame Scenario Guide for download?

texts:
Does anyone know if the Scenario Guide for Doom: The Boardgame is available somewhere for download in English? Unfortunately it is not on the Fantasy Flight archive page.

I've got the game in German, but want to play it with an English speaker, and with the original Scenario Guide it would be much easier than translating myself.


texts: Is there an action window to trigger abilities once the point limit has been reached?

texts:
If the runner access an agenda which gives them enough points to win the game, but the corporation is Jinteki and deals 1 net damage as a result which is enough to kill the player and win the game, which side wins?

I think that the general rules on triggered abilities and simultaneous actions state that the player who's turn it is can resolve the order, but it isn't clear if this applies to win conditions as well. This would mean the runner wins in this situation, is that correct?


texts: When to choose what colors I will play and vary my picks accordingly?

texts:
In the first round of a draft, I usually just pick the best card from every pack. After that I look at what I've picked, try to pick good on-color card in the second pack, and pick whatever my deck needs in the last round.

I've noticed in some of the commentated drafts I've watched online that the players often establish their colors by the fifth pick and then avoid picking anything off-color unless its a ridiculous bomb. For example, if you open something like a Sorin or Garruk on the third pack, you should probably pick it whether its on color of off-color unless there's some amazing uncommon that would work perfectly with the cards you've picked so far. Aside from monetary reasons, its often worth splashing just for that one card, and at the very least you deprive some one else of an ideal bomb. Otherwise they remain faithfully on color no matter what passes by.

When should I determine what colors I'm playing in an MTG draft? Should I try to start staying only on color as early as the middle of the first pack, or what until the beginning or even middle of the second pack? If I pick early I get a wider variety of card in my color, but I may end up not playing another color/deck that could be far better due to my narrow-mindedness. How can I establish a successful balance between these two?


texts: What are the possible archetypes in Innistrad draft?

texts:
Assuming Innistrad-Innistrad-Innistrad in a booster draft, what are the potential archetypes a player could draft?

For a reference, see Alex P's answer to another quetion here


texts: Need help with keeping track of +1/+1 counters on a large amount of creatures

texts:
I have a problem keeping track of counters on my cards. For example, I have too many things to keep counters on and would prefer not to use dice.
I tried using paper but there is too much to keep track of.


texts: How do Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and Vigor work together in Magic the Gathering?

texts: Say I have  Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and Vigor on the battlefield and Vigor dies. Lazav's ability triggers and I have him become a copy of Vigor. Does he now apply Vigor's ability to himself as well, since the ability says: "other than Vigor"?


texts: Cast spells as if they have flash - does it affect equipping?

texts:
I was reading Equipment cards and the timing of their activated ability and wondered about the Equip keyword timing.
Let's say I'm playing Vedalken Orrery (which has, You may cast spells as though they had flash) and have an artifact with Equip. I can now cast sorceries (because they are spells) at any time (because it's "as though they had flash"). Does that mean I can equip at any time?

702.6a: Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”
702.8a: Flash is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on. “Flash” means “You may play this card any time you could cast an instant.”


texts: Can Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar be cast by Aluren or by Cascade effects? (Modern Horizons 2 Spoilers)

texts:
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar is a card recently spoiled for Modern Horizons 2.

Notable on the card is a lack of an actual mana cost.  The card's first line is clearly intended for how to properly cast the card.

As long as you've discarded a card this turn you may pay [B/R] to cast this spell.

Does Aluren or cards with Cascade (Shardless Agent, for example) allow you to cast Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar?


texts: Blackjack Strategy Chart for only hitting and standing

texts: I'm try to program a blackjack strategy which makes use of a predetermined chart of moves given the dealer's upcard and the user's hand total. The version I'm implementing only allows hitting and standing — no doubling down, splitting, or surrendering. Furthermore I'm forcing the dealer to keep hitting until his total is greater than or equal to 17 — so no soft-17 rule. I've looked all over and haven't been able to find a chart that meets these specifications — could anybody help me get one? Thanks.


texts: Can I play basic attacks of an evolved Pokemon?

texts: If I have evolved a Pokemon by placing a Stage 1 or Stage 2 card on top of it, can I play attacks from the basic form?


texts: Does Silence stop working in the Cleanup step, allowing more spells to cast in the same turn when discard triggers effects?

texts:
In a recent CEDH game of Playing With Power MTG, one player played Silence during the turn of a The Gitrog Monster player. The Gitrog player then uses the Dredgmooor combo in his endstep and afterwards plays spells with the understanding that the effect of the Silence ended in the cleanup state and they can play more spells that turn.
Is this a valid play?


texts: If Blightsteel Colossus loses its abilities through an effect like Lignify, can it be put into my graveyard?

texts: If I cast Lignify on my opponent's Blightsteel Colossus and then deal 5 damage to it with one of my creatures, does it go to the graveyard since it has no abilities? Or is this ability regained once it is removed from the field since Lignify is destroyed at the same time?


texts: What are some general clues that indicate if someone is playing the role of saboteur? Obviously if player is going to put a troublesome dead end on the only path he's a saboteur. But some players are more subtle, and they come out of cover late in the game. How can I spot a saboteur early on in the game?


texts: Catan - Discarding fish to draw more from the supply

texts: In The Fishermen of Catan, if a player has 7 fish tokens and a roll would have them receive more, can they discard the ones they don't want to draw the new ones?


texts: Who draws a card from Curious Obsession?

texts: If I have enchanted an opponent's creature with Curious Obsession, which player draws the card after damage is dealt?


texts: Sake & Samurai / Beer & Vikings: Burning up spirits while being tormented

texts:
The rules for the games Sake & Samurai and Beer & Vikings allow dead players to "torment" players that are still living by stealing their Sake/Beer tokens. But any player is always allowed to "Burn up" as many Sake/Beer tokens as he likes to perform special actions.

How should any dead player ever successfully steal a token when the target of the "tormenting" can simply burn up all tokens that might be stolen?


texts: Group of three tiles containing 2 Jokers

texts:
Assume, that there is such situation:

Player A creates a group:

  [blue 8] [Joker] [Joker]

and declares, that it is a set of eights.

From this moment these Jokers should be treated as two eights, or is it possible to threat them as blue 9,10 or blue 6,7?

Also, if the declaration of eights is not valid, could these jokers be treated as blue 7,9, despite 8 is not in the middle position?


texts: If a single effect would destroy a permanent multiple times, can regeneration replace it?

texts:
Nancy controls a Runeclaw Bear enchanted by Hyena Umbra. Hyena Umbra has a regeneration shield, granted by Reknit. Anthony casts Planar Cleansing. This causes two replacement effects to apply. According to rule 616, Nancy gets to choose the order in which they apply.

  616.1. If two or more replacement effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object, the affected object's controller chooses one to apply [...]

  616.1d Once the chosen effect has been applied, this process is repeated [...]

If Nancy chooses to apply Totem Armor first, and then Regeneration Shield, does Hyena Umbra survive?


texts: What happens when I sacrifice a blocking creature?

texts:
In Magic:The Gathering it is possible to trigger abilities of creatures at the same time you can play instants?

I play it that I can block with a creature and sacrifice it at the same time. The attacking creature blocked this ways does not deal damage because the blocking creature is gone - and I get the bonus for the sacrifice (e.g. Blood Pet gives me an extra B-Mana).

