Can I counter a creature casted last turn?

You cannot use Counterspell on a creature in play.

Creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers (and lands, but lands are not spells) are permanents.  That means that unlike instants and sorceries they stay on the battlefield once they are cast, rather than going directly to the graveyard. But once they are on the battlefield they are no longer considered spells, and can no longer be countered.

Speaking simply, a spell can only be countered immediately after it is cast.

Going into more detail, spellcasting uses the stack.  The stack is a special zone where spells and abilities exist in while players react to them.  When you cast a spell or use or trigger an ability, instead of having an effect immediately it instead goes on the stack.  Then every player gets a chance to respond by playing instants, cards with flash, or using abilities. If they do, that spell or ability will go on the stack above the previous effect, and players get a chance to respond to the new effect.  Repeat as necessary until no players wish to add things to the stack, at which point the most recently added effect resolves.  For permanents, the effect simply moves the card onto the battlefield. Then the game checks for any triggered abilities that need to be added to the stack, and gives players another chance to respond.  Repeat until the stack is entirely clear of spells and abilities.

Counterspells target spells that are on the stack.  The Counterspell is put on the stack after the spell you are targeting, so the counterspell resolves first, at which point it removes the spell it's targeting from the stack and puts it in the graveyard.


Does Rooftop Storm work with Arcane adaptation?

Yes, you can cast any creature spell for {0} with that combo.

As Arcane Adaptation states, every one of your creature permanents (on the battlefield), creature spells (on the stack), and creature cards (anywhere else) are the chosen type, Zombie in your case.

The process for casting spells is, in summary:

  601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.  [..]

So to cast a creature spell, you put the card on the stack (where it's a Zombie spell because of Arcana Adaptation), then you determine and pay its costs. When it comes to determining the total cost of the spell, you can choose the {0} alternative cost granted by Rooftop Storm.


How do Companion cards from Ikoria work in Commander?

Companion cards will function in commander, and rather unusually at that.

Their behaviour in Commander is described by two key sources quoted below. To summarise:

Your Commander is counted as part of your starting deck and thus has to meet your companion's deckbuilding restrictions. (Even if you might remove your commanders from your deck before your game begins.)
A companion card is not one of your 100 cards. If you have a companion, it's essentially your 101st card.
Singleton and color identity rules still apply to your companion. This means your companion must be inside your commander's color identity, and you cannot also have another copy of your companion inside your 100.
Just to confirm: companion cards start outside the game in your collection, and are not in the command zone.

This means if you're using Umori, the Collector, your commander must share that card type (or your commanders, in the case of partners). For Keruga, the Macrosage, your commander (or commanders) must be converted mana cost 3 or greater.

Companions aren't necessarily an auto-include; they come with deckbuilding restrictions. On that note: Lutri, the Spellchaser is pre-emptively banned in Commander because in this format its restriction is not actually a restriction at all, making it basically a free auto-include in any UR+ deck. You can see Sheldon Menery's tweet here announcing the ban; the full explanation is currently on the MTGCommander.net home page (archive link).

Sources

The Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Mechanics article:

  Commander players, even though you don't have sideboards, you can still get in on the fun. Each Commander deck may include a chosen companion. It starts outside the game and doesn't count as one of your 100 cards. Just like the rest of your deck, your commander must follow the deck-building rule if you're going to use a companion.

Sheldon Menery on Twitter:

  All the other companion cards [except for Lutri] will be legal, and subject to color identity and singleton rules.  If a card is your companion, it is effectively a 101st card.


If Thanos has an attack of 0, do I still need a hero with the attack symbol to fight him?

The specific text for the Solo Mode Thanos variant reads:

  When fighting Thanos in Solo Mode and using a Villain Group besides Infinity Gems, Thanos gets -2 (attack symbol) for each Villain in your Victory Pile from that Group.

Firstly, if you are using the Infinity Gems Villain Group, this rule does not take effect, and his attack is only reduced by Infinity Gems.

Secondly, note that it does not state "every Villain in your Victory Pile", it specifically says "each Villain in your Victory Pile from that Group".

This indicates that you have to pick one Villain Group in the Villain Deck to replace Infinity Gems as his weakness.

Thus only one Villain Group in the deck would count against him, and since there are only 8 cards in any given Villain Group, the most that this could reduce his attack by is 16.


Yes. Per Comprehensive Rules:

  110.5e A token is subject to anything that affects permanents in general or that affects the token’s card type or subtype. (...)

So the token is put in the graveyard like other creatures. There is one difference, but this doesn't matter for Fresh Meat:

  110.5f A token that’s in a zone other than the battlefield ceases to exist. (...) (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)

It won't be in the graveyard at the time Fresh Meat resolves, but it will still count as a creature put into your graveyard.


Settlers of Catan : "Can we build after rolling a 7"

To quote the FAQ:

Q: After rolling a “7,” can I still trade with another player or blackmail him before moving the robber?
A: Trading: No. (...)

This is to prevent players from using a trade to save themselves from the robber. After moving the robber, you can do whatever you want: build, trade, play development cards... just like any other turn.


Playing a card on Hanabi: choose the pile first, or play it and then check?

You announce the card you are playing, then it is played. Checking for legitimacy is a separate act. Play proceeds as follows:

Play the chosen card face-up on the table (not on a pile).
Check whether it can be legally placed on an existing pile. Do so if possible, increasing that pile by one.
Otherwise, check whether it can be legally placed to start a new pile (i.e. it is the first number one card in a colour). Do so if possible, starting a new pile.
Otherwise, discard the played card and lose a fuse token.

The ability to play a legal card before knowing precisely how it is legal, is intentional. Latter stages of the game rely increasingly on the tactical use and provision of information to others.

If it was necessary to know the precise pile on which to play a card before doing so in order to succeed, the game would be made far more difficult than it already is.

