Does an attacking creature have to deal lethal damage to the blocking creatures before dealing damage to the other blocking creatures?

Yes.
If A is blocked by B, C and D (in that order), then

A must assign lethal damage to B before it can assign any damage to C.
A must assign lethal damage to C before it can assign any damage to D.
A must assign lethal damage to D before it can assign any damage to the defending player or planeswalker (if A has trample).

510.1c [...] However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that’s blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage. [...]
510.1d [...] However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that it’s blocking unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocked creature is assigned lethal damage. [...]

Banding overrides these rules.

Who chooses the assignment order?

The controller of the creature dealing damage. Three turn-based actions occur in the Declare Blockers Step before players get priority:

509.1. First, the defending player declares blockers. [...]
509.2. Second, for each attacking creature that’s become blocked, the active player announces that creature’s damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures blocking it in an order of that player’s choice. [...]
509.3. Third, for each blocking creature, the defending player announces that creature’s damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures it’s blocking in an order of that player’s choice. [...]

you giant growth the 2/3 making it a 5/6 how does that change the damage?

Players gain Priority after declaring attacking and blocking damage orders[CR 509.5], but before assigning damage[CR 510.1].
We have an attacking 5/5 blocked by a 5/6 and a 2/2. The attacking creature chose to damage the (now) 5/6 first.
The attacking creature must assign at least 6 damage to the 5/6 before it can assign any to the 2/2. It can only assign 5 damage, so

The 5/5 deals 5 damage to the 5/6.
The 5/6 deals 5 damage to the 5/5.
The 2/2 deals 2 damage to the 5/5.

so

The 5/5 takes 7 damage
The 5/6 takes 5 damage
The 2/2 takes no damage


Is there a site to play Go online against a computer?

Some Go servers allow computers to "log in" and play just like regular users. On KGS, for example, they are marked with a computer icon, and there is a setting in the "automatch" for finding games with bots. More details are available here: http://www.gokgs.com/help/faq/bots.html


Why don't I get an chance to respond to the Extinction Event choice?

You cannot react to the even/odd choice in Extinction Event because that choice is made during the spell's resolution.
In general, you don't make all kinds of choices while casting a spell. As specified in rules 601.2b-d, you choose modes, splices, other cost modifiers, targets, and how to divide or distribute an effect among targets. Any other choice, like even/odd in Extinction Event, doesn't happen until the spell resolves.
While the choice on Extinction Event may look similar to a modal choice, a modal choice specifically requires you to choose from a list of actions, so an instruction to "choose" other things is different.

This fact is also mentioned in a Gatherer ruling on Extinction Event:

You choose odd or even while Extinction Event is resolving. Players can’t take any actions between the time you make that choice and the time some creatures go extinct.


Will Sigarda, Host of Herons and Armor of Thorns cause infinite cleanup steps?

The sacrifice does not happen; but this does not cause more than one extra cleanup step.

  603.7b A delayed triggered ability will trigger only once—the next time its trigger event occurs—unless it has a stated duration, such as “this turn.” If its trigger event occurs more than once simultaneously and the ability doesn’t have a stated duration, the controller of the delayed triggered ability chooses which event causes the ability to trigger.

This shows that once the delayed trigger happens at the beginning of the next cleanup; it will not trigger again after that. Preventing the sacrifice from happening doesn't change the fact that the trigger still happened.

Sigarda, Host of Herons does prevent the player from having to sacrifice Armor of Thorns, because the controller of the delayed triggered ability is the player who originally cast Armor of Thorns:

  603.7d If a spell creates a delayed triggered ability, the source of that delayed triggered ability is that spell. The controller of that delayed triggered ability is the player who controlled that spell as it resolved.

So there will be a second cleanup step because something triggered during the cleanup step, but there is no trigger that occurs at the beginning of the second cleanup step.


This die is from the Star Wars: Galactic Battle Game.  This was a game that involved individual action figures being purchased which came with cards & dice for use in the game. Some models like Yoda or Amidala came with black & gold dice, and others like Captain Rex or Ahsoka came with blue & white dice.

(blue dice source)

(gold dice source)


Does an action which gives you +2 Advance Civilization require they be used together?

Looking through the deck for similar cards to Padraigin-3110, I came across 1 essentially identical card, Nakagawakozi (spend energy to improve economy, rather than spending culture to improve diplomacy, but same general idea). I came across 2 other cards which allow you to regress a ship -2 (Jorg) or advance a ship +2 (Terra-Bettia).

Jorg specifically mentions that you must regress a single ship by -2. Terra-Bettia is a bit more ambiguous, but does mention advancing "a ship" +2, implying that it must be a single ship.

In the absence of any clarifications from the designer / manufacturer, and given there are similar cards to Padraigin which specifically mention the action must be performed on a single ship, while Padraigin does not specifically mention the same, the benefit of Padraigin-3110 seems to be equivalent to rolling two separate dice, each containing the diplomacy symbol. Similarly, taking the action at Nakagawakozi would be equivalent to rolling two economy symbols on the dice. That is, you can advance one ship +2, or two ships +1.


Ticket to Ride trade original destination cards later in the game

You cannot trade destination cards at all: neither the ones you receive at the start nor any you receive later.

You get three at the start and can choose to keep all three or just two (discarding the other one). Rulebook:

  Shuffle the Destination Ticket cards and deal 3 cards to each player. Each player
  looks at their Destination Tickets and decides which ones they wish to keep. A player
  must keep at least two, but may keep all three if he chooses. Any returned cards are
  placed on the bottom of the Destination Ticket deck. This deck is then placed next to the
  board. Players keep their Destination Tickets secret until the end of the game.

For destination cards drawn during the game as an action, you draw three and keep one or more, discarding the one(s) you don't keep.

Again rulebook:

  – The player draws 3 Destination Tickets from the top of the deck. He must keep at least one of them, but he may keep
  two or all three if he chooses. Any returned cards are placed on the bottom of the deck.

There is no mechanism for trading them or discarding them later.


Physical representation of static effects

If you do need something physical, the important thing is that it be totally distinct from counters.
My general suggestion would be a different type of marker, not placed on your creatures. This is especially true for anthems: they're pumping everything, so you only really want one indicator. For Nightmare, you could use a die next to the card, perhaps at the bottom since that's where power/toughness usually are. It'd best if you used something totally different from what you use for counters, e.g. a larger black die for Nightmare and smaller colored dice for counters. (You do see something like this in competitive games sometimes: a die for prowess triggers, or for Tarmogoyf power, but it's pretty much always off to the side for clarity.)
But the problem with all these things is that you can get out of sync. If you play a swamp and forget to update your Nightmare, instead of helping you, that physical reminder is now misleading you. I suspect you'll end up periodically counting anyway just to be sure. In contrast, physical markers are great for counters because you naturally make them correct: something adds a counter, so you do. You don't have to manually tie two things together.
And yes, I'd say that using coins on creatures for this is just asking for trouble, and I just wouldn't do it regardless of how casual the game is: it's not about formality, it's about not messing up. You have to take so much care to avoid mistakes, and if you do make them and end up adding counters instead of anthem-markers, there's not really a good way to sort out afterwards.

As far as legality in tournaments, this can be an issue, but the Tournament Rules are naturally not specific; judges have some discretion. The underlying principle is that players are responsible for "maintaining a clear and legal game state." There's a bit about applying this to game markers:

3.8 Game Markers
Small items (e.g. glass beads) may be used as markers and placed on top of a player’s own library or graveyard as a reminder for in-game effects. These markers may not disguise the number of cards remaining in that zone nor completely obscure any card.
Players using markers to represent in-game components (e.g. permanents) must have a way of clearly representing any in-game status, such as whether a permanent is tapped. Sleeves or card backs that appear similar to any player’s sleeves or card backs may not be used as markers. A tournament official may disallow the use of game markers that can cause confusion or that are deemed inappropriate or offensive.

(emphasis mine)
So, in the end it's up to the judges. If your physical representation of static effects is confusing your opponent, and they call a judge, the judge can ask you to stop using those markers. And if you make any sort of mistake due to confusion from those markers, you can face consequences just as you could for any mistake; you're always responsible for maintaining game state.


Where do Auras go when a card is put on top of its owner's library?

It goes to the graveyard.

You seem to be under the misconception that Auras follow the permanent to which they are attached to the graveyard. That's not the case. It's just a coincidence that both end up in the same place.

When an object changes zone (e.g. goes from the battlefield to the graveyard), it becomes a brand new object. The original object ceases to exist, and a new one is created in the new zone.

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule: [...]

No matter whether the enchanted permanent goes to the graveyard or to the player's library, the object the Aura was enchanting has ceased to exist. The game doesn't tolerate that since Auras are suppose to enchant something, so it sends the Aura to the graveyard.

  303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

If it was an Equipment or Fortification instead, it would remain on the battlefield unattached.

  704.5p If an Equipment or Fortification is attached to an illegal permanent, it becomes unattached from that permanent. It remains on the battlefield.


Is the number coins a private information

Your coins are kept on your board. The number of coins you have can therefore easily be seen or checked by the other players.
Rules:

Each player begins the game with 3 value “1” coins which they place on
their board.


Do Door of Destinies and Myr Turbine interact?

If you choose Myr as the creature type for Door of Destinies, all Myr, whether cast from your hand or searched for or tokens, get +1/+1 for each charge counter on the Door.

However, the Door only gets counters when you cast a spell of the type Myr. What you are doing with the Myr Turbine is activating an ability. The first ability puts a token in play, the second a creature card from your library, but in both cases it's activating an ability, not casting a spell.

