Can two Creepers be attached to the same Keeper?

From a discussion on BGG http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/917715/multiple-creeper-question

  Q:Can a single keeper have more then one creeper attached? Evil/Malfunction, two Brain Parasites, etc.

  A:Yes, as long as both Creepers are allowed to attach to the card, there can be two Creepers attached to the same card.

  Q:Also, do you choose which keepers get the attached creeper if you can?

  A:Yes, if there is more than one Keeper that a Creeper can attach to when it's played, you get to choose. If it can't attach to anything when it's played, it stays unattached and attaches to the first Keeper it can.


In Uno, can you play a Wild Draw 4 Card when you have another Wild Card in your hand?

According to the rules sheet from Mattel:

  You may only play this card when you do NOT have another card in your hand that matches the COLOR on the DISCARD pile (but it is acceptable to play this card if you have matching number or Action Cards).

Since Wild cards are classified as Action cards, you are legally allowed to play a Wild Draw Four when you have a Wild in hand.


Does any cards care about the color of mana spent on other spells/abilities?

It depends on what you mean by "care".

There are abilities that remember what colors of mana were spent to activate them, such as the abilities of Illusionary Mask and Ice Cauldron (credit to this answer and its comments).

There is at least one spell allows you to cast another spell based on the number of colors used to cast it: Bring to Light.

There are also indirect effects. Although things like Sunburst only directly affect the card with Sunburst, other spells could depend on attributes of the Sunburst card which in turn depend on the color(s) of mana spent to cast it. For example:

  Situation A

  Cast Arcbound Wanderer for {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}{G}.
  Cast Devour Flesh, targeting yourself.

  You gain 5 life.

  Situation B

  Cast Arcbound Wanderer for {G}{G}{G}{G}{G}{G}
  Cast Devour Flesh, targeting yourself.

  You gain 1 life.

There are zero spells currently in existence that do the following:

"If you/the controller of the spell spent [color] to cast [some other spell], [effect]."
"Whenevever you cast a spell, if you spent [color] to cast it, [effect.]"


In Scrabble, what happens if a player has to leave the game early?

While there are no explicit rules in Scrabble to handle this, it's pretty straight forward to do this in Scrabble with minimal disruption.  I've done this on several occasions.

Leave any tiles on the board where they are.  Even if you could remember which tiles they played, you wouldn't want to.  Tiles that are played are essentially communal property, as any player can play off of them.  Also, removing played tiles from the board would be potentially disruptive to the next few plays, where leaving them has no ill side-effects.

As long as there are still tiles left in the bag, return their rack of tiles to the bag without looking at them.  The game is predicated around their being a particular set of tiles in circulation.  Taking these tiles permanently out of circulation is bad for anyone tracking tiles, and keeping them in circulation doesn't hurt.  (Note that due to a lost challenge, some of these tiles may have been revealed, but in that case, they've been revealed to all players, so there isn't really an advantage to any player.)

If there are no tiles left in the bag (it's endgame), keep their rack out of play and face down.  At this point, players are no longer drawing replacement tiles, and so suddenly introducing replacements would have a profound disruptive effect on whoever went next.  You may want to even do this if there are very few tiles left in the bag; that's up to the table.


Furyblade Vampire has a triggered ability, and Blinding Mage has an activated ability. In this case, that means that the player with the Vampire has more restricted options, and basically has the worst expected outcomes with this interaction.

Here's how it plays out (let's say Amy controls the Furyblade Vampire, and Nat controls the Blinding Mage):

Amy's Beginning of Combat step starts. Furyblade Vampire's ability triggers and goes on the stack.
Both players have an opportunity to act. Nat can activate Blinding Mage's ability at this time, but he's probably better off waiting.
Furyblade Vampire's ability resolves. At this point, Amy chooses whether to discard a card.
Both players have another opportunity to act. At this point, Nat can choose whether to activate Blinding Mage, depending on whether Amy chose to discard a card.


The list of banned cards on Pokemon.com has a separate section listing the cards banned in Unlimited. Right now, there are no cards listed there.
Note that the Unlimited format consists of all cards that are, or ever have been, in Standard. From Bulbapedia:

The Unlimited format of the Pokémon Trading Card Game allows any card that was once playable in Play! Pokémon tournaments [...] can be used.
Because of the lack of restrictions in Unlimited, decks can use combinations of cards which are not legal in Standard format or Expanded format play. Cards such as Porygon2 and Seeker which never appeared in the same Standard format, are frequently used together.

So, if the cards you named were ever in the Standard rotation, and are not explicitly named in the 'Banned'-list under the 'Unlimited' header, you're good to build a deck around 'em.


No one gets gold for damage caused by dynamite as the damage is done by the card and not by a player. Just like the sheriff would not be forced to discard all his cards if he played it when it killed a deputy. Or you would not draw cards if you played it and it killed an outlaw.


In Axis and Allies, Should Germany build a first turn transport and try and control the Med/Africa?

Germany has a small window in which it can afford to bolster its navy. Presuming the Russians are building a suitable wall in Karelia and the US and UK are planning to shuck-shuck, Germany needs every IPC later in the game to build infantry and armor and cannot afford to build a transport, sub, or (gasp) air craft carrier or battleship.

For that reason, Germany's only chance to improve her navy is first or second turn. Moreover, she must build it in the Mediterranean Sea, as attempting to build a navy in the Baltic Sea Zone is suicide given the proximity to UK and Russia's air forces.

Without that extra Mediterranean transport, Germany's options in Africa are limited (presuming the Allies make it a priority to eradicate the German navy). The transport buys a little insurance for Germany, an extra few turns in which it has to secure Africa and enjoy her IPCs before the Allies come storming into Algeria. And if the UK player is bent on building a South African factory that second transport is a requisite to have any hope in taking it out before enough of a defense can be constructed.

  If you think this strategy works, what does it change about your first turn German attacks (i.e. presumably your med Battleship and Transport do not engage in naval battles, so how do you re-balance your attacks accordingly)?

Personally, I almost always use Don Rae's suggested first turn buying advice for Germany: purchase a transport and 8 infantry. Since this immobilizes my battleship and transport, I use a sub and fighter to off the British battleship and a bomber to nix the sub.

If those attacks fail, Germany is pretty much screwed, though. That's one thing I dislike about Axis & Allies in general - the first turn or two really has rippling effects through the rest of the game. A couple of bad dice rolls in the early game almost guarantees defeat, especially as the Axis where the margin for error is so narrow.


Can a clue giver let team know they are almost right?

I struggled to find a copy of the printed rules for this online, only various guide.  There is a Rules summary on BGG that clear says -

The Clue Giver cannot use hand gestures

So 'rolling his hands' is technically against the rules.
I also wouldn't say "that word is right". because in the example you gave it wasn't.   I can't see anything in the rules that says you can't say "that's almost right"
The important thing to remember is you playing a fun party game.   In games like this if a player becomes to strict and rules lawyering that it stops being fun.  If a player makes a minor rules violation then keep it fun and let it go the first time.  In the UK there is a radio show called "Just a Minute" which is a silly party game.  when players do minor things wrong the Host gives player "The benefit of the doubt" to let players get away with small things but that they will try to redress later.  I think this is good practice in all party games.
If you look at the rules queries for Taboo on BGG there are lots with 'Dispute' in the title.   Its a fun silly game and not worth a dispute about, Don't let the rules get in the way of just enjoying playing.


What is the best lead when calling next on a declined bower?

I'm not a Eucre expert by any means, but in my opinion, not leading the ♡A is foolish advice.

If that's the only heart in your hand, then the odds are greater that your opponents will also have hearts. As you say, the dealer is likely strong in red. The best chance you have of winning the trick is on the opening lead. Why would you lead a suit which relies on your partner having an ace or being void in diamonds?

The worst case scenario: they will have to trump your ace, and since you only have two trump, neither top, and one bower is turned down, it is good to force your opponents to use their trump in that situation rather than, say, using their trump to overtrump yours.

Secondly, and more importantly, after you lead the Ace you will be void in hearts, and able to trump any further heart tricks. You're already void in Spades and can trump any of those tricks your partner can't take. You can slough off your diamonds on spades or hearts if your partner takes those tricks.

  My general line of thought is that since I am void in spades, I'm best to become void in diamonds to increase my chances of using my trump on off suit leads by my opponents.

Why lead a suit that you have two cards in when you can void hearts immediately?


What's the hexagon symbol under the Sanctuary?

This seems to be a common enough question that there's a link directly to a thread about it on the game's boardgamegeek page.

Short answer, quoted from one of those threads:
"It means you only need a minimum of 3 connected buildings instead of 4 when forming a town if the sanctuary is part of these structures."


Lab challenge: Can a cure be tested multiple times

The game designer answered it on BoardGameGeek.

Each cure can only be tested once, because there is only one card supposed to be on each field (although this is never actually stated in the rules). Note that the test card stays in place if the sequence card is exchanged within the color.


In MTG, Can Rhox redirect its damage when it blocks?

Unfortunately the answer is "no".  The text on these cards, and others like them, is

  "this creature may assign its combat damage as though it weren't
  blocked"

It's obvious what this means when the creature is attacking - if it weren't blocked it would deal damage directly to the player.

When blocking, it's academic whether "the creature may assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked".  The only permissible place to assign a blocker's combat damage, ever, is to the creature it's blocking.  As such, Rhox and Thorn Elemental's special abilities have no effect while they're on defensive duty.