  In your example, you would play the Green-3, then, seeing it is a legal card on the Green pile, place it there.


Is it common practice to publish/sell online versions of board games?

It's actually quite rare. I've never encountered any other company doing so for free or even reduced cost on their own dime, save for the "instructional" modes. I've heard there are a couple others doing so, but I've not encountered them.

Several 3rd party developers have made money by paid subscriptions to their sites and hosting lots of games under license, and others by advertising supported free online play of various games.

I've often seen companies link to such venues.

Days of Wonder used to only give you 6 months access to their online lobby with a game, but it allowed access to all games. Now, they provide access to just the games purchased, but noting that a few unsupported games are able to be accessed free (Including Queen's Necklace online...).

Also note: Many electronic versions of various games are unlicensed - there are a few dozen free versions of Monopoly that are actually not licensed; the official version isn't free.

Keep in mind: most boardgame companies are not staffed with programmers; DoW is an exception.

Update 3/5/2012: I've since noticed others doing so. Amarillo Design Bureau licensed a programmer to create and maintain SFB-Online. A couple other companies have likewise placed electronic versions of their games up as pay to access; most of the "unfree" access now is advertising supported or is in-game payments.


How many times can you use hero ability?

From pg. 2 of the Rules Reference:

  If an ability is “used,” it can be triggered multiple times each round, but it can only be triggered once per timing instance. For example, an ability that says, “Use while attacking to apply +1H to the attack results,” can only be triggered once during each attack.


How does infect step of epidemic interact with mutation?

This situation should never occur.  The mutation cards are put into the Infection Discard Pile at the beginning of the game.  So they aren't even in the deck until after the first Epidemic, and at that time they will be put on the top of the deck with the rest of the discard pile.  The only way for them to be on the bottom is to draw the entire Infection deck without hitting an Epidemic, which shouldn't be possible (at least without fan-based rules.


How is a gold rune different from a silver rune?

A similar question has been asked at BGG:
The collected wisdom is:

You can buy Gandalf cards with either the gold or the silver, or a combination of the two. Any time you need to discard runes, you can discard either or both.
The silver runes are gained through the spaces on the board, and you always gain one rune per space. The gold runes are stacked face-down (or otherwise randomized) so that you do not know which value of rune you are getting until it is picked. Only a few spaces on the board have you picking a gold rune.
Runes are good for scoring, Gandalf cards and can also be spend to avoid effects of at least one event. And 1 rune can be used to avoid a specific event tile (together with some other stuff). Might be some I have missed.


Is the dealer's hand considered soft if he hits himself with an ace?

According to this site:

  Any blackjack hand that contains an ace counted as an 11 is a soft hand.

So it does not matter when the ace entered the hand.


Until end of turn effects and Doubling Season

Your friend is not correct. As you identify, Doubling Season's second ability only cares about counters being placed on permanents you control.

If your opponent put a -1/-1 counter on a permanent you control, Doubling Season applies and two -1/-1 counters are placed instead.

Quillspike's ability cost doesn't place counters on permanents. It removes them. Quillspike's ability doesn't place counters, it just gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Neither part of this ability interacts directly with Doubling Season.

However, because Quillspike is "fuelled" by -1/-1 counters, Doubling Season does ensure that you get double the fuel (as long as the creature receiving the counters isn't reduced to 0 toughness). You still have to pay the mana costs to activate Quillspike's ability more than once.


Send Evil Troy back to the hell that he came from! Oh, wait it's gone already?

My interpretation of the rules is this:
When you select a Spawn Zone to remove you have 2 choices:

A regular Spawn Zone (not a Necromancer Spawn Zone)
The Necromancer Spawn Zone for the defeated Necromancer

In the first case the Necromancer Spawn Zone for the defeated Necromancer becomes a regular Spawn Zone.

This means you cannot choose the Necromancer Spawn Zone for any other Necromancer currently in play. Thus, when Evil Troy is killed, his Necromancer Spawn Zone should still be on the board.


Sequence, dead cards with no cards to pick up

If you have gone through the entire deck then your are supposed to shuffle the discard piles and start drawing from that deck.
taken from the rules:
When the draw deck becomes depleted during play, all discard piles are shuffled together to create a new draw deck.
It is found under the table talk season.
Link to the rules:https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/191084/sequence-rules


Is it possible to play league games with the base Ninja-all-stars game?

So having read the rules, I've got my game not so long ago, I'm able to answer.

The base game provides 4 teams that correspond to a shrine, which is roughly - but not exactly - the same as playing the Clan attuned to that specific element.

Without the clan box, it's impossible to play Onis (no miniatures compare in the base box), Heroes and most ronins. You can proxy (and in fact is the solution given by the rules) any clan with the base set - except Onis, Heroes and any ronin which happened to not be a Samurai.

So it's doable to play league games with only the base game, but is kinda hard to read, unless people limitate themselves, and not all is available even then.


Can you sacrifice Implement of Ferocity in response to a revolt trigger?

This cannot work because the Implement of Ferocity can only be activated anytime you could cast a sorcery. This means it must be your main phase and the stack must be empty.

Assuming that you could activate the ability at any time it would depend on exactly how the ability is worded, in most cases you need to sacrifice the Implement before the Revolt ability would happen.

For you example of a Greenwheel Liberator entering the battlefield, you would have to sacrifice the Implement before the Liberator enters the battlefield in order to get the Revolt effect. Also note that the Liberator doesn't have a triggered ability it has a replacement effect that modifies how it enters the battlefield.

For triggered abilities like Airdrop Aeronauts or Call for Unity you also need to sacrifice the Implement before the trigger condition would occur. This is because they have what is called an 'intervening if clause'and if the 'if' clause isn't true nothing happens.

  603.4. A triggered ability may read “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing.

For instants and sorceries with Revolt, like Fatal Push you can sacrifice them after they have been put on the stack and still get the Revolt effect. This is because the Revolt condition isn't checked until the spell goes to resolve, unlike the other types of Revolt abilities.