Casting the Myr Battlesphere (and I mean casting it from your hand, not putting it in play using the Turbine) would activate the Door of Destinies, but only for the Battlephere itself, not for the subsequent tokens because they don't get cast but result from a triggered ability.


This thread on BGG suggests a co-designer has clarified that -7/+7 is not a hard limit.  I couldn't find the exact post to clarify that but one of the designers has been very active answering questions.

Something in the rules here say is.

  Note: at any time, the players can recalculate their energy and
  ecology totals to check that they haven’t made a mistake

This to me would imply that you can move beyond -7/+7 as it can be recalculated at any time.  If you stopped moving at the extremes then its possible that the total couldn't be calculated in retrospect.


We're in touch with Cartemundi at the moment, their core business is card games but they do board games too. For us they'll be doing cards, rules, box, sourcing and packing counters and completing the boxes (wrapping and all) ready to ship.

They do a minimum order size of 500 and they're prices get substantially better the more you print. John is extremely helpful, and has helped ensure that our game is as cheap as possible to print, while retaining maximum quality.

http://www.cartamundi.com/en

In the US there's the company that print Fluxx (for the life of me I can't find their name)

Or these chaps: http://360manufacturingservices.com/

And as always, Google is your friend


Cthulhu flux metamorphosis/ madness clarification

He's still an investigator.

When you attach a Creeper to a Keeper that is also an Investigator, it doesn't suddenly stop being an Investigator. There are two reasons for this:

Investigator is an icon, not a special power, so Madness does not remove it. (Attaching a Creeper to something with Doom icons doesn't remove those Doom icons, either.)
Just because they're stark raving mad doesn't mean they've stopped investigating or stopped being human. (Unless the Creeper is Metamorphosis. But even then, they're still an investigative... being.)

The "special powers" are the ones printed on the card in addition to the standard Keeper text, like the power that the Federal Agents have to discard any Creeper by discarding themselves from play. So the Federal Agents can't discard themselves to remove the Madness that they've been afflicted with (regardless of how appropriate that would be).


If I play Krenko Mob Boss and retain priority [...]

First, let's clear up this confusion. If you cast Krenko and retain priority, then Krenko has not resolved. You need to wait until after Krenko resolves, at which point you will have priority because you are the active player.
Now, after Krenko resolves, you decide to equip Swiftfoot Boots to Krenko. Equip is an activated ability. That means it will not resolve until all players pass in succession.

702.6a Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”
608.1. Each time all players pass in succession, the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves. [...]

Your opponent may choose not to pass, and cast Unsummon instead. If they do that, then Krenko will be returned to your hand. Then, the equip ability will attempt to resolve, but will fail because Krenko is gone. Here's a little diagram to illustrate the process:

activate ability -> stuff happens -> ability resolves if target is still legal


In 7 Wonders, can you make an informed decision on which resources to draft?

The last pages in the rulebook have a tree showing all the structures, what they cost, when they become available, and which structures allow them to be built for free. I'm not aware of something similar for the expansions though.

That being said, if you're constantly analyzing all the cards that might become available in the future before making a pick, you're not going to be very popular with your group...


Are there quadruplet cards in Magic the Gathering?

The phrase you're looking for is "functional reprint" - they're not literally reprinted cards, but they're functionally the same.

There's a list of them on MTG Salvation. You can just skim through the table and look for cards with lots of reprints. Generally cards like that are pretty boring, for example vanilla creatures. Simpler cards tend to make sense in more sets, and the renaming happens when the old name doesn't fit thematically with the set they want to print it in.

Some of the most-reprinted cards:

Grizzly Bears (1G, 2/2): Barbary Apes, Balduvian Bears, Bear Cub, Forest Bear, Cylian Elf, Runeclaw Bear (except not all of those are bears)
Hill Giant (2R, 3/3): Tor Giant, Ogre Warrior, Barbarian Horde, Wild Jhovall, Canyon Minotaur, Lagac Lizard, Russet Wolves (except most of those aren't giants)

(There are plenty more creatures that have been functionally reprinted a few times; some even have exciting abilities like flying or mountainwalk!)

And I think the most-reprinted noncreature spell (though I didn't go through the list too carefully yet) is Remove Soul (1U, "Counter target creature spell"): False Summoning, Preemptive Strike, and Essence Scatter. (Note that Preemptive Strike is from Portal Three Kingdoms and thus the wording on the physical card is really really awkward, but the oracle text is the same.)


How can I minimize Black Market set up and clean up time?

Here's an option used by Donald X. Vaccarino. Instead of using the normal randomizer cards, take one card from each kingdom stack and use those for randomizer cards. When you're doing normal randomization, just add the chosen cards to their respective kingdom stacks, and after the game, take one card from each stack to add back to the new randomizers.

Then, when you play Black Market games, you will have a ready-made Black Market deck! The 10 cards in the kingdom will already be out of the randomizer deck, and the backs are the normal backs so you don't have to pull cards from the box like you do with your option 3.

Donald X. Vaccarino talks about this method here.


When is the right time to do a scholar-only run?

You can't stand all disaster you need to at least protect your scholars.So you always need other people that you sacrifice for the disaster effect.

But if a lot of disaster are in the beginning of the year this can be possible. Also you need to play against beginner player as experienced players will block you or do more point than you , by having more room than you.

Getting the geisha soon is also a plus for this strategy.

I've already see someone win by this strategy but more often they will fail. In my opinion you need to mix other source point to achieve victory.


Is modification of the face of a card legal?

Looking at the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki and they have a section on tournament that covers marked cards and it appears to only be concerned about identifying the card without needing to see the front of the card. I have also found some specific topics regarding the penalties for marked cards and a topic just defining what one is.

From what I can see the front is not as important as long as the normal text on the card isn't interfered with (so players know what it does) and the card can't be identified while it is in the deck that marking them on the front should not be an issue.

  A card is considered to be marked if it can be identified without seeing the front of the card. This includes but is not limited to warping, creases, discoloration, card thickness or texture, and water-marks. Ifthe cards are sleeved, this includes but is not limited to sleeves with identifying marks or other unique characteristics that distinguish it from other cards in the Deck. Cards that have been physically altered to add or subtract layers of foil, etc, are not legal for Sanctioned tournament play.

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Tournament_Rules
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Marked_Cards
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Marked_card


My recommendation is to:

Introduce recording of the games. This would allow her to study her own games offline, and come back with questions. The habit of recording one's own games is a gift beyond price, and the sooner introduced the stronger the habit will be.
Ask this young girl her own opinion on these questions. A sense of control I believe is vital, and she may well have different choices each meeting. In presenting these choices try to describe them in purely factual terms - just the data without any bias you may have. For the 13x13 board, describe how the balance between corner-play and centre-play will change for example, and ask her when she thinks she is ready for that. Avoid presenting it as a "promotion", so there is no shame in going backwards. Just present it as two different variations that will practice different skills.
In regards tsumego, I would introduce the various types of study, joseki and others, and show her that these are specialty skills that can be practiced and studied on their own. Then let her choose.

I was just two yeas older when I learned chess. Every Thursday evening at 7:00 my dad and I would setup the board under his favourite chair, and I would lose. I bought a book on Openings and another on Combinations and studied those  during the week. I found a couple of friends to play against as well. Eight months in I got my first draw against my Dad, and a couple of weeks later my first win. One of my fondest memories.


Can you activate the abilities of a creature once its been destroyed?

No, you cannot activate an ability once a creature has been destroyed; when a creature is destroyed, it is moved to the graveyard immediately without players getting priority, so there is no chance to activate any abilities, and Comprehensive Rule 113.6 makes it clear that abilities function only on the battlefield (unless some specific exceptions apply):

Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield.

What is possible (and common) is to activate the ability in response to the spell or trigger which would destroy the creature going onto the stack, but before it resolves.


What can I do with my late game mana in Commander

I agree with the other answers, when the problem is "lots of mana, no spells to cast" the most obvious answer is "draw more spells somehow".

But I thought I'd take a look at the problem from a slightly different angle: if your deck consistently has more mana than spells to cast, maybe the problem is the deck's mana curve.

An ideal mana curve means you constantly have spells to cast, and the spells your draw and have in hand get more and more powerful as your mana base builds. Maybe your deck has too many cheap spells but not enough expensive threats?

But if you go too far, early in the game you don't have enough mana to play the spells in hand. However, there are many keywords in magic that help you "cheat" on your mana curve by increasing the power of your spells or increasing your card advantage when you spend a little extra.

Keywords that help:

Cycling: Cast a big spell later, or ramp/replace the card early if you don't yet have the mana base.
Kicker/Multikicker, Replicate, Echo: Spend extra mana for a bigger effect.
Buyback: Easy way to get more spells? Don't put the cast spell in the graveyard. :)
Flashback, Retrace, Unearth: Another way to get more spells? After they hit your graveyard, cast them again.
Evoke: You can play something big later, or gain advantage early.
Forecast: You can play something big later, and gain advantage early.
Miracle: You can play something big later — or if you're lucky, sooner.
Suspend: You can play something big later or… uh… later.
Cumulative upkeep: Arctic Nishoba or Magmatic Core might be nice.
Level up: Make your board stronger.

I'm sure there are more… but that's a start.


How to generate numbers from a Pareto distribution?

One way you could sort of accomplish this for any distribution is to pre-compute a large number of samples (through any method, pulled either at random or evenly spaced) and then put them in a table indexed by your choice of analog randomizer. For example, put 100 samples in a 10x10 grid, and then have players roll two 10-sided dice and look up the corresponding value.

