What is the use of the return label in Pokémon TCG?

As ConMan mentioned, the value of the card is to prevent effects that happen in the Discard. Not only is Darkrai GX an excellent example of one such card, but if your opponent has various Trainer cards, attacks, or Abilities that can return cards from the Discard to their hand or field, then that's all the more reason to use it. Why? Because it's better for a card they want to be in their deck than in their hand.

The final reason is to plump the opponent's deck. Under normal circumstances, the opponent having 25 cards in deck or 26 cards with a specific card at the bottom of the deck won't change the odds of the 25 random cards. However, if an effect causes the opponent's deck to shuffle, you may have just weighed it down with one card that (by this point in the game) could be a dead card if they draw it, decreasing (ever so slightly) the odds of them getting the cards they need.

To be honest, it's not that powerful of a card. While it certainly has its uses, the opportunities to make quality use of it are so limited that you're looking at it coming into play maybe once in a blue moon. You're better off including cards that directly benefit your deck's winning image or to select a card that acts as a response to the decks that counter your deck. It should generally only see play if you have extra spots in your deck and you have nothing better to use OR if you know the META of the event you're going to will give you plenty of opportunity to make use of it effectively.

Happy playing!


No, the "one-use tool" cards do not count for scoring tool makers.

The rules specifically call out "Tool tiles" in the scoring section:

The "one-use tool" cards are exactly that: cards (i.e. not tiles). Nowhere in their description are "tiles" called out:


Would an enchantment placed on an opponent still take effect if they played Aegis of the Gods afterwards?

Yes, enchantments already cast and resolved still continue to take effect.

There isn't much about Curses in the Rulebook, because they operate identical to Aura's, but it doesn't take away that it is its own subtype.

Rulings clarify that:

  17-10-2013    A Curse spell targets the player it will enchant like any
  other Aura spell, and a Curse stays on the battlefield like any other
  Aura. If the enchanted player gains protection from the Curse’s color
  (or any other characteristic the Curse has), the Curse will be put
  into its owner’s graveyard.

In the Comprehensive Rules it states:

  303.4. Some enchantments have the subtype “Aura.” An Aura enters the battlefield attached to an object or player. What an Aura can be
  attached to is defined by its enchant keyword ability (see rule
  702.5, “Enchant”). Other effects can limit what a permanent can be enchanted by.

So Curses like Aura's target an object or player depending on what it says on the card.

Aegis of the Gods grants the player Hexproof.

  702.11c “Hexproof” on a player means “You can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.”

So while Aegis of the Gods is on the battlefield you can't target that creatures controller.

But what about all the curses you already cast and resolved before Aegis of the Gods entered the battlefied?

Hexproof doesn't dispel or disenchant any enchantments. It just prevents an object or player from being targeted while hexproof is in play.


Do enchantments attached to Bruna, Light of Alabaster trigger on the same attack/block instance?

You are correct on both accounts. Of course, if you have multiple combat phases, you could leverage it in the same turn but the "hey I just attacked" trigger only happens once, regardless of what the incoming card is capable of doing.


In 7 Wonders, does getting a VP for all yellow cards include the card mentioning it?

If you look at the last page of the rules, it clarifies that the card does count itself, so you would get 4 VPs.


Should I forfeit an agenda when rezzing Archer via Priority Requisition?

No, you do not need to forfeit an agenda in this case. "forfeit an Agenda" is "an additional cost" to rez Archer, and Priority Requisition instructs the player to "ignor[e] all costs".


In warhammer 40k can I combines these armies?

Short answer: in the 7th edition of WH40k, you can create an X point Unbound army from any units you have, so yes. (Note that Unbound armies have some limitations when it comes to holding objectives, etc., so look it up in the rulebook.)

Longer answer: based on your comment to your question and depending on what rules your game group has on army building, you probably want to create a Battle Forged army, which you cannot create with the 1500 points of non-HQ Grey Knights and a Dark Angels HQ.

Grey Knights and Dark Angels can be taken as allies, but as per the rules for taking allies, you need to take the allies in an Allied Detachment and your main force in a Combined Arms Detachment.

For a Combined Arms Detachment you need, and can have:

1-2 HQ
2-6 Troops
0-3 Elites
0-3 Fast Attack
0-3 Heavy Support
0-1 Fortifications
0-1 Lord of War

So you need at least one Grey Knights HQ for your main detachment. For an Allied Detachment you need, and can have:

1 HQ
1-2 Troops
0-1 Elites
0-1 Fast Attack
0-1 Heavy Support

So to wield Ezekiel with your Grey Knights in an appropriate detachment you would need to take at least one Dark Angels Troop with him.

If you're just playing with your friends, you can probably agree with them that you would both play with 1500p, and you would just not have a HQ. But for more organised games, you need to get a Grey Knights HQ, but you would only need a single model to make your army follow the rules. After all, every army needs a leader!


In Pandemic, can yellow infect black, after black has been eradicated?

Yes. Eradication affects the color of cubes, not the color of cities.

The color of the cities tells you what color is on the corresponding infection and player cards, so cities will certainly tend to have only cubes of that color, but they can potentially have cubes of any color.

Eradicating a given color disease simply stops cubes of that color from being added to the board:

  To infect a city, place 1 disease cube matching its color onto the city, unless this disease has been eradicated.

But the rules never say that eradication stops, say, the yellow disease spilling over into black from an outbreak. This isn't terribly likely (you have to have an outbreak on the border) and also isn't usually that awful (unless you're running out of that color of cubes), but it can happen.


Maze Game - Late 70's / Early 80's - Battleship-esk - What's it name?

This sounds to me like Pathfinder which was a game of my childhood.

BGG link - https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2884/pathfinder


Can I get my Exquisite Archangel back by bouncing it in response to the lose the game trigger and still not lose?

You cannot do what you suggest, because Exquisite Archangel doesn't have a triggered ability.
The ability on Exquisite Archangel is a static ability that creates a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. It never goes on the stack or gives you anything to respond to. Instead, it replaces the event of losing the game with a different event instead.
So the closest thing you can do to what you are saying is to use Boomerang or Cloudshift while an effect that would make you lose is on the stack. All that matters is if Exquisite Archangel is on the battlefield at the time that that effect resolves though. If you use Boomerang, then it wouldn't be on the battlefield when the other thing resolves and you would lose. If you use Cloudshift, then it would be on the battlefield, so it would save you from losing and be just as if you hadn't cast Cloudshift.

603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger condition or event], [effect]. [Instructions (if any).]”

614.1. Some continuous effects are replacement effects. Like prevention effects (see rule 615), replacement effects apply continuously as events happen—they aren’t locked in ahead of time. Such effects watch for a particular event that would happen and completely or partially replace that event with a different event. They act like “shields” around whatever they’re affecting.

614.1a Effects that use the word “instead” are replacement effects. Most replacement effects use the word “instead” to indicate what events will be replaced with other events.


If cards exiled by Karn, Scion of Urza enter the graveyard/battlefield, do they still have the silver counter?

No, the counter does not stay on the card in situations like those. Rule 122.2 says

  Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.


Can I target a hexproof opponent in order to trigger prowess?

No, you can't. Part of the process of casting a spell is checking whether it's legal to cast:

601.2e The game checks to see if the proposed spell can legally be cast. If the proposed spell is
illegal, the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule
721, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

If any chosen target is illegal, the game reverts to its state right before you started casting Thoughtseize, so Prowess never triggers.


Can I discard a ticket if it can't be completed?

There is no way to get rid of a destination card once you already have it.

Destination cards count as negative points against your score if you do not complete them for a reason (think of it thematically - you are playing as a company who has taken on a contract to connect two specific cities by train, and if your company doesn't finish the contract there are penalties), and this is part of the consideration you have to make when drawing 3 and keeping 2 or 3 at the start of the game, or drawing 3 and keeping 1, 2 or 3 later in the game.

You have to strategically choose which one(s) you have drawn that you think are possible to complete, taking into account how likely it is for other player's actions to block you.

Sometimes you may be able to build around a more direct route that has been blocked by other players (especially in early- to mid-game, but less likely during the end of the game), and sometimes it is even worth your while to not take the most direct route, especially where 2 or more of your destination cards include nearby locations.


I believe that rule to be incorrect, but interesting. You must hit an enemy disc, but you can hit a friendly disc first to make a combo shot.  It's higher risk because you can lose multiple discs. Check the WCC webpage for official rules.  Also the one cheek rule is standard here in clubs in Ontario as well as not being able to move/shift your chair in any way once play begins.


Can I deal damage to Hornet Nest multiple times before it dies?

If it is your turn, you may cast two instances of Lightning Axe (or any other instant) before your opponent gets priority. However, they do not resolve until your opponent has a chance to respond.

The order is:

You get priority
You cast Lightning Axe, choosing targets and paying the costs; Lightning Axe is on the stack
You intentionally retain priority.
You cast Lightning Axe, choosing targets and paying the costs; second Lightning Axe is on stack.
You get priority, you pass
Opponent gets priority, they may cast a spell.
Opponent passes priority.
Second Lightning Axe checks if the target is still legal. It is, it resolves. Creature has lethal damage.
a. 5 Damage has been dealt to Hornet Nest, so next time priority would be given, ability that creates 5 Hornet tokens would be put on stack.
State-based actions are checked, creature dies.
Ability that creates 5 Hornet tokens goes on stack. (It resolves)
You get priority, pass
Opponent gets priority, pass.
First Lightning Axe checks if target is still legal.  It is not, so it fizzles. No damage is dealt to Hornet Nest

Final result: 5 Hornet tokens


Do some combat checks occur without monsters?

You don't draw a monster. Like you said, you just make a combat check - except there is a modifier, the (-1) specified by the encounter. And it really is a combat check, not a weird fight check; that's why your items with combat modifiers apply.

If a monster is to appear, the card will say so, and plenty do.


When rolling a third doubles, do you interact with the space you would land on?

