Where can I download the latest version of the Yu-Gi-Oh pc game (if available)?

According to the Wiki, Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos consisted on a series of three games, which were (in order of release):

Yugi the Destiny
Kaiba the Revenge
Joey the Passion

Seems that there are no further releases of the Power of Chaos series.

As for where to download or buy there are several options, so the best would be to Google the specific release of POC you seek and chose among the options (I also want to refrain from promoting a specific page or product)

A quick search revealed several sites that offer download, and I am sure that you could find it on places like Amazon or EBay


Mechanically is there any difference between split and double faced cards?

There are two different kinds of double-faced cards that work differently and are handled differently in the rules: modal double-faced cards, and transforming double-faced cards.
Modal double-faced cards
Modal double-faced cards, introduced in Zendikar Rising (the most recent set as of the time of writing this answer), are very similar to split cards. In both cases, a single physical card effectively represents two different "cards", and a player can play one or the other when they play the card. The only significant rules difference between split cards and modal double-faced cards is what characteristics the cards have in zones other than the battlefield and the stack.
Modal double-faced cards' characteristics are determined by rule 711.4:

711.4. Each face of a double-faced card has its own set of characteristics.

711.4a While a double-faced card is outside the game or in a zone other than the battlefield or stack, it has only the characteristics of its front face.
711.4d While a modal double-faced spell is on the stack or a modal double-faced permanent is on the battlefield, it has only the characteristics of the face that’s up.

while split cards' characteristics are determined by rules 708.3 and 708.4:

708.3. A player chooses which half of a split card they are casting before putting it onto the stack.

708.3b While on the stack, only the characteristics of the half being cast exist. The other half’s characteristics are treated as though they didn’t exist.

708.4. In every zone except the stack, the characteristics of a split card are those of its two halves combined.

708.4b The mana cost of a split card is the combined mana costs of its two halves. A split card’s colors and converted mana cost are determined from its combined mana cost. An effect that refers specifically to the symbols in a split card’s mana cost sees the separate symbols rather than the whole mana cost.

(Rule 708.4 only mentions the stack and not the battlefield here because split cards are only instants and sorceries, so a split card is never on the battlefield.)
Transforming double-faced cards
However, there are also transforming double-faced cards, originally introduced in the Innistrad block, that work very differently from how split cards work. Transforming double-faced cards can only be cast as their front face, and they each have their own way to either transform by switching to the back face while on the battlefield, or to enter the battlefield transformed. There are a variety of other rules governing how these cards work and how transforming works in the rules sections about Double-faced cards and the Transform keyword ability.
Split card variants
There are also split card variants that do not exist for modal double-faced cards. Some split cards have the keyword ability Fuse, which gives you an additional option to cast both halves of a split card as a single spell by paying the combined mana cost. And some split cards have one half with the keyword ability Aftermath, which means that that half can be cast from the graveyard, and only from the graveyard, not the hand.


Heroic leader after his unit is eliminated

Yes! Both the infantry unit just eliminated and the Heroic Leader are worth a Victory Medal, as the only meaningful interpretation of the bullet point on the card itself (my emphasis):

  When infantry unit with a heroic leader is eliminated, roll two Battle
  dice; if at least 1 star is rolled, leader is lost and counts as a
  Victory Medal; if heroic leader survives, move him to nearest friendly
  infantry unit.

There is no mention of the destroyed infantry unit not counting as a Victory medal, so that must be taken as unchanged from the standard rule. Clearly then the destruction of the heroic leader, either through a star being rolled or through there not being a friendly infantry unit to relocate to, counts as an additional Victory medal.


I have the Alhambra base set only, in which order should I buy the expansions?

Here are summaries of five of the Alhambra expansions with links to detailed video reviews by Tom Vasel. He gives opinions on which ones are the best and which ones are not worth it. I've included some highlights from each video. I recommend watching and deciding for yourself. All quotes are from Tom Vasel.

Expansion 1 "The Vizier's Favor"

Alhambra Expansion 1 Review

On BoardGameGeek rating as of 2012-11-09: 6.09/10

Overall

  Expansion one is my least favorite of the five expansions  … if I was buying the expansions separately I think I would skip … as part of the Big Box, fine

"The Vizier's Favor" allows players to buy a token out of turn once with exact change. May refresh the ability at the cost of all their actions on a future turn.

  Ok … would use occasionally, but not one that I would get too attached to

"Currency Exchange" cards are shuffled into deck, can be taken instead of a currency card. Can be used to allow use of currency of one color for a different color as shown on card.

  I like this module … best module from the first expansion … a lot of fun … would play with these much of the time

"Bonus Cards" cards that show specific buildings are dealt secretly to each player at beginning of game. During scoring if you have built the building shown on your card you may reveal it to count as an extra building of that type.

  By far my least favorite of all the modules for all the expansions … for the most part [it never matters]

"The Workers Huts" new building tiles that are placed in stacks beside board. You may take a hut for free, but are limited to three per player. During scoring is worth as many buildings as the number of adjacent buildings of the same color.

  An expansion I use all the time

Expansion 2 "The City Gates"

Alhambra Expansion 2 Review

On BoardGameGeek rating as 2012-11-09: 7.11/10

Overall

  If you only get one expansion … then expansion two by far is the best one

"The City Gates" cards are shuffled into the deck, may be taken when revealed. Allows you to place a gate token over walls to ignore them when building.

  If you find yourself hemmed in and you need to add more tiles, this is an excellent expansion in that regard … really cool pieces … a module that I really like

"The Diamonds" new currency shuffled into the deck, essentially wild cards, can be used as any currency, but cannot be combined with regular currency.

  I really enjoy the extra currency. This is another module that I really enjoy and it's one that I will almost always stick in the deck.

"The Characters" several characters are shuffled into the deck, when one is revealed there is an auction for character. The bids must be single color currency. Each character grants owner special abilities.

  Something I like using, I won't use it all the time … it adds special powers to the game

"The Camps" camp tiles are added to the bag. Must be placed with wall adjacent to a wall of your alhambra. During scoring you get points for each tile in the row or column indicated by the camp.

  My favorite module, I almost always play with this module because it adds a lot of enjoyment even though it's a simple change …

Expansion 3 "The Thief's Turn"

Alhambra Expansion 3 Review

On BoardGameGeek rating as of 2012-11-09: 7.03/10

Overall

  My second favorite expansion … the main reason is the coin module

"The City Walls" cards are shuffled into the deck, may be taken when revealed. If taken you will place walls onto a tile already on the board as indicated by the card.

  There's an module in expansion four … this is a good combination with that … I use City Walls sometimes … it just feels a little fiddly

"The Thieves" cards that show a a specific currency are dealt randomly to each player at the beginning of the game. You may play the card out of turn to take a currency of the indicated color.

  It's okay … but it has a limited amount of uses.

"The Change" coins in each currency are placed into a bag. When you buy a tile, if you overpay for every two currency you overpay you may draw one coin from the bag. Coins may be used as one currency of the indicated type.

  This is super fun and makes it into almost every game I play … neat idea

"The Street Trader" a market tile allows you to place meeples on tiles you build under certain conditions. During scoring sets of different colored meeples are worth points.

  An interesting idea but changes Alhambra to a huge degree … it feels very convoluted … it takes away from everything else

Expansion 4 "The Treasure Chamber"

Alhambra Expansion 4 Review

On BoardGameGeek rating as of 2012-11-08: 7.10/10

Overall

  I like the fourth expansion almost as much as I like the third … some decent ideas in this expansion

"The Treasure Chamber" different colored treasure chests are placed randomly in lots of four on a treasure chamber board. You may use your turn to pay 8 currency of any color to buy a lot of treasure chests and place them on buildings in your alhambra of matching colors, extras are discarded. During scoring the player with the most treasure chests earns points.

  I like the treasure chests, it adds a lot to the game without making it too complicated

"The Master Builders" cards are given to the players and added to the deck. They can be used as three currency of the indicated color, or can be used to take an extra realignment action.

  I like having all the extra threes in the deck … it's not the greatest of the modules but it's a good one

"The Invaders" In each scoring round a card is revealed to show which direction invaders will attack. Tiles that do not have walls in the direction of the attack lose points. Scout cards help to learn the direction of the impending attack.

  It's a neat idea, and yet one of my least favorite of the modules … everyone gets so worried about the attacks and the points they take off aren't really that big of a deal

"The Bazaars" bazaar tiles indicating three colors and a currency are added to the bag. When they are revealed they may be bought with exact change of the currency indicated. At the end of the game the bazaar is worth points based on adjacent buildings matching the indicated colors.

  I really enjoy it because it allows you to build your alhambra bigger … they encourage diversity … I really do enjoy playing with [this one]

Expansion 5 "Power of the Sultan"

Alhambra Expansion 5 Review

On BoardGameGeek rating as of 2012-11-09: 7.04/10

Overall

  Should have stopped while they were ahead, I almost want to call this the convoluted expansion … I'm not a huge fan of expansion five … there's some neat things in it that I can use … it seems like they're running out of ideas

"The New Score Cards" new score card tiles allow for building colors to be valued randomly for each scoring round.

  This adds some variety … I like this, it makes you look ahead … a good expansion, one I use quite often

"The Power of the Sultan" a sultan card and die allow for a tile of a specific color to be taken for free.