I suggest you stop reading now :)  but here's a silly alternate answer which gets you arbitrarily close to the exact distribution for a fixed level of precision and maximum value. Pick your precision - say, integers - so then pre-compute the values of the CDF at each integer up to your maximum. For Pareto, the first few values look like:
10: 0
11: 0.173553719
12: 0.3055555556
13: 0.4082840237
Give this table to the players. Then to pull from the distribution, repeatedly roll a d10 to generate digits of a real number, and stop when you can tell which thresholds it's between. So for example if the first roll is a 2 then you can stop immediately with result 11, because every real beginning with 0.2 is between the 11 and 12 thresholds. But if the first roll is a 3 then you have to roll again - after say 3-0-0 you would have the result 11, but 3-1 or 3-0-6 would be a 12 and for 3-0-5 you'd have to keep rolling. In this way you will achieve exactly a probability of 0.173553719 of drawing a 10, etc.


Space Marine squads and "Split Fire" rule

Devastator does not have split fire. No marine devastator-equivalent except Space Wolves Long Fangs have the ability to target more than one unit. Fritz either made a mistake or he meant that even if they were to get split fire for free, that's still a lot of points in one unit.


In your shoes, I'd play e16 (atari), Black pulls out to d17, White, e17, threatening to capture two stones, Black c17, you f15 to "capture" the Black stone on f16. But that assumes that the top is the most important part of the board.

If, in fact, the left side is more important, the way you outline is better.


If effects happen at the same time, whose effect works?

It would depend on whose turn it is. The turn player has priority, which means that their effect goes onto the chain first. If the turn player has a Goyo Guardian for example, and they attack a graydle, then Goyo's effect is chain 1. Then the graydle's effect goes onto chain 2. The chain is resolved backwards, which means that the graydle effect happens first, which takes control of the Goyo, and brings back the graydle from the grave, which means that Goyo Guardian's effect would not trigger due to the target no longer being in the grave.It would be reversed if it was the graydle player's turn. The graydle would get chain 1, and goyo would get chain 2 which, again, resolves backwards. Goyo would revive the graydle, forcing the graydle to be on the field instead of the grave, so the graydle's ability would not be able to trigger.You can apply the example to cards other than Goyo guardian to get whatever answer you need.


What happens when you blink a cipher-ed creature?

The creature ceases to exist (permanently) as soon as it leaves the battlefield for any reason.

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule:

None of the exception help cipher. That leaves the card with cipher in exile, encoding a creature that no longer exists, and which will therefore never deal any combat damage again.

When the card returns to the battlefield, it becomes yet again another object. This is why it comes back untapped, untransformed, with summoning sickness, without any counters it used to have, and of course, without any cards encoded on it.

There is a rule to remind you of this:

  702.97c The card with cipher remains encoded on the chosen creature as long as the card with cipher remains exiled and the creature remains on the battlefield. The card remains encoded on that object even if it changes controller or stops being a creature, as long as it remains on the battlefield.


The Enrage triggered ability only triggers once.

An instruction like "[This card] deals 2 damage to each creature" deals all of its damage simultaneously in a single damage-dealing event. The Shaman's redirection effects modify that event to deal 4 damage to the creature with enrage and 0 to the Shaman, but the result is still just one event, which only triggers the Enrage ability once.


Leyline of Combustion w/ two Pandemonium triggers

The Leyline deals 2 damage twice, for a total of 4 damage.

The current oracle text of Pandemonium's ability is:

  Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, that creature's controller may have it deal damage equal to its power to any target of their choice.

This ability has a target, so it can trigger Leyline of Combustion's ability.

The exact sequence of events looks like this:

The creature enters the battlefield under player A's control. Each Pandemonium's ability triggers.
Player A puts one of the Pandemonium triggered abilities on the stack and chooses player B as the target. Player A controls the ability and player B is the target, so player B's Leyline's ability triggers.
Player A puts the other Pandemonium triggered ability on the stack and makes the same choices. Player B's Leyline's ability triggers again.
Player B puts each of the Leyline triggered abilities on the stack.
Each of the Leyline triggered abilities resolves dealing 2 damage to player A, for a total of 4 damage.
Each of the Pandemonium triggered abilities resolves, making the creature deal damage equal to its power to player B.


Generally, the standard accepted openings in regular chess are the same that apply to blitz chess.

Gambit openings are more risky in blitz, as they generally involve long-term gain resulting from short-term disadvantages.  Unless you are very comfortable in a gambit opening that returns significant results fairly early, I would generally avoid them.

Some openings that have fallen into disfavor in standard chess may be more valid in blitz chess, as blitz is far more forgiving of slight flaws in strategy (at least at the casual level).

The most important factor for determining what openings to use in blitz, though, are how familiar you are with the opening.  The more you play the opening, the more familiar you will be with the good responses from your opponent, and the less time you will have to take to think about your response.  The best is if you play non-blitz for a while (quick chess with 10 minute clocks, for example) and really familiarize yourself with the opening lines you are interested in.  This will give you a depth of familiarity that will make your blitz game play a lot more solid, and will also result in you being able to play faster with fewer errors.

Surprise openings suffer from the same problem in blitz chess that they do in other forms of chess: if an opponent is decent enough to not be caught off guard by the opening, they are very likely to punish you by exploiting the weaknesses of the opening (i.e. most "fast mate" openings rely upon premature queen development, and hoping that the opponent doesn't notice the danger; good players will immediately become wary upon early queen development, and respond by putting heavy pressure on your queen, taking the initiative from you).


What does the Scrabble board look like in foreign languages?

The board is the same shape in every language as far as I know

What changes are letters and letter distributions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble_letter_distributions

Welsh is a notable one:

Edit: A 21x21 board apparently exists and seems to be a licensed variant of the game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Scrabble

Credit: Kevin Marks from San Jose, USA - Super Scrabble, CC BY 2.0


Parcheesi question - only one possible move

If you can only use the lower number, you are free to do so (and indeed must do so).
Note the "citation needed" on that one rule you're quoting on wiki. Likely the source for that includes clearer text to the handling of the rule. It means if it is possible to use either of the dice but not both, then the player must use the higher number.
It cannot mean that if you cannot use the higher number that you would somehow be prohibited from using the lower number.
That is not a universal rule, however. The source cited just above that uncited rule on wiki says only that:

If you cannot move by the count of both dice, you may move one pawn by the count of either one of the dice.

The "must use the higher if possible" rule, given its lack of sourcing, should probably be treated as a house rule.


This sounds like Purple People Eater by Waddington's.


They would be trashed as well.  The runner has no use for those tokens, since they add the agenda to their scored point total as soon as they access it.


Advanced two player rules clarification for 7 Wonders

According to the rules, the free city can take any action a 'normal' player can take with a restriction on discarding cards for money. The free city CAN build a wonder. In fact, a good strategy for the third city is to use it to bury cards your opponent might want, e.g. by building the wonder.

The free city CAN also discard a card for money, but only if no other playable card is available. Therefore, if the city has no playable cards, you can choose a card to discard and the free city gains the coins.

(Rules are here: http://www.rprod.com/en/7W-rules.html)


How can I reorder triggered abilities in Arena?

You can enable or disable automatic ordering of triggered abilities and other decisions in the Options -> Gameplay menu, available through the gear symbol in game and out of game.


If an effect would prevent a spell from doing damage, does it continue to prevent that damage after the spell changes zones?

The damage is prevented.

An reference by an object to its own name is a reference to itself. So "Searing Blood deals 3 damage" has the object on the stack deal three damage. That's the very same object that was targeted by Dromoka's Command.

The object no longer exists when you are instructed to have it deal 3 damage, but that's fine. It can still deal damage. Last Known Information about the object is used if required.

  201.4. Text that refers to the object it’s on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule: [none of which are pertinent]

  112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. Note that some abilities cause a source to do something (for example, “Prodigal Pyromancer deals 1 damage to target creature or player”) rather than the ability doing anything directly. In these cases, any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source because the effect needs to be divided checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. In both instances, if the source is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at that time, its last known information is used. The source can still perform the action even though it no longer exists.

This scenario occurs more often for creatures with abilities. Take a Prodigal Sorcerer that was killed before its ability resolved, for example. It's the object on the battlefield that's doing the damage, even though it no longer exists. It's the color of the object on the battlefield that's consulted if the target has any Protection from Red, not the color of the object in the graveyard.


When does the game end when the last player pushes the first player over the 40-point limit?

The game ends immediately after someone has 40+ intel points. You must have a different version of the rulebook. The copy on the playtheagents website states twice:

The Goal - Your goal is simple - to be the first player to reach 40 intel points.
Reminder: the first person to reach 40 intel points, wins.

There is no mention of ending the game only on a players turn when they have 40+ intel points, nor requiring all players to have the same number of turns.


What happens if I have two different cards that give me an extra turn after this one?

You get two extra turns.

  500.7. Some effects can give a player extra turns. They do this by adding the turns directly after the current turn. If a player gets multiple extra turns or if multiple players get extra turns during a single turn, the extra turns are added one at a time. The most recently created turn will be taken first.


What is this card game called and it's rules

This looks like a board that could be played similarly to the commercialized version of Rummoli (Canada).

Essentially, a number of hands are distributed to all players + a spare kitty hand (usually called widow in this game, but kitty, crib, or dead hand also can be heard).