When you roll doubles a third time, you do not move to or interact with the space that the dice would take you to.  Instead you go directly to Jail.  You do not get to do any of the listed examples.

From the rules:

  If you throw doubles, you move your token as usual, the sum of the two dice, and are subject to any privileges or penalties pertaining tot he space on which you land. Retaining the dice, throw again and move your token as before. If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked “In Jail” (see JAIL).


The Monolith is a verrrrrrrrrry slow skimmer -- it can only move 6" per turn, but it can also ignore terrain features while moving.

I don't have the Codex handy, but I'm fairly certain the Monolith says it can only ever move 6" per turn.


Do you know any rules that make Pandemic's difficulty more even?

Pick up the On the Brink BGG expansion.

The forums at Boardgamegeek state that it definitely eases up the difficulty of the 4 and 5 player versions as well as providing more options.


Which words count for a double word score?

You can do what you want here (score the modified word and the entirely new word).
All that matters is whether you play a tile on a premium square. If you do, you'll get the bonus, for that tile or the word(s) containing it, as appropriate.
For example, if someone plays CLOUD, with a double-word score square just after the end of it, and you play SWORD off of that, forming CLOUDS as well, you'll get double score for both CLOUDS and SWORD. You could also just add the S and score for CLOUDS, but hopefully you can do better!
You'll only get the bonus once, on the turn when a tile is played on the special square. Once it's covered, it's used and it might as well not be there. But it applies to everything relevant on the turn when you do play on that square.
From the rules (in the scoring section):

The score for each turn is the sum of the letter values in each word(s) formed or modified on that turn, plus the additional points obtained from placing letters on Premium Squares.
Letter and word premiums count only on the turn in which they are played. On later turns, letters already played on premium squares count at face value.


What would happen to other players creatures upon death?

According to the Comprehensive Rules (http://media.wizards.com/2017/downloads/MagicCompRules_20170119.txt), this is what happens when a player loses the game:

  104.5. If a player loses the game, he or she leaves the game. [...]

  800.4a When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. [...]

The definition of the word "die" is:

  A creature “dies” if it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.

Since a losing player's creatures leave the game instead of being put into a graveyard, those creatures are not considered to have died, and Kalitas does not give you any tokens.


Which bidding system is assumed by default at BBO?

Simple answer- No system- its an open community. If high level players like JEC don't need to specify a system why would anyone else.
Partial answer- Most English speaking bridge players are American so can assume they play some sort of Standard American- they assume you are psychic so you know what they play.


Coloretto vs. Aquaretto and Zooloretoo, what are the differences and how can I tell which to buy?

Coloretto is MASSIVELY different to Zooloretto and Aquaretto.  To be more specific: Coloretto is the mechanic on which the other two games are based, but to compare them is a bit like comparing, say, addition to mathematics.

In Coloretto, your move is either to play a card onto a pile, or pick up a pile.  Once you've done that long enough, you look at everything that all players have picked up, and then score.  In Zooloretto and Aquaretto, the piles have become "trucks", and the cards have become animals, or fish.  You still have the same basic mechanic - either draw and play an animal onto a truck, or take a truck - but collecting animals is no longer the sole object.  Once you take a truck you have to place the animals in various parts of your zoo.  There are placement restrictions, bonuses for filling areas, the chance to get extra free animals by placing breeding pairs in the same enclosure.  Players can, instead of taking their normal turns, pay to buy animals from each other, swap animals between enclosures, discard excess animals.

As you can see, just because the central idea of Coloretto is present and correct in all three of these Michael Schacht games, comparing them is like comparing milk and cheese!  I like all of them, but Coloretto is good when you want a quick, abstract game, and the others for when you want a moderately (but not very) complex game... with cute baby pandas.  (I think it's really the cute baby pandas, much more than the mechanic, that made Zooloretto a hit in my gaming group!)

ETA: One final point.  You might assume that Zooloretto and Aquaretto are fundamentally the same game but with mammals instead of fish, but they really aren't.  They have extremely different enclosure rules, animal behaviour rules, and ways of scoring points off specific animal configurations.  Essentially they are the Coloretto mechanic taken away and used in two different boardgames.  But they are of a similar complexity level.  I felt Aquaretto was a little bit more complicated, but maybe that's just because I've played Zooloretto a lot more.  I'm told that it's possible to combine Zooloretto and Aquaretto into one mega-zoo game, which would be intimidating but definitely fun.  Our group hasn't tried it yet, but it can only be a matter of time!


You roll one save against the D hit. That one hit does D3 wounds - it doesn't do D3 hits.


Can you affect the Haunt roll with items, omens or other effects in Betrayal at House on the Hill?

Both the Rabbit's Foot and the Angel Feather have extremely generic text; the Rabbit's Foot says once during your turn, you may reroll one die; the Angel Feather says When you attempt a roll of any kind...

The only restriction I can see is that both the Rabbit's Foot and the Angel Feather must be used by the player who revealed the Omen card and is making the Haunt roll. Both of those items specifically restrict the affected roll to the owner's rolls. The rules state that a Haunt roll is made at the end of your turn, but that means it's still your turn.

TL;DR: Yes, the owner of those items may affect a haunt roll that the owner makes.


Can joker be played with no other tiles?

There is nothing in the rules that prevents you from playing a joker as a single tile, as long as you had your initial meld. It can be advantageous if another player is about to win and you don't want the 30 points penalty.


If I cast Path to Exile on Leonin Arbiter, can the owner search without paying {2}?

Leonin Arbiter's ability stops working immediately when it's exiled, even during the resolution of a spell or ability. If you exile it with Path to Exile, Leonin's controller may search their library whether or not they paid the cost this turn.
Leonin Arbiter's ability is a static ability that modifies the game rules.

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

It creates its effect while Leonin Arbiter is on the battlefield. As soon as the Arbiter has left the battlefield, it stops working. Spells and abilities resolve all their steps in the order written.

608.2c The controller of the spell or ability follows its instructions in the order written. [..]

So by the time Path of Exile's resolution comes to the "search your library" step, Leonin Arbiter is already exiled, its ability no longer applies, and its controller may search their library.


Yes it can. Every instance if lifegain grants another +1/+1 counter. So if you play 10 Swamps, you have 10 instances of lifegain, which grants 10 +1/+1 counters. If you have a creature with lifelink which deals damage, you gain life, so Ajani's Pridemate gets a +1/+1 counter. There is no limit to the amount of +1/+1 counters it can get.


The dice appear to be from a game called Don't Bug Me, published in 1969/1970 by the Pacific Game Company (of California).

A look inside the box reveals a pair of dice with an identical bug on each die:

(Note that many other companies have released unrelated games under the same name too.)


Why would one want more than 40 cards in their deck?

Decks relying on "That Grass Looks Greener" want much more than 40 cards

One deck archetype that wants to have more than 40 cards are "lawnmower" decks, named after the key card That Grass Looks Greener.

  If you have more cards in your Deck than your opponent does: Send cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard so you have the same number of cards in the Deck as your opponent.

So if you have a 60 card deck and you play against an opponent that has a 40 card deck, you can expect to send around 20 cards to the graveyard. If your deck relies on archetypes that benefit from having cards in your graveyard (e.g. Zombie, Lightsworn, Infernoid), then that can put you at a huge advantage.

According to this Reddit post, decks based around "That Grass Looks Greener" (and decks designed to counter it by having 60 cards) were popular from February to May 2017 to the point where a number of top-level decks were 60 cards. Konami made the card Limited in the TCG to discourage this (although it's still Unlimited in the OCG). However, a lot of people seem to view it as a fad deck that would have lost its appeal over time even without a ban.


When to make suggestions that include cards in my own hand in clue?

You should almost always make suggestions that include one or two cards in your hand, especially after you know one or two of the real murder components. (Though this might change with the number of players. I'm used to playing with 3 or 4 people.)

The end goal isn't to know who holds which cards, it's to know which cards are not held. The most efficient way to gather information isn't when someone shows you a card, it's when they pass; especially when all other players pass. This does give information to other players, but more to you.

Illustrative Example

Let's say the real solution is Prof. Plum with the Rope in the Conservatory. It's Player A's turn and he's in the Conservatory. If Player A makes a random guess of cards he doesn't hold, maybe Player A gets lucky and accuses Prof. Plum (correct) with the Revolver, and of course the Conservatory. What Player A learns is who holds the Revolver. If he's extra lucky, the person holding the Revolver isn't  the person on his left, so maybe A will see a pass or two before being shown the Revolver, learning a more. However, if A suggests Ms. White (in hand) with the Knife (in hand) in the Conservatory, everyone will pass, and Player A learns that the Conservatory is the room! The other players will know that Player A made a big discovery---they desperately need to check out Ms. White and the Knife and the Conservatory, because at least one of those is part of the solution. But they don't know which one. (Ignoring the unlikely possibility of a wasted turn gamble where Player A deliberately made an accusation while holding all three cards.)

Now, let's step into another player's shoes. Player B knows that Player A learned something big, so she runs to the nearby Billiard Room and suggests Ms. White with the Knife. If anyone shows her a card, Player A knows that it's the Billiard Room, because he holds Ms. White and the Knife. Great! Player A learned as much as Player B did on Player B's turn. If people pass until Player A, he shows her, say, the Knife, and Player A knows that either Player B or someone sitting to his left before B holds the Billiard Room. Player A will now preferentially show the Knife rather than Ms. White to anyone. Meanwhile Player C can guess that Player A has one of the Knife or Ms. White, but Player C still has to make their own suggestion to find out which.

Contrast this with Player B being a little more conniving: she decides to test Player A's knowledge more gradually. She accuses Col. Mustard (in her hand) with the Knife in the Billiard Room. Now if someone before Player A shows her a card, Player A can't be sure if it's the Billiard room or if it's Col. Mustard. If it gets around to Player A, he doesn't have a choice of what to show Player B, he must show the Knife, which is also better for B than if A gets to choose. So it's in Player B's best interest to make suggestions including cards from her hand too.

