In Axis and Allies, Can Infantry Building Lead to a "Stalemate" in the Early Going?

Yes IPM can stalemate a game, but No, not in the beginning

Yes, the infantry push mechanic (IPM) can lead to stalemated games, but not in the early going. Rather, the game is dynamic and the board ever-changing en route to a stalemate after 5-7 turns. I've had this happen numerous times via two different playouts:

Traditional shuck-shuck

Both the Axis and Allies follow a basic IPM strategy.
Germany's objectives are to take and hold Africa as long as possible, maintain a solid front in Eastern Europe while occasionally trading the Ukraine with Russia and fending off a large-scale invasion of France.
The US and UK set up the shuck-shuck and try and take back Africa, plow infantry into Russia via Finland, and set up for an invasion of France.
Russia builds a fortress on their western front and slows Japan's inevitable advance as much as possible.
Japan goes full-bore in Asia: advancing as quickly as possible to Moscow to take the pressure off Germany.

If both players execute their strategies well this game can reach a stalemate in terms of it taking a very long time to decide the game; however, this should not be confused with the game being static. Germany steadily loses territory and Japan steadily gains it so the map is fluid; it's simply that no side can gain a edge.

If Germany can hold Africa for a reasonable amount of time, and if Japan expands quickly enough, the Axis will have IPC parity with the Allies. If this happens, both sides can stack up their infantry equally fast, which makes it difficult for either side to launch a successful attack because A&A combat is biased towards the defender.

Eventually the Allies will capture Germany, but a large enough stack of infantry and clever counter-attacking can make this very slow going for the allies. If timed right, Germany can give Japan enough time to capture Moscow just before Germany is eliminated. If this happens, Japan can sometimes expand so quickly into Europe that they alone are close to IPC parity with the US and UK. Japan is now effectively playing a Russian strategy in Karelia and German one in Africa and trying to keep it's IPC count high. If the US and UK can  get a solid enough foothold in Europe to start pumping out tanks from the German and Italian factories they will eventually win, but as long as Japan is able to counter and occasionally re-capture Italy (and/or harass the US in the Pacific) the game can keep plowing along with neither side gaining an advantage.

I've never seen Japan win if Germany falls, but I've seen it take 6 or 7 turns after Germany's fall before it was clear that they weren't going to pull it out, and I have seen the Axis win if Japan gets to Eastern Europe in time to reinforce the Fatherland.
Asia double factories.

The US builds a factory in Sinkiang and the UK in India so they can pump out five armor a turn.
Russian aids in the north with infantry
All three allies provide Asian air support

This three-pronged attack can effectively stop the Japanese advance in Asia. (I've even pushed Japan on the continent before using this strategy--although it didn't stick.) However, it obviously takes the pressure off Germany quite a bit and significantly delays both the start of and the magnitude of the shuck-shuck (two tanks per turn in Sinkiang is 3 less infantry in Europe; the UK has less income and one more tank to buy).

This game can stalemate with Japan unable to get a solid foothold in Asia and Germany able to keep and hold Africa (making up for Japan's failure) but unable to crack the Russian nut in Karelia (the US does reach 7 infantry a turn steady-state after all).

Both methods can reach stalemate if the IPCs are near parity because it is near impossible to attack large stacks of infantry without opening yourself up to a vicious counter-attack. Thus neither side attacks, the IPC balance doesn't swing, and the stacks of infantry get higher and higher.

Typically stalemates end with a victory in a secondary theater (e.g. Africa, South Pacific), which results in a small IPC advantage that builds slowly in time. It can also end with a clumsy move by one of the players, some exceedingly good (or bad) dice rolls, or by mutual agreement to end the game in a draw if everyone is too tired to continue.


What is the winning position in Monopoly Empire?

First off I don't see much of a difference between your 2 questions.

The rules state:

  If you’re the first to hit the top, you win!

This means you have to fill the entire tower with billboards, including "spilling over". No, you do not have to fit the billboards in the tower exactly. Anything beyond the top point doesn't matter anymore since you've already won.


How does Combat Damage Work with Undergrowth Champion?

UC will deal three damage.

The key is that replacement and prevention effects change what you will perform. Necessarily, this happens before the replaced instructions are performed.

The event being replaced is

  All combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously.

In this case, the above means the following before prevention effects:

  Simultaneously, UC deals 3 damage to the 3/3, and the 3/3 deals 3 damage to the UC.

But there's a prevention effect affecting the second half. Even if we naïvely apply apply the effect, the answer is clear

  Simultaneously, UC deals 3 damage to the 3/3, and remove a +1/+1 counter from UC.

But as per 615.5, the additional part of the prevention effect is actually delayed, so we actually get

  UC deals 3 damage to the 3/3, and then remove a +1/+1 counter from UC.

Either way, it's clear it does three damage.

  615.5. Some prevention effects also include an additional effect, which may refer to the amount of damage that was prevented. The prevention takes place at the time the original event would have happened; the rest of the effect takes place immediately afterward.


Can X be 0 when casting Avacyn's Judgment with madness?

Yes, you can generally choose any value for X, including zero. Exceptions apply, though not in this case.
There are cards where you can't choose X to be zero, or where X is already defined. Those will always be noted on the card itself. Otherwise, you're free to choose any value zero or greater for X.

107.3a If a spell or activated ability has a mana cost, alternative cost, additional cost, and/or activation cost with an {X}, [-X], or X in it, and the value of X isn’t defined by the text of that spell or ability, the controller of that spell or ability chooses and announces the value of X as part of casting the spell or activating the ability

If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", X must be zero.

107.3b If a player is casting a spell that has an {X} in its mana cost, the value of X isn’t defined by the text of that spell, and an effect lets that player cast that spell while paying neither its mana cost nor an alternative cost that includes X, then the only legal choice for X is 0. [..]


How to stimulate more creative storytelling?

I found a number of "ways to play" on the Story Cubes website. Some just involve getting more or other dice and are little more then showcases or advertisements for different sets, but others are actually house rules, or alternate rules. I will be trying those out.

#4 Superheroes

Each person roles 3 cubes and uses these to create a superhero (superpowers and a name). Then all 9 cubes are rolled by each to create a back story for their superhero. Finally, all 9 cubes are rolled again to create an arch-nemesis, as a group.
Now we're set to play. Cubes are rolled as usual to create exciting adventures pitting the heroes against their enemy.

#1 Roll & Play

Also, while roll & play is the standard way of playing, it showed the icons on the dice do not need to be interpreted as literally as we were doing. No additional rules, but another way of using the existing rules.

I initially thought they were all just advertisements for different sets of cubes, but some of them offer the kind of additions to the rules I was looking for.

Of course, other ideas are still welcome.


Is it now a good time to buy rotating Magic Cards?

This answer is based on the very weak assumption that history will repeat itself.

When this answer was written, cards rotated once per year. Wizards of the Coast is moving to two rotations per year. This will drastically change the pattern described below.

Innistrad was the first set of a block that rotated in October 2013. The rares and mythics that are not seeing play in Modern or Legacy from that set trended towards an all time low around December 2013 before finally beginning to rise due to being out of print.

If Return to Ravnica follows the same pattern, the rares and mythics from the set that are not seeing play in Modern or Legacy will trend towards an all time low around December 2014 before finally beginning to rise due to being out of print.

I used the price history line charts on TCGPlayer.com as a reference. I used my own experience to determine what cards see play in Modern and Legacy.


Jacoby transfer bid after responder bids

tl;dr 2H

I think you need to understand the concept of Captaincy.

During the process of bidding, it is not always the case where both players are trying to exchange information on an even ground. Sometimes one player will become the Captain and await his partner to give him the information. In other words, the Captain has the say to this bidding sequence. His partner should follow and respect the Captain's decision.

In your scenario, whenever you open a natural 1NT, you immediately surrender your hand to his partner. Your partner will dictate how the bidding should go. If he decides a transfer should complete this bidding, you are obliged to accept this transfer.

There are two circumstances that you can have a say about the bidding:

1) When partner passes the ball back to you. Example: You open 1NT, letting your partner do whatever he likes. He now bids a natural 2NT as an invitation. Now he passes the ball to you and you will decide whether you should go game or settle for partscore.

2) When you like what your partner is doing and decide that a simple "I accept" response is not enough to allow partner make the correct decision. Example: You open 1NT, your partner bids 2D as a transfer to 2H. You hold massive (say 4-card) support and good controls, and you are afraid that a simple 2H response will make your partner ship miss a light game. You can refuse this transfer by bidding 3H, or some other bids that your partnership has agreed to.

You open 1NT thereby letting your partner be the captain. He asks you to bid 2H. He does not pass the decision to you and you actually dislike Hearts. You have no choice but to believe 2H is the correct bid. After all you are not sure what hand he has - he may have a massive hand wanting to bid some more after you accept the transfer, or he may have a Yarborough with only a string of Hearts and you definitely want to play in 2H. Your partner is the Captain and you better respect his decision.

As for why you would have a void in Hearts after opening 1NT, you will explain this to your partner. But even holding a void you should still accept this transfer: better play in 2H than some four-level nonsense doubled.


That is what I do and I think it works quite well:

play games - review them afterwards
If you don't review your games you wont learn as much since a bad move in go can have consequences many moves later and you probably won't pick it up during the game
Have a stronger player review your game (if you can) this helps a lot (try not arguing with them too much especially if they are much stronger than you)
Play go varieties like single colour go on 9x9 it helps a lot to improve your
reading without looking at the board
Learn joseki fuseki tesuji do life and death, this is probably a bit dull and boring but it helps :D, you might just do the joseki you saw in the last game and see if you cold done anything better, maybe you can review a group you killed? was it actually dead?
watch other people play at your local go club if you have one or online, there are multiple streamers and yt channels with lectures and games with commentary I watch these: dwyrin, Nick Sibicky, Haylee

Hope that helps!