  A bit of forward planning … it feels kind of odd … it's not one that I want to use very often … the amount of work put into it doesn't seem to be worth the payoff

"The Caravanserai" a card can be purchased that can be used for different, increasingly valuable currencies each turn.

  Like a constantly recharging currency … not as great as you might think because while it's reusable it does take a while to [gain value] … despite all that I like it … not one that I would use all the time

"The Art of the Moors" playing matching tiles can lead to points at the end of the game through some complicated mechanics. Also has some tile reference cards that are useful regardless of expansions in use.

  In essence, a very convoluted … way to score the tiles by numbers in addition to scoring them by colors … I don't really know what to think about that … too complicated


Can you trash fortress indefinitely with donate?

No, because you trash all cards simultaneously.
From the Dark Ages rulebook:

When two or more cards are trashed at the same time, such as due to Count, first trash them all, then pick an order to resolve things that happen due to trashing them.

So with Donate, you must trash all of the cards you want to trash at the same time; and only then do any trashed Fortresses trigger and return to your hand.
There is also a ruling for Chapel, which uses basically the same wording:

You choose all the cards you want to trash, and then trash them at the same time; you don't trash them one-by-one. This matters for interactions with Dark Ages cards with on-trash abilities.


Is a card considered the same card if it is from a different set?

Yes they are the same card. Cards are determined by their English name, not by any other statistic of the card, including text, art, and set information. For all cards, other then some of the cards in the new unstable set like Very Cryptic Command, cards with the same English name will have the same effect based on oracle text, though printed text may vary, as newer copies will have the oracle text at the time of printing. There have been cards which are functional reprints, where the effect is the same but the card name is different, like Dragon Fodder and Krenko's Command, these cards are different cards, as they have different English names, even though everything else about them is identical.

From the comprehensive rules:

  100.2a In constructed play (a way of playing in which each player creates his or her own deck ahead of time), each deck must contain at least sixty cards. A constructed deck may contain any number of basic land cards and no more than four of any card with a particular English name other than basic land cards.

This of course only applies to constructed play, not limited play. If you were playing in the prerelease this past weekend and got one Legion Conquistador in both Ixalan packs and in all 4 Rivals of Ixalan packs for a total of six, you are free to play all six copies. (unlikely to happen but possible)


How do Heartless Hidetsugu and Gisela interact?

You didn't miss anything. Wizards preempted this with their ruling on Gisela

  Gisela doubles damage dealt to opponents and permanents your opponents control from any source, including sources controlled by those opponents.

So it's pretty straightforward: double of a half is a whole. As you noted, the rounding could put it at 1 instead of 0, but you're playing red: surely you have 1 point of burn somewhere in your deck, right? :-)

There's no rules that say "Super-powerful combos aren't permitted".

So yes, your opponent would be incredibly unwise to tap it, although you could always Act of Treason it and tap it yourself!


Are white bordered cards allowed in DCI sanctioned tournaments?

Yes, white bordered cards are legal.

From the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules (English version):

  Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering
  expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional
  printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the
  following conditions:

The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast

  It is important to remember that fake Magic cards exist. Usually,
  these cards can be identified as fake under scrutiny. If these cards
  are found to be in use in a tournament, they should not continue to be
  used. Also, the player using the card may not realize that they are
  using fake cards, so aside from alerting them that they are using fake
  cards and informing them that they must replace them, we, as judges,
  should not take further action unless we believe they knew and were
  using such cards intentionally.

  Also, Tournament Officials do not have the legal authority to
  confiscate fake cards and should not attempt to do so. Stopping their
  use in the event is sufficient.

The card has a standard Magic back or is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.

  Artist proofs are published by Wizards of the Coast, but do not have a
  standard Magic back. They are, therefore, not usable in tournament
  play.

The card does not have squared corners.

  Collectors’ Edition cards have black borders on the face, but square
  corners and a gold border on the back. These are not legal for
  tournament use. Also, uncut sheets of cards are sometimes cut for use.
  It is important that these cards have the same corners as all other
  cards.

The card has non-silver borders.

  Cards from Unglued and Unhinged have silver borders with a standard
  Magic back. These are not legal for play. Gold bordered cards also
  exist, though they do not have a standard Magic back.

The card is not a token card.

  Tokens are used to represent objects that don’t exist as normal Magic
  cards. While some official tokens exist, it is not required that they
  be used during tournament play.

The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.

  Significantly creased cards can be distinguished from other cards in a
  deck, even sleeved. Also, altered cards may be thicker than the other
  cards in the deck, depending on the method used to alter the card. If
  any cards can be distinguished from the other cards in the deck
  without viewing its front face, then those cards are marked and not
  legal for tournament play.

The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.

  The cards being played in the deck must be printed in a set that is
  legal in the format, even if the printing being used is from an
  otherwise illegal set. For example, it is okay to use the Stronghold
  printing of Mana Leak in Modern even though Stronghold is not a legal
  set for use in Modern.


There was an old ios app that is no longer supported due to the developer no longer having an agreement with the card games developer. After ios 11 the app can no longer be used due to it being a 32 bit app.

There is a thread on board game geek where there is talk of a new app in development but from what I can see that has been going on for a while with no end in sight.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1936091/bang-app-needs-ios-11-update


Would the +1/+1 counter from Curse of Stalked Prey save my creature?

No, the blocker would be destroyed.  From the comprehensive rules dealing with the Combat Damage Step

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt. This is a change from previous rules.
510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)
510.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities

The state based action that destroys is 704.5g.  So although the ability triggers it is placed on the stack.  State based actions are dealt with before the stack is, and thus, the blocker dies.


Does the "Tea" card apply to a multiple set of cards from a single player?

The Tea card can only count the cards in your single largest set of cards with the same background colour.
When you have multiple possible largest sets due to a tie, you can still only use it against the cards from a single set, so you have to pick one of them. So the Tea card is only worth 2 points in your example.
The rulebook (page 15) states:

TEA
End of the round: Count the number of cards in your largest (or tied
for largest) set of cards with the same background color. Tea is worth
1 point per card in that set.


Solitaire variant: Piles of 3, top moved by value match. Name=?

It looks like Troika, but that game has no redeal.


Are the owner benefits from Impersonate Tax Collector part of an action?

Looking at the FAQ for Lords of Waterdeep, there is a question which seems to answer this question:

Q: If a plot quest gives me resources for having taken an action, did I gain those resources as a part of taking the action?
A: No. You gained the extra resources from the effect of the plot quest, not from the action itself.
Note 2: The benefits of plot quests, and the rewards for completing a quest, never count as being a part of an action.

Since your plot card(s) are what are giving you the benefit of the Owner's action, this would seem to indicate that you do not receive the extra resource.


In a multiplayer game, who can see a player's revealed hand?

You reveal the card to all players.

701.13. Reveal
701.13a To reveal a card, show that card to all players for a brief time. If an effect causes a card to be revealed, it remains revealed for as long as necessary to complete the parts of the effect that card is relevant to. If the cost to cast a spell or activate an ability includes revealing a card, the card remains revealed from the time the spell or ability is announced until the time it leaves the stack.


Can the factory card 'move' action cause combat?

Yes, in Scythe every move order can result in a combat and encounters: it's clearly stated in the manual, by the fact that there is no text at all saying that the move from the factory must be considered different from any other move.

  The rules also suggest that, in order to improve game flow, that as a
  player is taking their bottom row action, the next player can start
  taking their top row action.

"Suggest", "in order to improve" is way different from "state that it's mandatory to". Feel like it's not working for you? Don't do it.

  However, with two move actions overlapping, it would create a great deal of confusion.

Then avoid overlapping the two moves. If you get confused by a simple suggestion, then you need to know the game better. To be able to improve the flow of the game in respect no normal playing, you first need to know how to play the game normally -this applies to Scythe the same way it applies to Yatzhee the same it applies to Bunny Kingdom, where after a while you've played it you realise you can skip an entire turn. How many time have you played it already?

  Just how should the 'overlapping turns' dynamic work?

The "overlapping turns" dynamic works exactly as stated in the rules:

  in order to improve game flow, that as a player is taking their bottom row action, the next player can start taking their top row action.

So, while a player is taking their bottom line action, the next player can begin taking their top row action. If it creates any kind of confusion, don't do it. If the next player thinks he wants to wait before taking his top row action, he can wait. And if the current player and the next player fail to realize something so obvious as the consequence of doing two overlapping moves and end up in a mess, then they need to play the game a few times more. Or maybe trying to play something simpler.


How do "twice that many" & "that many plus one" replacement effects interact?

When multiple replacement effects affect an event, the player affected by that event control the order of in which the replacement effects are applied.

615.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).

615.1d Once the chosen effect has been applied, this process is repeated (taking into account only replacement or prevention effects that would now be applicable) until there are no more left to apply.

In your example, when faced with "Put 1 +1/+1 counters on that creature" you can choose to apply Winding Constrictor's replacement effect. Since "Put 2 +1/+1 counters on that creature" can still be affected by Corpsejack Menace, it's further modified for a net result of "Put 4 +1/+1 counters on that creature".


Will casting a card from the graveyard with Flashback add a quest counter on Pyromancer Ascension?

You only get a quest counter if you have two Faithless Lootings in your graveyard when you use flashback.  See the card specific ruling:

If you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard (due to an ability such as flashback, for example), Pyromancer Ascension’s first ability won’t trigger unless another card with the same name is in your graveyard.