Other considerations

Suggesting 3 cards from your hand is a devious way to throw people off track, but you lose a turn of information gathering to do it. In my experience, the opportunity cost is too high for this to be worthwhile.

Your card distribution (especially what rooms you hold) can affect your ability to make suggestions involving cards from your hand. I try to make one of the first 3 rooms I visit a room I hold. It's especially nice if you hold two secret passage rooms to hop back and forth between the two (though pretty soon everyone will know what you're doing). It can be tough if you hold only one card (or worse, none!) of a category. I'll focus on that category first so that I can at least alternately suggest 2 items when I get to the other categories.

It does make sense to not be too consistent. If you always make suggestions that include 2 cards from your hand, your opponents will learn this habit. Then the player who shows you a a card can be reasonably certain you hold the other two. Vary your play to keep your opponents from being too sure.

In the beginning of the game, it's fine to make suggestions with only one card you hold, or the occasional 0-held-card suggestion. You'll stil learn something--maybe you'll get lucky and learn a lot. But as soon as you know one category there's no point in making a suggestion involving a card in that category that someone else holds. You already know somebody holds the card, but you shouldn't care who.

tl;dr: You learn more from people passing than showing your cards. People pass more often if you make suggestions that use some cards from your hand.


What happens in multiplayer Magic when I'm forced to attack and one opponent has Propaganda?

Attacking doesn't target. Attacking doesn't use the stack. There's no such thing as choosing to attack, and then not attacking. A creature either attacks, or it doesn't. What I'm saying is your creature can't attack the player with Propaganda without paying the cost.
You have these options:

Your creature can attack the player with Propaganda (which requires paying {2}), or
your creature can attack a player without Propaganda.
your creature can attack a planeswalker.

As you've said, you are free to choose not to pay the cost imposed by Propaganda[117.3c, 508.1d]. But if you declare to have your creature attack the player with Propaganda, and if you choose not to pay the cost imposed by Propaganda, the attack becomes illegal[508.1c]. Since you can't choose to take an illegal action, the action is rolled back[508.1, 721.1], and you must choose a different player or planeswalker to attack[508.1d].
Only if there are no valid choices (e.g. every opponent has a Propaganda, no opponent has a planeswalker, and you refuse to pay the cost imposed by Propaganda) can you avoid attacking[508.1d]. This is an application of second Golden Rule of Magic, popularly paraphrased as «"can't" trumps "can"»[101.2]

117.3c Activating mana abilities is not mandatory, even if paying a cost is.
508.1. [...] If at any point during the declaration of attackers, the active player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the declaration is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the declaration [...]
508.1c The active player checks each creature they control to see whether it’s affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can’t attack, or that it can’t attack unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of attackers is illegal.
508.1d The active player checks each creature they control to see whether it’s affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature attacks if able, or that it attacks if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of attackers is illegal. If a creature can’t attack unless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if attacking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed. If a requirement that says a creature attacks if able during a certain turn refers to a turn with multiple combat phases, the creature attacks if able during each declare attackers step in that turn.
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.
721.1. If a player takes an illegal action or starts to take an action but can’t legally complete it, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. [...]


Game creator David Sirlin answered both of these questions recently on the forums.

1) Persephone controls the opponent on the following turn from the bench.

  Abilities work from the bench. It says you control their turn.

2)  Mistress's Command (and Onimaru's Clockwork Soldiers) intentionally do 1 damage and there is no minimum associated with the rounding of the Super Cancel Tag specifically so that its effect will not trigger in such a scenario.

  "Rounded down" is specifically so that MC and CS do 0. Very much on
  purpose.


How should I change my usual draft strategy in a Two-Headed-Giant draft?

Many strategies get better or worse in Two Headed Giant. These are the same as what changes in regular sealed.

Much better:
Alternate win conditions are typically stronger as their thresholds don't change with the number of players. Making one player run out of cards in their library will cause the team to lose. Similarly having one player win the game, say with Felidar Sovereign, will cause the team to win.
Poison used to be a very strong strategy, see the Sliver Kids wining the PT, but that is no longer true. Previously just one player had to be dealt 10 poison for the team to lose, a rules update has changed it to the team receiving 15 poison.
Each Opponent effects are much stronger as well. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is the poster child for this type of card. Already strong in regular sealed and draft, the card is very overpowered in every format with more than two players.

Much worse:
Aggressive Creatures are not nearly as important in Two Headed Giant as in other formats. The increased options for an opponent to block back them much decreases value in attempting to overrun an opponent early. As does the 30 life that needs to be dealt with, it's very hard to build two decks to deal 15 damage each before the opponents can stabilise.

How things change completely:
Colour Choice. In Two Headed Giant it is likely that a team will play all 5 colours. At the minimum you'll be playing 4 colours, splashing the 5th in one of the decks is very easy. In original Ravnica block I won a 2HG draft where we played 7 colours. This means you don't want worry about what decks you are playing too early. Just take the best cards for the first 2 or 3 packs, then start to worry about filling out good curves and making decks in the second half of the draft.


Good opening questions for Adventurers in Are You the Traitor?

There's the obivious one...

"Are you the Traitor?"

I find that newbies especially, will telegraph their own identity by their behaviour in the first 20 seconds.

Asking about the traitor ===>  Guard.
Asking about the wizards ===>  Keyholder.

etc.

So my suggestion for your own personal strategy is to form a habit (and importantly, be seen to form a habit) of always asking the same question (be it "Are you the traitor" or "Are you the keyholder") to all players in the same order.  This stops them from gaining information from your question or question ordering.  What you want to do is watch the reactions.  For example, if you ask if Alice is the Keyholder, and she answers with an uncertain no, and Bob lights up and glances at the 2 wizards, its usually safe to accuse Bob of being the traitor (because he knows the keyholder, and now needs to signal evil wizard).  The key to that game is not the question, or the answer;  its regulating the flow of information by amassing as much for yourself as possible without revealing any of what you already know.  Your goal is not necessarily to discover your target;  your goal is to possess the sum of the public knowledge, while maintaining your monopoly rights on your private knowledge.


Yes you can use your development card bonuses and not use tokens.
My answer to a similar question is here which covers the exact rules.


How to play Ticket to Ride with children?

I played with my 5y old daughter using the Ticket to Ride: Europe base game and the following house rules. (We played twice; each game taking 20-30min.)

The first player to complete 4 tickets wins!
(We don't use the score track)

Game setup

Deal four train cards to each player
Everybody play cards face up
Remove all destination cards higher than 8 points from the destination pile
Deal one destination card to each player

House rules

On your turn you either draw two cards or lay down a track.
When you draw you can always draw two cards (ignore the restriction on the locomotive card)
You do only one destination card at a time. Once you complete one, you immediately draw another one.
Ferries and tunnels are normal routes
Double routes are always available

Suggestions

Use markers to identify the two cities in the destination card. We used the train station from the Europe base game. It also helps a lot to plan with them the shortest route beforehand. (Even it they end up doing it differently later on.)

I also found useful to make them aware they should try to collect sets that they will need later on, but it's equally important to not bore them too much with game mechanics and let them work these out by themselves.

Overall I felt that it worked pretty well. She understood the rules quickly and enjoyed playing.


Can lands that say “Add one mana of any color to your mana pool” be used in a colorless EDH deck?

As of January 18th, 2016, the restriction on other colors of mana (mentioned in other answer) was removed.

Rule 4 removed. Decks may now generate mana of any colour.

They can still be in you deck, but now they can make any color of mana.


Nothing happens at all.

There's a (likely unofficial) rules clarification on Ambassador's Dominion Strategy wiki:

  If you reveal a card which is not in the Supply, such as Spoils, Madman, Mercenary, or Shelters, Ambassador does nothing.

The same article also quotes an official FAQ clarification:

  If the pile for the chosen card runs out, some players may not get one; cards are given out in turn order starting with the next player.

Since Hovels are not present in the Supply, you cannot return your hovels there. Further, nobody can gain them: since they aren't available in the Supply, they are effectively perpetually out of stock.


Which card combinations are required to score 29 points in a hand?

The only hand that will score a 29 consists of all four 5s and the Jack of nobs.
The scoring of this hand is nicely broken down in this Cribbage Corner post:

We score the 29 hand in the same way as any other: taking 15s first, then pairs, runs, flushes and nobs.
First count 15s. The Jack makes 15 with each of the 5s, that's 4 15s. Also, there are 4 ways of choosing three different 5s to make additional 15s. That's 8 in total, for 16 points.
Then pairs: there are 6 different pairs of 5s, for another 12 points. That's 28 so far.
There are no runs or flushes, so the Jack of nobs gives us a final point for 29.


Are Plenty Of Ammo cards discarded after using them?

Plenty of Ammo cards can be used once per action and are not discarded when used.

Some card types, including “Plenty Of Ammo” cards, are always in effect.

  INVENTORY

  Each Survivor can carry up to five pieces of Equipment but
  can only have two equipped and ready to use (one in each hand) at any
  given time. While all weapons must be in a hand slot in order to use
  them (whether to attack or to open a door), other items, such as the
  Goalie Mask, Flashlight and Plenty of Ammo cards, are always in
  effect, even while in the reserve slots.

https://www.zombicide.com/dl/rulebook-zombicide-season-1.pdf - page 9

e.g.:

  Plenty of Arrows

  You may re-roll all Ranged Attacks once with weapons with the Arrows
  keyword. The new result takes the place of the previous one.

This means that as long as this card is in your inventory, each Ranged Attack action using a weapon with the Arrow keyword can be re-rolled once.


It depends on who started the pillage.

Starting with the pillaging player, go in turn order. The first player executes their Loki's Trickery effect and steals a rage. The second player now cannot do so.

Source.


Does drunkenness / poisoning / death interrupt ongoing abilities?

From what I can determine both effects are still in play for the full duration regardless of the character losing the ability dying. The courtier even lists on the page that it can only be used once per game and getting it off to learn something before you die is a good thing. It however doesn't mention the effects going away when they die.