4 phases to the game:

Ante: Everyone drops a penny (or whatever) into each of the nine pots. Your board seems to have 12.
Swap: The dealer can choose to keep his hand or swap it for the kitty. Otherwise, it can be auctioned off: whoever is willing to pay most among nondealers pays the amount to a central pot (although in this context could go right on the cat).
Poker pot (doesn't seem to be a thing on your board): One of the 9 pots is awarded to whoever can show the best poker hand among 5 of his best cards beating any other person's best cards.
Playing out: Whoever wins the poker pot phase (again, difference with your board) draws out the lowest card in hand, e.g. 4 of clubs. Any player can/should play the 5 of clubs. Then the next card in sequence and suit draws out cards until no one plays the next card. Last person to play the card in the previous sequence then must play his lowest card from an oppositely coloured suit (from clubs: either hearts or diamonds but not spades) or pass. This goes on until a person clears his hand down to zero cards. This person would win the central pot, and get paid out for opponent's dead cards. Having said all that, there's a few things to remember, which is where the other pots come in:
The other pots. When playing out, if you manage to play any of the cards on the board, you can claim from the pots. It's that simple. Commercial Rummoli pays out to: 10 of spades, jack of diamonds, queen of clubs, king of hearts, ace of spades, as well as any person able to play both the king+ace of diamonds or 789 together in any suit. These comprise the 7 card pots in Rummoli. Any card not played (by virtue of being in the kitty, not played due to being outmaneuvered, split between multiple players, or locked in hand due to a deadlock) leaves the pots intact, and grow on the next hand, and so on.
When a deadlock occurs, people must pay the central pot the number of cards' worth in coins, making the next pot bigger. This usually occurs if there is an inordinate number of one colour of dead cards in the kitty.

Differences between the commercial version and the table I see here:

The deuces: it makes sense to probably incentivize the reward of playing the twos of each suit as it makes you less likely to have the tail end of the sequence.
Sequence pot: 89T of diamonds.
Double diamond: QK instead of KA.
Tenner: Ten of hearts instead of spades.
No poker pot.

Otherwise, the resemblances are too similar for it to be something else.

Essentially, it's not the most neurostimulating game, but it does teach some basic decision-making (keep a hand with 1 pot to claim, or swap for a chance at better/more?) and failed probability (if you have the ace of spades and someone finishes with their king, you get nothing!). Great game to stimulate 6-14 year olds as well as some social gaming among adults or a family mix of sorts. The game is usually played with 50 "tokens", but could easily be 50 cents or 50 dimes. There's a possibility of some house rules applying as well as if someone forgets to claim their pot, how to deal with it locally (it's usually dead within a certain period x of playing the card (either as you play it, or before the cards are discarded for the next sequence of cards).

Hope this helps you with what you need to know!


Is a player required to ship on a wharf if they are able to?

No,
Using the Wharf is optional, and a player is not required to use it each turn.  Here are a couple quotes from the rules.
The Violet Buildings (page 9)

A player is not required to use the special function of an occupied violet
building if he does not want to (important with the wharf, see below).

The Wharf (page 11 - emphasis, mine)

The wharf can only be used once per captain phase by its owner, but he
may choose when to use it, if at all.


Can't understand the meaning of 'heart finesse'

Heart Finesse is really two words that should be dealt with separately.  Heart is just one of the four suits in a standard deck of cards.  One could substitute Clubs, Diamonds or Spades and use it in the same phrase.

Finesse is the more interesting term.  It is a form of a dilemma posed to one's opponents in a game of bridge.

When a team makes a contract in bridge they are obligating themselves to capture a certain number of tricks.  For this example we'll choose a contact of "Four Spades".  This obligates the team to take 10 tricks.  The total number of tricks available is 13 and a bid requires (6+the bid) to be successful.

Absent trumps, high cards win each trick in bridge, so aces, kings and queens take most tricks.

To continue this example, the player who made trump is going to realize that he can only make 9 tricks with some certainly and needs to figure out how to gain an extra trick.  A common way to do this is to use a finesse.

The finesse utilizes a gap in the owner's suit of cards and tries to force an opponent into not getting a trick for a high card.

To continue our example assume that the declarer has AQ in hearts and 72 on dummy.  After capturing a trick on dummy he leads the 7.  The opponent now has a dilemma, she can play the King only to see it fall to the Ace, or she can play a lower card and Declarer will cover it with his Queen.  In this way, the Declarer can possibly get two heart tricks when only one was assured.

This is an example of a direct finesse.  There are many other kinds of finesses which you can read about at Wikipedia.  They all have the same basic theme though, trying to get an extra trick (or more) by exploiting a gap in a sequence of cards.

Without any special knowledge a finesse has a basic 50% chance of success.  You can only finesse one opponent and the card you are trying to finesse could always be with the other opponent.  Usually, due to the bidding nature of Bridge you have a pretty good guess at which opponent to finesse, but you never quite get to 100% certainty!

Depending on your knowledge of cards and Bridge in particular I don't doubt that I used terms that are unfamiliar.  Please ask clarifying questions or leave comments and I will explain further.


Can I play Dominion: Hinterlands by itself?

Unfortunately, the clerk was mistaken. From Rio Grande Games' website:

  Dominion: Hinterlands is an expansion, and cannot be played by itself; to play with it, you need Dominion, or a standalone expansion to Dominion (e.g., Dominion: Intrigue). Those provide the Basic cards you need to play (Treasure, Victory, and Curse cards), as well as the full rules for setup and gameplay.

So your options are:

Buy the original Dominion
Buy Dominion: Intrigue
Buy Dominion: Base Cards (for the base cards) and download the game rules from their website

NB: Rio Grande Games' website says that the base cards are coming soon, but the set has actually been out since 2012

Ask for a refund

But in an alternate universe, it might have been a standalone…

The Secret History of Dominion, written by Dominion creator Donald X. Vaccarino, mentions that during the development of Hinterlands, they considered making it a standalone game:

  Hinterlands flirted with being a standalone. Intrigue was a standalone; Seaside had playmats and tokens; Prosperity had playmats and tokens.  Hinterlands and Dark Ages had no playmats or tokens. Would they just be slightly cheaper? Would what the price would have to be look attractive? That had been an issue before. I figured hey, one of the sets could be a standalone, let’s say Hinterlands, and the other could be a full 500 cards – no playmats, not a standalone, just gigantic. I had two solutions that let the sets be 500 cards.

  There were certain pros and cons to having Hinterlands be a standalone. In the end Jay decided against it. For a while I was trying to make the set simpler though, to make it function better as a standalone.


Can I Special Summon Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon from the graveyard?

can I special summon it from the graveyard?

Short answer, no... The card says it Must be Ritual Summoned, so you can't Special Summon it unless it's a Ritual Summon. Longer answer...

I mean, it says it must be Ritual Summoned but unlike the Chaos Max it doesn't say it can't be special summoned by other ways.

I understand your confusion, and I was also confused at first. Seems that Konami recently changed the phrasing of such restriction on their cards, and updated it from the previous way of writing it they had. It is not uncommon for Konami to update or change their phrasing (but not the effect) to reduce ambiguity and shorten the text.
Let's see why analyzing MAX Dragon... Currently, there are two (three, but two of the same set) printings of Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon.

The first one is from a movie pack, code MVP1-EN004 released on 2016 which reads:

You can Ritual Summon this card with "Chaos Form". Must be Ritual Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. [...]

The second one is from the Legendary Duelists, code LED3-EN000 released two months ago (2018), which had it's phrasing updated (just the phrasing, though, not the actual effect). It reads:

You can Ritual Summon this card with "Chaos Form". Must be Ritual Summoned. [...]

This tells us that Konami now rephrased such part of this card's effect (and of others) so it is shorter. Now, cards that read "Must be X Summoned" are restricted to such kind of summoning only.


Hopefully you are playing Pachisi and not Parcheesi.  If yes, then this answer is accurate.

An ebook by Damian Walker here:
A Book of Historic Board Games

Page 25 - 1.2.7

  A grace counts as if were a separate throw scoring 1, in addition to
  the value of the cowries.  Graces are used for entering and moving
  pieces.

As long as you have a grace at then end of your set of rolls you can bring this piece home.


When to make a continuation bet and how much in Texas Hold'em?

I would say that you want to make a continuation bet a large percentage of the time if you have signalled you are in the lead and no opponent has signalled otherwise.  What this "large percentage" is probably depends on what you are comfortable with and how aggressive you are, but I would estimate it would vary from 50% to 100%.  Continuation betting on every single flop will make you predictable.  You should also factor in how tight the table is - placing the bet more at a tight table and less at a loose table or against loose opponents.

Don't vary your bet based on whether or not you hit the flop.  This gives a signal to your opponents which will eventually allow good opponents to tell whether you hit the flop. Vary your bet based only on the texture of the flop - as you mentioned, a flop with more draw possibilities rates a larger bet, although some flops may be so dangerous that you may not make a continuation bet at all (i.e. Jh, Qh, Kh) if you did not catch a piece of them.


Can I play/use a card that can't fully resolve?

Yes! From the rulebook, page 7:

  When resolving a card ability, resolve as much of the ability as can
  be resolved, and ignore the rest.

In the Anger example, you would first gain the aember from playing the card. Then, if you have one or more friendly creature in play, you must choose one. If that creature is exhausted, ready it. If there is one or more valid fight targets, your chosen creature fights one of them. But any one of these bits fizzling doesn't prevent the others from happening. If there are no valid targets, you still get to ready a friendly creature. If you have no exhausted creatures, you can still have one of your ready creatures fight as a result of Anger. If you have a stunned card, Anger can remove its stun, as the stun removal replaces the fight use, even if your opponent has no creatures on the board.

FFG further clarified this in this video.


Unbreakable Formation vs. Cry of the Carnarium

The card Unbreakable Formation will not generally save your creatures from dying from Cry of the Carnarium, because the ability Indestructible does not save creatures from dying from toughness loss.

The ability Indestructible is defined in rule 702.12b:

  A permanent with indestructible can't be destroyed. Such permanents aren't destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the state-based action that checks for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g).

The rule it references, 704.5g, is part of the State-based action rules:

  If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

The previous rule, 704.5f, says this:

  If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this event.