Can my deck have fewer cards after sideboard?

You can in fact change your deck size after sideboarding, with restrictions. The Magic Tournament Rules, section 6.1 says

  Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. There is no maximum deck size. If a player chooses to use a sideboard, it may not contain more than fifteen cards.

And section 6.2 says

  Players may exchange any number of cards between their deck and sideboard, provided that the resulting deck and sideboard are legal. There are no restrictions on the number of cards a player may exchange this way. Cards do not need to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis.

So, you can move a different number of cards into your sideboard and into your deck, but when you're done, you still have to have at least 60 cards in your deck and at most 15 cards in your sideboard.

In your specific case, you cannot decrease your deck size because your sideboard is already at the maximum size.


Shivan Dragon itself is a spell (while it's on the stack, anyway), but the text on it that allows it to get more powerful is not a spell - it's an "activated ability". Any effect that makes spells cost less will not make the ability cost less.

Also, even if Dragonlord's Servant did make abilities cost 1 less to cast, it only reduces costs by 1 generic mana, so any cost (like that of Shivan Dragon's ability) that includes only specific types of mana would not be reduced at all.

Finally, if you do ever find a sequence of actions you can execute over and over indefinitely (such as a free activated ability), the rules do require you to stop after some finite number of times. For example, you could say "I activate the dragon's ability one billion times," but you can not say "I activate the ability an infinite number of times."


It's fine to go over in standard cribbage; the game is won by the first player or partnership to reach or exceed 121 points.

But remember the way things are scored: as they happen.

If that three points you mention was in play, such as opponent leads a 9, you play a 5, opponent plays a 6, and you play a 7, scoring three for the run in play, then the go from the opponent puts another 1 point score on the pile.

If it's a run in hand, however, it's scored only after the last card, starting with the player to the dealer's left and going left around the table (same as play order). If you are at 117 points, have a 3 point hand (say AJQK and a 2 up), and get the last card for 118, and the other guy is at 110 and gets 16 (AA23), it is determined by who scores hand first. If you dealt, you lose; if he dealt, you win. In three or four player non-partnership, if he's to your right, you've lost.

And remember: muggins can't be claimed until after the peg has been moved. Only on an overpeg would it prevent victory.

Also remember: if your scoring sheet shows last card separate from Go, there is no "go" on last card.

There is a common variant, called exact out, where you have to hit 121 exactly, and any score that would take one over is lost (but must be called out to prevent it being muggins-claimed).


Is there any reason to use basic lands instead of basic snow-covered lands?

There are plenty of cards that hose snow lands, in addition to the cards that @tehfurbolg posted.

Avalanche is MLD that only targets snow lands.
Cold Snap deals damage to each player during their upkeep equal to the number of snow lands they control.
Freyalise's Radiance prevents snow permanents from untapping.
Icequake and Thermokarst are land destruction that has an additional effect if the targeted land is a snow land.
Legions of Lim-Dûl and Rime Dryad have Snow Landwalk.
Rimefeather Owl has it's power and toughness equal to the number of snow permanents on the battlefield.
Ronom Hulk has protection from Snow, which probably doesn't do much with snow basics but if the land gets animated then they can't block Ronom Hulk.
The recntly spoiled "Reidane, God of Justice" // "Reidane's Shield" from Kaldheim has a static effect that causes snow lands your opponents control to enter the battlefield tapped


Lethal damage while controlling Sower of Discord?

You win.
Sower of Discord's third ability is a triggered ability, so the life loss taken by you would happen "long after" the game has already ended.

State-based actions are what causes a player to lose for having a non-positive life total.

704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:
704.5a If a player has 0 or less life, that player loses the game.

SBA are checked whenever a player is about to gain priority.

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority. This process also occurs during the cleanup step (see rule 514), except that if no state-based actions are performed as the result of the step’s first check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, then no player gets priority and the step ends.

So your opponent loses the game before the triggered ability is even placed on the stack. The game ends immediately when that happens.

104.2a A player still in the game wins the game if that player’s opponents have all left the game. This happens immediately and overrides all effects that would preclude that player from winning the game.
104.1. A game ends immediately when a player wins, when the game is a draw, or when the game is restarted.

It doesn't matter that you would also have lost if the game had continued.


What are the standard rules of etiquette for Rummy?

Most of the etiquette for Rummy is built into the rules. For example, it is etiquette to "call" a Joker as both a card and a suit the instant it is placed on the table within a combo. That said, tournament rules do add a bit of game play to them that you often find implemented in various groups to some extent. I've also been at a new table (mostly with relatives it seems) before and been surprised to see play accepted that is widely considered "coffee-housing."

My favorite on-line help page to point new players at is: Rummy Talk.


Does software for optimizing the train route in 18xx systems exist?

Not to my knowledge.

One thing I've done to assist with this problem is to use a pile of D6's of a couple different colors.

Place a D6 on each city of one color to represent your smallest train and work your way up to your largest.

When you are finished, pick up the D6's generating your total run profit as you go.

Towards the end of the game, we usually help each other, as the diesel runs can become quite dramatic as I'm sure you're aware!  It just speeds the game along as we don't want one person obsessing over his run for twenty minutes to gain an extra $10.


Source for significant historical events

The best source I've found so far is the Wikipedia timelines.


If you are moved to a location with a clue do you pick it up?

This question isn't covered in the Arkham Horror FAQ. The rule book lists two different ways of picking up Clue tokens. The first is when you end your movement in a location that contains a Clue token, or when a Clue token is placed in your location from a Mythos card. I think that if you were moved to a location with a Clue token you could claim it, but it isn't definitive in my mind. Edit: some discussion on BGG indicate that this was probably an oversight, and will likely be corrected in the forthcomming FAQv2. This is similar to how the Mythos collection of Clue token was corrected in later versions of the rulebook and in the current FAQ. This is just conjecture at this point though, so officially you cannot collect Clue tokens after being moved via an enounter.

In the rulebook under Phase II: Movement (page 8):

  Picking Up Clues - Any time an investigator ends his movement in a location that contains Clue tokens, he may immediately take any or all of those Clue tokens. The investigator may not take any Clue tokens if he merely moves through the location and then continues his movement: He must end his movement in the location containing the Clue tokens.

Later on in the instructions under Phase V: Mythos (page 10):

  Place Clue Token - Most mythos cards indicate a location where a Clue token appears. Place a Clue token on the indicated location unless there is an open gate there. If one or more investigators are at that location, one of them (they should decide among themselves) may immediately take that Clue token. If the players cannot agree on who gets the Clue token, the first player decides


What happens when all 12 aliens are on board?

The rulebook states the following on page 7 under "ways to lose the game":

"You'll also lose if you are asked to place a hostile alien on the board, and you don't have enough remaining to place. (See "Hostile Aliens" for details.)"

So if you run out of aliens to add to the board, then you're done for!

Have fun!

Tavis Parker
The Game Crafter


In Bridge, what is the punishment for misclaiming tricks?

The laws of Contract bridge try to achieve a result equitable to both sides (and not to punish), but in case of doubt, resolution might favour the non-offending side.

Laws 68-71 deal with claims (and there are alternative versions for the Club setting), and you can read about them here: http://web2.acbl.org/laws/rlaws/lawofcontractbridgecombined_2004.pdf (2008 version).

Quoting a paragraph from Law 69 (non Club, 2004 version):

  The objective of subsequent play is to achieve a result as equitable
  as possible to both sides, but any doubtful point must be resolved in
  favor of the defenders. Declarer may not make any play inconsistent
  with the statement he may have made at the time of his claim or
  concession. If he failed to make any appropriate statement at that
  time, his choice of plays is restricted thereby:

  [snipped]

I believe there is also a provision which allows declarer to follow a routine/rational line of play which does not contradict the plays specifically disallowed, in case the claim is rejected. Of course, there are quite a few subjective words in the laws which might lead to different resolutions by different directors.

Perhaps in your case, it would probably be irrational for declarer to play the 10 instead of Q and dropping the J.

Disclaimer (pun intended): I am not qualified to be a director, so what is written here is just my interpretation. (Though I did get a chance to talk to some directors about this in the past few years of playing and what I write here is influenced by those discussions)


Prismatic Piper card availability in Commander Draft

Since you said you have practical concerns over this, let's look at this from a practical standpoint.
There are 48 guaranteed legends (commanders) per box, plus a few that'll be foils, etc.  Chances are pretty high you will find legendary creatures in every color (I'd say it's almost certain to happen).  Granted, not every player will see every legendary creature during the draft, but they should see a fair bit, usually enough to find something usable.
But there's always a chance they won't find something.  That can happen for one of two reasons, either a player drafted poorly or you got the most color-imbalanced box of Magic cards ever shipped (ie. you got say all green stuff for your non-legendary cards and only blue commanders).  Far more likely is draft error or draft stubbornness, ie. sticking with say green because you got one really nice green card but all of the packs coming around don't have any usable green cards, just some nice blue and black stuff (a good indicator you should give up on green and pick up the blue and black shinies, let everyone else fight over and dilute the green among themselves).
And some people are stubborn and will draft to their own detriment or just get ridiculously unlucky and will need a Prismatic Piper.  Hopefully since no one will need the full 60 cards they drafted to make a 60 card deck (you will need some lands) and the unlucky player can borrow one.  You should expect between 3-5 Pipers to get opened and I highly doubt all of them will get used (if 3-5 people in an 8 player pod need that as a commander, draft mistakes were made or you got a horrible booster box, if people need a 3/3, 5 CMC creature for their 59, they also probably drafted poorly if they can't find better creatures than that).  The point here is someone should be able to share.  I can't think of any play group I've been a part of where someone wouldn't let another player borrow an unused card for a couple hours.
Finally, in case you get the absolute worst box of Commander Legends ever printed and you need every single Piper you get (or you get none at all and still need one), just proxy it.  It's going to be a commander so shouldn't get shuffled in a deck so you can grab one of the advertisement cards and a Sharpie and make a proxy.  You'll survive for a couple games of Magic that way.
And if the thought of the remotest possibility that you will need to proxy a card offends you, you can always buy a few online and bring them with you.  Right now they cost about $0.10 (USD) so grab a handful and be done worrying about it.
TL/DR: chances are pretty low you will truly need Pipers at all.  Chances are even lower that you will need them and not have a spare.  Chances are still lower that you will need one, not have one available and can't proxy one or buy a few extra ahead of time.  If you get to that point, I don't have any more practical advice I can give you.


