According to the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, 2008:

  Law 35
  Inadmissible calls

  A. A double or redouble not permitted by Law 19. Law 36 applies.

  Law 36
  A. Offender's LHO Calls before Rectification
  If offender's LHO calls before rectification of an inadmissible double or redouble the inadmissible call and all subsequent calls are cancelled. The auction reverts to the player whose turn it is to call [IHO  in this case] and proceeds as though there had been no irregularity. The lead restrictions of Rule 26 do not apply.

  B. Offender's LHO Does Not call before Rectification
  When A above does not apply:
    1. any double or redouble not permitted by Rule 19 is canceled.
    2. the offender must substitute a legal call, the auction continues and the offender's partner must pass whenever it is his turn to call.
    3. Law 23 [] may apply. The lead restrictions in Law 26 may apply.
    4. If the call is out of turn .... [not applicable in this instance]

From your description it seems that case B applies:

You must substitute a legal call;
your partner is required to Pass for the remainder of the auction;
Director may award an adjusted score at his discretion according to the guidelines of Law 23; and
if the opponents win the auction there will be lead penalties at your partner's first opportunity to lead, including if he is on Opening Lead.

The lead penalty in this case will be under

  Law 26
  B. Other Withdrawn Calls

  For other withdrawn calls, declarer may prohibit offender's partner from leading any one suit at his first turn to lead, including the opening lead; such prohibition to continue for as long as offender's partner retains the lead.

Morale: Pay more attention to all those multi-coloured cards on the table in front of you before pulling one out of the box.

Update:

When I was a practicing director, many years ago, it was ACBL Policy that a Director was required to carry a rule book on his person whenever called to the table, and that any player present at the table where a ruling was being made could ask for the applicable Law to be read aloud. I cannot find this in the Rules themselves, and no longer have a current copy of the ACBL Guide for Directors, but I would expect that any polite request to that effect would be accepted by a Director.

If you believe a Director may be erring in his ruling at the table this is a possible defence; however I would caution against using this wholesale. Directors do not have infinite patience, and are there to make rulings not to teach the Laws. Spend a few bucks; buy yourself a copy of the rules; perhaps even take the Director's Exam to ensure you have a good grasp of the rules. It will help you become a better player and partner in the long run.


Looking for name of very old board-type game

Its form is that of "Tigers and Goats" or "Tiger Move" (Bagha Chal), and its cell number indicates that it is a puzzle rather than a game, or  variant.


A card game that has an ultimate skill for each character

Sounds to me like you are thinking of Shadow Hunters. Its got some social deduction aspects to it, and each player has a special ability that they can use by revealing who they are.


Can hexproof remove an opponent's aura already enchanting my creature?

No. Hexproof prevents the creature from being targeted. Kasmina's Transmutation targeted the creature when it was cast, but after it's resolved it's no longer targeting the creature.

It's possible you are thinking of protection, which prevents the protected creature from being "Enchanted, equipped, or fortified by permanents with the specified quality." If you give your creature protection from blue, then Kasmina's Transmutation falls off, since a pro-blue creature cannot be enchanted by blue auras. Another possibility is if the aura enchants only certain things which no longer applies. For example if you cast Daybreak Coronet on your Kasmina-enchanted creature, and then opponent bounces the Kasmina's Transmutation, then Daybreak Coronet does fall off (since it can only enchant an already-enchanted creature, and with Kasmina's Transmutation off, the creature is no longer enchanted). Yet another possibility is if your creature turns into (say) an enchantment via One with the Stars, then Kasmina's Transmutation also falls off since it can only enchant creatures (it says "enchant creature").

Hexproof is none of these situations and therefore Kasmina's Transmutation remains attached. It will, however, stop your opponent from casting more auras targeting the creature.


At regular REL can players rewind the game state?

There is nothing in the CompRules about taking back legal actions, so when in doubt, ask the judge, unless you both want to risk a sanction in the worst case. He may nor may not allow it, and he may or may not require to be asked in the first place. In the end, a judge can give whatever ruling he wants, and the opposite of it on the next case. So there is no general answer.

That being said, in high REL, where a lot is on the line in the tournament, you probably won't see many of the situations as described by you, either because there are no inexperienced players, or nobody would agree to have a mistake taken back to get any advantage possible. In lower REL, like pre-Release or somesuch, if I were a judge I would definitely allow it to commend the sportsmanship and teaching effort of the more experienced player.


Do you move forwards or backwards on the King's Cross Chance card?

Movement in Monopoly is always forwards (in the direction of the arrow on the Go space) unless otherwise specified (such as the "Go back three spaces card").  The only exception in regular monopoly is going to jail, which is usually written as "go directly to jail" to signify the difference.

Some older editions of monopoly had a much clearer version of this card (noting that Reading Railroad is the equivalent of King's Cross):

  Take a ride on the Reading. Advance token and if you pass Go, collect $200.

It is impossible to get to King's Cross/Reading Railroad from a Chance space without passing Go.  It says "if you pass Go" because that's the way all the other Chance cards are worded.  This card would be clearer if it said "when you pass go, collect $200" or "collect $200 for passing go".


Can a Tenacious Z be Played After Drawing Two Cards?

No.

From the Pretty Pretty Smash Up rules, page 10:

  On your turn: This means during the normal Play Cards phase of your turn.

The turn order is:

Start Turn
Play Cards (normal time for plays)
Score Bases
Draw 2 Cards (and then discard)
End Turn

By the time you're drawing and discarding, you've missed the window of opportunity for Tenacious Z's special. If it wanted to override this limitation, it would have to be explicit (e.g. "during any phase on your turn").


According to the rules of ICF (international carrom federation) you can strike backwards directly. It is popularly known as thumbing as you use your thumb to strike the coins behind the baseline.  Watch any international tournament matches on youtube. you will notice players thumbing.


Identify a game: escape from a labyrinth of square cards on an alien spaceship


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

We've played many enjoyable games with the following system that does nothing to deal with the loss of trading, but handles the other issues raised above quite well:

Change hex setup to barbell shape (see picture)
3 of each resource hex (ores always placed as shown with 3-8-11,
rest randomized)
8 randomized ports (5 2:1, 3 3:1)
A set of randomized numbers on either side of barbell (set 1:
4,5,8,9,10,11) (set 2: 2,3,5,6,9,10)
12 victory points
7's get rerolled for the first 6 rounds of play (we call this
"Robber Delay")
Use Robber Equalizer rule:

The Robber Equalizer rule is our slow-the-leader mechanism, and it works by making rolls of 7 less and less likely to stick the further behind you are. First determine how far behind you are by counting up victory points in the normal manner for settlements and cities (but don't include longest road or largest army). Then add 1/3 for each played soldier, each road link, and each unplayed development card.

A 7 rolled by someone who is behind always counts. Each time a 7 is rolled by the player who is ahead, reroll the dice and the 7 sticks if the roll is high enough according to the chart - for example if you're ahead by 1 and 2/3, you need to roll 6 or higher for the robber to stick:

Point  Minimum
Diff.  Roll
1/3    2
2/3    3
1      4
1 1/3  5
1 2/3  6
2      7
2 1/3  8
2 2/3  9
3      10
3 1/3  11
3 2/3  12

If the robber does not stick, then then the dice must be rerolled, and only a number other than 7 will count.

We've played dozens of games with these rules and the games are fairly balanced thanks to the Robber Equalizer rule, though the rule does lead to not being so afraid about having to discard half your hand later in the game as the 7 may not stick, which can be an advantage to the player in the lead.


Why was Lich created?
I think this is the real subtext of your question: why does Lich exist?
I think to understand Lich, you've got to put it in context: it's a flavor-first design from Alpha. Lich is, first and foremost, supposed to feel like lichdom in fantasy stories, particularly Dungeons & Dragons: undeath, power and immortality at a grave price.
One thing the card does well is establish a big theme for black: trading away your life for power in near-suicidal ways.
However, one of Alpha's biggest shortcomings is that it's all over the map about what cards are worth as a resource. On the one side, you've got cards like Ancestral Recall. On the other, you've got Lich.
So, Lich is an early attempt to do something pretty tricky in Magic, and it is, by most standards, a misfire (part of what hurts it now is errata which forces "cards" to "nontoken permanents," thereby cutting off many strategies for artificially inflating your permanent count). You can see attempts to refine this design in various cards like Nefarious Lich and Necropotence.
What can you do with Lich?
Nearly any card this weird is fodder for at least a few combos.

Lich turns life gain into cards. This is very pretty powerful because it's easier to gain 1 life than to draw a card, but any deck built around this as an enabler is going to be rather fragile.

Lich sets your life total to zero. You can try to abuse this with various cards, such as Mirror Universe.

Lich makes life loss that isn't damage meaningless to you. (Look at Ad Nauseam for instance).  Note that you can't pay life, either, though.

Lich will kill its controller when it goes to the graveyard. You could try to set up some Donate-style combos with this, but it's pretty bad because you need other cards to ensure you don't die at zero life.

Is it good in a competitive environment?
No.
But most Magic cards aren't.


What sequence of moves in Solo Caverna result in the maximum score?

The key to maximum points for my solo endeavours has been to use the Office which allows overhangs, and the Guest room for multiple actions.  I then work to get many tunnels inside, and overhang tunnels.  After the overhang tunnels are placed, I also place Ore mines, for even more overhang bonus, and use the double action to place two ruby mines at once.  For this to work, you need extra dwarfs, preferably 5.  You should be pulling in about 30ish gold.

All in all, because of the possibility of a 'optimal' strategy based on card layout, I also tend to use some dice to add some random blocking, so the game has some more replay-ability solo.

I usually score around 140.