In a recent discussion the topic came up again. It seems like the rulings even allow for the blocking player to wait until the damage is put on the stack. Once the damage is on the stack, I can sacrifice my creature, gain the benefits from the sacrifice ability AND deal damage to the attacking create. In my Blood Pet example I would be able to kill an attacking creature with toughness 1 and get 1 B-Mana.

Is this correct? Where can I find the official ruling that clarifies that?


texts: Am I required to shuffle my opponent's deck?

texts:
During pregame, Anthony shuffles his own deck and then presents it to his opponent, Nathan. Is Nathan obligated to shuffle Anthony's deck? Is cutting the deck acceptable? Is doing nothing acceptable?

If the answer varies for each REL, please describe how it varies. If there are penalties associated with not shuffling, please describe those penalties.


texts: With Print&Play board games, should the focus be beauty or simplicity?

texts:
Many Print & Play (P&P/PNP) board games come from a designer's desire to get people to play their game. If the intent of designing a P&P board game is getting the most people to play it, should the components be designed to look the most beautiful (full color images, art, etc.), or should the components be designed to be functional and less ink intensive (grayscale/b&w images)?

Does the need for a large amount of printed components scare too many people away? If functionality isn't affected too greatly, can substitution components be used?

Example: a randomizer without replacement (a deck of cards), with just a chart/look-up table showing what each card represents vs. creating card art and rules text for a brand new deck of cards?

Basically, do people who PNP prefer a good looking game, or a cheap and easy to create game?


texts: Efficient to Sequence - do you have to discard cards first?

texts:
The Efficient to Sequence positive mutation allows a disease to be cured as soon as one player discards the necessary number of cards

My question is, what happens if a player draws their eight card? Would they have to immediately discard a card before being allowed to cure, or can they cure immediately and keep them card they drew?


texts: Clarification of the Veto Card in El Grande

texts:
In El Grande, it is possible to collect a Veto card, which can be used to prevent a player from performing the action of the card they choose. It can be used to veto one card in the current round or the next round.

It says something like

  when a player starts to perform their action, the veto card is played, and prevents the action.

But, does the player have to explain their full action, or just their intention to use the card? For example.

If Player A has the Veto Card, and Player B decides to play the Move King card, does Player B have to make known

Their intention to move the king
Where they intend to move the king (which indeed may be to leave it where it currently is).

Or can they get away with just declaring their intention to move the king, and leave some element of doubt for Player B?


texts: Can abilities that trigger when a permanent becomes targeted trigger multiple times from the same spell?

texts:
Some abilities trigger whenever a (certain) permanent "becomes the target of a spell or ability." For example, Cephalid Illusionist says

  Whenever Cephalid Illusionist becomes the target of a spell or ability, put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.

Some spells can target the same permanent multiple times. For example, Seeds of Strength says

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

If I cast Seeds of Strength with a single Cephalid Illusionist as all 3 targets, will its ability trigger once or three times?


texts:
After my opponent chose a target creature card for Meren of Clan Nel Toth, am I able to activate The Scarab God's abilty to prevent the chosen card to return to my opponent's hand/the battlefield?
I'm assuming I can, but just want to be sure.


texts: Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Imprisoned in the moon

texts:
Following on from this conversation, what happens if we replace Icthyomorphosis with Imprisoned in the Moon in that scenario?

I think:

All Lands become all basic land types
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove becomes a land and loses all other types.
Dryad gains all basic land types to its own ability, then loses them again from Imprisoned in the Moon, due to timestamp order.
Layer 6 removes all abilities from Dryad, including any mana abilities it may have inherited from becoming all basic land types (although, as it had already resolved as non-basic in layer 4, I'm not sure that's even relevant, as it wouldn't have received those mana abilities until layer 6 anyway), and adds "t: add colourless"


texts:
When Depala, Pilot Exemplar becomes tapped you can reveal cards from your library and get some out of there:

  Whenever Depala, Pilot Exemplar becomes tapped, you may pay {X}. If you do, reveal the top X cards of your library, put all Dwarf and Vehicle cards from among them into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Does this mean that as you tap Depala to attack you search right then, even before you tap other attackers, or can you wait until say the second main phase, after combat, to pay X and then search?


texts: Is there a way to play The Generals without a referee?

texts:
I've recently introduced The Generals (a.k.a Game of the Generals) to my girlfriend's brothers. They took to the game pretty quickly and we three end up doing matches with one of us as referee or arbiter to determine who wins a battle.

However, when they want to play by themselves, they can't, because no one would arbitrate battles for them whenever their pieces clash.

I wanted to know if there is a way to play The Generals without a referee that still keeps the secrecy of the pieces whenever they battle.


texts: Can "Produce a Miracle for the Masses" be used to replace multiple cubes?

texts:
The card states:

  Once per round, whenever you take an action that provides any [white],
  you can also replace [orange], [black], or [purple] with [white].

The white cube is qualified by "any", but the text does not indicate "a cube" or "one cube", though the flavor text may imply only one:

  "Another cleric called to the cause."


texts:
There's a simple card "game" out there called War.  You take a deck of cards, shuffle it and divide it into two piles.  Both players reveal their top card, whoever has the higher card wins the round.  This continues until you run out of cards and you see who's won.  (There's a wrinkle for ties that isn't relevant here.)

During a game of War, neither player has any choice at all -- their actions are entirely predetermined by the order of the deck.

Is this a game?


texts: Do you get 2 coins from Xenophon for yellow cards put into play by Halicarnassus/Solomon?

texts:
The rules for the leader Xenophon (Leaders expansion):

  Xenophon grants 2 coins for each commercial structure (yellow card) that the player builds from this point forward. The coins are taken from the bank, at the moment when the structures are built.

  Clarifcation: Xenophon has no effect on commercial structures built before he enters play.

Do you get this 2 coins also if you use Halicarnassus or Solomon to bring a yellow card into game?

The rules (p. 8) for Halicarnassus' special ability:

  the player can look through all of the cards discarded since the beginning of the game ([…]), pick one, and build it for free.

The rules for the leader Solomon (Leaders expansion):

  Once Solomon enters play, the player can
  choose an Age card from the discard pile and
  put it in play for free.


texts:
Inspired by Ivo Beckers' comment on the answer to Is your commander still a "commander" if it gets turned face down?

If Akroma, Angel of Fury is your commander and is returned to your hand, followed by casting her as a morph creature for {3}, how is her commander status handled?

Naturally, by CR 903.3, the face-down object still is your commander. However, that fact is hidden information. Normally, if a commander has been turned face down, since everyone is permitted to know what the morphed creature was, dealing commander damage with the nameless 2/2 isn't an issue. But if the commander was cast as a morph, that doesn't help.

The most relevant specific question to this situation, I suppose, is "can you deal commander damage to your opponent without them knowing it?" (ie, connect for combat damage with the morph creature without revealing that the creature is your commander)


texts: If you have infinite life, can your life total be set to a specific number?

texts:
Earlier in the game an Infinity Elemental was given Lifelink and dealt damage, giving me infinite life. I have a Form of the Dragon in play, so that at my end step my life total becomes 5.
Rule 119.5 states

If an effect sets a player’s life total to a specific number, the player gains or loses the necessary amount of life to end up with the new total.

