What are the names for Magic's different deck colour splashes?

I'd say the realistic answer to the question is "those terms are not commonly used". Looking back through some recent tournament decks on the official Wizards site:

Simon Görtzen's Boros-splash-blue-splash-black deck at the October 2020 League Weekend is simply described as "Four-color Cycling"
All the Temur-splash-white decks in the Top 8 at the October 2020 Season Grand Finals are described as "Omnath Adventures" after their namesake card, Omnath, Locus of Creation.
The Temur-splash-white decks in the Top 8 at the July 2020 Players Tour Finals are described as "Four-color Reclamation".


The value of the cards in the canasta counts as points in the meld; but the 300 bonus points for the canasta does not.

This means that in your example, you would be melding 120 points worth (50 for the Jacks, 40 for the 2s, and 30 for the 9s).

If instead your canasta were made of 4s instead of Jacks; then you would only be melding 95 points (25+40+30).

From the rules:

  You can make the initial meld for your team by melding cards from your hand whose total value is at least the minimum count. The minimum count depends on your team's cumulative score at the start of that hand:

  This initial meld from your hand must include either

    a pure meld of at least three matching natural cards (with no wild cards), or

    a wild card meld (at least three wild cards).

While these rules don't specifically cover the question of whether to count the 300 points for the canasta bonus; we can look in the rules for Classic Canasta:

  The count of a meld is the total point value of the cards in it. To meet the minimum, a player may make two or more different melds. If a player takes the discard pile, the top card but no other may count toward the requirement. Bonuses for red threes and canastas do not count toward the minimum.

There is nothing in the American Canasta rules to imply that not counting the bonuses for canastas would be changed.


Are newly gained items considered Bequests in Haunt 94: Last Will and Tournament?

From the secrets of survival tome:

  Each hero draws an item card, then each counts
  his or her total number of item cards and omen
  cards that can be traded or stolen. (A card that can
  be traded but not stolen, or vice versa, counts. For
  example, the Armor and Blood Dagger count, but the
  Bite doesn’t.) These cards represent your Bequests,
  which will change as you gain and lose cards.

Especially that last part is interesting for your question: These cards represent your Bequests,
which will change as you gain and lose cards

This means that every omen and item card which fits the previous description you gain will become a bequest, if you lose one they will stop being a bequest.

for other confusions: read this


Yes, your opponent gains priority and has several opportunities to activate their Gideon's Lawkeeper.

Your opponent will get priority and may activate their Lawkeeper in your Upkeep, Draw, 1st Main, and Beginning of Combat steps.  You cannot skip any of those steps.  If you draw your card for turn and go straight to combat you're proposing a shortcut, but your opponent is not obliged to accept that shortcut.  They can stop you at any time they would receive priority and cast instants or activate abilities.


What is a good opening for Go on a 13x13 board?

A standard opening is often based on where you would put handicap stones.
4-4 is what you play and it's correct, but people more and more agree that 3-3 is better on smaller boards since it secures the corner and since you're on 13X13; it's not too small of a move like on 19X19.
For the fuseki you can try to use asymmetric stones 4-3 and 3-3 or 4-3 3-4 like black or white below:

White also can play safety with two 3-3.
But maybe you don't lose because of the opening? 13X13 is a different game, the center is worth more points than on 19X19 (worth 2 corners + 1 side) and there is less middle game and more life&death + endgame (maybe this is where you fail?).
Usually, you shouldn't mindlessly launch an attack. Try to secure 2 corners and develop towards the middle while trying to reduce the opponent's territory.
On 13X13 the number of groups you can keep alive is smaller. On 19X19 you should make a maximum of 5 or 6 groups when on 13X13 I would make a maximum of 2, like on 9X9.
You could also try a variant of the Chinese fuseki for 13X13:

In conclusion, I think you fail at appreciating what move is urgent since the board is smaller. Having your game reviewed would help you a lot.


Does Argothian Elder and Maze of Ith really produce infinite mana during the attack phase?

You don't need to tap them simultaneously for this to work. Once you have declared Argothian Elder as an attacker, you can do the following:

1: Tap Maze of Ith to untap Argothian Elder

2: Tap Argothian Elder to untap Maze of Ith and another land.

3: Tap that other land for mana.

4: Repeat as much as you want.


What is the board game played in Houseki no Kuni?

the bottom picture looks like Go, but with an unusual shape for a board
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)


What happens when a piece is kinged in checkers?

From the Wikipedia article on checkers:

  If a player's piece jumps into the kings row, the current move terminates; having just been crowned, the piece cannot continue on by jumping back out (as in a multiple jump), until the next move.


Gamecrafter allows you to buy all sorts of pieces for your game.  If you use their pieces, you can even upload your game and have people buy it on demand.


It looks like the product is actually called "BLOCK ART", and I believe it's made by Japanese company "Nichigan" (based on this).

I can't find a web page for Nichigan. Maybe someone that can read Japanese might have better luck? Its logo.

It appears to be vintage, and it's probably no longer produced. Your best bet of finding one is probably through the vintage toy crowds. It's not going to be easy or cheap.

Alternatives:

MARBLE ART, by the same company
Hunt down this Chinese knockoff(?)
A more advanced wooden version
Build your own from Lego pieces
Hire someone with a 3d printer to make one


What is the origins and evolutionary track of Go game?

The following book has information on the origins and history of Go, as well as describing how to play it and explaining some strategy:

https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Game-Peter-Shotwell/dp/080483475X


Reuse Quorum cards with "Give this card to another player"

Even if this were allowed, how would the other person play it?  It's not creating a new hand of cards and new delegated political powers.

There's no precedent in-game for cards to be 'read' twice.

And if this worked this way it would be deeply weird.

For those reasons I say no "pass[ing] it on to yet another player".


Does the initiative from flux missiles apply to just the missiles or the whole ship?

I believe that they are intended to apply to the entire ship. I've come to this conclusion for two reasons:

First, the text of the ROTA rulebook reads:

  Two modified Ion Missiles capable  of warping the flux grid, giving two Initiative.

If they were intended to apply only to the missiles, it seems likely that it would be indicated in this text.

Second, the energy cost is only one of two costs related to a technology: you should also consider the research cost. The research cost of a Plasma Missile is 14/7, whereas the Flux Missile is 11/8. Comparing this to the Ion Cannon (no research cost) and the Plasma Cannon (6/4) shows us that the price difference on the missiles is half that of the cannons. That, it seems, is where you're paying for the increased initiative.


Is "Longest Road" an overrated strategy in Settlers of Catan?

Like many great games, Settlers of Catan rewards those players who are willing to be adaptable.

Doggedly centering your strategy, from the beginning, on obtaining wood and clay (to the exclusion of other goods) and building road after road with it, is likely to secure you a certain number of victory points.  That number is nowhere near enough to win you the game - you're going to have to do other things with your time and resources at some point to clinch first place.

Does the Longest Road bonus incentivise road building?  Of course it does, to some extent, just as the Largest Army bonus incentivises buying cards.  What it mostly does, though, is ensure that there is competition in various areas of the game.  If only one player cares about roads, the Longest Road bonus will fall to them without any effort on their part.  Likewise for Largest Army if only one player is bothering to buy cards.  However, gamer psychology is such that, given an obvious bonus to be obtained, players will not be able to bear letting it go easily, and at least some of them are likely to compete vigorously for it.

As such, I see the Longest Road bonus less as "a strategy" and more as a nice little, well, bonus... if you're brave enough to enter into a competition with other players over it.  Competition is necessary for a game to work, but it can, as you rightly point out, paint a general target on your forehead, or make enemies of specific other players.  If that's not the type of thing you like to get involved in, you might indeed want to adopt a more surreptitious strategy.

Certainly I would tend to prefer not aiming for the Longest Road early: let other people set themselves up as "the one to beat" by gaining an early lead.  Keeping an eye on the road situation, and perhaps setting yourself up to win with a late road-building spurt, is great though.  As I say though, adaptability is key: if everyone in your group fancies themselves as road-builders, it's a very risky strategy.  If no one else is doing it... you'd be a fool not to pile in there as quickly as possible, really!


Does a tapped or removed attacking creature still deal its damage?

Well you're asking 5 different questions really, but they're closely related.

Tapped - There is no effect other than the creature is tapped. No change to combat.

This is assuming that the creature was already declared as an attacker before you tapped it. Before the "declare attackers" step, there is a "beginning of combat" step, in which you could use a spell or ability to tap your opponent's creature. If you do this, then that creature won't be able to be declared as an attacker. But once your opponent does declare him as an attacker, you won't be able to tap it to do anything (normally it would just be tapped as part of being declared as an attacker anyway).

Removed from the game, returned to hand, put in the library, or destroyed - The creature is removed from combat and will not deal any combat damage.

The rules you need to know here are related to the steps of the combat phase. This is detailed here. Basically, during the declare blockers step, after blockers have been declared, each player has a chance to cast instants and activate abilities. Once players have done all they want, it moves to the assign damage step.

If you use an instant to destroy or otherwise remove an attacking creature during the declare blockers step, then it will not be around to assign any combat damage during the assign combat damage step.


How to counter BOOM! + Breaking News + 24/7 News Cycle?

