Does casting a copy of a spell count count for "whenever you cast a spell" triggers?

If the effect instructs you to "cast" a spell or card, then you are casting the spell. You have to follow the instructions for casting a spell, and it triggers any "whenever you cast a spell" abilities.

Rule 706.12 says

  An effect that instructs a player to cast a copy of an object (and not just copy a spell) follows the rules for casting spells, except that the copy is created in the same zone the object is in and then cast while another spell or ability is resolving. Casting a copy of an object follows steps 601.2a–h of rule 601, “Casting Spells,” and then the copy becomes cast. Once cast, the copy is a spell on the stack, and just like any other spell it can resolve or be countered.


When Governor and Alchemy cards are in same game, how does gaining a card for trashed card work?

It must have a potion. The rule states that any time any cost is increased, the potion quantifier stays. Since the card you are trashing has one potion in the cost, the card you pick up also has to have one potion in its cost. For more strategy with this card (albeit not help with this particular question!) check this out.


Would Steam/Age of Steam benefit from a non-constrained set of tiles

One step towards implementing a wider set of tiles, without adding pieces, would be to allow players to swap tiles on the board if it doesn't change their top face. In a small but significant fraction of situations, the tile you need exists as the unused bottom side of a tile already on the table. Within the rules, I have encountered at least one scenario in which the game outcome was changed by my being able to "waste" money upgrading an apparently random tile on the board just to recover the other side of that tile for the move I actually want/need to make.


Need help with keeping track of +1/+1 counters on a large amount of creatures

My group mainly uses dice, but even then with counters on many creatures, that can become burdensome. One thing we do is have "group dice" aka use one dice for a group of creatures to represent counters on all of them.
That same principle could easily apply to non-dice counters. These green baubles in front of this group of creatures are +1/+1 counters on all of them.  This red one is a -1/-1 on these 3 creatures.  This coin is the number of times I've cast my commander (bigger stack = more expensive?).


Can I pay to return my opponent's Shackles to their hand?

No.
Activated abilities can normally only be activated by the controller of the permanent with the ability. When your opponent plays Shackles, even when it is attached to one of your creatures, they are still the controller of Shackles.

303.4e An Aura’s controller is separate from the enchanted object’s controller or the enchanted player; the two need not be the same. If an Aura enchants an object, changing control of the object doesn’t change control of the Aura, and vice versa. Only the Aura’s controller can activate its abilities.
110.2. A permanent’s owner is the same as the owner of the card that represents it (unless it’s a token; see rule 110.5a). A permanent’s controller is, by default, the player under whose control it entered the battlefield. Every permanent has a controller.
602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Only an object’s controller (or its owner, if it doesn’t have a controller) can activate its activated ability unless the object specifically says otherwise.


Barring any rules to the contrary, coastal is generally interpreted as "next to water", so I would say that an island certainly counts for this.


Interaction between Time of Ice and Rescue

No, creatures A and B will not stay tapped.

See the first Gatherer ruling on Time of Ice:

  The effects of Time of Ice’s first two chapter abilities expire if you lose control of it, even if you immediately regain control of it or cast another Time of Ice.

And the comprehensive rules that back up this ruling:

  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.

So the moment you return Time of Ice to your hand, that ability that was keeping A and B tapped has ended. That ability no longer has any effect on A or B; nothing that happens after that can change that.

Also, when you cast Time of Ice later, it is a completely different Time of Ice that has no connection to the one that you used on A and B.

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

(None of the exceptions apply here).

And when it says "for as long as you control Time of Ice", it means specifically that Time of Ice, and not any other objects with that name.

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


How does Engine Room work with Roslin’s Religious Visions ability?

I submitted this question to Fantasy Flight support. Here's the response:

  For the purposes of using the Engine Room during Roslin's turn, whichever card Roslin chooses to resolve is treated as "the next Crisis Card drawn." Hope that clears things up.


point buy TCG CCG deck building mechanics

Conan had a "point buy" system for elements of it's build (in addition to the Netrunner commented above).

The biggest flaw is book-keeping - it's fairly easy to count that you have X cards, or that you only have Y copies of a card. Counting the total number of points in a deck is a lot more math, and that's not always a selling feature.


Is the person allowed to change his card if the stack is not collected by the opposition?

Players must follow suit if they are able.
If unable, then before playing a card, the player must ask for trump to be revealed (or simply reveal trump if they are the declarer). If trump has already been revealed, then the player may play as normal (any suit).
From the rules at wikipedia:
In the case of a misplay, the hand ends and

the player forfeits the points he called in the start or the opposite player gains the points which they made at the start.

There is no provision for correcting/adjusting the misplay. The only remedy is the loss of the game points.


Is the Mystery that is active when the portal opens in Strange Remnants still useful for progressing the investigators?

A response from Nikki from FFG that strongly implies the active mystery is all but pointless once the Ancient One card flips and the Final Mystery begins (meaning that if one were to solve it, it would not add an extra clue):

  Syzygy is unique from other Ancient Ones in that it is designed to always flip. The cosmic alignment will occur whether the investigators are prepared for it or not. For Syzygy, just completing the Final Mystery is enough to win, but solving Mysteries before the sheet flips will give the investigators an advantage.


Odds question from mindblowing Pinochle hand

Assuming double deck of 80 cards and four players, the number of ways you can get a double run and the player to your left can get a run in the same suit is:

4*(C(4,2)*C(2,1))^5*C(50,25)

(4 for the choice of suits, Choose two of the aces for one hand and one for the second, raised to the fifth power to repeat that sort of selection for the 10, K, Q, and J, and then choose any 25 of the remaining 50 cards to fill out the two hands).

The total number of two hand combinations is

C(80,20)*C(60,20)

So the odds is just the ratio of these two:

125820016084474822656 / 14819495547017580943365306953888400

497664/58616503648825943975

or about 1 in 117,783,290,832,420

Then you'd want to multiply that by 4*3=12 since you don't care which of the two players get those hands, and then you'd have to subtract the odds of one additional player coming up with the fourth run in that suit so you don't count that twice.


How do Platinum Angel and Darksteel Reactor interact?

The game will be a draw. Darksteel Reactor will trigger, attempt to win you the game, and then resolve and do nothing (since you can't win the game). Once resolved, Darksteel Reactor will see that it is still in play and still has 20 counters, and it will trigger again.

  603.8. A state-triggered ability doesn't trigger again until the ability has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack.

This will continue without moving the game forward until a player removes either Darksteel Reactor or Platinum Angel or both. Since the game can't move forward, it is a draw.

Note: in a multiplayer game, "You win the game" is translated as "Each opponent loses the game." So if Player A had Darksteel Reactor, player B has Platinum Angel, and player C had nothing, player C would lose and players A and B would tie.


Can Mizzium Meddler steal the effect of a Renown ability?

Mizzium Meddler cannot 'steal' the Renown of the Colossus.

This is because Renown is not a targeted ability, it just effects the creature it is on.

  702.111a Renown is a triggered ability. “Renown N” means “When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes renowned.”

As you can see there is no mention of targeting anywhere in the rules, thus the Meddler cannot redirect it. Note that the Meddler can still target the ability, it will just do nothing since there are no targets to change.

  If Mizzium Meddler’s triggered ability targets a spell or ability with no targets, nothing happens.


Can a single Myr Servitor save itself when sacrificed to Eldrazi Monument?

No.  Myr Servitor's ability has an intervening "if" clause ("if Myr Servitor is on the battlefield"), and whether this clause is true is checked both when the ability triggers and when it tries to resolve.  By the time it tries to resolve, the Myr Servitor won't be on the battlefield, and so the ability won't do anything.

  603.4. A triggered ability may read "When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect]." When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn’t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the "intervening ‘if’ clause" rule. (The word "if" has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a card; this rule only applies to an "if" that immediately follows a trigger condition.)


How Specific Does Card Naming Have to Be

You have to be able to uniquely identify the card, you don't necessarily have to get the name correct.

The reason for this is while the Comprehensive Rules say you have to actually name the card (CR 201.3), the Tournament Rules state that you can get the Oracle text of the card (which includes the name) as long as you can uniquely identify it (MTR 3.6). In order to not waste time calling a judge to get the Oracle text of a card every time you need to name a card you just need to uniquely identify a card in order to 'name' it.

For example in a standard tournament if I wanted to name Jace, the Living Guildpact I couldn't just say "Jace" since Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is also in Standard, and that doesn't uniquely identify which one you are talking about. However you could say "The Jace that doesn't transform" or "The Jace that costs 4" since both of those statements uniquily identifies what card you are talking about in Standard. Note that in Modern you would need to find a different way to describe the card since both of those statements also describe Jace, Architect of Thought

Note that for transforming or flip cards for the Conundrum Sphinx, or something like Memoricide it doesn't matter what name you pick (or uniquely identify), but it does matter for cards like Pithing Needle. For those you have to identify the appropriate side, so if you wanted to name Jace, Telepath Unbound for Pithing Needle you could say "The transformed version of Jace" or something similar.


In The Resistance, how does In the Spotlight work?

The player using In the Spotlight must announce their intent to use it immediately after a successful Mission Team Vote, and they must select the target player before any team member selects their Mission card. After the target has been chosen, each team member selects a Mission card and puts it on the table in front of them. The player who is the target of In the Spotlight then reveals their card to everyone. The leader then collects the other Mission cards as normal.

The other team members must select their Mission card before seeing the revealed card.

It's important to select the target of In the Spotlight before any team members have selected their Mission card, because it could affect the choice they make. For example, if a Spy selects a Fail card before In the Spotlight is played, they would have to pick up their card to change it. That would certainly be very revealing. The intent of In the Spotlight is that the target player knows they will have to reveal their card before making their choice.