The reason for this is that when you cast one of them, it stops being in your graveyard and moves to the stack:

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.
601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, they get priority.

Thus, when Pyromancer's first triggered ability checks its trigger, the copy you cast with flashback will be on the stack, not in the graveyard.


When multiple players score a feature, each player gets the full amount.
There is only one way to score a feature, and if the rule says that each player scores that feature, each player will get the full amount of points. Every feature that can be shared (city, road, farm) has the potential to have a number of points such that an even split would be impossible to begin with.
For example, finished cities with a cathedral triple its score, so you can end up with an odd score for that city, making it impossible to evenly split between two players.


Which Axis and Allies Game Takes the Least Amount of Time to Play?

A&A Pacific takes significantly less time to play than standard.  While I havent played Europe, BGG says that estimated time is 210 minutes as opposed to 120 for Pacific, so pacific should be shorter. Its about 2-3 hours, depends how willing to concede defeat the players are and. Additionally, it works excellently with 2 players. I would give that a try.. Have fun


How can I beat Germany in Axis & Allies: Europe?

The dynamics of the game are based on the following:

In "real life," Germany would have beaten Britain and Russia if the latter two did not receive American help.
Overwhelming American power (almost that of Britain, Germany and Russia put together) meant that the Allies would be heavy favorites once America joined the war.
In the game, America has a fraction of its "real life" power, enough to make the Allies favorites, but not enough to make them prohibitively so.

In the game, if Germany conquers Russia, Germany-Russia is stronger than U.S.-Britain, which was not true in real life. Therefore the game imperatives are

for the Russian player to successfully defend Moskva against capture
For the Americans to find a way to make their weight felt.

Russia needs to play strict defense, with the ultimate aim of defending Moskva. That doesn't mean that they should neglect the surrounding territories (that would make it too easy for the Germans to capture the extra "income"), but rather to beat a "fighting retreat" as in real life. That is, they should mostly build infantry, and use them to defend territories in a die-hard fashion, and leaving air and armor units in Moskva for "strafing" counter attacks, extracting the highest possible price in time and firepower for territories lost.

The Americans need to find a way to help the Russians, making effective use of their margin of superiority. One way is "Lend Lease," sending e.g. fighter units to Moskva for its defense, so that the Russians can build "all infantry."  That is a genuine, but inefficient use of American resources. The second way is to launch "bleeding" attacks in Europe

Scandinavia, which threatens to open a direct route to Russia or
France or Italy, which directly threatens Germany, or even
North Africa, which reduces German income from the south.

If these initiatives are successful, the Germans will have too few troops/income left to defeat Russia.

The Allies CAN lose if the die rolls are bad. Barring this, they have a sufficient margin of superiority to win if they play as well as the Germans.


Black creatures that cause loss of life when they enter the battlefield?

Technically, there appear to be only three black creatures that deal damage when they enter the battlefield, and for color pie reasons they're all black/red: Anathemancer, Hellhole Rats, and Murderous Redcap.  However, if, as your example indicates, you're also after creatures that cause loss of life (which doesn't count as damage; this matters for things like Curiosity), you also have available:

"When ~ enters the battlefield, target player/opponent loses X life."

Geralf's Messenger
Inquisitor Exarch
Laquatus's Champion
Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Singe-Mind Ogre
Soul Scourge

"When ~ enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life."

Bleak Coven Vampires
Bloodhunter Bat
Dakmor Ghoul
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Highway Robber
Obzedat, Ghost Council

"When ~ enters the battlefield, each player/opponent loses X life."

Blood-Toll Harpy
Howling Banshee
Maggot Carrier
Rathi Fiend
Netherborn Phalanx

"When ~ enters the battlefield, each opponent loses X life.  You gain life equal to the life lost this way."

Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Malakir Bloodwitch


Why is Royal Flush ever listed separately from Straight Flush?

There are a number of different hands that have a specific name. For example, A-2-3-4-5 is called a Wheel. The Royal Flush obviously gets its name from being the highest hand, and specifically having royalty in it (although one could argue so does a King high.)
As for the mistake of ranking of Straight Flush being lower than 4 of a kind, this is easily dispelled by looking at the math behind them. There exist only 40 straight flushes (of which 4 are Royal) and there are 624 unique hands that rank as four-of-a-kind.
One reason for it persisting would be in Video Poker where a Royal Flush tends to pay out significantly higher than the other Straight Flushes. This doesn't answer the question about how it managed to still exist before Video Poker was around, though.
I have had it conveyed to me recently that it's listed separately potentially due to wild-cards and how they affect the math - that perhaps a straight flush is not as difficult to acquire anymore where a Royal flush is. However I have not had an opportunity to run the math on it. I would welcome an addendum if someone does.


Making the Contingency Planner more useful

I assume that your gaming group typically plays with 4 players.  I have found the contingency planner to be much worse with 4 players than with 2.  I agree that the contingency planner is the worst role, but part of that is because of how variable his power is depending on how the event cards fall.  Throwing him out is a reasonable approach if you only have the base game, but the other option is to buy "On the Brink".  It includes a bunch of new event cards, so you switch to playing with 2 event cards in the deck per player (8 with 4 players instead of the usual 5), and I found that this really balanced out the Contingency Planner with the other roles.  With a higher number of event cards being drawn (and therefore being put in the discard pile), he has a much longer list of options on a given turn.


The Risk Tournament of Champions celebrated their 20th championship in 2008, the 2009 championship was cancelled.  The web page @ risktoc.org is defunct. You can view the old web pages via The Internet Archive Wayback machine.

The replacement is the new Annual Risk Classic.  The 1st championship will be decided November 6-7, 2010.


Are the larger base cards available for Smash Up?

Edit:
It appears that the manufacturer has decided that it was economically unfeasible to release the new base cards.

Todd Rowland, one of the Game Designers/Publishers, has confirmed that the base cards in the episode were made by AEG (the publisher), and will be made available later this year:

  No we made them, and we've made them for AL9K and Cthulhu as well.

and

  We will make them available later this year.


Are there cards that turn opponents' life loss into my life gain?

Yes. As this query reveals, there's the following card:

  Exquisite Blood
  {4}{B}
  Enchantment
  Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life.

It combos nicely with Sanguine Bond and a number of other cards.


Does "Ingenious Jury-Rig" block cards from returning to their owners pile

Non-Persistent dilemmas may not be returned to your dilemma pile from
  beneath your opponent's incomplete missions.

Dilemmas that return themselves never go "beneath your opponent's incomplete missions", so they are unaffected.


Close combat after a rank is removed from an attack on any flank

You've got some tricky scenarios there - I'll do my best (with diagrams)

Scenario 1

What happens if EUnitA kills FUnitA but not the general?

The first thing to test for is whether the general runs away, given he's flanked, outranked and has had his entire unit die around him this is a very real possibility. I'll assume he doesn't either because he's stubborn, unbreakable or has rolled snake-eyes.

The first rule to remember is that you cannot die out of combat deliberately, however it it occurs and EUnitA is released then they are no longer in the combat and can move, charge and shoot as per normal. This question considers what happens if they're not released from combat because of a challenge.

Scenario 2

What happens if FunitB kills the entire back rank of EunitA and is no longer in combat?

They take a step forward and remain in combat. Move as few units as possible.

Scenario 3

This one is vague, it's one of those scenarios which occurs so rarely it's not really covered in the rules and you have to use a little common sense.

The issue is that if FUnitB don't take a step forward you're losing a significant number of attacks per turn.

My advice would be to:

Keep it as a single combat
Move FUnitB forward
Allow your opponent to bring EUnitC with you so they do not lose any attacks in the process.

I don't have a rulebook quote to back me up but I would suggest that nudging the units so it's fair for everyone.

If you really can't decide which is fairest then both state your cases, roll a die and abide by the result. People can spend longer working out these tiny edge cases than playing the rest of the game - at the end of the day try to do what's fair and practical.


WORLD OF WARRIORS is a game for 2 players. The aim of the game is to defeat your opponent’s team of warriors.
Choose 12 warrior cards each and place them face down into 3 piles of 4 cards. Decide who will go first.
Player 1 picks their first warrior to attack with. If player 1's warrior's attack is greater than player 2's warrior's health, they win and place their card in the won pile. The loser places their card in their lost pile.
Players should also compare elements. If player 1’s element is stronger than player 2 they can add their elemental power boost to their attack score. If player 2’s element is stronger than player 1 they can add the elemental power boost to their health score.

fire is strong against earth, and weak against water. Air has no effect.
earth is strong against air, and weak against fire. Water has no effect.
air is strong against water, and weak against earth. Fire has no effect.
￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼water is strong against fire, and weak against air. Earth has no effect.

If there is a draw, refer to the Armour score.
You can use one talisman card per game. The talisman boost rating is added onto your warrior's attack or health score.
Play continues, taking it in turns to attack the other warrior’s health.


Should every Fatty still come with two Walkers?

While explicitly pointed out in the Zombicide rulebook and extra attention called to the additional Walkers, there is no such note in the Black Plague rulebook.

Since no rule requires it, and these are distinct games with separate rulesets, you do not add the two Walkers escort.


In Monopoly, can you save an 'advance' card to use later?

No. Cards are resolved when drawn (except for Get Out Of Jail, by explicit card text).