The ruling on Infinity Elemental states

If an Infinity Elemental you control gains lifelink and deals damage, you’ll then have infinite life. From that point on, your life total effectively can’t change. If you lose life, you’ll still be at infinite life. You can pay any amount of life and still be at infinite life. In fact, you can be hit by an opposing Infinity Elemental and still be at infinite life.

On one hand, "the necessary amount of life to end up with the new total" seems to indicate that I must end up at 5 life, but the ruling seems to indicate that not even an infinite loss of life can change my life total (infinity minus infinity being mathematically undefined aside). Which one controls?


texts: What is the maximum allowed number of repeats in a Pokémon deck?

texts:
I've realised that, when playing Pokémon, the trick to winning is to evolve your Pokémon.

This takes a bit of luck, in that you have to have the first level Pokemon on the table, then you have to have drawn its corresponding first evolve card, and then you have to have drawn its second evolve card.

So, if I want to create the ultimate Pokémon deck, I'd simply buy 5 water type decks, then assemble a deck containing 25 Totodiles, 10 Croconaws and 10 Feraligatrs. It would make for a less interesting game, but I'm guaranteed to evolve my Pokémon, and my opponent doesn't have a chance unless he does the same thing I do.

I wouldn't be the first person to have thought of this. Is there an official rule specifying the maximum number of any one Pokémon in your deck?


texts: What if a player forgot to take the noble tile?

texts: A player has all the cards to be visited by one noble, but at the end of their turn they forgot about the noble tile. If another player in their turn also have all the cards for this noble who gets the noble tile?


texts: Can I destroy a Planeswalker before its abilities are used?

texts:
If my opponent casts say an Elspeth, can I then Hero's Downfall that Planeswalker before any abilities are used?

I think my question boils down to: are planeswalker abilities sorcery or instant speed?


texts: Do permanents controlled by a player with hexproof also have hexproof?

texts:
If I have a Witchbane Orb, then I (the player) have hexproof.

Are permanents I control also hexproof? Or am I only hexproof from abilities that target me specifically?
Can a card like Wrath of God be used to destroy creatures with hexproof, because it is not targeting the creature(s)?


texts: Can I avoid an opponent preventing my Desecration Demon attacking?

texts:
I have a Desecration Demon in my hand, and through some other means I have the ability to cast it with flash and give it haste. Is there a point on my turn when I can cast the Demon such that it can still attack, but is too late for my opponent to sacrifice a creature to tap it?

ie. Can I do the following:

Start combat phase
The "beginning of combat" passes
Cast Desecration Demon (with flash from some effect)
Declare Desecration Demon as an attacker (with haste from some effect)

or will my opponent have an opportunity to sacrifice a creature to the demon prior to declaring it an attacker?


texts:
On an android app, called Classic Solitaire Klondike from Potato Jam, I'm struggling with a deck which seems unsolvable. In this app, 100% of the decks had a solution before.
I wrote a solver running every possible solution, but nothing comes out.
Here's a capture done with my solver:

I represented with red color the cards I never managed to flip. So I get stuck quite fastly.
In the app, the deck is identified by the following seed number: 43688966
I guess I must probably miss something, but can't see where ...


texts: Can the Wrack offer an impossible deal? Can the offer change?

texts:
In Cosmic Encounter (Eon edition), the Wrack's power is to offer a deal to the other player in an encounter, rather than fighting. If the opponent refuses, the Wrack "tortures" the opponent: for each token the Wrack has committed to the encounter, it may send one of its opponent's tokens or cards to the warp or discard pile, respectively.

It's not clear from the description on the power card itself, but the Wrack must follow through completely: the Super Flare allows the Wrack to stop the proposal/torture and go back to normal encounter resolution.

That lack of clarity makes me question two other things about the power:

1) Can the Wrack offer a deal (intentionally or not) that the opponent is incapable of accepting? A simple example would be "give me the Attack 40 and I'll give you a Compromise" where the opponent does not have the Attack 40. Further, if it's unknown whether the opponent can fulfill the deal, can they dodge the process by (truthfully) stating that they cannot fulfill it?

2) Can the Wrack change the deal? This would seem to be essential for the process, given the iterative way it's described:

  On each torture you put any one of his tokens into the warp, or one of his cards (drawn at random) into the discard pile. If at any time he accepts the deal, stop the torture...

The opponent can clearly do whatever math is necessary before the Wrack starts removing anything (though it's true that which cards will be discarded is an unknown); combined with the fact that the Wrack can't stop without being Super, there's not much point in actually repeating the process as opposed to doing it all at once if the deal can't change on each step. However, the existence of the Super Flare makes me question that interpretation, because based on a straight reading of the power card:

  If he refuses it you may torture him once for every token you have in the challenge.

(emphasis mine), it sounds like the Wrack is choosing at each step to perform the torture, and I would have thought that the ability to stop was built in.


texts: Can you transform after declaring blockers, but before dealing damage?

texts: Let's say I attack with Duskwatch Recruiter, a 2/2, and someone blocks with a 1/1 token. After they choose their blockers, could you cast Waxing Moon to transform Duskwatch Recruiter to Krallenhorde Howler, and assign damage as Krallenhorde Howler, a 3/3?


texts: Who dies if Defenderer has the 2nd most votes?

texts:
This is similar to a previous question of mine: Bodyguard vs Hunter

In this case, though, the problem comes about using the Defenderer role from One Night Ultimate Supervillain.

The rules for the role are that the Defenderer protects whoever they point to except in the case where the Defenderer herself has the most votes in which case the person she is pointing to is caught instead.

The situation we had was:

The Defenderer pointed to another player, let's call him Player 1
Player 1 received the most votes
Because Player 1 was protected by the Defenderer, the player with the 2nd most votes is caught
The player with the 2nd most votes is the Defenderer

I can see 3 possible ways of resolving this:

The Defenderer is caught because she can only act in one way or the other, not both,
Player 1 is caught because the Defenderer's only protects from being caught due to votes, not other abilities, or
The player with the 3rd most votes is caught

Which of these options is correct?


texts:
Thumbs up option of the crossroad card ("Old divisions") says: Remove 1 helpless survivor

There are no helpless survivors at the colony right now.

Can we choose the thumbs up option in this case or do we have to choose the thumbs down option?


texts: What happens when all heroes and elite heroes are dealt in Boss Monster?

texts:
A group of 4 managed to get through all the heroes and elite heroes in Boss Monster without any clear winner (10 souls)

How do we determine who won?


texts:
When my battleship does a bombardment, can the battleship stay on the board for the remainder of the turn and get the 2 hit advantage.

I.e.

My battleship comes in with a transport and some infantry men. The battleship does a bombardment. After my attack, I defend. If the defending player gets a hit, can I allocate that hit to my battleship?


texts: Does discarding your commander to the command zone trigger discard effects?

texts:
There is a rule in commander that lets you put your commander in the command zone instead of other zones:

If a Commander would be put into a library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead.

There are additional clarifications:

This is a replacement effect. It applies last and may apply multiple times to an event.
The creature never goes to the original destination zone and will not trigger abilities that trigger based on going there (e.g. "dies" triggers).