You can only use your ability once per the entire game, so time it well! The later you make your choice, the more information you will have the game's state and what characters are in play and causing mayhem. On the other hand, the evil team will be keen to target you as soon as they possibly can, so using your ability early can ensure you get it off and learn something before you die. It's up to you to judge the landscape of your particular game and make your choice!


When does a Leprechaun's Ongoing ability activate?

The correct order is:

Commission is played. This triggers two abilities in order. (Step 2 and 4)
An extra minion is placed on the base. This triggers the ongoing ability of the Leprechaun. (Step 3)
The new minion has less power so it will be destroyed. But it's ability is resolved first. If any. At the end of this step, the minion is gone.
The next ability ability of Commission is now executed. And Leprechaun is moved to another base.

The rules of Smash-up are vague and conflicting (even the rules admit this). So you need common sense to resolve this. But in this case it is clear that both actions of Commission are executed in order (Play an extra minion. Then move another player's minion from the extra minion's base to another base.)


Asymmetric "Jurassic Park"-esque 2 player game

Could it be Raptor? From BoardGameGeek:

Mamma Raptor has escaped from her run and laid her eggs in the park. A
team of scientists must neutralize her and capture the baby raptors
before they run wild into the forest.
Raptor is a card driven boardgame with tactical play and some double
guessing. Players use their cards to move their pawns (scientists on
one side, Mother and baby raptors on the other) on the board. Every
round, the player who played the lowest ranked card can use the
corresponding action, while his opponent has movement / attack points
equal to the difference between the two cards values. The scientists
can use fire, can move by jeep on the tracks, and can even call for
reinforcements, while the mamma raptor can hide in the bushes, yell to
frighten the scientists, and call for her babies.


Issues with Infinite Mana Loop and Grindclock/ Clock of Omens Combo

Tap Grindclock
Tap both Palladium to float 4x colorless
Spend colorless to activate Galvanizer and untap Palladiums
Tap both Palladium to untap Grindclock (clock of omens)
Tap Grindclock
Spend colorless to activate Galvanizer and untap Palladiums and Galvanizer
Tap both Palladium to float 4x colorless
Spend colorless to activate Galvanizer and untap Palladiums and Galvanizer
Goto step 4.


Will Irencrag Pyromancer's ability trigger when it's killed by Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted?

You perform instructions in an ability in the order in which they are written. So, in this scenario, the creature is destroyed then you draw the cards. Creatures that are destroyed die immediately, so the Pyromancer is already dead by the time you draw the cards and its triggered ability will not trigger.

Rules section 608 describes how to resolve spells and abilities, and rule 608.2c says

The controller of the spell or ability follows its instructions in the order written. However, replacement effects may modify these actions. In some cases, later text on the card may modify the meaning of earlier text (for example, “Destroy target creature. It can’t be regenerated” or “Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it on top of its owner’s library instead of into its owner’s graveyard.”) Don’t just apply effects step by step without thinking in these cases—read the whole text and apply the rules of English to the text.


I think your techniques are sound if, first, you've read the categories so they are in the forefront of your subconscious when you consider the letters.

Scattergories is a bit similar to 'Boggle' (Parker Bros.) and 'dig-it!' (Cadaco), in that words one's opponents also use are not scored, but different from Scrabble (Hasbro) in that...well, everyone knows Scrabble.  But all these games primarily rely on vocabulary and imaginative thinking (neither of which is improved by your techniques).

Anecdote Alert: My Scrabble play dramatically improved once I got the Scrabble Player's Dictionary (SPD); which I read (past-tense) daily.  My other dictionaries didn't have many that are found in the SPD and I never would have known of them otherwise.  During gameplay, I let others use the SPD to find words and to challenge mine, I don't use it except for challenges.

I would suggest you do something to increase your Scattergory vocabulary.  Because of the aforementioned "duplicates don't count" mechanic the words/terms you'll want are those that don't normally come to mind.

People tend to be predictable in how they think and what they think about.  Your goal should be to think differently, outside the mainstream (but not so far you can't defend a challenge), and increasing your Scattergory vocabulary will help do that.

Each day, pick a category (the ones that are most difficult for you), search the internet for a "list of ____", print it out, and scan it 2-3+ times during that day.  Don't try to memorize it, just say the words aloud, imagine what it looks like, think about which ones others may not know so well, and you're done.  Keep your list nearby during game play in case you're challenged.

For some categories, "lists" may not be practical because they would be too long. (My game is in storage so I'm going to guess...)

IE. "Movie Stars"/"TV Stars", look up ie. "movie/TV stars of the 1940's";

"Boy's Name", look up "boys' names of [pick a country that uses the same/similar alphabet or translates well]...the Old Testament of the Bible works well if the other players are Christian (not Jewish), Greek and Gaelic names might work if one uses the English (not Greek/Gaelic) form, etc.

"Things in a kitchen", also break larger things down to their component parts but make sure those components aren't too ambiguous, ie. "pilot light", "heating coil", "drawer knob", "pot lid", "garbage bag", "dog dish", "sponge", "coffee filters".

If an item appears on a list you don't know, look it up, learn it, and not just for the game but for the sake of learning.

All I'll say about "having fun" and "being competitive" is that games are all about challenging oneself and enjoying the "striving to do better next time".  The other players are there for companionship, laughter, randomizing the game, and "fog of war" (FoW).


Compare it to a legitimate copy

The easiest way would be to compare it to copy that's known to not be a counterfeit. To start with you might want to look at some pictures of the box on board game geek and see if there are any differences. As with other counterfeit things, looks for misaligned printing, coloring that is off, or other differences. Due note though, the picture I linked to is from the Kickstarter, and the retail boxes might be different (look at the amazon/etc listings and compare those pictures too!)

If it externally looks legit, it could still be a fake; to know for sure you'll need to open it up and actually look at the contents. Are the cards very flimsy? Misprinted? Miscolored? Is the packaging "weird"? My copy came with each deck in shrinkwrapped plastic, if the decks are held together with paper slips, or rubber bands, or not at all, that's a sign it might be counterfeit. For games aside from Exploding Kittens, check other components too... Are pawns made of plastic when they're supposed to be wood? Are they the wrong shape/size?

Ultimately though, it might not be possible to tell just by examination, you may need to find out where the store bought them, and follow the distribution chain to see if it actually leads back to "The Oatmeal" or not. It doesn't hurt to ask the store WHY the item is so cheap compared to MSRP.

For $10 I wouldn't be surprised if it was a) counterfeit and b) made with cheaper materials.

All of that said, do also keep in mind that often times Kickstarter versions of games (which you'll frequently see in pictures on BGG) have better quality components than those that are included in retail versions, so when comparing pictures make sure you are indeed comparing retail to retail (or KS version to KS version).


What game asks "who is most likely to..."?

This one sounds like "Point Out", which you can find here:

http://www.glopgame.com/who-is-the-most-likely-with-Truth-game.php

However, there isn't any mention of a board or tokens. So, its probably a modern variant on what you've described.


How do you calculate the likelihood of getting at least one combo after drawing so many cards in a deck with more than one combo?

Alright, I finally have the time to give this an actual answer.  Unfortunately, the board game stack exchange doesn't support Mathjax, so this won't be as nice to read as it could be.

In a set of only matched pairs (which is not the deck described, but give me a minute), the probability of drawing at least one pair in a hand of N cards is equal to 1 - P(no pairs).

If you're drawing cards in sequence trying to get no pairs in a deck of D cards, the first card can be any of the N cards (P = D/D), the second card can be any of the remaining cards except the paired card (P = D-2/D-1), the third card can be any remaining except the two paired cards (P = D-4/D-2), etc.

In other words, P(no pairs in a hand of N cards from a deck of D cards) = (D!!/(D-N)!!) /  (D!/(D-N)!), or (D!!*(D-N)!)/(D!*(D-N)!!), where !! is the double factorial function (not a factorial of a factorial)

Which is great, except that if you draw a land there is no matching pair at all.  The easiest way to deal with this is to find the probability of drawing N non-land cards in a hand of 7 cards (or 8 cards, or whatever hand size you're looking for), multiply that by the probability of a pair in N cards, and then sum over all the values of N.

The probability of drawing N non-land cards in hand of 7 cards in a deck of 36 non-lands out of 60 cards is C(N,36)*C(7-N,24) / C(7,60)

So the total probability of drawing any pair in a hand of H cards in 60 card deck with 24 lands is

Sum(from n=1:H, C(n,36)*C(H-n,24) / C(H,60) * (1 - (36!!*(36-n)!)/(36!*(36-n)!!)))

Total probabilities for a hand of:
5 cards: 10.0 %
6 cards: 14.8 %
7 cards: 20.3 %
8 cards: 26.3 %
9 cards: 32.8 %
10 cards: 39.5 %
11 cards: 46.3 %
12 cards: 53.9 %
13 cards: 59.5 %

Of course, this doesn't factor in the odds of getting the lands you need to play your combo, or using mulligans to improve your odds.  And the odds become a lot trickier to calculate if any of the combo pieces overlap (if, for example, you have 4 copies of the same card in your deck, or one card that combos with two different cards.)


In Pinochle, what is the probability of a thousand aces and a double run in one hand?