If I draw an enemy that is discarded because it cannot spawn, do I draw another encounter?

In the situation where no location in play is a viable place to spawn the monster, then you have lucked out and the card is discarded without drawing a replacement card.

From the rules reference (page 19 under Spawn):

  If an enemy has no legal location to spawn at (for example, if its spawn instruction directs it to a specific location that is not in play, or if no location in play satisfies its “spawn” instruction), it does not spawn, and is discarded instead.

Nowhere in the rules does it state that a replacement card should be drawn for the discarded monster.


Monster equipped with 2 Safe Zone then 1 of them is destroyed

Activate this card by targeting 1 face-up Attack Position monster on
  the field; that face-up monster cannot be targeted or destroyed by
  your opponent's card effects, or be destroyed by battle. It cannot
  attack your opponent directly. When this card leaves the field,
  destroy that monster. When that monster leaves the field, destroy this
  card.

Since Safe Zone explicitly mentions protection from your opponents card effects, it will indeed not protect your monster from a second Safe Zone you control, equiped to it.

For your second question, the same logic applies. The monster may not be under your control, they are still your Safe Zone. So yes, all 3 cards will be destroyed.


Is there any methodology or pattern to picking better stats to emphasize for location and other world encounters?

Yes, different locations do skew toward different skills.

If you really want to know, you can look at something like this cheat sheet. I personally think that kind of spoils the game a bit, though. It's not as bad as if you just looked through the encounter cards yourself, but it still takes out a bit of surprise and fun in playing. The one broad rule is that encounters do depend on luck a bit more often than other skills in general, since they're the only place it's really used.

The kind of edge you can get from this knowledge really isn't too large, though. The most likely skill needed in an area might not be much more likely than the other skills, and some locations are probably pretty evenly balanced. Your skill focus is often substantially restricted by what you need to do to move/fight. And it's certainly possible to do quite well in the game without that little edge. So I think you might as well just play a bunch of games and learn that way!


What bet to make in this Texas Holdem Tournament?

You had 8 big blinds. That is a spot to push pre flop (go all-in) out of position (OOP). You should be playing a wide range in that spot and could get called with a wide range. You win the bet that was placed and the small blind if the villain folds. Losing to K3 is unlucky but you need to gamble with a small stack and AA is a good hand to gamble with.


Why is this type of hesitation considered unethical?

If you routinely take 2-3 seconds before each play of the cards, that is ethical. If you usually play cards more quickly, but take a pause when you have a problem, that is ethical.

If, on the other hand, you usually play cards more quickly, take a pause when you have a problem, and sometimes take a pause when you don't have a problem to throw declarer off, this is unethical. Even though your partner is not entitled to know when you have a problem, declarer is entitled to know. Pausing in order to mislead declarer is called "coffee-housing." It is unethical because in bridge only your actual plays should mislead declarer. It is related to the idea that you and your partner may not have secret bidding agreements. Bridge is not poker; you are not trying to bluff your opponents based on your demeanor.


Clarification of "spirits" on "Devouring Greed" card

After a little more research and finding some loosely related info on another question here I found the following in the rules.

  302.3. Creature subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: "Creature -- Human Soldier," "Artifact Creature -- Golem," and so on. Creature subtypes are also called creature types. Creatures may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3m for the complete list of creature types.
  Example: "Creature -- Goblin Wizard" means the card is a creature with the subtypes Goblin and Wizard.

If a creature has a subtype of "demon spirit", it is a "demon" and a "spirit" which I believe satisfies the "spirits" requirement of "Devouring Greed".


Can I buy a district after landing there by taking the train?

Yes, the rules specifically tell you you can. Under the Where Did You Land section on (page 7)

A district you own:
Do nothing unless there is a railroad on it. If so, you can immediately move to any other district with a railroad on it and buy it or auction it (if it is unowned) or pay rent (if it belongs to another player).


How many of each land do I need to support a draft tournament?

In a booster draft, generally a player has about 16-18 lands depending upon their card choices. So for a 10 person draft, you can assume around 160 - 180 lands in use at one time. However, because of the random nature of the cards in the pack you can't assume the distributions of the colors for each player, so you should probably assume that you need at a minimum 180/5 = 36 lands of each type. I wouldn't feel comfortable holding a draft unless I had 50 or so of each color, though.

The next question you need to ask is if you are allowing the participants to keep their land or if they need to give it back. MTG players are kinda forgetful in giving back basic lands, so you should probably consider having as many lands as possible so that you don't run out as you hold multiple tournaments.


Settlers of Catan - What counts as longest road?

It's 8 segments. The game rules say:

  The first player to build a continuous road (not counting forks) of at least 5 road segments, receives the Special Card “Longest Road”. [...]

so you don't get to count the two-segment fork.


What are good tips for playing the endgame in Scrabble?

There's a huge amount of information out there about Scrabble end-games - far more than I can summarise here - but most of it concerns two-player games. In those situations, it becomes possible to plan out the last few moves with a great deal of accuracy, since once the tiles are gone from the bag you can work out exactly what is on your opponent's rack. The key becomes maximising the points differential between you: so a 5 point move where the best response is 10 points would be preferable to a 10 point move with a possible response worth 20 points. You also need to factor in the letters that might be left on your rack at the end, since these tiles are worth double to your opponent (once when they are subtracted from your score and again when they are added to theirs).

In a 3 or 4 player game, as you describe, it is much harder to control the flow of play and work out what the other players are going to do. Therefore, it's much more about just maximising your score on any given turn. Still, there are a couple of things you can do in the endgame to help your chances:

Get rid of any high-scoring tiles from your rack as a priority.
Go for longer words if possible so that you can be the first to empty your rack.
As @Becuzz suggests, try not to leave any blatant double- or triple- word opportunities for the player following you.
If the bag is empty and you can't see the Q, you know one of your opponents has it, so try to block any tempting spots they could play it out.