We need to ignore rotation for this, because Breaking News is no longer legal as it has rotated. Here are the cards that can be used to prevent some or all of the damage from Boom!:

Biometric Spoofing - This card is trashed to prevent 2 damage of any type, one copy brings Boom! down to 5 damage, which is survivable, multiple handle the hit even more.
Citadel  Sanctuary - You trash all cards in your hand, but all the meat damage is prevented.
Crash Space - Prevents up to 3 meat damage when trashed, bringing Boom! down to 4 from one copy.
Guru Davinder - Prevents all net and meat damage, then trashes unless the runner pays 4 credits.
Heartbeat - Apex's console lets you trash installed cards per point of damage to prevent each point, any resources or programs you don't need now all are 1 point damage shields.
Jarogniew Mercs - This prevents damage by removing the counters, unlike plascrete (below) it can gain more counters when installed than the base 4 (3 + 1 for the tag it gives) based on the tags you have when you install it
Muresh Bodysuit - Prevents 1 net or meat per turn, not enough to survive with a normal runner hand size but helps when combined with others here. (does not stack with itself, they all try to prevent the same single point)
On the Lam - Trashes to prevent 3 damage or avoid 3 tags. It needs to be hosted on a resource, but only On the Lam gets trashed. Note if you have tags that means the corp can get a 2 for 1 by trashing the resource you hosted On the Lam on.
Paparazzi - When you have this installed you are tagged, but can't take any meat damage. The corp likely won't play boom with this out though, they'd have to trash it first.
Plascrete Carapace - This card lets you prevent meat damage by removing counters, it gets 4 counters when installed letting you prevent 4 meat. This brings boom down to a manageable 3 damage.
Sacrificial Clone - This pretty much resets your game, trashing all your resources and hardware and draining your credits but it prevents all damage.


When does Vertigo's villain action happen?

According to a developer from Upper Deck on this BoardGameGeek post Vertigo's power should be a Fight effect.


Magic has this definition for "permanent":

  110.1. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield. A permanent remains on the battlefield indefinitely. A card or token becomes a permanent as it enters the battlefield and it stops being a permanent as it’s moved to another zone by an effect or rule.

So, Brand only cares about cards and tokens currently on the battlefield.

Magic has the following rules about ownership:

  108.3. The owner of a card in the game is the player who started the game with it in his or her deck. If a card is brought into the game from outside the game rather than starting in a player’s deck, its owner is the player who brought it into the game. If a card starts the game in the command zone, its owner is the player who put it into the command zone to start the game. Legal ownership of a card in the game is irrelevant to the game rules except for the rules for ante.
  110.5a A token is both owned and controlled by the player under whose control it entered the battlefield.

And one about control:

  110.2. A permanent’s owner is the same as the owner of the card that represents it (unless it’s a token; see rule 110.5a). A permanent’s controller is, by default, the player under whose control it entered the battlefield. Every permanent has a controller.

Basically, the permanents you own are the cards you put in your deck and the tokens you made, and you start out controlling the permanents that you put into play.

There are some cards that allow you to put cards your opponents own into play, like Beacon of Unrest, Bribery, and Gather Specimens.

Other cards let you take control of a permanent already on the battlefield, such as Act of Treason and Blatant Thievery.

Still others allow you to exchange control of a permanent you control and a permanent someone else controls, such as Daring Thief and Shifting Loyalties.

Some cards even allow you to give an opponent control of a permanent you control, such as Donate and Zedruu the Greathearted.

Brand allows you to regain control of any permanents you lost control of in any of those ways. For example, you can exchange control of a bunch of permanents you control with permanents your opponent controls, and then cast Brand to get your permanents back.


If my opponent Confiscates my permanent and I can cast my own Confiscate, should I target my permanent or their Confiscate?

Are these targets necessarily equivalent?

No. There do exist cases where these targets are not equivalent, though you shouldn't necessarily expect to encounter them in an arbitrary match.

  Is there any compelling reason to consider targeting the opponent's aura instead of your own stolen permanent?

Yes, there is! In short, you should default to stealing their aura because it results in your controlling more permanents and their controlling fewer. Generally speaking, unless a permanent includes some kind of explicit drawback, you're usually better off taking it away from your opponent.

There are a few broad categories of effects where this choice becomes relevant:

Sacrifice-based removal

If an effect would require you and/or your opponent to sacrifice a permanent (or specifically an enchantment), you typically will have more options when you control more things to sacrifice. Likewise, taking away your opponent's permanents provides them with fewer options.

Of these, Dromoka's Command is an example of a cheap, flexible, Modern-legal spell that you might reasonably expect to show up in a deck with reasonable access to green and white mana.

In fact, that's probably the single most important interaction in this answer because of how powerful and popular a sideboard card Dromoka's Command can be, relative to all the rest of the weirdness I'm about to get into. If you're not interested in the quirky stuff, but you kept reading anyway after my short summary, here's a second chance to quit while you're ahead!

Costs involving permanents or enchantments

Some cards allow players to sacrifice permanents in order to gain some benefit; e.g., as an activation cost, an additional cost of casting a spell, or a drawback for some under-costed creature (in the tradition of Lord of the Pit). If you're playing any such cards, you should be aware of the opportunity to acquire an extra resource by targeting the opponent's aura instead of the stolen permanent. Perilous Research comes to mind, being both on-color and potentially on-theme for a deck with Confiscate effects.

Another classic and particularly relevant example is Auratog, which can pump itself by "eating" enchantments you control. If your opponent has stolen your Auratog, go ahead and target their aura; if your opponent isn't savvy enough to sacrifice it in response, you'll end up with some free food!

(There are also other types of cost that are relevant but not really worth exploring in detail; Sphere of Safety, for example, which was reprinted in Commander 2016.)

Arbitrary permanents as useful resources

There are certain matchups where you just want to control as many permanents as possible. Smokestack forms the basis for the "Stax" archetype of prison decks, a matchup where every permanent becomes a useful resource. While these decks do exist, they're not likely to play Confiscate effects because they are designed to operate on very few resources and these effects are always relatively expensive. If you did find yourself in such a situation, unlikely as it might be, you would certainly benefit from having the extra permanent to sacrifice. (Other symmetric effects, like Pox and Smallpox, do not affect all permanents.)

One other interesting example is Terastodon. If you control its enters the battlefield (ETB) effect, you can destroy both Confiscates and get yourself two "free" elephant tokens—but only if you attached your aura to theirs, and not to the permanent they stole. (If your opponent is playing the Terastodon then it doesn't matter what your Confiscate was attached to, their best play either way is probably to just destroy your Confiscate and regain control of your MVP.) This is an interaction I probably wouldn't expect to come up outside of a cube draft with support for a blue-green deck that ramps into expensive bombs.

Effects that count permanents you control

The notable mechanic here is Devotion, which counts up colored mana symbols in permanents a player controls. There are five specific cards which, if either you or your opponent are playing them, would incentivize you to take control of their Confiscate. Master of Waves is a reasonable finisher in a mono-blue control list—exactly the sort of deck that might consider running an expensive but very powerful controlling effect like Confiscate.

The "counting permanents" category also includes at least one case where you would definitely want to let your opponent retain control of their Confiscate: Balancing Act. This card heavily incentivizes you to control fewer permanents than your opponent. Traditional Balance effects (including the Modern-legal Restore Balance) don't affect non-creature, non-land permanents, though, so you're not likely to ever be punished by this.

On the other hand, Cataclysm—and, by extension, Cataclysmic Gearhulk in Modern—does affect enchantments. Despite their superficial similarity to Balance effects, you want to control your opponent's Confiscate if a Cataclysm is on the way, for essentially the same reasons given in the "sacrifice-based removal" section.

There are more cards that count permanents for various reasons, like Touch of the Eternal and Myojin of Seeing Winds, where you probably want to control the aura. Unless you've built a deck around the interaction, though, these are extreme corner cases.

Magical Christmasland

Finally, one amusingly esoteric interaction that you'll never see in a game—but if you did, you'd probably never see it coming: If the stolen permanent is a creature with power 7 or greater, your opponent could counter your Confiscate with Not of This World, despite being tapped out, if and only if you choose to target the creature instead of the opponent's Confiscate effect.

P.S. Analysis of scenarios involving Damping Engine is left as an exercise to the reader. ;)

P.P.S. If your opponent has access to bounce or blink/flicker effects, they can always come out ahead no matter what you targeted. There are things for them to consider about tempo and mana efficiency but this post is long enough as it is without adding an analysis of what is essentially an independent decision; the only thing worth mentioning is that certain cards are restricted in what they can bounce, which reinforces (in a very minor way) the general point that you are typically better off taking control of their Confiscate.


According to this BGG post you were correct in your initial interpretation and the "one" is a misprint:

  unfortunately it was a misprint on the Taberna tile. [...] The correct symbol is the one printed on the board, [...] you are not restricted, you can use [the Taberna] as many times as you wish.

So yes, the rules are correct. You can buy any goods that you would not otherwise be able to buy (because you can produce them), but within the limitations of the current market.


Am I allowed to have a creature have 0 toughness, but still assign combat damage?

No

You can activate Metropolis Sprite's ability one or more times before combat damage is dealt. However, after each use of the ability resolves (before damage is dealt), state based actions will be checked. When this happens the game will look to see if Metropolis Sprite has more that 0 toughness. If it doesn't, it will be put into the graveyard. Then, combat damage will be dealt. If Metropolis Sprite isn't on the battlefield at this point, it won't deal any damage.

Similarly, if Metropolis Sprite is at 0 toughness (perhaps from a prior use of it's ability), there won't be a moment for you to activate its ability again. (IE, it's impossible to get Metropolis sprite to 4/-1 with just the creature's ability.)


How does one make foam inserts for games?