As you can see, if a creature takes damage greater than or equal to its toughness, it is "destroyed", so Indestructible can stop it. But if a creature loses all of its toughness, it is just put into the graveyard, so Indestructible doesn't do anything about that.

Magic Arena displays damage the same way it displays toughness loss, but they are not the same thing.


How do twitch effects work with the stack vs activated tap abilities?

There are certain actions that you undertake in Magic which do not use the stack, and therefore cannot be responded to. (AFAIK this has never been different for as long as the stack has existed, so this is not really a recent change.) The most important of these are:

Paying costs
Activating mana abilities

Your first example above is an instance of #1. The cost of the Steel Overseer's ability is to tap the Overseer. After the Overseer is tapped, the +1/+1 ability goes on the stack, and each player gets priority. At this time it's too late to tap the Overseer, since it's already tapped and the ability is already on the stack.

Your second example is an instance of #2. Tapping a land for mana does not use the stack,  so you cannot attempt to tap a land in response to your opponent starting to play a spell. By the time you receive priority, the land is already tapped and the mana is in your opponent's pool (or has already been spent to put the spell on the stack).

Generally, then, you need to play your tap abilities before your opponent has the chance to do anything. This means:

If you're trying to deprive your opponent of mana, you should tap his lands in his upkeep step. Your opponent will be able to tap them in response to pay for instant-speed spells and abilities if he has any, but he won't be able to use that mana for any main-phase spells.
If you're trying to keep a creature from attacking, the last time when you can do so is the Begin Combat step. By the time you get priority in the Declare Attackers step, your opponent's creatures are already tapped and attacking, so tapping them has no effect.
If you're trying to prevent your opponent from using some sort of other tap ability on a creature or artifact, your best bet is to tap it at a time when the ability is not relevant or has no targets. For example, tap your opponent's Avacynian Priest in his end step. He could activate the ability in response, but it doesn't matter since your creatures will untap at the beginning of your turn anyway.
If you're trying to tap something like the Steel Overseer, which has an ability that's always relevant, you're basically SOL.


Can people win at Diplomacy using a "Qin strategy?"

I have a hard time seeing this being successful.  The problem is that it doesn't mean much in the early game for England to be allied with Austria or Turkey.  So effectively you'd be playing EI versus FG, while Austria and Turkey teamed up on Russia.  The likely scenario is that the 2 v 2 battle doesn't go very far, and the 2 v 1 battle goes well, resulting in a stronger Austria and Turkey.  At that point, Turkey pretty much has to attack Austria or Italy, and either way doesn't seem to bode well for England.

In general, having an ally across the board is nice, but it isn't a replacement for having an ally that you can coordinate with directly, especially in the early game.  You'd need to look at it as more of a long-term alliance.  Perhaps as England you coordinate with Austria, Turkey, and Italy, but you start by getting Germany to help you take apart France quickly (with Italy's help), then activate your cross-board alliance to take out Germany.  It's debatable whether that really meets the criteria of a "Qin strategy" though.


The descriptions sound a little like a game I played at school and was know by us (possible as local dialect) as Slam.

Doing a google search I've found [double patience] which matched your description.1

28 cards are played out in 7 piles with 1-7 in each (if you recalled 21 then then would work as 6 piles 1-6 in each)

The object is to get rid of your cards onto central piles.

It's possible to play with multiple players if each player has their own deck.


What is the difference between 'passageway' and 'regular door' links?

There are monsters that can't pass through the doors, Dragon for example. And the Bullrog kicks out the doors and make them a passageway instead.


Why do some artifacts require tapping and sacrificing as an activation cost?

Both forms of these kinds of abilites, with and without the tap requirement, have appeared on a significant number of cards, both recent and old. For example, compare Fountain of Renewal from M19 with Explosive Apparatus, also from M19. This implies that this is not a standard template, but rather a choice they make on a case-by-case basis.

The primary other interactions that make it relevant whether or not the artifact taps are other abilities that tap artifacts as a cost (such as Ghirapur Aether Grid), spells with Improvise, effects that make the artifact also a creature (making summoning sickness apply and allowing the artifact to attack), and effects that tap permanents. The design team probably considers these interactions when making that choice.

Cards that have been revealed so far in Thrones of Eldraine that have these kinds of interactions include Animating Faerie, Shimmer Dragon, and Workshop Elders. Of particular note, the same animation effect appears on both Animating Faerie and Workshop Elders, and may be a minor theme in the set. These cards probably affected the design of Food tokens, and of the card Witching Well, which sacrifices but does not tap in the cost of its activated ability.


What is this four-player card game with only Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces?

In my family (Austria), it is called "HAUSDEPP". So it lasts a little longer than EZEL ;)

We dont place a hand in the center, but have #numer_of_players-1 walnuts in the center of the table, and everyone needs to grab one, as soon as one player reaches 4 equals and grabs the first.

Apparently, the game is "well known" under that name. Could not find official rules, but several references. You can also take bottle caps in the center:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28527236@N05/3361355864


If the box looks like the images below, I'd say it's from the 1950's which is when all the mentions of a board with that trademark number appear to be dated.  I've found examples estimated at 1955 and 1957 for year of production (linked below).

http://www.cathyscollectables.co.uk/pages/Vintage_Game_Waddingtons_Monopoly_Board_Only_P_711981_Circa_1957_England_258870-z=879773&p=108919.cfm

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/toys-and-games/games/john-waddinton-vintage-1955-edition-monopoly-trade-mark-711981-hd_101549207


Is Risk a computationally difficult game

Disclaimer: I have some programming background but haven't ever actually tried to make a Risk AI, so this isn't 100% definitive.

Although making a "perfect" Risk AI might be, it seems like it wouldn't in theory. At the end of the day, Risk is a resource management game, and that's something a computer can do.

For starters, the combat mechanism is fairly straightforward. There's only 6 basic types of fights (1-1,2-1,3-1,1-2,2-2,3-2), and everything else is just an extension of those parameters. The average value and variance of these can easily be hard-coded, so it's simple for the computer to calculate the probabilities. And one of those, the 3-2, is the most common by far. I would imagine the average advantage of an attacker in that fight (quick Google search showed 0.158 men per roll) would be an important number in Risk strategy as a whole. The only other source of luck, the cards, can be estimated as well.

After that, there's the risk-reward decisions. What's the value in holding territory, vs. the risk of over-extending? Well, the value is the armies, and that can be calculated. There's 0.33 for the territory, some large number for the card if it's the first attack, some amount for the inroads to a continent, and some amount for the possibility of a elimination and the cards that could come with it. The value of the cards can be determined (but I imagine that it would be large enough to turn into "Always take over something if it's even remotely possible, and if there's a good chance of taking someone out without completely destroying the current defensive position go for it, especially if a set is guaranteed.") The continent effect can also be easily calculated by determine the probability of wiping the continent (which is just a bunch of battles that are already well defined.)

The risk of being overrun would be along the lines of "this is how many armies my opponent is mustering. If he puts them all on his front line what happens to my income?" and uses that to determine what sized defense force is good enough. In a situation where continents aren't a thing, it might be far more reasonable to not worry about defense and focus on attacks (since the attacker has the advantage in all situations with more than 3 armies.)

The map positioning would be a bit more difficult, but I'm sure that it can be solved, even with just simulations worst case.

The problem with a Risk AI is two fold:

1) A computer will not be able to perform effective diplomacy. Regardless of how much player history the game remembers, there's still a human element of "who has the target on their back" that a computer will just not be able to match. Especially in games with multiple humans and multiple bots, the bots don't "know" if the humans are in an alliance or not. It'll see weakly defended borders and think "Well, as long as my borders are bigger, they'll go for the easier prey instead" without knowing that it's because of a mutual agreement.

2) What's the value in it? Thought it might not be 100% be "winning humans are happy humans, let the humans win," I'm sure that a minor part of it. However, the bigger question is the luck vs. skill curve. Unless or until a game becomes 100% luckless, there will eventually be a point where further thought or processing just doesn't make sense. Especially in a situation where the human using the device just wants to get to their next turn. Especially in Risk, where variance is high and there's little way of being able to mitigate it, it doesn't make sense to make a bot that does the "perfect move every time" because the advantage gained is dwarfed by the variance. Especially when the computer can just as easily manipulate said variance ever so slightly.....

I remember playing an old PC Risk game where the computer would Ping-Pong between 4 different battles, as it re-calculates after each roll what the most profitable attack would be. So they do exist. But I would imagine that for most apps out there AI is just tacked on. Heck, there's a non zero chance the difficulty just determines how much the computer "cheats" and the actual AI decision making is just always the same (I'm sure some manager eventually determined that a "high-end Risk bot" would not increase revenue enough to warrant the development time.)

At the end of the day, Risk is NOT a game where people at the end of it will think "Wow, the AI in this game was remarkable! They're always able to find ways to hit weak points, and have just enough people on defense to prevent mass invasions. I was beaten hands down by tactics alone, and the computer didn't cheat at all!" Why, then, bother with making a really difficult bot?


Would Cabal Stronghold count Snow-Covered Swamps?

Yes, the snow-covered lands do count as basic lands.

  205.4c Any land with the supertype “basic” is a basic land. Any land that doesn’t have this supertype is a nonbasic land, even if it has a
  basic land type.: Cards printed in sets prior to the Eighth Edition
  core set didn’t use the word “basic” to indicate a basic land. Cards
  from those sets with the following names are basic lands and have
  received errata in the Oracle card reference accordingly: Forest,
  Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp, Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered
  Island, Snow-Covered Mountain, Snow-Covered Plains, and Snow-Covered
  Swamp.


Does Rageblood Shaman give itself +1/+1?

The Shaman has what is called a Static Ability. These kinds of abilities are active as long as their source is on the battlefield. So it will be active from the moment the Shaman enters the battlefield until the moment it leaves.

