How can a blue control deck be made more efficient?

This answer may have gotten a little out of hand... what can I say, I'm procrastinating ;-) plus I couldn't resist a chance to share my love of control decks.

  It seems like my games last a long time and I don't do that much damage, is that what its supposed to feel like when using a counter deck?

Well, do you mean you're not doing much damage quickly, or not doing much damage at all? In the latter case, that's a problem because you never get to kill your opponent, but the former case is exactly how a control deck is supposed to work. Your game plan is to establish control over the game: get to the point where you can counter, destroy, exile, or otherwise eliminate any spell or permanent that poses a threat to you. Once you do that, it doesn't matter how you win or how long it takes you to do it (although there is something to be said for not letting your opponents get bored).

Of course, the downside of playing a control deck is that you can get overwhelmed in the first few turns of the game, before you're able to establish control. So to make a good control deck, you need to make every card count in the early game. For one thing, that means using lots of cheap counterspells. I notice that you've got a couple of cards in the deck which aren't Standard-legal, so I'm assuming you're drawing from the entire Magic card pool, and in that case the #1 most important spell you should be playing is the original Counterspell. Mana Leak is probably the other staple of most good counterspell decks. I see you have a couple Mana Leaks already, but I'd suggest "upgrading" to 4 of each card if you can get them. Beyond that, you want an assortment of different kinds of counterspells for different situations:

Cheap or alternate-costed counterspells to support you through the first couple of turns:

Daze
Foil
Force of Will
Force Spike
Mental Misstep
Spell Pierce
Spell Snare

Utility counterspells that have side effects:

Cryptic Command
Discombobulate
Dismiss
Dismal Failure
Dissipate
Forbid
Lay Bare
Mana Drain
Miscalculation
Quash
Rewind
Trickbind

X spells for versatility:

Condescend
Disrupting Shoal
Logic Knot
Spell Burst

Some of these are rare and really expensive ($$, not mana, e.g. Force of Will is probably a $150-ish card), so I gave you a bunch of choices. There are others as well, which you can find on Gatherer, but these are the ones I'd consider most potentially useful for a mono-blue deck.

In some cases you can choose between different counterspells in each group based on which of their side effects is most useful to your deck, or what you expect to play against, or what you're able to acquire, but generally for a counter-heavy deck you'd probably want 2-4 from the first list (that is, 2-4 slots in your deck), 4-5 from the second list, and optionally 1 or 2 of the X spells. Combined with 4 Counterspell and 4 Mana Leak, that gives you 15-20 counters total.

The next thing to think about is your removal. You won't be able to counter every spell, so you need some way of dealing with permanents that sneak through the cracks. Unfortunately, blue isn't very good at this, so if you want to stick to one color, you're not going to have access to the best removal options. One of the best blue cards available to deal with permanents is Capsize, which lets you repeatedly bounce a permanent until you're able to counter its spell. You'll probably also have to dip into artifacts, for things like Nevinyrral's Disk or Ratchet Bomb. Since creatures tend to be the most annoying permanents, it's fine to include a couple of creature control cards like Mind Control or Sleep (note that usually only one or the other of these will be good, depending on what kind of deck you're playing against: Mind Control against big creatures, Sleep against weenies), but I wouldn't go overboard on them. I think your current decklist uses too many of these, since they're not that useful against decks that can do things without creatures, and besides, that's what the counterspells are for.

Another key component of any good control deck is card drawing and filtering. The reason here is that, since your deck is so focused on preventing your opponent from doing stuff, you always need to have at least as many counterspells or removal spells as they have action spells, and in order to make sure of that, you need access to more cards than your opponent. Recently, planeswalkers have been doing well at this; in particular, any of the three versions of Jace:

Jace Beleren
Jace, the Mind Sculptor (still rather expensive despite being banned, but it's really good)
Jace, Memory Adept

Back in the day, Whispers of the Muse and Accumulated Knowledge were popular choices for card draw. These days, people mostly use Preordain and Ponder. You can supplement those with Azure Mage, which is not only reusable but also gives you a creature to attack or block with. Of course there are many other choices, which you can look up on Gatherer.

Finally, you need to figure out a way to win. Again, since it shouldn't matter what your deck does once you have control, you need to think about what will be best at protecting you in the early game. Belltower Sphinx is not bad if you're pursuing a mill strategy, though it is a little expensive. The thing to keep in mind here is that once you've fit in the counterspells, the removal, the card draw, and of course lands, there's not going to be much room left in your deck for win conditions, so you need to pick a win condition that basically ends the game as soon as you cast it, or does double duty by also filling one of the other roles in your deck (such as Azure Mage, which helps you draw cards while also being a creature, or the Worldwake man lands - but those are all double-colored).

With that in mind, let's look at your decklist:

  Lands

  19x Islands
  1x  Glacial Fortress
  1x  Terramorphic Expanse

With no white cards, there's no reason to include Glacial Fortress, and since you only have one color of mana, Terramorphic Expanse is pretty useless as well - unless you also have Halimar Depths, then it lets you shuffle away unwanted cards. Also, counterspell decks are pretty mana-intensive, so you should have a lot more than 21 lands; I'd suggest around 26. You can include some specialty lands that help with the aspects of your game plan, such as Halimar Depths (filtering), Quicksand (removal), or Stalking Stones (win condition), but for mana production I'd stick with just Islands.

  Artifacts

  1x  Adaptive Automaton
  1x  Scepter of Empires
  1x  Throne of Empires
  1x  Isochron Scepter
  2x  Elixir of Immortality
  3x  Kraken's Eye

Throne of Empires is a great win condition because it can produce a whole swarm of creatures while only taking up a single slot in your deck. Other than that, most of these are probably not helping you. Isochron Scepter can have a neat interaction with cheap counterspells but I don't see it being that useful most of the time, since running out of cards should not be your problem.

  Blue Creatures

  1x  Wall of Frost
  1x  Augury Owl
  1x  Zephyr Sprite
  2x  Aether Adept
  2x  Aven Fleetwing
  4x  Skywinder Drake
  3x  Belltower Sphinx
  1x  Phantasmal Image

For these, think about what creatures can advance your game plan, like Azure Mage (as I mentioned above). Most of these creatures don't really do much to help you out there. Aether Adept is sort of removal-like, but usually your opponent can just replay the creature you bounced on the next turn, and then all you got is a 2/2 for 3 mana and perhaps a turn off from being attacked. While that's not bad, it's not particularly exciting either. Phantasmal Image is particularly iffy because your opponent has a surefire way to destroy it which your counterspells can't even stop. I'd leave it out unless you have something really cool for it to copy.

  Blue Spells

  4x  Mind Control
  4x  Cancel
  4x  Unsummon
  4x  Ice Cage
  2x  Jace's Erasure
  2x  Negate
  2x  Mana Leak
  2x  Sleep
  1x  Ponder

Again, I think you have too many Mind Controls. You only want to be stealing your opponent's biggest and best creatures; it should be something that really makes it worth spending 5 mana to get it. Most things are better off being countered. Unsummon seems lackluster for the same reason as Aether Adept, and Ice Cage for the same reason as Phantasmal Image. Jace's Erasure is okay if you're pursuing a mill strategy, but it doesn't do anything else to directly help you, so I think you can do better.


How can I efficiently filter MagicCards.info searches down to cards castable with only certain mana colours?

What you are asking for is effectively equivalent to "the mana cost does not contain {U}, {B}, {R}, {U/B}, {U/R}, or {B/R}" because those are all of the mana symbols that cannot be paid from your mana pool. This can be equivalently expressed by negating the expression that says "the mana cost contains any one of those symbols". So, the resulting query is

  -(mana>=u or mana>=b or mana>=r or mana>={U/B} or mana>={U/R} or mana>={B/R}) o:"enchant land" o:"mana pool"

Note the - at the beginning that negates the bolded expression. As you can see, this does in fact list every card your search found, plus Trace of Abundance. It also incidentally includes colorless cards and cards with Phyrexian and colorless hybrid mana symbols (e.g. {UP} or {2/R}) because it is possible to play those without spending any mana of their colors at all.


Forsaken Lore expansion for Eldritch Horror: what are the new mysteries for the base game AOO?

Azathoth

  Voice of Azathoth
  When an investigator would gain an Artifact, he may gain the Massa di Requiem per Shuggay Artifact instead.

  At the end of the Mythos Phase, an investigator may spend Clues equal to [Number of Players] and discard the Massa di requiem per Shuggay Artifact to solve this Mystery.

  The Green Flame

  When this card enters play, spawn the Tulzscha Epic Monster on a random space.

  At the end of Mythos Phase, if the Tulzscha Epic Monster has been defeated, solve this mystery.
  Additional info: At each reckoning, Tulzscha adds 1 Eldritch token to the omen track.

Cthulhu

  Queen of the Deep Ones
  When this card enters play, spawn the Hydra Epic Monster on space 8.

  When an investigator would gain an Artifact, he may gain the Sword of Y'ha-Talla Artifact instead.

  At the end of Mythos Phase, if the Hydra Epic Monster has been defeated, solve this mystery.
  Additional info: Hydra can't be damaged without the Sword of Y'ha-Talla.

  Threatening Seas
  When this card enters play, each investigator places 1 Eldritch token on the nearest Sea space that does not contain an Eldritch token.

  As an encounter, an investigator on a space containing an Eldritch token may attempt to prolong Cthulhu's slumber ([Lore]-1). If he passes, he may spend 1 Clue and discard 1 Spell to place that Eldritch token on this card.