Depending on the situation, some of these may be mutually exclusive, so you need to make a judgement call on which is a priority. E.g. if you have six tiles and an opponent only has two left, they will probably be able to clear their rack next go, so your priority should be to get rid of any high-scoring tiles from your rack.


Does a Sengir Vampire survive when blocked by four 1/1s?

All of the creatures will deal their respective damage at the same time. Since Sengir Vampire's +1/+1 ability is a triggered ability, it uses the stack, and before any of the +1/+1 counters go onto the Vampire, it will die.

State-based actions (like death from damage) will happen before the triggered ability on the stack can resolve.

If any of the creatures involved have first strike, however, this changes things:

If the Sengir Vamire has first strike, it will deal it's damage before the blockers, killing them before they have a chance to deal damage, giving it the +1/+1 counters
If the blockers have first strike, they deal damage to the vampire before it deals damage to them, killing the vampire while they remain alive
If all parties have first strike, the outcome is the same as if none of them did.


Are union cards activated from your hand, or only from the field?

Can I activate this union effect when Z-Metal Tank is in my hand, as a sort of special summon, or can this only be done when it's already out on the field?

This can only be done when it is on the field

The reason why is that it is because this is a Monster effect; when that card is in your hand you can't yet activate this effect, only when on the field is when you can do it.

This is also the standard way of work of all Union monsters. They can unite with each other or well come back as monsters, but those effects have to be activated on the field.

This we can see is backed up by the Union Monster ruling:

  In order to attach a Union Monster to another monster, you must first have the Union Monster as a monster on the field. So you must play the monster normally, then you can attach it. You cannot play a Union Monster as an Equip Spell Card directly from your hand.


American canasta - initial meld question

The exposed cards become subject to the usual exposed card penalty:

From section 55 of the rules (emphasis added):

  If for the initial meld of his side a player shows less than the required count, he must validate his meld if possible with additional cards. If he cannot do so, or does not do so before discarding, all the cards he has exposed from his hand are dealt with under rule 54. If he has incorrectly taken the discard, he must restore it to the pile before making his own discard from his exposed cards.

54:

  If a player exposes one or more cards from his hand, except to make a legal meld, all such cards must be left face up on the table and discarded in successive turns, except that the obligation to discard lapses for each such card that is included in a valid meld (including its use to take the discard pile.)


Casting a spell is a process which begins with putting the spell on the stack and ends when the cost is paid. So anything that takes effect as you are casting the spell will see the spell on the stack already.

For Conspire, this is backed up by the full text of the Conspire rule which says in part:

  Conspire is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. The second is a triggered ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. “Conspire” means “As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that each share a color with it” and “When you cast this spell, if its conspire cost was paid, copy it. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy.”

That's 702.77a of the Comprehensive Rules; the full list of steps in casting a spell is 601.2.

So for your example, the second Reverberate would be created after the first is finished being cast, so the second will go on the stack on top of the first and can see it as a valid target.


Unnatural Axe Santa vs. Elf and the Mummy card

Unfortunately, the -5 added to Santa's level does not change the actual level. It is simply a Bonus/Penalty. It is much the same way the Elven Bow provides a +4 Bonus. The Bow does not change the character's Level. Rather, it changes the character's Attack, which is a derivative of the Player's Current Level plus all Bonus and Penalties.

Though there are some cards that specifically state "Adds X to Monsters Level", the Race/Class bonus/penalty is not one of those.


To play Thud, whether regular rules or Koom Valley rules, you need a 15x15 board, made round by lopping off the corners such that the straight edges are 5 long, and the diagonals are 6 long. You then need 32 "dwarf" pieces, 8 "troll" pieces and one central "Rock" piece.

The board dimensions are critical, as is the number of pieces. Any other board size, any other number of pieces, will result in a giant advantage for one side or the other. The balance is all about the timing it takes for trolls to reach the dwarves and start splatting: it has to be exactly the same amount of time as it takes a skilled dwarf player to have the start of a block built, so they can start hitting trolls in return. And that means you need five squares clear between trolls and dwarfs at the start. Four squares, and it's a clear win for trolls. Six squares, and dwarfs wipe the board. Remove the rock in the middle, and it's a clear win for trolls. And so on. It's not like go where the board size can be changed within reason without affecting the core gameplay: any change to the board changes the balance.

It might be easier to just get cardboard and draw the board out, or to get a decent sized go board. It's certainly not immoral to play the game with stuff you made yourself, nor stuff you bought elsewhere and co-opted. Though I just checked and it looks like Bernard "the cunning artificer" Pearson's Discworld Emporium of Wincanton (the only town in the world officially Twinned with Ankh Morpork) does still sell boards and pieces of great beauty.


Is "refund with discount" a valid move on Catan?

This is not a card giveaway. You were under no obligation to make the second trade. For that reason, she is not, technically or otherwise, giving away a wheat for nothing.


No, Horde of Notions cannot do anything with a land card that died as a creature. The key rule is rule 400.7:

  An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

If a land card like Celestial Colonnade dies as a creature, the effect that made it a creature doesn't continue to apply to the card in the graveyard. While it's in the graveyard, it's just a land card.


Does the event on CIA Created* have a one-time effect or last the duration of the turn?

The Mid War card Lone Gunman* has very similar text, but for the USSR:

  US Player reveals his hand. Then the USSR may Conduct Operations as if they played a 1 Op card.

To make it more confusing, consider the Late War card Aldrich Ames Remix*, which reads [emphasis added]:

  US player exposes his hand to USSR for remainder of turn. USSR then chooses one card from US hand; this card is discarded.

This card is much more specific about the duration. This version of the card was first published with the deluxe edition, if the designers intended for the cards to operate the same, they could have made the text more similar.