As for what it effects, "Other Minotaurs" means exactly that, any Minotaur other than the one with the ability gets the +1/+1 and trample. If you happen to control 2 of the Shamans they will each effect the other one, but they will not effect themselves.

In order for an ability like that to grant itself that ability it needs to drop the "Other" and just say "Minotaur creatures you control get +1/+1 and have trample." An example of this template is almost any Sliver.

Also note that the Shaman already has trample, so the part of the ability that you should be caring about is the +1/+1.

  604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they're simply true.


Have there been revisions to the rules of Catan?

I think this is worth an explicit answer, but I agree with @ConMan and @Gendolkari in the comments of the question and @JoeW's answer.

Yes, there have been many minor changes in the rules.

No, you have never been restricted from taking other actions following a roll of a 7. You always get your turn as normal.

One possible source of confusion in this area is the limit on playing 1 development card per turn. Using a knight before your roll in many ways replicates the actions of rolling a 7 (excluding the hand size based card loss). It is possible these two things have been conflated in a house rule.

Annotated Rules From the linked annotated Rules from 1st Edition.

  (3) After discarding occurs, you also steal 1 Resource Card at random from a player who has a settlement or city adjacent to this new hex. The player who is robbed holds his Resource Card hand face down. You then take 1 at random. If there are 2 or more players with buildings there, you may choose from which one to steal.
  The robber must be moved. You may not choose to leave the robber in the same
  hex. After moving the robber, your turn continues with the trade phase.


What are the most useful Major Improvements in Agricola?

For a grain-based strategy the Clay Oven is key. It's incredibly efficient (1 grain-> 5 food), and crucially, requires only one stone, so you can get it early (guaranteed before the second harvest). In most of my Agricola games, one player will take the fireplace/animal eating option, and the other will go for a grain/baking option.

My other key improvement is the Well. The in-game effect (5 food) is marginal, but the 4 points at the end make a huge difference, and are great value (often equivalent to renovating your entire house, for example).


How is the CMC of a spell obtained for Vial Smasher?

You cast the spell onto the stack. When the spell is on the stack x=5so the CMC would be 7 when Vial Smasher the Fierce ability triggers.


D.D. Esper Star Sparrow vs Compulsory Evacuation Device

It will be banished.
Any way that a card with this effect gets removed from the field will result in it being banished. This is because the banish effect sort of redirects the monster and so overrules the original effect.

You can see this in the rulings of Dark Magician of Chaos:

  When "Dark Magician of Chaos" is sent to your hand by "Penguin
  Soldier", it is removed from play instead.

I can see only 2 ways of getting this monster off the field without it getting banished:
- Destroying or bouncing it while facedown (battle doesn't work as it will get flipped)
- Using it for an Xyz summon, as this does not count as removing it from the field


How can I make Betrayal at House on the Hill less confusing?

I'm assuming that your biggest problem is the haunt rules, if you've already played the games several times.

The easiest way to make the haunts (and their special rules) simpler is to discuss the special haunt rules with other people - preferably people who know the rules well. The Heroes, of course, get to hash out the special rules with each other and come to some sort of consensus, but the Traitor is alone and needs to muddle through things himself.

There are three things that can help here:

If there's somebody not playing the game, have the Traitor talk it over with them. Even if they're not much of a gamer, simply discussing the rules can make things clearer. If there's nobody handy, then explain the rules to a rubber duck.
Go get the updated Hero and Traitor books from Wizards.  While you're there, get the errata for the regular rules.
Just relax and have fun. If there's serious confusion in the rules, make a quick ruling and work it out after the game.

If you're really worried, then have the whole group hash out the rules and/or check the errata, even if you reveal a few small things about the Heroes or Traitor while you're at it.

If your problems are with the regular game, then make two cheat-sheets: one for the regular rules, and one for the standard haunt rules (movement past enemies, combat, how the traitor & monsters ignore all bad effects, etc.).


Crew Change lasts until you decide to change roles again. You don't automatically change back to your old role.  The "cost" is having to get back to the truck, finish the turn, and then spend the 2 AP to change.


Good travel games for two players, especially for playing on trains?

I would suggest Cribbage. Not much space is required, it is quick to set up and put away, involves no more noise than any game between two players, and is a very good game. It is also best enjoyed with a glass of something in the other hand, increasing its suitability for a train journey.

If you don't know how to play (and it isn't terribly complicated, although rather different from other card games), have a look here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cribbage


Why do the opposing sides of a D20 generally add up to 21

Opposite sides add up to 21 on a d20 for the same reason that opposite sides add up to 7 on a d6: if there's a manufacturing or design defect, and the die ends up slightly flatter than intended, then the average result of the die will not change.

Consider a d6 that ends up a bit flat: two sides opposite each other will both have an increased chance of being landed on. But since these two sides' numbers are "opposite" to each other, they will not affect the average of the die. For example, a d6 might have a 1/3 chance of landing on a 1, a 1/3 chance of landing on a 6, and, and a 1/12 chance of landing on each of the other faces. The average of this seriously-deformed die is: 1 * 1/3 + 2 * 1/12 + 3 * 1/12 + 4 * 1/12 + 5 * 1/12 + 6 * 1/3 = 3.5, the same as a normal die.

Of course, various other deformities (malformed corner, air bubble in the plastic, some enterprising fellow put a little lead in the die, etc.) will still play merry hob with the probabilities in an unfair way, but a flattened die will be somewhat fair in that its biases favor both high and low numbers equally. The layout for d8, d10, d12, and d20 dice were probably created from this same idea to make the dice somewhat fair if they're flattened.


With what kind of trump holdings is a 4-4 trump fit superior?

The considerations which you describe affect the overall strength of the hand very much more than the playability of the suit. If you have two or three high card losers in your 4-4 fit, where are they going? If your combined holding with partner is sufficient for a play at game, J9xx vs T8xx has a legitimate chance for 2 or even 3 tricks with ruffs when the trump suit, but only a long-shot-con at 2 tricks if not the trump suit.

That being said, having the preponderance of your high cards in short suits makes a hand feel more balanced.  For example with

S - xxxx
H - ATx
D - K9x
C - QJx

a raise of partner's 1NT opening to 3NT looks like the most descriptive call even playing Puppet Stayman, whereas with

S - QJxx
H - ATx
D - K9x
C - xxx

a Stayman call starts looking more attractive.


Does the camel caravan gives points at the edge of the oasis?

Catan Traders & Barbarians - Rules

  Three caravans are formed during the course of the game--each caravan
  consists of a string of camels that begins at the oasis. Each
  settlement and city adjacent to a caravan route is worth an extra
  victory point. (page 12)

According to the rules (page 14), the essential condition for obtaining an extra victory point is :

  Each settlement or city located between 2 camels is worth 1 additional
  victory point.

Therefore, in the situation you describe, if there are two camels - one starting the caravan and leaving the oasis, and another that has come back to the oasis (see photo) then, if you build a settlement on the oasis between these 2 camels, you will get an extra victory point. The edge to the right of the settlement is considered an initial point of a caravan because a camel is leaving one the 3 caravan starting points.

The photo above is a reconstruction of the example on page 14 of the rules.

In the photo, I have added the objects pointed to by red arrows : 2 red roads and one camel. By placing a red settlement (or city) on the oasis, in the position indicated by the red box, the red player will get an extra victory point because the settlement is between 2 camels.

Catan Traders & Barbarians - Rules


Typo in the Women's Health Clinic, Richville, MD card?

Your logic is undeniable, and it seems by all accounts to be a mistake.

ALL other cards that allows questions have the question type as a keyword. Seems like this one slipped through their fingers.


What do you do when one or more adults is upset or acting inappropriately?

It's usually easier to prevent these things than it is to fix them.

Set the mood
Make sure everyone's doing alright. Put on some music, get some food and drinks on the table (or a lot of drinks, if you really want to be sure).

Pick the right game
The type of games can also make a big difference. Some games are really harsh on those who fall behind. There's nothing that says 'get grumpy' like sitting at 3-5 VP during a 90 minute game of Settlers. If the skill levels in your game group are miles apart, try to level the playing field by picking games that require less skill, like Yahtzee or Pictionary.
Even when the whole group settles on a complex and long game, I find that it helps to throw short and simple games in between.

Invite the right people
The harshest truth is that some people just don't fit well with the rest of the group. You can't please everyone.


Identify this game - strange yellow plastic piece

It appears to be the tail piece from "Zoo it yourself" Tupperware animal toys.

https://www.amazon.com/Tupperware-Tuppertoys-Zoo-It-Yourself-5-piece-ELEPHANT/dp/B00FN34D34

You can see the individual pieces here:


What is the meaning of this Joseki continuation?

You should try to figure out what White is trying to do by "changing moves," as well as what White failed to do.

White failed to prevent you from moving into the center (and outflanking him) with a. That is something you should consider doing. It connects your upper side to the upper left corner stone, (and makes both absolutely safe). In a seven stone game, you should connect your groups and seek this "absolute" safety; "relatively safety is not quite enough.

Also, a threatens to seal off the left side corner, possibly forcing white to take the 3-3 point (simplifying the game in your favor).

White's next move might be a knights move kakari against your upper right corner shimari. (The meaning of his move was that he strengthened his wall. You should then "touch" with P17. After that, you have the choice of "extending" with P18, securing the corner, or (better), keeping White divided with P13, aiming at a double envelopment of White's wall.

White has "played out" two corners and gained no appreciable advantage to offset his seven stone handicap. If you can use your spear points at a and P13 to limit the influence of White's wall and keep him on the defensive, you should win quite comfortably.


You pay all the costs during the activation of an ability, as an action that doesn't use the stack.