So, if I have to discard my hand, and my commander is in it, and I choose to put him in the command zone, does that trigger Liliana's Caress or similar cards?


texts: Jace memory adept 0 ability with less than 10 cards

texts: If I activate Jace, Memory Adept's 0 ability (Target player puts the top ten cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.). What happens if the target player has less than 10 cards in his library? Does he lose the game? Or does he lose the game on next draw step? Or the ability doesn't work?


texts: Rubber bridge and whether or not to duck

texts:
I understand the benefits of ducking especially when playing in NT. If I have Axx in hand and Jxx in dummy how do I decide whether or not to duck the first two tricks?

Sometimes it is correct to duck and other times not. Is there a way of telling when?


texts: Do you look at the bottom card when you draw an owl as the first card in a gathering?

texts:
For the IELLO game Little Red Riding Hood, any time you start a new gathering and flip the owl card as the starting card, do you get to look at the bottom card of the deck?

The rules state that you do the special actions (owl, riding hood) when you choose to gather and flip the corresponding card versus choosing to stop gathering. In the beginning section before this player choice the rules state to start the gathering by flipping the first card and placing path tokens according to the number of flowers (with no mention of the special action cards). A strict reading of the rules would mean we don't do the owl action. Thoughts?


texts: What is the average lifetime of a pack of casino cards?

texts:
I've heard that casinos never reuse a pack of cards for some anti-cheating reasons I was never quite able to figure out. Then they do various modifications to mark them as "used" cards (e.g. punch a hole through them, burn the corners, or mark them with permanent ink) and sell them for about a buck apiece. They had about the same look and feel as a pack of air-cushioned Bicycle cards, but lasted only about half as long when I played with them.

So here's my question - does this lack of reuse factor into the build quality of the cards? Does anybody know how long those cards were built to last? Or does it vary from casino to casino?


texts: Is it legal to buy property for $1 in Monopoly when other players are in prison?

texts:
This happened in one of the Monopoly games I had a while ago.

It was a 3-player game. Two players were in prison when the incident occurred. The third player (let's call him Joe) landed on the unowned property in his turn. This is what he said:

  I don't want to buy it for the base price. Therefore, the property should go to an auction. I'm willing to bid $1 for this property. No-one else can bid, since both of you are in prison, so - I won the auction.

Is this legal in the game of Monopoly?


texts:
Are the engineers limited to only 3 bridges?

I ask this just as confirmation. I can't find this anywhere in the rules, but I suppose it's so.


texts: Can you buy a property after being sent by a chance card?

texts:
Imagine I roll the dice and land on a chance card space. The chance card sends me forward to a property space. Can I buy it?

I haven't been able to find a clear straight answer to this question online nor in the rulebook.


texts: What happen if I use cast out on my creature which is under my opponent's control and then cast out leaves the battlefield?

texts:
Let's say my opponent is controlling one of my creatures. And then I target that creature with Cast Out or Hostage Taker's ability. After the ability resolved, Cast Out or Hostage Taker leaves the battlefield. Would the creature return to the battlefield under my control?

My guess is it would return under its owner's control. Since card that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory, there is no difference between (1) using cast out on my creature under my control and (2) using cast out on my creature under my opponent's control. In the first case it is easy to see that the creature would return to the battlefield under my control when cast out leaves the battlefield, and both cases are actually the same.


texts: Can I activate abilities in response to spells?

texts: If my opponent plays Kill! Destroy! on my Caldera Kavu, can I activate its ability to turn it black?


texts: Mobilization of units allowed on a territory with an industrial complex controlled by a power on same side?

texts: My friends an I were playing a&a 1941 and soviet union wanted to mobilize units in India. Is that ever allowed? If yes, when? I read through the whole book and I did not find anything about when you can do that.


texts:
I'm new to the game and trying to make my first constructed deck. My understanding of the card rule is I can only have four cards of one kind.

What does this precisely mean?

For instance, does this mean I can only have four rat cards total or four rat cards of several kinds? If two different cards do the same thing (like Remove Soul and Essence Scatter), can I have four of each?


texts: Can Teysa, Orzhov Scion sacrifice itself and still use its 2nd ability?

texts:
What happens if I sacrifice Teysa, Orzhov Scion along with two other "white and black" creatures (in order to remove another creature from the game) - do I still get my 2 spirit tokens from the other two sacrificed white and black creatures, even though Teysa as well was sacrificed at the same time?

Or is it that when Teysa is sacrificed along with the other two, its 2nd ability doesn't count anymore?


texts: What should be taken into consideration when mixing Fluxx sets?

texts:
What should be taken into consideration when mixing fluxx sets?

I played a game of Stoner and Zombie fluxx mixed the other day, and I found it super fun. It add variance to the theming, and especially with the Stoner fluxx (if you're playing with the, ahem, special rules) and stretches it out.

What are the potential pitfalls of mixing sets, and what else should be taken into consideration?


texts: Does the Ticket to Ride Africa version use tunneling?

texts: Does Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa use tunneling? Ticket to Ride: Europe does, but the original Ticket to Ride does not.


texts: Does a buff remain in combat when the buffing creature dies to first strike damage?

texts:
I've had a predicament recently: my good friend was playing an Ixalan vampire deck and he played a Legion Lieutenant, a 2/2 that gives your other vampires +1/+1. The following turn, he attacks with the Legion Lieutenant and a Forerunner of the Legion, a 2/2 vampire. It has +1/+1 thanks to the Legion Lieutenant, making it a 3/3.
I block the Legion Lieutenant with a 2/2 with first strike, so my creature will deal damage first, and when the normal damage is dealt the Forerunner of the Legion no longer has the buff and is now a 2/2 again. I would therefore only take 2 damage.
However, he believes that the buff lasts until the end of the combat phase. Am I in the wrong?


texts: Steam Park: Should danari count be secret from other players?

texts:
In Steam Park, the danari values are only printed on one side, and the other sides are all the same. This suggests to me that a player's total should be kept hidden.
If it's intended to be an option, it's not documented.


texts: In Descent SE can you sell search cards after use?

texts: In Descent second edition it says on most search cards that if you use them that they should get flipped over. In campaign mode does this mean that you still can sell them in the campaign phase?


texts: Can I pay two different costs with the same payment?

texts:
Say I have a Zombie token, Viscera Seer, and Altar of Dementia on the battlefield. Can I sacrifice the Zombie token to activate both the Altar's and Seer's abilities?

Similarly, if I have one card in hand, and Wild Mongrel and Patrol Hound on the battlefield can I discard the one card to both of their abilities?

If I have a Lux Cannon with 3 charge counters can I activate both of its abilities by tapping it to add a counter, and tapping it to remove 3 counters and destroy a permanent without untapping it in between?


texts: Is playing on a 9x9 board a solved problem?

texts:
I would think that on a 9x9 board, the number of possible moves is small enough that computers could exhaustively search all possible permutations and compute a line of play that always wins by moving first.  If so, by how many points are you guaranteed to win by?

Has this been done, and was it determined where the perfect move is for a 9x9 board to guarantee a win when going first.  Can you guarantee a win even with some number of handicap due to the perfect first play?


texts: What are some good tactics for the early game in Risk?

texts: In general what do you recommend at the beginning of the game?


texts: When controlling an opponent's turn after casting "Emrakul, the Promised End", who is "target opponent"?

texts:
Say that I am playing a 1v1 limited game and I have just cast an Emrakul, the Promised End, and I am currently controlling my opponent's turn. If I cast (from my opponent's hand) Voldaren Pariah, and sacrifice three of my opponent's creatures to flip Voldaren Pariah, then the back side of Voldaren says:

  When this creature transforms into Abolisher of Bloodlines, target opponent sacrifices three creatures.