I'm not sure if this would work well for you, as you didn't mentioned exactly what type of things you're transporting, but I'll throw it out there as a posibility for when you need to transport larger items (eg, I have a wh40k scale titan that I built for a friend when the Armageddon rules came out)

find a container of a suitable size for transporting the items
get two heavy duty plastic bags, each larger than the container (can be lighter weight, but then it won't be as durable.  The more in/out bits the item to be cushioned has protruding from it, the larger the bag you'll need.
get enough spray foam from the hardware store to fill the container.
find a couple of heavy twist ties
tape a bag to the tube for the spray foam, leaving as much space as possible for the bag to expand.  Do not fill the bag with air, only open it enough to get the tube on and secure the bag's opening.
If using more than one can of spray foam, prepare the other bag, too.
place the first bag into the box, and fill it part-way with foam, then set the item onto the bag, and fill the bag until it's takes up about half of the empty space in the box.  (you may have to move the spray tube to the next can and/or just use a bag per can ... more bags means the foam will separate into more pieces)
place the second bag on top, and close the lid as best you can, with the tube sticking out the side, and fill the bag with foam 'til it starts trying to come out the container.  (note -- some spray foams continue to grow after spraying ... it's a good idea to pay attention to how it grows w/ the first bag, so you can be prepared)
let cure

It works well for packing stuff once, but the foam sets up fairly hard, and so you sometimes have to break the foam when removing the item, which makes it less useful for repacking multiple times.

You might also be able to just place all of the items in the bottom of a shallow box, use a single bag of foam over it, then once cured, flip the whole thing over to have little recesses for each piece.

...

If the question was simply 'how do I keep the pieces from rattling together', I'd go with egg-crate foam; you place the pieces in the valleys of the foam, put another piece on top, then compress the whole thing together.  For anything but stuff with really fine and/or delicate parts, it works great.

...

If that still isn't enough for you, and you really wanted to make one of those boards with various sized holes in it, then you'll need lots of free time, some sheets of foam (but not too rubbery ... it seems to attract hair and dirt), contact cement, a few sharp craft knives, and some free time.

For each tray, you'll need two pieces of foam -- one to hold the piece, and one as a 'bottom' to the tray.  The bottom should be stiffer, but fairly thin, such as camping pad.  The other one should be thicker, but 'softer' material, tall enough to sufficiently hold the piece laying down.  You should be able to find this at fabric stores, as it's used for upholstering.  You'll then want one of the thin but stiffer pieces as a lid to the whole thing.

You're only going to be cutting the pieces that are thicker and softer.  For each hole, you'll want to cut it just under the size of the piece it's going to hold.  How much smaller depends on how soft the material is.  (the softer it is, the smaller you'll want the hole, basically, you want to wedge the piece in the hole and it to hold firmly if it's heavy such as metal figures; you want it less tight if it's lightweight with more delicate parts).  Cut all the way through to the bottom.

Once you've got all of the holes cut in the sheet, use the contact cement to attach the cut piece of foam to one of the bottoms.  Make sure to read the warnings on contact cement; they're not kidding when they say shut off the pilot lights in the house as it's highly flamable.  I'd also recommend using a disposable brush (or a scrap of foam), as it's a pain to clean up after.

Once you're all done, you have a series of trays that you can stack together, and then put the lid on it, and transport.  (although, it also helps to identify a container to set it all into first, and make them to fit the container for easier transport)


Diplomacy - dislodged unit still disrupts another?

Each unit has one potential action each phase. But each year has five phases:

Spring movement
Spring disband/retreat (if needed)
Fall movement
Fall disband/retreat (if needed)
Build/break (if needed)

Dislodged units (normally) still cut support. Because they cut support in the movement phase and are dislodged in the retreat/disband phase. There are a few exceptions where support is not cut, but that is not for this setting.
In this case, we have 6 units with their orders:

Let's first check the support orders:

Turkey: A lvn Supports  A mos -> stp. This support is cut because of (A pru -> lvn).
Germany: A sil Supports  A war -> pru This suport succeeds.

Next the moves.

Turkey: A mos -> stp (unsupported so strength 1, fails because A stp holds with strength 1).
England: A stp Holds (succeeds)
England: A pru -> lvn (move fails, but still cuts support)
Germany: A war -> pru (supported strength 2 so the move succeeds).

The failed orders are shown below:

Now it is time for retreats/disbands

England: A pru is dislodged and can only move to Berlin.

This is the relevant quote from the rules:

A  unit  being  dislodged  by  one  province  can  still  cut  support in another province. Just as a unit being dislodged by one province can still cause a standoff in another, a unit still manages to cut support even if it’s dislodged. Just make sure  that  the  dislodgment  isn’t  coming  from  the  province  where  the  unit  is  giving  support.  (Remember  this  rule:  A  dislodged  unit,  even  with  support,  has  no  effect  on  the  province that dislodged it.)


Does a non-creature God entering the battlefield trigger Pelt Collector?

Pulling from a ruling on Nylea, God of the Hunt:

  When a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color
  (including the mana symbols in the mana cost of the God itself) will
  determine if a creature entered the battlefield or not for abilities
  that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield.

So if you don't have enough devotion for Nylea to be a creature, it doesn't trigger Pelt Collector.


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

This meant that the last few players could always tell their story and
  weave in just enough story cards to win the quest.

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

You seem to contradict yourself here. If one side has used "just enough" story cards to win, then a single final card should be able to tip the balance in favor of the active player's faction.

Of course, then the other faction has to account for this, and use "just enough plus a little more", to the point that the active player's likely plays would be balanced out, on average. Then, assuming everyone plays optimally, the deciding factor is the random selection of cards, and you are back to it being purely a randomly decided storytelling game, as intended.


Do creatures that enter the battlefield at the same time see each other enter?

Summary: Option D is spot on. All three of your 1/1 are now 4/4 until end of turn (and your Commander is 5/5 until end of turn).

The question has nothing to do with whether the tokens see each other enter the battlefield or not.* It's about how many creatures are on the battlefield when each of the triggered abilities resolve.

The game unrolls as follows, starting with Thatcher Revolt's resolution:

Thatcher Revolt places three creatures on the battlefield simultaneously. Goldnight Commander's ability triggers three times. [CR 603.2][CR 603.2c]
As a player is about to receive priority, you place Goldnight Commander's ability on the stack three times. [CR 603.3]
The third instance of Goldnight Commander's ability resolves: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
The second instance of Goldnight Commander's ability resolves: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
The first instance of Goldnight Commander's ability resolves: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.

Three continuous effects were created by a triggered ability. They will only affect the creatures that existed when the abilities resolved [CR 611.2c], but all three of the 1/1s were on the battlefield when they resolved.

So all three of your 1/1 are now 4/4 until end of turn (and your Commander is 5/5 until end of turn).

* — To answer your title question, yes. If you had two creatures with a triggered ability such as "When another creature enters the battlefield, ...", they would see each other entering the battlefield. This is codified by CR 603.6d: "Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. [...]"

For example, if two Goldnight Commander entered the battlefield simultaneously, both of their abilities would trigger [CR 603.6d], and both would end up getting +2/+2 until end of turn.


When is Garbage time and when to scoop to it?

Wikipedia has a Garbage time article that defines it as follows:

Garbage time is a term used to refer to the period toward the end of a timed sports competition that has become a blowout when the outcome of the game has already been decided, and the coaches of one or both teams will decide to replace their best players with substitutes. This serves to give those substitutes, who are usually less experienced or younger players, actual playing experience, as well as to protect the best players from the possibility of injury.
Garbage time owes its name to the fact that this period in a game is frequently marked by a significant drop in the quality of game play...

Magic: the Gathering can similarly have games where the winner is effectively already decided but neither player has officially lost.
Players are often expected to concede in situations like that, and in many cases it is strategically a good option for them to do so, but the rules do not require them to do so. As long as a player is progressing through their turn and taking individual game actions in a timely manner, they are not in violation of slow play rules.


Can Nisei MK II Be Used During an Ice Encounter?

Yes, but after the runner has a chance to break subroutines, and before any of the unbroken subroutines are resolved.
As pointed out in this answer, Nisei's is a Paid Ability. From the rule book:

Cards can also host counters and tokens. Hosted counters or tokens can be spent, or leave play, without affecting their host. If a
trigger cost requires one or more hosted counters, those counters must
be spent (returned to the token bank) from the card that the ability
appears on. (page 22)
Paid Abilities - Some card abilities have trigger costs that a player must pay before the effect of the ability can be resolved.
These abilities are called paid abilities. A card’s trigger cost is
always listed in its text box before the effect, following the format
“cost: effect.” (page 11, sidebar)

As explained in the FAQ's Timing Structure of a Run diagram (last page - phase 3.1) linked from this answer, a Paid Ability can be triggered during the encounter with the ice - after the runner has a chance to break subroutines, and before unbroken subroutines are resolved. Thus, in the chum example it does not give you any special combo to trigger the net damage, even though you can trigger Nisei before the encounter technically ends. There's a good discussion of this here.


Wikipedia has rules for 8- and 9-person Euchre (along with a host of other variations), although we have to make some assumptions because the entries are missing some information. The entry for 8-person games:

  The players divide into four teams of two players. Teammates should be sitting directly across the table from each other (there should be three people between partners on either side). There will be 4 bowers, 1 right and 3 left.

  The rank of Trump goes as follows:

  Right Bower (jack of trump)
  1st played (left Bower) jack
  2nd played (left Bower) jack
  3rd played (left Bower) jack
  Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9.