After the Shrine's ability has gone on the stack, Brink of Disaster's trigger will go on the stack on top of it (meaning it will resolve first). There's no permanent for it to destroy, though.


Does Dovescape counter Enchantment Creatures?

Expanding on Erik's correct answer.

  205.2b Some objects have more than one card type (for example, an artifact creature). Such objects satisfy the criteria for any effect that applies to any of their card types.

Dovescape checks as a spell is being cast that that spell lacks the creature type. A spell with both enchantment and creature fulfills both types, so is not non-creature. (It is both fully a creature spell, and fully an enchantment spell)

Also good to note: a very similar case is called out specifically in Bestow's ruling:

  702.102c The check for whether a spell can legally be cast happens after its controller has chosen whether to pay its bestow cost; see rule 601.2e.
  Example: Aether Storm is an enchantment with the ability “Creature spells can’t be cast.” This effect doesn’t stop a creature card with bestow from being cast for its bestow cost because the spell is an Aura enchantment spell, not an enchantment creature spell, when the game checks whether the spell is illegal.


What is a good basic/non-basic lands ratio for Back to Basics in Commander?

Really it depends a lot on the meta you expect to be playing in more than the number of colors in your deck. There are cards that create a problem for you playing non-basic lands, like:

Ruination
From the Ashes
Back to Basics
Blood Moon
Detritivore
Dwarven Blastminer
Dwarven Miner
Helldozer
Trench Wurm
Shivan Harvest
Trailblazer's Boots

In that case your non-basic lands are going to be a problem, and this doesn't include non-repeatable effects that work on individual lands like Fulminator Mage and Wasteland. You could also have an issue when given the chance to look for basic lands if you have none, through effects like Path to Exile, Veteran Explorer or Collective Voyage.

However this doesn't mean you should go with only basic lands either, even if your deck is monocolored. There are also cards that can cause you issues with using basic lands, like:

Reality Twist - except for blue, Boros and Golgari
Infernal Darkness - except for black
Contamination - except for black
Naked Singularity
Sundering Titan

And for specific colors:

White - Stench of Evil, Flashfires
Blue - Boil, Boiling Seas, Tsunami, Omen of Fire, Choke, Curse of Marit Lage
Black - Karma
Red - Glaciers, Volcanic Eruption
Green - Acid Rain
One basic land name - Wake of Destruction

All of which create problems for basic typed lands, and these are just the biggest ones, there are others that just do damage for tapping land with a specific basic typed, like Scald or ones that gain the controller life when their opponents tap that land like Lifetap. Players using the upkeep spells here will also likely play Eon Hub to bypass that cost. There is no perfect answer here, there are cards that are a problem for both sides of the basic/nonbasic equation. Based on this going all one way or the other leaves you open to more problems


What happens if a creature is returned to owner's hand after blocking or being targetted?

Example 1:

If a spell with targets would resolve, and if it has no targets left, than that spell will be countered.

This is known as fizzle-ing

*note if the spell still has at least 1 target, it will still resolve.  chandra's outrage only targets a creature, and therefore will be countered, but flames of the firebrand will not be, if it still has at least 1 target left.

Example 1':

no, player B would not be able to target the wall if it dies.  It will be put into the graveyard as a state-based effect before anyone gets priority to cast spells or activate abilities.

Example 2:

You can activate  crystal shard after blockers have been declared and before combat damage is dealt.  the 2/2 will return to your hand, and the 3/3 will still be considered blocked

Once combat damage is dealt it's too late.  the 2/2 will go to the graveyard as a state-based effect before anyone gets priority to cast spells or activate abilities.


As I've mentioned in the comments here, you add up the modifiers acting on the minion.

  The power of a minion not in play is only the number printed on it, but once in play its power includes all modifications. Its power may never go below zero.

So you add up all the modifications, and if it's below 0 at the end, it's 0 instead. If a new modification comes in, you reevalute.


How/where can I get comments from strong players on my gameplay?

GoKibitz is a new website that offers a nice frontend for discussing games. I did not use it myself, but it looks promising.
I have no experience how strong the players are which are commenting regularly, however I saw at least many 1d or 2d comments.

If you are willing to spend money on getting regular full reviews on your games I can highly recommend In-seong's Yunguseng Dojang. It is available for American and European timezone. You are getting lessons and reviews of league matches from high amateur dan players. I participated in the school myself for 1 year.

As I am new to this site I am not sure if such an advertisement is considered good practice here. Please comment if it isn't. I am not completely sure if the question already is a good fit for the site, because there can be very many answers providing different resources. Selecting one of them as the one right answer is probably not possible.


Can you counter a Land in Magic the Gathering?

Nope; it's a land (which is a special kind of not-a-spell card), not a spell.  In particular, a land never goes on the stack (where all the spells go); it goes directly from your hand into the battlefield as a permanent.

(If you could, it would completely not be a waste to counterspell a land.  Magic works on a steady acceleration of bigger and better spells as more land comes out.  Anything that puts your opponent a turn behind on that curve is useful.  Destroying/countering a land is about equivalent to delaying everything your opponent does for the rest of the game by one turn.)


Methods to protect Salamangreat Sanctuary?

My question is, what cards can be used to protect it?

Perhaps the most adequate card for your purpose would be Field Barrier (emphasis mine):

  Field Spell Cards on the field cannot be destroyed. Neither player can activate a new Field Spell Card. You can only control 1 "Field Barrier".

That way, your opponent would have to destroy Field Barrier first, and then attempt to destroy Salamangreat Sanctuary. This will have to be in two, separate attempts, as activating a global destruction (like a Great Storm, say) would save the Field as it is simultaneous destruction (moment in which Field Barrier still saves it).

The only downfall is that it does not prevent Salamangreat Sanctuary from things like returning to hand (as it does not destroy). One card that could bypass Field Barrier could be Murmur of the Forest, for example... but using Field Barrier already gives you a great advantage.

  And is there any Salamangreat monster that can protect it with its effect?

Most likely, the reason why only one field spell card is used is because Salamangreat Falco can recover your field spell card (emphasis mine):

  If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 "Salamangreat" Spell/Trap in your GY; Set that target to your field. If this card is in your GY: You can target 1 "Salamangreat" monster you control, except "Salamangreat Falco"; return that monster to the hand, and if you do, Special Summon this card. You can only use 1 "Salamangreat Falco" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

So most likely meta Salamangreat decks rely on using 3 copies of Falco, which can recover your Field Spell card when sent to the GY (like, when you link summon, for example).

You can then bring Falco back to the field, send it to the GY again, and recover another Spell/Trap card.


Assuming you're talking about the Phantom {Creature} series of cards from Judgment and some other sets (e.g. Phantom Flock), a creature with the following ability would not be destroyed (and would only have a counter removed) if damage was assigned to it from a creature with deathtouch:

If damage would be dealt to {creature name}, prevent that damage. Remove a +1/+1 counter from {creature name}.

This is because while damage has been assigned, the ability prevents that damage from actually being dealt.
Relevant comp. rules:

702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness. See rules 510.1c - d.
615.6. If damage that would be dealt is prevented, it never happens. A modified event may occur instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can't be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.

A note - it is possible for there to be unpreventable damage (with something like Leyline of Punishment). In this case, the following rule applies (as well as a ruling on Phantom {Creatures}:

615.11. Some effects state that damage "can't be prevented." If unpreventable damage would be dealt, any applicable prevention effects are still applied to it. Those effects won't prevent any damage, but any additional effects they have will take place.
10/4/2004   If unpreventable damage is applied to this card, you still remove a counter even though the prevention fails.

What would happen under that circumstance is that the trigger for damage prevention would still fire, removing a counter. However, the deathtouch damage would not be prevented, and would be considered lethal, destroying your Phantom {Creature}.


What is the order of permanents destroying via "Destroy Them All!"?

Backup Copy will work. From the rules:

Page 10
DESTROYED
When a card is destroyed by a card effect or when a creature has damage on it equal to or greater than its power, that card is tagged for destruction. After it is tagged, then that card’s “Destroyed:” abilities trigger, and finally the tagged card is placed into its owner’s discard pile. If multiple cards are simultaneously tagged for destruction, the active player chooses the order in which to resolve the “Destroyed:” abilities of any of those cards. All the tagged cards are put into their owners’ discard piles simultaneously, and the active player chooses the order in which those cards are arranged in their owner’s discard piles.

So as per "Card Abilities" (page 7), we resolve Destroy Them All in the order it's written. First an artifact is chosen (if possible), then a creature (if possible), then an upgrade (if possible). When each one is chosen, it is marked for destruction and its destroyed abilities are triggered. None of them are actually destroyed until all have been marked and triggered any destroyed abilities.


Can you sacrifice yourself to use an Elder Sign in Arkham Horror?

Yes,
This is explicitly allowed in the rule book, p18

To use an elder sign, do the following:
The player removes 1 Sanity and 1 Stamina from his
investigator sheet. This may knock the investigator
unconscious or drive him insane, but the elder sign still
takes effect.


How are the Utilities unmortgaged with 10% interest if the mortgage value is $75?

There is no official rule to address this question, so you and your play group must decide how to handle it.

Note that the same question applies in the case of landing on the Income Tax square and choosing to pay 10% of your worth.

A common thing that would make sense is to follow the same rules of rounding that is taught in most basic math... 1/2 and higher means round up, lower than 1/2 means round down. So 7.5 would round up to 8.

But if your group decides on either always rounding up, or always rounding down, that would be equally legitimate.

However, even if you want to use mathematical rounding, there are actually different conventions for handling rounding 1/2... all conventions agree that less than 1/2 means round down, while more than 1/2 means round up. But for 1/2 exactly, there are multiple options.