Blocking creatures with menace and an equipment giving 'can only be blocked by one creature'

Both abilities are active (and Vorrac Battlehorns' ability doesn't 'trigger', it is always in effect).

  509.1b The defending player checks each creature they control to see whether it's affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can't block, or that it can't block unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of blockers is illegal.

Your opponent won't be able to block the creature with the Vorrac Battlehorns, since it can't be blocked by more than one creature (due to the equipment) and it can't be blocked by less than two creatures (due to the Wolf). Both are restrictions and the rules above state they must be obeyed. Note that they are free to block the Wolf or not, but need at least two creatures to do so.

Incidentally, this means a Pyreheart Wolf equipped with Vorrac Battlehorns is unblockable.


Does a heroic trigger still resolve if the heroic creature is gone?

Yes. Abilities still resolve if the creature that created them is gone*, or cards like Torch Fiend would be a little bit useless. This is because of the following rule:

  112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. [...]

So in this case: your Akroan Crusader gets targeted by a spell, and puts a triggered ability on the stack. Even if the Crusader goes away, the ability still resolves. Then your Nyxborn Rollicker enters the battlefield as a creature instead, since its target is gone.

* Other stuff can make it fail to resolve, such as if the ability has targets and all its targets are now illegal - see rule 608.2b. But the originating creature dying won't do anything to prevent the ability from resolving.


You will not get any poison counters in that case. All damage is done simultaneously, and at the time you took damage you were at 1 life, not 0 or less life. So, you will take 5 normal damage, and be at -4 life. Normally you would lose now, but Phyrexian Unlife keeps you alive instead, and the next time you would take damage, that damage will be in the form of poison counters.

If you do gain life to above 0 again, then Phyrexian Unlife will again stop you from losing the next time you take damage.

Also, trample does not interact in anyway with this, so when you say "Excluding trample of course" it makes me think that there's a basic rule you aren't understanding about how combat or trample works.


There are tons of options:

Attrition or Blood Rites, while requiring to pay mana, would kill your opponents creatures (or the opponent himself in the case of the rites). If you need something that doesn't require mana to activate you could try Bloodthrone Vampire, Carrion Feeder or Devouring Swarm.

Hell's Caretaker can be an interesting choice, because it gets creatures back when sacrificing others, but can be activated only once per turn.

Lyzolda, the Blood Witch can be sweet, drawing you cards when sacrificing black creatures or dealing damage when sacrificing red ones.

There are lots more, here you have Magiccards search of creatures that have an activated ability which requires to sacrifice a creature and are black, blue or red.


In Catan, if you roll a seven and move the robber, do you actually have to rob someone?

From the game rules

You must move the robber immediately to the number token of any other terrain hex or to the desert hex.

The keyword here being any. So yes, you can move it to tiles without anyone on it.
Although I've never done this myself, I suppose there could be an argument made to do doing this for a couple reasons. One of them, like you mentioned, could be to appease other players. Another could be to try and allow someone to even the playing field. If player A is very ahead and has longest road, but player B is tied for longest road, you could place the robber on a unsettled tile as to not steal from Player B and allow them to try and take longest road which might even out the score a little bit.
However, an important distinction here is that this does not mean you cannot steal if you place it on a tile that does have settlements or cities on it. If you place the robber on a tile with other players cities or settlement, you must steal from one of them.


Yes, the ability of the God that remains on the battlefield will trigger. When you play the second copy of Athreos, you will control 2 of them. Then, when state based effects are checked, by rule 704.5k, you have to choose one to keep and move the other to the graveyard. This triggers the ability of the one still on the battlefield.


If the Warlord destroys a player's eighth district, does the game still end?

I believe the Warlord is not allowed to destroy a building if that person already has 8 built.


No, he will be 3 either way.

Daxos's ability is a Characteristic-Defining Ability, as defined in 604.3a: It defines the power/toughness, it is printed on the card, it doesn't directly affect the characteristics of other objects, it is not granted to itself, and it is not only set conditionally.

As described in 613.3, Layer 7a is where Characteristic-Defining Abilities are set.  Effects that set power/toughness to a specific number that are not Characteristic-Defining are set in Layer 7b.  As such, Daxos's ability will always apply first, then Harmonious Archon will always overwrite it.

It is also worth mentioning that while Layer 7 has multiple sublayers, 613.2 specifies that in Layers 1-6 that Characteristic-Defining abilities are always applied before any other effects.


3 Missiles in a Single Combat packet - how should this sticker be treated?

Yes.

3 Missiles in a Single Combat packet spoilers:

   Mutants ignore the troop-loss effects of the Fallout Zone and treat it like a biohazard. Mutants gain a troop at the end of the turn in a biohazard, so they gain a troop at the end of the turn in the Fallout Zone.


Sails aren't strengthened; how would you track hits?

Because Blow me down! is a Battle card, it lasts only for the duration of the battle. Damage to any of the ship's sections is represented physically (e.g., moving a ring, turning a card sideways). Likewise, the results of repair/upgrade are represented physically and they require discarding a payment (e.g., gold, the Going on the account event card). If it made your sails temporarily able to take six more hits, how would that be represented without losing track of your sails' real strength?

(Note: This argument is weakened by the fact that the answer, "the same way as you'd track the legendary pirates' hull," is quite a reasonable counter-argument.)


Who is in charge of knowing abilities of blockers and attackers?

It's your job to read the card, no matter what the situation.

Your opponent never has to explain cards to you. You can always request to read any card, and if you don't know for sure everything that a given card does, you probably want to read it. (If it's an old card or a foreign card, you could also look up the current oracle text of the card in Gatherer.) Your opponent has no more obligation to let you know that a creature has an ability than they do to remind you that it has enough power to kill you.

Assuming that creature had a triggered ability (like Mindscour Dragon), your opponent is responsible for remembering that trigger. But they only have to do so once it triggers and needs to affect the game state, i.e. once you've already let it hit you and it's going to mill you. They don't have to warn you ahead of time.

Your opponent is certainly allowed to help you out if they wish to; in casual play you might end up doing this in order to have more fun games and not waste time on really obvious mistakes. I've certainly pointed things out sometimes when it was clear my opponent didn't realize what my cards did, in friendly kitchen table games when they'd have done the same. But there's definitely no obligation to do this under the rules.

So bottom line, you just made a mistake, and you're not allowed to go back and change a decision because of it. It's unfortunate for you, but hopefully it provides some incentive to read the cards more carefully next time.

If you want to know more details about player communication, it's covered in the tournament rules - search for "player communication". If you actually ask your opponent a question, there are some things they do have to tell you (covered under "free information"). But they don't have to volunteer anything beyond what's necessary to progress the game (e.g. "I cast this", "I attack with this", "I take 3 damage", "that creature should be dead").


How does selling buildings and bankruptcy work in Monopoly?

The rules:

House and hotels may be sold back to the Bank at any time for one-half the price paid for them.
All houses on one color-group must be sold one by one, evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected.
All hotels on one color-group may be sold at once, or they may be sold one house at a time (one hotel equals five houses), evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected.

What one by one here means is that you cannot sell a house from 1 property in a color group if another property in that color group already has more houses. You must sell evenly, just like you must build evenly. You can sell a hotel completely for the price of half of 5 houses, but you can't leave hotels on the other properties in the color group if you do that; they would need to be sold down to at most 1 house each.

A mortgaged property can be traded just like an unmortgaged property can, but that's up to the creditor to agree to that. The debtor cannot automatically use the mortgaged property instead of cash to pay rent.


When you go out in Tichu, does the current round continue?

Yes. The current round continues and someone else can win the trick, unless you're the third player to go out, in which a new round begins.


In Hearts, played by experts, what is ratio of shooting the moon?

Hearts involves the concept of (A) deciding exactly 3 cards (at least in the common 4 player variant) to change between each hand in 3/4 of the hands and (B) to keep all cards in 1/4 of them.
A major enough distinction that I think they probably need to considered in these 2 different groups. Lets consider what hand distributions capable of taking all cards would look like and consider group B as more important as it is easier to site and is based off of which players will decide which cards to pass from their hands anyway.

There are a total of 39 distinct hand suit patterns, there is a large scale experiment of computer shuffled hands and results here
http://playbridge.com/pb_shuffle_project.php

These are suit independent so multiplication to increase these percentages is not needed, but certain constraints need to be taken into consideration and will reduce the percentages a significant amount.
Basically to get the total you would need to add up the favorable results you get from each of the 39 hand patterns to get the total % of being able to shoot the moon.

Below this point might be considered a tedious explanation on how these numbers are derived and in excess of what the question asked for, but in case of more curious readers, I thought I would include the general process as it can be used of any of the 39 hand patterns :) Edit: section added after to account for hand passing as requested.

Lets illustrate with having 2 sample hand patterns for a key in what to look for, will do 5-4-3-1 and 7-3-3-0 as examples.

5-4-3-1, about 12.93% likely to get without caring which cards are in the suits. There are 24 possible arrangements between the suits in this chosen hand pattern,  lets add what restrictions we need 1 suit at a time.

For the 1 card suit we have 13 combinations of those, in 6 of the 24 suit arrangements this suit is clubs and does not need any restriction as a point card cannot be played on the first trick, for the other arrangements having the ace is safest and so would need to divide by 13.
For the 3 card suit we have 13 choose 3 combinations of those (or 286) and only 1 of them realiably has us winning all tricks (akq) and so would need to divide by 286 for all other arrangements.
For the 4 card suit we have 13 choose 4 combinations (or 715) and akqj would need needed a high percentage of the time so will need to divide by 715
For the 5 card suit we can finally have a little leeway; 13 choose 5 combinations (or 1287) and the suit could reliably run with just akqj, having those 4 cards accounted for
we have 9 choose 1 combinations left so basically divide by 1287 and multiply by 9.