How is "shifting" supposed to work in Death Angel?

by my understanding...

the halves are determined by looking at the space left by the dead marine. So it's after removing him.

I believe that, yes, when claudio dies in your example, the terrain all winds up at the front.


No, all damage is dealt simultaneously.

  Combat Damage Step

    510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how each blocking creature assigns its combat damage.

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

This would only work if the creature blocking Bellowing Aegisaur had first strike or double strike.


There is no limit to the amount of cards in your deck. For a given number N, the simplest way to own at least N cards during a gaming of Magic is to start with N cards in your deck.

100.5. If a deck must contain at least a certain number of cards, that number is referred to as a minimum deck size. There is no maximum deck size for non-Commander decks.

Most cards are limited to four copies each, but basic lands and cards like Relentless Rats are not.
Also, the only cards which change the owner of other cards are either silver-bordered or referring to ante and are outright banned in any competitive format.


Can Vesuva copy a land that comes the same time into play as itself?

No. From the comprehensive rules:

  614.12a If a replacement effect that modifies how a permanent enters the battlefield requires a choice, that choice is made before the permanent enters the battlefield.

Vesuva and the other land enter the battlefield at the same time. However the choice of which land to copy must be made before Vesuva enters the battlefield, which means the other land isn't on the battlefield yet either, so it can't be chosen.


All combat damage happens simultaneously, and creatures who have taken lethal damage will die almost immediately after damage is assigned (before the next time any player could do anything else; when state-based actions are checked). This means that the warrior creatures will still do the 1 extra damage during the combat which causes Chief of the Edge to die, and will lose the +1/+0 immediately after that.


What are the original 16 base cards in Smash Up?

Every base is keyed to a faction. It's pretty easy to determine with which faction a base is associated, so look for the bases associated with the factions from the original game. If there are ambiguities, keep in mind that each faction has two kindred bases.

Bases from the original game:

Jungle Oasis
Tar Pits
The Grey Opal
Tortuga
Mushroom Kingdom
Cave of Shinies
Evans City Cemetery
Rhodes Plaza Mall
The Central Brain
Factory 436-1337
The Mothership
The Homeworld
Temple of Goju
Ninja Dojo
The Great Library
School of Wizardry


Can I give myself multiple turns at once with Beacon's of Tomorrows?

You will get it back to back. See Comprehensive Rules.

  500.7. Some effects can give a player extra turns. They do this by adding the turns directly after the specified turn. If a player is
  given multiple extra turns, the extra turns are added one at a time.
  If multiple players are given extra turns, the extra turns are added
  one at a time, in APNAP order (see rule 101.4). The most recently
  created turn will be taken first.


Can a player tap lands for mana, in response to Elder Deep-Fiend tapping those lands at the beginning of the turn?

When you cast your creature, its triggered ability goes on the stack. At this point, all players have a chance to respond to the ability, before it resolves and taps the lands. They can respond by tapping the land for mana. The mana that is produced will go away at the end of the upkeep step, however, so they would have to use it then; they can’t keep it to use later.

So you can use this to tap their lands, but they have a chance to respond with an instant effect during the upkeep. It will prevent them from using those lands during their main phase.


Pandemic: drawing player cards if already have 7 in hand

You must draw, then discard.

  After doing 4 actions, draw the top 2 cards together from the Player Deck.

There's nothing about the draw being optional in the rules.


How can I defend against Pokémon Cinccino “Fluffy Tail”

You should be flipping a coin between every turn whenever a Pokémon of yours is asleep.
On Heads, it wakes up, so you have a 50%  chance of being able to use your Pokémon, and only on a Tails would you need any special items.

Asleep
Turn the Pokémon counterclockwise to show that it is Asleep.
If a Pokémon is Asleep, it cannot attack or retreat. Between turns, flip a coin. If you flip heads, the Pokémon wakes up (turn the card right-side up), but if you flip tails, it stays Asleep.

emphasis added

In a comment, it is noted that excess difficulty may arise from flipping a coin between "rounds" instead of between turns (i.e. after every second turn, not every turn). As Pokémon TCG has no concept of rounds, only turns, this should make it much easier to have an active Pokémon that is awake at the start of the turn, without using Trainer Cards or other effects.


If I play a Priest with sewers, do I get + $2 for trashing the card with sewers?

You do not.

The "For the rest of this turn" bit of Priest's instructions will have not happened yet by the time you trash your Sewers card. It would play out like this.

Play Priest

Get +$2
Trash a card from your hand

Sewers triggers, so you trash a card from your hand

For the rest of this turn, when you trash a card, +$2

This was confirmed by Donald X in a post here:

  You play Priest. You get +$2. You trash a card. Sewers triggers and you trash a second card. Now Priest's "this turn when you trash +$2" becomes active. It wasn't active during either card trash.


Late Arrival: What to do with the other two cards? (Guillotine)

As the card doesn't tell you to do anything special with the other 2 cards they should remain on top of the deck in their original order.

This is supported by an answer to a similar question here.


Do cards that say "creatures you control" trigger Heroic?

No, those effects do not target a creature. The sorcery or instant card must specifically say that it targets a creature to trigger Heroic effects. Enchantment Aura cards also target a creature, although they may not say so explicitly on the card.


Where do MTG spoilers come from and why are the images low quality?

Most spoilers coming directly from Wizards, or other authorized spoilers we get nice full sized images that are clear and easy to read. But occasionally we get spoilers taken from promotional items Wizards sends out. In this case the spoiler image was scanned or photographed from a calendar of events that Wizards provides for stores to put up and have the time and format of their FNMs, Pre-Releases, etc. The Mastadon is the promo for the release events and for that date it has a picture next to the date. As you can see here it is fairly small, about half the size of a normal card. That is why this one is such low quality.

The other main reason that spoilers from Wizards are low quality is that they spoiled them at a Con and the only images we have are ones people at the con took with their phones. For example when Crux of Fate was first spoiled the only pictures we had were from people that attended PAXAus, it wasn't until later that Wizards gave us higher quality images.


How should we setup Settlers of Catan for three players?

There are some good suggestions all over the internet for making a three-player board more competetive in the early game. They all boil down to either removing hexes, or replacing them with desert pieces.

The amount of hexes you replace/remove depends on preference, but I'd recommend either removing three or five total hexes. When removing five, just remove one of each resource type. When removing three, remove one wood, grain and lumber (since brick and ore have one less hex to start with).

When removing three hexes, take one of each number token 3 and 11 and remove them from the game. Then take one of each number token 4 and 10, choose one at random and remove it from the game.
When removing five hexes, take one of each number token 3-4-10-11 and remove them from the game. Then take one of each number token 5 and 9, pick one at random and remove it from the game.

Substituting hexes with deserts means there's still plenty of room for long roads and it puts some distance between viable resources. Also, it allows you to maintain the regular board size. Removing hexes altogether can lead to challenging board shapes, but if you remove exactly five hexes you can still create a hexagonal board:

  X X
 X X X
X X X X
 X X X
  X X

The best way to get a hexagon with 3 hexes removed is if you make it asymmetrical across one diagonal:

  X X X
 X X X X
X X X X X
 X X X X

A third option found online is increasing the VP requirement. This doesn't match your criteria since you're looking to increase tension in the early game (instead you'll find yourself using more of the board late game) but it's still worth mentioning.


If I target my own Rancor with a Terastodon will the effect still take place and give me a 3/3 elephant token?

Yes, you will still get the 3/3 Elephant token when you destroy your Rancor with your Terastodon.

Rancor's ability is not a replacement effect, it is a triggered ability. The ability triggers and moves Rancor to your hand after it has already moved to the graveyard. The relevant rule is 112.3c:

  Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]," and include (and usually begin with) the word "when," "whenever," or "at." Whenever the trigger event occurs, the ability is put on the stack the next time a player would receive priority and stays there until it's countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. See rule 603, "Handling Triggered Abilities."

So, when your Terastodon's ability resolves targeting Rancor, a few things happen. First, your Rancor is destroyed (and moved to the graveyard) and you get an Elephant token. Then, when the ability has finished resolving, you get priority and Rancor's third ability is put on the stack. Finally, Rancor's ability resolves and it moves from the graveyard to your hand.


Did Balance change when its wording was changed?

Yes, "discard" was once used to describe removal of permanents from the battlefield like "sacrifice" does now.  Consider the original text on City in a Bottle and Golgothian Sylex, which have you "discard [cards] from play" — they're obviously not talking about discarding cards in your hand!