  At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Eldritch tokens on this card equal to [Number of Players], solve this Mystery. Do not discard the Eldritch tokens from the game board.

Yog-Sothoth

  The Stone Circles
  When this card enters play, place a number of Eldritch tokens equal to half [Number of Players] each on a random space.

  As an encounter, an investigator on a space containing an Eldritch token may attempt to disrupt the ritual ([Lore]-1). If he passes, he may spend 2 Clues to place that Eldritch token on this card. If he fails, a Cultist Monster ambushes him!

  At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Eldritch tokens on this card equal to half [Number of Players], solve this Mystery.

  Void Between Worlds
  As an encounter, an investigator on a space containing a Gate may travel to the void between worlds by drawing and resolving a Void Between Worlds Special Encounter.

  At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Eldritch tokens on this card equal to half [Number of Players], solve this Mystery.
  Additional info: These encounters are a harder version of Other World encounters. A successful encounter allows to both close the gate and put an eldritch token on the Mystery.

Shub-Niggurath

  Blasphemy of the Black Goat
  When this card enters play, spawn the Yeb Epic Monster on space 19.

  At the end of Mythos Phase, if the Yeb Epic Monster has been defeated, solve this mystery.
  Additional info: When spawned, Yeb spawns 2 additional monsters on it's space.

  Hour of the Moon Lens
  When this card enters play, place the Mystery token in London.

  As an encounter, an investigator on London may watch a ritual that transforms the worshipers of Shub-Niggurath into goat spawn; a Goat Spawn Monster ambushes him! If he defeats it, he may spend 2 Clues to place 1 Eldritch token on this card.

  At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Eldritch tokens on this card equal to half [Number of Players], solve this Mystery.


MTG: Arena. Is there any way to use packs other than open them?

No, there is currently nothing that can be done with packs besides opening them and claiming the cards.

The only modifier to opening packs is that opening fifth copies of a common or uncommon card contributes to your vault. The vault is a hidden percentage that, once you reach 100%, awards you 1 mythic wild card, 2 rare wild cards, and 3 uncommon wild cards. Also, I believe that if you have every rare and/or mythic in the set, the rare and/or mythic spot will be replaced by gems.


Yes, that is correct. However remember that as soon as you have two or more ships in the same area (port or sea), they are considered an army and must adhere to supply limits.

Obviously if you muster into both the port and sea you're potentially blocking your port ship for being able to move out into the sea. That makes your castle/stronghold a ripe target for attack as if an enemy were to defeat that one footman, any boats in port would be replaced by an equal number of your enemy's ships (pg.25).

Something else to note: The special Consolidate Power token must be placed on the castle/stronghold in order to muster. You are not allowed to muster by placing the special Consolidate Power token on the port space.


Optimal (Or Just Effective) Strategy For The Resistance?

If you're a Resistance member and the first leader, this tactic gives a 1-in-5 chance of directly winning the game:

On the first round, send yourself and someone who isn't to your left. If both the player you send and the player to your left are Resistance members, you win!

The flow is as follows:

You and the selected Resistance member succeed at the first mission.
When the player to your left becomes the leader, she adds herself to your successful team, and you succeed at the second mission.
The third leader has to send the three of you on the third mission lest he out himself as a spy. You three keep down-voting missions until you get sent and succeed at the third mission.

To see that this gives a 1 in 5 chance of outright winning, multiply the probability that the player to your left is in the resistance by the probability that you successfully pick a resistance member for the first mission:

3/6 * 2/5 = 1/5

If the first mission fails, at least you know for certain the identity of one of the spies (and hopefully can convince your allies of this).

If the first mission succeeds and the second fails, well, now you're playing a normal game of the Resistance.

If the first two succeed and the third fails, you've almost won, and the Imperial spy gained almost nothing from waiting.

In each case, attempting the auto-win didn't cost you anything.


Is there a Saint Petersburg strategy that doesn't involve buying Aristocrats?

If you can claim the aristocrats that provide income based on the number of buildings (or, to a lesser degree, workers) you have early in the game then a strategy that orients on maximizing that type of card, particularly cheap ones, becomes viable.


After googling various terms together, I found it:
Century Spice Road


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

Some cards target a creature and affect that creature's controller, so it some sense they behave differently depending on who controls the target creature. Here is a magiccards.info query for such cards. Of course, since Ink-Treader Nephilim makes those spells target every creature anyway, it doesn't really matter who controls it.

Since Ink-Treader Nephilim's controller controls the spell copies, cards that depend on your board state will have different behavior depending on who controls the Nephilim. For example, if you cast Aspect of Hydra targeting your own Nephilim, every creature will get +X/+X, where X is your devotion to green. If you cast it targeting your opponent's Nephilim, then the Nephilim will get +X/+X where X is your devotion to green and every other creature will get +X/+X where X is your opponent's devotion to green.

Similarly, for any spell that affects "you" as part of the spell, the original will affect the player who cast it and each copy will affect the player that controls Ink-Treader Nephilim. Awe Strike is an example of such a card: whoever controls the copies gains the life.

In addition, since Ink-Treader Nephilim's ability puts all of the spell copies on the stack at once, its controller chooses the order in which they go on the stack. If a spell hurts the creature's controller for example (e.g. Chandra's Outrage), then the Nephilim's controller can put the copies targeting their opponents' creatures on top of the stack and possibly kill their opponents before the copies targeting their own creatures resolve.

Similarly, if the spell's effect can depend on the number of copies that have already resolved, the Nephilim's controller can arrange them on the stack to maximize their own benefit. For example, Flesh Allergy says

  Destroy target creature. Its controller loses life equal to the number of creatures that died this turn.

This means that the creature's controller loses an additional life for each copy that already resolved. The Nephilim's controller can manipulate the order of the copies to change both how much life each player loses and in what order. In the best case, they can make their opponent lose the game before all of the copies resolve.


The Comprehensive Rules don't explicitly mention random targets. However, we can still use them to get an answer. The bottom line is that the creature with protection can't be chosen as the target, making the other creature automatically the target.

Now, as you point out, "target creature [you] control chosen at random" could mean you must target a creature you control that is also a valid target, or it could that you target a creature you control without filtering on legal targets. Even if you try to pick from all creatures, the game itself will restrict you to legal targets.

CR 601.2 details the exact process for casting a spell. The key sentence is as follows:

  If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before that spell started to be cast (see rule 717, "Handling Illegal Actions")

As pointed out in comments, 601.2c specifies that the casting becomes illegal specifically when you try to target an invalid target, whether it's because of protection as in this case, or hexproof/shroud. At this point, it's as if the spell was never cast, so the spell can never wind up targeting the creature with protection. It can only wind up with a legal target.

The ruling for Goblin Test Pilot confirms this (emphasis mine):

  To choose a target at random, all possible legal targets (including creatures and players) must have an equal chance of being chosen. There are many ways to do this, including assigning each possible legal target a number and rolling a die.


This sounds like Cube Fusion, specifically the MINI Cube Fusion version as Jay A pointed out based on the number of components.

From the description:

  The game includes a playing board with a 3x3 grid and 12 playing
  pieces. Each piece consists of two cubes, each with marbles in the
  center - one red, one green. Players take turns placing pieces on the
  board, trying to make a specified pattern in his color but not his
  opponent's -- all the while having to play both his color and his
  opponent's color each turn. There are several different games
  explained in the rules: make 3, 4, or 5 in a row (in 3D) before your
  opponent, form a square in your color, form more three-in-a-row
  alignments than your opponent, etc.


Can I activate mana abilities even if I don't need the mana?

Yes, you can activate a mana ability even if you do not plan to use the mana. This is often called floating mana. This means that yes, you can use Karametra's Favor to trigger an Inspired ability every turn. Since the Magic 2010 rules update, mana burn does not exist any more, so keeping this mana in your mana pool until the end of the phase has no downside.


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

Will any harm come to board games that I leave out in a car in that ['below -18°C/0°F'] temperature?

No.

I have had some board games for 30+ years that, during that time, spent two years in a Minnesota storage garage and three years in an Upstate New York storage garage; in which neither had heat or air conditioning (neither location was ever particularly hot during the Summer).

Some games had adhesive tape repairs; some had a clear adhesive film protecting the graphics of the gameboard.  None exhibited any damage due to storage conditions.

Note: For long-term storage, all games are placed within plastic garbage bags which, in turn, are put inside plastic totes.

On one occasion, I noted one factory shrink-wrapped game developed a some minor condensation between the shrink-wrap and game box.  The game box lid was concave from being pressed; causing space between the shrink-wrap and box.  The condensate was noted when I brought this game home, from storage, during cold outside temps. It did not appear to damage or stain the cover of the gamebox.


Whenever someone casts an enchant on one of my creatures, do I control that enchantment?

You don't control Claustrophobia. Permanents enter the battlefield under the control of the controller of the spell, unless something else is explicitly stated.

For permanent spells:

  608.3. If the object that’s resolving is a permanent spell, its resolution involves a single step (unless it’s an Aura). The spell
  card becomes a permanent and is put onto the battlefield under the
  control of the spell’s controller.

For other spells or abilities:

  110.2a If an effect instructs a player to put an object onto the battlefield, that object enters the battlefield under that player’s
  control unless the effect states otherwise.


A card game with a mat on the table and chips in the kitty

My best guess is Tripoley. The main pictures on Board Game Geek show a plastic version, but this image shows a version with a mat. There is a Kitty pile, and 8 other piles. Each hand has a Hearts phase, a Poker phase, and a Rummy phase.