Because Monopoly is a game designed to simulate handling money, involving banking and such, it might make the most sense to use what is called "Banker's Rounding", which is also known as "Round to even". This means that 7.5 would become 8, but 10.5 would become 10. In other words, when dealing with 1/2, round to whichever direction would leave you with an even number.


Cribbage pone strategy for hands involving a run and a pair

I'm pretty sure the 'optimal' play is neither of the ones you mentioned!  Keeping 4,5,6,Q counts 7, gives you essentially equal opportunity for another 2 points off of any face card (you lose out on four extra points if one of the other two Qs comes, but that's only a 1 in 7 chance), still earns you all but two of the points you'd have had from 3,4,5,6 if you hit a double-run (though it slightly lessens the odds of it by cutting out the 3 as a double-run card), and gives your opponent just about the worst of the possible combinations for their crib (3Q).

To match Basicpract's analysis: you score two extra points off of any Ace (4), one point off of any trey (3), seven points off of a four or six (6), 9 points off of a five (3), one point off of a seven (4), two points off of a 9 (4) four points off of a Q (2), and two points off of any other face card (12).  This is 8 + 3 + 42 + 27 + 4 + 8 + 8 + 24 = 124 points off of the remaining 46 cards, for an average of more than two and a half points improvement and an average overall hand value of 9.7 points, compared to the 8 points from keeping 45QQ and the 9.61 points from keeping 3456 (but with a much worse crib to your opponent).


What happens to target creature when Essence Scatter is played?

Essence Scatter counters a creature spell, and countering a spell is defined in the Comprehensive Rules 701.5a:

To counter a spell or ability means to cancel it, removing it from the stack. It doesn’t resolve and none of its effects occur. A countered spell is put into its owner’s graveyard.

Note that technically there is never a creature in this case: a spell becomes a creature only when it enters the battlefield.


Should Eldritch Tokens only be used as tokens for the original reason they were placed?

Typically, you use a straight forward reading of the rules/instructions in EH. In this case they indicate that the tokens are interchangable.
The mystery you refer to also clearly states that any Eldritch tokens remaining on the board when the mystery is solved should stay on the board. This rather strongly indicates that (in this case at least) it is intended that all Eldritch tokens can be used to resolve the mystery and that you must abide by the travel restrictions on all the (new) tokens that the Cthulhu AO has.
Also, I'm sure that if the intent were other, they would have included alternative tokens. This also hasn't been mentioned in any errata document from the publisher. So, I'd go with the instructions as written.
Further, this correspondence was received from FFG in answer to the question, which seals the ruling:

An Eldritch token is just an Eldritch token. If placed on the board or a card, it has no inherent effect. They act or affect the game as instructed by any effects that reference them. Players are not expected to remember where any given Eldritch token came from.
An Eldritch token placed by a Mystery is exactly the same as an Eldritch token placed by Cthulhu’s reckoning effect. In such a case, Eldritch tokens on the board represent odd happenings or areas under the influence of Cthulhu.


How do you count troops in Shogun when they fall off the tower?

After looking over the rulebook again, I see a potential confusion arising from the use of the words "participating armies", but I think it's resolvable.  In "General Rules for the Battle Tower":

  All battles are fought with the aid of the battle tower. A player
  takes all participating armies (colored cubes of the attacker and
  defender) and throws them into the tower together with all cubes lying
  in the tower tray at the start of the battle. In the process, some of
  these cubes will remain in the tower, and some that were already
  inside the tower will fall out into the tray, thus producing a chance result.

And a little further on in "Battle Results and Consequences":

  To determine the outcome of the battle, players count up the number of
  attacking and defending armies that come out into the tower tray. The
  side with the most armies in the tray wins. Armies not participating
  in the battle are disregarded and remain lying in the tray.

I think it's clear from these paragraphs, taken in combination, that other appropriately coloured cubes, apart
from the ones thrown in, can become part of the "participating armies" and contribute to the outcome of the battle; a "chance result" is the intended outcome.  "Armies not participating in the battle" doesn't mean "cubes that weren't thrown into the tower just now", it just means "cubes of the wrong colours".

As for the green cubes, the rules say:

  If there are no revolt markers in the defender's province, all farmer
  armies in the tower tray count for the defender. (After a battle that
  includes farmers, all green cubes in the tray are returned to the
  farmer supply. If farmers are not involved in the battle, the green
  cubes remain in the tray.)

So if 6 reds and 3 yellows fall out then red is probably going to win the battle, unless a lot of defending green cubes fell out too!  All the yellow and green cubes are returned to their respective supplies, and the same number of red armies also go to their supply.  Any remaining (victorious!) red cubes will be placed in the contested province.


Can a unit use a markerlight token to fire a seeker missile at BS 5 after jinking?

The Seeker Missile is resolved at BS5, as per the rules and the latest Tau FAQ*

  Q: If a Tau Vehicle is forced to make Snap Shots fires a seeker missile using a markerlight counter, what Ballistic Skill does this shot use?

  A: Ballistic Skill 5. If the target is a Zooming Flyer, resolve the shot as a Snap Shot as normal, unless it is fired by a vehicle with a velocity tracker, in which case the missile can use the Skyfire rule if you wish.

The Markerlight entry details the exact mechanics required for a Seeker missile to be used (Codex: Tau Empire, p122). It describes how it is used, and how it differs from the normal shooting rules, and the key part (in relation to this question) is "is resolved at Ballistic Skill 5". This is important because regardless of the normal BS of the model firing the Seeker, it is resolved at BS5. This means that no matter what the normal requirements are for a to-hit roll (and any modifications to the targets base BS) it is resolved at BS5. (So if it helps, think of it as not the model firing the missile, but the missile guiding itself).

It's a case of a specific rule trumps the general rule. The general rule is that jinking models can only fire Snap Shots (as per the BRB). The Specific Rule is that Seeker Missiles fired due to Markerlights are resolved at BS5. It's a similar function to the Counterfire Defence System (Overwatch at BS2 instead of BS1) or the Dark Angels detachment/formation bonus to Overwatch.

**Please note that this links to the BoLS article. GW are in the processing of "releasing" a lot of "draft" FAQ's that, while not appearing in the normal repository, are found on the official FB page, where all these images are from.


What's up with the New X-Wing Core Set? 2015

As for when & where, I'll leave you to Google-search that one, but the details of what's changed are actually really cool!
No rules changes, only additions
The biggest thing to know about the new Core set is that there are no rules changes, no new templates or dice. There are a couple of new maneuvers for the ships like the new Tallon Roll, but they're just like the additional actions introduced in expansions like the SLAM or Cloak rulings: just adding more flavor and options for ship and squadron design.
This is not your father's TIE fighter or X-Wing
"your father"... see what I did there??
The TIE Fighter included in the original Core set is the TIE/ln starfighter (the original TIE from Episode IV), but the TIE Fighter included in the new Core set is the TIE/fo starfighter, the version from the new Episode VII movie coming in December. Likewise, the X-Wing in the original Core set is the T-65 starfighter (commonly called an X-Wing due to the "X" shape the S-Foils make), while the one included in this new Core set is the T-70 starfighter also from the new movie. The stat lines, point costs, upgrades, pilot skills, and pretty much everything else are slightly tweaked to make these new ships distinct and different from their Original Trilogy counterparts without invalidating the originals in game play.
If I own the original Core set, should I buy the new one?
In my opinion, it's worth having two core sets just for the extra dice and templates, and this is a great way to get those and some of the new ships as well. If you already have two of the original Core sets, it's up to you as to whether it's worth buying this Core set, or just buying the individual ships when Wave VIII comes out.


Redeeming sets on Magic the Gathering Online

In order to redeem the set you will need to open the full set.

However you can always try purchasing a Redemption Request for the set that you have before you open it, the request will stay in your Other Products until it can either be processed using the cards in your inventory, or two redemption attempts have failed.


Could it be one of
Rory's Story Cubes
?

After looking closely at those photos, I'm going to say definitively, why yes. Yes it could:

In the top photo, the front right die has an [L] and a fire facing the camera.
In the bottom photo, the die in the top right of the box art depicts a single die with a magnet, sheep, and footprint on three sides.

SQB points out in comments these are in fact the same die, with a lock on the side these photos don't show, so it matches the description of the die you found precisely.


Can the Crate of Alcohol be played if the wind isn't favorable?

A user on Board Game Geek sent a list of questions to the game designer, and the purpose of the Crate of Alcohol was included. A full list of these can be found here.

Regarding the Crate of Alcohol, game designer Oliver Pauwels replied:

  "Crate of Alcohol" pay 3 gold coins (as indicated on the bottom of the card) to activate this effect. Once you've paid the fee, the card is placed in front of you and stays there for the rest of the game. This does not give you any points, but it does lower your cost to throw cargo overboard for the rest of the game. A player can have more than one Crate of Alcohol in play, and the effects are cumulative (so two of them would reduce the cost of all cargo being thrown overboard by 2). Since no level 4 cargo are ever thrown overboard, this cost reduction NEVER applies to level 4 cards (for instance, a 2nd Crate of Alcohol still costs 3).

Additionally, the Crate of Alcohol is a Level 4 cargo. Pauwels also notes

  [T]he level 4 are special cargo. NONE of these cargo are thrown overboard and as such the color of the die rolls do NOT apply to use of level 4 cards (use them any time).

So it doesn't matter what color die you roll, but they are never counted as being thrown overboard.


The rules for Summoning Spells (Nagash Book 1, pg 14) state that "the Summoned unit must be deployed wholly within the spell's range and at least 1" away from all other units, buildings and impassable terrain."

The Spell "Kandorak - The Harbinger" (Nagash Book 1, pg 15) does not state that the charcter summoned has an exception to this rule.