  Scoring

  If a team calls trump and wins the hand (with 2, 3 or 4 tricks), they get 1  point.
  If a team calls trump and ties another team (each with 2 tricks), then both teams get 1 point.
  If a team calls trump and does not win the hand, the winner gets 2 points (if 2 other teams get two tricks they are both awarded 2 points).
  If a team takes all 5 tricks they receive 2 points (whether or not they called trump). If a person should choose to play the hand alone, they can get four points by taking 4 or 5 tricks.
  If they go alone and take less than 5 tricks, standard scoring applies.

  First team to get 10 points wins the game.

Given that the only ranks are A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9, this has to be played with two 24-card decks in order for there to be enough cards for 5 tricks (8 players X 5 tricks = 40 cards; this leaves 8 cards in the kitty). You'd also have to deal with duplicate cards played in the same hand. For example, a player leads of AH, which isn't trump, the next player also drops an AH, and miraculously everyone has to follow suit and no one plays a bower or trump card. Who gets the trick?

If nothing else, this variation changes the probability of getting a useless hand. If I'm fourth from the dealer, and my deal is 9H, 9C, 10C, QH, and KD, and someone in front of me calls Spades, I have no chance of taking a trick; there will always be someone who can play a bower or trump in five tricks. This problem also exists if you just expand the card pool down to include A through 3 (48 cards). As the card pool increases, the randomness also increases, leading to a higher chance for hands that can't win.


Can the Tower capture the Wagon and/or the Mayor in Carcassonne

In the file Carcassonne CAR (this is the link https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/87531/carcassonne-standard-complete-annotated-rules ) page 52, section the tower, before note 120 says: "Whenever a player places a tower piece, he or she may take one follower prisoner. Builders and pigs cannot be taken prisoner" So any meeple than can be considered a follower and it's not a pig or a builder can be captured.

In page 57, section abbey and mayor, note 137 says: "The mayor and wagon are followers, subject to the usual rules of deployment and affecting the majority. The barn is a special figure, not a follower.".


Puerto Rico, 3-player: Which role order in the first round?

The first round is almost always:

Settler (P1:Quarry, P2:Corn(or Sugar if Corn unavailable), P3:Indigo (other choices are also good)
Builder (P2:Small Market or related production building, P3:Small Market, P1:Pass or (Small Market if available, sometimes Small Indigo)
Mayor (P3:Corn and Small Market, P1:Quarry, P2:doesn't matter)

An in depth analysis would take pages, but your two latter cases make no sense, because Craftsman gains Player 2 no advantage. Clearly, they could have chosen Builder, built the Small Market for free (1 VP), and prevent Player 1 from getting the opportunity to build it for free with a covered Quarry.

If Player 1 chooses Mayor, Captain, Craftsman, or Trader then no choices can be made so I won't cover those. If Player 1 chooses Builder, Player 2 should build either Small Market or Small Indigo, Player 3 should probably build Small Market. This gives Player 2 the opportunity to get the first Quarry by selecting Settler (cash is king in the early game), or Mayor to cover both Indigo slots. If they choose wisely though, that would leave Player 3 with Mayor, covering their Corn+Small Market.


Is Festering March cast repeatedly via the suspend ability?

Yes, that's right. Otherwise, it would just be an overcosted Make Obsolete. Even though the phrase is "Exile Festering March with three time counters on it." and not "Suspend Festering March with three time counters on it.", the card is still suspended according to the Comprehensive Rules,

  702.61b A card is “suspended” if it’s in the exile zone, has suspend, and has a time counter on it.

and removing time counters and casting the spell without its mana cost works just like if you had suspended it from your hand:

  702.61a Suspend is a keyword that represents three abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the card with suspend is in a player’s hand. The second and third are triggered abilities that function in the exile zone. “Suspend N—[cost]” means “If you could begin to cast this card by putting it onto the stack from your hand, you may pay [cost] and exile it with N time counters on it. This action doesn’t use the stack,” and “At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is suspended, remove a time counter from it,” and “When the last time counter is removed from this card, if it’s exiled, play it without paying its mana cost if able. If you can’t, it remains exiled. If you cast a creature spell this way, it gains haste until you lose control of the spell or the permanent it becomes.”


You could consider a scoring system similar to those used in decathlon events. This would require significant thought prior to the event and a reasonable mathematics knowledge, but would provide a very tuneable system (if similar events are planned or if there's an expectation that some players may not reach some of the games).

A more basic version that works very well if all scores are "higher better" is to allocate a specific number of points to first place in every game, say 100. The remaining players receive points based of their score out of the winner's score, times the winner's points. This ensures an event with very close results will not unbalance the overall leaders, but that extreme performance in an event won't be discounted either.

For inspiration, here are some points-based systems and discussion:

Formula 1, high-performance racecar competition.
Decathlon, multisport Olympic event. This calculator by Decathlon2000.com may help, or if you want to develop your own system, the discussions there and at NRICH will be of great use.
This answer describes a "bottom-up" scoring system. While focused on a long-term repeated game, is also suitable for accumulating multiple games into one event. Combining this with other methods to encourage better performances would be no harder than developing a "top-down" system, and allows for a widely differing number of participants in each game.


Can an Aetherborn Marauder take +1/+1 counters off a creature that didn't have them (but has P/T to spare)?

From the rules :

  121.5. If an effect says to “move” a counter, it means to take that counter from the object it’s currently on and put it onto a second
  object. If the first and second objects are the same object, nothing
  happens. If the first object has no counters, nothing happens; the
  second object doesn’t get a counter put on it. If the second object
  (or any possible second objects) is no longer in the correct zone when
  the effect would move the counter, nothing happens; a counter isn’t
  removed from the first object.

Your Aetherborn Marauder doesn't get any counter if the target of its ETB ability doesn't have counters when the ability resolve.


Regarding chains with trigger effects when summoning

Trigger effects cannot chain off of other cards

This is fundamentally a Spell Speed question. Aether, the Evil Empowering Dragon, has a optional trigger effect,1 with the trigger of "When this card is Normal or Special Summoned". As such, it is Spell Speed 1 (the same applies to trigger-like effects, which are the equivalent for spell and trap cards). Spell Speed 1 effects cannot chain off of any other effect (including other Spell Speed 1 effects).

For reference, most Trap cards are Spell Speed 2, with the exception of Counter Trap cards which are classified as Spell Speed 3 (and are the only cards so far with that classification). Therefore, if Aether's effect were to be used, it would activate before your trap card would and resolve after your trap card does (if possible - Torrential Tribute, if not negated, would cause all possible targets of Aether's effect to not be on the field anymore, resulting in it doing nothing regardless of what monster was targeted)

Note that because Aether's effect is an optional trigger effect, it may not necessarily be chain link 1. This would only happen if the summoning player has any other trigger[-like] effects (optional or mandatory) that trigger from a monster being summoned in the same manner that Aether was or if the other player had a mandatory trigger[-like] effect with similar timing.

In those cases (as well as if you have optional trigger[-like] effects with appropriate timings), they all enter the chain simultaneously, Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain (SEGOC) dictates the chain link order for all of those trigger[-like] effects, and then fast effects (spell speed 2 and 3) can be added to the chain as usual. In the context of this question, though, this is mostly irrelevant unless any of those effects have a cost that would prevent the activation of your trap card (including sending it to the graveyard).

1 - These shouldn't be confused with Quick Effects, which can chain off of Spell Speed 2 cards. These have a timing of "during either player's [turn/XXX phase/XXX Step]" and are generally indicated as Quick Effects in the effect text.


Is there a good place to find information about strategies, tricks and caveats for specific cards?

Simply searching for the cardname + the word 'combo' already gives some interesting results:

Skullclamp abuse. - Casual & Multiplayer Formats - The Game - MTG ... on MTGSalvation
Why is Skullclamp banned? on this very site
What makes skullclamp such a good, highly regarded card? on Reddit

I'm not aware of any database with this kind of information. A 5/5 rating on Gatherer tells something about the competitiveness of a card, but not whether it's part of a combo. Kird Ape has a 5/5 rating as well but it's 'just' a Zoo staple.


Is the scry mulligan rule implemented in the rules at large yet?

The new mulligan rule was officially added starting with Battle for Zendikar prereleases on September 26-27, 2015 (or October 9-12, 2015 for Magic Online).

As of this question being asked, it was definitely not a rule yet. In fact the Latest Developments column on August 7 said:

  We will be looking at both how the Pro Tour played out, as well as the reactions from the players regarding the rule. I don't know when we will have a decision based on this, but we hope to have new information fairly soon.

Anything official will surely be on the official site, so I wouldn't bother digging on forums or anything - things like this happen in official ways, not just via rumors and forums.


Are there any time limit per move in Ticket To Ride?

There is no time limit for each turn and etiquette for turn length depends on the group that you are playing in. The best suggestion that I can make for you is to remind your wife that she can start planning her next turn while others are playing. While things will change based on other players move not every action they take is going to impact her choice.

But one thing to remember that based on the game the actions of the previous player can drastically change what you are planning to do and games can last 1-2+ hours so this is not a quick game.


I tend to take a pragmatic view of taking moves back, in casual gaming: did you gain any immoral extra information between the initial move and the improved move?  If you play a move in chess and your then opponent reaches for the piece that will take your queen, it's obviously extremely dodgy to ask for a takeback...

In your own situation, if you genuinely were just thinking through your move and realised the better one while going through the motions of playing the first one, I wouldn't have a problem with the takeback in such an situation.  That's far better than forcing players to sit there in a state of silent "analysis paralysis" for 5 minutes each time, scared to start playing a move until they are absolutely sure that no better move exists.