This leaves the result looking visually like this:
5-4-3-1: 12.93%
A. 3.233% of which has 1 club.
B.  9.967% other arrangements

A. 3.233%/286/715/1287*9 or    1.11e-7 % or 11.1e-8 %

B. 9.967%/13/286/715/1287*9 or 2.55e-8 %

for a total of 1.365e-7 %

7-3-3-0, about 0.2652% likely without caring about which suit or which cards. There are only 12 possible suit arrangements 6 of which have three clubs for instance, again going 1 suit at a time.

For the suit with no cards in it, no restrictions as nothing can be done about it anyway

For the suits with 3 cards 13 choose 3 (287) if one of them is clubs, (edit: this also holds true if the hand has no clubs at all) that suit can have ak and any of the 11 cards, the second 3 card suit for safety should probably be akq; thus the need to divide by 287 twice.

For the 7 card suit, we have 13 choose 7 (1716) combinations, since the suit is substantially longer, we probably only need akq for a relaible run most of the time, akqj for a nearly everytime running leaving 10 choose 4 (210) or 9 choose 3 (84) open slots.

So In total

0.2652% /287/287/1716*210 or 3.94e-7 %

Hand passing section:

For the cases where 3 cards are being passed, people try to shorten their already short suits and lengthen their strong ones. It can be helpful to pair
your hand with that of the person passing to you, combining their suit lengths with yours, below is a table of the 44 fit classes breifly mentioned in the comment, the first 10 are by far the most common and in cases of passing across cannot be changed by the passing, placing a logical upper bound on how uneven the suits can be distributed.

(from Thomas Andrews Deal 3.1 documentation)
There are 103 fit patterns, or 65 if we consider our fit pattern and opponent's as the same (e.g., that 8-6-6-6 is the same as 7-7-7-5. If the sum of the longest fit and the shortest fit is 13, then the pattern is self-dual, for example, if our fit pattern is 9-7-6-4, then so is the opponent's.)

Normalized |  Squares sum | Patterns

     0 |          170 | 7-7-6-6
     1 |          172 | 8-6-6-6,7-7-7-5
     2 |          174 | 8-7-6-5
     4 |          178 | 9-6-6-5,8-8-5-5,8-7-7-4
     5 |          180 | 9-7-5-5,8-8-6-4
     6 |          182 | 9-7-6-4
     8 |          186 | 10-6-5-5,9-8-5-4,8-8-7-3
     9 |          188 | 10-6-6-4,9-7-7-3
    10 |          190 | 10-7-5-4,9-8-6-3
    12 |          194 | 10-7-6-3,9-9-4-4
    13 |          196 | 11-5-5-5,10-8-4-4,9-9-5-3,8-8-8-2
    14 |          198 | 11-6-5-4,10-8-5-3,9-8-7-2
    16 |          202 | 11-7-4-4,11-6-6-3,10-7-7-2,9-9-6-2
    17 |          204 | 11-7-5-3,10-8-6-2
    18 |          206 | 10-9-4-3
    20 |          210 | 12-5-5-4,11-8-4-3,11-7-6-2,10-9-5-2,9-8-8-1
    21 |          212 | 12-6-4-4,9-9-7-1
    22 |          214 | 12-6-5-3,11-8-5-2,10-8-7-1
    24 |          218 | 12-7-4-3,10-10-3-3,10-9-6-1
    25 |          220 | 12-6-6-2,11-9-3-3,11-7-7-1,10-10-4-2
    26 |          222 | 12-7-5-2,11-9-4-2,11-8-6-1
    28 |          226 | 13-5-4-4,12-8-3-3,10-10-5-1,9-9-8-0
    29 |          228 | 13-5-5-3,12-8-4-2,11-9-5-1,10-8-8-0
    30 |          230 | 13-6-4-3,12-7-6-1,10-9-7-0
    32 |          234 | 13-6-5-2,12-8-5-1,11-10-3-2,11-8-7-0
    33 |          236 | 13-7-3-3,10-10-6-0
    34 |          238 | 13-7-4-2,12-9-3-2,11-10-4-1,11-9-6-0
    36 |          242 | 13-6-6-1,12-9-4-1,12-7-7-0
    37 |          244 | 13-7-5-1,12-8-6-0
    38 |          246 | 13-8-3-2,11-10-5-0
    40 |          250 | 13-8-4-1,12-9-5-0,11-11-2-2
    41 |          252 | 12-10-2-2,11-11-3-1
    42 |          254 | 13-7-6-0,12-10-3-1
    44 |          258 | 13-9-2-2,13-8-5-0,11-11-4-0
    45 |          260 | 13-9-3-1,12-10-4-0
    48 |          266 | 13-9-4-0
    50 |          270 | 12-11-2-1
    52 |          274 | 13-10-2-1,12-11-3-0
    54 |          278 | 13-10-3-0
    60 |          290 | 12-12-1-1
    61 |          292 | 13-11-1-1,12-12-2-0
    62 |          294 | 13-11-2-0
    72 |          314 | 13-12-1-0
    84 |          338 | 13-13-0-0


If your opponent uses Detention Sphere, he will be able to activate his Planeswalker's ability at least once, but not if he uses Banishing Light instead.
Since it is your opponent's turn, he or she will always have priority after he or she has cast a spell or activated an ability, or after a spell or ability has resolved. Therefore, once the Detention Sphere's exile trigger resolves and the Needle is removed, your opponent will have priority and the opportunity to activate one of his planeswalker's abilities. You can only react to that activation once your opponent has passed priority, but by that time, Naturalizing the Detention Sphere has no effect on that previous activation. If you destroy the Detention Sphere while its exile trigger is on the stack, the Needle will be exiled permanently.
Banishing Light works slightly differently from Detention Sphere - if Banishing Light is destroyed before it exiles the Needle, the Needle will not be exiled at all, and your opponent can't activate his Planeswalker's loyalty ability.
The order of play with Detention Sphere is:

Your opponent casts Sphere. You cannot Naturalize it yet because it's not on the battlefield yet.
The Sphere resolves and triggers its ETB ability.

If you Naturalize now, the Sphere will be destroyed, its LTB ability triggers and resolves but does nothing because the Sphere hasn't exiled anything yet. Its ETB trigger is still on the stack, will resolve, and will indefinitely exile your Needle.

If you don't Naturalize now and let the Sphere's ETB trigger resolve, then the Needle is exiled, the stack will be empty and your opponent gets priority because he is the active player and an ability resolved.

Either way, your opponent can now activate his Planeswalker. You cannot cast Naturalize first because you don't have priority.
If you still have your Naturalize, you can cast it now and return the Needle from exile, but it's too late to prevent the Planeswalker's activation.

With Banishing Light, you simply respond to the Light's ETB trigger with Naturalize, and the Needle will remain on the battlefield.

The key to answering this question for Detention Sphere is the priority system. Priority determines who may cast spells and activate abilities. Generally, the active player (the player whose turn it is) receives priority first. These are the complete rules on who receives priority when:

116.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:
116.3a The active player receives priority at the beginning of most steps and phases, after any turn-based actions (such as drawing a card during the draw step; see rule 703) have been dealt with and abilities that trigger at the beginning of that phase or step have been put on the stack. No player receives priority during the untap step. Players usually don’t get priority during the cleanup step (see rule 514.3).
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
116.3c If a player has priority when he or she casts a spell, activates an ability, or takes a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, he or she announces what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.

Your opponent will receive priority after the Detention Sphere has resolved:

601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, he or she gets priority.

Your opponent can activate Planeswalker abilities at sorcery speed, i.e. the stack is empty, it's your opponent's main phase, and your opponent has priority. Everything is given once the Detention Sphere trigger has resolved.


What happens if someone builds a MtG Turing Machine in a tournament setting?

This situation, in which no player knows whether a sequence of mandatory actions will end or loop forever, is so rare and so niche that neither the comprehensive rules nor the tournament rules address it. By a strict reading of the rules, players would need to continue executing the loop until they either know it will end, or that it will loop forever.

Practically speaking, in most situations either the players will eventually agree to end the game in a draw, or one player will just concede.

In a tournament, if neither player wants to end the game, they will keep playing, the game will go to time, and after the 5 overtime turns, the game will end in a draw. Or the "Turing Machine" will halt during that time; that's always a possibility. If someone ever finds a combo like this that never needs to pass the turn, a judge will probably rule that the game ends in a draw after it goes on long enough to start cutting into the next round's time.

If one player wants to end the game with a draw, but the other doesn't, and neither wants to concede, the first player will probably call a judge. There is no guidance for a situation like this in the existing judging documents, so they will have to make a judgement call, which will probably be either that the players have to continue playing it out, or that the sequence of mandatory actions has gone on long enough to qualify as a loop, and the game is a draw.


I would think that would really be up to your own experience that you want to have when playing the game.  Also, doing some play testing would be beneficial in getting a good understanding of whether or not it is over/underpowered.  I know it is a long game, but I would think after one game you would know more of what needs to be tweaked to determine the power of that ability.  And you could always offset that ability by providing lower stats, possessions, and etc.


Are cloned cards considered as "tokens"?

Clone has no interaction here with Anointed Procession. Clone does not make tokens, and it is not a token.

Tokens are defined in rule 110.5:

  Some effects put tokens onto the battlefield. A token is a marker used to represent any permanent that isn’t represented by a card.

In your situation, Clone is a card, not a token.

In addition, the full text of the rule you mentioned, rule 706.1 is

  Some objects become or turn another object into a “copy” of a spell, permanent, or card. Some effects create a token that’s a copy of another object. [...]