If I find a hidden number, do I have to be on the tile to replace it?

The rules don't say anything about needing a figure on the card (or on the connected terrain card for permanent event cards).

  Some Terrain and Permanent event cards contain hidden numbers. When players find one, they may discard the card on which they spotted it and replace it with the card bearing that number.

From what I've seen, hidden cards open new paths or new actions, so you won't be able to take advantage of these until you have a figure on the card. This means that little is gained from revealing the hidden card without a figure on the card (or on the connected terrain card for permanent event cards), so it makes little difference if you reveal the hidden card sooner rather than later.

Since it makes little difference, you may want to wait to reveal the hidden card until you have a figure on the card or an adjacent one for thematic reasons (since the hidden card represents keen observation or exceptional situational problem solving on the part of your character). But you are not required to do so.


Can you place any three cards in Monopoly Deal, eg 3 properties at a time or 3 action cards?

The three cards can be any combination of properties, actions, and/or money.  From the rules (abbreviated for clarity):

PLAY UP TO 3 CARDS from your hand, onto the table in front of you. You don't have to play any cards if you don't want to. Play your 3 cards in any combination of the following: A, B, and/or C.
A: Put Money/Bank cards into your own Bank
B: Put down Properties into your own collection
C: Play Action cards into the center


What is the Best Random Card Setup Tool?

Zack Hiwiller's Dominion Card Randomizer is nice. It works fine on laptops and mobile devices, is free, has card images, and has some nice options.

http://www.hiwiller.com/dominion/

Downside: requires internet connection.


No, you may not ever move your king into a position in which it is threatened ("in check").  If you did, your opponent could just immediately capture your king, and you would lose.

Reference from the FIDE Laws of Chess:

  3.9. ... No piece can be moved that will either expose the king of the same colour to check or leave that king in check.


Scrabble - What if any "House Rules" work to even the playing field with more and less experienced players?

Time limit and patience for the experienced player.

If the experience player limits self to 15 to 30 seconds per play and is very patient with new players, the game levels without house or extensive rule changes.

For new players to get-into-the-game, competition is not needed so much as enjoyment.  For a seasoned competitor, obliging a quick play (and maybe forgoing QI & ZA) is a challenge.  The senior player should not look up words, but tolerate first timer's usage of such.

Other limitations require the senior playing with 5 or 6 or letting others play with 8 or 9.  (I prefer the limits (time, tile count) on the experienced player rather than mess up the fundamentals for the new player.)

See Jolenealaska


Can I tap all my opponent's lands while they're casting a spell to negate it?

No, you can't do that.

Casting a spell follows this basic process:

The player puts the card on the stack.
They make all choices for that spell, including targets, additional costs, etc.
They pay for the spell.

During this process nobody is allowed to cast spells, activate abilities, or do anything at all really — the exception is that the player can activate mana abilities while casting their spell to pay for it.

Only after this process does any player gain priority, meaning they are allowed to cast spells and activate abilities. The player who cast the spell gets priority first, then they can pass priority to the next player in turn order, and so on. (For more details on casting spells and priority see In plain English, how does casting spells and using creature abilities work with the stack and priority?.)

This means that by the time you are able to cast spells in response to your opponent casting Molten Disaster, it has already been fully paid for. It is too late to tap down their lands. Plus their Molten Disaster is now on the stack with split second so you can't cast spells at all until it resolves!

If you did want to tap down their lands, they can just activate them for their mana in response anyway while your spell is still on the stack, and use that mana right afterwards.


One of the main things to remember here is that you "play" your encounter card face down, and then reveal it after both main players have done so. For reference, the rules for this phase are the following:

  Play Encounter Cards: After alliances have been formed, the offensive
  player and the defensive player each choose an Encounter card (Attack or
  Negotiate) from their respective hands and place them face down.
  Reveal Encounter Cards: Encounter cards are turned face up
  simultaneously. Or as close to simultaneously as possible in this
  imperfect universe.
  Determine Outcome: There are three different outcomes to an
  encounter, depending on what type of Encounter card (Attack or
  Negotiate) is played by each player. After Encounter cards are revealed,
  the encounter is resolved. Then Encounter cards are discarded. Details of
  encounter resolution are shown below:

The Loser Flare needs to be played before any player even selects encounter cards, as emphasized below.

  As a main player, before encounter cards are selected, you may declare
  that both sides lose, sending all involved ships to the warp.

This would move the turn to the Determine Outcome phase since the outcome has been determined already (i.e.: both players lost, sending all ships to the warp). Since no cards are selected, no cards are played so no cards can be revealed.

  Should the main players still play their encounter cards?

No. It specifically says that you must play it before encounter cards are selected. This creates an outcome so there is no outcome to be determined by playing encounter cards.

  If cards don't get played, is there still a Reveal phase?

Again, no. If there are no cards selected and then played face down, there is nothing to reveal. An outcome has already been determined.


Does the Yellow Squad's Move + Activate card swap places with a space marine or move and then shift the formation?

According to Page 28 of the Official Rules:

  If a Space Marine is ever able to move to a non-adjacent position
  (with a card or ability), he does not cause the formation to shift. He
  simply switches places with the Space Marine that occupied his new
  position.


What are some options on using the blank cards in the The Gathering Storm Expansion?

I haven't got the expansion (only the original game), but I've had a few ideas:

Duplicates. If there are existing cards in the deck which you find
are key and don't have a duplicate, consider making another of those
available. I'm specifically thinking of the cards that score 3VPs on a 6-development, but there's only one copy of it.
Copying but changing colour. If you find there's a really
useful Mining card, but no equivalent for Alien, you could consider
making an Alien version of it.
Looking at existing cards' limits.
e.g. If you're making a 6-development, look at what the maximum
points it's possible to score with the existing ones, and make sure
the ones you make don't exceed that.


When and where do Theros Gods become creatures or stop being creatures?

The devotion ability on the Theros gods are Static Abilities, covered by rule 604.2.

[emphasis mine]

  604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 112.6.

Static abilities, like the one on the Theros gods, only function while on the battlefield unless otherwise stated as part of the ability, they define costs or special ways to counter the spell on the stack, they are characteristic defining, or the object type only exists in zones other than the battlefield (command zone usually, like emblems).

Of these special conditions, the only one close for the theros gods creature type is Characteristic Defining. The test for characteristic defining is laid out in rule 604.3a. The Theros gods fail that due to condition 5 of that rule, as devotion is a condition.

  604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: [...] (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met.

As for your specific questions:

Yes your (Theros) gods are creatures on the stack, so Kambal will see her as a creature, and she can be countered as a creature.
Only if you meet devotion, as she enters the battlefield, devotion is checked, if you have less than 4 other blue mana symbols, Thassa will enter as a non creature. Both or neither effects of Authority of the Consuls will depend on devotion.
Yes your gods are creatures in all zones other than the battlefield at all times, so Æther Rift will work.


How do I tell at a glance whether a Warjack is focus hungry or not?

It may not be easy as a new player since some of that will come with experience.

Ask what role the warjack is going to fill and then how much focus it will normally need to do that.  Will you need to spend focus to run/charge/power attack?  Will you need to boost to hit? To damage? To make extra attacks?  Do they have something that lets them save on focus (this is why the Berserker is focus-light)?

A basic jack designed to run into melee and whack something is going to need more focus than a 1 ROF ranged jack with a good RAT, or one that is mostly just used for its arc node.


There are two basic reasons to use a tutor:

1) You have a card that you want more than 4 of, but there is no similar substitute available.

2) To be able to have a 'toolbox' of 1-of answers to different types of threats.

So what is the card in your deck that you wish you could have more than 4 of?  What are possible substitutes for it in the format you're building for?  Is using a turn and extra mana to get at it preferable to the substitute card?  The primary reason not to put in a tutor is if your deck can reliably deliver on its designed win condition without needing access to more than 4 of a particular card.

Toolbox decks are usually meta-game haterators, so it's tough to talk about them in the abstract.  Mono-black isn't usually known for it though.  Toolbox tutors are more often things like Birthing Pod searching up creatures with desirable enters-the-battlefield effects.

--

Diabolic Tutor specifically, your biggest challenge on that one is how it impacts your mana curve.  What are the 5-drop cards in your deck you're tutoring for that you must hit on T5 in order to win?  What 4-drop card are you giving up the opportunity to play on curve in order to tutor for something that comes out next turn?

Turn 4 is not a good time to be making a play that doesn't impact the board state.  Turn 4 is the kill turn for aggro decks in Standard/Modern that got a half-decent starting hand.  Tapping out for a tutor also communicates a lot of information to your opponent.  e.g., The only reason you tapped out for 4 in mono-black standard and played a tutor instead of an Obliterator, was to go tutor for an Obliterator.  They will do everything they can to be ready for it next turn!

--

In decks for big multiplayer games, go for it, play all the tutors you can.  When games regularly go over 10 turns, getting what you need late is more important than playing on-curve early.


Is Leyline of Combustion triggered by attacks?

No.

Attacking is not casting a spell or activating an ability. It is a separate thing completely. Also, targeting has a specific meaning in Magic; just because you are going after a player does not mean are targeting them.

See here for more details about what things deal with targeting.


How does Shield Dancer's ability work with a creature that has Trample?

The attacking Ball Lightning would deal 3-6 damage to itself and the rest to the defending player.
Assigning combat damage and actually dealing combat damage are two different actions during the combat damage step:

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage [..]
510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously [..]