You are correct that nothing will happen. The Champion's abilities are what are called Linked Abilities, and the second one depends on choices made from the first one. Since nothing was targeted by the first ability there is nothing for the second one to reference.

Think of it like Fiend Hunter since the first ability didn't exile anything there is nothing for it to return when it leaves the battlefield, the Champion works the same way but with life.

  607.1. An object may have two abilities printed on it such that one of them causes actions to be taken or objects or players to be affected and the other one directly refers to those actions, objects, or players. If so, these two abilities are linked: the second refers only to actions that were taken or objects or players that were affected by the first, and not by any other ability.


Why is there a "no man's land" between 1NT 15-17 and 2NT 20-21?

Because the level of 3NT is too high to be supported by opener's values with only 20-21 HCP. Even 2NT is challenging if partner shows up with a bust opposite 20-21.

The appropriate way to show an 18-19 point hand using this style is to open 1 of a minor suit, and jump to 2NT over partner's response, as a forcing rebid.
Part of the challenge in bidding is that the space one might wish to use to describe one's hand also must remain low enough to allow a makeable contract to be reached and agreed.

This is actually a newer style than the original Goren System (or Culbertson), which used 2NT opening to show a balanced 22-24 HCP. The Europeans were the first to realize the advantages of reducing this range, which then was popularized in North America by players such as Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold (Kaplan Sheinwold system) on the East Coast, and Richard Walsh on the West Coast (Two-Over-One Game Forcing system).

Another reason for the change to 2-point ranges above 17 HCP was that 3-point ranges had been found to be too wide for accurate assessment of total partnership value. When NT is first suggested at the 1-level it is possible for one partner to inquire on minimum/maximum in partner's hand by raising to 2 NT. However that option is not available if NT is first suggested at the 2-level. Empirically, it was found that 2-point ranges were both straightforward to implement in a bidding system, and much more accurate in both game and slam bidding.


Can Charon move the opponent whatever the height?

Looking at rules here its seems to be absolutely fine regardless of levels.

Full rules for Charon are :-

  Before your Worker moves, you may force a neighboring opponent Worker to the space directly on the other side of your Worker, if that space is unoccupied.

Note it does not say you are 'moving' your opponents worker.  It's 'forcing' them.   To me this would imply that usual movement rules do not apply so its possible to jump from ground level up 2.  Also the word 'move' is used in several other gods powers but not Charon.

The rules are also have a link to explaining each power in detail.  The Video for Charon also specifies that it is 'forced' and in the video example shows the forced worker being raised two levels.


In the Epic card game, when is event damage resolved during the attack?

From the Complete Rules:

  5.16.3 If a champion has taken damage equal to or exceeding its defense in a single turn, it is immediately broken.

Thus the defending player will take no damage from the attack. It looks like technically there is still a "Choose Blockers" step even if all attackers are dead, but you can just block with nothing. (Description of Battle Phase: Rulebook p12, or Complete Rules 4.4)


Can I cast Enchant Creature cards on Enchantment Creatures (Bestow) that are on another creature?

No, because whilst Nylea's Emissary is bestowed on another creature, it isn't itself a creature - it's just an Enchantment — Aura.

Its card type might be Enchantment Creature — Cat, but whilst it's bestowed, that's overwritten to just make it an Enchantment — Aura. That's thanks to the following two rules:

  702.102a (the expanded definition of Bestow): [snipped] "Bestow [cost]" means "You may cast this card by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost." and "If you chose to pay this spell's bestow cost, it becomes an Aura enchantment and gains enchant creature.

  205.1a: Some effects set an object's card type. In such cases, the new card type(s) replaces any existing card types.

The text I've bolded is something Nylea's reminder text points out, though it doesn't explicitly say how it remains an enchantment in the reminder text.

As a result, whilst Nylea's Emissary is a bestowed permanent, it's just an aura and not a creature. Note in particular the "it becomes a creature again" statement in Bestow's reminder text - that wouldn't make much sense if it was a creature to begin with.

Furthermore, Thassa's emissary says "Enchant creature". Whenever something simply says "creature", it means a permanent on the battlefield that's a creature. Nylea's Emissary isn't a creature whilst it's bestowed, so it can't be enchanted. This is flipside of the mechanic that allows a Mutavault to be enchanted with something that says Enchant creature whilst in creature mode, even if its card type doesn't include "Creature".


Can you choose the same option twice for Incendiary Command?

No. If you could choose the same mode more than once, the card would explicitly state that (e.g. Righteous Confluence).

  700.2d If a player is allowed to choose more than one mode for a modal spell
  or ability, that player normally can’t choose the same mode more than once.
  However, a few modal spells include the instruction “You may choose the same
  mode more than once.” If a particular mode is chosen multiple times, the spell
  is treated as if that mode appeared that many times in sequence. If that mode
  requires a target, the same player or object may be chosen as the target for
  each of those modes, or different targets may be chosen.

Source.


Can a solo game be converted into a cooperative game (and vice versa)?

Q1: Two things it must have:

Two or more opposing factions or teams. A solo player is simply on one side, then by expanding the game to allow players to be on either side, the game can become multiplayer and/or cooperative.
A limit to the number of rewards or prizes the factions are trying to accomplish. This is what evokes the competition. A solo player is competing against the computer to be the first to win the prizes. Then to expand to multiplayer/cooperative, the players are on separate teams are now competing for the limited number of prizes (and be the fastest to do it).


How do you deal with the edge of the table in tile laying games like Carcassonne

Everyone I play with move the tiles to accommodate when possible.


Does the Scythe of the Wretched + Crypt Rats combo really work, and how?

Say you have Crypt Rats in play, equipped with the scythe. You activate their ability (either for 1 mana and the rats have deathtouch, or just by spending lots of mana). Either way, lots of creatures receive lethal damage. Here is what would happen:

The rats' ability resolves, dealing lethal damage to several creatures
After the ability has finished resolving, but before anyone gets priority, state-based actions are checked, and many creatures are destroyed
As these creatures are destroyed, the scythe triggers once for each creature destroyed this way, because

They were dealt damage by the rats this turn, and
The rats had the scythe equipped immediately before the destruction occurred*

Again, before anyone receives priority, all the scythe's triggers are put on the stack.

You now have a stack full of scythe triggers, each one returning a creature from their owner's graveyard to the battlefield under your control, with the scythe attached. You controlled the scythe, so you decide which order they are put on stack, which means that you decide which order these creatures enter the battlefield.

The order of resurrection may matter because the creatures enter the battlefield one by one, and may care about how many creatures are on the battlefield when they enter or how many creatures enter after them. The order really matters because the last one will be the one which ultimately ends up with the scythe equipped and therefore get +2/+2 and the resurrection ability, meaning you probably want that to be the rats.

*The scythe will trigger as though it's attached to the rats and the rats are alive when all the creatures are destroyed because of the following rule:

  603.10. Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions, and continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like. However, some triggered abilities are exceptions to this rule; the game “looks back in time” to determine if those abilities trigger, using the existence of those abilities and the appearance of objects immediately prior to the event. The list of exceptions is as follows:

  603.10a Some zone-change triggers look back in time. These are leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a card leaves a graveyard, and abilities that trigger when an object that all players can see is put into a hand or library.

  Example: Two creatures are on the battlefield along with an artifact that has the ability “Whenever a creature dies, you gain 1 life.” Someone casts a spell that destroys all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact’s ability triggers twice, even though the artifact goes to its owner’s graveyard at the same time as the creatures.

"Whenever a creature dealt damage by equipped creature this turn dies" is such a leaves-the-battlefield trigger, and it therefore looks at the board state immediately before the destruction happened to determine whether it ought to trigger. Immediately before all the creatures are destroyed, the scythe was equipped to the rats, and lots of creatures dealt damage by the rats this turn are about to be destroyed, so the scythe triggers.

The gatherer ruling you quote is a clarification of a different sequence of events. For instance, say you first activate the rats' ability for 1 (somehow making sure the rats themselves survive), then equip the scythe to the rats, and then play, say, Wrath of God, then the combo still happens, even though the scythe wasn't attached to the rats when the damage was dealt.

If, on the other hand, you equip the scythe on the rats, deal one damage, unequip the rats (possibly by equipping it on another creature), then play Wrath of God, then the scythe doesn't trigger at all. It doesn't matter if the rats die because you unequip the scythe (and the +2/+2 it brings with it), or if the rats survive the unequipping and die from the Wrath. Immediately before the rats die, the scythe is not equipped to them, and therefore does not trigger.


Name of 60's Milton Bradley racing car game?

After a bit of googling I think you might be looking for Crash Canyon

It's publish by Milton Bradley and its has wind up cars.

It doesn't really fit the rest of the description but its possible you might have been playing your own game with the component cars.


Where do Delayed Triggered Abilities live?

Delayed triggered abilities (DTAs) simply exist on their own, they do not depend on the existence of another object.

A spell or ability creates one-shot effects and/or continuous effects. Creation of a DTA is a certain kind of one-shot effect:

  610.2. Some one-shot effects create a delayed triggered ability, which instructs a player to do something later in the game (usually at a specific time) rather than as the spell or ability that’s creating the one-shot effect resolves. See rule 603.7.