Who can the "target opponent" be in this situation - must it be me, or can it also be the opponent that I am currently controlling?


texts: Deciding winner with flush on table (Texas Hold em no limit)

texts:
I am creating my own poker game prototype as a hobby project.
The game calculates the combinations every player has and decides a 5 card hand
to be used when calculating a winner if players have the same combination.
The attached images show my exact scenario.
In this specific case there is a flush on the table and HUMANPLAYER and Ramon Tandheelkunde (a Dutch randomized name for fun) both split the pot because they have exactly the same five card hand. (See the image with the log). Lisa Rutte however, loses because her 9 of Hearts is added to her five card hand. Is this supposed to happen or should Lisa also win or be the only one to win since she has a hearts in her hand unlike the others?
Edit: Lisa Rutte actually gets a six cards hand instead of a five cards hand. This obviously is a bug but my issue is with her 9 of Hearts getting added at all making her lose. This happens because the game compares each five cards hand from left to right making Lisa kicked out of the race because her 9 is lower than the J's on that spot in the five card hands of the other players.
Thanks for thinking with me! :)
Kind regards,
Ricardo


texts: Do I lose control of a creature if the aura which granted me control of it is destroyed?

texts:
I gain control over a creature with e.g. Hypnotic Siren.
Do I lose control over that creature if the enchantment is destroyed?


texts: Athreos, God of Passage, and Martyr of Sands

texts:
My opponent has Athreos, God of Passage on the field.  They then play Martyr of Sands and use her ability "{1}, Reveal X white cards from your hand, Sacrifice Martyr of Sands: You gain three times X life."  They sacrifice the Martyr, triggering Athreos's ability.  I choose not to pay 3 life, and they return the Martyr to their hand.

Does my opponent still gain life even though Martyr of Sands isn't in the graveyard as her ability resolves?


texts: Fluxx "Once during your turn" New Rule cards

texts:
If I play a "New Rule" that allows an action "once during your turn" (Recycling, Goal Mill, etc.) - do I get to take those action immediately, or is my turn now over because I've completed my "played one".

I understand that new rules go into effect immediately, what I'm not clear on is exactly when my turn is over for the "once during your turn" clause.


texts: Which is faster: Enter the Battlefield Effects or Activated Abilities?

texts: What happens if I play a creature that destroys all other creatures when it enters the battlefield and in response, an opponent activates a creature ability that sacrifices his creatures to destroy target creature? Is his effect fast enough to destroy my creature, or does my creature destroy all his creatures first?


texts:
Can I cast Goryo's Vengeance and use Veil of Secrecy's arcane ability, to target the creature I returned with Goryo's Vengeance?

If this is possible, at what point has my opponent priority or what can he counter?


texts: If I'm attacking with creatures that give off abilities and the other person blocks and kills the creature does its ability die off with the creature at that same moment leaving the others creatures without it.


texts: How do you prevent deliberately losing in Republic of Rome?

texts:
In Republic of Rome, if Rome falls, everyone loses.  Some gaming groups I've been in grok this concept completely and players will make major sacrifices of their positions (donating lots of money from personal treasuries to the state to fight off the Punic Wars in the Early Republic, for example), while others regard Rome falling as a draw, and deliberately play to cause Rome to fall if they think they can't win.

If you have a mixture of both types of player, then the fall-of-Rome-is-a-draw players can exploit the fall-of-Rome-is-a-loss players by threatening to bring Rome down and demanding concessions for saving it.  This tends to provoke resentment on both sides.

Does anyone have any suggestions for (a) how to prevent this conflict and (b) how to resolve it before punches start being thrown?


texts: Can the road go behind the Treasure Cards

texts: Can the road go beyond the 9x5 card grid ?


texts: Is a runner card turned facedown still itself?

texts:
Test Run reads:

  Search your stack or heap for a program. Install that program,
  ignoring all costs. Shuffle your stack if you searched it. When this
  turn ends, add the program to the top of your stack if it is still
  installed.

Harbinger reads:

  When Harbinger is trashed, install it facedown instead of adding it to your heap.

Suppose I use Test Run to bring a Harbinger out of my Heap, then trash Harbinger so that it becomes installed face down. Does Test Run put it on my deck at the end of my turn, or does it stay installed face down?


texts: Are two teams that attempt a planet mission present with each other

texts:
I have two teams that attempt a planet mission one after the other.
The first team has a Emergency Transport Unit. Now the second team encounters a dilemma that would kill one of the personnel.

Emergency Transport Unit says that:

  When your personnel present is about to be killed, you may return this equipment to its owner's hand to place that personnel on your ship at this mission instead. He or she is stopped.

There is extra ruling specifying what "at this mission" means, but not what "present" means (or at least I couldn't find it)

Can I use the Emergency Transport Unit to safe that personnel?


texts: Gaining and losing life at the same time

texts:
I have a question about a specific scenario involving life loss and gain.

Say I have 3 life left, the creature Soulcage Fiend on the battlefield, and also the enchantment Exquisite Blood on the battlefield.

Now say my opponent kills Soulcage Fiend with some instant, would I lose the game? Or does the gain of life happen first, keeping me at 3 life when all is said and done?


texts: Does Harvester of Souls trigger its own death trigger when it dies

texts: Specifically, does a player draw a card when Harvester of Souls dies?


texts: How do I avoid the endless trade negotiations in Settlers of Catan?

texts:
When I play Settlers of Catan, I often find myself rapidly bored by the trading component of the game. This is normally because of one or two players who insist on endlessly protracted negotiations for any item. These always start at ludicrous extremes ("I want a lumber.", "I'll give you a lumber - for 3 sheep, a brick and two ore!", "No way!", etc. etc.) and take forever to converge (if they ever do). I find this type of thing can quickly suck the life out of the game. This is a shame, as, apart from that aspect, the game is quite entertaining.

How do you handle this sort of behaviour?


texts:
Will the following cards kill something with "indestructible"?:

Swords to plowshares
Terror
Wrath of God


texts:
This hand was presented by Michael Berkowitz in the column of Larry Cohen. These are experts I consider on the "aggressive side. Both vulnerable, the bidding was

South West  North East
1d    Pass  2d    pass
2NT   Pass  3NT   pass

(North's 2d was an inverted minor raise.)

The hands were:

North
s: A93
h: KQJ
d: QJ74
c: T83

South
s: JT72
h: A75
d: K832
c: A6

Berkowitz characterized this as a "normal 3NT with 13 opposite 12." But North has a 4-3-3-3 distribution, so shouldn't "12" really be 11, and "25" really be 24?

Sources such as this give N-S only a 37% of making 3NT with only 24 points. This includes hands with "24" that are really 23, not hands that are "25" really 24. Making this adjustment, the chances of success are about 40%. Using IMPS scoring, that's good enough, when vulnerable.

But Berkowitz/Cohen didn't make a qualifier for when one is non vulnerable. Should such a qualifier have been made? Am I right to feel misled by an assurance that this hand is a solid, rather than borderline, 3NT bid when "25" points is more like 24 because of the 4-3-3-3 distribution?


texts: Smash Up: Microbot Fixer + Microbot Alpha

texts:
The Microbot Fixer has the ability:

  If this is the first minion you played this turn, you may play an extra minion. Ongoing: Each of your Microbots gains +1 power.