The rules are not definitively on your side but you definitely should have appealed the ruling. According to the MTG Infraction Procedure Guide section 2.3, the default penalty for drawing an extra card is a game loss. However, it also says:

  If the player received confirmation from his or her opponent before drawing the card (including confirming the number of cards when greater than one), the infraction is not Drawing Extra Cards.

and your opponent's saying "Draw" and pointing to you arguably counts as confirmation that you should draw for your next turn. This argument might be difficult to make though because "Draw" is not listed explicitly in the Tournament Rules list of shortcuts (section 4.2) for passing priority until your opponent's turn.

However, there is another argument to be made that you should not have lost. The Infraction Procedure Guide Drawing Extra Cards section says

  A player illegally puts one or more cards into his or her hand and, at the moment before he or she began the instruction or action that put a card into his or her hand, no other Game Play Error or Communication Policy Violation had been committed.

One relevant piece of free information (as specified in section 4.1 of the Tournament Rules) is "The current step and/or phase and which player(s) are active", and the Infraction Procedure guide says in the Communication Policy Violation section:

  Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly

I would argue that your opponent did just that when they said "Draw", which means that the judge should have followed the procedure in this section instead:

  If the situation is simple enough to safely back up without too much disruption to the course of the game, the judge may get permission from the Head Judge to back up the game to the point of the incorrect information. Each action taken is undone until the game reaches the point immediately prior to the error. Cards incorrectly placed in hand are returned to the location in the zone from which they were moved (if the identity of the incorrectly drawn card is not known to all players, a random card is returned instead). Once the game is backed up, it continues from that point.


Instants - are the creatures blocked or not?

It depends on when player A casts disperse.

If player B said "I cast Give No Ground and block the two creatures",  player A could say either

"In response to the cast"
"after it resolves but before blockers"

and cast Disperse and both creatures would be unblocked.

Otherwise, if B actually gets to declare blockers, the creatures will remain blocked.


Does guiltfeeder still cause loss of life if it's killed by an instant after attacking?

The ruling on Guiltfeeder makes this pretty clear:

  An ability that triggers when something "attacks and isn't blocked" triggers in the declare blockers step after blockers are declared if (1) that creature is attacking and (2) no creatures are declared to block it. It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step.

If it's destroyed after declaring attackers but before declaring blockers (or lack thereof), there won't be any loss of life.

The ability doesn't go onto the stack until the declare blockers step (and then only if it's still attacking and unblocked). So if it's already dead by then, the ability never goes on the stack.

If for some reason someone wants it dead before combat damage, but wants the loss of life to happen, they could kill it during the declare blockers phase, after the ability triggered. At that point the ability would still resolve as normal, even with the Guiltfeeder gone.

In any case, either the ability has triggered and will cause loss of life, or it hasn't triggered at all. There's no odd in between state where it triggers then changes its mind, as your question suggests.


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

It depends on which effects you're referring to. You always get the experience (including the base XP depending on the scenario level), any loot you've picked up, as well as your checkmark or two if you've completed the battle goal, and any progress you've made towards your personal quest.

You do not however get any of the scenario rewards that are listed in the scenario book. This is because after beating the scenario, it can only be played in casual mode, which doesn't grant these rewards. You also can't loot any numbered treasure tiles if you've done so before (however, if you missed the treasure the first time around, you can replay the scenario to grab it).

Relevant sections from the rule book:

  Numbered treasure tiles can only be looted once. After they have been looted, they should be crossed off in the Scenario Book as a reminder. — p. 15

  In addition, once a scenario has been completed in campaign mode, it cannot be undertaken again in campaign mode by any party. — p. 34

  [In casual mode,] Players can still gain experience and money, loot treasure tiles, complete battle goals, and make progress toward completing their personal quests, but any story text or rewards listed at the end of the scenario are disregarded. A party in campaign mode can switch to casual mode to go through a scenario they have already completed [...]. — p. 34


"If you have 5 or more Smithies" means if you have 5 total Smithies in your deck (your deck being all cards you have; between your draw pile, discard pile, hand, in play, etc).

"If there are 3 or less Provinces left" means that the rule will only be followed when the Province pile is down to 0, 1, 2, or 3 Provinces. If there are still 4 or more Provinces in the Province pile, Duchies will not be bought.

Max 2 is like the first question; it means that once 2 Cellars have been bought total, no more will be bought.

The strategy for which actions to play is in this case programmed into the simulator. For the most part, it is trivial, though there are sometimes tricky decisions to make. For example, if you have some actions that give +1 action when played, and others that don't, you play the ones that give +1 action first. (If you play Smithy first, you can't play any other actions). If you have Market and Village, the order is irrelevant.

Occasionally, you would have to decide between playing a Smithy, a Militia, and a Remodel. Which is the best play would depend on a lot of factors including how late in the game it is, what else is in your hand, what is left in your draw pile, etc.

The simulator has a list of cards programmed that are considered "junk" cards that will be discarded when Cellar is played. I believe these include any victory cards, as well as Curses and Coppers. This is because any cards you draw in place of those will, on average, be better to have.

Welcome to Dominion!


What is the fastest possible game in Splendor?

EDIT: fixed violation of limit on taking 2 of same gems (Forbidden when <4 gems remaining).

First of all, @Arcanist Lupus has provided good answer with simple yet efficient approach and also provided link to cards table in the comments, so I want to thank them. But looking at the table I noticed that 4 pts. cards have better conversion rates than 5 pts. ones, and a lot of gems are lost when going straight for 5 pts. cards.

So, assuming all required cards are available, no nobles and no interference from other players, here is my solution:

Cards I'm going for: White 4 for 7 blacks; Blue 4 for 7 whites; Green 4 for 7 blues; Green 3 for 6 greens.

Steps:

+2 black
+2 black
+1 black, 1 green, 1 {any}
+1 black, 2 {any}
+1 black, 1 white, 1 green. Return 3 {any}
Claim White 4 card for 7 blacks. (1 white and 2 green remain in the stash)
+2 white
+2 white
+1 white, 1 blue, 1 green
Claim Blue 4 card for 6 whites + card. (1 blue and 3 green remain in the stash)
+2 blue
+2 blue
+1 blue, 1 green, 1 {any}. Return 1 {any}
Claim Green 4 card for 6 blues + card. (4 green remain in the stash)
+1 green, 2 {any}
Claim Green 3 card for 5 greens + card

Done. 15 points in 16 turns.

steps 3 and 4 are just about getting 2 blacks, since it's forbidden to get 2 at once at that point. Alternatively you can take golden tokens and secure couple of cards for yourself, in that case in step 15 just take 2 greens (you will have 1 less, so it would be legal move).


That is correct; there is no way for a Cylon leader to start infiltrating while on New Caprica. (See the Unofficial FAQ at BGG)

If a Cylon leader needs the humans to win and wants to be able to help them out on New Caprica, s/he needs to be infiltrating when they get there. Otherwise, s/he won't be able to use the Human actions, which is the main way to help the humans.


If a spell tells me to draw then discard a card, can I cast it before discarding it?

No, you can't cast a spell in the middle of that draw-then-discard instruction.

Whilst a spell or ability is resolving, players can't do anything that the spell or ability doesn't tell them to do. This means you draw, then discard, then afterwards you'll get a chance to cast spells. If Force Away was the last card you had, you're back down to a hand size of 0 with no cards to cast.

Magic's system for casting and resolving spells involves some concepts of the stack and priority, which you can read about here. Understanding that system is pivotal to understanding when you can/can't cast spells, and the post I'm linking to there is what had me understand it when I started out playing.

This type of ability is colloquially called "looting" — it's not meant to give you more cards than you had before, it just gives you a chance to swap out a card that isn't useful right now for one that is. It also adds cards to your graveyard which can be helpful. As you might know, Force Away came from Khans of Tarkir which also featured the Delve mechanic — one extra card in your graveyard is one extra card to delve with later.

There's an exception: cards with Madness allow you to cast them for their Madness cost as a result of discarding them. So if you happened to draw then discard Distemper of the Blood, that's an opportunity to cast it, meaning you did wind up with one extra spell to cast.


(MTG) Can Trespasser’s Curse revive a player?

You will not be revived.

First of all, any enchantments that you own will leave the game at the same time you do:

  800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game[...]

So if you had enchanted your opponent with Trespasser's Curse, that enchantment would go away as soon as you lose, and your opponent would no longer be enchanted by it.

And in addition to not getting any benefit from your enchantments, there is no effect in the game that could cause you to gain life once you have left the game. If another player has an effect such as Triskaidekaphobia, when it says "each player gains 1 life", "each player" does not include you.

From the comprehensive rules:

  102.1. A player is one of the people in the game. The active player is the player whose turn it is. The other players are nonactive players.

(Emphasis mine)

You are not in the game, because you have left the game:

  104.5. If a player loses the game, that player leaves the game.


Which MTG booster packs have the highest rate of return on investment?

Anything after you wait long enough.

Of course, this is assuming you don't actually open the packs, but seriously, take a look at these prices:

$10 for ONE Lorwyn booster pack

$25 for THREE Time Spiral boosters

Over $100 for a Zendikar or Worldwake fat pack

Almost $20 for a Zendikar fat pack box with no cards in it

Since Magic is such a highly collectible game, people will tend to pay more for rarer items. This includes the booster packs themselves. Even though the cards from each of those sets are pretty cheap, the packs themselves are virtually impossible to find, so the price goes skyward. Sure, you could buy some Darksteel boosters and pray you get awesome cards and make a profit, but considering those are around $8 apiece now that's virtually impossible.

The other problem is actually finding people to buy your singles (you could sell in bulk, but that's going to hurt your profits even more). Considering that there's massive websites now that are devoted to nothing but selling singles and aggregate the results from tons of different sellers, you're going to have some tough competition. Even if people learn that they can buy cards from you, you'll have to at least match the prices offered on these sites if you want to stay marketable. You also have to have a LOT of cards available for sale, so get ready to buy 10 booster boxes so you can boast having all the mythic rares in a set (just like every other major card seller will).