Given Aldrich Ames Remix*, for both CIA Created* and Lone Gunman* the cards are only revealed briefly.

The Official FAQ confirms this. Under # 26 CIA Created:

  Q. Does the USSR hand remain revealed for the entire turn? What happens if the USSR
  player gains new cards later in the turn?

  A. The effect of the card is not ongoing. The USSR only needs to reveal his hand at the
  time the CIA CREATED card is played.

On a subsequent question it goes on to say:

  This card and Lone Gunman (# 62) both work in the
  same manner.


Which D&D die looks like this asteroid imaged by NASA?

The asteroid itself is too irregular to map well to any particular D&D die.  I don't believe the author had any particular die in mind, which is why they use the term "the dice" instead of calling out a particular type die.

That said... it looks a lot like some D7's:

The D7 is not one of the standard D&D dice, but I think is a much better match.  This variation of a D7 is not even a fair die, though neither is that asteroid by the looks of it.  All of the D&D dice are fair dice; in fact, all but the D10 are Platonic Solids, hence none of them being a good match for the irregularities of the asteroid.


Can creatures with Defender be unmorphed while attacking?

Yes, you can morph anytime you could cast a spell or activate an ability. Once a creature has been declared as an attacker, it remains an attacker even if it gains defender afterwards.

You may morph whenever you could cast a spell or activate an ability:

  702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). [..]

Whether or not a creature is a legal attacker is only checked once, not continuously, on the "declare attackers" step of the combat phase.

  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.

Your 2/2 creature does not have defender, it can be an attacker.

  508.1k Each chosen creature still controlled by the active player becomes an attacking creature. It remains an attacking creature until it’s removed from combat or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. See rule 506.4.

The creature, whether it's the 2/2 or the 0/5 with defender, remains an attacker for the duration of the combat phase, because gaining defender does not remove it from combat.


What are "Implied Odds" in Texas Hold'em Poker?

Implied odds or implied pot odds are calculated the same way as pot odds, but consider future betting. You figure implied odds in situations where you expect to fold in the next round if you don't make your draw. You lose no more bets if you miss, but can expect to gain extra bets if you hit the draw.

An example. Say you see the flop with 2 other players acting before you in a NL game. You flop a gutshot straight draw. The first player bets and the second calls and now the pot is laying you 7:1. For a gutshot you want 10:1 or better; however, if you hit your straight on the turn, you stand to stack off one or both of your opponents. Thus your implied odds are considerably greater than 7:1, so you call.

Implied odds with a flush draw can be dicier. Namely because you can hit your flush on the turn and that kills the action. And your implied odds.

The example is a very simple one. If you were in the same scenario, but 2nd to act instead of last; you would be in a much different situation in that the last player could raise and ruin (or not) your implied odds. Additionally, stack sizes matter. If your opponents are short stacked you may not have the odds for the call. So, when considering implied odds be very aware of the situation.


In Pandemic, can the Coordinator's ability be used on another player's turn?

Only on your turn.

If you're asking about the first ability

All the first ability does is allow you to treat all pawns as your own when you take a move action.

You can only move your own pawns on your turn, so you can only move their pawns on your turn. The same action cost that would apply to moving your own pawns applies when moving their pawns.

If you're asking about the second ability

You may only take actions on your turn. You have no action points to spend outside of your turn.


Both dredge and Underrealm Lich's ability are replacement effects. As such, you can choose which one you want to apply when you would draw a card.

  616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply [...]


"It would have worked if West had Q9 or QT and East had T73 or 973."

I don't think that's the case; if they lie like that, East or West will win the T or 9, depending on whether you run the 8 or not. Laying out all the possibilities, I can see only one holding where the finesse succeeds against the correct defence

Q      T973    Fails
QT     973     Fails
Q9     T73     Fails
Q7     T93     Fails
Q3     T97     Fails
QT9    73      Fails
QT7    93      Fails
QT3    97      Fails
Q97    T3      Fails
Q93    T7      Fails
Q73    T9      Succeeds
Qxxx   x       Fails
Qxxxxx void    Fails

Turn the 8 into the T, and we have...

Q      9873    Fails
Q9     873     Succeeds
Q8     973     Succeeds
Q7     983     Succeeds
Q3     987     Succeeds
Q98    73      Succeeds
Q97    83      Succeeds
Q93    87      Succeeds
Q87    93      Succeeds
Q83    97      Succeeds
Q73    98      Succeeds
Qxxx   x       Fails
Qxxxxx void    Fails

What a difference those two pips make!
Give declarer the 9 instead of the 8...

Q      T873    Fails
QT     873     Succeeds
Q8     T73     Succeeds
Q7     T83     Succeeds
Q3     T87     Succeeds
QT8    73      Fails
QT7    93      Fails
QT3    87      Fails
Q87    T3      Succeeds
Q83    T7      Succeeds
Q73    T8      Succeeds
Qxxx   x       Fails
Qxxxxx void    Fails

although some of those successes rely on a clairvoyant knowledge of the distribution.

So my conclusion is, unless you have the ten, try to drop the queen.


Does Femme Fatale target exactly 1 ice, or all with same name?

It's just the one. When a card in Android: Netrunner is referring to multiple cards of the same name, it'll refer to them as copies, e.g. Copycat. There are also other examples.


Does Containment Priest exile one's own creature?

does casting this creature mean that Containment Priest's controller would also have to exile all noncasted nontoken creatures?

Yes, when it comes to creatures entering the battlefield after Containment Priest. It does not mean you have to exile all existing non-token creatures.
Creatures entering simultaneously (including the Priest itself if it isn't cast) won't be affected, as is reflected by the rulings under the card in Gatherer:

If Containment Priest enters the battlefield without being cast, its ability won’t exile itself.