What energy type does poison use and does it stack?

Pokemon TCG is quite different than the game. There's no "poison" type like in the game. In TCG, poison is a status. So, even if the defending pokemon has psychic resistance, it doesn't cut the poison damage, even if the poison is afflicted by a psychic pokemon.*)
No it doesn't stack.

I suggest you to read the basic rulebook again, it's very clear on what poison do there. I learned almost everything from the rulebook. But, since I am an old pokemon player (last played 4-5 yrs ago), so I forgot what poison exactly do. But AFAIK, it damages the affected pokemon between turns.

*) This is different if Spit Poison has initial damage attached, for example, 30. So the initial damage will be 10 (30 original - 20 resistance), aside from the poison status damage.


How important is Bankroll Management in Texas Hold'em Poker, and why?

The bankroll is your safe haven. The bankroll is what makes you different from a gambler, betting, bet again, breaks and puts more money in the game.

The bankroll is a fundamental part of you being a poker player. Treat it with due importance.

The bankroll should be large. It's more than you think you need. It is much larger than you want it. The truth is that you need a lot.

Why you need a lot? Because of something called a variance.

You know that poker is a game of skill, but in the short term, luck plays a great importance. Even the best players end up having to go through hard times. This is part of the game and every player should be able to handle it.

The fact that your bankroll vary up and down over the course of the game is known as variance. The more aggressive style, the greater the variability. And the more you play a game of high variance (as MTT or 6-max), the greater the ups and downs will meet your bankroll.

There is no escaping the variance. Even if you are prudent and cautious, your bankroll will experience ups and downs.

When in high, it's just joy, but the low that you need a good bankroll. You need a box that allows you to resist the bad times without breaking. Because if you break, will not be able to enjoy the sound stage, which will certainly come back.

The bankroll should always be calculated in relation to buy-ins or stakes of the games you want to play.

A bankroll of $ 1000 can be big or little ... depends on the buy-in. If you're playing $ 5 SNG's (Sit and Go) tournament, this is a pretty good bankroll. Have to play $ 50 SNGs, it is little.

A bankroll of $ 2000 is big enough for you to face without fear NL cash tables 0.10 to 0.20. But the same bankroll can not stand the jolt of the NL tables 1-2.

There are methods to calculate the bankroll according to your ROI, ie its return on investment. I do not advise a beginner to use this method. To know your ROI and you need a good time and a lot of hands in poker tournaments or played (even many). Moreover, the game changes, changing tables, opponents change. Your ROI will not be the same as six months ago, it will fluctuate a lot over time.

So for those just starting out, I suggest being guided by the amount of buy-ins. It is simpler and is guaranteed.

As I said above, in relation to the bankroll, you better be cautious. Here are my recommendations:

Cash games

6-Max: 100 buy-ins

Down to level 60 with buy-ins

Full Ring: 80 buy-ins

Down to level 55 with buy-ins

Tournaments

Sit and Go: 50 buy-ins

Level down to 30 buy-ins

MTT: 100 buy-ins

Down to level 60 with buy-ins

These numbers mean the minimum number of buy-ins that you must have to a certain level and when you should go down a level.

For example, if you want to play SNG tournaments of $ 2, your bankroll should be $ 100. If your bankroll drops to $ 60 or less, switch to the $ 1 SNG.

If you want to play $ 10 SNG, the bankroll should be $ 500. The bankroll has dropped below $ 300? Change to the $ 5 SNG. No need to take into account the rake calculation.

In cash games, is the same thing with just one more detail: if you play with full stack, the value of each buy-in is the sum of 100 big blinds. If you are a shortstacker each buy-in is worth 20 big blinds.

So if you want to play 6-max 0.10-0.20, your bankroll should be $ 2000. If your bankroll drops below $ 1200, go to the games of 0.05-0.10.

If you are entering a shortstacker with 20% of the buy-in, your bankroll at 6-max from 010 to 0.20 to be $ 400. Where to stay under $ 240, get off of level.


MTG Rhonas the Indomitable + Saving Grace

Rhonas the Indomitable doesn't block anything, and won't deal damage, but the damage does get redirected to Rhonas.

Usually the flow goes like this:

Your opponent declares attackers. (Then both of you can cast spells, activate abilities, etc.)
You declare blockers. (Then both of you can cast spells again, activate abilities again, etc.

Rhonas can't be assigned as a blocker during this step, but that's OK for your plan.

Attackers, and the creatures blocking them, deal damage to each other simultaneously.

You'll be modifying this slightly with Saving Grace's ability:

  When Saving Grace enters the battlefield, all damage that would be dealt this turn to you and permanents you control is dealt to enchanted creature instead.

That "instead" makes this a replacement effect which, this turn only, changes how damage would be dealt to you and permanents you control. Rhonas still can't block, but this changes step 3 to the following:

All attackers that would deal damage to you or permanents you control instead deal that damage to Rhonas. Simultaneously with that, all of your blockers deal damage to the attackers they're blocking.

Rhonas is still indestructible and won't be destroyed by what is almost certainly lethal damage.

Rhonas is not however involved in combat. Rhonas wasn't declared as a blocker, isn't considered to be one, and isn't blocking any creatures at all. It's just taking a bunch of damage. Rhonas will deal no damage in this step. This also means it won't deal lethal damage via deathtouch to anything.


Yes the game can end without any player alive. It happens sometimes. And in that case, the game is a tie.

With the basic rules, there can be as much as four deaths in a single night.

Wolf eats hunter
Hunter shoots witch
Witch poisons wolf
Civilian lover of wolf dies of love sickness

All the actions are simultaniously. And winning is declared in the morning and right after lynch.

By the way, during the day a complete kill can happen too:

Wolf and civilian lover vote for last player who happens to be the hunter.
Hunter shoots wolf
Civilian lover dies of life sickness.


In multiplayer, what happens if a player you're attacking dies before combat damage is dealt?

Players leave the game as a state based effect, the next time any player would receive priority if their life total is zero or less.

104.3b If a player’s life total is 0 or less, he or she loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

In the above example, after you declared your creatures as attackers (and made all necessary costs associated with declaring them as attackers...usually this is is just tapping the creatures), there is a chance for all players to cast instants or use activated abilities, and one of the other players cast BoD. Everyone once again has a chance to react to BoD, but if no one does, BoD resolves, and then the active player (you) receive priority. At this point, the opponent leaves the game.
Your attacking creature remains an attacking creature until the end of your combat phase.
In a non MP game, there would be no difference. Attacking creatures remain attacking creatures until the end of the combat phase.

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

Damage is never dealt to nonexistent players/creatures/planeswalkers.

800.4d If combat damage would be assigned to a player who has left the game, that damage simply isn’t assigned.
510.1b An unblocked creature assigns its combat damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking. If it isn’t currently attacking anything (if, for example, it was attacking a planeswalker that has left the battlefield), it assigns no combat damage.
510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage.


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

The first rule for Cipher says

  Cipher appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two abilities. The first is a spell ability that functions while the spell with cipher is on the stack. The second is a static ability that functions while the card with cipher is in the exile zone. "Cipher" means "If this spell is represented by a card, you may exile this card encoded on a creature you control" and "For as long as this card is encoded on that creature, that creature has 'Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may copy the encoded card and you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.'"

When you first cast the spell with Cipher from your hand, it is a card, so you can encode it on a creature. When that creature deals combat damage to a player, you can cast a copy of the encoded spell. That copy is not represented by a card, so you can not encode it on a creature.


When buying and playing a Villa in Dominion do you in a sense get 3 buys for that turn?

You don't get a new free Buy, sorry. Nice thinking though.

The base game rules do say that when you enter a Buy phase you get one default Buy, but the card-specific notes for the Villa in the Empires rules (page 11) clarify (or revise?) that you only get one default Buy in the entire turn, not one each buy phase:

  If you buy Villa, that uses up your default Buy for the turn, however playing Villa will give you +1 Buy and so let you buy another card in your second Buy phase.

Another way to think about it might be that the game gives you +1 Buy as you start your turn, but not each Buy phase as the base rules might imply.

Once you re-enter the Buy phase you will have 1 Buy left from Villa itself, in addition to whatever other action cards you've played this turn, but not 1 free Buy from the game. From what you described you only have 2 Buys this turn.


Can Jinxed Idol be activated many times in a turn?

You played correctly.
Jinxed Idol has an activated ability (in addition to the triggered ability that causes its controller damage). Activated abilities can be activated by a player who has priority, and unless there is a restriction written into the ability itself, there is not a limit to how many times it can be activated on a single turn. As long as you can pay the cost, you can activate the ability.

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”

117.1b A player may activate an activated ability any time they have priority.

Once an opponent gains control of Jinxed Idol, they can now use the activated ability the next time they have priority.
While the activated ability is on the stack, you could activate it again in response, but unless you get some benefit from sacrificing creatures, this wouldn't help you. The second activation would go on top of the stack, and after everyone passes priority, it would resolve, giving control of Jinxed Idol to your opponent. Then, if everyone passes priority again, the other activation would resolve, which would also give control of Jinxed Idol to your opponent. But because your opponent already controls it at that point, there would be no effect from trying to give control of it to your opponent again.
Technically, your opponent could activate Jinxed Idol after your second activation resolves but before your first activation resolves... in which case you would gain control of Jinxed Idol back temporarily, before your original activation resolves and control goes back to your opponent. But unless your opponent actually wants Jinxed Idol; they can just wait until all your activations have resolved, and then activate it themselves to get rid of it.