Their source in the rules sense is always the spell or ability that created them, which in any case already ceased to exist before the DTA can trigger; a DTA's controller is the player who controlled the source of the DTA when it resolved (603.7d-f). If a situation cares about properties of the source of a triggered DTA, the last known information about the source is used. (112.7a)

The confusion stems from the fact that "triggered ability" refers both to abilities as they are printed on cards, and to the objects on the stack that they create. You already quoted the rule for the latter case, but you left out the former:

  112.1. An ability can be one of two things:

  112.1a An ability is a characteristic an object has that lets it affect the game. An object’s abilities are defined by its rules text or by the effect that created it. Abilities can also be granted to objects by rules or effects. (Effects that do so use the words “has,” “have,” “gains,” or “gain.”) Abilities generate effects. (See rule 609, “Effects.”)

  112.1b An ability can be an activated or triggered ability on the stack. This kind of ability is an object. (See section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and Effects.”)

For example, take any permanent with a triggered ability, such as Abattoir Ghoul or Abyssal Horror. The text that is written on them respresents triggered abilities. When their trigger condition is met, they create an object on the stack. These objects are also called "triggered ability", and, as you correctly noted, they have to leave the stack (usually by resolving) before the game can continue.

A delayed triggered ability (DTA) follows the same rules. A DTA is a triggered ability that creates instances of itself on the stack that are also called "triggered abilities". However, matters are complicated a little further because a DTA is never printed on a card, they are always created by a spell or other ability:

  603.7a Delayed triggered abilities come from spells or other abilities that create them on resolution, or are created as the result of a replacement effect being applied.

However, at that point a DTA is not an object on the stack, just like the ability printed on Abyssal Horror is not on the stack, and therefore does not block the progression of the game. An instance of a DTA goes on the stack when its trigger condition is met, just like a regular triggered ability.

  603.7b A delayed triggered ability will trigger only once—the next time its trigger event occurs—unless it has a stated duration, such as “this turn.”

Example: Death Frenzy, Balduvian Rage

DTAs are also always temporary, they either last until the end of turn, or they do something at the beginning of the next turn. That temporary nature is not a fundamental limitation based on the rules. It's a design decision, because it's simply too difficult for human players to keep track of more and more dynamically created abilities across multiple turns, or even the whole game.


Sometimes Google does wonders. According to the January 2009 Update Bulletin, the oracle wording was changed because of the new layering system rules.

  Oh, Volrath's Shapeshifter. Sometimes when the rules are systemically changed for the betterment of the game as a whole, and for most cards in general, one or two cards get thrown under the bus. That's what happened to Volrath's Shapeshifter. When the continuous effect layer system was implemented, different kinds of continuous effects were broken out so they'd apply in a set sequence. It was determined that copy effects would apply before control-change effects because all existing cards—except one—would work that way. (Switching those layers to save Volrath's Shapeshifter is not an option; if we did, Copy Enchantment copying Confiscate, or Clone copying Sower of Temptation, to name a couple of more modern examples, would cease to work as you'd expect.)

  The reason Volrath's Shapeshifter breaks under the layer system is that it cares about the top card of its controller's graveyard—so its copy effect is dependent on who controls it. Say Player A controls Volrath's Shapeshifter, then Player B Confiscates it. Volrath's Shapeshifter will continue to look at Player A's graveyard. That's because Volrath's Shapeshifter knows who its original controller was, and its copy effect is applied before Confiscate's control-change effect is applied to swing it over to Player B.

  To handle this, Volrath's Shapeshifter's effect was changed from a copy effect to a text-changing effect (which happens after control-change effects). Most text-changing effects change a single word of text, like Mind Bend does. Volrath's Shapeshifter changes all its text, and expands the definition of "text" to include color and mana cost, among other things. It's ugly, but it does the trick.

  I'd love to tell you that I have an elegant fix for this card, and that's why it's on the list. Nope. I'm deleting some unnecessary text from the card, putting in a comma, and fixing the italicization of its reminder text. (The unnecessary text is that Volrath's Shapeshifter's ability says that it works "as long as Volrath's Shapeshifter is in play," but that goes without saying, so this is just redundant.)

The short version is that with the copying effect version, if someone steals control of the Shapeshifter with Mind Control or something similar, then the Shapeshifter would have continued to look at the original controller's graveyard, not the new controller's graveyard, which is counter-intuitive. So the text-changing ability was given instead to make it work as expected.

I still have no answer to the second part of the question, though.


While the original idea for Jacoby transfers may have been to make the strong hand the declarer (in the 1950s, when Jacoby played with his wife, he bid naturally but she used transfers over partner's 1NT opening so that he would play more hands; this sort of agreement is no longer permitted), that is not their primary benefit.

The primary benefit of transfers is that it gives responder a second chance to make a call. Before transfers, responder to 1NT would bid 2H to play, and had to bid 3H game forcing; this left no room for invitational calls that also showed a major suit. Transfers allw responder to start describing many types of hands with a call at the 2 level, and free up 3-level bids to show other types of hands.

Combining 2-level (Jacoby) and 4-level (Texas) transfers, you can differentiate between the following types of hands:

5+ in a major with no desire to play a game (1NT-2D-2H-Pass).
Exactly 5 in a major with invitational values (1NT-2D-2H-2NT).
6+ in a major with invitational values (1NT-2D-2H-3H).
A balanced hand with a 5-card major and game forcing values (1NT-2D-2H-3NT; some pairs agree that this promises 5332 shape and others include some 5422 hands).
A more shapely hand with a 5-card major and game forcing values (e.g. 1NT-2D-2H-3C shows 5+ hearts and 4+ clubs).
A balanced hand with exactly 5 cards in a major and slam-invitational values (1NT-2D-2H-4NT).
6+ in a major with game forcing values but no interest in slam (1NT-4D-4H-Pass)
6+ in a major with slam interest (1NT-2D-2H-4H).
6+ in a major, asking for key cards (1NT-4D-4H-4NT).

These are just the basic agreements with Jacoby and Texas transfers; with some discussion with your partner, you can also ask for key cards after showing a 5-card suit, show shortness (either to avoid 3NT with a gaping hole or to find a 29-hcp slam when the hands fit well), and show other useful hands.

As for the example that you mention, the pair using Texas transfers got unlucky -- making the 1NT opener the declarer gains far more often than not from an opening lead perspective.


Does the card color matter for untapping it?

I don't have the English rules of Machi Koro Sharp either but the French version makes it clear (in a long paragraph just under the game components) that you need to roll the numbers needed to activate the building to untap it.

  Un établissement peut rouvrir lorsqu'il est à nouveau activé par le résultat des dés. [...] Donc les établissements bleus peuvent rouvrir pendant le tour de n'importe quel joueur, les établissements rouges uniquement pendant le tour des autres joueurs, tandis que les érablissements violets et verts peuvent rouvrir uniquement pendant votre tour.

which would translate by

  A building can re-open when it is activated by the result of a dice roll. [...] So blue buildings can re-open during any turn, red buildings can only re-open during the turn of an opponent and green or purple buildings can only re-open during the active player's turn.


Yes, you need to pay 1 food for your second occupation.  Note that the action space on the board reads:

  A player's first occupation is free, each additional one costs 1 food

It doesn't say anything like "first occupation played from your hand" or anything like that.

Yes, you get bonus points for any occupation played after the Home Teacher.  Per the solo rules, you choose the occupations as you play them.  There is an implied ordering, just make sure you chose the Home Teacher first!


There are currently no cards that explicitly remove emblems. The only way to get rid of an emblem is by activating the last loyalty ability on Karn Liberated. This restarts the game, and resets everything in the game except a specific set of cards that he keeps track of.

Mechanically, an emblem is intended to be a reward, in some sense, for completing a somewhat complicated process: casting a Planeswalker, adding to its loyalty for multiple turns, and then activating its expensive ability, all while keeping your opponent from messing up the plan. Because they are so hard to obtain, they are correspondingly difficult to remove. Some are easier to obtain, like the one from Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, but they are also weaker.


Can I use a spell after I complete all the tasks?

Yes, you can use spells at the end of an adventure after completing all tasks.  This includes using Dice Lock spells, allowing you to lock unused dice that may be useful for other players on their turn, such as the red die on a wildcard result.


Correct, a copy of a face-down 2/2 creature is also a 2/2 creature.

A copy effect can only ever copy what's visible to all players. Any characteristics of an object that are not visible to all players can have no effect on gameplay, unless they are revealed to everyone before or as they affect the gameplay.

  707.2a If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or ability that doesn't list any characteristics for that object, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. A permanent that enters the battlefield face down also has these characteristics unless otherwise specified by the effect that put it onto the battlefield face down or allowed it to be cast face down. These values are the copiable values of that object's characteristics.


Why is Femme Fatale so expensive to install?

Honestly I think that ability is just the answer. It's a decent sentry icebreaker (filling a slot, albeit at a high cost), but a great counter to ice like these. Just imagine Corp plays a Wotan, and suddenly you bust out a Femme Fatale. Anyway, you probably don't want to use FF anyway without some sort of ability to help you install it cheaper. :)


Gloomhaven - are monster abilities in effect prior to their turn

It depends on how the monster obtained the Shield or Retaliate.

Shield and Retaliate on a monster's stat sheet are intrinsic abilities. As such, they are always active.

Shield and Retaliate on a monster's ability card are actions that grant a benefit once the action is taken. As such, they only become active at the card's initiative, and only if the monster isn't stunned at that time.

Ability cards with a Shield or Retaliate action usually have a low initiative in order to make them effective.