TLDR: This will happen roughly once every 1.7 million hands.
Rules Background
Double-deck Pinochle is a four player game using a deck of 80 cards (four lots of ATKQJ in each of ♣♦♥♠) (cf. Wikipedia and this rules page).
A double run is two sets ATKQJ in whichever suit is declared trumps.  Trumps is decided by a bidding mechanism, but for this answer we'll assume that the bidding was won by the player in question, and trumps were chosen to match the hand.  Consequently we're interested in the chance of being dealt two sets of ATKQJ both in the same suit.
"A thousand aces" is a term from standard (single-deck) Pinochle, and refers to two "arounds" of aces (i.e. A♣ A♦ A♥ A♠ x 2).  In standard Pinochle this is all of the aces in the deck and is worth 1000 points.  In double-deck Pinochle this is only half the aces, so is much more common and is only worth 100 points.
Melds in Pinochle are allowed to reuse cards (as long as they are different types of melds), and so the aces for the runs can be reused in the arounds.  Consequently the required cards for the hand are A♣ A♦ A♥ A♠ A♣ A♦ A♥ A♠ Tx Kx Qx Jx Tx Kx Qx Jx for some suit x, which leaves four cards unspecified.
Simulation
The calculation of this seemed quite involved (although see L. Scott Johnson's full calculation), so I wrote a Python script to estimate the probability:
import random
from multiprocessing.dummy import Pool as ThreadPool

suits='CDHS'
ranks='ATKQJ'
cards = [r+s for s in suits for r in ranks] * 4

def simulate(_):
    matches = 0
    for i in range(innerLoops):
        hand = random.sample(cards, 20)
        if hand.count('AC') >= 2 and hand.count('AD') >= 2 and hand.count('AH') >= 2 and hand.count('AS') >= 2:
            for s in suits:
                if hand.count('T'+s) >= 2 and hand.count('K'+s) >= 2 and hand.count('Q'+s) >= 2 and hand.count('J'+s) >= 2:
                    matches += 1
                    break
    return matches

poolSize = 8
pool = ThreadPool(poolSize)
loops = 100000000
innerLoops = loops / poolSize
for j in range(5):
    results = pool.map(simulate, range(poolSize))
    print('{} / {}'.format(sum(results), loops))

When I ran this the output was:
58 / 100000000
65 / 100000000
61 / 100000000
57 / 100000000
54 / 100000000

Combining these results gives an average of about 295 times in five hundred million hands, or 1/1694915.  This result supports the full calculation by L. Scott Johnson.


When can I use Cyberfeeder's recurring credit with icebreakers?

This is answered in the Android: Netrunner FAQ (page 10):

  Can the Runner use the recurring credit on Cyberfeeder to pay for using Femme Fatale’s bypass ability or Darwin’s gaining counters ability?

  Yes. Triggering any ability on an icebreaker is considered to be using it.


In Agricola, do family members occupy as many rooms as possible?

The third member will occupy the third room of your house, even if you use the "Family Growth even without a room" action.

The relevant rule starts on page 9 of the rule book, under "Family Growth even without a room":

  Note: If a player who uses this card later extends her home, she may not use the other Family Growth card again until she has more rooms than Family members: the new rooms must first be used for Family members that did not previously have their own rooms.

This means you cannot take the actions in the order you are suggesting without building an additional room between the two "Family Growth" actions.


What are the major changes between Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization and the first game?

The new edition was released during Essen 2015. Information on it was readily available since summer 2015, although the game was still at a prototype state. In brief, the new version revolves around 3 major overhauls:

Complete graphic redesign. While the older game did work, the cards and the player boards were rather dull. All cards in the new version have their own unique, engaging illustration.
Card rebalancing: based on analysis of thousands online games, it was noticed that a couple of cards were very strong, while others were very weak or skipped. For instance, nobody was interested in building a new Mine/Farm in late Age II, or everybody was taking Napoleon with 3 Civil Actions. These issues have been fixed.
Streamlined rules: corruption was an unnecessarily complex phase, so it was moved forward, before production, reducing downtime. Military was also nerfed quite a bit, as sacrifices were completely removed from aggressions & wars and it's a bit easier to defend in the early game.

I would suggest further reading of two comprehensive articles:

List of rule changes; all rule differences between the two versions.
List of card changes; all rebalanced and tweaked cards in the new version.


Do you get points if you are broken/trapped in Saboteur 2

It does not.  Note that this rule is optional in the original rule set.
Answered by the Designer, Frederic Moyersoen on BGG:

The broken tools variant was introduced to have some competition between the gold-diggers.
The extension provides more chaos and competition. Therefore, this variant rule has been skipped during the design of the game. However, if you wish, you can still use it.


How to play the Harbinger card in Dominion

Short answer: yes, you can draw it immediately with, e.g., another action card.

Long answer: the golden rule in Dominion is to follow a card's text entirely, top to bottom, before moving on to your next play. In this case, you:

Play the Harbinger.
Draw a card from your deck, shuffling it if empty.
May optionally put a card from your discard pile on top of your deck, if there are any cards in your discard.
Play subsequently another action card, such as a Village, to immediately draw that card.


Ral, Storm Conduit and 2x Expansion // Explosion

Yes, you can use this combo an arbitrary number of times, as long as you choose the first Expansion on the stack as the target of your copied Expansions.

Just to clarify: after casting (but not resolving) the first Expansion (card A), the stack looks like this:

Expansion (A), targeting Shock
Shock
-----

(the target for Shock or for Shock's copy isn't really relevant for the combo)

You cast your second Expansion (card B), targeting the Expansion:

Expansion (B1), targeting Expansion (A) and choosing Expansion (A) as the new target for the copy
Expansion (A), targeting Shock
Shock
-----

Now Expansion B1 resolves and creates a copy (let's call it B2); note that the card itself is moved to the graveyard:

Expansion (B2), targeting Expansion (A) and choosing Expansion (A) as the new target for the copy
Expansion (A), targeting Shock
Shock
-----

You can repeat this process: when Expansion Bn resolves, it will create a copy Bn+1

Expansion (B(n+1)), targeting Expansion (A) and choosing Expansion (A) as the new target for the copy
Expansion (A), targeting Shock
Shock
-----

To exit the loop after n iterations, you only need not to choose new targets for Bn+1 copying A (which is targeting the Shock):

  706.10c Some effects copy a spell or ability and state that its controller may choose new targets for the copy. The player may leave any number of the targets unchanged, even if those targets would be illegal. If the player chooses to change some or all of the targets, the new targets must be legal. Once the player has decided what the copy’s targets will be, the copy is put onto the stack with those targets.

So even if the opponent managed to counter the Shock somewhere during the loop, which removes it from the stack, Bn+1 can still end up targeting it, and by rule 608.2b it won't resolve. If the Shock is still there, Expansion Bn+1 will 'become' a copy of Shock and resolve. Then, it's Expansion A's turn to resolve (or not to resolve, if the original Shock isn't there anymore), and finally the original Shock.

You see, copying spells this way is dangerous for your opponent the sanity of Stack Exchange users. Thanks @murgatroid99 and @Taemyr for helping out.


What are the steps to becoming a rules advisor and what kind of rulings can be made by one?

The Rules Advisor program has recently been discontinued. Becoming a level 1 judge is the entry level for officially judging.

The changes in a nutshell:

  The Rules Advisor exam is available until the end of April. Passing the exam no longer grants or renews the Rules Advisor membership, and all existing memberships will expire normally. Once the exam is retired, all content in that exam pool will be either reassigned to another exam or retired from use.
  The online L1 Practice exam is now available to all users. People interested in becoming a judge now have direct access to this resource, and this exam shows up on your Judge Center profile when you pass it. (Keep in mind that passing the L1 Practice exam does not grant any special benefit or membership.) If a particular store truly wants to require something to judge FNM, passing the L1 Practice exam is a far more reasonable requirement and more supportive of organized play in the long term since it helps lead towards Level 1 certification.
  The online L1 Practice exam now has a 28-day cooldown period. This should make for a training resource that is more readily available to all users, balancing the limited content in the pool with the need to make sure people can study and practice towards earning the Level 1 certification. Level 2 and Level 3 judges can still create the online L1 Practice exam for others, and still have the ability to generate written L1 Practice exams to administer in person. Use the resource as necessary to help people to pass and join the judge community.

Source: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/blog/2016/04/15/the-rules-advisor-exam-is-being-discontinued/


Does Underrealm Lich's replacement effect activate Gaea's Blessing's triggered effect?

Yes, Gaea's Blessing will trigger

701.15b Revealing a card doesn’t cause it to leave the zone it’s in.
...
701.15d Some effects instruct a player to look at one or more cards. Looking at a card follows the same rules as revealing a card, except that the card is shown only to the specified player.

Revealed cards are considered to be in the zone they were revealed from.  Therefore, when Underrealm Lich's ability causes you to look at cards and then put them in the graveyard, they have moved from the library to the graveyard, triggering Gaea's Blessing.


If you read the Gatherer rulings on Mirror March, they say

  If the copied creature has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0.

which comes from the comprehensive rules:

  107.3f If a card in any zone other than the stack has an {X} in its mana cost, the value of {X} is treated as 0, even if the value of X is defined somewhere within its text

The Colossus is on the battlefield when the Mirror March tries to copy it. The battlefield is not the stack, so X is treated as 0 for all the copies.

So yes, the copies will all come into play with zero counters and die, unless you have any other effect that boosts them immediately, like Glorious Anthem.


What happens when I sacrifice a blocking creature?

There was a fairly long period of time ending with Magic 2010 when you could put damage on the stack, and then play instants and abilities before the damage resolved.  Those days are over!

Nowadays, you declare blockers, and then both players have a chance to play spells and abilities.  Once everyone is finished doing this, we move onto the combat damage phase, and only then do creatures even start thinking about dealing damage to each other.  If you sacrificed your creature after declaring it as a blocker, then it never gets an opportunity to deal damage, I'm afraid!

One corner case: if your creature has First Strike and also a sacrifice ability, you can have it deal its first strike damage and then sacrifice it in the window of opportunity both players have to play spells and effects before normal combat damage.  Try this page for a handy breakdown of when players have a chance to do things in the course of a Magic game.

Also have a look at Magic 2010 Rule Change, explaining some of the latest changes made to the game rules, particularly section 5, about combat damage not using the stack.  Much more readable than the Comprehensive Rulebook, I think you'll find...


Should We Eliminate or Modify the "Factory Rule" In Axis and Allies?

If "good" players don't like factories and intermediate players do, are factories necessary to the game?