If Containment Priest enters the battlefield at the same time as other creatures, its ability won’t affect those creatures.


What variants are there for the playing-card-based game "War"?

There is a variant of war, called "Strategy War" or "Armed War" (a joke on hands) where, instead of pulling the card from the top of your deck, you chose it from your hand.  This works as follows:

You shuffle the deck and deal it out in equal parts.  Each player takes the cards dealt to him/her and puts them in his/her hand.
All cards a player plays and all cards a player gains during the game go to his/her discard.
A player's discard becomes his/her hand only upon his/her hand becoming empty.
War is played as usual, but with players choosing which card to play from their hands instead just pulling off the top of their pile.  Players each play their card face down, and then once all cards are down, players reveal the cards they have played.
In the event of a WAR, players shuffle their hands and take three cards at random from their hand to form the facedown "WAR" cards, then return to viewing their hands to select the final card for the WAR.  If, during this process, a player does not have enough cards in his/her hand, he/she puts all the cards from his/her hand into play as "WAR" cards, then continues using cards at random from his/her discard to complete the three facedown cards, then takes his/her remaining discard as his/her hand and continues playing.
2's beat whatever card is highest (Aces, unless you are playing with Jokers), but lose to all other cards.  This is essential in this variant, to make Aces not just an obvious play at the end of a war.

For example, players Aaron and Blake each play a card face down; they reveal, both showing a King.  They shuffle their hands, each put three cards at random from their hands into play facedown, and then return to their hands to select a final card for the WAR.  When they reveal the final card, Aaron played an Ace and Blake played a Queen; Aaron wins the whole hand and takes all 10 cards.

The advantages to this variant are several fold.  First, there is actual strategy.  Second, wars are more common due to the overlap in play style.  Third, there are interesting tradeoffs between using your best cards early versus saving them for later, which is a great thing for kids to learn.

If you want to make the game faster, take out a chunk of the low-valued cards, such as the 3's through 8's (make sure to keep the 2's as the ace-beaters).


What happens with cards hosted on Builder after moving it to another server?

From FAQ:

Hosting
The following replaces the rules on hosting that appear in the
core set rulebook:
“Hosting” is the result of placing a card, counter,
or token on top of a card, creating a relationship between the host
card and what is hosted. If a card allows other cards to be hosted on
it, those cards must be hosted on the card when they are installed,
unless a card says otherwise.
Hosted counters or tokens can be spent
without affecting their host. If a trigger cost requires one or more
hosted counters or tokens, those counters or tokens are “spent” by
being returned to the token bank from the card the ability appears on.
If a host is trashed or uninstalled, all cards, counters, and tokens
hosted on it are also trashed. This cannot be prevented. If a host
Corp card is derezzed, all cards, counters, and tokens hosted on it
remain hosted.
The state of hosting is distinct (but not exclusive
from) the state of installing. Most cards are hosted on another card
when they are installed.

So, conditions under which hosting ends are "trashed or uninstalled", moving doesn't affect hosting. Anything hosted on Builder will remain hosted on Builder after it moves.


In monopoly, if a player owns all of a set of properties but one of the properties is mortgaged, is the rent still doubled for the other properties?

Yes, rent is doubled even if some of the properties are mortgaged.
Rules

It is an advantage to hold all the Title Deed cards in a color-group
(e.g., Boardwalk and Park Place; or Connecticut, Vermont and Oriental
Avenues) because the owner may then charge double rent for
unimproved properties in that color-group. This rule applies to
unmortgaged properties even if another property in that color-group
is mortgaged.


What is the difference between an "Effect" and an "Ability", and how do you identify one from the other?

BJ Myers' CR quote answers your question pretty well.

An Ability is rules text on a card. With only a few exceptions, abilities all create effects.

An Effect is either the result of a spell or ability being cast/activated/triggered (and then resolving), or is a "continuous effect", caused by abilities or spells (for example, see Glorious Anthem).

There's more, though; Actions. Actions aren't effects, but they're still things that "happen".

Turn-based Actions happen at fixed points in the turn, and include you
untapping your permanents at the
beginning of the turn, and declaring attackers/blockers.
State-based Actions are checked/executed every time a player would be
given priority, and include removing creatures with lethal damage
marked and losing the game.
Special Actions are taken by players, and include playing lands and
flipping morph creatures.

Lastly, paying Costs. Aside from the obvious paying of mana, this includes tapping creatures for Convoke, the additional cost on Fling, or the exiling of cards on Grim Lavamancer's ability. Please note! Tapping lands/mana dorks to add mana to your pool is NOT paying a cost, even when you do it while casting a spell.

Example One; I cast Fatal Push on my opponent's Goblin Guide. When it resolves, Fatal Push has the effect of destroying Goblin Guide.

Example Two; I activate Grim Lavamancer's ability targeting a Goblin Guide, and it resolves. Here, an ability has been activated, and it's effect is dealing damage to the Goblin Guide. Then, as a state-based action, the game sees that Goblin Guide has lethal damage marked on it, and so it is destroyed. Note that Grim Lavamancer's ability didn't kill Goblin Guide; the action did.

Example Three; My opponent casts Fling, targeting my Grim Lavamancer, sacrificing their own Goblin Guide. The spell Fling was cast, with the cost of sacrificing Goblin Guide, and the effect of dealing 2 damage to Grim Lavamancer. Just like example two, the game will see the damage marked on Grim Lavamancer and kill it as a state-based action.

The distinction becomes important when cards look for "effects". The currently infamous example is the interaction between Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Anointed Procession.

Kalitas has an ability that replaces "creature XYZ dies" with "creature XYZ is exiled and you get a 2/2 token". Anointed Procession's ability looks for effects that makes tokens, and doubles the number of tokens you get for them. Both of these abilities cause "replacement effects".