Shield dancer's ability modifies how damage is dealt, but the rules for assigning combat damage from an attacking creature with trample remain the same:

702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. [..]

When determining what constitutes lethal damage, the Shield Dancer's ability is not taken into account. 702.19b continues:

702.19b [..] When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. The attacking creature’s controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking.

Therefore, the attacking player has to assign at least 3 and at most all 6 points of damage to the Shield Dancer, so it would receive lethal damage. The rest is assigned to the defending player. Then when the damage is actually dealt, the Shield Dancer's replacement effect happens, the damage assigned to the Shield Dancer is dealt to the Ball Lightning instead, and the damage assigned to the defending player is dealt to that player.


What happens when an undying creature takes damage from a creature with deathtouch?

The undying creature will return and stay.
Your provided answer options indicate a misunderstanding of what Deathtouch is. Deathtouch merely says:

702.2. Deathtouch
702.2a Deathtouch is a static ability.
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.

In other words:
For normal damage to kill a creature, two conditions have to be true:

The sum of all damage packets on that creature has to be 1 or greater.
The sum of all damage packets on that creature has to match or exceed its current toughness.
If both conditions are met, all damage packets are removed from the creature and it is destroyed.

If any of the damage packets comes from a source with Deathtouch, it merely removes the second condition.
So Deathtouch is not, for example, a triggered ability that would cause another destruction affect on top of lethal damage - there still is only 1 destruction effect.
Going further, your option 1 is closer to the truth than option 2 - if a creature dies and returns, it returns as a new object and (with few exceptions) all spells, abilities, etc. tracking the creature's previous incarnation will have lost track of its new version. So even if the Deathtouch was an effect using the stack, it would still not destroy the returned creature.
Edit:
Thanks to StuartCook, a little correction:
According to

702.2c A creature with toughness greater than 0 that's been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.

the Deathtouch rule comes into effect only immediately after Deathtouch damage has been dealt - if a creature has been indestructible or anything similiar at the time the Deathtouch destruction effect was checked for, but loses that ability later the same turn, Deathtouch damage no longer ignores the creature's actual toughness. It's a one-time effect and for the purposes of destruction becomes regular damage if the creature did not die from it.
It's actually a clever way of keeping the "touch" feel of that ability intact in the rules - once the touch is over (after combat), it no longer kills the target immediately.


How did Andrea Mengucci receive a game loss for incorrectly registering his card on arena?

The player (Andrea Mengucci) wrote a wrong card to his decklist after the draft. This constitutes as a decklist problem. The fact that the tournament is partly played on MTG Arena, doesn't matter here. Appropriate penalty in this is case is a game loss.

Magic IPG (Infraction Procedure Guide) states (https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/ipg3-4/):

  3.4 Tournament Error – Decklist Problem

  Definition

  The decklist is illegal, doesn’t match what the player intended to play, or needs to be modified due to card loss over the course of the tournament.

  Penalty

  Game loss

The player is fully responsible to mark the correct cards to his deck registration sheet. They aren't checked ahead of time.

One could argue that penalty isn't fair, but it's a correct call in this case, according to the rules. Maybe this motivates discussion about should the rules be changed.


What order do triggered abilities happen in if multiple things trigger at the same time?

When multiple abilities trigger at the same time (as Path and Triumph did, in this situation) and you control both of them, you can choose to put them on the stack in any order you like.

  603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered
  abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she
  chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and
  resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities
  that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process
  repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no
  abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.

Both Descendants' Path and Triumph of Ferocity trigger at the same time, at the beginning of your upkeep. Because you control both triggers, you have a choice of how to put those two triggers on the stack, meaning you can draw a card from Triumph of Ferocity first (put Triumph's trigger on the stack on top of Path's) or reveal the card for Descendants' Path first (put Path's trigger on the stack on top of Triumph's).

Afterward, when you proceed to the draw step, you get your normal draw.

So, your actions were perfectly game-legal. But you could have changed the order and that would be correct as well.

Note that you are not drawing three cards in this situation. Descendants' Path tells you to "reveal" a card and do something with it. This does not count as "drawing" it for abilities that reference that.

For reference, "APNAP order" just means that, if both players have to do something, the player whose turn it is makes the decisions first:

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


How do poison counters work and how would a player get them?

All you really need to know is that you lose the game if you get 10, and that they're nearly impossible to remove. Generally if you see a card that talks about poison counters, it'll be a card that gives them, so this should never really be confusing - if the cards don't mention them, you don't have to worry about them.

By far the main way to get poison counters is from creatures with Infect, like Blighted Agent:

  Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)

There's was also an ability called Poisonous, but it's only on a couple cards.  Virulent Sliver gives all Slivers Poisonous 1:

  All Sliver creatures have poisonous 1. (Whenever a Sliver deals combat damage to a player, that player gets a poison counter. A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.)

And Snake Cult Initiation is an aura that gives the enchanted creature Poisonous 3. Marsh Viper essentially has Poisonous 2, but spells it out.

There are several more cards that just explicitly give a player poison counters.


Given that there isn't exactly a single set of "official rules" for Spades, I would say that there two valid answers:

1) Tricks collected by a set (failed) NIL bid count as tricks for the partner, at which point all normal rules apply as far as sandbags, making the bid, etc. The team loses -100 (or -200 if it was a double/blind Nil) for the set nil, but scores the partner's bid normally.

2) Tricks collected by a set Nil bid are void and count for nothing. The partner must make their bid completely independently.

Players should agree on the rules ahead of play.

Personally, I've always played per #1 and would prefer that greatly. First, it makes losing the nil not quite as painful, since you can help your partner out. Second, it means that while you can take extra tricks to try to set your opponent's bid, you will risk taking sandbags for it, whereas with option 2, you could take those extra tricks with no further penalty.


Alex P's answer touches upon an interesting philosophical angle to this question. Suppose there are two strategies of game play in a four player game. Strategy A will reliably give you "good performance" (whatever that means for the current game - say 100 points) if carried out well; strategy B, if carried out well, gives you "bad performance" in 60% of your games (say 60 points) and "exceptionally good performance" 40% of the games (say 110 points).

In this (fictional) game, strategy A gives you better performance on average, but it may give you a lower probability of ending up in first place: in an environment where your three fellow players also play A, the game will be a toss up and strategy A will win you 25% of games, all other factors being equal, whereas strategy B will win you 40% of games. If your three fellow players play B, then strategy A will win only if all three of them have bad luck - less than 22% probability - and strategy B will turn it into a toss up again, so 25% wins. In both cases, strategy B will give you a higher probability of ending up in first place than strategy A.

Thus we see that even a relatively small chance of a relatively small improvement of your score over the alternative strategy may be worth a large risk of a really bad score - if all you care about is ending up first. However, you may prefer doing relatively well compared to your peers for certain, to having a slightly higher chance of winning overall but also a higher chance of ending up dead last. In that case, strategy A is better.

How does this apply to your question? Even if we leave the social aspects of the game aside (where players are more likely to impede further success of already successful players), going for clumped-up bunches of resources has some of the properties of strategy B: if you can ensure a steady trickle of resources, you will do well, but if you gamble the same number of settlements on a few numbers and they happen to come up more often, you will do even better - at the risk of losing badly if the dice don't go your way. Thus my answer is: all else being equal, spread the numbers if your objective is to do relatively well; concentrate the numbers if your objective is to have the highest chance of winning, and you're willing to accept a high risk of ending up last. (The key phrase in that sentence is "all else being equal", of course - in practice this consideration should be only one of many arguments when weighing different courses of action against one another.)


No, the Siren does not receive a +1/+1 counter. Although your understanding of the word 'Target' makes sense in english, it has a rather specific meaning in Magic.

A creature is only targeted by spells or abilities that actually have the word 'target' on it. For instance, Giant Growth. From the Comprehensive rules:

  114.1a An instant or sorcery spell is targeted if its spell ability identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],”

The Siren needs to be identified as that 'target [something]' in order for Heroic to trigger. On instants and sorceries, this is spelled out; casting an Aura (ie Unholy Strength) on War-Wing Siren also triggers the Heroic ability, as they have an implicit target:

  114.1b Aura spells are always targeted.

Casting an equipment would not trigger the ability, as they enter play unattached and not targeting anything.  Their equip-ability is not the same as 'casting a spell', so it doesn't trigger Heroic. The same goes for other activated abilities with a target (Spikeshot Goblin does not trigger Heroic, also see this question).

To look a little closer at what spells do and do not target the War-Wing Siren:

Twiddle would trigger the Heroic ability.
Turnabout wouldn't, because the card doesn't target a creature, it targets a player.
Call to Glory would not trigger the Siren's Heroic ability, as it doesn't target anything.

(Thanks to @diego for suggesting these cards)


In Pandemic, can the Containment Specialist remove more than 1 cube (without the action of treating) in a cured city?

The key verb here is treat.

From the game base rules (emphasis mine):

  Treat Disease:

  Remove 1 disease cube from the city you are in, placing it in the cube
  supply next to the board. If this disease color has been cured (see
  Discover a Cure below), remove all cubes of that color from the city you
  are in.

The Medic can remove all cubes from a cured disease simply by entering it but it's his role privilege, other roles still have to spend a second action to cure all the cubes

  MEDIC

  The Medic removes all cubes, not 1, of the same color
  when doing the Treat Disease action.
  If a disease has been cured, he automatically removes
  all cubes of that color from a city, simply by entering it
  or being there. This does not take an action.