I'd classify myself an intermediate player and would say that the only country that really has any business building factories is Japan, and then not until the late game. The most common early game factory builds are usually mistakes, at least when playing against stronger players. A skilled Japan player will take out the Indian or Sinkiang factory in due time. And a skilled German player will have enough manpower to neuter a South African or (gasp) Egyptian factory if it is built too soon in the game.

That being said, allowing no factories for either sides is a common Axis & Allies variation, which I noted in my question, Recommended Axis & Allies alternative rules / variations?

I've played this variation a number of times and I've found it to shift the strategy of the game a bit. Without doubt, it affects Japan the most. Without the aid of factories, Japan must ferry man and material into Asia from the homeland. Since each transport can only carry a single tank, this forces Japan to go with a less than optimal infantry/tank mix. Moreover, it makes the battle of the Pacific more paramount, because if Japan loses her navy - or even suffers a heavy set back - her flow of troops to mainland Asia is impaired, if not neutered.

The no factory variation foists a dilemma upon the USA strategy - does the US still go full steam ahead with the "shuck-shuck" strategy, focusing on aiding her Allies in nixing Germany first, or does she use her IPCs to build up a navy in the Pacific with the intent of quelling the Japanese flotilla?

All that being said, to answer your question...

  If "good" players don't like factories and intermediate players do, are factories necessary to the game?

They are certainly not necessary, but they make the game much harder for Japan without them. Japan's must have a prepared strategy and be prepared to execute on that strategy deftly. Little mistakes - like not correctly balancing transports with the number of troops in mainland Japan - can be fatal. Therefore, I think a no factories option is an interesting variation if the Japan player is a strong one, otherwise eliminating them presents an uphill battle for Japan that she might not be able to overcome.

  And if "unnecessary," should they be permitted anyway? With or without modifications?

There are other units in the game that are unnecessary, no? How necessary are submarines, for instance?

Speaking of factory variations, the standard rules allow the factories that exist at the start of the game to churn out as many units as can be afforded, whereas factories built after the start can only output as many units as the territory's IPC value. Moreover, factories cannot be moved.

For your consideration, here are three factory variations. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of either, but both do color the game quite differently:

Initial factories outside of the capital territory can only produce as many units as their IPC value. This has the most pointed effect on Russia, as her factory in Karelia can only output three units per turn.
Factories, like AA guns and other units, may be moved during the non-combat phase. A moved factory could not output any units this turn or next, and would have its output restricted to the IPC value of its new territory once units can be produced. This option allows the UK to move its Indian factory out of harm's way (if needed), but on the flip-side it allows Japan to march factories closer to the Russian capital.
When an attacker successfully invades a territory with a factory, he may decide to destroy the factory.

Food for thought...


Is there a card similar to Lugia from Fates Collide that targets GXs instead of EXs?

A very similar card named Golisopod (9/145) was released in Guardians Rising expansion (released 5th May 2017), later reprinted with the same text as a promo (SM52) in Crimson Invasion Single Pack Blisters.

       Resolute Claws     80+
  If your opponent's Active Pokémon is a Pokémon-GX or a Pokémon-EX, this attack does 70 more damage (before applying Weakness and Resistance).

The card has similar, but better ability than your Lugia (Golisopod takes 30 less damage instead of Lugia's 20 and also Golisopod's Ability works on Bench too). The attack requires , making it hard to use in water deck. The bonus effect of the attack works against both Pokémon-GX and Pokémon-EX, making it the card you are looking for. Both base and bonus damages are higher than Lugia's ones (60+60 vs 80+70).

There is currently no other card that makes bonus damage to Pokémon-GX.


Rubber bridge: when must honours be declared in order to be scored?

From Law 76 in the American Contract Bridge League laws,

  Honours may be claimed until the next hand has been dealt or the rubber has been completed and scored – whichever comes sooner.

Law 78 also states, with my emphasis on the specific relevant example,

  When it is acknowledged by a majority of the players that a scoring error was made in recording an agreed-up-on result (e.g., failure to enter honors or incorrect computation of score), the error must be corrected if discovered before the net score of the rubber has been agreed to.

Until the next hand is dealt or the rubber complete and scored, honours may be claimed.

The end of a hand is not the same event as the dealing of the hand after it. The rubber cannot be complete until it is know that a side has 100 points below the line, and it is not scored until the sides have both worked out and accepted the net scores from hands played in that rubber.

The referee appears to have made an error if they disallowed scoring honours before the next hand or before the rubber's net score was agreed to. The referee was correct if you or your partner had assented to either dealing the next hand or the complete rubber's net score.


I think that there are a few things you can focus on that will improve your chances of winning. In no particular order:

Take cages that allow you to use imps for other purposes. These are the cages that feed/play with/clean up after your pets without needing imps. If you need to hold back imps in order to deal with your pets, you aren't using them to gain additional resources. This can also be accomplished with add-ons, but don't rely on them.
Take additional imps when possible (but don't pay too much for them). This is especially handy in round three and four where you get a high rate of return. I wouldn't ever take this action using more imps than the number you will get back. This is especially true in later rounds
Take pets that are omnivores. This allows you to take either meat or vegetables, making it less likely you'll be fighting over resources with other players.
Try to get two pets in the first three rounds. This will help with both exhibitions and business.
Decide on one of two strategies for your need cards early on. (1) Keep as many of one type of need card as possible (e.g.: hunger needs; anger needs). This is a high risk/high reward strategy, where if a customer wants a trait you have a lot of, you can get a good sale. In this case, you also need to allow for the possibility you aren't going to be selling pets to certain customers. (2) Diversify your need cards as much as possible so your pets can be acceptable to a larger number of customers. The reward here is lower, but more consistent over the course of the game.
Ignore the hospital unless you have imps that need healing. The potions generally are not worth the imps. You could instead be setting up for the market by adding an imp to the platform, or taking artifacts that have a higher likelihood to be helpful over the course of the game.

You'll notice that the first three things have something in common: they allow you to maximize your imp usage. The more free imps you have, the more actions you can take, so the more resources and options you're going to have.

If you're noticing a player that consistently places a bunch of imps on the first burrow so they can take the first action, let them. They are taking fewer actions over the course of the game and paying a premium for those actions. You may want to overpay in rounds one or two so that you can get the cage that saves you more imps down the line, but don't do this for the whole game. If you set up well at the beginning, you shouldn't have to overpay in rounds three, four, or five.

Try not to worry about the color combinations of your pets. You're going to be drawing a need card for each of their colors anyway, and in general, this is going to be an aspect of the game that's hard to control. Focusing on other parts is probably more important.


The card cannot be used to destroy Heavy Raiders. The word "Raiders" refers to normal Raiders only and not Heavy Raiders.

This is similar to the question about whether or not nukes can destroy Heavy Raiders (the card also only refers to Raiders). The FAQ's answer is that nukes only destroy normal Raiders, not Heavy Raiders.


Yeah, they all enter the battlefield at once, but each trigger will be triggered.
When they enter simultaneously, they 'see' each other. If you have an Ally who gives lifelink, one who gives +1/+0 and one who gives +1/+1, the net result of them entering the battlefield at the same time would be +6/+3 and three instances of lifelink (which doesn't make any difference to just one instance, since it's not additive) for your three allies


If someone blocks an infect creature, do the -1/-1 counters stay on the creature?

They stay on the creature. The rules for Infect say:

  702.89c Damage dealt to a creature by a source with infect isn’t marked on that creature. Rather, it causes that many -1/-1 counters to be put on that creature. See rule 119.3.

There is nothing in the rules that removes them, therefore they stay on the damaged creature.

From the Gatherer rulings on Vector Asp:

  The -1/-1 counters remain on the creature indefinitely. They're not removed if the creature regenerates or the turn ends.


Can Pawn Sacrifice deal 6 damage to a single creature?

No, it cannot deal 6 damage to a single creature. Here's the response from Brad Andres (developer at FFG):

  The second instance of damage does indeed “fizzle” because pawn
  sacrifice indicates with the “each to 2 creatures” phrase that you
  must choose 2 creatures and not the same creature twice. Hope that
  helps!


Which dice game has a board with 9x9 squares that has different colors on the diagonals and midway on some edges?

It's a dice version of the match-3 (3 alike or 3 different) game "Set". It's cleverly enough called "Set Dice"


When I take a mulligan, should I shuffle my library first?

In Magic you always shuffle your hand into your library then draw a new hand.

  103.4. [...] To take a mulligan, a player shuffles his or her hand back into his or her library, then draws a new hand of one fewer cards than he or she had before. [...]


Killing a Fatespinner during my turn - do I still have to skip chosen phases?

Yes, you still have to skip the chosen phase or step this turn.
Fatespinner has a triggered ability ("At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep [..]") that creates a continuous replacement effect with a certain duration ("The player skips [..] this turn"). Once that trigger has happened and the ability is on the stack, the ability exists independently of the Fatespinner, as will the continuous effect that is created.

603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger condition or event], [effect]. [Instructions (if any).]”
611.1. A continuous effect modifies characteristics of objects, modifies control of objects, or affects players or the rules of the game, for a fixed or indefinite period.
611.2. A continuous effect may be generated by the resolution of a spell or ability.
614.10. An effect that causes a player to skip an event, step, phase, or turn is a replacement effect.
112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. [..]

It is, in principle, possible to word Fatespinner so that its removal also ends its effect. It would have to be worded according to this rule:

611.2b Some continuous effects generated by the resolution of a spell or ability have durations worded “for as long as . . . .” If the “for as long as” duration never starts, or it ends before the moment the effect would first be applied, the effect does nothing. [..]

For example, it could be worded thus.

At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player chooses draw step, main phase, or combat phase. The player skips each instance of the chosen step or phase this turn as long as Fatespinner is on the battlefield.


Kolaghan, The Storm's Fury dragon attacking ability

Kolaghan's ability triggers for each Dragon attacking, so if you attack with two Dragons, your creatures get +2/+0 until end of turn.