So, let's modify our earlier examples. This time I also have Kalitas and Anointed Procession on the battlefield.:

Example One; The spell Fatal Push has the "effect" of killing a creature. Kalitas replaces the effect "Goblin Guide dies" with "Goblin Guide gets exiled and I get a 2/2". Then, Anointed Procession sees the effect giving me a 2/2, and replaces it again, with "Goblin Guide gets exiled, and I get two 2/2s". Net Result: Goblin Guide is exiled and I create two 2/2 Zombie tokens

Example Two; The ability of Grim Lavamancer has the "effect" of dealing 2 damage to Goblin Guide. Kalitas and Anointed Procession see nothing they can replace, so it occurs. The next time state-based actions are checked, the game sees that Goblin Guide is marked with lethal, and destroys it as a state-based action. Kalitas sees the action killing Goblin Guide, and replaces "Goblin Guide dies" with "Goblin Guide gets exiled and I get a 2/2". Anointed Procession doesn't see anything though, because the thing giving me a 2/2 is not an effect, it's an action. Net result: Goblin Guide is exiled, and I create one 2/2 Zombie token

Example Three; My opponent casts Fling, sacrificing Goblin Guide. Kalitas sees the Goblin Guide dying, and replaces the effect "Goblin Guide dies" with "Goblin Guide gets exiled and I get a 2/2". Anointed Procession doesn't see this trigger though, because Goblin Guide wasn't killed by an effect, it was killed as part of a cost! Kalitas doesn't affect your own creatures, so the Grim Lavamancer dying will be unaffected when Fling resolves. Net result: Goblin Guide is exiled, and I create one 2/2 Zombie token. Fling has been cast


Identify this space combat game with a letter based ship architecture

Could this have been part of the Starfire series?  Images show a hexagonal grid & ship counters and the description says:

A "word" makes up a ship. As damage is done between ships, letters are
crossed off from left to right within the "word" until the ship is
destroyed.


Can a deck with a mono-colored commander have cards with other colors than its commander in it?

As the rules you quoted say, the color identity of every card in a commander deck must be a subset of the color identity of the commander, where a card's color identity is the set of the colors of all mana symbols and color indicators in that card's rules text.

There are currently only three mono-white legendary creatures whose color identity contains both red and white:

Archangel Avacyn - color ID WR
General Tazri - color ID WUBRG
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain - color ID WUBRG

The only other candidate that's close to your description and could have been valid is Sylvia Brightspear.  She partners with Khorvath Brightflame, which is red.  In the case of partner, a deck actually has two commanders, and they both contribute to color identity.  It's possible Khorvath never got cast, or you simply didn't notice it was from the command zone when it was cast.

If none of the cases above are true, then your opponent's deck was not valid.


If I really need a card on my start hand, how many mulligans make sense?

If you “need” the card in your starting hand and there is no other option—you take as many as you need until you have it, then stop. If you don't have it when you've mulliganed to 1, you concede and hope for better luck next game.

Granted you also need lands for mana, so you probably concede if you don't have it and an island when you mulligan to 2.

However this is a bit of a fragile fragile game plan: you're going to lose about 1 in 8 games simply for not having the card in your opening hand and conceding. 1 in 8 chances can also happen multiple games in a row.

Odds of finding that card in your mulligans

From How do you calculate the likelihood of drawing certain cards in your opening hand?, we can calculate the odds of having it by each mulligan.

If you have a 60-card deck, the chance of starting with at least one 4-of in your opening hand is about 40%. That's from this calculation that finds the odds of not finding that one card:

  (56*55*54*53*52*51*50) / (60*59*58*57*56*55*54) = ~0.6005 or ~60%

Chance of finding the card in each separate hand

Let's run that calculation for each of your hands:

7 cards (first hand): 0.60 → 40% chance of finding the card
6 cards: (56*55*54*53*52*51) / (60*59*58*57*56*55) = 0.64 → 36% chance
5 cards: (56*55*54*53*52) / (60*59*58*57*56) = 0.699 → ~30% chance
4 cards: (56*55*54*53) / (60*59*58*57) = 0.75 → 25% chance
3 cards: (56*55*54) / (60*59*58) = 0.81 → 19% chance
2 cards: (56*55) / (60*59) = 0.87 → 13% chance
1 card: (56) / (60) = 0.933 → ~7% chance

Chance of finding the card by a certain mulligan

To get this, we just multiply the mulligan results together.

Chance of finding the card by your second hand of 6 cards: (0.60*0.64) = 0.38 → 62%
By your third hand (5 cards): (0.60*0.64*0.699) = 0.265 → 73.5%
By your fourth hand (4 cards): (0.60*0.64*0.699*0.75) = 0.20 → 80%
By your fifth hand (3 cards): (0.60*0.64*0.699*0.75*0.81) = 0.16 → 84%
By your sixth hand (2 cards): (0.60*0.64*0.699*0.75*0.81*0.87) = 0.14 → 86%
By your seventh hand (1 card): (0.60*0.64*0.699*0.75*0.81*0.87*0.933) = 0.13 = 87%

In 87% of your games, you'll find your card in one of your mulligans if you mulligan all the way down to 1. In 13% of them, or 1 in 8 games, you'll just never find it and you'll concede.


Yes. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield. An Aura attached to a permanent is therefore also a permanent, and will be returned to its owner's hand by that effect.


Magic: The Gathering - Why is it possible to activate some cards abilities from graveyard and some others not?

This is Comprehensive Rule 113.6:

113.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:
[ ... ]
113.6k An ability whose cost or effect specifies that it moves the object it’s on out of a particular zone functions only in that zone, unless its trigger condition or a previous part of its cost or effect specifies that the object is put into that zone or, if the object is an Aura, that the object it enchants leaves the battlefield. The same is true if the effect of that ability creates a delayed triggered ability whose effect moves the object out of a particular zone
Example: Reassembling Skeleton says “{1}{B}: Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.” A player may activate this ability only if Reassembling Skeleton is in their graveyard.