From the FAQ:

If a monster has bonuses like "Shield" or "Retaliate" on their ability card, is that active for the whole round?
No, bonuses only become active once the monster takes their turn based on the initiative on the ability card. It then lasts until the end of the round, where it will either get shuffled back into the deck or replaced with the next round's ability card.
If a monster has bonuses like "Shield" or "Retaliate" on their stat card card, are they always active?
Yes, and they are unaffected by Stun.
How are ability bonuses (shield and retaliate) affected by stunning a monster?
Note that the bonuses are not simply given by the monster ability card. Monsters would have to perform a "Shield 1" action to gain the Shield 1, so these bonuses only activate if a monster is not stunned on its turn. However, abilities listed in the monster stat card are unaffected by stun as they are continuously available.


Does MTG have a card with a mana-generating ability that has a target and is thus not a mana ability?

Yes, Deathrite Shaman is one such card.  One of its abilities:

  {T}: Exile target land card from a graveyard. Add one mana of any color.

In fact, its oracle page even addresses this ability:

  Because the first ability requires a target, it is not a mana ability. It uses the stack and can be responded to. (2016-06-08)


Hidden Schemes if third location is a sea zone?

Dracula is not allowed to place an encounter card on a sea zone under any circumstances.

The Rules Reference entry on "Hideouts" should have specified only non-sea locations are hideouts, which would have removed any ambiguity.


What is this game, played with chess board and pieces, but with totally different rules?

Doing a quick search for "chess" and "immobilizer" led me to Baroque Chess.


Items are not discarded after use.

I've found a video in which the creator of the game explains the rules. Items are mentioned at 4:30. He says:

  Magical Items can be played at any time during your turn, you keep them and hold on to them, but you can only hold as many as your backpack can hold.

He then describes the backpack-property of the character he chose, Medlissa.


What's this game depicting an old viking in the middle of a big character sheet with futhark script?

I did a google image search of this and after following a few leads I found it is from Runaljod: The sound of the runes.  BGG link here
The image in question can be found of the games Kickstarter page as the "Berserk" character.


Why do cards use the "(ability) / Other creatures you control have (ability)" wording?

The current template is easier for players to understand
From the horse's mouth:

What the point of making creature with "Trample. Other creatures you control have trample" when you can just put it as "Сreatures you control have trample"?

The former has proven to be less confusing to a larger number of players. Remember, the number one goal of templating is comprehension, not brevity.


When using the Influence action, can you influence a hex adjacent only to the newly claimed hex?

From what I've read and understood you are allowed to move it to a hex adjacent hex to the hex just claimed. For instance it would be perfectly legal to do the following:

Start of influence action ( | is a partial wormhole and |   | is an empty hex)

| A || B || C ||   ||   |

Move the first influence disc:

| A ||   || C || B ||   |

Move the second influence disc:

|   ||   || C || B || A |

Hope that was an understandable schematic :)


Why isn't MU shown on Runner identities?

Without answering for the designers, I'd say that it's simply because the Runner's MU is a basic game rule. It's not something that typically changes with Runners, but it's a resource to use.

Similarly, the Runner identities don't tell you how many cards are in your starting hand, or how much money you start with, but that doesn't prevent there from being a Runner identity that does these things differently.

Because, in most cases, the Runner identity doesn't play around with MU (compare to Link; most Runners have 0 but a lot have 1), it's just not useful to spend card space and player attention on the Runner's starting MU. It would be more distracting to see starting MU on the card, as if it were an important factor in how the Runner works, even though [almost] all of them are identical in that regard.


How does Liliana's Standard Bearer work if Kaervek the Spiteful is on the battlefield?

Yes, you will draw a card for the Standard Bearer as well. This is explained in the rulings under the card in Gatherer:

The value of X is determined only as the triggered ability resolves. If Liliana’s Standard Bearer dies while that ability’s on the stack, it will count itself.


I've never played this game but reading rules here it seems clear enough.  The rules say (emphasis mine)

In order to place tiles on the table, each player must make an initial
play of at least 30 points in one or more sets.
These points must come from the tiles on the player's rack and not
from tiles already played on the table. A tile is worth its face
value. A Joker may be used for any tile and its point value is that of
the tile it represents. The penalty for holding a Joker if another
player wins the round is 30 points. If a player cannot enter the
round, or purposely chooses not to, the player must take a tile from
the pouch and the turn ends.
After players have made their initial plays, they can also build on
other sets on the table with tiles from their racks.

so 1) No you are not allowed to play other tiles the same turn.  The rules are clear that you must use your own tiles and not other players.  It isn't until after all players have made an initial meld or passed you may start building off other players.
The rules for jokers state

A joker can be retrieved from a set on the table by a player who can replace it during his turn with a tile of the same numerical value and color it represents. The tile used to replace the Joker must come from a player's rack and not from the table.

So you can't reuse the joker since the 10 Blue was not in your hand.


Can I put Lich's Mirror into play with The Ur-Dragon's ability to save me after drawing out with the same ability?

Lich's Mirror's would be on the battlefield to save you before you actually lose the game.

The pertinent rules are:

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. [...]
704.5b If a player attempted to draw a card from a library with no cards in it since the last time state-based actions were checked, that player loses the game.

From that, we gather the following:

It's drawing more than the number of remaining cards that causes you to lose the game.
It doesn't happen immediately; it happens the next time a player would get priority. This means the ability finishes resolving first.

So, for example, let's say your library has two cards left, one of which is Lich's Mirror. And let's say you attack with three dragons.
The Ur-Dragon's third ability triggers, goes on the stack and (possibly eventually) resolves. During its resolution, you draw the remaining two cards and fail to draw the third one, then you place Lich's Mirror on the battlefield.
Immediately after the ability has finished resolving, an SBA would cause you to lose the game for having not being able to draw since the last time SBA conditions were checked. However, Lich's Mirror's replacement effect kicks in, keeping you in the game.


Psychic Battle and Rayne, Academy Chancellor

Yes, changing targets with Psychic Battle can trigger Rayne or Dismiss into Dream. However, when you do want to change a target, you have to choose a different legal target, so you can't change the target of a spell from yourself to yourself.

For abilities that trigger when its permanent becomes a target, it doesn't matter whether the target was the original, i.e. when the spell or ability was played, or whether it became a target only afterwards, through Psychic Battle. "Becoming a target of a spell or ability" means the transition from being not a target to being a target of that spell or ability. Since Psychic Battle's ability is triggered rather than a replacement effect, the effects of multiple Psychic Battles can trigger Rayne multiple times from a single spell or ability.

That also answers your second question. When you are already the target of a spell, and you would change the target to yourself, there would be no transition and thus, no trigger:

  603.2d Some trigger events use the word “becomes” (for example, “becomes attached” or “becomes blocked”). These trigger only at the time the named event happens—they don’t trigger if that state already exists or retrigger if it persists. An ability that triggers when a permanent “becomes tapped” or “becomes untapped” doesn’t trigger if the permanent enters the battlefield in that state.

However, that situation couldn't occur to begin with, because you can never change the target of spell or ability to the same target that it already is:

  114.7a If an effect allows a player to “change the target(s)” of a spell or ability, each target can be changed only to another legal target. [..]


Yes, you get the copy.

400.7h (if moved to public zone) or 608.2g (if moved to hidden zone) allows the The Scarab Gods (TSG) to obtain characteristics to copy because it's still TSG that moves the card when the replacement effect is applied.

Let's start at looking at what happens without the replacement effect.

There are two instructions (verbs) to follow. First, The Scarab Gods (TSG) exiles the creature card. Then, the copy is made. TSG must be able to find the creature card in order to copy it, or else it wouldn't know what characteristics to give the copy. It's pretty obvious that it can (or the card would never work), but let's find out why.

A fundamental rule of MTG dictates that an object moving from one zone (e.g. the graveyard) to another (e.g. exile) doesn't truly move. What actually happens is that the original object ceases to exist in old zone, and a new object is created in the new zone.

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

But TSG can find the creature card in exile. How? Well, it's because of one of the aforementioned exceptions.

  400.7h If an effect causes an object to move to a public zone, other parts of that effect can find that object. [...]

So, because TSG is the one that placed the creature card in exile, it can find it there, and thus, can make a copy of the card (as it appears in exile).

Now let's look at what happens with the replacement effect.

Again, there are two instructions (verbs) to follow. First, The Scarab Gods (TSG) moves the Commander to the Command Zone (instead of exiling it). Then, the copy is made.

The key is that the replacement effect doesn't cause the Commander to move to the Command Zone; it causes TSG to move it there instead of exiling it. So, even though the Command Zone is not mentioned anywhere on TSG, 400.7h still applies, and the copy of the card (as it appears in the Command Zone) can be made.

But what if a replacement effect similar to the one that allows Commanders to be placed in the Command Zone instead of exile allowed the card to be placed in a hidden zone (e.g. a library) instead of exile. Would the copy fail then?

Well, The Scarab Gods (TSG) would not be able to find the card after it moved, so TSG wouldn't know its characteristics, and TSG wouldn't be able to make a copy of it, except for the following rule:

  608.2g If an effect requires information from the game (such as the number of creatures on the battlefield), the answer is determined only once, when the effect is applied. If the effect requires information from a specific object, including the source of the ability itself, the effect uses the current information of that object if it’s in the public zone it was expected to be in; if it’s no longer in that zone, or if the effect has moved it from a public zone to a hidden zone, the effect uses the object’s last known information. See rule 112.7a. If an ability states that an object does something, it’s the object as it exists—or as it most recently existed—that does it, not the ability.

So even then, TSG would still be able to create a copy of the card (as it appeared in graveyard).