This is describing two different kinds of effects. Clone is the first kind of effect: it becomes a copy of a permanent. Some other effects will explicitly say that the create tokens, or they will create tokens with some specific keyword abilities or actions like Populate or Fabricate.


Do players reveal their sort order for Forecast?

With the forecast event you can chose to discuss or not discuss the what the cards where that you drew and what order you put them back in. However if you do discuss any of that information you can't keep it from the bio-terrorist.

Rules

  The Bio-Terrorist may listen to the other players as they discuss their plans
  and cards, but should not interrupt them on their turns. The non-Terrorist
  players may not hold private discussions nor pass notes to each other.

I would note that it is possible to lie about the information you got from the card but I would question how useful it would be to lie to your teammates and it could end up hurting you more in the long run.


Can I reveal a card from my hand whenever I want legally?

Yes, you can reveal cards from your hand whenever you want.
The regular comprehensive rules don't address this one way or the other, but in the tournament rules, section 3.12 entitled "Hidden Information" says

Hidden information refers to the faces of cards and other objects at which the rules of the game and format do not allow you to look.
Throughout the match, a draft, and pregame procedures, players are responsible for keeping their cards above the level of the playing surface and for making reasonable efforts to prevent hidden information from being revealed. However, players may choose to reveal their hands or any other hidden information available to them, unless specifically prohibited by the rules. Players must not actively attempt to gain information hidden from them, but are not required to inform opponents who are accidentally revealing hidden information.


Can I cast Quarantine Field with Brisela in play for my opponent?

The Gatherer page for Brisela has this ruling:

  For spells with {X} in their mana costs, use the value chosen for X to determine if the spell’s converted mana cost is 3 or less. For example, your opponent could cast Burn from Within (a spell with mana cost {X}{R}) with X equal to 3, but not with X equal to 2.

You should have been able to cast the spell, so you should report this as a bug.


Because the goal of the game is to place exactly 5 stones in a row. Having it limited to exactly 5 pieces means there is more strategy involved in also making sure you don't make a chain to long.
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Gomoku.html

In standard gomoku, rows of exactly five piece are required for a win, so if a row longer than five pieces (called an overline) is created, it does not count as a win. In free-style gomoku, overlines also count as wins.


Armadillo Cloak contains a triggered event that in combat resolution resolves?

No, not entirely. Combat damage is dealt in the Combat Damage step (rule 510):

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.
510.3. Third, the active player gets priority. (See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.”)
510.3a Any abilities that triggered on damage being dealt or while state-based actions are performed afterward are put onto the stack before the active player gets priority; the order in which they triggered doesn’t matter. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)

After the stack resolves, everybody passes, the End of Combat step follows, and only then the second main phase.


Does the Machine Gun also affect the player using it?

No the machine gun does not attack you as well. When you attack you can only attack other players and it specifies that in the rules. The only time you can do damage to yourself is on weird woods and when a card says you can target any player with damage.

The problem with being able to damage yourself with the machine gun is that there are roles that want to die first and being able to damage yourself like that would make it to easy to win.

Rules

  Attack other player(s)


Identify this board and card game relating to 19th century race horses

I think this looks like a version of Minoru. Seems like a very old 19th century board. It would very difficult to actually identify it.


When does Zada, Hedron Grinder determine if a spell was cast only targeting Zada, Hedron Grinder?

Zada's ability will resolve, and each of the copies will only target the corresponding creature.
First, when a triggered ability resolves, two conditions are checked to see whether it will continue to resolve. Rules 608.2a and 608.2b:

If a triggered ability has an intervening “if” clause, it checks whether the clause’s condition is true. If it isn’t, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Otherwise, it continues to resolve. See rule 603.4.

If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. [...] The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. [...]

Zada's ability has no intervening "if" clause, and no targets, so once it starts resolving, it will create the copies.
The part of Zada's ability that changes the copies' targets says "Each copy targets a different one of those creatures." It does not say to set only one target; it simply says that the spell targets the creature. The most reasonable interpretation is that it sets all of the spells target to that creature. This is backed up by a ruling on Zada:

If you cast an instant or sorcery spell that has multiple targets, but it’s targeting only Zada with all of them, Zada’s ability will trigger. The copies will similarly each be targeting only one of your other creatures. You can’t change any of the copy’s targets to other creatures.

This ruling is only conditional on what the spell targets when it is cast, not what it targets when the ability resolves. So, any time a spell with multiple targets is cast targeting Zada, the copies each target only one creature, no matter what happened to the spell in between.


Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition vs One Night Ultimate Werewolf

They are actually quite different games. Ultimate Werewolf is a version of the party game known more widely as simply Werewolf, or Mafia. In its most basic form, there is an informed minority (the titular werewolves or mafia) and an uninformed majority (the town). The game is played over several rounds, or Days (or Day/Night cycles to be more accurate), where each Day everyone votes on a player to eliminate via lynch and each night the werewolves choose a (non-werewolf) player to eliminate via a "night kill", which then repeats until one side has eliminated the threat of the other. It generally requires a moderator who knows the roles of all players, especially when some players may have additional powers (such as a seer who can find out whether another player is town or werewolf, or a doctor who can save someone from being killed at night).

ONUW is a game that is essentially played in a single round, with the aim of distilling a lot of the discussion and voting of Werewolf and removing the player elimination factor. In addition, it adds roles that mean that players may not be entirely sure of their role once discussion starts. It still has the informed minority versus the uninformed majority, but it then takes things in quite a different direction and it contains some very different roles (as well as some similar ones).

Technically, you could possibly use the role cards from one to play the other, but you'd then need to know enough of the rules to explain what each role actually does since the card's text would often be completely inaccurate for what the role does in the other game.


First, collect the Google results of site:magic.wizards.com inurl:lexicon.

Then, check the longer results of site:magic.wizards.com lexicon.


As Matt Sheppard notes, the main problem with two-player Munchkin is that it eliminates the automatic balancing effect present with three or more players, where the weaker players can band together to pull the stronger ones down.  In normal play, this is the main effect that counteracts the otherwise fundamental unfairness of Munchkin — without it, it's quite possible for the game to quickly get so unbalanced that one of the players is almost sure to win no matter what the other does.

This can be a problem especially if one of the players is new to the game: if the experienced player plays for keeps, they're likely to leave the newbie feeling like they didn't even have a chance, whereas if they pull their punches, the game is likely to get boring because there won't any of the scheming and backstabbing that makes normal Munchkin interesting.

That said, I do think that Munchkin with two players can potentially be fun, provided that both players are a) about equally skilled, b) reasonably familiar with the game and how it's typically played, and c) aware that they're playing the game in a way it was not designed for.  In particular, it's probably a good idea for both players to be experienced enough to tell when they're in a hopeless situation, so that they can either concede the game or just play it out quickly and get on with the next round.

As for house rules, I have no real experience to share.  However, one possibility I'd strongly suggest would be going over the deck and picking out some of the most egregiously unbalanced cards like the Kneepads of Allure.  Basically, if it feels unbalanced in a multiplayer game, it's likely to be even more so with only two players.  Also, if the players are not quite perfectly matched, some kind of handicap system, such as extra starting levels, might be useful to compensate for the lack of automatic balancing.

Ps. From a game theoretical perspective, two-player Munchkin ought to be pretty dull: it's a two-player zero sum game, where the success of one player (measured as expected probability of eventually winning) is exactly the complement of that of the other.  Thus, in optimal play, there really shouldn't be any (unforced) helping or trading, or anything else that requires the consent of both players.

The reason it can still work out in practice is that real humans are not the perfectly rational, risk-neutral and infinitely patient and foresightful agents assumed in classical game theory.  Thus, in a real game it can happen that, say, both players find that trading certain items puts them both in more comfortable positions, or that one player is willing to accept a reward for helping that the other is willing to offer.

Also, the strategic elements of Munchkin are not entirely based on cooperation and trading: besides the simple process of optimizing your character build, there's quite a bit of strategy involved in deciding when to spend your one-shot cards and when to save them.  That still applies even in a two-player game.


Is there a list of the cards included in Scuttle! and its expansions?

You would expect a game inventory on the Jelly Bean website.

Took a little search, but here’s a YouTube that reviews the Black Jack game expansion, showing all of those cards. They are:

Black Jack rule card, Voodoo Queen, Governor, Dagger, Powder Keg, Sea Serpent, Black Jack, Ghost Pirate, Grappling Hook, Black Spot, Crow’s Nest, Grog, Buried Treasure, Sirens, The Plank, Poison, and Parrot.

That should allow you to finish splitting up your decks.


Does the Quarriors "Shaping Charm" allow me to rotate creatures to same level but with a burst (*)?

You should go by the numerical level. If there is more than one option, the caster can choose which +1 Level die face to use. It is impossible for Demonic Overlord to rotate +1 Level from Level 2 (since the next level is 4), so it is unaffected. The rulebook covers what a Creature's level is.

Creature Dice that show a Creature Icon can be “summoned.” You must spend Quiddity equal
to the Creature’s level (in the upper left corner of the die face) to summon it.

Why settle for an unofficial FAQ (regardless of how nicely it is laid out):

Shaping Charm - Remember the upper-left number is the Level, so a die currently has a 1 then you can rotate it to any face with a 2, or if it is a 2 you can rotate it to any face with a 3.  We don't think you can change to a different face of the same level.  We also don't think you can increase the level of a Strong Primordial Ooze.

When an example in the rulebook explains a related rule, you cannot return a creature to the Ready Area on a different die face at the same level.