Alternative rules for SimCity: The Card Game

I found some house rules for SimCity here (TXT), which don't address all of your issues, but had some interesting ideas, such as:

If playing the common deck game, then consider splitting the deck further as follows:

One pile for Phase 1 & 2 cards + Phase 3 Power Plants + Council Members
One pile for Phase 3 & 4 cards + Events
One pile for Long cards
You may draw from the Phase 1 & 2 deck anytime
You may draw from the Phase 3 & 4 deck in phases 2-4
You may draw from the Long Cards in Phases 3 & 4

You may play one event card in addition to placing a block on your turn (presumably to done down events)
Minimum size of a zone or complex before it counts as a zone / complex is 2.  City Services are wild for all zones in the normal way.
The Zone and Complex Bonus are calculated normally, except that only cards which are within 2 blocks of the block being played count as within the complex / zone for purposes of calculating the bonus.

I haven't played SimCity before, so I can't say for certainty how useful his rules are, but they look promising.


Will a creature cast with Dash still return to your hand if it dies in combat?

If it's dead, it's not coming back.

Reminder text isn't actually official rules, but it is there to help you out, and there's a key phrase in the reminder text to help you in this case just from the card, without having to look things up:

  You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.

If it's not on the battlefield anymore, it can't be returned from there to your hand! So if it dies (or is exiled or otherwise leaves the battlefield) before the end of the turn, whether due to combat damage or a removal spell or anything else, it won't come back.

The Mechanics of Fate Reforged article also mentioned this, among all the other helpful information about the mechanics. It's a good article to read if you want to make sure you understand everything from the new set.

  If you cast a creature spell using its dash cost, it will return to your hand only if it's still on the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step. If it leaves the battlefield before that point, it'll just stay wherever it is.

If you want the actual rules, the comprehensive rules mention that dash actually does a few separate things, one of which is the return-to-hand ability:

  702.108a Dash represents three abilities: two static abilities that function while the card with dash is on the stack, one of which may create a delayed triggered ability, and a static ability that functions while the object with dash is on the battlefield. “Dash [cost]” means “You may cast this card by paying [cost] rather that its mana cost,” “If this spell’s dash cost was paid, return the permanent this spell becomes to its owner’s hand at the beginning of the next end step,” and “As long as this permanent’s dash cost was paid, it has haste.” Paying a card’s dash cost follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2e–g.

Note that it specifically says "return the permanent..." - if the creature has left the battlefield already, it's no longer a permanent, so there's nothing to return.


Can you remove a spell counter to activate an ability during battle?

Can she do that?

No. As Breaker's effect is not quick-play.

His effect is Speed 1, which means it can only be activated during the owner's Main Phases.

In Yugioh there are 3 speeds of effects:

Speed 1: As indicated before, can be activated during the owner's Main Phases. You can't activate a Speed 1 effect in response to any activation or condition.
Speed 2: These can be activated technically anytime, and can be chained in response to Speed 1 or Speed 2 effects (unless otherwise restricted). In spell cards these are the ones with the lightning symbol, or trap cards without any symbol for example (there are others, of course).
Speed 3: These are exclusive for Counter Trap Cards (the ones with the arrow symbol). These can be activated in response to any spell speed, and only a Counter can be activated in response to another.

So, no. Breaker can't do that as it is Speed 1 effect.


What are the rules updates for Catan in the 5th edition? Are there any?

Changes to the base game

The biggest change in the base game is that the name has switched from "Settlers of Catan" to just "Catan".  They've also updated the art (citation).

Changes to seafarers

Many of the scenario maps are different.  It seems they used the maps from the 2008 German printing of seafarers when making 5th edition.  The big change is that there are now separate maps for 3 players vs 4 players on the first four scenarios.  Additionally, the layouts of "The Fog Islands" has been completely changed.  For a look at historical Catan scenarios, see this compilation.

Prior to fifth edition

Between third and fourth edition of base Catan, they added a rule allowing you to move the robber to the desert, and renamed the "Soldier" card to a "Knight", presumably for terminology consistency with Cities and Knights.

Between third and fourth edition of Seafarers, they changed the game border from rectangular to hexagonal, meaning all of the scenario maps got changed then as well.

Also, see What are the differences between the four editions of The Settlers of Catan base game?


Willbreaker vs. Silverfur Partisan who gets a wolf?

Your opponent will get the wolf token.
The active player's trigger will go on the stack first, but the order of triggers on the stack does not matter in this case. Silverfur Partisan's ability refers to "you", which is the Partisan's controller at the time when the ability triggers, i.e. your opponent. Since your opponent controlled the Partisan when its ability triggered, he is also the controller of that ability on the stack. Even if your opponent loses control of the partisan before the Partisan's ability resolves, he will not lose control of that ability on the stack.

603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. [..]
109.5. The words “you” and “your” on an object refer to the object’s controller, its would-be controller (if a player is attempting to play, cast, or activate it), or its owner (if it has no controller). For a static ability, this is the current controller of the object it’s on. For an activated ability, this is the player who activated the ability. For a triggered ability, this is the controller of the object when the ability triggered, unless it’s a delayed triggered ability. To determine the controller of a delayed triggered ability, see rules 603.7d–f.


According to the first wiki article you linked to, Storm Giants are most likely a successor chapter of the Salamanders, which means they should probably be played using Salamanders chapter tactics.  However, also according to the same wiki article you linked to, (in universe) the true founding chapter of the Storm Giants is unknown... The fact that it is the Salamanders is just the Imperium's best guess.  So really, the Strom Giants could be a successor of any chapter, and therefore you could use any chapter tactics you desire without breaking canon.

As Aslum pointed out, the references section of the first wiki page you linked to will give you more information.

EDIT: Aslum deleted his post... However, his advice about checking out the books listed in the references section of the Storm Giants wiki page is spot on. (should you want a physical book reference)


Go software for studying/reviewing sgf games

I'm afraid I can only partial answer your question, but since there are no other replies yet, here goes:

To browse SGF files I use cgoban3 (the KGS client), which has a reasonable tree view and allows for browsing with arrow keys instead of the mouse. It has a few bugs, but it is generally easy to navigate around them.

There does not seem to be any editor that can determine L&D status. This is already very (very) difficult for advanced specialized Go playing bots and requires a lot of computing power. You'll probably not find anything really usable, much less in a general purpose SGF viewer.

Also, from the SGF specification it is implied that an SGF file has no way to keep track of which variations or text messages were added in which order (please correct me if wrong), so you won't find any tool that can display everything in the right order. This is quite annoying sometimes (and one of the reasons I don't regard SGF exactly highly).


Do you get treasure if you don't kill the Dungeon! Monster?

The rules booklet that comes with the box-game is clearer (and, clearly, updated from the PDF linked by WOTC): it states quite clearly the results of not killing a Monster, and clarifies that you only win treasure by defeating Monsters.


Sacrifice blocking creature before damage is dealt no longer working (MtG Arena)?

This is correct; the creature is blocked and won't deal combat damage to you (unless it had trample). The timing is important though; you need to sacrifice it when you have priority during the Declare Blockers step (which happens after declaring blockers).

509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. A creature remains blocked even if all the creatures blocking it are removed from combat.
510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage.
702.19c If an attacking creature with trample is blocked, but there are no creatures blocking it when damage is assigned, all its damage is assigned to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking.


Mannekin Pis uses its own tucked card.

The ability copies the effect of the wonder to their left.  This essentially means it gains the text of the other wonder stage.  That text is: "At the end of the game, the player flips face-up the card used to build this Stage. Then, the player scores 1 victory point for each card of that color present in both neighboring cities."  Reading this text in the context of Mannekin Pis' 3rd stage, "this Stage" refers to  Mannekin Pis' stage 3.

Support for this comes from the rules for the expansion:

  The stages of the targeted Wonder do not need to have been completed by their respecitve ownes for the Menneken Pis to copy them.

For this to be true, the Mannekin Pis must copy the text of the ability rather than copy any of the properties of the other player's wonder board (including what card the other player did or did not use to build that stage of their wonder).


Does destroying a server mean the run is unsuccessful?

From the official FAQ, page 4:

Destruction of Servers
[...]
If there are no cards installed in or protecting a remote server, then the server immediately ceases to exist. If a server ceases to exist during a run, the run immediately ends. Unless the run has passed step 4.4 of the timing structure of a run, it is not considered to be successful or unsuccessful.

In particular, you do not gain money for Dirty Laundry and neither do you draw a card nor do you take a tag for John Masanori as the run was neither successful nor unsuccessful. A run like this also doesn’t allow the corp to play cards like Successful Demonstration on his or her next turn.


When they say "the value of X" in rule 706.10, they mean specifically the value of a mana cost of X, the way it appears in, say, Hurricane. This X is an inherent part of a spell on the stack; as you cast a spell with X in its mana cost, you choose X at the same time you would for instance choose to pay for kickers and other alternate / optional additional costs, and the X is included in the converted mana cost as long as the spell is on the stack. As such, that value will be copied if the spell is copied.
However, the X in your Blessing is just another way of writing "Distribute a number of +1/+1 counters among creatures you control, equal to the amount of snow mana used to pay for this particular spell." And if you copy a Blessing, no snow mana was used to pay for the copied spell. That X isn't part of the spell itself. It is only part of the effect that happens when the spell resolves.


The Planeswalker will have no loyalty counters and will die immediately from a state-based action.