There are nine cards that allow you to spend mana as though it were another color:

Mycosynth Lattice lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color without restriction.
Daxos of Meletis and Psychic Intrusion allow you to cast a spell from an opponent's library, and allow you to spend mana as though it were mana of any color when paying that spell's cost.
Celestial Dawn and False Dawn both let you tap your lands for white mana and spend white mana as though it were mana of any color. False Dawn additionally makes any other mana you generate white.
North Star lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color for a single spell, and Unexpected Potential lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color for spells with a chosen name.
Quicksilver Elemental lets you spend blue mana as though it were mana of any color for its own abilities (which it copies from other creatures).
Sunglasses of Urza lets you spend white mana as though it were red.

There are also 58 cards that allow you to spend mana to get colored mana. I'm not going to list all of them, but here are some highlights:

Bog Initiate filters an arbitrary amount of mana into black mana.
Farrelite Priest filters an arbitrary amount of mana into white mana, with the caveat that you have to sacrifice it if you activate the ability 4 or more times in one turn. Initiates of the Ebon Hand does the same for black mana.
Orochi Leafcaller filters an arbitrary amount of green mana into mana of any color. Nomadic Elf does the same, but at an additional cost of one mana per mana generated.
A cycle of cards like An-Havva Township, which let you tap and pay one mana for one color, or tap and pay two mana for your choice of two other colors.
A cycle of lands from Eventide like Cascade Bluffs, which let you tap and pay one mana in your choice of two colors to get two mana in any combination of those colors.
A cycle of lands like Darkwater Catacombs, which let you tap and pay one mana to get one mana in each of two colors.
The Ravnica guild signets, like Boros Signet, which let you tap and pay one mana to get one mana in each of the guild's two colors.
The land Crystal Quarry, which lets you tap and pay 5 mana to get one mana of each color.


HistoryGamerDotCom has a 9 part YouTube tutorial on Risk strategy. To (grossly) simplify the content:

Aim for a non-isolated, not too large continent in the beginning of the game, e.g. South America
Know the chances of winning an attack. Three attackers to two defenders is my preferred ratio, as the chance of victory is high but without wasting resources
Keep an eye on people's risk cards, as this is an indication of when people are going to get a large reinforcement influx. As a general rule with many exceptions, try to delay cashing yours in, as the reinforcement count for cashing in risk cards increases over time. Note in the base game you do not gain anything extra from cashing in the risk card of a country you occupy, but I have seen computer versions that do this
Diplomacy is key! Regularly make pacts so that you won't be ganged up on. Be willing to give a little to get a little, e.g. you might want to under defend one country to keep one player on side
Use your reinforcement move to shore up your weaknesses
Don't try to expand too quickly, and don't feel you need to attack every turn. This may leave you vulnerable to a sweeping counter attack


Is it possible to intentionally draw a game?

Yes, it's fine.

From the tournamet rules:

  2.4  Conceding or Intentionally Drawing Games or Matches

  If a game or match is not completed, players may concede or mutually agree to a
  draw in that game or match. A  match is considered complete once the
  result slip is filled out or, if match slips are not being used, a
  player leaves  the table after game play is finished. Until that
  point, either player may concede to or draw with the other, though  if
  the conceding player won a game in the match, the match must be
  reported as 2-1. Intentional draws are always  reported as 0-0-3.

  Players may not agree to a concession or draw in exchange for any
  reward or incentive. Doing so will be  considered Bribery (see section
  5.2).

  If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she has conceded the match.

But remember that you can't use the sideboard if you decide to draw before starting to play:

  2.3  Pregame Procedures

  The following steps must be performed in a timely manner before each game begins:

  Players may exchange cards in their decks for cards in their sideboards. Players may only do this after  the first or subsequent
  game of the match and not for games that are restarted or games that
  are drawn  before any game actions are taken.

Matches are played until time has run out or until a player has won a certain number of games. Therefore drawing a game will not use up one of the games in the match, because there is no limit to the number of games that can be played in a match:

  2.1  Match Structure

  A Magic match consists of a series of games that are played until one side has won a set number of games,  usually two.
  Drawn games do not count toward this goal. If the round ends before a
  player has won the required  number of games, the winner of the match
  is the player who has won the most games at that point. If both
  players  have equal game wins, the match is a draw.


In Settlers of Catan, is there a transition/evolution between "building" and "development" phases of the game?

It depends

In general, the first few rounds are focused on expanding to a new settlement or two. You start the game with two free roads, but to build a new settlement you need to be a minimum of a hex vertices away. If don't expand your road and build a settlement, these free roads are wasted. It isn't unusual to build roads towards the Harbors so you have favorable trades.

It is possible to win the game by not expanding at all though, although this is rare. With good access to Rock, Grain, and Wool you can buy Development cards and build Cities. There are 5 yellow Victory Point cards and 2 bonus points for the Largest army. Those combined with your starting two Settlements, one of which needs to be upgraded to a City is sufficient to win the game. The reverse is not true, since you can only receive 5 Settlements and a bonus 2 for the Longest Road, you would be 3 points short of winning.


Who gets the copies from Eye of the Storm when control of a spell is switched before exiling the spell?

The player who cast original the spell controls the copies of the exiled spells.

The full text of Eye of the Storm's ability says

  Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery card, exile it. Then that player copies each instant or sorcery card exiled with Eye of the Storm. For each copy, the player may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.

There is only one possible antecedent for the phrase "that player" in that ability.


Any ideas on how to get a 'sudden attack effect' in a board game?

It's hard to answer this without understanding the core mechanisms of the game you're talking about.

However for reference maybe you could try playing Star Wars: Rebellion.

In that game you have the Empire vs the Rebels and the Rebels pick a planet to be the rebel base.  The base is one of the planets on the map but also has a separate space on the board to represent units stationed at the secret location.

The game is card driven, each turn you play missions from cards, as well as move / attack with units.  Some of those cards are things like launching surprise attacks which come in 2 forms:

Units from the rebel base can appear on a planet suddenly, if the Empire is present they resolve a combat.
Units can be deployed from reserves on a chosen planet and resolve a combat if the Empire is present.

This system works in a game which is card driven, or has some kind of ability system as well as one where units can be deployed to the battlefield during a mission.

That being said you could adapt something similar by having units teleport to a location as a surprise attack, the rationale could be something like their armies had bad intelligence on your army, perhaps you could have it so only a small number of units could ambush at once.

You would need to decide if your game was one of perfect information, ie the current state of play is known to all players at once, I'm sure you could come up with some clever form of trap in a system of perfect information but its going to be a lot harder than something like this.


Do abilities still trigger if there are no legal targets?

Yes, this ability will trigger and go on the stack even if there are no legal targets, because it targets "up to one" creature.

First, an ability triggering and being put on the stack are two separate events [CR 603.2, 603.3]. The full trigger condition for this ability is "When Wicked Wolf enters the battlefield" [CR 603.1]. This triggers unconditionally as soon as the creature enters the battlefield.

Then, the next time a player (you) would gain priority, you put the ability on the stack in a process that is mostly identical to casting a spell [CR 603.3a-d, 601.2c-d]. That includes choosing targets. In this case, the ability says "up to one target", so you can legally choose zero targets whether or not there are any legal targets available. If your opponent controls no creatures, you must choose zero targets. Since that is a legal choice, the ability will stay on the stack and there will be the normal round of priority before it resolves.

If the card was instead Ravenous Chupacabra, which has a similar ability but no "up to one" rider, the ability would still trigger but it would be removed from the stack before any player gains priority, because it would require a valid target and none would be available.


Horror Tests with Multiple Monsters and Multiple Investigators

Yes, you will make a total of 8 horror tests. One for each monster that enters an investigator's room, and for each investigator.

Rule book (page 13), within the section covering Horror Tests.

  Whenever a monster enters (or is placed in) an investigator’s room (or vice versa), the investigator must immediately make an attribute test called a HORROR TEST. He does so by making a Willpower test modified by the monster’s horror rating (the blue number at the top of its monster token). If he fails this test, he takes one horror (see “Damage and Horror”
  on page 24).

  If multiple investigators are in the room, they must each make a horror test (the keeper chooses the order).

  If the investigator leaves the monster’s room and then re-enters the room, he must make a another horror test. He must make a horror test every time he enters the monster’s room (and every time the monster enters his). In this way, a monster that is chasing an investigator will trigger a horror test each time the monster enters the investigator’s room.

  If, at the start of an investigator’s turn, a monster is in the same room as him, the investigator does not need to make a horror test. If a monster leaves an investigators room and then re-enters it on the same turn, he does not need to make a horror test against it.

  An investigator only makes a maximum of one horror test per monster per turn.

  Horror tests always interrupt the current step of the player’s turn


Can I summon a lvl. 1-4 monster from my hand on my first turn?

Yes you can, however in yugioh you will refer to the stars as levels which go from the right hand side of the card, and with XYZ monsters the stars are known as ranks which go from the left of the card.

Further description on summoning:

In yugioh there are what is known as normal summons and special summons. Special summons usually (special summoning from the extra deck doesn't always come from a card effect) occur via card effects and usually state what kind of monster that effect can special summon for example the card ancient rules

  Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from your hand.

This effect states the type of monster it can summon (being a level 5 or higher normal monster)

You can special summon monsters as many times as you want per turn

For normal summons this is a bit trickier, you can only conduct one normal summon per turn unless you have a card that allows you to make more normal summons like double summon

  You can conduct 2 Normal Summons/Sets this turn, not just 1.