CHANCE AND COMMUNITY CHEST
When you land on either of these spaces, take the top card from the deck indicated, follow the instructions and return the card face down to the bottom of the deck. The "Get Out of Jail Free" card is held until used and then returned to the bottom of the deck.

Source : Hasbro - Rules of Monopoly
The wording choice of "advance token to" versus "advance to" is a distinction without a difference: the token in question is the player's playing piece, i.e., the pawn: top hat, shoe, racecar, whatever.
In the case of cards that say to advance your token, you must advance your token to the designated space when the card is drawn.


While these effects look similar, there is a key difference between the two:
Descendants' Path instructs you to cast the card as part of the effect's resolution. This is the case exempted by 116.1 and therefore ignores the timing restrictions given by the game rules (see 116.1a) , but is still subject to timing restrictions imposed by game objects (e.g. an opponents Teferi, Time Raveler would prevent you from casting it)
Emry, Lurker of the Loch creates a continuous effect that gives you permission to cast the card upon resolutuion. You may do so until the effect  ends, but must follow the usual timing restrictions (116.1a).

116.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined
by a system of priority. The player with priority may cast spells,
activate abilities, and take special actions.
116.1a A player may cast an instant spell any time he or she has priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during his or her main
phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty.

If a spell or ability instructs you to cast another spell as part of its resolution, it will be on the stack while the other spell is being cast, however, it will have left the stack by the time that spell resolves. While technically a legal target, you will not be able to actually copy the original spell or ability.
If a spell or ability grants you permission to cast another spell, it will have left the stack by the time you recieve priority to cast that spell and will not be a legal target.


Does John Pain get cards drawn at the beginning of a player's turn or from Stage Coach and Wells Fargo?

No, in this case draw! refers to flipping a card and checking the suit revealed for something to fire like barrel or dynamite. Players drawing cards for their turn, stagecoach/wells fargo/dodge/bible or any other ability that adds a card to hand does not count.

Here is a guide that gives some more information on the draw! ability.

http://bangcardgame.blogspot.com/2011/09/character-guide-john-pain.html


Can an opponent put a property up for auction at a higher price than I have in cash?

This is definitely allowed, and a good tactic to leverage a cash advantage.
There is no minimum or maximum price for an auction.  The rules state:

Bidding may start at any price.

There is no "the bidding will start at $10".  There is just "bidding is open".  Once the auction begins, a bid by any player sets the minimum price for the auction at that bid.  Your opponent could easily bid $10 on the property, forcing you to either let them have it for $10 or bid more than you have in cash.  You could bid first, say starting the bid at $5, but that doesn't meaningfully change the situation, as they can just respond by out-bidding you at $10.
You may bid more money than you have in cash, but you are still obligated to pay it if you win the auction.  This may be a reasonable play if you can afford it by mortgaging property and/or selling houses, especially to drive up the price for your opponent.  But be careful not to bid  more than you can pay after mortgages and sales, as if you win the auction you go bankrupt.  In particular, if you bid more than you can afford, you opponents can all just let you win the bid, at which point you go bankrupt and the property you just bought would go up for auction again (in addition to all your other properties).


7+ Players in Carcassonne - Problematic?

You might want to consider getting another expansion or two -- with the base set plus Inns & Cathedrals, you'll have 90 tiles (72 core + 18 expansion) to play with.  Assuming seven players, you'll have 12-13 tiles per person to play with.

Traders & Builders will give you an extra 24 tiles to play with, including some really funky shapes for finishing those hard-to-finish cities.

If you want to keep the game shorter, you can just use the two sets listed.


These dice are for a game called GOLO Golf Dice.

I asked dice guru Kevin Cook at dicecollector.com and he recognized them almost immediately. This game is sold by a company called Zobmondo. It looks like the PDF rules are free to download, but you're missing some dice. In order to play, you're going to need the other seven dice since you roll all nine at the start of your turn.


Recommended strategies for Mercante in Fiera?

There are only two strategic decisions over which a player has control: the amounts bid in auction and the quantity of cards traded. A winning strategy requires paying less on average for one's cards than (all) the other players; and then having a bit of luck.

So, based on whatever patterns seem to be discernible in the merchant's average choice of how many cards to auction off, only bid less per card than the expected pot divided by the total number of cards (40 or 55 depending on edition) in play. Posture all you want to mask this strategy, but adhere to it strictly.

Second, never trade down on the quantity of cards held. Again, mask this strategy by posturing with and to the other players, but adhere to it strictly. You want to posture as an "active trader", in hopes of occasionally leveraging another player's superstitions to trade-up on card quantity; but don't expect  doing this more than once or twice an evening.


How do you fulfill Steven Seer's upperclassman goal?

There is speculation on https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1705755/rules-problemsclarifications that the 'double symbols' refer to the card backs of the school deck, which is also what I assumed.  However, that entire thread seems to be people asking and answering their own questions and I am hoping for a more official source (or at least some people voting this way).

If you have the same answer but a better source, I am happy to delete this answer and give you answer credit.


Assuming that everything described in the scenario resolves, and nobody does anything to stop it, the player with the combo wins. Once the copy of Wild Slash resolves, the triggers play out as follows:

Arcbond targeting Seeker of the Way triggers. Seeker of the Way deals 2 damage to you, your opponent, and Zada. Since Seeker of the Way has lifelink, you also gain 6 life
If either player has 0 life, they lose the game.
Arcbond targeting Zada triggers. Zada deals 2 damage to you, your opponent, and Seeker of the Way.
If either player has 0 life, they lose the game.
Goto step 1.

Throughout this sequence, the original copy of Wild Slash is sitting at the bottom of the stack, waiting to resolve. So, even if it was possible to counter a triggered ability in Standard, that would be insufficient to stop the combo unless the opponent could do so twice.

If the opponent controls Tainted Remedy, then the last part of step 1 would instead say "you also lose 6 life", so in most cases, this would cause you to lose instead of win.

This sequence can be stopped at any time by removing one of the creatures, either by exiling it (e.g. with Complete Disregard), or by returning it to its owner's hand (e.g. with Force Away), or even by flickering it (e.g. with Eldrazi Displacer).

Stepping back further, as you mention, the combo can be broken by countering either the original or the copy of the Arcbond or the Valorous Stance, or by destroying one of the creatures in response to Valorous Stance.


What do shiny ovals mean on Magic the Gathering cards?

As of the Magic 2015 redesign, rare and mythic rare cards will have a spot at the bottom of the card frame containing a small holofoil stamp. This has two effects:

It makes it harder to produce counterfeit versions, so it's a sign of authenticity.
It makes the card seem more special. Look, shiny!


Can I play multiple Idols one at a time and receive the effects each time?

Yes, you play them one at a time, and therefore you get the alternating boon and curse effect.

Note that this mandatory, not merely an option: You always play (and resolve) your treasures one at a time. Usually order doesn't matter, so players tend to gloss over that protocol in practice. But the order is always there.


Any games like Werewolf for two persons?

Werewolf is not playable by two, as you say.

But if you want modern boardgames for two with a small footprint and a guessing mechanism there are many.

For example:

The Mind
Mr. Jack Pocket
Saboteur: The Duel.
Codenames Duet
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (larger footprint)


Miniature painting - what does it mean to seal the model?

Sealing a model means applying a coat of a transparent and durable protective layer after painting. Normally this is a clear varnish. After leaving your painted model to thoroughly dry, you brush or spray it on. This helps prevent chipping and flaking of your paint job during subsequent transportation and gaming.

You have a basic choice of gloss or matte finish, depending on whether you like your models more reflective or not.

The main downside of sealing is that it makes applying further paint changes or touch ups very difficult. So be sure you're satisfied with your paint job before you seal!


No. Nowhere do the rules mention being able to voluntarily remove units from the board. You can do a text search to verify this yourself (destroy, remove, sacrifice, voluntary, etc. do not show any meaningful results). The default for board game rules is, anything not permitted is forbidden (since it is quite impossible to do the converse)


Are there hands that should be opened at the one level in first or second seat, and with a "weak two" opposite a passing partner?

I hesitate to use a word like "never" when it comes to bidding advice, but such a situation would be rare.

In third seat, 1-level and 2-level openings both tend to become less disciplined, not more. A weak hand in 3rd seat must stretch to preempt the presumed strong hand in fourth seat. Playing the Drury convention, responder can stay low when opener opens light, and opening light in third seat can help your side make the correct decision in a partscore auction.

In fourth seat, 1-level openings may be light when opener has a good spade holding. A common agreement is that 2-level bids are "intermediate": about 10-14 HCP with a 6-card suit.

The hands that you gave I would certainly open 1S in third or fourth seat; I may pass them or open 1S in first or second.


How to counter an aggro deck with massive +1/+1 counter packing

I assume you are talking about a Black/Red Vampire Standard deck with Curse of Stalked Prey as the card that generates the counters.

Hex Parasite is probably a bad idea, as it will completely hog your mana supply. You have to pay mana to remove counters which he put on basically for free. You may be able to eat the counters, but the creatures will still hurt you with their base power and you will be unable to cast anything significant for additional defense. Since you are talking about a G/R deck, you won't have a lot of black mana available either, so you typically pay life (Phyrexian mana) to reduce damage - so Hex Parasite is not only mana-intensive, it doesn't even save you any life loss. Hex Parasite is clearly an offensive utility creature, not defensive.