For instance, the containment specialist drives to Atlanta where there are 3 blue cubes (1 action). By doing so, he removes a cube for free, but only one since it's not a Treat action. Then he treats the blue disease thus removing the remaining two cubes (1 action)

  CONTAINMENT SPECIALIST

  When you enter a city with 2 or more cubes of the same color, remove 1 cube


What specific strategies have the highest win:loss ratio in Uno?

I play the largest number I can and save my draws, skips, and reverses for when they can be used against a winning opponent. I really don't worry about number variety. However, I try to keep a low number of high value cards in my hand, namely reverses, wilds, and skips, in that order, so if someone manages to win I don't give them too many points.

call color: No Strategy (color i have?)

play:
if hand has X or more Special Cards (SC),
    play SC(if possible): priority Reverse, Wild, Skip, (Wild Draw-4, Draw-2), 9-0
else if opponent has Y or fewer cards
    if opponent next and hand has Draw-2 or Skip (or Wild Draw-4)
        play Draw-2, Skip, (or Wild Draw-4)
    else if opponent last and hand has Reverse and (Draw-2 or Wild Draw-4)
        play Reverse
    else
        play 9-0, Draw-2, Skip, Reverse, (Wild, Wild Draw-4)
else
    play 9-0, Draw-2, Skip, Reverse, (Wild, Wild Draw-4)


Secret Hitler: is asking another player to choose which card to discard "cheating?"

Yes it is cheating and called out in the rules.

Rules

  Verbal and nonverbal communication between the
  President and Chancellor is forbidden. The
  President and Chancellor MAY NOT pick Policies
  to play at random, shuffle the tiles before
  discarding one, or do anything else clever to
  avoid secretly and intentionally selecting a
  Policy. Additionally, the President should hand
  both Policies over at the same time, rather
  than one at a time to gauge the Chancellor’s
  reaction. Attempting to telegraph the contents
  of your hand using randomness or any other
  unusual selection procedure violates the spirit
  of the game. Don’t do it.

Additionally

  Discarded Policy tiles should never be revealed
  to the group. Players must rely on the word of
  the President and Chancellor, who are free to
  lie.

Simply put once the election is over the President and Chancellor should stop all communication and move to quickly enact a new policy by following the rules and this should be done in a timely manner as to not give any hidden meanings from the actions.

President draws 3 policies
President discards one and hands the other two over at the same time to the Chancellor
Chancellor discards one of the policies and then enacts the other one.
At this point and only this point can the President and or Chancellor make claims about what policies they had to chose from

As a side note one very important thing to remember is that no matter what side someone is on they are going to make a claim about having no choice if a fascist policy is enacted. Also a claim can easily be made that the Chancellor was given a choice when a fascist policy was enacted and it was just a fascist President trying to make a liberal Chancellor look bad. The key point here is that the claims of what cards each player had to chose from need to be taken with a large grain of salt as you can easily lie about them.


Is the Complex deck in Agricola strictly better?

My initial, gut reaction to this question is "no, the Complex deck is not intrinsically more powerful".

Sure, it has some truly standout cards in it - Wet Nurse, I'm looking at you - but for every one of those it has a card with little to no good applications, e.g. Smallholder.  There are some strong Minor Improvements, but again, as well as all the excellent cards there are near-last-picks-in-draft like Yoke.

Are the E and I decks weak?  I'd say not, not really.  Occupations like Clay Mixer or Field Watchman, used well, can be just as powerful as anything in the K-deck.  A Plough is pretty much a Plough, and I'm always happy to have access to one, whichever deck it comes out of.  Some of my favourite Minor Improvements of all are to be found in the E-deck: Private Forest, or the potentially completely insane Clay Supports.

I often draft all the sets mixed together and I'm pretty sure I've never observed any kind of phenomenon of K-cards being snapped up quickly and E- and I-cards being left till later.  If anything, because what you want is cards that have simple positive effects and work well together, too many K-cards with lots of complicated text are liable to be counterproductive.  Yes, you'll first pick Wet Nurse if you see her.  But you'll spend the rest of the draft trying to pick up straightforward utility Improvements and Occupations that back up the strategy suggested by your first pick.  As such, my intuition is that I probably favour Basic and Interactive cards over Complex ones at most stages in a draft.

tl;dr: Complexity can be very powerful, when it does things that are not normally permitted in a game of Agricola.  But synergy is almost certainly more important.  And it tends to be easier to find synergies between simple cards than involved ones.  Therefore I strongly suspect the K-deck of being no more powerful, or just a little bit more powerful, than the others.

It'd be a really interesting experiment to play some games of Agricola between evenly matched players, giving them cards from different decks to play with, though, I must say!  Would kind of defeat the main point of the I-deck, mind you...


Chess - Learning to Sacrifice Pieces for the Greater Good

A sacrifice made at the beginning, with no clear and immediate advantage, is called a gambit.

There is no hard "rule" for when a gambit is worthwhile or not; it all comes down to what imbalances it gives you, and whether you think you can use those to your advantage.

For example, in the Danish Gambit (accepted), white sacrifices two pawns, hoping the extra space/development he gains will help mount an early attack.  In the Queen's Gambit (accepted), on the other hand, white sacrifices the pawn knowing he will either get it back, or black will have to severely weaken his position to hold onto it.


Official Diplomacy sets, variations and where to buy

The original Hasbro Edition is probably the physically best edition ever made - much better than the current US version with cardboard counters.

The other highly recommended edition is the 1992 Deluxe Diplomacy by Avalon Hill, which turns up very occasionally and very expensively on eBay.

The only professionally printed Dip variants I know of are Colonial Diplomacy and Machiavelli.


How do I identify non-English Magic cards?

First of all, if you are able to type in the name, just search for the name using Scryfall. It accepts non-English names (in part and in whole). Typing the name without accents works.
If you can scan or photograph the card, another easy way of identifying the card is to submit it to Google Image Search (click the camera). This will find pages about that card, and these will surely tell you its name. (In fact, you might very well get the card's Gatherer page.)
Otherwise, determining to which set it belongs would greatly narrow down the search space. For at least 15 years, Wizards has been placing a set icon on the card. Wizard maintains a list of the icons for the proper sets, but this doesn't include the special sets (e.g. duel decks). A quick search reveals that TCGPlayer maintains a comprehensive list. If you have a card that predates the set icon, this earlier post will allow you to determine the set to which it belongs.
Armed with the set, obtain the card number from the small print at the bottom of the card. Locate the set (in the appropriate language) on this page and locate the card by its number.
Tips:

If the number is illegible, you can still easy locate the card by looking at all the cards in the set with the correct casting cost.

This approach may fail for promo cards. If this is what you have, the copyright date can help you narrow down the search.

If all else fail, please provide a scan of the image.


How many Tokens does Sidisi, the Brood Tyrant make when multiple creature cards enter the graveyard simultaneously?

"Whenever one or more creature cards (...)" only triggers once when multiple cards are moved into the graveyard at the same time, like when you delve or when Sidisi enters the battlefield.

If it was meant to trigger for each individual card, it would say: "Whenever a creature card (...)".

See one of Sidisi, Brood Tyrant's rulings:

  9/20/2014: Any instruction, including Sidisi’s first ability, that tells you to put multiple cards from a library into a graveyard moves all the cards at the same time. For example, if Sidisi enters the battlefield and you put three creature cards into your graveyard, Sidisi’s last ability will trigger once and you’ll put one Zombie token onto the battlefield.

Bear in mind, one effect can have multiple separate instructions to move cards to your library: in general, if it contains multiple sentences, each with its own self-milling instruction, each sentence is a different instruction, and each instruction will move all of its cards simultaneously.

The current standard format doesn't seem to contain any examples of this, but imagine a Dampen Thought targeting yourself, spliced into another Dampen Thought, also targeting yourself. You'd wind up with, effectively, a spell saying: "Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard." — which will count as milling yourself twice, and trigger Sidisi twice.


This looks a lot like a dice from the game Tipsy Tower, specifically the Dutch version called 'Toren van Pisa'.

The goal of the game is to add pawns to the tower without it toppling. The colour rolled marks the floor where your pawn has to be placed. The star is a wildcard.


There are, in fact, already card games where you try to get three of your symbol in a row.

Tic Tac Toe: jeu de réflexion, for example.


Can I use Fate Transfer to make a Thing in the Ice transform immediately?

End result: Thing in the Ice with no counters, unflipped; another creature has 3 ice counters.

The sequence of events creates the following stack:

Thing in the Ice Trigger
Fate Transfer

The trigger is on top of the transfer since it is in response to the spell. Trigger resolves, removes 1 counter, sees that there are 3 counters left and doesn't flip. Transfer resolves, and moves the counters.  Since the trigger is already resolved, it doesn't flip.

The next time you cast an instant or sorcery, the trigger will (attempt to) remove a counter, then seeing no counters will flip.


In canasta, What is the top card of the discard pile?

The top card of the discard pile is always the most recently discarded card; the card physically on top of the rest. The fact that it is a wild card in this case doesn't change anything. Discarding a wild, like discarding a black three, is a way to ensure that the discard pile cannot be taken no matter what this turn.

From the rules:

  Note that you can never take the discard pile if its top card is a wild card or a black three.

The rules do not really define "top" here, but it is using the common English language meaning, "the highest or uppermost point". If the newly discarded wild card were not considered the "top" card, then the quoted rule would make no sense, as there would never be a way to have a wild card be the top card of the discard pile.