Shaping Cantrip - Reaction: Cast this Spell to return one of your just destroyed Creatures to your Ready Area (at its same level) instead of putting it in the Used Pile.
Example: Quinn’s beloved Scavenging Goblin has just been destroyed by a mean old Strong Deathdealer. Fortunately, Quinn has a Shaping Cantrip in his Ready Area, which he casts to save his goblin at the last moment! Though he would like to change the goblin to a face with the Burst, he cannot rotate the die, and must return the goblin to his Ready Area with the same (Burstless) face showing. Even though the goblin was saved, the Strong Deathdealer can still use his ability, immediately scoring Glory for his player.


Yes. The reminder text for Storm says "When you cast this spell..." You can know that this is a triggered ability because of the "when".

  603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]," and begin with the word "when," "whenever," or "at." They can also be expressed as "[When/Whenever/At] [trigger event], [effect]."

And we can check the rules about Storm itself:

  702.39. Storm

    702.39a Storm is a triggered ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. “Storm” means “When you play this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each other spell that was played before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any number of the copies.”

Therefore, the Storm ability triggers and goes on the stack like any other triggered ability, at which point you can respond to it with Stifle.


Is there more strategy with the two card variation of Candyland?

When playing the two-card variant, both cards will end up in the discard pile at the end of the turn. The only choice is which of the two colours to advance to.

There is one obvious case where choosing the card with less movement distance is the better choice: Liquorice.

Suppose one card X moves the player to a liquorice space, and the other card S stops short. X is 100% going to skip the player's next turn (or worse depending on the rule variant). S has at most 100% to skip, if that colour is drawn again next turn, but this has been made less likely by the discard of the first card, and generally the presence of other colours still in the draw pile further reduces the likelihood of repeating X in the next turn.

If playing with the rule whereby Liquorice/Dot is cancelled by drawing the same colour again, then this probability has been reduced by the removal of the original X that put the player there.

The net result is that taking S will never put the player in a worse position than taking X, but is very likely to give a better position at the end of the turn following the skipped turn.

It is therefore always better to avoid the Liquorice space, when the choice exists.


Passengers and Fugitives: can they be cashed in at a location, like goods?

There is no way in either the base game or any of the expansions to "sell" fugitive or passengers. The FAQ describes the only way to get rid of them:

  You may drop Fugitives and Passengers off in any sector with a Planet (you can’t toss them out the air-lock in deep space). This does not use an Action and can be done during another Action, on your turn.

Thematically this makes sense. Goods left over from a failed job or found from salvage still have value to others aside from their intended recipient. People however want to get to a certain place and won't be willing to pay if they wound up somewhere else (would you pay if an airline dropped you off at the wrong city?).


The Library is a strong card and it is far stronger than most of the cards that boost a single action type.  However, the Library also has disadvantages.  In the early game, you can buy a Silver mine for the same price, which can give you a massive resource advantage.

A player must remember that the most important resource in the game is cards.  A five cost building in the early game should give an immediate advantage that will help the player get more cards in the long run.  The Library does this, but so does the Silver mine.  A good question to ask is "what am I giving up to get the Library?"

Having played the game quite a number of times, the Chapel seems to be the most important card in the game.  Most cards give you a 2:1 ratio of card costs:victory points.  The chapel gives a 1:1 ratio for three cost and can accumulate points for the entirety of the game.  The earlier you can grab a chapel, the better off you'll be.  If one player grabs a chapel early game they can run away with the game quite easily as other players find it nigh on impossible to keep up without a chapel of their own.

It is the nature of card games that some are stronger than others.  The Library is strong.  However, I've seen many wins without it.


If the only target of a spell is cloudshifted, is the spell countered?

Yes. (Assuming that the spell is targeting only the 1 creature in question.)

When an object changes zones, as it does when you cast Cloudshift on it, it becomes an entirely new object. The object that the original spell was targeting no longer exists, and so the spell is countered for having an invalid target upon resolution.

  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. There are eight exceptions to this rule:

(None of the eight exceptions apply here.)

And the rules for what happens when a spell resolves:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal.


Can you get infinite turns with this 2 card combo?

No, this doesn't work. Medomai the Ageless has an ability that says

  Medomai the Ageless can't attack during extra turns.

It doesn't matter what caused you to take the extra turn in the first place. If you're in an extra turn, it can't attack.


How many copies did Risk's original 1959 version sell?

La Storia di Risiko! e l'Anello Mancante, book by Roberto Convenevole and Francesco Bottyone, estimated 40.000.000 copies sold worldwhide from the beginning to the release of their book, which was in 2002.


Are all jenga blocks of exactly same size?

I do not believe that the block dimensions vary much, except because of manufacturing error. The Wikipedia page states that the blocks are:

  Each block is three times as long as its width, and one fifth as thick as its length 1.5×2.5×7.5 cm (0.59×0.98×3.0 in).

And the official website states:

  A classic Jenga game consists of 54 precision-crafted, specially finished hard wood blocks.

I disagree with your assertion that, "blocks dimensions vary, otherwise the occurrence of loose blocks would be symmetric/regular when the tower initially built." If the dimensions were the same, but the weight varied, the weight would not be evenly distributed throughout the tower. That aside, you are probably correct that the blocks are not all exactly the same size.

Only one size block is manufactured, but because machines that cut the wood have certain tolerances (probably in 10s or 100s of microns), you cannot get a perfect cut. Even if you could, the wood surface isn't flat anyway. The ridges of the grain are very deep, as can be seen in this scanning electron microscope images. Finishing the wood would make some of these differences disappear, but even that wouldn't be perfect.


James Otter's comment is right. The rule you're looking for the the Lightning Assault is the White Scar's "Chapter Tactic" and allows a Charge after Falling back or advancing.

It's covered in detail her Goonhamemr Review
The Supplement itself was first published in August 2019 according to its Amazon listing. But the rules for the Chapter Traits appear in the main Space Marine Codex.
Note that the linked articles are from the 8th Edition period, and Space Marines as GW's poster children are the most subject to frequent change. I'm unaware if these rules have been modified by the recent 9th Edition release.


Do scope take up a slot after being combined with a gun?

No, if the scope is combined with the gun, it counts as one card.
You can see this in the rules:

  Specific  Equipment  cards  can  be  combined  to  build  im-proved
  weaponry.  Take  the  two  appropriate  cards,  which  must  be
  already  stored  in  the  Survivor’s  inventory,  and  combine them
  into the new weapon. This does not cost an Action, and the new weapon
  takes only a single slot in your Survivor’s inventory. When built,
  Survivors may immediately and freely equip improved weapons to their
  hands.

  Sniper Rifle: Combine a Rifle and a Scope to get a sniper rifle. Put
  the Scope card under the Rifle card. Now you can choose your targets
  when firing with this Rifle


Sliver abilites and when they affect the Slivers

As soon as one of the Muscle Slivers leaves the battlefield, its ability disappears, leaving the other sliver smaller.

Static abilities on permanents create continuous effects, functioning as long as the permanent is on the battlefield, no longer and no shorter. They are not activated; they simply are. That's why they're written as statements of fact: "All Sliver creatures get +1/+1."

So for example, your opponent could block one of your 3/3 Muscle Slivers with a 3/3, and one with a 2/3. All the creatures deal damage to each other simultaneously. State-based actions are then checked, and the two 3/3s and the 2/3 have taken three damage and die. The first Muscle Sliver is now gone, so the remaining one is now a 2/2. State-based actions are checked again, and that sliver has two damage marked on it and now only has two toughness, so it dies as well.

Remember, this doesn't affect the amount of damage dealt, since all the damage was dealt at the same time, before anything died. So when you ask "does it stay at 3/3 for the attack phase?" the answer is... yes and no. It's still a 3/3 when it deals damage, yes. But it gets smaller immediately after.


Does Largest Target affect only whoever uniquely has the most HP?

This card only affects a player when they have the highest HP and aren't tied with someone else.

So, this is one of those weird phrases in games that's always used but doesn't make any sense as to why it gets used still.  What' we're looking for is the relationship between hp of players.

At the start of the turn, let's say I have 5 and Jim has 6 HP.  Jim will take 1 damage, since he has more hp than the other runner in the game.  At the start of the next round, we both have 5 HP, and nobody takes damage because nobody has more HP than anyone else.

For a more complex example, lets' say I have 4, Tina has 3, Jim has 4, and Al has 2.  In this case, I have more HP than Tin and Al, but not Jim.  I won't take damage.  Jim will say the same, since he's got the same HP as me, and more than Tina and Al.


Exactly when does an attacking creature stop being an attacking creature?

Creatures are attacking until the end of the combat phase, so they're still attacking during the end of combat step.

This is indeed spelled out in the rules:

  508.1k Each chosen creature still controlled by the active player becomes an attacking creature. It remains an attacking creature until it’s removed from combat or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. See rule 506.4.

(Rule 506.4 spells out ways a creature can be removed from combat.)

There's actually even a ruling on Maze of Ith about this:

  You can activate Maze of Ith’s ability targeting an attacking creature you control during the combat damage step or the end of combat step. It’ll be untapped and the damage it had already dealt won’t be undone.

Note also that, as that ruling implies, combat damage is dealt at the beginning of the combat damage step, so you can also do things during the combat damage step after damage, no need to wait til the end of combat step.

There's also a rather famous card whose main function relies on creatures still being attacking during the end of combat step: Desert.


Can Act of Treason allow a Detained creature to attack?

No, you cannot do that. Changing control of the creatures would have no effect on the fact that they are detained. This is because changing control, just like changing characteristics of an object on the battlefield, doesn't cause it to become a new object, or reenter the battlefield, or anything like that. Even if you changed it into a non-creature, then back into a creature, it would still be unable to attack.

Note that you never lost control of your creatures, so Act of Treason would not cause the creatures to change control. Lyev Decree isn't preventing you from gaining control; you already have control. You simply can't attack or block with those creatures.