Rule 603.2c says

  An ability triggers only once each time its trigger event occurs. However, it can trigger repeatedly if one event contains multiple occurrences.

Attacking with two Dragons is two instances of "attack with a Dragon," so after they are both declared as attackers, the ability triggers once for each.

There is no ruling on Kolaghan specifying this, but Beastmaster Ascension has the same wording, and a ruling that says

  If you attack with multiple creatures, Beastmaster Ascension's first ability triggers multiple times.

This contrasts with abilities like the one on Lightmine Field, which triggers when "one or more creatures attack." Lightmine Field's ability would only trigger once when two Dragons attack, because that is a single instance of "one or more creatures" attacking.


It is not necessarily any player's turn, but Player A would win. Not because player B caused the tower to topple - he didn't. But according to the rules:

  Your turn ends 10 seconds after you stack your block - or as soon as the player to your left touches one.

and

  If you're the last player to stack a block without toppling the tower,
  you win!"

It doesn't say that the next player's turn begins as soon as those 10 seconds are up, but it doesn't really matter. In this case, player A successfully stacked a block without toppling the tower. It wasn't that player B caused the tower to topple, it's just that player A met the win condition.


Crazy Eights was a very old game when I first played it in the early '60's.

Making a special deck to help remember the abilities of each rank (ie selling UNO) is brilliant entrepreneurship and marketing, but not a new game.


How much would the cards from Dominion: Alchemy cost if you wanted to use them while not playing with potions?

One of the defining characteristics of Potions in Alchemy is that they force a reshuffle-delay.  That is, you have to first invest in the potion, then reshuffle and draw it before you're able to spend it on a card.

This is never going to be true of a cost that is just boosted to cost more coins, unfortunately.

I don't have any particular evidence to back this up but +$3 seems high, at least for some cards. Possession might warrant a $9 cost, I'm not sure, but some of the other weaker cards really don't feel like they'd work at +$3 to me.  I'll try to come up with my per-card opinions at some point.

Bummer about Alchemist, too - it's one of my favorite cards from Alchemy. Then again, I'm a fan of big honkin' action chains.


What are the most popular formats for Magic The Gathering?

WotC has a page with basic explanations of the different sanctioned tournaments formats. You can refer to this page to learn more about the various tournament formats.

Constructed formats

"In a Constructed format, you build your deck in advance, using the cards in your collection. A Constructed deck must have a minimum of 60 cards, with no more than four copies of any card (excluding basic lands)."

In order of popularity, they are:

Standard: Standard (formerly called Type 2, a long time ago) is by far the most popular constructed format. It's relatively easy to "buy into," since it only uses cards from the most recent sets, but players usually update their decks extensively to keep up with new set releases and rotation. The Standard metagame moves very fast because there's a major tournament every weekend, and numerous online events as well. Most Friday Night Magic events are Standard or Limited.
Legacy: Legacy is the most popular "eternal" format, meaning that it incorporates cards from all of Magic's history. Legacy has a fairly extensive banned list to balance the format (which is what differentiates it from Vintage). New cards still make a big impact in Legacy from time to time, but generally the metagame is more stable. Much of the contemporary Legacy tournament scene exists thanks to third-party support from major Magic vendors like Star City Games.
Modern: Modern is a fairly new tournament format. Like Legacy, cards never rotate out of Modern due to their age. Unlike Legacy, you can only play cards newer than Mirrodin block / Eight Edition (in most cases, an appropriate shorthand is "with the new card frame"). Modern is more accessible financially than Legacy. However, currently the tournaments tend to be a bit "seasonal" — many competitive players get excited about Modern when it's the format for PTQs or the Pro Tour itself, then ignore it for a few months afterward as they shift their attention to Standard or Legacy.
Vintage: Vintage is the closest to an "anything goes" sanctioned format. Vintage players enjoy playing the most powerful, game-breaking cards in Magic's history. Costs of entry are prohibitive, however, and Legacy has a much greater following. (Many US tournaments allow some proxies, which greatly reduces the price barrier.) As far as I know, the best way to play Vintage consistently is to live in an area with a strong local community, but there are occasional large events like the Bazaar of Moxen as well.
Block Constructed: Block Constructed has the smallest card pool of all Constructed formats, encompassing only the cards from the most recent block. Because cards are primarily designed for Limited and Standard, the Block Constructed metagame tends to be pretty stagnant and one-sided. With the exception of a small following on Magic Online, most people only really care about Block Constructed when it's the format for a Pro Tour.
(Extended is dead as a doornail.)

Note that support for Legacy, Modern, and Vintage outside the US varies greatly by region.

Limited formats

"Unlike Constructed formats where you play with an already built deck, Limited formats require you to build a deck from a defined pool of cards. This pool might be defined by the contents of a few booster packs that you open at the event, or it may be from cards that you select in a Booster Draft."

The two Limited formats are (once more, in order of popularity):

Draft: Booster draft using the most recent block or core set.
Sealed: Sealed-deck Limited using the most recent block or core set.

Every Pro Tour includes a Limited component, and many Grand Prix tournaments are Limited. Limited is also very popular at the FNM level, at about the same level as Standard.

Team tournaments

Rarely, a tournament will be a team event. These are essentially labels that modify one of the Constructed or Limited formats above.

Team ______: Tournaments that just say "Team Standard" or "Team Sealed" involve playing individual duels, but players combine their scores to determine the team's overall standing.
Two-Headed Giant: Two-Headed Giant is a specialized two-on-two multiplayer format.

(Most often, when players refer to a Magic "team," they just mean their practice buddies. Top players tend to prepare for tournaments with other top players, because it's the best way to hone your skills and try to predict the metagame.)

Non-sanctioned competitive formats

There are many Magic formats that are not officially approved for DCI-sanctioned tournaments. To my knowledge, the most popular non-sanctioned formats with serious competitive scenes are:

Peasant/Pauper: A commons-only format. "Pauper" is the name on Magic Online, where it is most popular. (Peasant and Pauper are different because of how cards are "printed" on MTGO — for example, Hymn to Tourach is a common in paper Magic but only exists as an uncommon in MTGO.)
Duel Commander: Also known as "French EDH," this is a modification of Commander for two-player duels. Most popular in Europe. It has its own official site.

It's also not uncommon to find multiplayer Commander tournaments at major gaming conventions, but these aren't really part of a large competitive circuit with a defined metagame.

Okay, but how can I find out what's popular in my area?

Wizards of the Coast has a Store & Event Locator feature on their website. Note that you can search by formats and event types; note also that it will mostly show game stores unless you filter out events like Friday Night Magic, Prerelease, and Game Day. When you click on a store, you'll see a schedule of their events, which will usually give you an idea of the formats they support. This list is only as good as the information that retailers feed back to Wizards' staff; the game stores do at least offer a reasonable starting point — you can visit a promising site in person and find out more information about what the local players are doing.

MTGMom is a calendar that lists major tournaments and qualifiers in the US and Canada in one handy page. Her list includes SGC and TCGPlayer events as well as WotC-sponsored ones.

For MTGO players, Magic Online has its own calendar page.


Here's one answer from http://ginrummytournaments.com/pdfs/Rules_2012.pdf. Tl;dr if you could have knocked then you can accept his knock and undercut; otherwise game continues, he plays an open hand, and he must knock at first opportunity.

  IMPROPER KNOCK: If a player makes an IMPROPER KNOCK, with his count being
  higher than the knock card, his hand must then be PLAYED OPEN, ALL TEN
  CARDS FACE UP. He MUST KNOCK when his point count is at the value of the
  knock or below. HE CANNOT BE FORCED TO KNOCK BY HIS OPPONENT. When a
  player makes an illegal knock with more than the knock card count, the opponent
  may accept the knock as proper, provided his point count is the same as the knock
  card or lower.(example; the knocking point is 8 and a player knocks with 10 points,
  the opponent with 8 points or less may accept the knock and get credit for the
  undercut). The opponent may also lay off points to get under the knock. When a
  player announces he is ginning or knocking, or calls a number and starts to lay his
  meld down, he must continue to do so. If his hand is not a gin or his knock is not
  legal he must play an open hand. The opponent may ask that the cards be spread
  for proper viewing, but may not touch the cards himself.

For casual play however I would tend to let my opponent pick up his cards and play normally - he's the only one who's been hurt by showing them to me.


How to tell from which expansion a card is?

I've not handled Descent cards myself, but in my experience most games with card-based expansions — Fantasy Flight games in particular — tend to have small icons on their cards which indicate which expansion they come from; I usually find this in the lower right corner of the card itself (no icon typically means it comes from the base set).

From my quick skim of the instructions, that does appear to be the case here (see, for example, page 3 of the Lair of the Wyrm expansion rulebook, as well as page 3 of the Trollfens rulebook).


What kind of damage do you deal when successfully defending with Chalk?

You will still inflict or take physical damage.

The rule that allows you to deal mental damage with attacking refers specifically to attacking with that trait, not defending with that trait:

  When a card or a haunt lets you attack with Sanity or Knowledge, then you inflict mental damage. You and your opponent move down your Sanity and/or Knowledge traits.

Also note that if the monster doesn't have a knowledge trait (which most do not), then you cannot inflict knowledge damage in the first place:

  You can’t use a trait to attack an opponent who doesn’t have that trait. For instance, if a monster doesn’t have Sanity, you can’t make a Sanity attack against it.

So if Chalk did allow you to deal damage as if it were mental; you wouldn't be allowed to use it against most monsters. However, Chalk simply changes the way you defend; it is still a normal might-based combat.

Finally, note the wording on the item Ring:

  [...] (Your opponent then defends with Sanity, and damage is mental instead of physical.)

Ring calls out specifically that damage is mental; while Chalk does not.


How would cooperative and foraging chain work?

As clarified in the Climate rules, and as the system does it in the digital version, the food distributed would be 2 - 2 - 1.
-Creature A gets one food from long neck, it gets an additional from foraging.  Because it ate, the species to the right gets one plant food.
-Creature B gets one food and then an additional food from foraging. Because it ate, the species to the right gets one plant food.
-Creature C gets one food.  If it also had foraging it would get an additional food.