In the Letter of the Law:
Psychic Shriek asks you to evaluate the target unit's Leadership value. It does not say that it causes them to make a leadership test, so it can still apply to things that ignore/auto-pass leadership tests.

Ork Mob Rule says you (meaning the Ork player) may always choose to substitute the number of Orks in the mob for their Leadership value. It does not have a limitation of when this can be done (so technically, randomly in the middle of the shooting phase, you can just declare "oh, and because there's 9 of them left, their leadership is 9").

In the Spirit of the Law:
Orks are either so dumb they don't know they should be afraid of things even if they out number them, or so incredibly brilliant and powerful that we mere 'umies are unable to comprehend their courage. This invigoration seems to come from a quick head-count of their numbers and the raw logic that US > THEM == VICTORY. So when attempting to scare the spores out of a group of Orks, you have to consider that either they get a little scared, but after looking around for help find themselves in sufficient quantity to handle the threat, or they realize they are confident in the prowess and abilities of their compatriots and simply dismiss the threat.


Acing a copy of a unique card that you have in play

Nothing special happens and the unique character in play is permitted to remain in play, despite a duplicate being added to Boot Hill. The uniqueness rule only applies to bringing cards into play, not to cards that are already in play.

  You can put more than one copy in your deck, but you can’t bring a unique card into play if you own another card with the same name that is either already in play or in your Boot Hill. (DTR Rulebook, Page 14 Uniqueness)

This is corroborated by a ruling on the AEG forums.


Can Amber Prison prevent multiple permanents from untapping?

The only way it can be done is by copying the ability (such as through Rings of Brighthearth.  With just one copy of the ability, it works as follows:

"As long as" denotes the duration of the continuous effect. The effect ends when Amber Prison is untapped, and when it ends, there is nothing preventing the first creature from untapping.

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

Even if Amber Prison is  untapped while its ability is on the stack and activated again, it wouldn't be possible, becase the effect from the first instance of the ability would not even start:

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


Does anybody know of a list of color-appropriate effects for new cards in Magic?

My first instinct was that Mark Rosewater, the head of Magic R&D and the writer of the weekly column "Making Magic" on the official site, must have written a definitive account of the Magic colour pie.  And with ~50 columns a year under his belt for the past decade or so, I'm sure he's written a million things on subject, especially as the colour pie is one of his favourite themes.

Finding a definitive "MaRo tells the colour pie like it is" article is difficult though, especially as the colour pie morphs and shifts over time, through Mark's best efforts and despite them.  (I remember he spent quite a long time harping on about recent card Hornet Sting, as in his opinion it is an abomination to give green a direct damage spell of that sort.) However, I reckon if you read back through the Making Magic article archive, looking especially for pieces that are about defining the nature of the colours, you'll quickly start to understand how the people who make the game see their different roles, philosophies and abilities.

In the interests of providing a pat answer to your question though, check out this wiki article courtesy of excellent fan MtG site mtgsalvation.  It's a pretty good attempt to define and collate all the things about each colour that make that colour what it is.  And, oh look, it's got helpful links to some of the best Mark Rosewater articles on each colour at the bottom of the page.  Sorted!


Is it legal to check the number of resources in the bank?

You can only count resource cards after rolling, to determine if there are enough for everyone to get the cards they need.

From the official FAQ:

  Resource Cards - May I count the Resource Cards in the supply stacks during play?

    Yes, immediately after a production roll, before distributing the resources - but only if it isn't sure whether there will be enough cards for all players entitled to receive them.


What to do when briefcases in the bag run out?

The rules say that if there aren't enough briefcases in the bag, you just take all remaining briefcases from the bag. So you're right that this could be a problem, but at least Friedemann Friese seems to think it's acceptable.

This situation never happened in any of my games, so maybe it's a rare exceptional case.


Is a spell with split mana in its cost a multicolored spell?

A card's color is all colors contained in its mana cost, be it regular mana symbols and/or hybrid and/or Phyrexian mana, plus the color of its color indicator, if any:

  202.2d An object with one or more hybrid mana symbols and/or Phyrexian mana symbols in its mana cost is all of the colors of those mana symbols, in addition to any other colors the object might be. (Most cards with hybrid mana symbols in their mana costs are printed in a two-tone frame. See rule 107.4e.)

Also, it's not at all unusual that a card has a color that is different to what you pay to cast it. There are numerous cases where those two properties are unrelated.

Examples include:

Creatures that have no mana costs at all or cost zero mana
Creatures that have their colored mana costs reduced to zero
Creatures that are brought into play without paying its mana costs through other means
Creatures that have alternative costs that do not include mana at all
and so on.


The design of Go components is all about symmetry.  Because perspective shortens the vertical height of the board, the boards are made taller than they are wide.  This way they appear to be square when you're playing.  Another similar issue occurs with the stones.  Black stones appear to be smaller than white stones, so the black stones are actually made slightly larger than the white stones to counter this effect.

Related and awesome: How many squares are there on a Go Board?


Any simulation is based upon a set of assumptions - the simplest assumption in blackjack is that any card drawn will be of value 10 (i.e., 10, J, Q, K). You run your simulation with that assumption, which drives your strategy (e.g., the simplest being hit if you have 11 or less, stand if you don't). Run a million hands and see how you fared.

If you're not in the hole by a lot, great. Your strategy works reasonably well, and you could stop there if you wanted. If you are down a lot of money, then you need to start modifying your strategy until you find one that works well (enough). And, without some guiding principles based on probability and such, to do that you really do need to test just about every possible strategy you can think of (within reason).

The beauty of this is that computers are really good at running millions and billions of hands, and so running all these simulations is not as bad as it may sound (I would expect a well-written program to be able to simulate 1 million hands in a matter of minutes, so you can run hundreds or thousands of different iterations in a day). If you can apply some math and statistics, you can likely reduce the number of modifications you need to run.

So you start out by modifying your bet (double down if you have 11, for instance), or your hit/stand rules (split Aces), or your assumptions (hit on 12 if the dealer shows 10, because even though you're likely to draw a 10 there's a possibility you won't). The key is to only modify one element at a time. At the end of each run, compare your final chip count. Find the run with the highest and there you go. You could then start to combine some of your highest scoring modifications and see how the combination fairs (double down if you have 10 or 11, for example).

In the end you wind up with a set of rules for how the player should bet and play, to maximize their winnings / minimize their losses.

This is a type of simulation called Monte Carlo simulation, in that it uses a random hand to simulate the play. Run enough times, the randomness can lead to a deterministic answer. In fact, each time you run your simulation, you are trying to calculate the house advantage - if you start with $100 and wind up with $98, the house has a 2% advantage (or something like that). The closer you get to simulating perfect play, the closer you get to calculating the true house advantage.


How to approach a game of Othello / Reversi?

I am not speaking as a highly expert player, but rather someone who always wins against people with little or no experience, and against overly simplistic computerized versions. So the approaches I've learned can get you from beginner to intermediate. I'll start with simple stuff first:

Corners are vital. Once you get a corner, it will never change color. More importantly, it is an anchor for getting many more pieces that will never change color. Once you do have a corner, if it's early enough in the game you can simply flip pieces to your color as close as possible to the corner, expanding gradually away from the corner and not doing any other types of moves. None of the pieces can be re-flipped, and eventually your opponent will have so few (or zero) moves that you can control the rest of the game in any way you like.

Key concept all beginners must grasp: All moves prior to the first corner being taken must be geared toward maximizing your chances of being the first to get a corner (or in rare instances, setting up the board to turn your opponent's first corner to your advantage). At the same time, you want to minimize the chances of your opponent gaining the first corner.

It's easier to think about avoiding bad moves than making good moves. The worst move that you can make in Othello is to play a piece diagonally adjacent to a corner. Even if the opponent can't immediately seize the corner after that move, it usually takes a turn or two to find a way to get the color flipped along that diagonal in a way that can't be re-flipped on your turn. The turn after that, your opponent gets the corner.

It can be thought of as less risky to go adjacent to a corner horizontally or vertically if you have control of that side. And it may be that for many turns thereafter it will not enable the opponent to get a corner. But unless forced to go adjacent to a corner like this, it's better to avoid it, for 2 reasons. One is that if the opponent does get that corner by other means, he'll then get the entire row you (thought) you controlled. A second, more subtle reason: If your opponent gets a corner on the other side of that row you control, their next move will be to get the corner you're adjacent to. Even if you do get that other corner, your opponent can use that other corner against you, like so (you are black, "controlling" the side with 5 blacks, then you get the corner coming in from another direction):

_ _ B B B B B _
B _ B B B B B _
B W B B B B B _

You can see that white can now take the other corner at any time, and irreversibly control the entire side except the corner on the left. This is what I meant earlier about turning a corner against someone. The only easy way to do this is if they have previously placed a piece adjacent to a corner along that same side.

Many people figure out everything I've written so far after 20-50 games. If you haven't already mastered all of the above, be sure to do so before trying to grasp the more complex and conceptual material to follow.

Concepts

There are several important concepts that drive Reversi strategy. First, to review the already mentioned concepts:

Avoid giving up a corner, and have that drive your early game
Avoiding bad moves is more important than making a good move
After getting your first corner, turn pieces to your color that are as close as possible to that corner.