The owner of our local card shop does a great business selling fat packs of sets that went out of print over a year ago online, and easily gets more than $80 for them. He personally told me he took all of his money out of the stock market and put it into Magic because the rate of return is infinitely better. See those Avacyn Restored Fat Packs for $35? Imagine what they'll sell for in 2016 and you'll pity yourself for not buying an extra 5 now... (see Steven's informative comment on the block sets generally being a better investment than core sets as well).

I know this isn't exactly what you were asking for, but if you want to make money buying and selling Magic products, actually opening them is probably one of the worst ways to do so IMHO. There's always the risk that prices will go down if the economy worsens or the game goes out of style, but that risk is inherent is virtually any investment nowadays.


No.  Only things that specifically refer to Faded affect them.  Things that interact with cubes generically cannot.

This along with many other questions is handled by the Pandemic Legacy FAQ on BoardGameGeek


How can you have units with secret locations on the board?

There are a few popular ways.

Have a duplicate game board with a referee to validate things.
Have a map of the game board set aside with the secret locations marked.
Have numbered locations on the board where the hidden units can be and mark the number down secretly.
Use decoy markers.  Place several markers on the board and treat them like a real unit.  Only one of the decoy markers represents the actual unit.


What is the significance of a Scene ending in the Extraction mission?

There are two main purposes to a scene in the game and while what happens when a scene ends varies based on the mission the basics are the same. In the case of an extraction you have a set round limit instead of a number of scenes to complete. In this case the scene end does two things, first is it heals all runners and the client, second is to provide reset of certain abilities. This is in addition to the normal addition of new obstacles.

Rules

  Most Missions:

  Are divided into “Scenes” with small rewards, breaks,
  or changes of play mode between Scenes. Each Mission
  sheet will describe what happens during a Scene
  and when a Scene ends.

  Some upgrades are usable once per Scene. Once used
  during a Scene within a Mission, they can’t be used
  again during that same Scene. When a Mission changes
  from one Scene to the next, these abilities become
  available for use again.


Is it OK to mix Colony Wars and Frontiers for a 2 player game?

"Balance" typically refers to each player's relative chances of winning.  There isn't any inerrant balance changes from the expansions because the trade row is shared between the two players.  Even if the trade-row gets full of high-value cards, the game does not favor one player over the other.  Unaffordable trade rows happen even with just the base game (I've seen it happen), and Explorers exist for this very reason.

Balance issues aside, all of the Star Realms expansions have a spread of card costs.  I do not believe any of them significantly increase the chance of an un-affordable starting trade row.


Do you only get one chance at casting a spell?

Yes, you get only once chance.
The key phrase is "cast and exhaust". An exhausted card can't be used again until it's un-exhausted during the next turn's upkeep. And the spell is exhausted whether or not you succeed at casting it.
The rules are a little bit fuzzy on this, but this official FAQ has a pretty clear answer:

Does an unsuccessful attempt to cast a spell still exhaust it?
Yes.


Do basic land types affect a card's color identity?

No, you may not include lands with basic land types that produce mana outside your commander's color identity.

Land with basic land types have innate mana abilities. While this makes them a special case among all cards, these abilities are not reminder text and do have an effect on gameplay.

  305.6. The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the words “basic land type,” it’s referring to one of these subtypes. An object with the land card type and a basic land type has the intrinsic ability “{T}: Add [mana symbol],” even if the text box doesn’t actually contain that text or the object has no text box. For Plains, [mana symbol] is {W}; for Islands, {U}; for Swamps, {B}; for Mountains, {R}; and for Forests, {G}. See rule 107.4a. See also rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

That seems to indicate that cards like the Triome (land with basic land types, no other abilities with colored mana symbols) have a colorless identity and thus could be included in any commander deck, because the innate ability is granted to objects, rather than cards.

However, for such cards, there is a special rule that looks at the color of mana they could produce.

  903.5d A card with a basic land type may be included in a Commander deck only if each color of mana it could produce is included in the commander’s color identity.

So no, you could not include Indatha Triome in your Elenda Dusk Rose commander deck, because it produces {G}.


Can you removed crossfire cards in Extraction?

No, in the extraction mission there is no way for a crossfire card to be removed. In all missions it will be clearly spelled out in the rules when a card can be removed. Part of the difficulty of an extraction mission is the ever increasing crossfire level which is balanced by the fact that you do not need to defeat all obstacles just survive for seven rounds.


Magic: Shuffle face down cards after opponent looked at one?

No, you can't do that.

From Comprehensive Rules (bold mine):

  707.6. If you control multiple face-down spells or face-down permanents, you must ensure at all times that your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other. This includes, but is not limited to, knowing the order spells were cast, the order that face-down permanents entered the battlefield, which creature attacked last turn, and any other differences between face-down spells or permanents. Common methods for distinguishing between face-down objects include using counters or dice to mark the different objects, or clearly placing those objects in order on the table.


If I have so few armies I can't attack any more, do I lose the game?

Most certainly not!

You will still receive armies and be able to attack in a future turn, as the rules make clear (see page 6: Getting and Placing New Armies - Territories) that every player with at least one territory receives at least three armies each turn for territories, even if owning fewer than 9 territories.

In order to not be a target of other players while you are weak, it is best to hold as few cards as possible, ideally zero, until you are strong enough to have a chance at defending your self, so don't attack at all.


When is it a good idea to pick the Craftsman in Puerto Rico?

I do not agree with the other answers that say Craftsman should be rarely taken.  By carefully consider seat order implications, if a player can answer the below questions in the affirmative then Craftsman should be the choice if no better options present themselves.  First a review of what Craftsman does.
Why take Craftsman?

Craftsman generate barrels which turn into victory points.  As this is the obvious way to generate victory points many players deemphasize this after playing a few games, leaving this route to the newbies. I feel this is a mistake and leaves an opportunity that can be exploited.
You get an extra barrel.  Note that this barrel comes last so you cannot use this to deny others.  However early game, an extra Corn will get you a quick extra VP.  Mid game an extra Coffee or Tobacco may allow you to trade multiple times off of one Craftsman for extra $$.

When to take Craftsman
There are two primary things to consider in the general case when deciding whether to take Craftsman.
Has Captain been taken in this round yet?
This is the big issue with Craftsman.  It is much better to take it in a round when Captain has already been chosen.  This limits the number of opportunities other folks will have to take Captain and deny you any benefit of your extra barrels.
Will you benefit the next time Captain is taken?
You need to put some thought into your seat order.  For example, in a 5 player game, you are seated second.  Player 1 goes first and takes Captain.  You can now craft freely knowing that you will have the first shot at taking Captain next round.  If you are seated third and take Craftsman you will get the second shot at Captain.  If player 2 takes Captain you are probably still going to get preferential loading of your barrels onto the ships.
As you get farther away from the current starting player, Craftsman becomes less attractive.
If you badly need money, you can consider the same two steps but in regard to Trader instead of Captain.  Sometimes you really need the money that trading a Coffee or Tobacco will give you.  A well chosen Trader can net you $5+ while potentially denying everyone else any benefit (if 3 spots are already filled for example).  While doing this you also need to give some though to the Captain.  You don't want to be forced to load your potential $7 barrel of Coffee on a ship right before you would get to pick Trader!
Other reasons to take Craftsman?

You are producing corn early in the game.  Get an extra barrel, it will likely turn into an extra VP
To make sure you produce the maximum possible.  If there are only 3 Tobacco left in stock, then Craft to make sure you get them.
Because you have a wharf.  With a wharf you don't have to worry about being denied the opportunity to ship your goods.
Because you have a warehouse.  A warehouse will enable you to store your goods through the next Captain phase (assuming it will be chosen at a bad time for you).  Then you can ship them later on.
To deny other people!  If it is obvious that that a later player will benefit greatly from Craftsman, taking it early can deny them a lot of barrels.
To force someone to take Captain.  This is related to the previous one.  If you are going first in a round, and you know that a later player (4th or 5th) will definitely take Captain, you can often convince player 2 or 3 to Captain if you take Craftsman in front of them.
There is money on it.  An extra $ or two can make all the difference!
You are winning and not able to end the game.  Crafting is the engine that drives the game along.  If you are confident that you have a good lead then Crafting can occasionally help things along even if you don't directly benefit from the Crafting yourself.


If I attack with 2 creatures that both have "All creatures able to block this creature do so", how are blockers determined?

Comprehensive Rule:

  509.1c The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it's affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must block, or that it must block if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of blockers is illegal. If a creature can't block unless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if blocking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.
  Example: A player controls one creature that "blocks if able" and another creature with no abilities. An effect states "Creatures can't be blocked except by two or more creatures." Having only the first creature block violates the restriction. Having neither creature block fulfills the restriction but not the requirement. Having both creatures block the same attacking creature fulfills both the restriction and the requirement, so that's the only option.

Answers to your questions, as covered by this rule:

  Does my opponent get to choose which of their creatures blocks each one or do I?

Nothing in the Lure ability says that you get to choose. The defender has to follow the maximum number of requirements without disobeying any restrictions.

One of the restrictions on the defenders, barring any additional abilities, is that they may only block one creature. Therefore, the defender must block one of your attackers and may choose which one to block, as that fulfills the maximum number of requirements without disobeying the restriction of only being able to block one creature.

  What if one of those attacking creatures also has flying but the other does not?

Obviously, if a defender is unable to block creatures with flying (that is a restriction) that defender must block the one it is able to block.

  If one of my opponent's creatures can block multiple creatures, must they block both?