With a normal summon you can summon a level 1-4 monster straight away however you to summon a level 5 or higher monster you must first tribute (send to the graveyard) monster(s) already on your field. Level 5 and 6 monsters require you to tribute one preexisting monster on the field and level 7 or higher monsters require 2 preexisting monsters on the field unless the monster states in its card text otherwise like Obelisk the Tormentor emphasis mine

  Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon (cannot be Normal Set). This card's Normal Summon cannot be negated. When Normal Summoned, cards and effects cannot be activated. Cannot be targeted by Spells, Traps, or card effects. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card was Special Summoned: Send it to the Graveyard. You can Tribute 2 monsters; destroy all monsters your opponent controls. This card cannot declare an attack the turn this effect is activated.

These are what is known as a tribute summon. Tribute summons are a type of normal summon so they do count as your one normal summon for the turn.

You can find more information about summoning in the rule book on page 18.


Will Hallowed Moonlight exile creatures from Starfield of Nyx

This has changed as of the Ixalan rules update. Under the current rules, Hallowed Moonlight will exile any Enchantment that Starfield of Nyx would put onto the battlefield if its type changing effect is active

The original ruling from the Ask a Magic Judge tumblr, quoted below, appears to be based directly on rule 614.12. The new text of that rule says

  Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c–d.) Such effects may come from the permanent itself if they affect only that permanent (as opposed to a general subset of permanents that includes it). They may also come from other sources. To determine which replacement effects apply and how they apply, check the characteristics of the permanent as it would exist on the battlefield, taking into account replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield (see rule 616.1), continuous effects from the permanent’s own static abilities that would apply to it once it’s on the battlefield, and continuous effects that already exist and would apply to the permanent.

Under the new rules, the Starfield's continuous effect that makes the enchantment a creature is taken into account while applying replacement effects that affect an object that would enter the battlefield, so Hallowed Moonlight's effect applies and the enchantment is exiled.

Old Answer (now incorrect)

Assuming that the enchantment is not printed as a creature, Hallowed Moonlight will not exile it.

The Ask a Magic Judge tumblr already has a post covering this exact situation. To explain the reasoning, it says (emphasis added)

  When we determine whether or not to apply a certain replacement effect, like Hallowed Moonlight’s, to an object that would enter the battlefield, we only look at that object’s own abilities and characteristics and not other effects that would change the abilities or characteristics of the object once it’s on the battlefield. Since a normal enchantment isn’t going to generally enter the battlefield as a creature, Hallowed Moonlight’s effect isn’t applied here.


Can an ability track a card across multiple zones?

Objects that move from one zone to another become a completely new object.

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

Rule 400.7h is an exception to 400.7. This is the rule that allows Jace's -3 ability to keep track of cards that you cast from the graveyard.

  400.7h If an effect causes an object to move to a public zone, other parts of that effect can find that object. If the cost of a spell or ability causes an object to move to a public zone, that spell or ability’s effects can find that object.

As soon as the card moves to any other zone, rule 400.7h no longer applies, and Jace's ability loses track of it. If you cast Walk the Aeons after that, it will go to the graveyard like normal.

As another user pointed out, this is also the most logical outcome. The game has no way to tell in all situations if the second Walk the Aeons is the same physical card as the first one.


Diminishing Returns vs Increasing Returns

The decision is obviously localized to the game and requires a significant amount of background to answer objectively.

The important distinction between the two is this: diminishing returns is easy, but amplifying returns is hard.

When you have diminishing returns, you introduce two elements.

The first is resourcefulness (no pun intended). If you can only do the same thing 2 or 3 times before it becomes worthless, you (as a player) need to structure your play such that you don't rely on a single mechanic.
The second is awareness of what your opponents play. If two people have played water already, you really should do something else with your hydrogen. But this means you have to be very aware of who has played water, who is set up to play water again soon, and what options you have with your water components.

When you have amplifying returns, you introduce a different set of elements.

The first is that you have a huge risk of being bah-roken. Magic: the Gathering's two most broken mechanics were Storm and Affinity. Storm copied a spell for every spell played before it this turn (majorly amplified!) and Affinity made artifacts cost 1 less for every artifact on the board (allowing you to play things that should be out on turn 8 on turn 3 or even sooner!) The amplification effects in Magic are strictly regulated and playtested to death before being released because of how powerful they've been in the past. Typically, they're prohibitively expensive or fragile to be used in competitive play, as otherwise they would easily dominate the format.
The second is that your players will probably focus on them. Most casual players like big things. If this gets big fast, they're going to go for it. You must be careful not to make your game all about these 2 or 3 mechanics that explode super fast, or your game will run out of steam.

So in summary, diminishing returns put a lot of work on the designer not to make the game a chore to play, while amplifying returns put a lot of work on the designer to make the game last long enough to be fun for everyone in the game.

I would recommend using linear acceleration or deceleration in whatever one you pick (if anything) as using anything higher than that explodes in value after only a few iterations, and obviously the safest thing to do is to not have it. A core tenant of game design is that the game should have as few mechanics as necessary to make the game fun.


What are rules for an overcall that have wide acceptance?

I do a lot of "weak jump overcalls".  That is to say, if my opponents open with 1H or 1S, and I have 6 clubs or 6 diamonds, and 6-9 HCP, I would invariably jump to 3C or 3D respectively.  (Well, I say invariably, but vulnerability and points below the line would actually be taken seriously into consideration.)

With 7 or 8 clubs I might jump to the 4 or 5 level.  I'm that serious about overcalls.

This is all based on the same principle as my favoured, weak, 1NT system.  It's better to get in there with a balanced hand and 12 HCP than it is to give the opponents all the bidding space they need.  Even though you will sometimes get severely doubled and go down in flames.  It's a risk you have to take, when quite often average players just have no idea to deal with aggressive overcalling, and you can totally take apart their game accordingly.

I'm always amazed when I play online with a randomly picked-up partner, and they chastise me for weak overcalls and general interferential play, when the alternative is to let the opponents bid an easy 1NT-3NT or something and take the match without any difficulty.  Going down and giving points to your opponents is not a crime against Bridge play - as long as you still have a chance of coming back and taking the match!  (I will agree, though, that keeping on overbidding and refusing to let the rubber end, when you are thousands of penalty points down already, is very irritating.  I assume the people who do this are mostly obnoxious kids...)


Playing Arkham Horror in a counter-players role as the Herald of the Ancient one or something similar?

To answer the question...the kind of game you're thinking of, really, is Mansion of Madness, which is the Descent version of Arkham Horror.  Players play one of eight investigators and move through a location as they try to uncover a secret plot.  The story teller acts as the Herald or Overlord, by moving monsters to certain locations and playing cards on the player characters as they move through.  Generally speaking, it's very weighted against the players, unless they've played the scenarios a number of times and know what to do in each situation.

What you're proposing is basically the same idea.  Arkham Horror would turn into Mansions of Madness very quickly given the changes you've proposed.  I would say, from the number of times I've retconned certain turns in Arkham Horror, that the game is hard enough with the board being as random and cruel as it is.  If you had someone actively choosing Mythos cards or moving monsters, you would have a much harder and significantly different game on your hands.

My advice to you would be to pick up Mansions of Madness.  It's a long setup for a game, but I like it and what it does to the players as they frantically run around, trying to not die.


Can you tap your Mox Amber for colorless mana with only a colorless legendary in play?

No.

Colorless is not a color; Mox Amber can never produce colorless because it says it produces "any color [...]".

  105.4. If a player is asked to choose a color, they must choose one of the five colors. “Multicolored” is not a color. Neither is “colorless.”


System for secretly choosing between two options?

Each player puts a coin on the table under their hand.  This will work perfectly if it's always the same two options, or if you can easily determine a sensible mapping from head/tails to the available two options.


Would a turn order opposite the disprove order affect the strategy or gameplay in Clue?

It makes a subtle difference, in that, to prove you wrong, they have to reveal a card in your proposed solution.

If you (Ay) say Col M in the Kitchen with the Pipe, and the next player (Bee) has Col M, the one after (See) has Kitchen and Pipe, you don't find out that See has kitchen or pipe; you only know that Bee has the Col M card.

To find out if Kitchen and Pipe are out there, you need to use a guy that YOU don't have, and Bee doesn't have, so that See has to reveal either kitchen OR pipe.

Also note, in the above example, See knows which card was revealed to Ay, because he has the other two. He can now mark it off. But going the other way, Bee doesn't know which card was revealed to Ay. The reverse can happen in other ways, too.

If you go with first to reveal, you might find out about the pipe or kitchen AND Col M.

Note that, if the first to disprove is the one who played last, you have reason to suspect that they don't have their called suggestion; it changes slightly the strategy in what you pick, because you know that they will get to examine you based upon what they have just tried to solve with.
If you go with simultaneous reveal, you guarantee learning more than what you're supposed to.

If you just change the turn order the other direction, you learn either the pipe or the kitchen, but not the Col.


Ignition Effect Priority in Old Yu-Gi-Oh!

Correct.

Going further, only the monster that was summoned would be allowed to activate its ignition effect (which answers 7 and 8).

Also correct due to ignition effects being treated as having spell speed 1.

Incorrect, only the summoned monster would be allowed to activate its ignition effect with ignition effect priority.

Correct.

Correct, however I also believe that it cannot be a summon during the resolution of a chain (by card effect such as polymerization), for a special summon it would have to be by summoning condition.

Answered in 2.

Answered in 2.

No, answered in 6.

No, answered in 2 as the summoned monster would be in the opponents control.

No, as you cannot summon monsters via summoning condition on your opponents turn.


Does Classic Egyptian Rat Screw have Marriages?