A simple concept I did not yet mention:

The end game consists of simply counting the number of pieces you get vs the number of pieces your opponents get. This works fine for the last 2-4 moves of the game, but should rarely be a driving force behind moves in the earlier part of the game before the first corner is taken.

The most important game concept takes a long time to master:

Minimize the number of moves your opponent can make, while doing your best to insure that you maximize the number of moves that you can make.

When you are playing someone who has mastered the simpler parts of the game I described above, they will only make moves that allow you to get a corner if they are forced to. The only way you can force them is by limiting the number of moves they can make. You can do that only if you have many moves to make, some of which will not create further moves for your opponent.

I don't expect that most people will fully understand this last part of strategy I described without actually practicing. So I encourage anyone who likes this game to play a few games where your main goal is not to try to win, but to try to get used to making moves that have the result of reducing the number of your opponent's future moves while expanding your own set of moves. Once you get used to this, start trying to win again, using what you've learned to force your opponent to move adjacent to a corner, because that is the only remaining move (or one of a small set of equally bad moves).

One last note: The only player I ever struggled to win against had not played as much Othello as I had. But he was a good Go player. Apparently, Go players learn to think in a way that translates very well to Othello. Perhaps an experienced Go player can leave a comment explaining why a Go player learning Othello will grasp the game far faster than players without that background.


What happens if two forces of unequal strength attacks the same province?

There are lots of different versions of the rules, so it is hard to give an exact quote and page reference, but they all agree on the resolution of this. The version I found says "A unit moves with its own strength combined with all of its valid supports. Unless it is opposed by a unit that is equally or better supported, it can complete its move." In this case Bohemia was opposed by a better supported unit, so it cannot complete its move and stays in Bohemia.

So in the case that two or more attacks occur on the same province, and one is stronger than all the others as well as being stronger than the existing defense, the strongest attack succeeds and the others all fail. Any units participating in those attacks remain where they were (unless they are dislodged by a different attack on their own province) and any units that started in the attacked province are dislodged and will need to retreat. You can only be dislodged from the province that you started the turn in.

If there are multiple attacks on the same province, and there are two or more attacks tied for the strongest (or tied with the existing defense), then all the attacks fail. This can result in an unsupported defender holding a province against two supported attacks as long as the supported attacks are of equal strength.


Forgetting to steal in Settlers of Catan

There are two issues here, and I think they each deserve a separate answer:

If you forget to steal, do you forfeit your right to steal a card?
If you go back a step in the game, do you re-take each step including rolling the dice?

The first is personal preference, I would say he forfeited his right to steal. It's not just he who missed the steal, it was the other players as well. It could be that people's hands have changed because they've received resources from the dice roll, and you'd have to account for that. In that, you would need to rely on everyone's honesty about (and memory of) the cards they'd received.

Re-rolling the dice after backtracking is something I never do, as a rule. If there's a possible argument about whether or not the dice should be rerolled, it's better not to, to avoid all discussion. No one is impartial in a game of Settlers.


MTG: Enchantments that require opponent to pay mana to attack

You're thinking of Propaganda from Tempest, which came out right after Mirage.

Ghostly Prison is the white version and Collective Restraint is a close cousin designed for multicolor-happy decks. (There's also the rather terrible Koskun Falls.)


Do you LOSE points for uncompleted destination tickets in Ticket to Ride Japan?

Yes, you do.
Although it is not exactly specified in the Japan rulebook, the beginning of the rulebook does say this:

This rules booklet describes the game play changes specific to
the Japan Map and assumes that you are familiar with the rules first
introduced in the original Ticket to Ride. This expansion is designed
for 2-5 players

So this is only the rulebook for the expansion specifically; any rules given by the base game rulebook still apply normally.
Another thing worth noting is that if you did not lose points for uncompleted routes, then you would never want to return any routes at all. The rule that says "He must keep at least one of them, but he may keep two or all three if he chooses." would make no sense, as you would simply always choose to keep all of them.


Does a triggered ability with no legal target for only some of its targets make it to the stack?

You cannot choose targets for Burning Sun's Avatar's triggered ability, and therefore cannot put it on the stack, if you have no opponents that are legal targets.
Burning Sun's Avatar's ability says

When Burning Sun's Avatar enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to target opponent and 3 damage to up to one target creature.

This means that in the process of putting the ability on the stack, you must choose exactly one opponent as the the first target, and zero or one creatures as the second target. If no opponents are legal targets, then you cannot choose a legal combination of targets for the ability, and it will not be put on the stack.
We have the following rules that describe how to put a triggered ability on the stack:

603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d. If a choice is required when the triggered ability goes on the stack but no legal choices can be made for it, or if a rule or a continuous effect otherwise makes the ability illegal, the ability is simply removed from the stack.
601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires. [...]

If for one of the targets the spell requires there are no legal choices, then the ability is simply removed from the stack.


This sounds like Uno Dominos.

Looking at the Board Game Geek -site for the game (linked above), I found these instructions on how to play.

The design shown in the picture above seems to be a pretty common one. There's another kind of tile design, done by Mattel, that can be seen in some images on the Board Game Geek -site and the instructions linked above. The rules should be the same regardless of what the tiles look like.


VP value of space 0 & 1 on the reputation track in Above and Below

There are no reputation points at these positions.

The 2/3/5 is a reminder for the rank-based scoring of reputation. The smaller numbers are for position-based scoring. There are no bonuses or penalties for being within -1 and +2 reputation.

In the end-of-game scoring, reputation is used for two different point awards. One of these is rank-based, where you get points for having the first or second most reputation. The other is position-based, where you gain (or lose) points based on your individual reputation. In a game where nobody gains or loses much reputation, the ranked points are still relevant. In a game where everyone has high reputation, you'll still get the points from your position regardless of your rank.

From the rules (emphasis mine):

  Reputation

  At the end of the game, the player with the most reputation gains 5 extra village points. The player with the second-most reputation gains 3 extra village
  points. The player with the third-most reputation gains 2 extra village points. If playing with two players, only the player with the most reputation gets the bonus: he gains 3 points (this is why there is a person symbol with the number “2” in this village point symbol).

  Players also gain or lose village points indicated by a smaller village point symbol next to their position on the track. For example, if a player ended the game with his cube on the highest space on the track, near the surface, he would lose 2 village points.

The 2/3/5 are the larger symbols.


I haven't seen anything bigger than 480, unfortunately, that wasn't a binder.  Quadrow Collector Albums like this one are probably your only real shot at more than 480, and of course they're binders.  They can hold 30 pages of quad row, double-sleeved cards (so, 24*30=720 cards), or 36 (single sleeved) or 48 (not sleeved).  Quite a lot.
There are some 3x3 page ones that are bigger from smaller companies, but I have to imagine the quad-row is a big benefit to your particular storage needs.  I guess a 9-card page could hold 2 cards (x4) plus one blank space in the middle or something, and still hold all in one binder (like this one); that's 720 cards, so if you only used 8 per page you'd get 640 out of it - but not as neat looking as a quad row for sure.
I think the issue is that the thickness of a 480 is about the maximum thickness people are comfortable with - plus probably some construction issues.  That 720 one looks really, really thick to me, uncomfortably so, and I'd worry it may bend the cards more than a smaller one would.


Can Wishing Ring be applied on side-effects?

I think this is one of those situations that is pretty much up to the table to resolve.  See the interpretation in this thread:

  A Wishing Ring can remove a curse and its effects at anytime.

  So things like Big Feet, Tiny Hands and Chicken on your Head can be
  removed by a wishing ring even though after they have hit and are
  persistent.

  There is only one exception to this that I know of. Sex Change. The
  effects of the Sex Change curse can be canceled only at the time that
  the Curse is played. After it has taken effect the change is
  permanent. Playing a Wishing Ring afterwards can remove the -5 if you
  haven't been in combat but it can't revert you back to your original
  sex.

But contrast with this opinion:

  Wishing Rings have one function straight off the card, and that's to
  get rid of a curse. Whether it's to negate one that's incoming or one
  that's been lingering for a while, the Wishing Ring will undo any
  hated curse that would put your character in a detrimental situation.
  (Whether or not this applies to a curse that causes a sex change is up
  to the table in general, so long as it's after the fact.)

Munchkin isn't the kind of game where the interaction between different cards is always cut-and-dried.  I personally think it would be a bit mean to rule against a Wishing Ring being able to negate a Sex Change's -5 penalty, but it really does depend what kind of vindictive maniacs you have in your group!


Resolution of two buffs that affect attacking creatures

Yes, you can make these work well together.

The ruling on Wild Beastmaster actually answers your question:

  The value of X is determined when the triggered ability resolves. ...

So you can have this sequence of events:

Declare attackers including Wild Beastmaster (and maybe other creatures).
Wild Beastmaster's ability triggers and goes on the stack.
While it's still on the stack, you cast Trumpet Blast.
Trumpet Blast resolves, granting Wild Beastmaster (and others) +2/+0.
Wild Beastmaster's ability resolves, checking Wild Beastmaster's power. It's now 3 (with the +2/+0 from Trumpet Blast), so X is 3, and it grants +3/+3 to your other creatures!

I think the relevant comp rule is 107.3c (emphasis mine):

  107.3c If a spell or activated ability has an {X}, [-X], or X in its cost and/or its text, and the value of X is defined by the text of that spell or ability, then that's the value of X while that spell or ability is on the stack. The controller of that spell or ability doesn't get to choose the value. Note that the value of X may change while that spell or ability is on the stack.