If a creature is able to block multiple creatures it must meet the maximum number of requirements that could be obeyed, therefore it must block both creatures if able. (Unless that blocker is something like an Anurid Swarmsnapper… as rule 509.1c states, the defender is not required to pay a cost to increase the number of requirements obeyed.)


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

You may only mobilize units in a territory you (not your ally) have owned since the start of the turn.  Additionally, you liberate allied territories when you capture them, immediately returning ownership to the original owner*. Thus the USSR cannot mobilize in India, since it is owned by the UK, not the USSR.

* - Details, it is technically possible to create a situation where the USSR could mobilize in India. It would require that the Axis captures both the UK capital, and India, then the USSR recapture India (a territory is not liberated if the owner's capital is in enemy hands), then on the following turn (after a full turn of ownership) the USSR may mobilize in India.


Do strong Go players play simuls, like in chess? Do they ever play blindfolded?

As Gregor explained, simultaneous games (sometimes abbreviated "simuls") are quite common at Go tournaments or exhibitions at which pros (or very strong amateurs) are present (example). The teacher is often booked specifically for lessons and simuls, with prices typically ranging (very roughly) in the lower 3 digits (this is often one of the main cash sources for strong players living in the West).

The rules specific to simuls are, as far as I know, very similar to chess: Pro walks from board to board, players have to move when (or possibly before) he arrives.

Blind Go in the sense of "no board in use" is virtually never practiced. It is tough in chess, and almost impossible in Go: Even the strongest players cannot precisely remember the large (19x19) board, a notable exception being the Asian 6 dan amateur Bao Yun, who is said to compete almost as well in blind Go as with full vision.

There are many variations of "blind", though, for instance "Go for the visually impaired", which has eyes closed, but players are allowed to touch the board and feel the stones (special boards and stones are used for this purpose, black and white have a different surface). This is at times used in exhibitions (for instance I've seen it between a Japanese pro and a visually impaired Western amateur during the EGC 2011 in France, of which I sadly could not find the video), but very rare and not in conjunction with simuls.

More well known, however, is one color Go, in which both players use only stones of one color to play; they have to remember which stone belongs to which player. This is incomparably easier than fully blind Go, most dan players should be able to do it at least on small boards. If you're used to it, it's not difficult even in full-length 19x19 (I, as a low dan amateur, often play this for fun). Still, in simultaneous games, even one color Go is practically unheard of.


Do creatures with Defender have summoning sickness?

Creatures with defender have summoning sickness, there's no exception for them.

But that doesn't affect how Fog Bank interacts with creatures with trample. Yes, if you play Fog Bank it will be able to block the next (opponent's) turn, but when a creature with trample is blocked by Fog Bank, it only needs to assign 2 damage (Fog Bank's toughness) to Fog Bank, and the rest will still 'trample over' to you.

  302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

Note that that rule doesn't say anything about blocking.


Scenario 55, can you attack medusa without the mirror?

Page 5 of the rule book incidentally describes what "cannot die" implies, albeit in the context of Explorers before the haunt starts. It's worded in a way that implies a definition of the term, however.

  Before the haunt starts, no one can die - that is, no trait can go below its lowest number in the line (it stays at the lowest number instead).

The Secrets of Survival book indicates the following special rule for the survivors:

  Medusa can be killed only by an explorer who deals enough physical damage to kill the traitor while possessing an Image in the Mirror card.

While the game does not explain what "cannot die" means in the context of the traitor, it is reasonable to expect that they follow the same rules as the Explorers do pre-haunt. When you inflict physical damage to Medusa, if you do not have an Image in the Mirror card, Medusa does not reduce her stats to the Skull if the damage otherwise would.


Can Monty Python Fluxx be used with the regular Fluxx deck, or is it a separate game?

You certainly can just shuffle the decks together, try to play a game with them, and see what happens.  The core rules of Fluxx are always pretty much the same, after all.

However, everything I've heard from people who've tried something like this suggests that, for maximum enjoyment, you'll probably want to start removing cards that don't work well in the combined game; or adding your own homebrew cards that will work well in the new game.

I'm not very familiar with Monty Python Fluxx, but I've played a bit of Zombie Fluxx - and it's pretty well optimised on its own.  I could add my basic Fluxx game into the mix, but then the zombie theme would be much diluted.  It would be much harder to assemble a critical mass of zombie cards to achieve one of the zombie Goals - or indeed the non-zombie cards required for a base set goal.

But in the end Fluxx is a game that it's best not too take too seriously.  If all you're after is a nice long, random game with the possibility of unexpected interactions between cards from different sets, then I don't see why you wouldn't want to at least give a mega-game using cards from multiple expansions a try!


According to this reddit thread, the complete list of words in the allowed dictionary (which doesn't list words with more than 15 letters), the Collins Scrabble Words list from 2015, that you can't make with the available tile set is:

  BAZZAZZ
  BEZZAZZ
  PAZZAZZ
  PIZZAZZ
  PIZZAZZY
  BAZZAZZES
  BEZZAZZES
  PAZZAZZES
  PIZZAZZES
  KNICKKNACK
  RAZZMATAZZ
  KNICKKNACKS
  RAZZAMATAZZ
  RAZZMATAZZES
  RAZZAMATAZZES
  STRESSLESSNESS
  CLASSLESSNESSES
  POSSESSEDNESSES
  SENSELESSNESSES
  SUCCESSLESSNESS


In King of Tokyo, can you get more than 1 evolution per turn?

No, you may only draw one Evolution per set of rolls.

The rulebook states:

  If a monster ends their rolls with at least 3 [hearts], they draw the top Evolution of their deck

Firstly, the term "at least 3" indicates that any number above 2 will match the condition, thus 3 or 6 or anything between will give you the same result.

Secondly since the card effect happens at the time that you end your rolls, only one card can be on top of your Evolution deck at that time.


How do Mana Flare and Mana Reflection interact?

Layers don't apply here. There aren't any continuous effects interacting.

Mana Flare is a triggered ability (it says "whenever"). It would normally use the stack, but since it's a mana ability, it simply resolves immediately after the event that triggered it. Mana Reflection is a replacement effect (it says "instead"). It just happens as you tap the permanent.

So if you tap a Mountain, Mana Reflection causes it to produce RR instead of R. Mana Flare also triggers, and when it resolves, you add an additional R to your mana pool, for a total of RRR.

Even if they were both replacement effects, or both triggered, layers still wouldn't come into play. You'd get to pick the order, presumably choosing to maximize the generated mana.

If two replacement effects apply to the same event, the affected player picks what order to apply them in. (If the event affects an object, that's the controller of the affected object, or its owner if it has no controller.)

If two triggered abilities you control trigger at the same time, you choose the order to put them on the stack. If they're controlled by different players, the active player puts their triggers on the stack first. (If they're mana abilities like this, you still get to pick the order, even though they don't use the stack.)

In both cases, if they're both affecting you tapping a permanent for mana, you get to pick what order they happen in.

Layers are used for determining interactions of continuous effects, which are effects that are simply stated as a fact, something like "Enchanted creature gets +1/+1" or "Target permanent becomes blue". Fortunately, the most common time they matter is with power/toughness effects, and the vast majority of those are simply setting base power/toughness before applying things that change it.

You can get a pretty good idea of the kinds of things where layers matter by simply reading what the layers are: copy, control-changing, text-changing, type-changing, color-changing, ability-adding/removing, and power/toughness. If the effect isn't in in one of those categories, it's a good bet you don't need layers. (Timestamp order is only used within layers as a last resort.)


In Puerto Rico, what is the significance of coins being put each round on people that are not chosen?

It has two purposes:

As you say, it ensures that every role gets taken, and that no role goes entirely unloved for too long. There are multiple paths to victory in Puerto Rico, and most of them require some combination of roles to be taken: a shipping strategy requires Settler/Mayor to set up and Craftsman/Captain to execute, a building strategy requires Builder plus Craftsman/Trader (or some other income methods), etc. Putting coins on unloved roles means that if 3 players go for one strategy and one player goes for a different one, that one player's favorite roles (or unloved-but-required supporting roles) will still be chosen, even by people not following that player's strategy. It pushes all of the players at the table to make the game friendly to all strategies.
Some roles are weaker than others, and putting money on the roles makes them more tempting. Craftsman is a classic "weak" role, because the person who takes it will usually have last choice in the next shipping/trading phase. (Unless they're clever with the end of the round and the movement of the Governor role.) This is mostly just fine-tuning the power of the various role cards: if some cards are weaker than others, then add a little cash so they're not quite so weak.


King of Tokyo: Damage dealt on first entry in to Tokyo

Damage rolled outside of Tokyo is dealt to those in Tokyo.

Each [Claw] results in a point of damage dealt to Monsters who are not in the same place as you.

If you are in Tokyo (Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay) when you get [Claw], you deal damage to all the Monsters who are not in Tokyo.

If you are outside Tokyo when you get [Claw], you deal damage to
all the Monsters who are in Tokyo (Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay).

Note that it's your location when you get the Claw result that counts, so your location before any moves. There's nothing to support dealing Claw dice damage to those in the same zone as you started.
The passage you quoted simply reminds you of the above. It also instructs you that dealing damage to noone is not dealing damage at all, which may matter for some Item cards.


Can I double Furnace Scamp's triggered ability damage with a 3-counter Quest for Pure Flame?

Yes, you can use the Quest for Pure Flame's ability to double the damage from the Furnace Scamp's triggered ability.

When the Furnace Scamp deals combat damage, both its triggered ability and the Quest's triggered ability go on the stack. For this to work, you have to put the Quest's triggered ability on top of the Scamp's ability. Then, do the following:

Let the Quest's ability resolve. The Quest now has four counters.
With the Scamp's ability still on the stack, activate the Quest's second ability and let that ability resolve. Now, for the rest of the turn, damage dealt by sources you control is doubled.
Now let the Scamp's ability resolve. Since the Quest's ability has already resolved, the damage is doubled.