In the revised 2001 edition of Hoyle's Rules of Games by  Albert Morehead, Geoffrey Mott-Smith, Philip D. Morehead there is no mention of marriages and also some discrepancies with the "standard rules" you and every player I've encountered myself know today. However the latest (at time of writing) version of the Wikipedia page for the game does mention it. When one examines the edit history however, the initially created page has no mention of marriages. After viewing the edit history I found what I believe to be the first mention of marriages on the page on the version published at 22:45, 19 October 2010 under the heading of "Rule Variations". The page has been massively reformatted and altered many times since and the mention of marriages has come and gone throughout these many edits. Since I cannot access the other referenced source on the current page, Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society, Volume 1. by Rodney P. Carlisle, I cannot conclude whether or not it makes any mention of the marriage rules especially since the Wikipedia page's rules section does not specify from which references they are drawn.

While this is purely speculation given that I cannot find a conclusive source, my best guess would be that these rules are either a regional or group-specific variant. This isn't uncommon for playing card games since there are even games based off of this phenomenon such as Mao. Since it does seem to be an ongoing debate whether to include it on the Wikipedia page or not, I think it's safe to assume that it is at least a pretty well known variant of the game.

Note: Both Wikipedia links are to specific timestamped versions of the pages, this is done in case future versions (yet again) drop the mention of marriages.


What happens when a promoted cell that makes a capturing move is at the king-row, and there are capturing moves available?

All capturing moves are compulsory (with the exception of your choice of which capturing sequence to take).

It is a special case that causes a pieces movement to end when it is promoted.

In your case, the piece was already promoted before re-entering the king-row as part of a capturing sequence. Its movement does not end and you must continue to make the available capturing moves.


Does Skids O'Toole and the Composed talent provide for unlimited rerolls?

Let's look at the exact wording on the cards:

"Skids" O'Toole

  Whenever you roll a 1 during a test, you may reroll that die.

Composed:

  When resolving a test, if you do not roll any 1's, you may reroll all of your dice.

You can trigger Skids' ability whenever you roll a 1 during a test, that is apparent.

Composed on the other hand is triggered while you are resolving the test. If you have no 1's at this point, you can choose to reroll all dice.

From the Rules Reference:

  If a Condition's effect does not list a limit, it may only be used once per instance of the triggered event.

As this is rolling dice during a single test, you can use Skids' ability to reroll any 1's again, but you are still in the resolving the same test, and you can not trigger composed again.

To summarise:

Skids' ability can be triggered during any roll during a test
Composed can be triggered once per test

Therefore you can not roll endlessly until you succeed, but it certainly is a good combination that would lead to greater chance of success.

There is also a discussion of this combination on BGG


Do I need to sacrifice again if I copy Goblin Grenade?

No, you do not need to pay additional costs for a copied spell. A similar example of Fling exists in the comprehensive rules, that is close enough to Goblin Grenade for illustration purposes.

  706.10. To copy a spell or activated ability means to put a copy of it onto the stack; a copy of a spell isn’t cast and a copy of an activated ability isn’t activated. A copy of a spell or ability copies both the characteristics of the spell or ability and all decisions made for it, including modes, targets, the value of X, and additional or alternative costs. (See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”)

  Example: Fling is an instant that reads, “As an additional cost to cast Fling, sacrifice a creature” and “Fling deals damage equal to the sacrificed creature’s power to target creature or player.” When determining how much damage a copy of Fling deals, it checks the power of the creature sacrificed to pay for the original Fling.


Assuming a Euchre deck with 24 cards (9, 10, J, Q, K, A of each suit, no joker) and perfect shuffling, the chance that the 21st card in the deck (the card that gets turned up) is a particular card is 1/24. Thus, if you play 4 deals, there is a (1/24)^4 = 1/331776 = 0.0003% that all four deals will turn up the Jack of Spades.
There's much higher chance of all four deals turning up the same card: (1/24)^3  = 1/13824 = 0.007%. That's because there's a 100% chance that the first deal turns up some card, and each subsequent deal has a 1/24 chance of turning up the same card as the previous deal.
If you play N deals over the course of the night, the probability that at some point all four deals turn over the same card consecutively is (N - 4) * (1/24)^3 (the sequence can start on any but the last 3 deals, and the probability of the sequence is (1/24)^3). This works out to about 0.1% if you play 20 hands and 0.7% if you play 100.


Settlers Cities and Knights + Fish: Cost of a commodity

You cannot buy commodities using fish.

http://download.catan.com/en/download/?combination-Fishermen_Cities-and-Knights.pdf

  If you discard 3 fish, you may draw one card from the hand of one of your opponents  (Resource or Commodity Card).
  If you discard 4 fish, you may take resource card but not a commodity.
  The following applies also for the combination with Cities & Knights: Fish are no resources  – and no commodities. This implies
  that fish are never affected by Progress Cards,  particularly not by
  the yellow Progress Cards.


How is Test of Faith resolved with multiple blockers?

Short version: yes, the defending player can cast Test of Faith after damage assignment order is chosen, and yes, the attacking player can send enough damage at B1 to kill it.

This is fairly easy to answer once you know how the declare blockers and combat damage steps work. (Remember the steps of combat: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat.) Focusing on the relevant bits, we have:

declare blockers

the defending player assigns blockers
the attacking player announces damage assignment order
the active player gets priority (your chance to cast spells or activate abilities)

combat damage

the active player announces how combat damage from attacking creatures will be assigned
the blocking creatures assign their damage
damage is actually dealt

(This is pretty much all in the basic rules, but if you want gory details, see 509 and 510 in the comprehensive rules.)

So the answer to (1) is easy. Yes, the defending player can wait until after the order is assigned to cast Test of Faith - in fact they pretty much have to, unless they want to cast it before they even declare blockers.

The answer to (2) and (3) depends on what the attacking player decides, but if they're smart, they can kill both B1 and B2. They've already chosen the order back in the declare blockers step, but now they can choose the amount to assign to each creature in order. They have to assign at least lethal damage* (1 damage, since it's a 1/1) to B1 before going on to B2, but otherwise they can split it however they want - 8 and 0, 7 and 1, and so on. Presumably they'll decide to assign 7 to B1 and 1 to B2, so that B1 ends up as a 4/4 with 4 damage marked on it and dies, and B2 takes 1 damage and dies as well.

Note that this isn't really terribly specific to Test of Faith. All that really matters is that you can deal any amount of damage to B1, as long as it's at least 1 (lethal damage). No matter what the weird effect is (prevention, redirection, +1/+1 counters appearing...) you choose the amount of damage and can send the necessary amount at it, so you'll never get weird cases where B1 somehow survives even though you could've killed it, or where the damage assignment amounts somehow change outside your control. You do have to consciously make the right decision (deal 7 damage even though 1 is "lethal"), but beyond that, nothing really fancy happens.

* Lethal damage doesn't have to take into account abilities and effects that might change the amount of damage that ends up being dealt, so Test of Faith doesn't matter here - if they wanted B1 to live for some reason, they could deal it just 1 damage.


People often consider a blank to be "worth" 25 points to a good player. That is to say, even though it has no points value in itself, it can improve your scoring possibilities by about 25 points through, for example, greatly increasing the chances of using all your tiles.

There's no single answer to your question and it will depend on the other tiles in your hand, but one way to approach the decision would be the following: if you could assemble a score of more than 34 and still keep a blank in reserve (i.e. the 59 that you could score, minus 25 for the retained blank), then it would be worth doing so. Otherwise, play your bonus word.


Terra Mystica - Taking a bonus card with coins on the final turn as an Alchemist

No, you can't do this.

When you pass at the end of the last round, you do not take a bonus card. From the rules about passing:

  ...immediately return your Bonus card and take one of the three available ones. ... (Exception: Do not take any Bonus cards in the last round of the game - round 6.) ...

So you don't even get a bonus card in the last round.

Any coins you do have at the end of the game, however you got them, can be converted into VP. Everyone can do this at 3 coins per VP, and the Alchemists can do it at 2 coins per VP. But you can't get those coins in the way you mention in the question anyway.


Do Thorncaster Sliver's triggered abilities go on the stack?

Triggered abilities always use the stack. That includes Thorncaster Sliver's and Hellrider's.

  112.3c Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]," and include (and usually begin with) the word "when," "whenever," or "at." Whenever the trigger event occurs, the ability is put on the stack the next time a player would receive priority and stays there until it's countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack.

Here's what happens:

You attack with five slivers. Five instances of Thorncaster Sliver's ability triggers
You place the abilities on the stack in the order of your choice: (Best order used)

You place PS#1's ability on the stack targeting the 2/2
You place PS#2's ability on the stack targeting the 2/2
You place TS's ability on the stack targeting the Blood Artist
You place MS#1's ability on the stack targeting your opponent
You place MS#2's ability on the stack targeting your opponent

MS#2's ability resolves:

Deal one damage to your opponent.

MS#1's ability resolves:

Deal one damage to your opponent.

TS's ability resolves:

Deal one damage to the Blood Artist

The Blood Artist dies. Blood Artist's ability triggers.
Your opponent places Blood Artist's ability on the stack targeting you.
Blood Artist's ability resolves:

You lose one life.
Your opponent gains one life.

PS#2's ability resolves:

Deal one damage to the 2/2.

PS#2's ability resolves:

Deal one damage to the 2/2.

The 2/2 dies.
[Move on the Declare Blockers]

Result:

The Blood Artist and the 2/2 died.
The opponent's life went down 2, then went up 1.
Your life went down 1.


Is a Regenerated Creature Removed from Combat?

Yes, when a creature is regenerated, it is removed from combat.

The exact wording of the rule (701.12a) is

  If the effect of a resolving spell or ability regenerates a permanent, it creates a replacement effect that protects the permanent the next time it would be destroyed this turn. In this case, “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.”