If you were able to blink the creature with something like Momentary Blink; this would work, because when an object changes zones; it becomes a completely new object.


The second edition came out in 2013, the first edition in 2008. There is no 2012 edition. If you see it anywhere, then it's probably a typo.

There are differences between the 2008 and 2013 editions—for that, see What are the differences between Pandemic and Pandemic 2013? .


This is very similar to a game called "Perpetual Motion" -- the rules from Wikipedia specify gathering same-ranked cards to the left, and only allow for eliminating groups of cards if the four of a rank are dealt out to the four piles as part of a single deal.  They seem similarly unclear as to which pile should end up on top of the new stack.


In Catan, is it possible to steal from yourself with the robber?

No, you may not.
According to the official rules on the website:

(1) You must move the robber immediately to the number token of any
other terrain hex or to the desert hex.
(2) Then you steal 1 (random)
Resource Card from an opponent who has a settlement or city adjacent
to the target terrain hex. The player who is robbed holds his Resource
Card hand face down. You then take 1 at random. If the target hex is
adjacent to 2 or more players’ settlements or cities, you choose which
one you want to rob.

One could argue the second part "if ...adjacent to 2 players'", but I find that interpretation completely mis-aligns with the unambiguous previous rule that you do not and would not rob yourself.


No, the second one is not valid.

There are many different rule sets for Backgammon.  However, I'm unaware of any which would allow it.

This quote is from Wikipedia.  It is footnoted as coming from both Backgammon for Winners, and Hoyle's Rules of Games.

  A die may not be used to bear off checkers from a lower-numbered point unless there are no checkers on any higher points.


Are the large box sets stand alone, or do they require Descent 2nd Edition base-set?

You'll need to have the base set.  The expansions are just that.  No rules, no dice, only a few cards to add to the base set.


In Smash Up, can you "destroy" a card from your hand?

No.

I don't know if this is explicitly mentioned anywhere in the rules, but destroying a minion refers to destroying a minion card on a base.

This is akin to Magic: The Gathering, which has concepts of discarding cards from one's hand and destroying permanents on the battlefield.


Are the 2 planeswalker sets from Amonkhet balanced?

In the official announcement post, the following line is mentioned, from which you could deduce that these decks are meant to be played against each other:

  The decks are meant for newer players but can be fun for anyone to battle them against one another.

Of course, whether decks are balanced in practice is always questionable, and other than the decklists also depends on the skill of the players which are playing them, and their affinity to the deck's theme. Generally, you should end up with a somewhat balanced deck, however - very likely more balanced than any two random decks you would construct from your card pool on your own.


How much mana does tapping a Forest make, with Nikya of the Old Ways & Nyxbloom Ancient?

Nikya's ability doesn't cause the Forest to produce {G}{G}; it still produces {G} and Nikya's triggered ability produces another one. You don't tap Nikya for mana, so Nyxbloom Ancient only applies to the original {G} from the forest and you make 4 green mana.

Now, two Nyxbloom Ancients would stack, cf. the following ruling on Mana Reflection:

  The effects of multiple Mana Reflections are cumulative. For example, if you have three Mana Reflections on the battlefield, you’ll get eight times the original amount and type of mana.


What do I need to get (re)started in Warmachine?

You neet Warmachine MKII rulebook and the MKII cards for your models.
Depending on how many models you already have you can buy the single cards from the PP online Sore or your faction card Deck.


Can someone Bioshift counters off a creature after combat damage has been assigned?

No he can not do this.

Damage does not use the stack.

  510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how
  each blocking creature assigns its combat damage. This turn-based
  action doesn't use the stack. A player assigns a creature's combat
  damage according to the following rules:

  510.2. Second, all combat damage that's been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack. No
  player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the
  time combat damage is assigned and the time it's dealt. This is a
  change from previous rules.

Then once the damage is assigned and SBA are checked, IE it goes to the grave yard, then players have priority.

  510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, "Handling Triggered Abilities.")

  510.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

So at the time he wants to move the counters the creature would be dead and gone.

EDIT: In response to B:

Since the nighthawk only has a toughness of 3, in step 510.1 your friend would assign 3 damage to the nighthawk and 7 damage to you if the hydra was 10/10 with trample.

When it comes to trample you only ever have to assign lethal damage to the blocker before you assign damage to the player the blocker is blocking.


In The Backgammon Book, World Champions Oswald Jacoby and John Crawford recommend with both 6-2 and 6-3 moving one runner to the bar point and one man from the 12-point into your own outer table; though they concede that there another move almost as good:

  The modern play [written in 1970] is to use the six to move one back man to the black bar point and use the other to move a man from the black twelve point into your outer table. ... Unless [the man on the bar point] is hit by a point-making roll (in this case 6-1; double 6; double 3; or double 1) you will have a lot of possible returns against your opponent's  vulnerable blot; and you have lost little anyways. If your man is not hit your position is highly advantageous.

Note that Jacoby and Crawford do not recommend the modern play above with an opening roll of 6-4.

For both 6-2 and 6-3 they regard one alternative move each being nearly as good as the modern play recommended above: with 6-3 running with a single runner to the ten point, but with a 6-2 moving a man from your 12-point to your inner board.

  With a 6-2 we don't like the running play [moving a single man from black one point to black nine point) at all, as it exposes your man to a straight 4 or 3-1 or double 2; a total of 14 possible shots.


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

Yes.

From the FAQ:

  Q. May Yggdrasil be invaded if I lose a battle using Loki’s Blessing (allows
  warrior to invade without cost the province where the battle was lost)?

  A. Yes, Loki’s Blessing allows you put a Warrior in Yggdrasil.


When using the Research role, does the symbol on the role card count towards meeting the cost?

YES

As per the Rulebook:

  You may Boost the chosen role by playing any number of cards from your hand with symbols matching that role. Symbols on face up planets in your Empire may also be used to Boost the Role. Cards played during the Action Phase do not contribute to Boosting the Role.

All the role cards have one symbol on the card which counts towards the effect of the role.

Therefore, if you take a Research Role, you need only two more research symbols on either the face-up planets in your empire and/or cards in hand in order to acquire Improved Survey.


In Gloomhaven, is the leading card chosen for initiative after or before monster cards are revealed

The rule is a bit ambiguous, but the leading card is selected in card selection and only revealed in initiative phase.

Rules:(emphasis theirs)

Select cards:

  Of the two cards, one should be selected as the leading card, which will determine the player's order of imitative for the round

Determine initiative:

  After players have either selected their two action cards or declared a long rest, the players reveal a monster ability card for each type of monster that has at least one figure currently on the map. In addition, each player not taking a long rest reveals his or her leading card for the round.

This means when you pick which two cards to play, you also decide which card will be leading at that time, then player leading and monster cards are revealed at the same time.


Does Hedron Link Device remove the original faction from constructs?

The original faction is still applicable. Note the exact wording of Hedron Link Device. "You may treat all Constructs as Mechana Constructs." Both the "May" and the "Treat" here mean that the original faction is still applicable. First off, it is "May", so you can just choose to not count it as Mechana at the moment if it will make your Golem better. Second, it is "treat as", which is not the same as "becomes."

In comparison to MTG rules, some cards have the ability "You may cast creature cards as though they had flash." Note that this does NOT give your creature cards flash. It just lets you cast them like they did.


Are the odds of drawing mythics greater when purchasing individually packaged boosters over booster boxes?

The only differences between single packs out of a booster box at a LGS and blister packs at a big box store are:

The blister packs can't really benefit from mapping1 like the boxes for some sets can.
People can more easily steal cards out of the blister pack and repack them with terrible cards not even in the same set.

Number 2 is especially true if the blister pack comes from Walmart, who have a very generous return policy.

Normal2 MtG packs have a 1/8 chance to contain a mythic (roughly, depending on the size of the set), regardless of where the pack comes from.

"Mapping" a set means determining how the cards in the set are printed and distributed (a process that is generally crowdsourced). Once the set is mapped, one can potentially open a small number of boosters from a box and from there determine what every rare in the box is, and which packs have them. Mapping does not generally cover foils, however. Wizards has spent great effort to prevent the capability of mapping sets, and these days while it is still possible, it is generally unprofitable.
By "normal," I mean to exclude things like special packs used for prereleases such as the guild-specific packs in the Return to Ravnica block. I am not certain on their mythic distribution, so I'll not comment on them.


The Crew ability doesn't have any timing restrictions on it, so it can be activated any time you have priority. And once the ability has been activated it doesn't matter what happens to the creature(s) you tapped to activate the ability (even if the Crew ability is still on the stack).
Tapping creatures is a cost of the crew ability. And there is no point between when you have announced the crew ability, when you payed the cost of tapping a creature, and when the ability is put on the stack for your opponent to respond. Once the ability is on the stack removing the crewing creature will not do anything because the cost of activating the ability has already been paid.
From the Gatherer Rulings on the Copter:

Once a player announces that he or she is activating a crew ability, no player may take other actions until the ability’s been paid for. Notably, players can’t try to stop the ability by changing a creature’s power or by removing or tapping a creature.
Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren’t attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don’t affect the creatures that crewed it and vice versa.


If you allow your opponent to draw cards can they have more than 7 cards in their hand until their next clean up stage

Yes, they still get to draw and do not have to discard down to 7 until their cleanup step.

  402.2. Each player has a maximum hand size, which is normally seven cards. A player may have any number of cards in his or her hand, but as part of his or her cleanup step, the player must discard excess cards down to the maximum hand size.


Should supports be used as the primary weight of your attack?

You've done a good job of detailing the main advantages of using a support order, but you've left out a key concern when using them: enemy raid orders can remove support orders, so your supporting regions would need to be buffered against enemy-controller regions of the board. You also rightly introduce the fact that the march orders are the only way to get your troops to move around the board.