Contract Bridge - Purpose of 4 diamonds bid by West

I expect a lot of this is due to the players not knowing what they, or their opponents, are playing.  I don't know if the other players are bots or human, but if bots, the bidding is odd.
The SAYC book doesn't talk about balancing much, but it does say about direct overcalls:
"Overcalls show 8–16 points (double and bid the long suit with a stronger hand)"
"Jump overcalls are preemptive, showing the same value as an opening bid at the
same level"
So I don't think anybody understood your 3C bid, and I think that causes a lot of confusion.  But you're nowhere near the only one.
I would read this auction (all players playing SAYC):

1S: 11-21, 5+S
P: nothing to say (legitimately.  You will see some people saying you have to get in here with a double, especially if you can correct 2C by partner to 2D without showing extra strength, a convention known as Equal Length conversion.  But it's ugly, and "standard" is pass).
P: bad hand (usually < 6 HCP, weaker hands with support may still bid)
3C: not exactly a preempt, in balance, but a "only plays in clubs, trying to freeze out opener".  x KTx Ax KQTxxxx or the like.
3D: I have shape, 5=4 or 5=5, and enough extra that I think I can play opposite your horrible hand.
P: Still nothing to say.  Reading Joe's comment, he's probably right that she should double this, though (for penalty). But it's likely that she thinks you have a real preempt, and the only tricks your side is taking is in her hand, and it's not enough.
3H: Yeah, my hand is worth zero tricks in your suits and two or three in mine, let's hope your hand has tricks for me.
X: I don't know what's going on, but this is a misfit and I have tricks.  Maybe I'm 1=4=1=7?
4D: I lied to begin with, I'm 5=6 not 5=4, and I'm panicking.
X: They aren't making this, partner, someone's finally bid my suit.

Out of the actual bidding with the actual hands, I like North, and, I guess, East.
Why did West open 1S and not 1D? He's bidding on shape not strength, lying about the shape because of the 5-card major is going to cause trouble like this hand.  It's also going to lead to 4S with 6D on with a different hand in partner. There's an argument for passing this and hoping to get in with a two-suited bid next round, as well, but if you open, you have to open 1D.  Yes, you can get into trouble with an auction where bidding spades shows reverse strength (good 16), but starting with spades causes this problem.
I'm guessing 3D is "hmm, I've totally misdescribed my hand, I need to show my diamond suit."  Never mind he knows they have max 15 high and potentially no fit.  Sure, you have a good preempt, but your partner has the rest of the cards, and no bid - so probably "my suit".
I don't mind 3H, because she's right - we're in trouble, and it plays a couple tricks better in the weak hand's long suit.  She doesn't know that partner has nowhere near the hand he claims to.  But I'm not doubled yet; I'd probably pass 3D and see if we can get out for 100 a trick.
Your second double is not takeout - for what suit? They've bid the other three.
4D is pure panic.  He knows that he has mis-described his hand to partner and they're in trouble.  He should still pass and hope to get out (and he won't).
A more common auction playing SAYC would be:
1D-p-p-X
1S-2H-p-3C
p-3S (looking for stopper)-p-3NT (I have one)
All pass.
There's a lot of ways this could go - West could pass the double; North could think he was too strong for just 2H; South could insist on clubs rather than look for NT (or look for slam, potentially and go past 3NT); in a non-YC game (or by pairs who "play" SAYC, but don't actually know what the book says), East could bid 2H over 1D Weak Jump Shift;...
I might be resulting getting to the only contract that makes, and it is truly unfortunate that 5C, never mind 6, goes down because East's hand is too good.
I expect a lot of minus scores on this hand, some very large ones and some North-South as well.  Misfits are always exciting, and very hard to bid, and sometimes get deeper into "nothing makes" territory before people learn to stop.  It's a common maxim: "When you know you're in a misfit, pass."
Finally, another of those common maxims is "don't bid your values twice".  If you really thought that 3C showed 16 or so and a semi-solid suit, then when 3H comes to you, you have nothing more to show.  Pass.  Partner with this hand will double 3H for the same 1100 (and somebody will double 3S or 4D if they run); with say xxx Qxx QTxxx xx (giving opener AKxxx Kx AKxxx x, a quite reasonable hand for 1S, then 3D), they'll hope it goes down one and that any plus is a good score.


How is bridge for beginners taught in Taiwan or Italy today, Precision or another method?

Personally, I believe in most places, novices are taught the "natural" way. i.e. when you bid a suit, you have length in that suit.

Which means they are probably first introduced to system similar to the standard american.


Dungeon petz 2 or 3 player game: how many cages should be replenished?

The first two sentences of that section still apply, and state

  At least one cage will be left over from the previous round. Take the
  lowest of the leftover cages, put it in the uppermost pit and discard
  the rest.

It isn't possible for all 3 cages to be purchased in a turn, so at least one will always be there.  Keep the lowest, move it to the upper slot, and get rid of the rest.  That way you are guaranteed to always have a single slot filled.  Then you either deal 2 more, or only 1 more if a neutral imp is blocking a space.


Quite simply, no. It is common knowledge that a monster has to be on the field or revealed from the hand/graveyard/banished zone (if the card permits it) to be able to resolve ANY effect, given the conditions (if any) are met, unless the card says otherwise.

You can always play Disenchanter on the field,  THEN activate its effect.


In Monopoly Deal, does the rent apply to a whole group or each card individually?

Once per property group.

Looking at the rules, there are two columns, "No of properties owned in set" and "Rent".  That can't be parsed to allow you to collect twice if you have 2 of a color, sorry!


If a player rolls 3 consecutive 6s and on second six landed on another player’s token can they take a turn?

tl;dr  On the the third roll of a 6 the players turn immediately ends.

As Ludo is a traditional game that is many 1000's years old its hard to find an official rules source.

The Wikipedia article here  says-

  When a 6 is rolled, the player may choose to advance a token already
  in play, or may enter another staged token to its starting square.
  Rolling a 6 earns the player an additional or "bonus" roll in that
  turn. If the bonus roll results in a 6 again, the player earns an
  additional bonus roll. If the third roll is also a 6, the player may
  not move and the turn immediately passes to the next player.

Rolling the 3rd 6 means the players turn immediately ends. I couldn't find anything in any other rules to contradict that.

Wikipedia also talks about different variants-

  To speed the game up, extra turns or bonus moves can be awarded for
  capturing a piece or getting a piece home; these may grant passage
  past a block.

As Ludo is such as old game it is not not surprising there are going to be many different variations including this rule which you used in your example. However the outcome is the same.

Here are two examples
1) Player rolls a 6.  They take an action. They roll again.
Player rolls a 6.  They take an action. They roll again.
Player rolls a 6.  There turn immediately ends.

2) Player rolls a 6.  They take an action. They roll again.
Player rolls any 6 and lands on an opponents piece.  They take an action. They roll again.
Player rolls a 6.  There turn immediately ends.


Trading

The type of rule you are asking for is similar to the Chess rule that says...

  Once the hand is taken off a piece after moving it, the move cannot be retracted (unless the move is illegal)."

Catan rules aren't that specific, unfortunately. There is no rule in Catan that covers when a trade is complete with this level of detail. Therefore, it is up to you and your play group. If I were in your play group, I would argue that a trade is complete when the cards have physically changed hands. That is how goods exchanges work in real life - I give you money, you give me goods.

If you allow trades to be taken back after cards have exchanged hands, then you have to remember what cards you traded. More importantly, you have to still have the cards, and not have spent them.

If you don't allow trades to be taken back before cards have exchanged hands, then what happens if I don't have the cards I said I would trade? Maybe I wanted to bluff that I had a card for trade just so the other guy would get a worse deal.

Bluffing

Bluffing is generally an acceptable practice in any game that involves hidden information. But, the difference between lying and bluffing is not always clear. In Catan, you just have to know it when you see it. For example, saying "I have wheat." when I really don't is a bluff by any reasonable definition of the word, but saying "I have seven cards." when I really have eight is just a lie. If your group is not okay with bluffing, then your play group may need to create a house rule that prohibits it. Otherwise, it's fair game.


Is there a naming convention for the various standard-formats as they existed throughout history?

You can:

Refer to the blocks: "Scars-Innistrad Standard," or just "Scars Standard" (using the name of the full block, which tends to define the format more) is very common. People are likely to place it into context at a glance, but it lacks some specificity, though that's mostly relevant for flash-in-the-pan decks that vanish when the next set tweaks the card pool.
Refer to the most recent set released: "NPH Standard." This is the most specific. The one downside is that some players don't remember all the small sets too well. This approach is concise and the card pool is totally unambiguous, with the rare exceptions of mid-season bans. Also it's pretty clunky when the last set is a core set.
Refer to a year: "In 2005, the best deck was..." People can look up the sets or figure them out from context.
Refer to a deck: Honestly, most often when people discuss old Standard they are just talking about a famous top deck — Caw-Blade, Faeries, Affinity, Academy, &c. — or a deck with some rare and special oddball name (Owling Mine). Not that great if you're trying to discuss the difference between red decks in 2003 and 2005, of course.

Oftentimes articles will do a bit of scene-setting, telling you the year and what blocks were in Standard in prose form. If you're writing out other information in an expansive way anyway (like a mention of the top cards or top decks of the time period, to provide context about how this deck works), you might as well save a bit of jargon and use a full sentence to describe the format.


Yu-Gi-Oh!: Metaion the timelord vs Evilswarm Obliviwisp

Just posting to expand upon L_Church's answer.