This is stated in a Gatherer ruling on each of those cards. For example, the first five have this ruling:

  In some rare cases, a spell or ability may cause one of these five cards to transform while it’s a creature (front face up) on the battlefield. If this happens, the resulting planeswalker won’t have any loyalty counters on it and will subsequently be put into its owner’s graveyard.

Transforming a card doesn't cause it to leave or enter the battlefield. It just turns into whatever is on its other face. So the planeswalker side doesn't "enter" with no loyalty counters, it just becomes the planeswalker side and doesn't have any loyalty counters.

If one of those cards enters the battlefield with its back face up for any reason, it enters the battlefield with a number of loyalty counters equal to its printed loyalty. Each of them has an ability that causes it to go to exile, and then enter the battlefield transformed, to ensure that it gets those loyalty counters.


The official rules state:

  When you play your next-to-last card, you must yell “UNO” (meaning “one”) to indicate that you have only one card left. If you don’t yell “UNO” and you are caught before the next player begins their turn, you must draw two cards.

It says nothing about calling UNO when your turn comes up or if you somehow end up with 1 card in your hand via other means (swapping hands, etc.).


Can I use Jyn Odan's Quick Draw if I don't have line of sight normally, but do with Trick Shot?

Yes

Justin Kemppainen, Assistant Board Game Manager for Fantasy Flight Games, definitively stated that it is allowed:

  Question:
  If a Trooper "just around the corner" (out of LOS) activates, can Jyn activate Quick Draw and Trick Shot (to gain LOS) to attack him?

  Answer:
  Yep! That combination of abilities is legit, and they remain legit even if the target is not currently in line of sight.


Why was TAMSK removed from the GIPF series?

Because of the time element (making it not a pure abstract strategy game like the others in the project).

Production costs were higher for that game than others in the series, due mostly to the timers. The designer has noted that that is what keeps it from being reprinted at the moment (in 2008). But it's just speculation to say that that is a reason for its removal.

The designer says that it was removed because it didn't fit with the rest of the series: the rest were all pure abstract.

From this blog post:

  But I also want to stress once more that it was not removed because it was not good enough. I like TAMSK a lot—and also SMART is convinced of its qualities—but I cannot deny that it appeals to another public than most players who like pure abstract strategy games.
  Feb 5, 2008


In King of Tokyo advanced play, does the monster in Tokyo Bay move into Tokyo City if the Tokyo City monster yields?

No, Monsters do not move from Tokyo Bay to Tokyo City.

In a 5-player game, there are multiple possible outcomes when you are attacking Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay.

If neither Monster dies - The attacker occupies Tokyo City , since you are still playing 5-player. The Monster in Tokyo Bay can choose to yield or not.
If the Monster in Tokyo City dies - The attacker occupies Tokyo City, and the Monster in Tokyo Bay must leave per the rule you quoted above, because there are now only 4 players.
If the Monster in Tokyo Bay dies - The attacker occupies Tokyo City if the Monster in Tokyo City yields.
If both Monsters die - The attacker occupies Tokyo City , since you are still playing 3-player. Neither Monster can choose to yield, because they are dead.


How to use an existing game legally for inspiration?

Welcome to the awful world of copyright, intellectual property, license and patent.

First of all, a game is not an invention: you can't patent it. Taking inspiration from another game would be a problem of intellectual property.

Intellectual property is a very fragile notion. In fact, in most countries, taking the character of Pikachu, making it blue with green stripes and calling it Mikichu is legal, because it's not the same character. I'm not sure you want to do that anyway: that would be taunting Pokémon and they would probably take legal measure against you anyway. (I'm sure their lawyers already know how).

Then, if it is for some sort of mechanics, don't worry. There are plenty of games that share the same mechanics:

Rolling 2 dice and using the mathematical property that 7 comes out more often is used in Catan and Can't Stop.
Being forced to draw a negative card at the end of the turn is used in both in Pandemic and Shadow over Camelot.
Building the board as you play is used in both Carcassonne and Takenoko.

And if you still have a doubt about what I'm saying, I only have two words for you: "Mafia" and "Werewolves". These games are literally the same with a slight difference.

To be sure you are not accused of stealing anything, it's exactly like when you write a book or an essay: cite your sources. Add at the end of your rulebook: "Thanks to Monopoly for the inspiration", or even better "If you liked this game, make sure to try Monopoly, from which I took my inspiration". The creator of the other game will be thrilled to have free publicity. Most game creators don't do that (because it's not at all something required), but if you feel it that way, please yourself!


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

Really, the most important thing is to have the ability to deal with monsters that are in the way without having significant delays. Whether that is being able to effectively sneak past things or just kill them outright.

If you're trying to jump around to locations to pick up clues to seal, you want to make sure you can get to locations and not have (sealing critical) people sit in the streets or stay in the same location because they can't deal with the baddie that is sitting in the streets. Similarly, it is frequently worthwhile to have a monster beater rush a gate (and get sucked through) just to clear the way for someone with the ability to seal.

Also note, that it's important to make sure there's someone in Arkham that can deal with monsters in a pinch should the regular monster beater be unavailable (healing, in an OW, etc.).

Pretty much everyone can gather clues equally well, and fully healed people with a health of 5/5 are more likely to survive the OW trip (although it's important to remember that they may have to fight something during their trip, so you don't want them completely defenseless), and there really aren't many people that can't make either the Fight or Lore check to close.

Other than that though, it's always nice having someone that starts with some money to pass around if healing cash is needed in a pinch. Having at least one Magical and Physical weapon to deal with things is nice (Although depending on the expansion, you may want to tote around spells).

All of this can be greatly affected by with AO that is in play. If Shub is on the board, you'll need really good monster fighters to not have the game slow to a crawl.


What are examples of Go played on non-flat surfaces, like on a sphere?

I started writing another comment, but it got too large, so I'm putting this as an answer instead.

Your other question suggests that you're envisaging playing go on the surface of an actual sphere/torus. In particular that question mentions that you want "all nodes more or less equidistant".  Searching on the internet, I didn't find much evidence that this is how go is played on other topologies.

There are a few reasons why I doubt torus/sphere go has been played on actual spheres or tori. Firstly - who has a suitable torus lying around that they could use? Secondly - getting the stones to stay in place would be awkward, and examining the position would be even worse!

Instead I suggest that the usual* way to convert a flat board game into one on a sphere/torus/Klein bottle is by imagining that the edges are joined up.  For some diagrams of how the edges of the board should be joined see here.

I found a few references to playing tic tac toe and gomoku (5-in-a-row) on different surfaces, and one to playing go.  All of these assumed a standard square grid with the edges defined to be connected in some way.  The main differences from standard go seem to be:

Fewer corners and edges: A cylindrical board has just two edges, and a torus or Klein bottle surface game has no corners or edges.
The lack of corners and edges makes it harder to create immortal groups.

I did also come across a game of go on a cylindrical surface which was not just made of a standard board with edges connected. Each point still has four liberties, but the regions between edges are not all square:

*I'm not sure a 'usual' actually exists here, but this is at least the usual way to draw diagrams on these surfaces in mathematics.


If you have two words left to link as spymaster, but they are extremely related to an opponent's word, what should you do?

anticipate. Try to get those clues in other sets in previous turns.
give a clue that fits all three but makes your spies wonder which of the three they should exclude. The goal is to have them think along the lines of "if it was brush and picture, he would have said painting; if it was picture and wall, he would have said hang." Here, you could say "decorating." This only works with experienced players.
think laterally. Try to find connections in a very different domain from the other team's word. E.g. plastering, scrape, fire.


Can I use Datasucker without icebreakers?

There's no restriction on using the ability aside from what's printed; you must be encountering a rezzed piece of ice. Datasucker is not an icebreaker, so the strength of the ice doesn't affect the ability. There are reasons to do this, such as Parasite


This page on DiceGameDepot has an exhaustive article about it. A visual aid from that article:

From my experience and the info from article, the 16mm die is the most common plastic die, used in the most packaged tabletop games, likely for it's good balance between readability and usability, while taking up fewer space in boxes or storage than the bigger ones.
Smaller dice are often hard to roll because of their lower weight, while larger dice more easily roll off the table and are louder.

From a player's perspective, I feel that the 19mm die looks and feels better, especially in direct comparison. Using 16mm dice instead is likely a business decision. For some corner cases, such as marking counters on Magic: The Gathering cards, I prefer 12mm dice, as you don't need to roll them, they obscure the card less, and it's easier to carry large quantities of them.

As for wood dice, which ship more frequently than plastic dice in older German tabletop boxes that I own, those have 15mm, 18mm and 30mm lengths after a quick measure. I wasn't able to find any sources on the numbers there, but I've been able to come up with 15mm dice much more often than any other within my collection.


Bridge, when does dummy hand get laid down?

After the opening lead has been made by Declarer' left-hand opponent.
From Laws of Rubber Bridge (2014):

Law 41 – Opening Lead, Review, Questions
After the auction closes, presumed (see Law 54C) declarer’s LHO makes the opening lead.   After the opening lead, dummy spreads his hand in front of him on the table, face up, sorted into suits, the cards in order of rank in columns pointing lengthwise toward declarer, with trumps, if any, to dummy’s right.
....


I've never seen an established lexicon for recording Settlers games, but I bet you could gin one up pretty quickly that would be able to capture everything of note. Here are the major things I think you'd need to capture and my ideas on some compact notation

Board setup. The tiles types are randomized, but the letters always play out in the same order. I'd just create a list with all the letters and then in table format list the tile time under that letter during your setup. Insert a row with no letter for where the desert is located. For example

A Sheep
B Ore
Desert
C Wheat
...