Another somewhat related aspect is the limitations on the size of your armies based on the supply track. If you have one or two large armies supporting a number of single unit forward positions, you can make much better use of the larger armies if they are supporting forward positions.

One other thing to consider is that there are a number of hero abilities which negate or change the effects of supporting troops, which don't affect the troops in the region doing the attacking/defending.


Can one hero use multiple Toryn Gauntlets?

Yes, you can equip multiple Toryn Gauntlets to one hero, adding the benefits together. Note also that you do not add together the weights of the various weapons - each weapon's weight is compared to the hero's strength individually, so a hero of strength 2 could equip a gauntlet (weight 2, I believe - assume it's right for the example) and another weapon of weight 4 (2 strength from the hero base and 2 strength from the gauntlet).


Konami has general contact information for their offices. However, I highly doubt that they will accept unsolicited card suggestions. There are a couple of reasons for that:

They are already paying people to design cards, and they have a lot more experience.
If they were to accept fan-submitted cards, you would not be the only person submitting them. Konami would have to pay people to sift through all of the thousands of submissions.
Fan-submitted cards might have rights or legal issues. Do you own the card? Does Konami own the card? What happens if you submit a card and they radically change it? Do you have any say over the final outcome?
If Konami is like most TCG companies, they already have hundreds if not thousands of cards that they would love to publish someday (they plan out new sets well over a year in advance too). They have no need for half a dozen cards from a fan.

Konami has to date released 16 fan-made cards. Out of those, 15 of them were winners of contests that Konami specifically held, usually "draw a monster" contests open only to children. The last one, Tyler the Great Warrior, was a Make a Wish Foundation wish for a 14-year-old cancer patient (who ultimately survived). As best I can tell, all of these fan-submissions were only for monster designs and not for card stats.

Given this, I think your chances are practically zero for being able to show a card to Konami. Your best bet is to participate in one of these fan contests they have, or if you are an adult, convince a child to draw a monster that matches your design.


How is this life gained: all at once or "one bit" at a time?

Count the verbs. There is only one instruction to gain life, so all the life is gained simultaneously.

  608.2e Some spells and abilities have multiple steps or actions, denoted by separate sentences or clauses, that involve multiple players. In these cases, the choices for the first action are made in APNAP order, and then the first action is processed simultaneously. Then the choices for the second action are made in APNAP order, and then that action is processed simultaneously, and so on. See rule 101.4.

Life Burst has two instructions to gain life (two verbs), so there would be two life gain events.

  Would Ajani's Pridemate have one or two +1/+1 counters placed on it if I had it in play at that point?

Since all life is gained simultaneously and it all came from the same source, there is only one life gain event, so it would only trigger once.

Note that if you simultaneously gained life from multiple sources, that would count as multiple life gains events, and the ability would trigger multiple times.

  118.9. Some triggered abilities are written, "Whenever [a player] gains life, . . . ." Such abilities are treated as though they are written, "Whenever a source causes [a player] to gain life, . . . ." If a player gains 0 life, no life gain event has occurred, and these abilities won’t trigger.

That applies very narrowly to life gain. It doesn't apply to taking damage. For example, if Boros Reckoner is simultaneously dealt damage from two sources, its ability will only trigger once. It would need the wording of Nested Ghoul's ability to be triggered twice.


Is Okk able to attack with a 1/1 goblin and a Goblin Piledriver in the first attack phase?

You cannot do that.

The Declare Attackers step breaks down like this:

Declare your attackers.

Choose what's attacking, and which player or planeswalkers they're attacking.
Make sure you're obeying all restrictions and all requirements. If you are not, the declaration of attackers you've made is illegal. (We rewind and you reconsider what you're declaring.)
Other stuff about paying costs, tapping the creatures, etc.

The active player gets priority, all triggered abilities go on the stack that were triggered during attack declarations, people get the opportunity to cast spells and activated abilities.
(then a whole bunch more stuff)

You can read more about how this step functions on the MTG Wiki page for the declare attackers step.

You might see the issue there:

Goblin Piledriver needs to be at least a 5/2 in step 1 in order for you to be able to declare Okk as an attacker.
Goblin Piledriver doesn't become a 5/2 until step 2 where its triggered ability can go on the stack and resolve. This is way past the point we've already made sure our attack declarations are all legal, and we're not allowed to "look ahead" to take this eventuality into account at the time we're assessing that our attack declarations are legal.
Therefore in step 1, Goblin Piledriver is still just a 1/2, and we don't take into account how big it will be after attack declarations. Declaring Okk as an attacker would be a violated restriction and the declaration of attackers would be illegal.


Catan and Seafarers 5-6 player expansion

You need both player extensions in order to play with 5-6 players on Seafarers.  The Seafarers 5-6 player extension doesn't contain the pieces needed for the extra players.  You'll need the frame pieces, extra titles, houses, roads and cities from the regular Catan 5-6 player extension in order to play Seafarers with 5-6 people.


How does copying a creature with +1/+1 counters on it work?

Copy effects copy the printed values[1] —not the current values— of the object being copied, so the copy will be a 0/0.

  706.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.

(Emphasis mine.)

If an object is being created as a copy (e.g. Clone), some pre-existing unmentioned effect (such as the one created by Bad Moon's ability) would be needed to keep the copy alive.

If an existing object is becoming a copy (e.g. Lazav, Dimir Mastermind), pre-existing counters of its own or some pre-existing unmentioned effect (such as the one created by Arcane Flight's ability) would be needed to keep the copy alive.

If copying a token, the token's initial values are copied.


Can I activate Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar's ability in response to itself?

You can activate Mutani's ability in response to itself.
Your opponent was wrong in stating that activating it caused Multani to leave the graveyard. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect, separated by a colon.

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as "[Cost]: [Effect.] (...)"
602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

Returning Multani to your hand is part of the effect, so it will only happen on resolution. Because you can respond to your own abilities by retaining priority, until that ability resolves, you may activate the same ability again as many times as you're able to pay the cost (returning two lands to your hand).

116.1b A player may activate an activated ability any time they have priority.
116.3c If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.


How does Life and Limb interact with Conspiracy

Conspiracy and Life and Limb both apply in Layer 4.

  613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.

When two effects apply in the same layer, they are normally applied in timestamp order (the order in which you played them). However, when a dependency exists between two effects, we ignore the timestamp system and instead follow a dependency system.

  613.7a An effect is said to “depend on” another if (a) it’s applied in the same layer (and, if applicable, sublayer) as the other effect (see rules 613.1 and 613.3); (b) applying the other would change the text or the existence of the first effect, what it applies to, or what it does to any of the things it applies to; and (c) neither effect is from a characteristic-defining ability or both effects are from characteristic-defining abilities. Otherwise, the effect is considered to be independent of the other effect.

Life and Limb depends on Conspiracy. Life and Limb applies to Saprolings, but Conspiracy changes your Saprolings into Allies. Therefore, Conspiracy changes what Life and Limb applies to.

Conspiracy depends on Life and Limb. Conspiracy applies to Saprolings, but Life and Limb turns your Forests into Saprolings. Therefore, Life and Limb changes what Conspiracy applies to.

We have a dependency loop, so we revert back to just applying the effects in timestamp order.

  613.7b An effect dependent on one or more other effects waits to apply until just after all of those effects have been applied. If multiple dependent effects would apply simultaneously in this way, they’re applied in timestamp order relative to each other. If several dependent effects form a dependency loop, then this rule is ignored and the effects in the dependency loop are applied in timestamp order.

You played Conspiracy first, so by combination of the rules above:

Apply Conspiracy's effect first. All of your creatures become Allies.
Apply Life and Limb's effect second. All of your Forests become Saprolings in addition to their other types.

The result is that all of your creatures are now allies, except for your Forests which are now Forest Saprolings (but not Allies).

Phew! That was a mouthful. Now I can answer your questions:

  1) Will future Saproling tokens, made by the Sporesower Thallid, trigger both the Retreats Landfall ability, and the Healers triggered ability, when allies enters the battlefield?

Saprolings will enter as Allies. They will trigger Kalastria Healer's ability, but not Landfall.

  2) Will future played forests do the same?

Forests will enter as Forest Saprolings. They will trigger landfall, but not Healer's ability.

  3) What will happen to forests already in play under my control?

They will be Forest Saprolings, but not Allies.


Identify a card game where players are asked questions about life situations

I'm assuming this game an English-language party game printed in the United States, because that's what I know best, but variants of the "who would X" mechanic have been published for decades in many countries.  That said, searching BoardGameGeek for party games with social mechanics (particularly voting on other players) and limiting the list of games to those published in the USA from 1970 to 1999 gives four likely candidates:

True Colors (1990):  Cards show a question, and you vote on who best fits it - and try to bet how many players will choose you.  Questions are things like "WHO would still clip coupons after winning five million dollars in the lottery?" and "Flirting is an art, WHO is the undeniable expert?"  Has been published under other names and in several art styles, the link shows the box and components from the 1990 Pressman edition.  Closest match in mechanics and publication date.

The Ungame (1973):  This roll-and-move "board game" is more about explaining yourself to other players or discussing other players.  Questions include "Talk about a happy marriage." and "Share a childhood experience with death."  Not the closest match for mechanics or publication date, but it sold like hotcakes so worth mentioning.

Family: The Game (1990):  A board game about dealing dirty laundry about family members, questions include things like "When it comes to smelly feet, our family's champion would have to be _____!"  Not a very popular game and it doesn't use cards, but it's otherwise a very close match for mechanics.

Who Said That? (1998):  A card-based board game, everyone writes an answer to a question like "You're in a bar and find a wallet full of money, what do you do?" and you try to guess who gave what answer.  Close match in mechanics but published a few years after the "early 90s."