If the Microbot Fixer is already in play, can I play the Microbot Alpha with its ability:

  Ongoing : Gains +1 power for each of your other Microbots. All of your minions are considered Microbots.

to boost the power of my other non-robot/non-Microbot cards in play?

Put another way, does the phrase "All of your minions are considered Microbots" affect my other cards (by modifying them into Microbots, allowing them to benefit from the +1 fixer ability), or does it only serve to guide the calculation of the Microbot Alpha's final power?


texts:
In Race For The Galaxy, I'm usually focused on my own cards, and only find out who wins during the scoring at the end of the game.

Is this a feature of the game — that is, is it low on interaction? Or is my strategy inadequate?


texts: Does the pandamonium card counter blinding light's effects?


texts: If my opponent attacks my planeswalker (who has 1 loyalty counter) with two creatures (power 1 and 3 respectively), can I absorb the attack of the creature with power 3 with my planeswalker and only take one damage to my health? Or do I treat it like the creature has trample and take three damage to my health?


texts: How many wounds does each Ripper Swarms model have in 40K 8e?

texts:
In the 8th edition Tyranid codex, on page 91 for Ripper Swarms, the unit description text is as follows:

  This unit contains 3 ripper swarms. It can include up to 3 additonal Ripper Swarms (Power Rating +2) or up to 6 additional Ripper Swarms (Power Rating +3). Each model is armed with claws and teeth.

This doesn't help that you can't buy Ripper Swarms on their own. So far, I've collected models that seem to be given as a bonus for buying other unit boxes. I've found that if I purchase a Termagaunt or Hormagaunt unit box, they'll come with three models of Ripper Swarms, but if I buy a Genestealers unit box, it will come with two models of Ripper Swarms.

How many models actually make up a Ripper Swarm? The unit description states a wounds of 3. Does that mean that each model has 3 wounds, and a full unit is nine models, for a total of 27 wounds?

Or are you supposed to collect a handful of these, and glue two or three onto a single base and then that base has 3 wounds? Which then a full unit is three bases, for a total of 9 wounds?


texts:
Blistering Dieflyn gains +1/+0 when you use a swamp or mountain.

If you tap multiple mountains or swamps, can it be for example 5/1? Can you use multiple lands on it?


texts: What is the name of this solitaire card game?

texts:
You start flipping cards over one at a time and holding them in one hand. When you have two cards of the same suit that are separated by two other cards (e.g. 4♣ 2♦ 7♥ 10♣), you discard the middle two. When two cards of the same value are separated by two other cards (e.g. 4♣ 2♦ 7♥ 4♥), you discard all four.

This game is neither Accordion nor Royal Marriage, but bears similarities to both. Somebody else asked this same question on Yahoo Answers five years ago and the response was unsatisfactory.

If someone can identify this game, I would also like to know what happens when you finish with two cards left: do you win, as in Royal Marriage, or not?


texts: What happens with Jared and a dying monarch?

texts:
Assume I'm the active player and I've cast Jared Carthalion, True Heir (alternate link before CMR releases) this turn. Part of his ETB trigger is "You can't become the monarch this turn."
I swing at the monarch. Obviously I can't become the monarch, so the damage trigger resolves without changing the monarch. But if I kill that player, the following rule applies.

718.4. If the monarch leaves the game, the active player becomes the monarch at the same time as that player leaves the game. If the active player is leaving the game or if there is no active player, the next player in turn order becomes the monarch.

I'm the active player, so the rule tries to make me monarch but can't. Is there now no monarch in the game?
Even if there were a ruling or a rules change that made the next eligible player the monarch (I haven't seen any indication of this though), the situation would happen if everyone had their own Jared enter this turn before the monarch died.
So, is this one strange case where there stops being a monarch in the game?


texts: Is there any harm in leaving board games out in a car during cold weather?

texts: I live in an area where during the winter the temperature falls below -18°C/0°F. Will any harm come to board games that I leave out in a car in that temperature? I know that hot weather can be tough for some types of games (e.g. those with adhesives). I don't know if the reverse is true.


texts: Are Power Crystals a finite resource in Clank in Space? There are only 5 physical tokens included in the game. When these are in the hands of users, does that mean that no one else is able to obtain one (until one is somehow returned to the supply)?


texts: Can a player redirect his attack if the defending player concedes?

texts:
The situation: Player A has 1 life and several lifelink creatures adding up to 100 power. He swings at player B who has no defenders, planning to gain 100 life. Player B concedes. Without a valid defending player, player A can gain no life and has tapped all his creatures, and so player C can swing with a 2/2 and kill him.

Player A claims he can redirect his attack to player C after player B concedes.

Question: as per the official rules, can player A redirect his attack in response to player B conceding?

I already know the real answer is to play with sportsmanship in mind. In the specific example we were all having fun winding up player A, all done in good humour and would not be tolerated in a deliberately spiteful manner.

I was simply curious how the official rules would deal with it.


texts: Explorers and pirates: Where can roads be built near undiscovered hexes?

texts: The note in the rules for explorers and pirates states that "Roads may not be built on paths adjacent to undiscovered hexes"  then goes on to state that "If you build a road in such a way that one of its ends points towards an undiscovered hex, you can't discover that hex.  You can only discover hexes by means of ships."  The second statement seems to contradict the first.  Can I play a road leading towards an undiscovered hex?


texts: Mathematically / logically determine unit alignment for close combat

texts:
** This question involves knowledge of computer programming and/or math and algorithms. **

I am working on writing a Warhammer combat simulator in Java and have hit an interesting snag.

Pg 20 BRB:
"Once the charging unit contacts the enemy unit, it must perform a second, bonus wheel if required to bring its front facing into flush contact with the facing of the enemy unit that has been charged, maximizing the number of models in base contact on both sides"

Aligning the units in this way is absurdly simple when looking at them, but trying to write the code to do the same thing is proving difficult. I tried posting the question to Stack Overflow, but I think the concept is too vague.

Basically, I'm trying to simulate combat between a unit of spearmen (20x20mm bases) and a unit of horsemen (25x50mm bases), and programatically determine how many models will get attacks during the combat.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: What does "reveal" mean in this context?

texts:
I just got the Legendary: Big Trouble in Little China deck-building game. They recommend using this Mastermind, Six-Shooter, for your first play through, but I cant figure out what "reveal" means in this situation...

For the Master Strike text on this Mastermind card:

Does that text mean I need to "reveal" one of those two types of Heroes from my hand, my discard pile, the Hero Deck, or somewhere else? I'm relatively new to the Legendary series, so maybe this is spelled out somewhere else, but not in the BTLC instructions. I just want to know I'm playing correctly.

I'd guess it meant to "reveal but not use" one of those Heroes from your hand, then discard it for later; this seems to make the only sense, as you'd be wasting a character for a few turns, or taking a Strike. Any other way, and it sounds like you're adding a Hero to your hand/deck, and that doesn't sound very much like a Master Strike effect.


texts:
I don't have the English card text ready but the German one translates roughly like this:

  Move an opponents person or hut (with or without sacrifice token) up to 3 hexes from it's current location.