From here on out, you can use the letters as the signposts for where the action is happening. For example:

Intersection pieces (e.g. cities) are recorded by the letters of the three surrounding tiles.
Roads only require two letters.

Then number the players by starting order and record the staring information (i.e. settlement location). Now just record the bare minimum of action as the game progresses. For example:

Turn 1, Player 1
Roll: 6

No need to record what each player drew as that can be determine based on the board setup. Record any trades. Ports can just be player 0, where the ratio will tell you if it was a generic or specific.

P4: 1S, 1O; P3: 2W

Record any builds:

Road: B,D

Since the information to be captured is going to be exactly the same each game, I bet you could create a blank spreadsheet or table to help ensure you didn't forget anything important. It could have an area for the setup information and then columns for each player and each turn (that could just continue as long as required by the game).

EDIT

I didn't really discuss the private knowledge aspect of Settlers: the cards. This represents the most challenging aspect to capture in the game log because cards are private knowledge. (I'm assuming you don't have someone not playing who is dedicated to recording the game.)

In this case I suggest recording in the game log when a given player obtains a card, and then having each player record the cards they pull in order. Once the game is over, you can augment the official log with the notes from each player.


Could Japan's and the US fleets meet on another battlefield than the North Pacific In Axis and Allies?

If you're playing Japan and want to meet American on a field other than the mid-Pacific, the first step is having a fleet, and the easiest way to keep you fleet is to stay away from Pearl Harbor.

As Japan, I rarely attack Pearl Harbor. Many seem to consider this sacrilege; however, I've found this opens up options for me as Japan:

The best case, if Japan attacks Pearl, is that it wipes out the US fleet and doesn't lose much. That's obviously good, but even in this scenario, the opportunity cost is high: it requires the use of one if not two aircraft that could have been used in Asia--setting back Japan one if not two territories on the first turn. Having taken these territories would mean a few more IPCs, but more importantly can make the construction of Allied factories in mainland Asia very unattractive. Lastly, the power at Pearl can't be used to threaten India or to help take the Soviet Far East on turn 2. Japan's focus needs to be on mainland Asia, and they should only dabble elsewhere if they have units with nothing else to do. The navy, on turn 1, has better things to do than attack the US at Pearl.

Worst case, the US can get lucky and do a lot of damage to Japan's navy, or worse still, it could force a retreat and survive. If this happens Japan is in trouble. They are severely hampered in taking Asian coastal territories and the US can use it's fleet to threaten any transports built to ferry troops from the islands to Asia (practically forcing a factory-based strategy).

With no Pearl attack, Japan has a strong fleet and air force that can be used in Asia on turn 1, and that is left in position to attack anywhere on the coast on turn 2. The only downside is that I've left the American fleet intact. But is that really a downside? Consider what the US can do with it's intact Pacific fleet:

They can send it to the Atlantic, except the Atlantic is turns away; by the time it arrives the US and UK will already have a fleet to big to be attacked by Germany. The battleship isn't even useful in amphibious assaults unless France is being attacked, which is idiotic as long as there are too few ships to send armor (air power is at risk from AA guns and from not being able to retreat and should only be used in France when it can be taken with little risk). As Japan, this strategy does not have me shaking in my boots, and as Germany I'm shaking either way.
They can keep it moored. If they don't move it, then it's not a threat. It's like the fleet was destroyed, except that I didn't have to risk my fleet to do it.
They can move it towards Japan, except that my fleet will be consolidated, and is bigger, and is on defense. Plus, because of the distance I'll have one-turn of warning and can just buy a sub or two to turn the odds even more in my favor. Direct attack is stupid for America to try.
They can take it South to pick off islands. This is probably the most effective option, and one I sometimes use as the US when Japan doesn't Pearl me. The downside is that the US only has one Atlantic transport (and can't afford to let up on Germany to build more in that theater). So they can use the infantry from Wake and Hawaii and the one-shot on the battleship to try and pick off some islands. They might even take a few while Japan is too busy on the mainland to care much. But it takes turns to get into position, it is only a swing of a couple of IPCs, and then can be easily taken back by Japan in the mid-to-late-game. Plus, when that battleship doesn't hit it doesn't take much luck for the defender to knock out one of the two infantry, which can't be replaced because America is so far from home.

So assuming I've convinced you that Japan can forgo Pearl...

Once they have solid control of the coast, Japan's carrier, battleships and subs are no longer useful near the homeland, giving them lots of options for other places to take on the US:

Attack Alaska. The US typically puts very little there, so it can easily be taken by two battleships and two infantry. It can be done from the Japan sea zone so is often not anticipated, and if the US is using shuck-shuck, their forces are all in the Eastern US and Canada, where they can't immediately counter-attack (giving Japan time to reinforce or retreat). Shuck-shuck requires careful calibration of transport capacity and buys, so forcing the US to divert units to re-take Alaska messes with their mojo. It's only worth 2 IPCs per turn, but it really screws with America.
Take the British South Pacific. Also ripe for the taking are Australia and New Zealand. Slightly further away than Alaska and risky for the same reason that makes it hard for the US to take Indonesia: a couple good defensive rolls and Japan is out of infantry. However, Japan has the unique advantage near-by replacement infantry on the islands. The Australians and Kiwis are only worth a few IPCs per turn, but the UK has no feasible means of taking them back so it's a swing of 6 IPCs per turn for the rest of the game. It adds up.
Africa. Africa is closer to India that Japan often realizes, and a few troops there are often all that's necessary to help Germany hold on an extra turn or two--or better yet, it can force the Allies to skip a turn of reinforcing Finland and provide some breathing room for Germany in Europe.
We'll always have Rio. Typically I only do this after taking New Zealand, but only two moves away is Panama--the Alaska of the South. American tanks in Eastern US can't reach immediately and taking Panama disrupts the shuck-shuck. If Japan manages to save 3 IPCs they can waltz South through Columbia to take Brazil. They don't have to hold any of these territories, just mess with America. Plus, if they get really lucky, America will over-react and split their fleet to bring capital ships South to deal with Japan. But they have to take Panama first and if done too aggressively, this could leave the North Atlantic Allied transports under-defended enough for German attack. At this late point in the game it would be worth sacrificing the German air force to destroy the transports, as this likely buys enough time for Japan to finish off Russia.

So Japan has good options for taking the fight to America, but in my experience the opportunities rely on the non-canonical choice to leave the American fleet alone.


Probability of i event_A and j event_B on n dice

P(i successes) = ((# of ways to get i 6s and no 5s) + (# of ways to get i-1 6s and some 5s)) / 6^n
(# of ways to get i 6s and no 5s) = (n choose i) * 1^i * 4^(n-i) [pick which dice must be 6s, 1 way for each of those to be a 6, 4 ways for each of the others to be neither 6 nor 5]
(# of ways to get i-1 6s and some 5s) = (n choose i-i) * 1^(i-1) * (5^(n-(i-1)) -
4^(n-(i-1))) [pick which dice must be 6s, 1 way for each of those to be a 6, 5 ways for each of the others to be non-6 except then we're overcounting by the 4^(n-(i-1)) ways that they are ALL neither 6 nor 5]
Dropping the unnecessary powers of 1, overall your probability can be computed exactly as:

[Note: I am using the convention that (n choose -1)=0, unlike Python's math.comb which does not allow negative inputs.]


How does the elf level 2 magic ability work in Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms?

A similar post for the 1st edition rules is on boardgamegeek. The designer says:

  Actually, it's not ... The "+1 War Power" is a resource discount (you can bid 7 but only pay 6). This is much clearer in 2nd edition.

This implies that you can dial an odd number and pay the even number cost.

For the solo play, this only useful if the war cost is odd.


Are double rolls added when you land on the utilities?

Just the last throw, as shown on the deed card:

  If one "Utility" is owned rent is 4 times amount shown on dice. If both "Utilities" are owned rent is 10 times amount shown on dice.

"amount shown on dice", not "amount of all rolls this turn."

This is further reinforced on the Wiki:

  If ONE Utility is owned, rent is 4x the number on the dice which landed the player on the utility, but if BOTH Utilities are owned, rent is 10x the amount shown on the dice.

(and with the analysis that the rent paid if both are owned averages to $70 , also given on that wiki page).


Can I use a weapon that makes noise when there's no room for more noise tokens?

Read the description on the weapon cards. Most of them doesn't make noise. Ones that do, have a clause: "add noise if possible". Thus, you don't add noise in the colony or if 4 noise tokens are already present at the location.


What exactly does "can't attack/block alone" mean?

From the Comprehensive Rules Glossary:

  Block Alone A creature “blocks alone” if it’s the only creature
  declared as a blocker during the declare blockers step. A creature “is
  blocking alone” if it’s blocking but no other creatures are. See rule
  506.5.

So it's your second option.


How do mulligans in a multiplayer game work exactly?

Yes. It's referring to the emphasized part below of rule 103.4:

To take a mulligan, a player shuffles the cards in their hand back into their library, draws a new hand of cards equal to their starting hand size, then puts a number of those cards equal to the number of times that player has taken a mulligan on the bottom of their library in any order.

That number is simply reduced by one.


The resulting creature is the same game object that you already had on the battlefield before; all it does is change characteristics. Similar to if someone cast a Turn to Frog on it.

This is the case whether you put the original creature card on top or on bottom of the new mutate card.