On the other hand, you could have gained information in this scenario.  When you started playing out your roads, did another player breathe a sigh of relief or even just relax in their chair?  If they did, and you noticed this, then your takeback is much less conscionable.  That's why in tournament situations, once you start playing a move, that's it.  In a casual setting it's a question of your own sense of honour.  But hopefully you are good friends in your gaming group and all trust each other!


What it means is that, when you tap Wind-Scarred Crag, you get one red or white mana (your choice). So it behaves like either a Mountain or a Plains[1], depending on what you need, but with the penalty that you can't use it immediately (because it comes into play tapped). You do not need to play any additional card, you just get the mana.

[1] Although any card that specifically references Mountain or Plains will not affect this card, because it isn't actually either of them.


You lose the rest. Conversions are performed only on your turn. According to the rulebook (p. 13):

  Anytime during your turn, on top of your Action, you may do any number of Conversions.

and from p. 9:

  Once all Power tokens are in Bowl III, you cannot gain further Power.

Therefore, if you are close to the limit of your Power, and expect to gain more before your next turn, you may want to consider Converting some of it to a useful resource.


Where is the Queen placed when a C/M is already at center?

According to the Laws of Carrom 94

  If the Centre Circle is partially or completely covered by other C/M, the Queen shall be placed so as to occupy most of the uncovered portion or in any position adjacent to the Centre Circle in such a way so that it is not easy to pocket for the player having his turn. The placing of the Queen by the Umpire, in such a situation, shall be final.


Dominion: How to Deal With a Board Filled With Terminal Actions

A high money:action ratio is definitely required with an overabundance of terminals. What ratio is appropriate will depend on which of those terminals you decide to use and if/how you're being attacked. Generally it's better to err on the side of too much money; people aren't usually disappointed by a hand full of Silvers, and you won't bore your friends taking time to decide which 1 of 3 actions to play. A slightly augmented big money strategy is often very competitive in the absence of an engine.

If your hand will be small (due to, say, a discard attack and not much card draw available), you can risk having more actions because they odds of collisions are lower. In a >2 player game where you think Militia is likely to be played between almost every one of your turns, you could probably do nearly a 1:1 ratio of Militias and Silvers until you get to Golds. Games like this often end on piles, so getting an extra buy and starting early on Duchies is probably a good idea. (If you're discarding cards anyway, they might as well be points rather than money.) Also realize that in games with more than 2 people, joining in on attacks is less mandatory. If both other players are snapping up the Militias, you'll be better off letting them attack each other and instead getting a card that actually benefits you (e.g. Navigator).

On the other hand, if you are trashing or drawing a lot, you should be buying more money. If one of your terminals is Council Room, that means you're drawing 4 cards and hoping none of them are actions. Even if your terminal only draws 2 cards, if you've gotten rid of your Coppers, you need to be buying Silver and Gold to make sure your deck has enough money cards. "Doublejack" where the only non-money cards you buy are two Jack of All Trades is incredibly good because it trashes, draws, and helps you treasure-up all at once (not to mention it's extremely resilient against attacks). And you only need 2 Jacks to do it.


Where can I find more Brood War scenarios?

Sadly the answer is no. After talking with some hardcore Starcraft Board Game people, and a FFG crew member, I have come to the conclusion that noone (as of yet) have made a collection or site with Starcraft scenarios.

They really hoped for more scenarios, but most fans called that the possibilities were too limited.

I was able to find a few scenarios on this lovely list, but it's not exacly a collection.

If you are feeling creative, Im sure the community would love a site about this.

BoardGameGeek : StarCraft Brood Wars scenarios, variations and maps


Massacre Girl when several creatures die at once

It depends on whether or not Massacre Girl entered the battlefield this turn.

Massacre Girl's ability reads:

  When Massacre Girl enters the battlefield, each other creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Whenever a creature dies this turn, each creature other than Massacre Girl gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

As you can see, both sentences are part of the same ability. When this ability resolves, it creates a delayed trigger for the rest of the turn, which will trigger whenever a creature dies.

If Massacre Girl entered the battlefield this turn, even if her ability didn't kill any other creatures itself, it'll have created the delayed trigger, and that will trigger whenever a creature dies (including Massacre Girl herself). Otherwise, the delayed trigger doesn't exist and will, therefore, not trigger.


Chains of Mephistopheles doesn't form an infinite draw combo.

The main principle is this: when an event happens, we check all available replacement effects, and then we apply each of them just once. When Chains of Mephistopheles replaces your draw with an instruction to discard & draw, that's not a new draw to which a replacement effect might be applied — it's just a modification to the original draw event, and Chains has already had its turn to change that event.

All of that happens specifically because Chains is a replacement effect, since it uses the language "If (thing would happen), (other thing happens) instead." If it was a triggered ability it would definitely go infinite.

Consider also that if this would lead to infinite draw, Anointed Procession would lead to infinite tokens, Winding Constrictor would lead to infinite counters, etc.

So what does it do? Chains of Mephistopheles is one of those very old cards that's complex enough it needs a flowchart to really understand. Magicjudge produced one here:


Will using Nephalia Smuggler save a creature targeted by a destruction spell?

Short answer:

If the spell only has one target, it will be countered on resolution since the creature it was targeting no longer exists.

First, a correction. The creature isn't still on the battlefield after the effect of Nephalia Smuggler has been resolved. The creature that's there then is a brand new creature with no relation to any creature that was previously on the battlefield. That the old and the new creature were created by the same card is irrelevant. [CR 400.7]

The answer to your question depends on the exact wording of the "destroy spell". What happens depends on if the spell targets, and on if it still has legal targets as it would resolve. If it has targets and all of them have become illegal, the spell is countered. Otherwise, the spell continues to resolve, doing as much as it can with its remaining targets. [CR 608.2b]

For example,

If the spell is Assassin's Strike:

Since this spell's only target no longer exists when the spell would resolve, Assassin's Strike is countered on resolution. None of its effect occurs, so you don't discard a card.
If the spell is Hex:

One of its targets no longer exists when the spell would resolve, so one of its targets is illegal. It still has five valid targets, so it isn't countered. It continues to resolve as it normally would, doing as much as possible with the remaining targets. Five creatures are destroyed, but the smuggled creature is not affected.
If the spell is Day of Judgment:

This spell has no targets, so it resolve normally. It proceeds to destroy every creature on the board, including the smuggled creature.

Referenced rules:

  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 seven exceptions to this rule: [None of the exceptions matter here.]

  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. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. However, if any of its targets are illegal, the part of the spell or ability’s effect for which it is an illegal target can’t perform any actions on that target, make another object or player perform any actions on that target, or make that target perform any actions. The effect may still determine information about illegal targets, though, and other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them.


in Spades, when to bid such that the sum of bids equal 14?

There are no hard and fast rules or heuristics for such a decision, but the following indicators will tend to be positive in such a circumstance:

When one is clearly the strongest player in the game.
Strong players play well and weak players play poorly, of course; but under stress of an overbid deal weak players can be expected, typically, to exaggerate their own worst tendencies: this is part and parcel of being a weak player.
When behind.
In an underbid hand there are potentially 130 points available to be earned. in an overbid hand there will never be more than 120, likely less, points available. Anyone making their contract is thus automatically gaining on the field in an overbid deal.

In the most extreme case, where the opponents win the game if they make their bid and it is thus essential to set them, one might as well bid for the set and overbid the hand to 14.
When the hand demands it
If one's hand clearly is strong enough for a 3 bid with a chance at 4 tricks, but as dealer the hand is already bid to 11, a bid of 3 to overbid the deal at 14 seems in order. Someone is in for a nasty surprise  and it doesn't look to be you.
When long in Spades
Holding five or more Spades in your hand, on an overbid deal, will definitely surprise someone expecting length tricks in Spades that are now vulnerable to your holding.


Magic the Gathering - What to do with permanents that only work "until end of turn"?

An enchantment is a permanent, and permanents remain on the battlefield indefinitely. Only another effect can move them to another zone.

110.4. There are five permanent types: artifact, creature, enchantment, land, and planeswalker.
110.1. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield. A permanent remains on the battlefield indefinitely. A card or token becomes a permanent as it enters the battlefield and it stops being a permanent as it’s moved to another zone by an effect or rule.

You are correct that once a Trial has entered the battlefield and done its thing, it's practically useless. When you play a Cartouche and return the Trial to your hand, you can cast the Trial and get its effect again. You can play the Cartouche the same turn or any number of turns later. The Trial will remain on the battlefield until something happens to it.
The idea behind the "Trials" card cycle is that you get a one-shot effect that you can reuse with Cartouches, with the downside being that the combo can be broken by e.g. destroying the Trials while it's sitting uselessly on the battlefield.


In chess, why is 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 rarely visited?

This is called the "Exchange" Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Not only is there an early exchange of bishop for knight, but it usually soon leads to an exchange of queens on d4.

This queen exchange brings about an early "endgame," effectively cutting out the middle game. Most players are not particularly fond of the endgame, so they don't consider this an advantage, and therefore don't play this variation.

But in a famous game in St. Petersburg in 1914, the world champion, Emmanuel Lasker, played this variation against future world champion Jose R Capablanca---and won. By Capablanca's own admission, "Lasker had no superior in [the endgame]" at the time. On the other hand, he already (and later) feared Capablanca's middle game.


What are some basic strategies for Labyrinth?