Can I move an opponents person which carries a sacrifice token with this card or can I only move the bare person?

Considering the parentheses I'd say that the part about sacrifice tokens moved along only applies to the huts...


texts: When will a summon/monster step on a trap?

texts:
Follow-up question to Which monster does the summon focus on? Long way around, avoiding traps, or get stuck behind a player?.

If I replace the first player on Path 3 with a trap... would the summon then focus on Bones 9 and take Path 2? My assumption is yes.

If I replace the first player on Path 3 with a trap AND put a trap on Path 2... would the summon then focus on Bones 6 and take Path 1? (getting stuck behind that player?)

Or would the summon focus on Bones 9 and take Path 3 stepping on the trap because all of the paths that could actually reach a hex from which to attack go through traps and so it has no other choice and takes the shortest path through a trap? If it does decide to walk through the trap and that trap would do enough damage to kill the summon, would it kill itself or would it go for Asimov's 3rd law and preserve itself?


texts: What are good strategies for sealed deck?

texts: In the same vein as my Drafting Strategies question, what strategies exist for a good sealed deck?  I want to know about general strategies regardless of the card pool being played.


texts: With the Silver Key artifact, what effects can I spend 1 less clue?

texts:
The description for the Silver Key artifact is

  Once per round, you may spend 1 less clue to pay for an effect

This boardgamegeek thread discusses it, but I am still not clear what effects this covers or doesn't cover.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1080669/silver-key-what-effect

My general thinking is most anything is valid as long as it isn't a specific clue that is needed to pay for an effect, i.e. a mystery that requires you to finish a research encounter and pay THAT clue toward solving it.


texts:
Someone just spilled water on my Carcassonne tiles. The illustrations are coming apart from the cardboard (they're wrinkling).

What's the best thing to do? How can I dry them with best results?


texts: What game does this black die belong to?

texts: Bought a house and found this die in the backyard. The icon is in the spot where the 1 would go. This has peaked my curiosity and have tried to search google image but have had no luck. I also thought it looked like a boxer's glove. I have asked friends & family if they knew. Thank you for your help!


texts:
Here is my problem:
I made a really awesome Animar EDH deck and one of my infinite combos involves Animar, Soul of elements with 4 +1/+1 counters on it. This will allow me to summon Pierce Strider for free. I would then use Cloudstone Curio's ability in order to bounce back pierce strider back into my hand and virtually allow me to cause 4 points of damage to my opponent infinitely!
Can this combo actually WORK!? It says on cloudstone curio that

  "Whenever a nonartifact permanent enters the battlefield under
  your control, you may return another permanent you control that shares
  a permanent type with it to its owner's hand"

and pierce strider is an artifact but is also a creature. So will this work?


texts: How does Spirit of the Labyrinth interact with Chains of Mephistopheles?

texts:
If I have Spirit of the Labyrinth and Chains of Mephistopheles in play.  And then on my opponent's main phase (after they have drawn a card) I play Blue Sun Zenith for 8 mana and target my opponent.

What will happen?  My guess is that they will have to discard 5 cards.  But I am not sure, so I am asking...


texts: How do cards with multiple Xs in their mana cost work with cards that reduce their costs?

texts:
For example, if I have Astral Cornucopia in play along with Jhoira's Familiar, what happens? Can I cast it for X = 1 without paying any mana?

I know that there is a question here regarding to X spells with cost reducers, but the question does not cover spells with multiple Xs, which is why I am asking this.


texts: Agricola: What cards allow for animals be the main source of food for my family?

texts:
In 3 player games (only played 4 player a couple times), as I see occupations and minor improvements get dealt out (draft mode), I never see any cards that make me think, "Hey, that would make animals a viable strategy to feed my family the whole game."

I end up only using animals for the first harvest or two to cook sheep because nothing makes them seem viable for the whole game. Is that just how it is? Are there more cards in 4 player that help this?


texts: Can opponent trash a copper on my Governor if there is no one value card in play?

texts:
Governor- relevant text- each player may trash a card from his hand and gain a card cost exactly 1(2) more.
My question is can my opponent trash a copper or a curse and gain nothing if there are no 1 value cards in play?  If so should I choose to use this option as it would allow my opponent to thin their deck?


texts: Why does this player not have a straight?

texts:
I'm relatively new to poker so bare with me.

Community cards: J, Q, K, 2, 4
P1: A,6
P2: Q,Q

A site determined that P2 won with three of the kind. Is this wrong? How does player P1 not win with a straight by playing only 1 hole card? The way this was graded confuses me!


texts: Do I have to make a suggestion or can I just end turn?

texts: The rules are not clear. Every turn I can make a suggestion once I am in a room, but do I have to? Can I just end my turn?


texts: If damaged by another player's Acid Attack, can I cede Tokyo?

texts:
If I'm in Tokyo, and a player outside of Tokyo has Acid Attack, they will do one damage to me on their turn (even without rolling a claw). But will that damage from Acid Attack allow me to leave Tokyo (forcing the other play into Tokyo)?

Acid Attack reads

  Deal 1 extra damage each turn (even if you don't otherwise attack).


texts:
Playing for money in this meaning would be single games played for some stake, not tournaments with a prize money.

Backgammon has a large tradition to be played like, chess a smaller one (I think). I havn't heard of Go in such a context. Is this (widely) done?


texts: Is an ability that can only be activated once per turn still considred activated if it gets countered?

texts: Stifle counters activated abilities. Quirion Ranger has an activated ability that can only be activated once each turn. Does the ability count as being activated for the turn if it was stifled?


texts: Can you activate a system where you have no units and not move any units?

texts:
In Twilight Imperium, when you activate a system, you don't have to move units.  The rules for Movement say:

  The player may choose to not move any ships.

This rule appears to be for the purpose of letting you use production abilities in a system without needing to move units there.  But can you still activate a sector, moving no units, if you don't have any units there?

This would let you do two things.  First, you could spend a tactics token to delay acting (similar to the race ability of The Yssaril Tribes).  Second, if done on a system adjacent to one or more of your PDS II's, this would let you fire a volley of space cannons at the ships without committing any units.


texts: When killing the Ambush with the Assassin, does the player gain one token?

texts:
In the game Oriflamme, when the Assassin kills the Ambush, does the owner of the Assassin gain a token ?
The rules state that the Archer and Soldier do gain a token in this use case, however it is not specified for the Assassin...


texts: Can Rhonas the Indomitable attack if I pump Voltaic Brawler?

texts:
I have a Voltaic Brawler (3/2) on board and also a Rhonas the Indomitable.
I am going to pump the brawler up with an energy counter to make the brawler a (4/3) and attack with the brawler.  Will Rhonas also be able to attack now?


texts: Is "refund with discount" a valid move on Catan?

texts:
On her move, Alice trades with Bob: Alice gives 2 wheat, Bob gives 1 sheep.

Then Alice does her calculations again and decides it was a wrong move. She wants to trade her sheep back for one wheat, and Bob is willing to give her back 1 wheat for 1 sheep. Alice does nothing else between those trades.

Other players object, saying it's a catch to work around "no giving away cards for free" rule, and Alice and Bob might be conspiring.

I (being Bob) know for a fact it's not true, and the game rules don't explicitly forbid it, as far as I can tell.