A much better strategy is to simply beat down on your opponent better than he does, or to attack Curse of the Stalked Prey or the creatures themselves, without which the Curse is useless. With Green/Red, you should be able to pursue both strategies efficiently.

Green is known for being able to handle enchantments, and red is good at destroying lots of small creatures with damage.

So basically your strategy is to never let the enemy attacks gain any momentum. Put out some creatures of your own, especially green ones, which should be more efficient ( = more power/toughness per cost) than your opponent's black and red ones. If he manages to build a large army because of a stalemate, create card advantage by sweeping the board clear of creatures with your red spells (card advantage: you have more cards in hand and battlefield combined than your opponent). If you just want to go for a straight damage race, just make sure you get rid of the Curses with enchantment destruction.


Can you use Throne Room to Mine a Copper to a Gold?

Yes, you can trash Copper -> Silver -> Gold, since Mine requires you trash cards from your hand, and then gain them back into your hand, setting you up for another play.

Copper -> Platinum with a King's Courted Mine is also possible (and incredibly devious!)

For clarity, Mine reads:

  Trash a Treasure card from your hand. Gain a Treasure card costing up to 3 Coins more; put it into your hand.

And Throne Room reads:

  Choose an Action card in your hand. Play it twice.

So the order is (with a hand like Throne Room, Mine, Copper, X, X):

Play Throne Room
Choose Mine
Trash Copper from hand; Gain Silver into your hand
Use Mine again
Trash Silver from hand; Gain Gold into hand
Profit


Why were the rules for Proliferate changed?

According to a post from Mark Rosewater (Lead Designer for Magic: The Gathering), the reasons were to make the mechanic as a whole more easily understandable, along with seemingly wanting to streamline the experience in digital MtG games.
Quoting the post in its entirety both for reference and relevance:

R&D is always on the lookout for ways to make cleaner, more straight-forward mechanics. This makes mechanics easier to process in tabletop and lessens the amounts of clicks on digital.
When we decided to bring back proliferate, we realized we could make a simple change that would both, on average, make the mechanic more powerful and clean it up for digital.
Previously if a player or creature had more than one counter, you the owner of the proliferating source chose which one of the different counters to duplicate. This new version doesn’t make you chose, but instead duplicates all of them. Remember, you still choose which players and/or permanents to proliferate.
Yes, there’s a tiny scenario where you have to chose between duplicating both a positive and a negative counter, but that’s far less likely than the scenario where you have two different types of counters you want to duplicate (especially on creatures as +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters negate one another).


In Civilization do players discard defeated army cards at the end of a battle?

According to the rules of the base game (p. 25), eliminated unit cards are discarded and put face up under the appropriate deck on the market board.  Any unit cards not eliminated during the battle return to their owners (this is true for both the winner and the loser of the battle).


What are some good house rules to balance the sides in Saboteur?

One technique we've used is to ensure that the saboteurs know each others's identities before starting the game.

After everyone has checked their role cards, everyone puts their heads down.  One player calls out for the saboteurs to put their heads up and identify each other.  They put their heads back down, then everyone puts their heads up and starts playing.

This lets the saboteurs be much more effective and strategic - if one of the other saboteurs reveals himself, you can play more cautiously to reserve for sabotage later.  You can also collaboratively lie about Map results if you want.

With my group of (fairly experienced) players this rule has resulted in a much more balanced ratio of wins for the good dwarves and the saboteurs, while not going so far as to outright allow the saboteurs to directly communicate.

Another house rule we use is to always guarantee the maximum number of saboteurs, rather than having a chance for one fewer as in the normal rules.  Otherwise the saboteurs are typically screwed when they're one man down.


What are some card in MTG that can change a creature's color?

There are a few cards that can do this. Some specifically turn creatures black:

Darkest Hour
Grave Servitude
Sinister Strength

Others let you choose a color, and make creatures that color:

Alchor's Tomb
Blind Seer
Distorting Lens
Illusion
Painter's Servant
Shifting Sky
Sway of Illusion
Tidal Visionary

And, finally, there are some cards that let you change the word "black" on Corrosive Mentor, so that it affects green creatures instead of black ones, for example:

Alter Reality
Crystal Spray
Glamerdye
Mind Bend
Sleight of Mind
Spectral Shift
Swirl the Mists
Trait Doctoring
Whim of Volrath

I've bolded all of the cards that are either black or colorless (so they don't restrict what other cards you can play). Across the last two lists, blue is the most common color, so blue is probably a good second color for this purpose.


In Go, Why are "High Point" Openings Seldom Seen in Modern Play?

I don't have a database at my disposal so I can't provide hard numbers over time to confirm this, but I believe one of the reasons high point openings saw emerging popularity was that white was attempting to play quickly in order to overcome the lack of komi.  There was also the "threat" of playing extremely complicated joseki such as the taisha, which would provide more opportunities for black to squander his first move advantage by making a mistake in fighting.  As the "New Fuseki" movement took hold, high openings continued to see play because of experiments using more influence-oriented openings, but over time things settled down and now with the extra handful of points white is not under pressure to play so severely.

That said, 3-5 point, etc, openings are perhaps uncommon relative to 4-4 or 4-3, but I would still not consider them rare. They are even more common if you include an approach to a corner that is ignored, and the attacker is first to continue locally - this is effectively the same things as playing a 3-5 or a 4-5 opening with a 3-4 "invasion"


Yes you can capture the Queen, unless capturing the Queen would put the King under check again. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_chess#Check


Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, and cards with a * as their power

The Forerunners have what is called Characteristic-Defining Ability, and those function in all zones. So you can only return them with Alesha if you have less than 3 creatures on the battlefield.

  208.2a The card may have a characteristic-defining ability that sets its power and/or toughness according to some stated condition. (See rule 604.3.) Such an ability is worded “[This creature’s] [power or toughness] is equal to . . .” or “[This creature’s] power and toughness are each equal to . . .” This ability functions everywhere, even outside the game. If the ability needs to use a number that can’t be determined, including inside a calculation, use 0 instead of that number.


City card and predicting when Supply piles will run low

More supply piles tend to go in 5 or 6 player games.

Cards that synergize with themselves tend to get bought out quickly - like Caravan, Treasure Map, and Laboratory. Extra buys also seem to increase the rate at which Kingdom cards get bought out.

Terminal actions (ones that do not give you +1 Action) tend to get bought less frequently, as each player would only consider 1-2 copies anyway. It seems lower cost cards (2 and 3) aren't bought out very much.  4-5 costs appear to go fastest.

I have noticed City itself is frequently the first one to get bought out if any will, and that immediately boosts all of them. Generally I tend to wait on City until I notice people are grabbing Kingdom cards, but I also generally lose to the guy who bought 5 of them.


The creatures enter the battlefield too late for their "exalted" abilities to trigger.  "Whenever [object] attacks" abilities only trigger when attackers are actually declared; as the newly un-exiled creatures were not on the battlefield at that time, their abilities did not trigger, and they cannot trigger after the event has already taken place.

  508.2a Abilities that trigger on a creature attacking trigger only at the point the creature is declared as an attacker.

Also, your opponent cannot change attackers after they have already been successfully declared, regardless of what step you're on.


Do all Reaction cards completely block all Attack cards?

Reaction Cards:

No. It's not an inherent property of Reaction cards that they protect you from attacks. What makes a card a Reaction is that it's used outside of the normal game sequence when something happens; they don't have to interact with attacks at all.

Moat protects you from attacks because it says it does. Tunnel gives you Gold when discarded, whether or not that is from an attack. Secret Chamber is revealed when an attack is played, but doesn't protect you from it; it just lets you manipulate your deck to attempt to lessen the blow.


How you should be thinking about donk bets when deciding whether to use them:

Donk bets don't have an inherently set purpose.  You can do it as a bluff, you can donk bet for value, or you can do it to try to influence behavior (like a block bet).  What you're trying to obtain by doing it depends on your hand and your expected response from your opponent.

As a thinking player, you shouldn't ever just check solely because the other player was the preflop aggressor.  Like any other decision you're faced with in poker, you should only be choosing to check if you believe that you will get more value from the hand by checking than from any of your alternatives.  Whether you believe this depends on your opponent.  For example, if you're holding a hand which is likely ahead, rationally choosing to check requires something like believing that your opponent will bluff continuation bet more often than they will call your donk bet.

Specific extreme examples: If you were playing against someone who does not bluff continuation bet on the flop, but had a strong tendency to call with weak hands, then you should donk bet every time you hit a decent hand on the flop, and rarely bluff them.  If you were playing against a person who rarely calls unless they have the nuts, yet bluffs all of the time, then you should check to them every time when you have a strong hand, and bluff donk bet them every time you don't.

Not only are you sometimes missing value if you decide never to use donk bets; such a decision would be an exploitable aspect of your play.  It gives a larger advantage than is due to the preflop aggressor, as they can be confident that they know what at least one of your moves will be in a following betting round (you will check).  In particular, they can derive more value from raising preflop cards which are geared more toward drawing (e.g.: suited connectors like 7s 6s), because they know that they will usually be able to check behind he flop if they missed, so they actually get to see 4 board cards before being faced with any possible aggression.

Why is it perceived as bad:

Inexperienced players tend to make bad donk bets (bad independently of being donk bets), and commit extra money to the pot in situations where they're generally already at a disadvantage by being out of position, or where board cards suggest that their hand is not as strong relative to the preflop aggressors as they may think.