Question 1: No, Obliviwisp will not be returned to the hand.

Let's look at the way Obliviwisp's effect is written:

  After damage calculation, if this card battles a monster: Negate the effects of that monster (including in the Graveyard).

As this is an activated effect, and does not specify any window of time during which it applies, the effect applied is permanent. I.e, Metaion's effects are negated for the rest of the time it stays face up on the field, neglecting outside circumstances - and obviously this includes "At the end of the Battle Phase".

Question 2: Yes, Metaion's effects are negated.

Note that Metaion can still activate its effects, just not apply them.

Question 3: No, Metaion is not destroyed as a result of battle.

The important part to look at in Obliviwisp's effect here is "After damage calculation". During damage calculation, not only is the damage calculated and inflicted as necessary, but monsters are also "marked" for destruction (they haven't been destroyed yet at this point, but it is determined that they will be). Because Obliviwisp's effect does not activate until after this set of steps, the window of time in which Metaion could have been destroyed by that battle is missed.

Question 4: No, Metaion's controller will not take damage from that battle.

For the same reason as in Question 3, Metaion's effect is not yet negated at the point where damage would be inflicted. Therefore, damage is not inflicted for that battle. Note that in subsequent battles, since Metaion's effects will have been negated by Obliviwisp, it would be destroyed, and damage would be inflicted.


My name is CJ Mlsna, and I submitted the rules text for the card that became Waste Not. Jennifer Clarke Wilkes had a different entry in YMTC 4.

When the card was released alongside the other guest-designed cards, I asked Ethan Fleischer why my name had been omitted. His answer was that since it had been voted on by the community, it should have the credit it did. I was able to submit some short answers to a survey they emailed me, which was posted here.


It would be if you have you base placed in the edge of the board surrounded by your tiles and you want to prevent enemy from gaining access to it.


Pandemic Legacy 2 objectives: build 3 supply depots and build 3 new supply depots

Pandemic Legacy Season 2 Rule The "Build 3 Supply Centers" is a "Prologue" card and you should have destroyed it before commencing January. The rule book specifically states:

  Use the Prologue Objective card during the [prologue] game.

There's a full play log (Warning Spoilers) that never has two build supply centers objectives in play and that is my recollection of the game as well.


Where can I find a chart or diagram explaining Magic's turn structure?

Here is one I made:

(click for full size - hosted on 27ld.com)


How can we stop the same person being the traitor each time?

There aren't any rules for it. If you're getting tired of the same person being the traitor, then make a house rule based loosely on the rules for skipping haunts, and you can go back to having fun again.

Or you can just keep playing; it's only been three games so far.  What are the odds that the same person is the traitor again?

Edit: Yes, I realize the odds are the same each time.  But even with just 3 players, it's less than 50% each time.  The traitor should be a different player after just one or two more games.

And here are a few quick-and-dirty ways to select a different player:

Select the next-most-appropriate player.

If the traitor is the haunt revealer, select the next player to the left.  Give them the Omen that caused the haunt.  (I considered only giving them the Omen if it was relevant, but that could reveal some information about the haunt.  So give it to them regardless of whether it's relevant or not.)
If the traitor is the player with the highest [trait], select the player with the next-highest [trait].  If the stat is particularly relevant to the haunt (i.e., you need to beat the Traitor at that particular trait, or that trait is highly relevant to the Heroes' success and the haunt wanted to deny that advantage to the Heroes), select a different haunt using the standard rules.

Pick somebody else randomly.  Give them the Omen that caused the haunt, if the haunt revealer is supposed to be the Traitor.
Use the standard rules to select a different haunt, until the selected Traitor is someone else.


When does my opponent have to tell me if they will play first?

You must decide before looking at your first hand of the game, it can be after sideboarding. If you do not choose it is assumed you will play.

From the Magic Tournament Rules 2.2:

  For the first game of a match, the winner of a random method (such as a die roll or coin toss) chooses either to
  play first or to play second. The winner must state this choice before looking at his or her hand. If the winner
  states no choice, it is assumed that he or she is playing first. The player who plays first skips the draw step of his
  or her first turn. This is referred to as the play/draw rule.

  After each game in a match, the loser of that game decides whether to play first in the next game. They may wait
  until after sideboarding to make the decision. If the previous game was a draw, the player who decided to play or
  draw at the beginning of the drawn game chooses.


Does Medical Breakthrough still have its effect when forfeited for rezzing Archer?

There is nothing about Medical Breakthrough that would function differently than other agendas upon forfeit.  Forfeited agendas no longer affect the game either for points or for their abilities.

Details
Medical Breakthrough's ability is:

Lower the advancement requirement of each Medical Breakthrough by 1.
This ability is active even while Medical Breakthrough is in the
Runner's score area.

It's not that the installed copy of Medical Breakthrough looks to see how many Medical Breakthroughs are in the score area.  Each Medical Breakthrough in the score area has an ability that modifies the advancement requirement of the installed copy.  However, this doesn't matter, because Medical Breakthrough leaves the score area when it is forfeited.
Additionally, from the core rules, page 22:

Forfeiting Agendas
Some card abilities require the Corporation or Runner to forfeit an agenda. When a player forfeits an agenda, he
selects any agenda in his score area and permanently removes it from
the game (it does not go to Archives or the heap). He no longer scores
points for the forfeited agenda.

Given the Medical Breakthrough is removed from the game, it is in neither player's score area and its ability is no longer active:

While an agenda is in the Corporation’s score area, it is active and
adds its agenda points to his score.

Constant Abilities
Constant abilities continually affect the game as long as the card
they appear on is active and any other specified conditions are met.


You may destroy target base - can this destroy outposts before combat damage is done?

You can destroy the base first.  There is no requirement that combat points be used immediately.

From the Two Player rules link at http://www.starrealms.com/learn-to-play/

If an ability grants Combat or trade, that resource goes into a resource pool, which can be used at any point during the Main Phase.

Note that the electronic version of the game acts the same way.


Card for changing the type of lands in the library

There is no card with such effect.

The only card with an effect like the one you describe would be Painter's Servant, but it doesn't change cards type, only color.

In the case of Sphinx's Tutelage, there is no 1-card-trick that would allow milling and entire deck with lands in it.

In legacy, a similar effect is usually achieved using the Painter's Servant + Grindstone combo.


Converted mana costs of tokens and manlands

A token that is created with characteristics defined in the effect generally has converted mana cost 0. The relevant rules are

110.5b: A token doesn't have any characteristics not defined by the spell or ability that created it.
202.3a: The converted mana cost of an object with no mana cost is 0.

If a token is a copy of another permanent or card, then it has all of the characteristics of the original, including its mana cost. So, it's converted mana cost is the same as the converted mana cost of the original permanent.
The relevant rule is:

706.2: When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics... The "copiable values" are... mana cost...

This can be modified by the copy effect. For example, the keyword ability Embalm is defined like this:

702.127a: Embalm is an activated ability that functions while the card with embalm is in a graveyard. “Embalm [cost]” means “[Cost], Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that’s a copy of this card, except it’s white, it has no mana cost, and it’s a Zombie in addition to its other types. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”

In this case, as mentioned above, the converted mana cost of the embalmed copy is 0.
For permanents that have no mana symbols in their mana costs, their CMC is also 0.
For this, the relevant rules are

117.6: Some mana costs contain no mana symbols. This represents an unpayable cost.
202.3: The converted mana cost of an object is a number equal to the total amount of mana in its mana cost, regardless of color.


Do I draw a card when I resolve an enchantment with Eidolon of Blossoms, Opalescence, and Torpor Orb in play?

Eidolon of Blossoms will not trigger due to rule 603.6b.

603.6b Continuous effects that modify characteristics of a permanent do so the moment the permanent is on the battlefield (and not before then). The permanent is never on the battlefield with its unmodified characteristics. Continuous effects don’t apply before the permanent is on the battlefield, however (see rule 603.6d).
Example: If an effect reads “All lands are creatures” and a land card is played, the effect makes the land card into a creature the moment it enters the battlefield, so it would trigger abilities that trigger when a creature enters the battlefield. Conversely, if an effect reads “All creatures lose all abilities” and a creature card with an enters-thebattlefield triggered ability enters the battlefield, that effect will cause it to lose its abilities the moment it enters the battlefield, so the enters-the-battlefield ability won’t trigger.

Let's use Armistice as an example of a non-aura enchantment that would be affected by Opalescence.
You cast and resolve Armistice. According to the rule, Armistice is never on the battlefield without being affected by the continuous effect from Opalescence. Therefore, the Armistice enters as a creature. Torpor Orb prevents creatures from triggering abilities, so nothing triggers.


It seems that the AI thinks the move is bad because White can live in the corner.  I don't see a way to do it, though.  I think your move is okay.  It's strange that the bot marks the move as bad, but didn't try to live during the actual game.

Added:

I don't think that works, @jknappen, but it may still explain the computer's advice.  After this sequence, which prevents the ko:

$$Wcm12
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . 8 X . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 7 . X O . . . |
$$ | . 4 5 X . X O . . |
$$ | . b O X . X O . . |
$$ | . 3 . 1 2 X O . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

White can force at E6, and then has a nice endgame sequence starting at E9.  So it's better to play E2 originally.


Does the flanking provided by Slivers stack?

Each instance of Flanking triggers separately. After the stack resolves, creatures blocking will have -2/-2 until end of turn.

The Rules:

  702.24. Flanking

  702.24a Flanking is a triggered ability that triggers during the declare blockers step. (See rule 509, "Declare Blockers Step.")
  "Flanking" means "Whenever this creature becomes blocked by a creature
  without flanking, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn."

  702.24b If a creature has multiple instances of flanking, each triggers separately.