Is it a valid move?


texts: first player had to pass- points for second player?

texts: First player had to pass in opening the game due to drawing all consonants and had no options after searching helps on google. Would the next player get double points instead?


texts:
Using mind control, my opponent takes control of Omega and uses it's effect to banish itself and a card from my hand. Does Omega return to the field,if yes then when and on whose side of the field?

PSY-Framelord Omega

  Once per turn, during either player's Main Phase: You can banish this
  card from the field and 1 random card from your opponent's hand,
  face-up, until your next Standby Phase.

Mind Control

  Target 1 monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, take
  control of that target, but it cannot declare an attack or be
  Tributed.


texts: Does Fusion Summoning trigger Maiden With Eyes of Blue's effect?

texts:
This may be a dumb question as I am not particularly experienced in Yu-Gi-Oh, I'm more of a Magic player.

If Maiden With Eyes of Blue is selected as a fusion material, for example with Odd Eyes Fusion, will this trigger its effect and special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon? My thought is no; I can't seem to find evidence of fusion materials being targeted during fusion, and using them as fusion materials is part of paying the cost. However, others seem to disagree, and suggest that the act of selecting fusion materials counts as targeting them.

Would choosing Maiden With Eyes of Blue as a fusion material cause her effect to be activated and the Blue Eyes White Dragon to be summoned?


texts: Can Android: Netrunner be played with more than two people?

texts:
I've heard that in the old CCG version of Netrunner, there were rules which allowed the game to be played with four players, similar to two-headed giant in Magic: The Gathering.

Were these rules official? How did they differ from the normal two-player rules? Do they still work in the modern LCG version of Android: Netrunner?


texts:
Say I'm playing a Vampiric Race and have The Shiny Orb. Another player has a ton of territories with only single units in them adjacent to me. Can I use vampire to take one and then The Shiny Orb to take another?

What about if I am a Magic race and have The Shiny Orb? Can I effectively use it twice on each opponent? Twice total on two different opponents?

My confusion arises because in the "shorthand rules" for The Shiny Orb it specifies once per turn per opponent, but in the rule book it says once per opponent. It also says that it counts the same as Vampirism in the full rules.


texts: What if someone attacks with Master of Cruelties and another creature?

texts:
My mate constantly plays Master of Cruelties which can only attack alone,

  Master of Cruelties isn't forced to attack, but if it does, it must do so alone. If you control another creature with an ability that says it must attack if able, that creature must attack and Master of Cruelties won't be able to.

  If Master of Cruelties attacks alone, another creature entering the battlefield attacking will have no effect on it. Master of Cruelties continues to be an attacking creature. The other attacking creature will assign combat damage normally, regardless of whether Master of Cruelties's last ability triggers.'

He always makes the mistake and attacks with multiple creatures with Master of Cruelties. What would the ruling be on this? I am unsure but I would guess maybe it just taps out?


texts: Casual trick taking penalties for illegal plays

texts:
I want to know if there is any standard penalty for when someone breaks a rule in a trick taking game, especially failing to follow suit when required.  I know the penalty would depend on the game, but all I could find is this Wikipedia article, which suggested some rather harsh penalties, especially for new players.
I'm looking for more lax penalties for less experienced players, especially for Spades and Hearts.  The best I've come up with is trying to reverse play when possible, but that doesn't always work, especially when the error is discovered many tricks later.


texts: Alpha, Beta, and Arabian Nights in Tournaments?

texts: With the exception of basic lands, are all Alpha, Beta, and Arabian Nights cards banned in sanctioned tournaments? Does that also include Deserts?


texts:
In one scenario the traitor was controlling a whole bunch of identical monsters. We stumbled onto a scenario where some of them were in an enviroment that removed 1 die from all rolls.

Since the movement of monsters is determined by a shared Speed roll, how many dice would be thrown? (The base Speed of the monsters was 2)
Would it make a difference, if all the monsters would be in the same (or similar) enviroment?


texts: Is there a reason effects that introduce another combat phase also create another main phase?

texts:
In Magic, there are a number of effects that create an additional combat phase. In any example I've seen, they either also create an additional main phase, or else they can only be cast/activated during combat (meaning the additional combat phase will happen, followed by the next main phase). Is there a reason for this? (Besides the reason of: the game designers designed it that way)

A different way of phrasing my question could be: would something hinder the game from continuing if an effect caused combat to not be followed by a main phase? (For example, Precombat Main Phase -> Combat -> Postcombat Main Phase -> Additional Combat -> End Step)

If not, has any justification been given for the apparent design rule that a main phase should always happen before the End Step?


texts: Who is the controller of an Aura with Enchant land placed on an opponent's land?

texts: Say I enchant an opponent's land with Psychic Venom. Who controls the Psychic Venom, me or my opponent? This is important to know in case I want to sacrifice it to Forbidden Ritual, for example.


texts: Ok so I was playing against the AI (Star Realms Android app) today and every time I played a card that should have had my opponent discarding ( Imperial Fighter), it instead made ME discard as I played the card. In addition, the AI still drew 5 cards at the start of their turn. This has to be a bug, right?


texts: Can a player with 0 life use Soul Conduit to make their opponent lose instead?

texts: If you get a player down to 0 life can he still use Soul Conduit's ability and swap life totals with another player killing that player instead?


texts: Bonus traps from Essen Spielmesse 2019, what are the rules for them?

texts: I was at the Essen Spielmesse 2019 and enjoyed the game Obscurio. I bought the game and at the booth they gave us some bonus traps to use in the game. However no rules were given with the traps and we have no idea how to use them. We could hazard a guess, but would love some official guidelines on how they should be played if they are pulled out of the bag.


texts: In what ways does the Arkham Horror Toolkit app improve or detract from the experience?

texts: In what ways do people find using the Arkham Horror Toolkit reduces the play time, and how much does it further enhance or detract from the experience? I can imagine one negative is that it simply isn't as fun to tap a screen as it is to draw a physical card and roll dice, but a significant saving in time spent would be nice. Just how much does it make a difference, and are there other benefits or downsides?


texts: How To Trap Meeples In 2-Player Carcassonne?

texts:
During the past couple of weeks I got a bit addicted to online 2-player "ranked matches" of Carcassonne on my XBox.  After a few humiliating losses against the local sharks, it became obvious to me that optimal strategy is probably not to concentrate on building your own features, and hope you come out ahead in the final points tally; but to aggressively trap the opponent's meeples in disadvantageous, or preferably completely inescapable, positions - until your usable men outnumber theirs enough that you can dominate the game.  That's if they haven't managed to trap your guys first, of course!

My problem is that I have a hazier idea of what constitutes a good trap than what some of my better opponents do.  I'll be thinking "aha, you'll never find a tile with three road sides and one city side", and obviously they draw such a thing straightaway.  Conversely, when they see me making an obvious attempt to block one of their guys in, they'll quickly box themselves in in such a way that it's easy for them to draw the right piece to escape.

So: is there a list of the different tiles in the basic game of Carcassonne? What positions are impossible to extract a meeple from, and/or what are the easiest spots to draw a good tile to escape from? Help me become as evil and dastardly a Carcassonne player as my opponents!


texts:
In Tobago there are only few rules when placing huts, palms and statues and implicitly I never placed these landmarks on lake tiles.

Is there any rule or hint saying whether or not they can be placed on lake tiles?