Also, some people perceive donk bets as sort of against poker etiquette.  They think that "check to the raiser" is the proper, gentlemanly thing to do.  This is more of a cultural thing, and has little to do with trying to play profitably.

They are not inherently bad, and there are situations in which a donk bet is the optimal choice.

How players misuse them:

Players misuse donk bets the same way they misuse any other sort of bet.  They make their decision without considering likely hands their opponent is holding or their opponents tendencies.


When Lich's Mastery leaves the battlefield, you lose the game.

That ability doesn't use the word 'target', so you can't redirect / deflect it.

115.1d A triggered ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the “something” is a phrase that describes an object and/or player. The target(s) are chosen as the ability is put on the stack; see rule 603.3d.


How do I complete the immunologist's request? [spoilers]

For a spoiler free answer, I will say that you should expect how to do them to be revealed later if you don't know how to do them now.

Why shouldn't there be objectives that you cannot do. Remember that you only need to complete a specified number of objectives each month NOT all of them.

If that is not satisfying then below is a spoiling hint:

   You get the item for the immunologist by doing the search objectives


No, that means when you switch to the other character your health is set at 2 points and on your turn you can gain the missing health back. Which means that if you are switching to a character that has 4 bullets normally you can then play a whiskey to go back up to 4 bullets in health. Also if you are the sheriff in this game you could follow up with a beer and be back up to 5 health with the +1 health bonus for being sheriff.

What the setting to two life does is impose a penalty for switching if you are above 2 live or a small bonus for switching if you are at 1 life.


There isn't much to it, you assumed correctly. Here's the card:


No, you need to be able to conquer the adjacent territory. Only races with Seafaring can conquer the sea or Lake Regions. The rules state on the Seafaring ability (page 11):

As long as your Seafaring race is active, you may conquer the Seas and the Lake, ... Only seafaring races may occupy the seas and the lake.

On the Conquering a Region section (page 4), regarding what conquering means.

To conquer a region, a player must have available to deploy: 2 Race tokens + 1 additional Race token for each (cardboard piece) ... Seas and Lakes cannot usually be conquered.
Upon conquering a Region, the player must deploy the Race tokens he used to conquer this Region inside the borders on the map.

Following Conquests, showing that you must have conquered a region to occupy it.

Each of the newly conquered Regions must be adjacent to (i.e. Sharing a border with) a Region already occupied by his active race tokens, unless permitted by his Race and Special Power combo.

And finally, the sorcerer's ability (page 9)

Once per turn per opponent, your Sorcerers can conquer a Region by substituting one of your opponent's Active tokens with one of your own taken from the storage tray.


Can I use creature tokens to win with Mortal Combat?

This does not work for several reasons.

In the sequence you describe, Mortal Combat would not actually trigger at the beginning of your upkeep. This is because a triggered ability that says “At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” does not actually trigger when the trigger event happens unless the condition is true at that time.

Saproling tokens are not artifacts so Echoing Ruin cannot destroy them.

Even if Mortal Combat did trigger as you described and then the Saprolings did die from Echoing Ruin, they would immediately vanish. (Tokens can enter the graveyard, but they cease to exist 'immediately' afterward, i.e. when state-based actions are checked which happens very frequently, including at least once between the resolution of any two things on the stack.) So by the time Mortal Combat's ability resolves they are not there.

Also, Mortal Combat counts creature cards in your graveyard, and tokens are never considered cards (even if you are using the 'official' tokens that look like cards).

The text of some relevant rules:

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions... 704.5d. If a token is in a zone other than the battlefield, it ceases to exist.
117.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
108.2b Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card-sized game supplement that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.
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.)


What is the etiquette behind "thanking" partner for dummy?

As you say, whatever you do, be consistent.  Good contract, bad contract, plays itself, requires incredibly careful play, whatever.  If you do not do that, the opponents know.
Yes, sometimes that leads to some fun, after say 3C-X-p-p; p and partner dropping a 4=4=5=0 four count and hearing "thank you partner, nice hand" from declarer.  But just because it's obvious to the opponents doesn't mean that it isn't more obvious if declarer's response is "well, that's not great".
Thanking dummy when it comes down is traditional, and courteous.  It is extraneous communication, not illegal, but not required either.  Many partnerships have given up on it, and just pause 10-15 seconds or so and call for the card.  If that fits with you and your partner, do that.  If partner feels that that is discourteous, find something else that works.
But do it consistently.  Any tell you give accidentally the opponents can use; a "purposeful tell" to mislead the opponents is illegal.  So you can only lose by not being consistent.
From a regulation POV, you have it exactly. Law 73D1 in the Duplicate Laws (my emphasis):

It is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain steady tempo and unvarying manner. However, players should be particularly careful when variations may work to the benefit of their side. Otherwise, unintentionally to vary the tempo or manner in which a call or play is made is not an infraction. Inferences from such variations are authorized only to the opponents, who may act upon the information at their own risk.


Can I select zero colors for Prismatic Lace?

You have to choose at least 1 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.”

Prismatic Lace instructs you to choose a color or combination of colors. If you were allowed to choose zero colors, the instruction would be worded such that the zero choice would be obviously allowed, for example by containing the phrase "any number of...". There is also the wording that a player may make a choice, in which case you could avoid choosing at all, rather than choosing zero colors. However, there is no mechanical difference between these approaches, the result would be the same.
Also, just in case, don't get hung up on the potential difference between "a color" and "the color" - unless a term or phrase is defined in the Comprehensive Rules, apply the normal rules of English to it.


One of the following is true:

There is a dominant strategy for White.
There is a dominant strategy for Black.
There are strategies for both players that guarantee they don't lose, i.e. perfect play results in a draw (e.g. as in Tic-Tac-Toe).

No one knows which is true. Most experts guess that perfect play leads to a draw, and a few believe White can always win. It is unlikely Black has a dominant strategy, but no one has been able to rule it out either. Theoretically, a computer working for long enough could just try everything and tell us the answer, but with today's best technology and algorithms that would take prohibitively long.

Here are some important features of chess that together guarantee that one of the 3 cases above is true:

Chess is a game of complete information, i.e. both players always know everything that is going on.
Players take turns (as opposed to playing simultaneously, e.g. as in Rock Paper Scissors)
The game always ends eventually (at least under tournament rules as of 2014, after enough moves are made that aren't irreversibly advancing the game, it's a draw).
There is no randomness.
There are only 2 players.

Intuitively, these facts let you completely reason out the consequences of everything that could possibly happen (if I do A, my opponent could do B or C, in which case I could do D or E...). For a more formal explanation of why this implies there are either dominant or drawing strategies, see Zermelo's Theorem.

[Parts of this answer are synthesized from earlier answers/comments.]


Self-Referencing Effects when a Monster is Destroyed

Banisher of the Radiance wouldn't banish itself, it would go to the Graveyard.  Banisher of the Radiance has a Continuous Effects, which is only active while it remains on the field face-up. (Rule book page 14).

Continuous Effect
This effect is active while the Effect Monster Card is face-up on the field. The effect starts when the face-up monster appears on the field, and ends once that monster is gone or is no longer face-up; there is no trigger for its activation. These monsters are most useful if you have a strategy to protect them while they are on the field.

This is supported by previous rulings:

If "Banisher of the Radiance" and "Sangan" are destroyed simultaneously by an effect like "Lightning Vortex", then both are sent to the Graveyard and "Sangan's" effect activates normally.[5]

Destroy means to send a card from the field to the Graveyard. Banisher of the Radiance prevents that from happening, so the hypothetical Card that you described would have no effect.

Destroy - A card is destroyed when it is sent to the Graveyard due to battle between monsters or by an effect that destroys a card. [...]

(Note: These TCG rulings were issued by Upper Deck Entertainment and have since been deemed unofficial by Konami.[6] They were previously considered official and can still be correct, as long as they follow the official gameplay rules, or unless Konami has issued a ruling that says otherwise.)


What happens when the {X} in Mind Grind *is* zero?

You must choose zero for X, but you can't choose zero for X, so you can't cast the spell. Epic Experiment doesn't force you to cast anything ("may cast"), so it will be moved to the graveyard by the later part of Epic Experiment's effect.

  107.3b If a player is casting a spell that has an {X} in its mana cost, the value of X isn’t defined by the text of that spell, and an effect lets that player cast that spell while paying neither its mana cost nor an alternative cost that includes X, then the only legal choice for X is 0. This doesn’t apply to effects that only reduce a cost, even if they reduce it to zero. See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”

  101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.

  601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell follows the steps listed below, in order. If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before that spell started to be cast (see rule 717, “Handling Illegal Actions”). Announcements and payments can’t be altered after they’ve been made.

You can see these rules applied by an official source in the Oracle rulings for Ertai's Meddling:

  10/4/2004     Ertai's Meddling can't be cast through any way that doesn't
  pay its mana cost. This is because the X in the Meddling's mana cost
  can't be 0, but effects that allow spells to be cast without paying
  their mana costs set X to 0.


Does the Retainer card grant $2 on the first Upkeep phase?

It means you merely skip the roll (you do not skip all upkeep instructions)

"It's like a salary. You usually get them through encounters. Darrell Simmons and Rita Young also start with one."

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/397466/retainers

"If you have a copy of a "special" card, i.e. Retainer, Blessing, or Curse, and you receive another one, it replaces the first copy. This effectively means you will not roll during the next Upkeep to see if you lose the new copy (the old copy has already been replaced and lost)."