The designer (Dominic Crapuchettes) also clarified it in this thread here:  https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1419292/foraging-cooperation-and-order-eating

They also plan to post an official FAQ after the digital version is released.


What is a good 'Baker's Dozen' solitaire strategy?

OK, so I finally figured it out and for the record, here is what I found works well.

If you can stack cards descending by suit, do that but if it isn't possible and you have to stack on a different suit, make sure that there aren't any cards of the same suit that are of a LOWER value beneath them.  That way you can ensure you aren't locking up that suit in that tableau pile.  That worked for me!  Also, don't forget that you can put an Ace on top of a 2 if you need to pull a King from another tableau pile.


Do two monsters spawn on gates when playing with five or more investigators?

Yes, this is an official rule. From the rulebook, p.9/10:

  3) A Monster Appears

  The first player draws a monster marker from the cup at random and places it on the location. If this would bring the number of monsters over the monster limit, the first player places the monster in the Outskirts instead...

  Exception: If there are five or more investigators playing, then draw and place two monsters instead of one.


When does the Collapsed Ceiling deal damage?

Neither. The ceiling does damage if your check total is 4 or less.

...
check total = 3: Failed by 5 (failed by 4 or more): Failed with damage
check total = 4: Failed by 4 (failed by 4 or more): Failed with damage
check total = 5: Failed by 3 (failed by less than 4): Failed without damage
check total = 6: Failed by 2 (failed by less than 4): Failed without damage
check total = 7: Failed by 1 (failed by less than 4): Failed without damage
check total = 8: Passed the check
check total = 9: Passed the check
check total = 10: Passed the check
check total = 11: Passed the check
check total = 12: Passed the check[1]
...

Guessing from the little I know of the card, you're trying to dig your way through a room with a collapsed ceiling.

If you roll 8 or more, you succeeded.
If you roll 5, 6 or 7, you didn't make it through yet.
If you roll 4 or less, you didn't make it through yet, and you hurt yourself in the process (dropped a rock on your foot, stabbed yourself on a piece of rebar, pulled a muscle, etc).

If your total is 12, you didn't fail the check, by 4 or by any other amount.


Who wins? Painter's Servant or Mycosynth Lattice?

The most recently played one takes precidence:

From the rulings on painter's servent:

  5/1/2008  While Painter's Servant is on the
  battlefield, an effect that changes an object's colors will overwrite
  Painter's Servant's effect. For example, casting Cerulean Wisps on a
  creature will turn it blue, regardless of the color chosen for
  Painter's Servant.

  5/1/2008   If something affected by
  Painter's Servant is normally colorless, it will simply be the new
  color. It won't be both the new color and colorless.

In general continuous effects are applied in time stamp order (rule 613. Interaction of Continuous Effects). More info here: http://wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1030


When can sea units support land battles, and vice versa?

I'm only familiar with the 2nd Edition, but I believe it's similar. (This question doesn't list include support in it's list of differences.)

When thinking about support, it doesn't matter where you're attacking from. The battle takes place in the region troops enter to attack, and only units (ships or land units) bordering the defending region can offer support to either side.

This makes sense: you can't march your troops to the border and yell taunts until the defenders come to you, you have to go to them. Hence attacks are initiated by a March order. It doesn't matter at all what regions border the region your attackers came from. Only the regions bordering the one region where combat occurs--the region being attacked--can offer support to the combat.

Regarding your last point, land units can never support a naval battle. They can't swim well enough.

I bet this was a common confusion from the 1st Edition; the 2nd Edition rules seemed to really drive both of these points home.


Can the choice to move a commander to the command-zone be delayed?

No. The rule you quote (and its equivalent for graveyards) is the appropriate one and mentions nothing about delays. The choice must be made immediately, but can be remade whenever the commander changes zones. For example, if you allow your commander to go to the graveyard, and then a card is played to exile your graveyard, you can once again choose to send your commander to the command zone instead. Once your commander has arrived somewhere (exile, graveyard), it stays there until a card tells it to move.

For completeness, the graveyard rule:

  903.11. If a commander would be put into its owner’s graveyard from anywhere, that player may put it into the command zone instead.


What's the best strategy to win a tic-tac-toe variant on a 5x5-board?

This is a generalized version of @Guvante's answer.

O (player 2) always wins in 4. The diagonals are not necessary to achieve a win.

Examples are included in bold, but this strategy works for all choices made by X.

X places a piece at (a,b): (1,1)
O chooses a row that is not a, and places two pieces in that row, but not in column b: (2,2) and (2,5)
Now, O is attacking on the chosen row (2), and on two columns (2 and 5). X will have to defend against one of these three attacks: (2,3)
O chooses a free row and places two pieces above or below his previous pieces: (5,2) and (5,5)

This is what the board looks like at this point:

 X1|  |  |  |
   |O1|X2|  |O1
   |  |  |  |
   |  |  |  |
   |O2|  |  |O2

Now O has 3 different attacks going on. In our example these are row 5 and columns 2 and 5. X can block one of these, and O can expand the other two to three-in-a-rows. Then X can block one of those, and O completes the other. Game over.

Since this is done in 4 moves, there's no risk of X getting 5 in a row so this is of no concern.

EDIT: step by step images, colors depict dominance.


For this question, it's important to note that damage assignment happens in the Combat Damage step, but damage assignment order happens in the Declare Blockers Step.
Main Question
You will be able to assign all damage to the Benalish Hero and save Lord of the Pits.
First of all, the rule that allows you (as the attacking player) to assign combat damage, rather than the defending player:

702.21k During the combat damage step, if a blocking creature is blocking a creature with banding (...), the active player (rather than the defending player) chooses how the blocking creature’s damage is assigned. That player can divide that creature's combat damage as he or she chooses among any number of creatures it's blocking. This is an exception to the procedure described in rule 510.1d.

This allows you to ignore the damage assignment order that's set by the defending player ¹ ²

509.3. Third, for each blocking creature, the defending player announces that creature's damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures it's blocking in an order of that player's choice. (...)

¹ http://magicjudge.tumblr.com/post/75765284769/explain-banding-now
² https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU552Z7PeAc

Question 2.1 and 2.2
As for part 2.1 of your question, banding isn't part of the question whatsoever, you don't get the benefit of 702.21k. Damage assignment happens a step further ahead, but you will have to assign the damage assignment order right after being blocking by those creatures. Assuming your choice is "5/5, then 1/1, then 1/1, then 1/1, then 1/1", your opponent will know that you intend to kill the 5/5. After declaring blockers and assigning the damage order, there is a round of priority:

509.5. Fifth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

So they may cast Heal after knowing what you intend to do. Heal will prevent the next damage dealt to a creature, not actually increase it's toughness, so assigning 5 damage to it will be enough to justify the "deal lethal damage" requirement. This means that you get the choice of dealing 5 damage or more to the 5/5, but you will have to deal 6 damage to it to actually cause it to be destroyed.
This is a great example of why it's useful to assign more damage than a creature has toughness at times.
Another possibility is that the second creature you're blocking is a Phyrexian Obliterator or a similar card that you want to avoid at all costs that it's being dealt damage. There are a lot of other good reasons in a game as complicated as Magic, and listing more would likely overcomplicate the issue, as I believe this scenario covers the most interesting one.


Unlike the other phases, only the first player acts in the Mythos Phase (check the first sentence about the Mythos phase in the rulebook page 9)

In your example you'd have 10 turns each before the GOO (Great Old One) awakens.  Some caveats:

10 is just a sample number, various GOO's have between 7 and 14 tokens allowed.
Not all Mythos cards open a gate (Rumors for example).
There may already be a gate there (no Doom token is placed).
Gates can open via other circumstances (these also generate a Doom token).

You can never be quite sure how many turns you have left.   That's one of the great things about Arkham Horror.

The terror track is completely different.  The main way that it advances is due to having too many monsters in the outskirts.  It is pretty rare to fill the terror track, but you will see a building or two close fairly often.

For two players, you are allowed 6 monsters in the outskirts; if there are any more, then dump them and increment the terror track.  (Note that 8 less the number of players is always the maximum number of monsters allowed in the outskirts.)


No, using Vassal on a netbook is not a good idea. The standard resolution on most netbooks is 1024x600. While this isn't a bad thing for reading most websites, consuming video, etc. it doesn't work particularly well with the high resolution game boards in Vassal. The problems you will face will differ from module to module, but some of them will be pretty standard.

Most boards will require scrolling. - You can help mitigate this issue somewhat by enabling scrolling with the keyboard arrows. The keyboard is a much better input device for quickly moving the board slightly up, down, left, or right than moving your mouse or built in touchpad to the scrollbar to click/drag the gameboard in the proper direction. You can enable this feature within File->Preferences for each individual game.
Additional Windows always overlay (are always On Top of) the main window. - This will only be an issue if your particular game requires multiple open windows, and each of those windows needs to be open constantly. You can attempt to give your self a little more room to see each of the individual windows by using the zoom controls for each particular window. Fit to Width/Fit to Height will fit the graphics within the current dimension of the window. Additionally, you can shrink the Windows Taskbar to a 5 pixel bar (it won't show the icons of your open programs) which should give you another 20 pixels of screen real estate.
The Vassal Toolbar isn't dockable or configurable within the module. - This means that you cannot remove elements from the toolbar and make them their own floating windows, hide them, or dock them to other windows or other locations on the application. This means that when the module designer creates a toolbar icon, it will always be displayed above your game board. (Example: I play D-Day Dice. This module has 7 buttons that open other windows, 2 that roll dice, and the standard Vassal toolbar controls. Because I cannot configure the toolbar, it takes up two rows of space (about 90 pixels). You can modify the game module yourself to remove unwanted items from the toolbar with Edit Module. Refer to the Help Guide within the Edit Module dialog for more information.