From the Ikoria mechanics article:

  It simply makes the creature that was already on the battlefield change characteristics. If that original creature was tapped, the new merged creature is tapped. If it had any counters on it, or Auras or Equipment attached to it, it still does.

Also in the overview video, it says

  It’s still the same creature it was; it just changed characteristics.


With both Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions, how many victory points should I play to?

The rules for Seafarers (pdf) do not address combining the two expansions. The rules for Cities and Knights (pdf) do address combining the two games (page 13), warning that only certain scenarios work well, and providing rules for things like how to treat ships as roads and how a knight can chase away the pirate. They do not, however, specify how many victory points to play to. The FAQ on combining the two expansions addresses a few questions, but not the victory point question.
There is a thread on BoardGameGeek about combining the two expansions, in which two separate people mention that the official rule is to add 2 victory points to the Seafarers scenario if you're playing with Cities and Knights. According to Daniel Johnson:

Also, Klaus Teuber's website has a FAQ at http://www.klausteuber.com/en/index.php?page=seefahrer_staedte_und_ritter.html with a few questions that might not be answered by the Almanac.
...
2. The victory point goal should be 2 more than in the Seafarers scenario.

Sadly, the site linked to seems to have been reorganized, and that link just redirects to the home page of catan.com. However, this seems to be the best answer that is available so far; to add two victory points to the conditions listed in the Seafarers scenario.
I have never tried this, as I tend to prefer not to combine expansions in games. I find that in general, combining too many expansions makes a game bog down too much. I love Seafarers, and find Cities and Knights nice too, but combining them would just add too many extra things to think about, and too many confusing interactions (like this one) that need to be answered in separate rules, FAQs, and the like.


Rule 108.1 states:

  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

This means that the text on Gatherer is correct regardless of what is printed on the card.  This is because older cards have been changed, usually to maintain their functionality while the rules have continued to evolve.

Gatherer lists Argothian Elder's type as "Creature — Elf Druid", so it is a druid. Older cards only had a single creature type, in the Grand Creature Type Update most older cards got updated to the newer   structure used today.


You can't guarantee a win. In a 1996 paper called Solving Nine Men's Morris, Ralph Gasser describes how he used search techniques to determine that, given best play, the game of nine men's morris should end in a draw.

In figure 11 of that paper, he gives a graph of the percentage of won positions for the player to move, against the number of stones each has on the board. The highest percentage of won positions is 83% when the player to move has 3 stones against 3.

The data also reveals that a player with 3 stones left cannot force a win against an opponent with 6 or more stones left. Although many of those positions should still end in draws, rather than wins for the player with more stones.

A player is much more likely to be able to force a win when they have 7 or more stones left, than when they get down to 6. A player with 4 stones against 3 can only force a win if it is their go, and they can immediately make a mill.

All of this assumes two players who are playing completely optimally, which is not usually the case. In 1990 six games were played between the British champion Mike Sunley and a heuristics-based computer program. Two games were drawn and four were won by the computer.


Hero Quest - Adaptation to remove 'Evil Wizard'

Boy do I love Hero Quest -- that's the game that started it all for me.

I've tried playing Hero Quest without Zargon a couple of times, and it's tricky but doable.

You basically need one person playing both a hero and Zargon, and trying to move the monsters as impartially as possible.  For example, if you enter a room with two Fimir, and its their turn to act, don't have them run off afraid, or have them move up and then not attack.  Either the hero/Zargon, or the entire group, need to come up with what you think the monsters would do.

You can either come up with a strict attack order (monsters will go for the Wizard first, Elf second for example) or dice off to see which way the monster will go.

You might have to re-write or re-copy the scenarios with the treasure notes and secret doors and traps written down elsewhere, so you can't cheat and say "Well this treasure chest is trapped because I read it right here" or "Hey, there's a secret door here, I just read about it".  Alternately you can put the traps and secret doors on the board, but you need to roll some target value to even be aware that it's there.

There's a site called BowserBag.com that has some interesting links, including a PDF for play without Zargon, found here.


Would "destroying" Wurmcoil Engine prevent its tokens from being created?

Destroying Wurmcoil Engine will definitely cause it to create tokens.  Destroying something causes it to go to the graveyard, and "when Wurmcoil Engine dies" means "when Wurmcoil Engine is put in the graveyard from the battlefield":

701.7a To destroy a permanent, move it from the battlefield to its owner's graveyard.
700.4. The term dies means "is put into a graveyard from the battlefield."

On top of that, destroying Wurmcoil Engine is the most common cause of its tokens being created.  Your friend is probably thinking of "destroying" a creature as something different from "dealing it lethal damage", but dealing lethal damage to a creature literally causes that creatrue to be destroyed:

704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed.

This rule is really important because it is why "indestructible" prevents creatures from dying to lethal damage.
If you want to prevent Wurmcoil Engine from creating tokens, you need to do one of the following:

Have Wurmcoil go somewhere other than the graveyard, such as with Path to Exile or Unsummon
Remove Wurmcoil's abilities, such as with Ovinize
Prevent the trigger from resolving, such as with Trickbind


Are Magic The Gathering Proxy cards illegal to print?

Seems that Wizards Of the Coast classifies it as full on illegal unless the card is made by a judge in a tournament when the original card is damaged.

  Policy Regarding Proxies and Counterfeits
  Proxies

  Proxies are substitute cards created solely by judges in sanctioned tournaments pursuant to the official tournament rules. These substitutes are allowed when authorized game cards become unplayable during a sanctioned tournament because of damage or excessive wear. Proxies do not include any graphical reproduction of their intended substitutes.

  Counterfeits

  Counterfeits are copies or reproductions of actual Wizards trading cards, whether or not they are identified as non-genuine. The creation and distribution of counterfeits violate United States and international copyright laws and negatively affects the integrity of Wizards’ trading card games. Counterfeits are strictly prohibited, even for personal, non-commercial use.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/cardpolicy


Is there an Eldritch Horror variant for playing against two ancients at once?

No playtesting yet, but I was thinking about such variant.
Some initial thoughts:

I would sum up the doom of both AOs. If this total drops to 0, both AO's awaken.
The two respective mythos decks are shuffled: First stage of 1st AO with 1st stage of 2nd AO, and so on.
Each AO has one active mystery. "Advance the mystery" effects allow you to advance the either of these, but not both at the same time.
When having a Research encounter, you may choose from which AO's deck you'll draw.

The biggest dilemma for me is how to treat Cultists.


How can I remove a Darksteel Citadel animated by Nissa, Worldwaker?

Any card that says "Exile target creature", "Exile target artifact", or "Exile target permanent" will remove an animated Darksteel Citadel. Cards that do this include

Devouring Light
Pillar of Light
Ashen Rider
Chained to the Rocks
Curse of the Swine
Excoriate
Fade Into Antiquity
Gild

In addition, if it's toughness ever drops to 0, it will die as a state based effect. Lash of the Whip, for example, will kill it.


Are you required to search your deck when playing a search card?

Yes. (Unless the card says "You may search your library for ... If you do, shuffle it afterwards.)

608.2c The controller of the spell or ability follows its instructions in the order written.

If the spell tells you to search your library, you search your library. Most of these place restrictions on what cards you search for; in those cases, actually finding a card is not required:

701.19a To search for a card in a zone, look at all cards in that zone (even if it’s a hidden zone) and find a card that matches the given description.

701.19b If a player is searching a hidden zone for cards with a stated quality, such as a card with a certain card type or color, that player isn’t required to find some or all of those cards even if they’re present in that zone.

701.19d If a player is searching a hidden zone simply for a quantity of cards, such as “a card” or “three cards,” that player must find that many cards (or as many as possible, if the zone doesn’t contain enough cards).


Use of Event cards without corresponding rules

Answering my own question: In fact, the event card rules are printed in the rulebook from the beginning, not revealed in an envelope. I wasn't able to review the rulebook until my group met again to play, but I'm glad that I checked for it there in time to play correctly.


If Rhonas's power is less than 4 but you control a creature with power 4 or greater, can he attack or block?

Yes, Rhonas can attack and block regardless of its own power.

You're asking if

  Rhonas the Indomitable can't attack or block unless you control another creature with power 4 or greater.

means

  Rhonas the Indomitable can't attack or block unless you control at least two creatures with power 4 or greater, and Rhonas the Indomitable is one of them.

or

  Rhonas the Indomitable can't attack or block unless you control a creature with power 4 or greater that's not Rhonas the Indomitable.

It's the latter. The point of that wording is to prevent Rhonas turning on its own power. You don't check if Rhonas actually meets the criteria. Quite the opposite, you only look at the other objects in the game.

In Magic, the phrase "another thing" always means "a thing other than this player or object". In this scenario, the phrase means "a creature with power 4 or greater, other than Rhonas the Indomitable".

They control another creature with power 4 or greater (a creature with power 4 or greater that's not Rhonas), so they can attack and block with Rhonas.


What if I don't own a house in Life and land on a pay square

I'm not sure what version of the game you are playing.  From Hasboro's rules for LIFE:

  BUYING A HOUSE When you reach this space [the red one that has a stop sign and the words BUY A HOUSE], stop --even if you have
  moves left. Draw 1 House Deed at random from the deck. Pay the bank
  the price on the deed (not the insurance amount; that’s a separate
  transaction). If you’re short on cash, you must borrow from the bank.
  Then spin and move again.

You do have to buy a house.  So if your house was burglarized or destroyed by a tornado, you still have to pay the money.  Note that having a tornado doesn't make you get rid of your house, you just have to pay to "repair" it.