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/50931-two-retainers/


What are the rules for playing with this unusual Mancala board?

Sounds like you've got a Bao board.

Bao, an East African Mancala, is the only known Mancala to make use of square pits as well as round ones. These are called nyumba (house), one for each player, and marks your starting position. There are also some extra rules for the nyumba in the main variation Bao la kiswahili. The Wikipedia article I've linked to has detailed instructions for both simplified (Bao la kujifunza) and Bao la kiswahili.

You can also use the same board, and ignore the shape of the special pits, to play other four-rank Mancala variants. One example would be Omweso. Enjoy the cool board!


When is a creature's toughness calculated

At what point is a creature's toughness calculated?

It's continually calculated. The real question is when does Korozda Guildmage's ability check the creature's toughness.

Korozda Guildmage's ability checks the creature's toughess as it resolves because it's not needed before then [CR 107.3e]. Since the creature no longer exists at that point, last known information is used [CR 112.7a]. Effectively, that means the total toughness of the creature at the time it was sacrificed is used.

  If I have a creature that is 4/4 and cast Giant Growth to give it +3/+3 then sacrifice it? Do I get 4 tokens or 7?

7. Giant Growth increases the toughness of a creature.

  Also what if my 4/4 creature was dealt 2 combat damage before I sacrificed it? Do I get 2 or 4 creatures?

4. It's a 4/4 with 2 damage marked on it. Damage does not reduce toughness. (Well, damage from a source with wither or infect can reduce toughness, but only indirectly, by virtue of giving -1/-1 counters.)

  Finally, what about counters?

+1/+1 counters, -1/-1 counters and any other similar counters affect toughness.

  If my 4/4 had a +1/+1 do I get 4 or 5 tokens?

5. Effects that modify toughness (such as Giant Growth's or Glorious Anthem's) modify toughness.


You only get 9 victory points from that combination if you have the Complete Destruction power card.

  Complete Destruction
  3{Energy}
  Keep
  If you roll {1}{2}{3}{Heart}{Claw}{Energy}
  gain 9{Victory Point} in addition to the regular results.


Do creatures put on the battlefield via a sorcery have summoning sickness?

Summoning sickness applies to all creatures without haste, regardless of how they came to be. From the comprehensive rules:

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

"Summoning sickness" is not a characteristic of the card. It cannot be copied or added. Haste allows creatures to ignore the rule, but if they somehow lose haste, then the rule will apply once again.

A creature does not have summoning sickness; a creature is affected by the summoning sickness rule. The former is just an easier concept for players to latch on to, and it works most of the time.

The Judge's Corner (on YouTube) has a video on Summoning Sickness that explains the ins and outs of summoning sickness in greater detail. Both new and veteran players will get something out of it.


No. When hiding, you are not allowed to vote. Since there are no votes, the outcome is considered a tie, and in the case of a tie, no one gets anything. The items remain on the location.

In the FAQ (PDF):

  Q: Can a hidden character (Little Girl or Little Boy’s power, or Hiding action card) take part in sharing anything?
  A: The character can’t vote, but can receive an item.

And on page 6 of the Rules (PDF):

  Be careful: in case of a tie in the sharing vote, no players get anything. They remain on the location.


bridge question regarding answering opening of 1 of a major

I infer from the phrasing of your question that you are playing a 4-card Major  natural system such as Goren. If that is not the case please specify what system you are playing.

First, it is vital to correct your statement on the strength of the 1S response to 1H; it is not a limited strength bid of 6-9 HCP but an unlimited strength bid of 6-20+ HCP. It is absolutely forcing for one round on Opener, who is obligated to ensure that you get a second opportunity to call. While there are some unusual circumstances where an expert might make this call as a prepared bid with only 3 Spades, I would strongly recommend that you now forget I ever said that, and always treat it as showing 4 or more Spades.

Second, the principle of bidding 4-card suits up the line is a fundamental tenet of natural systems. Don't go bidding your best or strongest four card suit first; that will cause you to subsequently be lying about your overall hand shape. Bidding is a language and, just as in English, you cannot be scrambling the word order of your sentence and expect the meaning to be unchanged. "That is your cat." and "Is that your cat?" have different meanings in English, and reversing the order in which you show two suits also changes the meaning of your calls. When looking to see which denomination is the best to play in, total number of trumps is much more important than trump quality.

That being said, the 2H response to a 1S opening almost promises 5 Hearts; because, due to the above, it denies any other 4-card holding. It promises 10-20+ HCP, and either a 5-card Heart holding or a 3-4-3-3 hand shape for which either of a 1NT or 2S response was distasteful. With a flat 10 HCP I would prefer a 1NT or 2S response to bidding 2H with only 4, choosing between the two on whether my high cards were concentrated in one or two suits including spades or well distributed over at least three.  Update: In summary, when responding 2H over a 1S opening have either 5 Hearts or an extra point or two above the 10 HCP minimum.

Again - none of this applies unless you are playing a natural 4-card major system such as Goren. I suspect much of it applies to ACOL though never having played (or read much on) that system I am less familiar with it. In particular, if you are playing any of a 5-card Major system (whether Hardy or K-S style), a Forcing Club system, or Canape style responses none of the above will apply as written.


In bridge, does it make sense to "shade" one's bidding standards with a part score?

Against weaker players than yourselves, the opposite is more likely to pay off. Traditionally, strong rubber bridge players deliberately sandbag with a part score, inviting the opponents to save against the game bid and then doubling for penalties. One or two such penalties easily replaces the (possibly) lost rubber bonus, and any others are bonus.

A side benefit is that aggressive slams are not bid, so any slams actually bid are high odds. This is also sound strategy with a partscore.

Against stronger players than yourselves, just bid your normal cards. Strong opponents will quickly note if you are stretching with a partscore, and get their doubling boots on to collect a pound of your flesh.

In the unusual circumstance that you are playing opponents exactly as strong as you, it probably doesn't matter as they will be making the same sorts of strategic mistakes that you are, and it will all be a wash.

If you want to improve as a bridge player, start counting the cards (more thoroughly, more smoothly, more naturally than you already are) instead of looking for silly bidding tricks. This will strengthen the game of both you and partner, without subjecting partner to possible ethical dilemmas about whether or not this is a circumstance in which the two of you have agreed to bid light, or heavy, or normal. It also reduces partner's memory load, which is always beneficial regardless of one's level.


Online Rules for Primordial Soup: Freshly Spiced

Download this player aid file available here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/1493/ursuppe-fisch-abgeschmeckt-rulespdf

The final 2 pages have a list of all of the genes in the expansion plus their description/explanation.  This should give you all of the information that you need.


Response to Selvala, Heart of the Wilds triggered ability

Yes, you can change the creature's size in response to the ability in order to draw a card.

Rule 603.4 says

  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.)

The "if" condition in Selvala's ability appears at the end of the ability, so it is not an "intervening 'if' clause". This means that the creature's power is only checked when the ability resolves.

This is confirmed by a ruling about Selvala in the Conspiracy: Take the Crown release notes:

  The new creature's power is compared to the power of each other creature on the battlefield as the first ability resolves. If another creature has the same or higher power than the new creature's power, no one may draw a card.


Where can I get custom Magic: the Gathering cards printed?

I've printed decks to playtest with friends before buying the actual cards. I just went to a local print shop. Everywhere has one.

I didn't bother printing backs. I just sleeved the cards. For rigidity, I backed them with real cards or those silly advertisement cards you get in booster packs. As long as you do that for every card in the deck, it should shuffle correctly.

I use the images from magiccards.info since they have a higher resolution than Gatherer's. To get the cards to display right, I create an .html file with the following content and print it to a PDF using my browser.


Does the MtG lore have an official explanation for banned cards?

To my knowledge, none of the media put out by Wizards of the Coast provides thematic justification for the banning, or restriction, of specific cards. In a general sense, some keyword abilities or effects only appear in specific regions, because they are generated thematically for those portions of the verse.

Cards are banned solely for mechanical reasons, to limit the dominance they would exercise within one format or another. The intent is to avoid tournaments where the banned cards start to define the meta, to the extent that there is only one deck played, or one deck and a deck designed to beat it.

That is specifically highlighted by Wizards of the Coast on the

  Banned and Restricted Lists
  One key to the continued health of Magic is diversity. It is vitally important to ensure that there are multiple competitive decks for the tournament player to choose from. Why? If there were only a single viable deck to play, tournaments would quickly stagnate as players were forced to either play that deck or a deck built specifically to beat it. In addition, different players enjoy playing different types of decks. If there are plenty of viable options to play, there will be more players at more tournaments.
  To help maintain the diversity and health of the Magic tournament environment, a system of banned and restricted lists has been developed. These lists are made up of cards that are either not allowed at all, or allowed only in a very limited manner.
  It’s important to note a couple of things: First, these lists apply only to Constructed formats and not Limited formats. Second, the banned and restricted lists are format-specific, so a card that is banned in Modern may still be legal to play in Standard.
  Banning a card is uncommon. Announcements for changes to the Banned & Restricted lists are done all together on the Monday after a new set’s Prerelease, to go into effect with that set’s release. This way, the formats you play change as infrequently as possible.

For specific guidance on why a card was banned, you would have to look through the Magic the Gathering Article Archives for Banned and Restricted Announcement's. Googling with the terms "banned", "restricted", "announcement", and card name will get you the pertinent announcement.