Speaking personally, this is also how most of my games of Nomic and 1000 Blank White Cards end up, but neither game has set cards.


If someone casts an aura on my creature, do I still control the creature?

Some spells and abilities let you gain control of a permanent

Sleep Paralysis does not change control of permanents. Lay Claim is an example of an Aura that changes control of a permanent. It has

  You control enchanted permanent.

This ability transfers control of the enchanted permanent.

  Most of the time, this means the card will move from your opponent's side to yours.

Say you have a creature to which you have a Bone Saw attached, and your opponent attaches Lay Claim to your creature.

Your opponent controls the creature, so it moves to their side, and they can attack with it and use its abilities (but you can't). You can't sacrifice it to Fling (but they can), and they would lose life if it's targeted by Certain Death (and you wouldn't). It even gets the +1/+0 from Bone Saw.

However, you still control Bone Saw. As an Aura or Equipment, it physically stays with the creature to which is attached. Only you can use its activated ability (say to equip Bone Saw to a creature you still control).

  But for Auras or Equipment attached to other cards, the controller changes but it doesn't move.

Say you have a creature to which you have a Bone Saw attached, and your opponent attaches Lay Claim to Bone Saw (not the creature).

You control the creature, so it stays on your side, and you can attack with it and use its abilities. You can sacrifice it to Fling, and you would lose life if it's targeted by Certain Death. It even gets the +1/+0 from Bone Saw.

However, your opponent controls Bone Saw. As an Aura or Equipment, it physically stays with the creature to which is attached. Only they can use its activated ability (say to equip Bone Saw on one of their own creatures).


What’s the name of this three row solitaire?

The solitaire game you are looking for is a variant of 10-20-30 (ten-twenty-thirty), but with only 3 tableau piles (instead of the standard 7 tableau piles).
10-20-30 is itself a variant of Decade and it also in some meaning resembles Accordion.
A couple of versions of 10-20-30:

Catalyst Deluxe - with 7 tableau piles - for both Windows, OSX and Linux
https://www.lostluggagestudios.com/projects/CatalystDeluxe.php

10-20-30 - with 4 tableau piles - not working on 64-bit Windows computers
https://10-20-30.soft32.com/

A description of the game from Duke University
https://users.cs.duke.edu/~ola/courses/cps149/problems/week2/solitaire.html

10-20-30 (ten-twenty-thirty)
A simple solitaire card game called 10-20-30 uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards in which suit is irrelevant. The value of a face card (king, queen, jack) is 10. The value of an ace is one. The value of each of the other cards is the face value of the card (2, 3, 4, etc.). Cards are dealt from the top of the deck. You begin by dealing out seven cards, left to right forming seven piles. After playing a card on the rightmost pile, the next pile upon which you play a card is the leftmost pile.
For each card placed on a pile, check that pile to see if one of the following three card combinations totals 10, 20, or 30.

the first two and last one,
the first one and the last two, or
the last three cards.

If so, pick up the three cards and place them on the bottom of the deck. For this problem, always check the pile in the order just described. Collect the cards in the order they appear on the pile and put them at the bottom of the deck. Picking up three cards may expose three more cards that can be picked up. If so, pick them up. Continue until no more sets of three can be picked up from the pile.
For example, suppose a pile contains 5 9 7 3 where the 5 is at the first card of the pile, and then a 6 is played. The first two cards plus the last card (5 + 9 + 6) sum to 20. The new contents of the pile after picking up those three cards becomes 7 3. Also, the bottommost card in the deck is now the 6, the card above it is the 9, and the one above the 9 is the 5.

If a queen were played instead of the six, 5 + 9 + 10 = 24, and 5 + 3 + 10 = 18, but 7 + 3 + 10 = 20, so the last three cards would be picked up, leaving the pile as 5 9.

If a pile contains only three cards when the three sum to 10, 20, or 30, then the pile "disappears" when the cards are picked up. That is, subsequent play skips over the position that the now-empty pile occupied. You win if all the piles disappear. You lose if you are unable to deal a card. It is also possible to have a draw if neither of the previous two conditions ever occurs.


Can you crew a Vehicle that is already a creature?

You can activate a Crew ability multiple times. Normally doing so doesn't do anything (other than tapping the creature used to crew the vehicle), however since the Motorist has an triggered ability that triggers on crewing a vehicle the trigger will still occur.

From the Gatherer rulings on every vehicle:

  You may activate a crew ability of a Vehicle even if it’s already an artifact creature. Doing so has no effect on the Vehicle. It doesn’t change its power and toughness.


Dictate of Erebos and Bestowed creatures

You may sacrifice Underworld Coinsmith, and then you may sacrifice Hopeful Eidolon.

Whenever a creature dies, all of its enchantment(s) become unattached. Normally, they would be sent straight to the graveyard as a state based action. However, enchantments with Bestow immediately become a creature instead due to rule CR 702.102a. The commonly used slang terminology for this action is "falls off".

Triggers from Dictate of Erebos resolve one at a time. If you sacrifice Underworld Coinsmith to the first trigger, then Hopeful Eidolon immediately "falls off" and is ready to be sacrificed to the second trigger.

  702.102a If you chose to pay this spell’s bestow cost, it becomes an Aura enchantment and gains enchant creature. These effects last until the permanent this spell becomes becomes unattached.


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

Balanced platoon

In most cases a solid 1-2-2 platoon will do the trick.

1 jumbo to act as the shield.
2 m4a1 76 mm for fire power.
2 vanilla m4a1 or m4a3s, if you think you will benefit from the protected ammo stowage.

This type of platoon will be a great advancing platoon for a reasonable cost.

Spearhead platoon

2 M4A3 76s or M4A3E8s
2 m4a3
1 m4a3 105mm

Great platoon to spearhead attacks. All tanks use the Detroit's Finest special rule, giving you a slight edge when it comes to flanking and taking objectives.

Tortoise platoon

1 jumbo to act as the shield.
2 m4a3e8; utilize the smooth ride special rule by not moving more than 15cm on any given turn, keeping RoF up while denying penalties.
Lastly, you can fill it with either m4a1 or m4a3s.

Good luck!


Yes, your opponent gets a chance to pay the Tribute. From the Clone rulings:

  Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the copied creature will trigger when Clone enters the battlefield. Any "as [this creature] enters the battlefield" or "[this creature] enters the battlefield with" abilities of the chosen creature will also work.

This is the same behavior as when you Clone a Triskelion; the Clone will get 3 +1/+1 counters.


How do draw effects during the discard phase work?

The 'discard phase' doesn't exist anymore, it's part of the cleanup step:

Cleanup Step

514.1. First, if the active player’s hand contains more cards than their maximum hand size (normally seven), they discard enough cards to reduce their hand size to that number. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

The Gitrog Monster's ability may trigger as a consequence of discarding land cards, so 514.3 applies:

514.3. Normally, no player receives priority during the cleanup step, so no spells can be cast and no abilities can be activated. However, this rule is subject to the following exception:
514.3a At this point, the game checks to see if any state-based actions would be performed and/or any triggered abilities are waiting to be put onto the stack (including those that trigger “at the beginning of the next cleanup step”). If so, those state-based actions are performed, then those triggered abilities are put on the stack, then the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities. Once the stack is empty and all players pass in succession, another cleanup step begins.

(emphasis mine)
So there will be another cleanup step, where (if your hand size exceeds 7) you again must discard cards in order to reduce it.


When does Mardu Hordechief's raid ability trigger?

I think what's tripping you up is that there are two conditional statements involved — one is the trigger and the other is a condition that limits when the ability can work.

  Raid — When Mardu Hordechief enters the battlefield, if you attacked with a creature this turn, put a 1/1 white Warrior creature token onto the battlefield.

The Raid ability is triggered "When Mardu Hordechief enters the battlefield." That's the only time you'll actually do any of the other stuff in that sentence.

The action, however, is conditional — you only do it "if you attacked with a creature this turn."

Intervening "if" clauses are checked both when the ability triggers and when it's placed on the stack[CR 603.4], so it goes like this:

Attack with some creatures.
Cast Mardu Hordechief on your second main phase.
When the spell resolves, it puts Hordechief onto the battlefield. This triggers its ability, but only because you attacked this turn. (If you hadn't attacked this turn, it wouldn't trigger at all.)
Its triggered ability goes on the stack.
As the triggered ability is about to resolve, you check the intervening "if" condition again. For this particular ability, this check can't fail, so it goes on to resolve, and you get a token. (If the check were to fail, the triggered ability would be removed the stack without resolving.)


Are hosted power counters and advancement tokens the same thing?

Power counters don't (currently) interact with anything other than the card that placed them. A card will define when to place a power counter, and the effects of having them on itself. EG Draco lets you pay to place power counters when it's rezzed, and they boost the strength. The most complicated one currently is Personal Workshop which places power counters on hosted cards, but these cards are inactive while on the workshop, and so the power counters are only referenced by the personal workshop which placed them.

So no, you cannot interchange advancement and power counters.

Advancement and Virus counters are two specific types of counters which a range of cards let you place/remove/move. You can use Trick of Light or Shipment from SanSan to place or move advancement counters. The corp can clear all the virus counters, the runner can play Surge! to place extra virus counters.


Can you run away without losing against a monster?

No, you cannot run away if you are winning with just your equipment. From the Munchkin FAQ:

  Q. Do I have to kill a monster? Even if I'm winning, can I just choose to Run Away?
  A. You can't Run Away if you are winning with what you have in play. However, you are not required to play one-shot cards, negative Monster Enhancers, etc., to beat it, even if you could win handily. So, in that sense, you would be able to choose to Run Away.