A few tips:

Static tiles are more stable (duh!), so going there is a bit more predictable. If you have goals on those, they have lower priority.
Static tiles are more stable (again), so staying on a static tile at the end of your turn will assure you you are at the same place when you begin the next one.
Manhattan distance (dx + dy) may be important because being close to a goal makes it easier to reach if you are not sure of what the board will look like on your next turn.
Don't forget to use the "shortcut": if you stand at the edge of the board and you are pushed out, you teleport to the other side.
Having a large reachable zone at the beginning of your turn allows you to adapt easily: if you can go to a lot of places, you can change your mind when trouble arrive.
Play the anti-game. Even though I would never recommend that to any living player, as your goal here is clearly to win and not at all to have fun while doing it, crush your opponents completely without mercy! Sometimes, reaching your goal is more complicated that putting your opponent(s) in a tricky situation. Keep in mind who is about to win and don't be nice with him (or should I say "it"?) Everything that I said higher can be applied negatively to the others.


When someone dies who controls a permanent but does not own it, what happens?

You get your permanent back.

  800.4. Unlike two-player games, multiplayer games can continue after one or more players have left the game.

  800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game, any effects which give that
  player control of any objects or players end, and all spells and
  abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist. Then,
  if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those
  objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as
  soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game
  had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next
  player in turn order who’s still in the game.

Check out this related question for some more info: In Magic free-for-all multiplayer, what happens when someone dies?


Can a properly summoned monster, that was returned to the hand, be discarded to the graveyard and special summoned from there?

Short answer: In this specific scenario you mention (back to hand) you can't.

Longer answer: Lets see some of the card text of BLS:

  Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set.

This card cannot be normal summoned or set.

  Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard.

emphasis mine

The key part here is the "first" in the text. This means that you first have to summon it in the required way but after doing that you can Special Summon it by other means. This is the case for all cards that say the "must first be...", unless otherwise indicated.

Also, as Compulsory Evacuation Device does not negate the summoning then your BLS was indeed successfully summoned by the required way; if the case where that you opponent negated the summoning by any means (like with Solemn Warning), then you will not be able to bring him from the GY.

However, this case is a bit different as per the effect of Compulsory Evacuation Device. These type of cards are referred as Special Summon-only monsters (or semi-nomi). And yes you could bring your BLS back after succesfully summoning him, but that only lasts while it's on the field (from that link):

  After being properly Special Summoned, as long as that Monster Card remains on the field (even if face-down), in the Graveyard, or banished, it is considered properly Special Summoned.

So this means that you did successfully summon BLS... but it was immediately returned to your hand, where it's condition "resets"; you will now have to banish two more monsters to summon again.1

On the other hand, other cards like Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon, are not able to do this, as they specifically restrict the summon to certain way:

  Must be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by sending the above monsters you control to the Graveyard (in which case you do not use "Polymerization"), and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways.

1 This "resetting" thing if I am not mistaken is not rare on other card games. In Legend of the Five Rings (RIP) this was the case when cards returned to hand, and my vague MTG knowledge says that this is also true there.

Think of it this way: when that cards returns to your hand/deck, it is no longer public knowledge which specific card that copy was. There is no way to officially take track of what physical copy it was, nor tell apart from possible multiple copies in your hand, etc..


Scheming Symmetry with revealed top of deck

It is done in APNAP order, but the other player won't be able to change their choice.

  101.4. If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes
  any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the
  player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required,
  followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the
  actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the
  “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.

  Example: A card
  reads “Each player sacrifices a creature.” First, the active player
  chooses a creature they control. Then each of the nonactive players,
  in turn order, chooses a creature they control. Then all creatures
  chosen this way are sacrificed simultaneously.

  101.4a If an effect has each player choose a card in a hidden zone, such as their hand or library, those cards may remain face down as
  they’re chosen. However, each player must clearly indicate which
  face-down card they are choosing.

  101.4b A player knows the choices made by the previous players when making their choice, except as specified in 101.4a.

So in this case, both players would choose a card from their decks in APNAP order and keep those face down.  Then you would put those cards on the top of your decks simultaneously, then they would get revealed by Lantern of Insight.


Want to find a website listing MTG groups in Japan

How about using WOTC Store & Event locator: http://locator.wizards.com/ ?


Is playing on a 9x9 board a solved problem?

Go was solved up to 5x6 only as of 2009. This table by Erik van der Werf and Mark Winands shows how many points komi to give white such that the solution is a draw for boards up to that size. For instance, on a 5x6 board White should be given 4 points; on a 5x5, White should be given 25 points.
Notice that 25 points is the size of the 5x5 board; ergo, White cannot make a living group on a 5x5 board given optimal Black play (which, I'm not positive, but I think can begin with play in the center). With the 25-point komi, using territory scoring, it becomes optimal play for Black to begin by passing, as it is the case that if Black places a stone, White can win by passing.
I would imagine that with the current state of algorithms and processing power, we're not too far off from solutions for 6x6 and 7x5 Go. But to give a sense of how the problem scales, their 2009 paper about solving 5x6 Go states:

The question now is when would 6×6 be solved? In 6 years time we went from a surface
of 25 (i.e., 5×5) to a surface of 30 (i.e., 5×6) of solved Go boards. This was not
only because of better hardware but also due to a better search engine.
We can try to predict when MIGOS II would be able to solve 6×6 in a reasonable amount
of time by extrapolating the current results....
An optimistic extrapolation suggests that on current hardware MIGOS II would require a
few years to solve 6×6. However, we could easily be underestimating by a factor of
100. Nevertheless, we believe that with some effort αβ-based solvers, such as MIGOS
II, should be able to solve 6×6 within the next 5 years, especially because signiﬁcant
improvements in the evaluation function are still possible.


Does a creature's ability trigger while it's in the hand or graveyard?

No.

Unless specifically stated otherwise in the ability text, or they could only function from another zone (such as in Flashback), abilities of creatures, lands, artifacts, etc., only work while they are permanents, i.e. when they are on the battlefield.

Also note that Ostracize does not even target creatures, it only targets opponent players, so it could never trigger the Agent.


For Shield ability, does Riot Trooper gain 1 power token per figure, or just 1 total?

Each figure would gain a block power token.
In addition to what the original rulebook says on page 2, page 4 of Heart of the Empire's rulebook, says this about power tokens:

  Various cards and abilities in Heart of the Empire allow figures to gain power tokens.

So power tokens are bounded to a figure and not the player who controls it.
In this case, if you control two Riot Troopers who depleted their block power tokens, both of them would gain their own token. If controlling two Riot Troopers and just one of them lost all of its block power tokens, he would win a new one.


Legality in Standard of Standard-legal cards from previous printings

Yes. Answered here.

  Yes. The only thing that matters for determining card legality is the name of the card. As far as the Oracle is concerned, 2 different printings of shockare the exact same card for all game and tournament rule purposes


In Catan, why do knights allow you to move the robber and steal?

Thematically, the knight is maintaining order by chasing away the robber from your lands. Mechanically though, if knights could only move the robber then developing and activating knights wouldn't be as interesting and worthwhile, so you get to steal too. Which means thematically, the robber... sends you a gift for not jailing him instead?


How well does the Axis & Allies Chess variant work?

Axis & Allies Chess Rules

Okay, I finally found the link to the website with the original A&A Chess rules. To be honest I didn't play this variant much, but it seemed apropos to the original post about luckless games so I mentioned it. From my limited experience I can concur with the inventor's comments: although it looks identical to normal A&A they really are very different games.

A&A Chess is about deciding how to position units to make them the most versatile: most able to contribute in an effective way on multiple fronts. It's about hiding your true attacking power by attacking with units based in multiple territories (i.e. using units your opponent didn't realize could reach) or by feinting one attack while intending all the while to make another (Calais v. Normandy?). In this way, the base strategies of Chess and A&A Chess are similar, although the mechanics have nothing in common except a board.

I've found that there are two main reasons why people don't end up liking A&A Chess:

They decided to play it because they'd been screwed by the dice too many times and are expecting this game to be normal A&A without bad rolls; it's not (see above).
Analysis paralysis. This is really a symptom of a certain style of player. Trying to understand the outcome of large, multi-round battles requires Rainman-like intuition or a lot of mental math. If you're playing with someone who's going to crunch numbers for 20 minutes before a battle then you're going to get bored.

My preferred answer to both issues is also suggested on the site and goes by the name Low-Luck Axis and Allies. This variant still grants a hit for every six attack or defense points, but allows players to roll a single dice against their remainders. In statistical terms, LL A&A tightens up the variance around the expected result (i.e. reduces the potential influence of the random dice rolls). For mathematical reasons best explained on another stack exchange site, LL's effects are most noticeable in small battles, where a couple bad rolls can make a huge difference.

My advice is that if you're frustrated with bad dice rolling and just want to smooth out chance, go for LL A&A. If you're looking for a complicated and well-nigh impossible to optimize luckless war game then go with A&A Chess.


Enchantments vs Instants in Combat Phase

As long as your creature had a power 2 or less when it attacked it doesn't matter what happens to it after that.

From the Gatherer Rulings for Raid Bombardment:

  The power of the attacking creature is checked only when the ability triggers. Once it triggers, Raid Bombardment will deal 1 damage to the defending player even if the creature’s power changes before the ability resolves.

Also, Raid Bombardment triggers during the Declare Attackers step, and will resolve before your opponent gets a chance to declare blockers.


In Multiplayer, if I attack all other players for lethal, who loses first?

All combat damage happens simultaneously.