Cities and Knights: Played to virtual deadlock

Let's see...

5 settlements 5VP
4 cities =8 VP
Longest Road = 2VP
Metropolis = +2VP (above the city it's on) (3 of them).
2 1VP progress cards

6 Defender of Catan VP's as well.

There is a progress card that allows removal of an opponent's knight. Time it for just before the barbarians, and make him pull one, then you get your VP for Defender of Catan.

Remember - Defender of Catan is earned for there being enough knights... and being the man with the most strength when that happens.

If you have misplayed so that your cities and settlements are more than 2 apart, then you've simply played poorly.

It is possible that, through particularly poor play, you might be stuck at 13 VP; if all the VP cards are out, and you're out of spots to play, it is time to call it, and I'd call it a double loss.

I'll note however: The Fishermen of Catan does not increase VP to win (unless you hold the old boot), and the Harbor Master variant only increases VP needed by 1.


Can I play a Sorcery or Instant without paying its mana cost, in any way?

There are a number of such cards. Recently, Omniscience gave you permission to cast any spell (instant, sorcery, creature, whatever) from your hand without paying its cost.

There are even entire mechanics based on it, such as Cascade, or the cycle of Hideaway lands.

Epic Experiment is the instant/sorcery version of Genesis Wave, and Mind's Desire is its predecessor. Master of Predicaments was just released, and Oracle of Bones is recent. Sunforger is older, but one of the most powerful equipment for a R/W deck: not only is the instant you cast free, but you search your deck for it, rather than needing it in your hand.

Heck, Planeswalker's Mischief lets you cast an instant or sorcery spell for free from your opponent's hand.

Note that when you're casting a spell without paying its mana cost, {X} can only be 0, you must still pay any required additional costs, and if you want the effect of something that comes from paying an optional cost (eg, Kicker), you'll need to pay the optional cost. Effects which look at the mana you paid for the spell (such as the hybrid mana spells which care about the colors spent) will see that no mana was spent at all, and Trinisphere will still force you to pay {3}.


Fantasy Flight Games doesn't currently have a judge program, the closest thing they have are the floor rules.

However at the start of 2015 they announced their intent to setup something like a judge program sometime this year, with a trial starting in the US initially.
It's possible they're delaying the program to see what happens with the Magic Judge system after the currently running lawsuits are settled.


How does Rook compare in difficulty to other trick-taking games?

Of all the other card games I know, Rook is most like partnership Whist, with only a few exceptions:

Tournament Rook uses the rook-bird card, which serves as the highest trump card (not a wild card: the rook-bird play still must follow rules of following suit)
Bidding in Tournament Rook is done by point counting, not by trick counting (as with Whist): fives are 5, tens and fourteens are 10, and the rook-bird is 20. (As with Whist, trump is not named until after the bidding has passed out.)
Tournament Rook sets aside a "nest" of five cards on each deal-out that is not used by the players to play the hand, nor are the cards visible. This gives each hand 10 cards. The winning partnership counts the points in their won tricks, plus any tricks in this "nest".

The two aspects of the game I like most (and which make it more interesting than Whist) are the "nest" and the separation of bidding and measure of "successful play" from the number of tricks captured.

There are plenty of other card games that assign point values to cards and both bid and measure success based on those cards (Mü, Skat, Tichu). However, I can't off the top of my head think of other games that also incorporate a kitty of cards taken out of play that get assigned to the winning partnership at the end of play.


Overplay in orthodox fuseki - Leela AI fails miserably?

W1 should be N11, then black dies, I'd claim from memory.

W1 at R13 is probably not a complete disaster in itself, but O12 should then be O11, or maybe P10 should be O10. That would force black to capture and white would at least build some influence -- not thickness, as she can't protect all cuts.

Even before that, white should probably descend at T13 and later throw in to induce the infamous "hammer" shape, which would probably give white one or two additional sente moves.

That Leela is not seeing your sequence does seem like a clear case of a bug to me. Maybe Leela figured something like "black is losing the ladder, so black must capture. And because playing out ladders that do not work is bad, black will capture there immediately!" (pure speculation on my part).


What are the rules regarding play of a singleton?

Let's look at the relevant Bridge Laws.
Law 16B1 says:

Any extraneous information from partner that might suggest a call or play is unauthorized.This includes remarks, questions, replies to questions, unexpected alerts or failures to alert, unmistakable hesitation, unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture, movement or mannerism.

(a) A player may not choose a call or play that is demonstrably suggested over another by unauthorized information if the other call or play is a logical alternative.

Law 73D1 says:

It is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain steady tempo and
unvarying manner. However, players should be particularly careful when variations may
work to the benefit of their side.

Law 73D2 says:

A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of a question, remark
or gesture; by the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating before playing a singleton); by the manner in which a call or play is made; or by any purposeful deviation from correct procedure (see also Law 73E2).

Law 73E2 says:

If the Director determines that an innocent player has drawn a false inference from a question, remark, manner, tempo or the like, of an opponent who has no demonstrable bridge reason for the action, and who could have been aware, at the time of the action, that it could work to his benefit, the Director shall award an adjusted score

Law 74A2 says:

A player should carefully avoid any remark or extraneous action that might cause annoyance or embarrassment to another player or might interfere with the enjoyment of the game

Law 74C prohibits "violations of procedure" including 74C7:

varying the normal tempo of bidding or play for the purpose of disconcerting an opponent

The above are all from the most recent (2017) Laws of Duplicate Bridge. All boldface is my addition. The laws for contract bridge are very similar except for mentions of a director.
All club and tournament games have time limits for each round. So do all online games that I know of.  A three minute hesitation in play, especially when holding a singleton of the suit led (not at trick 1, when there might be a need to plan the play) is very much longer than usual, and would usually be considered quite improper. A director or club management would have discretion whether to take action. It would be normal to ask, after the hand is over, what reason there was for the delay. If there was not a good reason, the player might be warned, or even removed from the game or barred from the club or event. A warning would be usual for a first offense. If damage seems to have been done, an adjusted score would be awarded.
Note, however, that such action is only "unethical" if it is done with intent to secure an advantage or disconcert or annoy opponents. If the player was belatedly trying to plan the defense, that is not unethical, although 3 minutes is excessive.
Online and tournament timing is usually 7-8 minutes per hand, including the auction, with the time limit applied only at the end of the round, often 2 or 3 hands, although it may be as few as one or as many as 5 or more hands long. Club play time varies widely, but many clubs use a rough figure of 7 1/2 minutes per hand. Online "speedball" events are typically 15 minutes for three hands.


Identify a card game where one player points to cards and the others try to figure out the one they are signalling

There are lots of variations of this game, and various names
One version I found didn't use cards, but rather used magazines (so it could be more easily seen by a large group of people), and called itself "Nine Magazines". I imagine that there is a card game version of this called "Nine Cards".
What you refer to as "the gift" is that Player 1 has a magazine in mind, and he follows a rule where he somehow signals that magazine. Say that the "correct" one is the one in the lower right.

The trick is in the location where you tap each magazine cover. For our example above, you would tap each magazine in the lower-right corner.
It can be very difficult to figure out this trick. Make the location on the cover more obvious each time. Or, try it with 4 magazines. It's better to stop after a bit more than half the group has figured it out.

In other words, when you point to one and says "Is this the one?", you are touching the card in the bottom right corner. Someone who has figured it out would know that the correct answer is "No" for all cards except for the bottom right card. A player who has figured out the rule has "the gift" and might take over as the player signaling until more players figure it out themselves.
A more tricky rule is that only the first card (or second card, etc.) that you point to signals the card you have in mind, while the rest of the point locations are arbitrary.


What hand scores are impossible in Cribbage?

All scores from 0 to 29 are possible with the exception of 19, 25, 26 and 27, as already mentioned.


The Oxford History of Board Games is a very thorough book that discusses board games from their ancient inception to the (almost) present-day dividing into Race Games, Space Games, Chase Games, Displace Games, and War Games (such as chess).


What counters can be attached to a player?

At present, there are three types of counters that can be placed on players.

Poison (Originally seen in Legends, prevalent in Scars of Mirrodin block)
Experience (Commander 2015)
Energy (written as {E}) (Kaladesh)

We can search through Scryfall for cards that give players counters to determine that those are the only ones. As we can see with cards like Caress of Phyrexia and Aether Hub, cards that explicitly put specific kinds of counters on players use the wording

  [Player] get(s) [amount] [counter description]

Since Scryfall supports regular expression search, we can turn that into a regular expression to search for cards with that wording. For now, let's see what we get if we pretend that counters are the only things players can get. We can search for that with the following regular expression:

  re:"(player|opponent|you) (get|gets)\b"

This mostly finds relevant cards, but it also finds some irrelevant cards, including planeswalkers that grant emblems and Paradox Haze. So, we can also exclude cards that give players emblems or additional votes or steps, or make players get you something:

  re:"(player|opponent|you) (get|gets)\b(?! (+|-|you|an (emblem|additional)))" -is:funny

This is the same search before, but it looks at the next word to exclude sentences like "target opponent gets you [something]", "you get an emblem", "that player gets an additional [something]", and "creatures attacking you get -1/-0". It also removes joke cards. This results in 83 cards, all of which put some sort of counter on a player. A visual inspection shows that they all add poison, experience, or energy counters.