What happens to loyalty counters on a double faced Planeswalker?

From the official Wizards site's article about Double-Faced Card Rules:

  After a double-faced card transforms, it's still the same card, so any
  Auras, counters, or other effects stay right where they are (unless
  the double-faced card's characteristics have changed such that an Aura
  can no longer legally enchant it).

This obviously includes a planeswalker's loyalty counters.  I think it's helpful to imagine the "transform" action as being a literal transform - the face of the card almost magically instantaneously changes from one aspect to another.  If you think of it over-literally as "flipping the card over" then it's logical to imagine everything falling off!  But this isn't what happens.


Does the amount of +1/+1 from Prowess remain on a creature, even when a creature gets flipped face-down by Ixidron?

Yes, the creature's power and toughness are increased for the rest of the turn even after it is turned face down.
The +1/+1 buffs from Prowess are continuous effects that affect the creature until end of turn. A creature that is turned face down is still the same creature, so continuous effects that affected it before continue to affect it.
The Prowess ability is defined in rule 702.107a:

Prowess is a triggered ability. “Prowess” means “Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.”

The effect "this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn" is a continuous effect. The following rules in the Continuous Effects rules section apply:

611.1. A continuous effect modifies characteristics of objects, modifies control of objects, or affects players or the rules of the game, for a fixed or indefinite period.
611.2. A continuous effect may be generated by the resolution of a spell or ability.

611.2a A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability lasts as long as stated by the spell or ability creating it (such as “until end of turn”). If no duration is stated, it lasts until the end of the game.

The "+1/+1" modification affects power and toughness, which are characteristics as defined in rule 109.3:

An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information about an object isn’t a characteristic. For example, characteristics don’t include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell’s target, an object’s owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

Rule 7007.2a describes turning permanents face down:

If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or ability that doesn’t list any characteristics for that object, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. A permanent that enters the battlefield face down also has these characteristics unless otherwise specified by the effect that put it onto the battlefield face down or allowed it to be cast face down. These values are the copiable values of that object’s characteristics.

In addition, the following rules about status apply:

110.5. A permanent’s status is its physical state. There are four status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, face up/face down, and phased in/phased out. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.

110.5a Status is not a characteristic, though it may affect a permanent’s characteristics.

As with other status changes like tapped/untapped, changing a creature from face up to face down does not make it a different object, so effects like the one from Prowess continue to apply to it.


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

See page 20 of the rulebook.  It has a table with the number of players vs. the number of open gates with the note:

  The number of open gates that will immediately awaken the
  Ancient One depends on the number of players.

For 5 players, the number is 6.  When the sixth gate is opened, the Ancient One will awaken immediately.

Gates count towards the total wherever they are.  Do remember that when playing with more than one large expansion board you should count the total number of players as one less than actual for most purposes including the number of open gates needed to awaken the ancient one.


Evasion checks for investigator attacking a monster in a space with another monster

No, you do not perform an evade test on either monster when performing an attack action.
The rules are explicit on this (page 14):

Evade Tests - An investigator must make an evade test against every monster in his space before moving or performing non-attack actions.
An evade test is an attribute test that is resolved immediately before the investigator attempts to move or take the action. In order to evade a monster, the player makes a Dexterity test modified by the monster’s awareness (the white number at the top right corner of the monster’s token).
If the player passes this test, then the investigator suffers no ill effect. If he fails this test, the keeper may have the monster damage the investigator (equal to the monster’s damage value – see page 23). Regardless of whether he passes or fails, the investigator may then move or perform the intended action. After having attempted to evade a monster, the investigator may freely move and take actions without having to try to evade the same monster that turn.

It specifically allows attacking on page 15:

Attacking a monster does not require making an evade test. This attack may be unarmed, with a weapon, or with an “attack” Spell card. This attack does not need to target a monster in the investigator’s space.

or again on page 9:

Attacking a monster is the only action that an investigator can perform while a monster is in his space (unless he evades the monster, see “Evade Tests” on page 14).


Changing a creature's base Power and Toughness until End of Turn

This might get complicated, but it's covered by the layer system:

613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
...
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.
613.1g Layer 7: Power- and/or toughness-changing effects are applied.
...
613.2. Within layers 1–6, apply effects from characteristic-defining abilities first (see rule 604.3), then all other effects in timestamp order (see rule 613.6). Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a layer. (See rule 613.7.)
613.3. Within layer 7, apply effects in a series of sublayers in the order described below. Within each sublayer, apply effects in timestamp order. (See rule 613.6.) Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a sublayer. (See rule 613.7.)
613.3a Layer 7a: Effects from characteristic-defining abilities that define power and/or toughness are applied. See rule 604.3.
613.3b Layer 7b: Effects that set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value are applied. Effects that refer to the base power and/or toughness of a creature apply in this layer.
613.3c Layer 7c: Effects that modify power and/or toughness (but don’t set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value) are applied.
613.3d Layer 7d: Power and/or toughness changes from counters are applied. See rule 122, “Counters.”

The effect you describe does not remove auras/equipments/counters from the creature. But it does affect what effect they have on the creature:
For abilities, it matters how/when the creature got them. A creature which is printed with flying (a characteristic-defining ability) will lose it due to Oko, Thief of Crowns's effect; the same holds for a creature which was already equipped with Angelic Armaments. If you equip the Armaments after Oko's ability, it will have flying.
The 3/3 effect is applied in Layer 7b (overwriting the power/toughness printed on the creature card); most effects you describe are applied in Layer 7c (but counters in Layer 7d), so they are applied later and do give bonuses (or penalties) on top of the 3/3.


If more than one user is on a twist phase do they each draw their own phase?

After re-reading the rules we decided that it was best to have each player on a twist phase draw their own card and we'd just recycle them when we ran out.

The reason for this being, players aren't obligated to show other players their twist phase.  If all players drew the same twist phase then this sort of secretive strategy part of the game would be lost.

We also doubled the number of twist cards we have since somebody spilled beer on our first board and we had to get a new one.  The cards weren't ruined though so now we just double them up and have to recycle them less often.


Are there budget replacements for Ugin and Karn removal abilities?

Obviously these two cards are unique in their capabilities and you should expect a decreased power level without them. However, there are cards that can fit the roles that these two planeswalkers fill even if they won't be quite as good.

World Breaker is a good choice to replace Karn as it is removal as well as a threat. It's a bit tougher to cast turn 3, but it also provides recursive removal which may help the U/W match-up.

Spot Removal

Ugin has a Lightning Bolt and Karn can exile a permanent. The following cards can help fill this role.

Spine of Ish Sah: Like "Karn, -3". Potentially recursive.
Walking Ballista: Threat + Removal
Warping Wail: Limited removal with some flexible utility.
Scour from Existence: A colorless Instant, not as good as Spine can be.
Titan's Presence: Possibly viable in Eldrazi Tron.
Brittle Effigy: Creature spot removal for 5.
Universal Solvent: Poor-mans Spine.

Mass Removal

Ugins -X can destroy multiple permanents, so we need something to cover that as well.

Oblivion Stone: Probably already in the deck, but could increase to 4.
Ratchet Bomb: Excellent against tokens, configurable destruction.
Blast Zone: Mass removal on a land, similar to Ratchet Bomb but starts at '1'.
Boompile: Fast, but random.


I find that when considering house rules, its best to think about why something is happening and attack the cause of the behavior.

The root problem as I see it, is that once the ring is one die roll away from destruction the game has a 50% chance of ending before the current player can lose any newly acquired gains.  Conversely, any reserves not spent that turn are increasingly unlikely to be used productively for each additional player in the game.

Consider adding one last "round" of play after the ring would be destroyed at Mt. Doom.  Essentially, when the player who "destroyed" the ring finishes his next turn the game ends.

By adding an extra round, you remove the random element of the game ending, allowing everyone to plan ahead and try and defend their territory rationally.


Dozer and Smigg & Gunnbjorne boosted blast damage rolls

Blast damage are half-strength or half pow attacks. A Direct Hit of any AOE weapon is "normal" damage, everything else in the AOE suffer blast damage.

Thus the target directly hit suffer an unboosted hit. That might seems counter-intuitive but it's basically (even unboosted) always strictly superior in term of damage, except for very very low damage attacks/weapons.

Source : Blast Damage rules in the little handbook (in my printed version it's around page 57)


In a&a 1941 can tanks and infantry hit aircraft?

If you mean the original rules, then yes. Only submarines are unable to hit aircraft.


How to use Chapel card to its fullest potential?

Chapel can be effectively used mid and late game, but that requires card draw or action branching or both.

The trick to chapel is to trash lots of cards with it early and not rely on it late game (turn 10 bad mid-late game cards into 1 dead card early). This means trashing your entire starting deck as soon as possible. Do not wait until you have plenty of silver + gold to trash coppers. You should consider trashing coppers immediately and buy 2 silvers (or something to get you to at least $3) when not trashing 4 cards.

Ideally using the above strategy you will end up with a deck <= 5 cards that contains 1 chapel and 2 silvers (or 2 cards that will make your hand >=$3 each turn). From here you have slim deck that can be quickly transformed to use whatever actions you want from the supply. The next couple of buys you make will see use almost immediately, while your opponents will each have a couple of hands before new cards get to see use.

If you hold off on trashing until later in the game, you are going to have to deal with the following situations:
1. drawing chapel when you do not draw anything you want to trash.
2. drawing chapel when you have a different action in your hand you want to play.