  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.

802.6 is simply explaining a slight difference to 510.1:

  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.

So "defending player" in this case means each of the opponents being attacked, in APNAP order.

However, the premise of your question may be flawed. There is no "second place" in magic. It doesn't matter which player loses first, or if it is simultaneous. If I kill opponent A on turn 5, and then kill opponent B on turn 6, opponent B isn't "second place" while opponent A is "third place". They are simply both players who did not win the game.


In Broadside, what is your strategy for placing the shore guns and mines during setup?

I liked to put my good mines on one side of the board, and my good guns on the other side of the board. Then place my ships where their "broadsides" could cover the channels.

As I remember, the British fleet had 25 sails, the American only 20. But the guns and mines more than make up for it, for the Americans. Inevitably, the British ships lost sails to the guns. One or two would also hit a "live" mine.


When does Myr Superion check the source?

The ability checks what produced the mana. This means that, to be used to cast Myr Superion, the source of the ability that produced the mana must have been a creature at the time the mana was produced (i.e. when the ability resolved).

As @Natedogg2 of #magicjudges-rules said, "Producing the mana, then making the source into a creature does not count."


What is the most balanced/competitive character set in Citadels?

I've found the default characters are the most balanced set of characters.  While I haven't played with all of the extra characters, some of them significantly change how the game plays.  Bruno Faidutti, the creator of Citadels, says he prefers the default characters on the game's Rules FAQ on his website.  Quote:

  Q: What is your favorite character mix?

  A:
  The 8 basic characters, plus the Queen or the Artist when playing with 6 or 7 players.

  Q: What's the best character mix?

  A:
  Many players prefer the Witch over the Assassin, but I disagree. The Assassin is simpler and naughtier. I prefer the original set, sometimes with adding the Queen, and sometimes with replacing the Merchant with the Alchemist.

For the extra characters I have played with, I have a few impressions I can share with you.

Tax Collector:  I found without the threat of the thief, people started hoarding money.  This reduces some of the tension in the game.  Since players can't get robbed, they can save to build up to build the most expensive district.  Players were also careful to not have money to pay the tax collector after building.

Emperor: Since you can no longer take the crown for yourself, most people gave the crown to the player to their right.  This gave them a better choice of cards in the next character draft, while benefiting the player to the right.  The Emperor does make it fairer though how the crown is distributed, but it's also the only character ability the benefits someone else in the game.

Alchemist: The ability to get all your gold back you spend is great, but the Alchemist replaces the Merchant.  Since the Merchant can tax green properties and the Alchemist can't, this makes green districts the most worthless ones in the deck.  They can't be taxed and provide no special benefit.  Green also happens to be the most common color in the district deck

Finally while i haven't played with it, the Diplomat seems to be one of the most powerful characters in the game.  It will definitely change the dynamic of the game and make it harder to hold onto powerful purple districts.  That doesn't mean that any of these characters are bad, and the opportunity to try them out was a bad inclusion in the game.  I just think the default set of characters is the most balanced.


The best way to shuffle a deck is to use multiple different methods of shuffling one after another. As the rules state pile shuffling can't be used except at the start of the game that is perhaps the best way to start your shuffle. After that the Overhand Shuffle, sliding a few cards at a time from one hand to the other so that the cards in each group stay in the same order but the group order is changed, effectively several small cuts. A Riffle Shuffle, taking two halves of the deck, bending them in the middle and letting them fall a card or two at a time onto eachother, does the best for reordering the deck, but since it involves bending the cards it also does damage to them over time, some people won't use this method because of it, and it should never be done to another person's cards for that reason. A similar effect to a riffle shuffle is the Weave or Faro Shuffle (not to be confused with mana weaving), where two halves of the deck are held with a little space between the edges of the cards for the other half's cards to slide into, this is easier with sleeves because the sleeves will create that space between the edges of the sleeves themselves. Washing the cards also does a pretty good job of randomizing, though it looks ridiculous and takes time to spread all the cards out face down and move them around randomly with your hands.

It's all a balance of the level of damage you're willing to accept to your cards, and the level of randomness needed. I will riffle my pauper deck but not my $1000+ EDH.


Running out of cards in Exploding Kittens

You are missing a critical step.  Every time an Exploding Kitten is drawn it needs to go back into the deck if it is defused.

From the rules:

  Defuse:

  If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can play this card instead of dying. Place your Defuse card in the Discard Pile.

  Then take the Exploding Kitten, and without reordering or viewing the other cards, secretly put it back in the Draw Pile anywhere you’d like.

As long as you do that, and you had the correct number of exploding kittens in your starting deck (1 less than the number of players) the deck will never run out.


Space combat game with standard deck of cards

Sounds like it could be InterPlaNet War by John Buenavides. His description:

  54 cards. The deck will have markings on the corners equivalent to a
  standard deck of playing cards. Each player takes a suit to represent
  his army: Martians (Spades), Terrans (Diamonds), Jovians (Clubs), or
  Venusians (Hearts). One card will represent your home Colony, the
  other 12 cards represent your Cohorts -- your combat units

And looking at the pics, the face cards are indeed marked as ships. And some of the cards reference torpedoes.

Here's his post on the BGG forums back in 2012. The links he provides to PnP files are all google drive links, though, which seem to be private now.


What should be used to represent creature tokens when the printed token card isn't available?

I can cover what is legal and what is common, and you can hopefully determine what is "convenient". The MTG Tournament Rules dictate that you clearly represent your board state. This means:

You must be able to represent the tapped state of your token
You must be able to differentiate types of tokens
Tokens must not be in the same sleeves as the deck you are playing

This is under Section 3.8 of the Tournament Policy

  [...] Sleeves or card backs that appear similar to any player’s sleeves or card backs may not be used as markers. [...]

Notably, if you are playing without sleeves, you may not use an unsleeved Magic card as a token

I see no reason to ignore these rules for casual play. They aren't very limiting.

The most common legal method of representing a token, for those lacking the actual token card, is a plain face down card. Any card. If you control multiple types of tokens, it must be clear to both players which cards represent which tokens.

Some players use dice to represent tokens. Depending on what kind of dice you use, it can be difficult or impossible to tell whether a particular token is tapped or untapped. It's also unclear whether a "2" means "two tokens" or "one 2/2 token". You can overcome this by using dice that don't have rotational symmetry and by communicating clearly. I still advise against it because there are easier, clearer options (my opinion).

Representing a large number of tokens individually may not be feasible. In these cases, you can group tokens that have the same status using a single card with a numeric counter placed on top. Every token in the group must be identical. If some are tapped, or if some have summoning sickness, represent them as a separate group.


Does a single 5-color card satisfy Spirit of Resistance?

If you look at the rulings at the bottom of the linked Gatherer page (again for reference), you'll see the following ruling for this card:

  10/4/2004: A permanent which is of multiple colors counts as each of its colors.


It will not have a +1/+1 counter.

We never actually move an object from one zone to another. Instead, we create a new object in the new zone and the old one ceases to exist.[CR 400.7] Any counters on the old object ceases to exist along with it.[CR 121.2]
That means the card in the graveyard (a new object) doesn't have the original +1/+1 counter. If you use Raise Dead to return that card to your hand, the card in your hand (yet another object) won't have the original +1/+1 counter. And finally, if you cast that card from your hand, the new creature (a fourth object) won't have the original +1/+1 counter.
But does it gain a new +1/+1 counter from undying when you recast the creature card after getting it back from the graveyard using Raise Dead? No. Undying is a triggered ability that triggers when a permanent with Undying is placed into a graveyard.[CR 702.92a] It is not triggered when a card with Undying is cast from your hand, so it doesn't add any counters in that situation.

121.2. Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.
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 nine exceptions to this rule:
702.92a Undying is a triggered ability. “Undying” means “When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter on it.”


How many times can you activate an ignition effect per turn in yu-gi-oh?

Given a monster with an ignition effect, how many times can I activate it per turn?

Short answer is each card or monster will specify the number of times that you can activate their effects.
Usually this is written in the form of "Once per turn...", or "During your Main phase...". Some may say "twice", some even say "Once per Duel", etc..
In more general terms this is written in the form of:

"[Times it can be activated]+[Conditions needed to activate], [cost for activating]; [the effect]"


What does "play this ability only if you could play a sorcery" mean?

There are currently no cards with either the first or the second text.
From the Comprehensive Rules:
The Oracle card reference contains the official wording for all Magic cards.

108.1. Use the Oracle™ card reference when determining a card’s wording. A card’s Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at Gatherer.Wizards.com.

Oracle has an advanced search tab with powerful filter options that allows you to search for cards with an exact wording. The wordings of cards get updates (errata) all the time, for example for cases like yours where a wording might be ambiguous, or when comprehensive rules changes affect a card's wording.
Additionally, many cards have rulings at the bottom of their Oracle page that answer specific questions that might arise from that card. Those rulings are not official rules, but they are derived by official judges by application of the rules.
In your case, the currently correct wording is "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.".
The term "play" is still used, but no longer for casting spells or activating abilities:

Play

To play a land is to put a land onto the battlefield as a special action. See rule 115, “Special Actions,” and rule 305, “Lands.”

To play a card is to play that card as a land or cast that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate. See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”

(Obsolete) Casting a spell used to be known as playing a spell. Cards with that text have received errata in the Oracle card reference. See Cast.

(Obsolete) Activating an activated ability used to be known as playing an activated ability. Cards with that text have received errata in the Oracle card reference. See Activate.