Wild Beastmaster's ability does define the value of X to be its power, so that's the value of X the entire time it's on the stack, and it can change while it's on the stack - for example, when Trumpet Blast changes its power.


Didn't Say Uno Before Running Out of Cards

From the rules, the hand is over.

http://www.wonkavator.com/uno/unorules.html

  When you have one card left, you must yell "UNO" (meaning one).
  Failure to do this results in you having to pick two cards from the
  DRAW pile. That is, of course if you get caught by the other players.
  Once a player has no cards left, the hand is over. Points are scored
  (see scoring section) and you start over again. That's UNO in a
  nutshell.

Further, you only have until the next player starts playing a card before it is to late to call them out. In this scenario once Player 2 started his 3rd turn (by starting the motion to play his last card), it was too late to call him out.

  A player who forgets to say UNO before his card touches the discard
  pile, but "catches" himself before any other player catches him, is
  safe and is not subject to the penalty. You may not catch a player for
  failure to say UNO until his second to last card touches the DISCARD
  pile. Also, you may not catch a player for failure to say UNO after
  the next player begins his turn. "Beginning a turn is defines as
  either drawing a card from the DRAW pile or drawing a card from your
  hand to play. If the last card played in a hand is a Draw Two or Wild
  Draw Four card, the next player must draw the two or four cards. These
  cards are counted when points are totaled. If no one is out of cards
  by the time the DRAW pile is depleted, reshuffle and continue play.

In order to call out Player2 and force him to draw cards for not saying 'UNO', Player 1 would have had to say it directly after his second to last card was played (touched the discard pile) but before he started to play his last card. Incredibly short, but possible.


How to play the intro of Legends of Andor with two players?

It is possible to reach all the objectives with just two players, and that is the way that it is designed.  Unlike Mice and Mystics, Legends of Andor has much more of a puzzle feel to it and you need to plan carefully in order to accomplish things within the time limits.  Keep in mind that you can move through the castle, that is one thing that often makes people think it takes longer than it really does.


What is the best way to respond to this pincer joseki deviation?


Can I activate abilities in the middle of declaring blockers?

No, that sequence of actions is not legal. You declare blockers all at once; you can't declare some blockers, then do something else, then declare other blockers. So, if you want to active the Harpy's ability, you have to either do it before declaring any blockers, or after declaring all of your blockers.


How do I prevent cheating on my token based card game?

You simply need a mechanic that makes it impossible for a player to see the other players' token counts until they are all simultaneously revealed.  There are quite a few ways to do this, so you have the freedom to choose something that fits with the theme of your game.

Many games (ex: Robo Rally, The Resistance) use cards for this mechanic.  It is one of the simpler methods.  Each player puts a card face down in front of them, and removes his or her hand from the card to show that the decision is final.  All players then reveal their cards simultaneously.  The cards can either be discarded or returned to hand based on the rules of your game.
A single token or tokens that can represent multiple values could be used.  For example, in Pizza Theory, each player has a 6-sided die that is use to signify their decision.  The players cup their hands over the dice until they are revealed.  This may not be practical for your game if each value from 0 to 15 must be possible; while you could use multiple or larger dice, it does increase the chance of a player accidentally bumping them on reveal and changing the values.
In games where multiple pieces of information are revealed simultaneously (rice counts in Shogun) or the pieces are impractical to hold in hand (Puzzle Strike), each player has a screen which can be used to hide their secret information until the reveal.


I am not clear on the distinction you are making.  In Rummikub, you can completely revamp the entire board on every turn.  Every tile can be "moved" and put into different runs/configurations.  All that matters is that the Joker is replaced with a correct tile from your rack, which is what was done.  The "correct" tile can end up anywhere after that.  At least via my understanding of the rules.


Takenoko: What happens if you draw a card that has an existing pattern in the garden?

You draw a plot card and that exact same shape is already existing in the garden
  (including the right parameters) Can you just show your objective card as fulfilled and
  get the points without doing anything else?

Yes. At any point in your turn, you can play as many fulfilled objective cards from your hand as you like. I've found this often happens at the end of the game... drawing a card in hopes that the objective is already fulfilled is a decent strategy.

  You draw a gardener card and you need 3 four-level bamboo in the garden. If there's an
  existing four-level bamboo in the garden, do you only need to do 2 more?

Yes, provided they're the same color. As it often happens with objective cards, other players may be configuring the garden to suit your objectives without even knowing it.


House rules to reduce the game play time of Power Grid

This is a good question, and I'm afraid I don't have a great answer. I think the creators addressed this question a bit with the creation of the Benelux board. When you play with that board you always remove the lowest power plant. That speeds things up a lot.


What cards can I cast from exile with Dream Pillager?

No, you can't cast any card at all that's in exile that way. You can only cast cards that were exiled by Dream Pillager this turn, and only until the end of the turn.

Dream Pillager's original printed text says exiled this way, referring to the cards exiled by that ability. Its wording was updated with Core 2019 to the following, emphasis added:

  Whenever Dream Pillager deals combat damage to a player, exile that many cards from the top of your library. Until end of turn, you may cast nonland cards from among those exiled cards.

In making this change they were trying to make it extra clear you only get to cast that bunch of cards just exiled, only this turn.


Unable to destroy monster after negating its effects

I activated Infinite Impermanence, then chained with Torrential Tribute; I assume that the problem comes from that both effects are in the same Chain Link. Could this be the case?

I see several problems here:

Activating Torrential Tribute as a chain to Infinite Impermanence is not a valid move (Missed Timing).

The text of Torrential Tribute specifies that you can activate it when a monster(s) is summoned (emphasis mine):

  When a monster(s) is Summoned: Destroy all monsters on the field.

This means that to activate Torrential Tribute, the last thing that must have happened is a monster(s) being summoned. In your case, the last thing that happened in the Chain was the activation of Infinite Impermanence, so you can't chain Torrential Tribute to that (see TT's card rulings).
Let's suppose for a moment that you could have activated TT that way...:

In this scenario, the reason why Number 101 was not destroyed was indeed due to the chain, specifically the Chain resolution order. When resolving Chains, they take effect in "reverse order" as they were activated (the Chain Stack):

Chain 0: Summoning Number 101
Chain 1: Infinite Impermanence to No.101
Chain 2: Torrential Tribute activated (if it where possible move)

Resolving...:

Chain 2: All monsters on the field are destroyed. As Number 101 still has it's effects enabled he can save himself by detaching an XYZ material.
Chain 1: Number 101 effects are negated by Infinite Impermanence

Next time, to successfully (and legally) negate and destroy Number 101 you should activate TT and II in reverse order: Summon->Torrential Tribute->Infinite Impermanence so it resolves Negate->Destroy.


What is the converted mana cost of fuse cards

Its converted mana cost is 9. Blast of Genius will deal 9 damage. Rule 708.4 says

708.4. In every zone except the stack, the characteristics of a split card are those of its two halves combined. This is a change from previous rules.

708.4b The mana cost of a split card is the combined mana costs of its two halves. A split card’s colors and converted mana cost are determined from its combined mana cost.

Catch has a mana cost of {1}{U}{R} and Release has a mana cost of {4}{R}{W}, so the combined mana cost is {5}{W}{U}{R}{R} and the converted mana cost is 9.


I am not an expert but here is my 2 cents:

Recommended opening for 1st player: the middle of the the middle board.
Try not to let your opponent play in the middle board.  Do it by completing 3-in-a-row without the middle in the non-middle boards.
focus on the boards that matter: I have seen games where one player had won 5 boards but lost.


Betrayal at house on the hill question about monster turns

The traitor does not get an "extra" turn. Rather, he gets a turn to control his own character, and then the monsters get a turn, in which the traitor controls what they do. So if there are no monsters in a given scenario, then the traitor just takes his normal turn, once, and nothing happens on the "monster turn".

Rule quote:

  After the traitor’s turn, any monsters
  controlled by the traitor get a monster turn. (This means that the traitor gets two turns: one
  for his or her actions and one for the monsters.) Then the first hero to the left of the traitor
  takes a turn, and so on.

So while it does describe the traitor as getting "two turns", it is also clear that the "second turn" is the monsters' turn, not actually the traitor's turn.


Checkers is defintely not just tactics! While checkers is not in the same strategic league as chess, there are clear strategic concepts. For example, controlling the long diagonal is somewhat similar to the idea of controlling the centre in chess.

Another example is playing to open one side, for the purposes of crowning pieces. This is analogous to the idea of king-side or queen-side pawn storms in chess.

Even choosing whether to commit to an exchange or not is strategic, just as it is in chess. You are weighing up not only the material consequences of the exchange, but the positional consequences as well, both short and long term.


Can a Special Event be used to help another player during their turn?

Yes, you can play special events on other players' turns, and "current player" means the player whose turn it currently is. The rulebook says:

  These cards may be played at any time (even on a fellow player's turn)...

That's why they say "current player" not "you", and explicitly say you can play them any time, not just on your turn. Being able to use them to benefit any player is really the point. They'd be pretty weak without that flexibility.


Does the "forced response to a new suit" concept apply to both players in the Goren bidding system?

This answer should not be limited to Goren only, but should be a general guideline to most natural systems.

Whether a bid is forcing or not depends on whether the bidder (or sometimes his partner) is limited or not. In your example:

1S is forcing because responder has not a chance to show his strength yet. He can have a massive hand waiting to be shown on the next few rounds.
For most pairs, 2C is not forcing, since opener is in some sense limited: he did not make a forcing opening, and he did not jump shift when given the chance to. Responder has the right to pass this bid if he decides 2C is the most suitable contract at that time.
2D is forcing, be it natural or artificial, again because responder's hand is still unlimited. Opener is bound to keep the bidding open.