Does devoid make a card's color identity colorless in Commander?

No, the reason that you cannot use Devoid cards in a Commander deck with a colorless commander is that a card's "color" is not the same thing as it's "color identity". "Color identity" dictates what cards that can go in your Commander deck, not "color".

Devoid changes a cards color.

  105.2. ...An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost...

Devoid does not affect the card's color identity.

  903.4. The Commander variant uses color identity to determine what cards can be in a deck with a certain commander. The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card’s mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities (see rule 604.3) or color indicator (see rule 204).

If the rules text for Devoid said "This card's color identity is colorless" then things would be different.


A breakdown of how long a month takes depends on the outcome of each game you play. If you win the game it goes faster and if you lose the game it goes slower and it is described in the rules.

If you look at the game calendar (page 16) at the end of the rules you will notice that it has 12 months each broken down into early and late. This shows that is possible to get 24 plays out of this legacy game.

This is further broken down by the game end rules (Page 14) of which I am only including the part about game month

Game Win:

  You start your next game at the beginning of the next month

Game Loss:

  If this is the first time the month has been played, you must try the month again. If not, move on to the next month for your next game.

What this means is the better you play the faster the game will progress. This will get you between 12 games (If you win every time) and 24 games (if you lose the first attempt every month).

To sum it up just think that months are an indicator of how many more play sessions there might be left in the game.


Does Burrowing's extra damage affect non-attack damage and where inside/outside Tokyo?

According to iello, who wrote the rules for the French and English versions of the game states that you deal extra damage when you are in Tokyo:

  Cost: 5 Energy.

  Type: Keep.

  Text: "Deal 1 extra damage on Tokyo. Deal 1 damage when yielding Tokyo to the monster taking it."

  You deal 1 extra damage when you are in Tokyo.
  You deal 1 damage when you yield Tokyo to the monster attacking you.

As to the second part, what about damage cards, iello says this about Firebreathing:

  Firebreathing: "Your neighbors take 1 extra damage when you deal damage"

  Q: Does fire breating activate when you deal any damage?

  E.G. Burrowing "Deal 1 damage when yielding Tokyo to the monster taking it."
  or only when attacking?

  A: Anytime you do damage wether by attacking or using an ability.

Under this reasoning, I would assume that Burrowing would deal extra damage from any card with an effect that deals damage.


Can investigators easily avoid being stuck in the Bent Pyramid and avoid the Sanity loss from Nephre-Ka's reckoning?

You're being drawn there from anywhere on the board, not just from locations that have convenient local paths.
If you're already on the Bent Pyramid, then you'll lose 1 Sanity as you did not move.
It's not necessary a big deal. Some Ancient Ones have effects that are more thematic than hindering. I think this is the case here. Pretty often this effect helps investigators as it can move you into desired position, and you may take it into account while planning your travels.


Do you move a surveyor when they are already on the westmost tile?

While searching a bit more, I came across the rules of the American version. They state quite clearly that surveyors don't move if they can't.


Yes.

Your doubts probably stem from thinking about the cards that react to attacks. Damage from cards aren't attacks, so those cards don't react to damage from cards. However, Camouflage doesn't mention attacks, only damage. As such, there's no reason for it not to function in the scenario you describe.


It's the number of powered cities you are actually supplying. Taking a look at the rules you quoted (p. 10, Winning the Game), I am emphasizing a few phrases:

  In the following Phase 5 (Bureaucracy) players do not earn money for
  powering cities. Instead, they check to see which player supplies
  electricity to the most cities in his network using the resources and
  power plants he has. This is the number of cities he normally earns
  cash from during this phase. This player that can power the most
  cities wins the game!

So, it's evident that you follow the usual procedure of powering cities, but instead of earning money, you just count how many you powered. And what's the "usual procedure" for powering cities? Rulebook, p. 8, "Bureaucracy":

  A player may choose (or only be able) to supply fewer cities than he
  has in his network. The player is paid only for the supplied cities.
  If a player produces more electricity than he has cities in his
  network, the surplus is wasted.

Therefore, in your example, assuming that all players have adequate resources: (I am rephrasing it to avoid confusion and adding a 3rd player)

  P1, 20 capacity, 12 cities connected; P2, 15 capacity, 13 cities; P3,
  14 capacity, 17 cities

P3 wins! The game ends because P3 has built 17 cities, the number required to trigger the end of the game in a 3-player game. Even though P1 has a capacity of 20 and P2 has a capacity of 15, their scores are 12 and 13, respectively. On the other hand, even if P3 has 17 cities, her score is 14, therefore she wins the game.

What happened in the example? Apparently, P1 and P2 spent too much money on Power Plants and didn't have enough money to connect extra cities. Therefore, P3 ended the game, as she was supplying one more city than her opponents. You can win with less or more than 17 cities (the number to end the game in a 3-4 player game). One more than your opponents is enough.


Do I have to play a Dead of Winter event card as soon as I draw it, or can I choose to play it later?

You decide when (or if) to play any card from the item deck, including Event cards that add survivors. Players may play item cards (including event cards) on their turn, but they are not required to do so.

The one difference with Event cards is that they are not added to the waste pile but are instead removed from game.

Unfortunately the rulebook doesn't do a good job explaining Event cards, but this topic has come up repeatedly on the BGG rules forum. One such link posted below where one of the co-designers Jonathan Gilmour comments on a thread specific to this rule.

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/17160807#17160807


How many scry ones equal infinite scry 1 shortcut?

In order to shortcut some finite number of "scry 1"s as "look at your entire deck, then cut the deck at a specific point to put a chosen card on top", it is enough to be able to scry 1 a number of times equal to twice the number of cards in your library. So, if you have 40 cards in your library, you can use the shortcut if you can scry 1 at least 80 times.

The reason for this is that when you perform that shortcut, you see the order of the cards below the desired card as well as above. In order to get the same information by repeatedly scrying, you would have to put the card you are looking for on the bottom, then cycle through the entire library again to put it back on top. Following this algorithm, in the worst case, if the card you are looking for is at the bottom of your library, you would cycle through your entire library twice, for a total of 2 scrys for each card in your library.

Strictly speaking, you can do it with two fewer scrys. If the card you are looking for is the very last card, then you can just leave it on top of your library at the end of the first step and not cycle through your deck again. And if the card you are looking for is second from the bottom, then in the second step you don't have to look at either of the cards at the bottom to end up with the card that was second from the bottom on top.


Monopoly Deal - Rent beyond a complete set

Let me preface with the warning that Monopoly deal is not a game with a rigorous rules set, so we need to infer from what we have.

The rules state:

  Each card shows how many properties there are to collect in that color-set.

The rules also refer to a complete set as a "full set"

Finally, each card only itemizes the rent paid for numbers of properties up to the full size of the set.

From this, we can conclude that you cannot use wilds to charge extra rent by "overcompleting" a set because there is no defined rent for doing so.

I would further argue that the terminology "full set" implies that you cannot "overcomplete" a set for any reason (such as to make them immune to Sly Deal).


Where to buy bicycle quality custom playing cards

There are several that do small print runs. (I am sure there are many more.)But, for Bicycle quality cards, you would likely need to use Bicycle as your source.

ArtsCow
Printstudio
theGameCrafter
QPC


Where can I find Bobby Fischer's debut game?

Presumably you're talking about the Game of the Century, in which 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beat IM (International Master) Donald Byrne, winning a brilliancy prize in the process.

This was of course not Bobby Fischer's "debut" game in that he had played plenty of other tournament games before this; in fact, he won the United States Junior Chess Championship almost a year beforehand.  However, this is the "earliest" game most people think of when they hear "Bobby Fischer."

13-year-old Bobby Fischer plays 17... Be6!!, sacrificing his queen

As for an inventory of famous games:  Wikipedia has a list.  Chessmaster also comes with a list of famous games annotated by Grandmasters.


Why doesn't 'Bite Shoes' trigger the effect of 'Tragedy' in Duel Links?

It depends on what card you changed with Bites Shoes.

Tragedy requires that the monster which changed position from attack to defence, be face-up and under your opponent's control.

If you changed the battle position of a monster you control, this effect does not apply, and no monsters are destroyed.
If you changed the battle position of a defence-position monster to attack position, this effect does not apply, and no monsters are destroyed.
If you changed the position of a face-down monster, this effect does not apply, and no monsters are destroyed.

If you changed the battle position of a face-up attack-position monster that your opponent controls, to defence position, then the effect should be activated. Only in this case have you found a bug.


It has to be done before drawing the chaos token. From the rules:

  Before drawing a chaos token for a skill test, the investigator may boost his or her skill value.

The rules then say there are two ways to do this; you can commit cards, and/or

  ...the investigator may activate (free trigger) abilities to modify his or her skill for a test.

It would make the game significantly easier if you could selectively boost your skills only when you know you would fail otherwise.


I don't think there is any particular logic to the suit distribution in the Decktet. A quick search of BoardGameGeek didn't turn up any comments by P.D. Magnus (the designer of the Decktet, who is active in their forums) on the distribution either. I haven't been able to commit the distribution to memory, but if you want to, this is what you would need to memorize:

These are taken from the Decktet Charts and tables pdf available here.

Another useful view of which combinations of suits are most prevelent:

This is an image by HenryBlatbugIII from BoardGameGeek.


If I have only one creature in play, is it on a flank?

Yes. I'm including a screenshot of an e-mail reply from the developer on this topic.

  Flank simply means if its at the end of a battleline. If there is only
  one creature in a battleline it is on both ends of a battleline and is
  on both flanks.