(Obsolete) The battlefield used to be known as the in-play zone. Cards that were printed with text that contains the phrases “in play,” “from play,” “into play,” or the like are referring to the battlefield and have received errata in the Oracle card reference. See Battlefield.


Temporary gain control effects, what happens if I give the permanent to another opponent before the effect ends?

In both cases, the opponent you gave the permanent to will keep it.
When you take control of the permanent, you create a continuous control-changing effect that gives you control of the permanent. When you give the permanent to another player, you create another continuous control-changing effect that gives control of the permanent to that player. Once the first effect ends, either because the Act of Treason time runs out, or the Control Magic is destroyed, the second effect keeps working, so the opponent you gave the permanent to will still control it.


In Shadowrift, can a player user more than one villager per round?

Yes, there is no restriction on how many times each hero can Seek Aid in the second edition of Shadowrift.

In this forum post on BGG, Jeremy Anderson (the game's creator) confirms that the following statement is correct.

  ...under the new rules ALL the villagers in the [Town Square] can now
  be asked for help and all of them could be asked by a single hero.

He goes on to explain:

  So many of the effects are global or
  monster-targeting (such as the Baker and Priest, respectively) that it
  was actually pretty rare the rule would even matter other than
  requiring the players to do a little fiddly bookkeeping. I agree that
  I'm all for table-talk and interesting decisions, but this wasn't a
  consistent enough place to produce them and mostly just penalized
  smaller player counts (and sure, smaller player counts have an easier
  game so one could argue that's just a positive balancing element...).
  It also made little (if any) thematic sense. Limited capacity to
  perform actions makes sense. Limited capacity to receive help from
  others...a little less so.


If I play a card as part of a start/end of a turn effect, do I apply their start/end of turn effects as well?

According to the FAQ:

If a card comes in to play at the end of a villain turn, and it has an "end of the villain turn" action, does that action happen this turn?
Yes. You are still in the "End of Turn" phase, and all "End of Turn" actions in play must resolve for that phase to end, even if those cards came in to play as part of that phase.

It seems safe to generalize this to the start of the villain turn as well.


Is it allowed to win a game of cribbage with the single point from a "go"?

Indeed, I've heard much the same.
Turns out, it is merely a "common" house-rule.
There's no mention of any such limitation in any of the rules I've been able to find, but some people definitely play that way.

It seems to me that in Crib (even more so than in many other games) it's important to know what the house rules are before you start.


How can I resolve my Dragon Shield sleeves being curved?

This answer comes from personal experiences I've had with using Dragon Shield sleeves, so it shouldn't be taken as fact, since the sleeves from different batches can vary.

First things first, I'd recommend always using Matte sleeves, for several reasons:

I find them much easier to shuffle;
They don't get as grimy as smooth sleeves;
They don't tear as easily as smooth sleeves;
They don't get as curved as smooth sleeves.

For the specific problem of curved sleeves, I've tried many solutions over the years, and some seemed to work better than others.

One thing that worked best for me for straightening both sleeves and cards was to weight them down with a couple heavy books over a warm surface. I usually use a hair drier to warm up a metal surface, and then keeping it warm while the cards and/or sleeves are being weighted down. This works great for a couple cards/sleeves, but it's a lot of work for a whole deck.

Also, sleeving the cards with a "perfect size/fit" (the inner sleeves that go inside the outer sleeves) makes them slightly less bendy, which could help in straightening out your outer sleeves.

As you said, storing the whole (preferably double-)sleeved deck in a tight fitting deckbox also helps with straightening out both sleeves and cards.

P.S.: To whomever it may concern, I am thinking of opening this answer as a community wiki, so everyone can chip in with their own experiences on the subject. What do you guys think?


Is a player allowed to announce his intentions for their next turn?

A lot of this will depend on your group and how you chose to look at the rules. Other than giving information about what is in another players hand there is nothing mentioned about players talking to each other. There is a note in an English translation of the rules that I found that does somewhat address this.

  Hanabi based on communication - and non-communication - between the Players. If one interprets the rules strictly then players may not, except for the announcements of the current player, talk to each other. Ultimately, each group should decide by its own measure
  what communication is permitted communication. Play so that you have fun!

I will note some things that my friends do when we play this game all of which are done without the active player asking for the information.

Inform the others what we know about our hand. This can be from what we have been told in the past and can in other peoples hands. For instance if I had a green five in my hand and was told I have a five and can account for all the other fives I would say I have a five and know the color.
If we have no or limited knowledge of our hands we sometimes will say if you tell me nothing I will discard from a certain side of my hand. This is used as a reminder that I have gotten no information about my hand lately and am assuming I have nothing but garbage.

While some of those may be breaking the spirit of the game they do make it more enjoyable for the group we play in. It all depends on what your group wants to do.


Is a commander send to the command zone by Release to the Wind subject to the commander tax?

"Exiled", when used as a state, means "in the exile zone", so the continuous effect created by Release to the Wind only last for as long as the card it exiled is in the exile zone. Since the commander never even entered the exile zone in this case, the continuous effect doesn't do anything at all.

  611.2b Some continuous effects generated by the resolution of a spell or ability have durations worded “for as long as . . . .” If the “for as long as” duration never starts, or it ends before the moment the effect would first be applied, the effect does nothing. It doesn’t start and immediately stop again, and it doesn’t last forever.

If something did allow your commander to be cast from the command zone for an alternative cost, you would still have to pay the "commander tax" because the tax is an additional cost, and additional costs must still be payed when using an alternative cost instead of the mana cost.

total cost to cast
= mana cost or alternative cost
+ cost increases and additional costs
- cost decreases

The casting will also count towards the "commander tax" in future castings because the tax simply counts how many times it was cast from the command zone. For what cost it was cast is irrelevant.

  903.8. A player may cast a commander he or she owns from the command zone. A commander cast from the command zone costs an additional {2} for each previous time the player casting it has cast it from the command zone that game.

I would take something that moves the commander out of the zone (such as Command Beacon) to avoid the the "commander tax".


Do I still get to draw cards if I can't sacrifice Soul Ransom when its ability resolves?

Yes to all three questions.

  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.

  609.3. If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

If the draw was contingent on the sacrifice, the sacrifice would be made part of the cost, or the effect would be "Soul Ransom's controller sacrifices it. If he does, he draws two cards". See Garruk, the Veil-Cursed's second ability for an example of this.


Attack a creature you control with instants?

"Attacking" and "casting an instant" are completely different things.

In Magic lingo, "attack" has the very specific meaning of initiating combat. After your first main phase, you may declare creatures to attack your opponent and/or his planeswalkers, and your opponent may then block with his creatures. You are not allowed to attack yourself or your allies, and you may not attack specific creatures.

"Casting a spell" such as Shock means you select a valid target for it if necessary and pay for its cost. For example, Shock requires any one target creature (or player) as its target. Your creatures do qualify because they simply are creatures. There are spells that may target only creatures controlled by an opponent, but in that case, it would explicitely say so on the card itself.


Tapping Active Abilities when they have summoning sickness?

Summoning sickness applies to all abilities of a creature that include the tap symbol as a cost, but other abilities with other costs may be played instantly.


The building of two districts should be considered as two separate action or as one comprehensive action?

Tax Collector collects immediately after each one, as per the text you quote.

(Note: there may be at least one version of the rules whose section for the Tax Collector reads "one or more" and "at the end of the turn" instead. EDIT: found it: the original 2004 Dark City Expansion version said "If a player builds one or more districts in his city, that player must give you 1 gold at the end of his turn."  According to this BGG post , the Tax Collector was the only character whose card text changed in the 2016 edition ).


If I rez Rasmin Bridger after an ICE, does the Runner have to pay its bit immediately?

I think it only takes effect on the following ICE. While I also have not seen any official ruling on this card, it hinges on several different rules. When does Rasmin Bridger's ability trigger?

  After Runner passes each piece of ice on this fort, Runner must pay 1 or end the run.

From this chart, step 32, the ICE is passed and this is where the effect triggers if Rasmin Bridger had already been rezzed. If he had not been rezzed, the next opportunity to rez him would be after the runner decides to jack out or not (step 35).

The rulebook only mentions that a Rezzing a Corporation Card can occur (among other times):

  during a run while the Runner approaches a piece of ice and while the Runner passes a piece of ice;

The rules don't really clarify the timing of while. The closest thing regarding timing is the Run Protocol - Overview section. It seems to indicate that Upgrades must be rezzed during the approach or just after the runner doesn't jack out.

  If the Runner passes all of the pieces of ice (or if there is no ice to be passed in the first place), he or she gets one last chance to jack out. If the Runner doesn't jack out, we have one last opportunity to rez any of the nodes and upgrades inside the fort, and unless these end the run, the run is considered successful, and the Runner accesses the appropriate cards.


Element, wind melds worth it to reach minimum han requirement?

Your understanding is correct.

  Yakuhai (役牌), also known as Fanpai (飜牌), is a 1-han yaku consisting of a pon/kan of any of the following:

  Dragons (elements)
  Your current seat wind
  The current round wind (typically east or south)

As it is a yaku, it will net you the 1-yaku minimum required to complete your hand.  It doesn't matter if the hand remains open or closed, so calling a discarded tile to complete the set is perfectly legal.

Whether it is the best choice in any circumstance is highly dependent on the rest of your hand; the point value of an open set is only half that of a closed set, and there are many other potential yaku which are unavailable when a hand is opened.  In particular, you lose out on the ability to call riichi, which would also provide the 1-yaku minimum and give you a chance for ura-dora as well.