Therefore the general rule is that responder's new suit bid is forcing due to an unlimited hand. For opener's non-jump suit bid, it is not forcing since his hand is limited, but this is still subject to partnership agreement.


German Carcassonne fan expansions - available in English?

A quick Google web search reveals this post for the Easter Festival (yes, it's the same author although a different name). The full rules for both expansions can be found in the downloads sections of Carcassonne Central (you'll need to register, but it's free to do so).

Easter Festival - Rules
Easter Festival - Tiles
City Gates Rules - English translation


Do Law Offices affect ties you're not part of?

The rules seem pretty clear about this:

  In addition, at the end of the game when goals are being scored, the player with a Law Office scores points if he is tied with another player for achieving one goal (public or his own private goal, which he picks from any of his tied goals) as if he had won it. If two players have the Law Office, they may each score the same tied goal.

(emphasis mine)

So no, it does not let you win a tie that you're not part of. (It doesn't work the same as your example from another game.)


Is 3-4 player endgame necessarily a deadlock?

According to this translation of the rules, you can move your piece as far as you like down an open corridor, not just one step.


Could I use gryph-chargers for my Warhammer 40k space marines? And would they fit?

While 40K and Age of Sigmar are both technically 28mm scale models AoS tends to run a little larger than 40K.
That said the Stormcast models are a very close match to Primaris models in terms of size, so a waist up conversion for Vanguard-Palladors is possible.
Otherwise if you're wanting to use regular marines either the legs will look a little off, or they'll need more heavy conversion.


Can a creature be killed by damage from two different instants?

Yes, that was a legal move.

You may cast multiple instants in the same turn. There's no limit beyond having the instants and being able to pay their cost.

After taking the first two damage, your 4/4 would still be a 4/4. Those two numbers represent power/toughness - toughness is not health, but the amount of damage a creature can withstand in one turn.

Your 4/4 would be a 4/4 with two damage marked against it after the first spell, then a 4/4 with four damaged marked against it after the second. Since it has taken damage at least equal to its toughness in one turn, it dies.


Does Equinox counter Desolation Angel if it's kicked?

No, Equinox cannot counter Desolation Angel. Equinox says

  Enchanted land has "{T}: Counter target spell if it would destroy a land you control."

When a creature spell resolves, its only effect is to put the creature onto the battlefield. In the case of Desolation Angel, after it enters the battlefield its ability triggers. That ability is what would actually destroy the lands, and it is a separate game object from the Desolation Angel creature spell—and is in fact not a spell at all (it's an ability) so Equinox can't counter it. So, if you activate the ability granted by Equinox targeting a Desolation Angel spell, it will do nothing because the spell itself won't destroy any lands.


Can you place units in an Industrial Complex the turn you place it?

No, you cannot use industrial complexes you captured or purchased this turn. You must have missed it, top of page 22.

Phase 5: Mobilize New Units
Move the newly purchased units from the mobilization zone on the game board to eligible spaces you have controlled since the start of your turn, with the following exceptions (below). You cannot use industrial complexes that you captured or purchased this turn.


In Chess what is the Queens or Kings Indian?

At a high level, an "Indian" in Chess is just advancing the pawn which is in front of a knight by one square.

King or Queen indicates which side the advanced pawn is on.  This move will usually be followed by the fianchetto of the bishop nearest the pawn.  This puts the bishop in front of the knight and allows him to control one of the long diagonals on the board from a safe location.

Two common openings using this are:

The King's Indian Attack, usually done in response to the French defense.  A famous example is from 1967.  Bobby Fisher against Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren.
The Queen's Indian Defense starts like this 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6


Is there custom boardgame leaderboard online?

If you have an account on BoardGameGeek, then you can record "plays" of a game against that account. You can include details about other players, whether the game was stopped before the end, how long the game took, where the game was played, and who won.


Do you have to reveal your hand when using Treasure Map and not trashing a TM from your hand?

A very similar question was posed on DominionStrategy.com (although now of course I can't find the link to the specific discussion). The thread was about paradoxes in which you aren't required by the rules to reveal your hand, but then your opponent couldn't verify that you in fact followed the directions on the card. The Treasure Map scenario was one of the examples mentioned in that thread; another example was Moneylender (which requires you to trash a Copper from your hand but has not clause about revealing a hand with no Copper).

Having said that, let me first walk through what must happen in the scenario you outline, and what Donald X. (the game creator) has said about the potential for cheating in that scenario.

Your scenario is having a hand of Throne Room, three Treasure Maps, and a Copper. If you play the Throne Room, you are required to choose an Action card from your hand. The only choice is a Treasure Map, so you play that card twice. Both times, the card directions tell you to trash another Treasure Map from your hand, so you must do so both times because you have Treasure Maps in hand. The if clause is only satisfied the first time, though, so the second play of the original Treasure Map (from the Throne Room) does not cause you to gain the Golds a second time.

As to the potential of cheating, Donald X.'s response (in paraphrase) is that it would be ridiculous to specify absolutely everything about the game, such as what constitutes valid shuffling (yes, this has been an intense discussion on DS.com), what the penalty is for breaking the rules, etc. In short: if you cheat, you're already breaking the rules; what would be the benefit of having a rule for what to do if someone breaks the rules?

The way the Isotropic server implements these situations is that the server requires you to take the actions that a card demands, and so it provides an objective enforcement of the rules. Because Treasure Map doesn't say to reveal your hand if you don't have a second Treasure Map, Isotropic doesn't show your opponent your hand. What your opponent would see is something like:

X plays a Throne Room
…and plays a Treasure Map
……trashing the Treasure Map and a Treasure Map from his hand
……gaining 4 Golds on the top of the deck
…and plays the Treasure Map again
…trashing a Treasure Map from his hand

If you're playing in an environment in which player's honor is not enough of a guarantee to avoid cheating, then that environment could specify additional procedures (such as having an ombudsperson to verify that the hand was played legally or using Isotropic, which would enforce the rules). You could specify a house rule of "reveal the hand if you can't follow part of the directions," although that could potentially give the opponent additional information that they wouldn't have otherwise. But, that's all up to you. What the rules require is that, if you play the Throne Room, all three Treasure Maps will be trashed and if you don't do that then you're cheating.

Do note that, unlike what some posters below have said, the Treasure Map card should not have been written with a "may." Donald X. deliberately made the effect non-voluntary. He is very careful about getting card directions right, and that's one area where there's no ambiguity. Claims about the "templates" for other cards in the set miss the point; when Donald wants an effect to be voluntary, he uses, "You may." Because he has a clear template he uses for other cards, you can rest assured that, since he didn't put that into Treasure Map, he didn't want that direction to be optional.


In Small World, as soon as you discover that someone has a combo that seems powerful you need only to do a couple things

Kill off any declined empire of his
Regularly snipe a territory or two of his every turn.

If at least one other players agrees with you, the declined empire should be gone by the start of his second turn with the powerful combo (at the latest).  Without a declined empire regularly gaining a few VPs/turn, it is very hard to win.

Next you have to deal with the elves.  You definitely don't want him expanding to 8 territories and taking 16VPs/turn!  8 elves can be knocked back pretty easily.  He has no combat bonuses on either offense or defense, so you should be able to reduce him to a max of 2 territories at the start of his turn pretty fast.  Bottle him up with stacks 2-3 high, this will limit his expansion and should keep his VP generation below yours.

Don't be afraid to go into decline early and often.  Grab any combo with a combat advantage of some sort and exploit it.  Once it plays out, get another one.  The Merchant Elves will be stuck fighting for the same 2-4 territories every turn until he goes into decline.

Merchant only gives +2 troops, everything else except Fortified (+3) gives at least +4 troops.  This means that Merchant is meant to be a very powerful ability, on the other hand, you will almost certainly outnumber him.  Grab a combat oriented power on top of that and the battles should greatly favor you.

Some combos that might be particularly annoying to the merchant elves are:

Flying Ratmen or Amazons (attack his soft underbelly with a ton of troops)
Mounted Skeletons should have him restricted to the mountains in no time
Stout anything - just throw them at him and go get another empire while he cleans up the carnage
Commando Giants - grab mountains, anything around them will probably fall to 1 attacking giant!


What are the most expensive cards in Magic: The Gathering?

Here's one possibility for what you're looking for: a search for all of the cards that TCGPlayer.com sells (directly or as a middleman) for at least $200. At this time, it lists 64 cards in that range.


Werewolf is the name of a family of games, not a specific game. So the answer will vary depending on the rules of the specific game. I think the more common answer would be "No, because they have to pick a 'villager', and the werewolves aren't 'villagers'."

e.g.,:

https://www.playwerewolf.co/rules

But other rulesets vary in their phrasing, with some even explicitly allowing the selection of a werewolf.


What exactly does the "structures in a row" end game bonus mean?

The parenthesis disambiguates the phrase before it. "In a row" has its natural meaning, which is further clarified to be "any continuous straight line" (of hexes). A contiguous grouping is not the same thing.


Is there negative marking when destination cards are drawn and not enough trains are left?

Players get negative points for any destination tickets that are incomplete when the game ends, period. Either this player got unlucky, or made a foolish decision drawing new tickets so close to the end of the game.