What is the difference between an artifact and a creature?

An artifact is simply a card type, like "land", "creature", "instant" etc. After you cast an artifact card, it just sits there on the battlefield and only does whatever its own text says it does.

A creature is also a type of card, but creatures are different than other card types in that they can attack and block.

An "artifact creature" is just an object that is both an artifact and a creature. So Renegade Freighter, as an artifact, cannot attack or block. But because it is also a vehicle, it has a "crew" ability that lets it become an artifact creature, so that you can attack and block with it.


What is the difference between add damage counters and attack damage

Damage:

Is affected by Weakness and Resistance, unless specified otherwise
Is affected by effects like "Whenever an attack does damage"
Can be prevented by "prevent all damage"
Can be reduced by "any damage done to this Pokémon by attacks is reduced by XX", "divide that damage in half", etc.

Damage counters:

Is prevented by "prevents all effects...", since placing damage counters is an effect of an attack.
And you can pretty much revert everything that applies to normal damage.


What happens if I become an illegal target of Cruel Entertainment?

Nothing happens at all as the spell resolves. Neither player controls the other.

Under 608: Resolving spells and abilities comes these rules:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. [...] If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal. Other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them. If the spell or ability creates any continuous effects that affect game rules (see rule 613.10), those effects don’t apply to illegal targets.

Since one of the players is an illegal target:

that player can't be made to control the other player.
that player can't be made to be controlled by the other player.

Both players retain control of their own turns as normal and the spell has no actual effect on anything.


This sounds like Russian Bank, which seems to have a wide variety of different names (including Touch) in different countries. (I knew it as Cravat when I grew up playing it in the UK).


In The Crew, if I do not have a color, do I have to play a rocket?

Looking at the rules here it says (emphasis mine).

There are five card suits: pink, blue, green, yellow, and rocket
cards. Following suit means that each player must "follow" the suit
choice of the first player; i.e., you have to play a card of the same
type. Only if you do not have a card of this suit may you play a card
of a different suit.

and later is says (emphasis mine)

During a color-suited trick, a rocket may only be played if a card
in the color suit cannot be played.

Reading this sounds like it follows expected playing of trick taking is option.  If you can not follow suit you may play a card of a different suit.  You may only play a rocket if you can't follow suit.
Neither of these situations say must so if you can't follow suit and have the choice of playing a rocket card or not that is a free choice.


Yes, you can turn it face up.

701.31a To manifest a card, turn it face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. Put that card onto the battlefield face down. That permanent is a manifested permanent as long as it remains face down. The effect defining its characteristics works while the card is face down and ends when it’s turned face up.
701.31b Any time you have priority, you may turn a manifested permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack (see rule 115.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card’s mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn’t a creature card or it doesn’t have a mana cost, it can’t be turned face up this way.)

The type of the card on the battlefield is no secret. It's almost surely going to be a creature. ("It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card [...]"). That means "to show all players that the card represents a creature card" clearly refers to the physical card (rather than the game object), so "represents a creature card" means "would be a creature card if outside of the game".
As such, you only look at its type line, and any characteristic-defining abilities that alter its type (since those function everywhere, including outside of the game).
There's absolutely no chance that Heliod's second ability has any effect because it's an ability that only functions on the battlefield, and the object on the battlefield has no abilities ("It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with no text, [...]")

Note that you'll lose Clouldform if you turn Heliod face-up without the devotion needed to make it a creature. Clouldform can only legally enchant a creature.

704.5n If an Aura is attached to an illegal object or player, or is not attached to an object or player, that Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard.


Does Nyxathid trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing if my opponent has cards in hand?

Nyxathid enters the battlefield as a 3/3, but is a 7/7 everywhere else.
Nyxathid's two abilities are a replacement effect and a static ability that generates a continuous effect.

614.1c Effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . . “ are replacement effects.

Replacement effects that affect how a permanent enters the battlefield apply before the permanent enters the battlefield.

614.12a If a replacement effect that modifies how a permanent enters the battlefield requires a choice, that choice is made before the permanent enters the battlefield.

This means that Nyxathid's continuous effect can affect it as soon as it enters play.

611.3c Continuous effects that modify characteristics of permanents do so simultaneously with the permanent entering the battlefield. They don’t wait until the permanent is on the battlefield and then change it. Because such effects apply as the permanent enters the battlefield, they are applied before determining whether the permanent will cause an ability to trigger when it enters the battlefield.
Example: A permanent with the static ability “All white creatures get +1/+1” is on the battlefield. A creature spell that would normally create a 1/1 white creature instead creates a 2/2 white creature. The creature doesn’t enter the battlefield as 1/1 and then change to 2/2.

So Nyxathid enters the battlefield as a 3/3.
However, it is a 7/7 when you cast it.

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.
604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 112.6.
604.3. Some static abilities are characteristic-defining abilities. A characteristic-defining ability conveys information about an object’s characteristics that would normally be found elsewhere on that object (such as in its mana cost, type line, or power/toughness box) or overrides information found elsewhere on that object. Characteristic-defining abilities function in all zones. They also function outside the game.
604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object’s colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met.

While Nyxathid's static ability does affect its power and toughness, it does not define them, and thus it is not a characteristic-defining ability.  Those are the only static abilities that apply off the battlefield unless explicitly stated in the ability itself.
So when you cast Nyxathid it is cast as a 7/7, which will cause Sarkan's Unsealing to trigger.  But if you had Where Ancients Tread in play, it would not be triggered by Nyxathid.
Magic defines the P/T (power and toughness) of creatures with variable P/T in several ways
Maro has a characteristic-defining ability (mentioned above in rule 604.3).  Maro always has a power and toughness equal to the number of cards in your hand no matter where it is.  If you have 7 cards in hand when you play Maro, it will trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing.  (Note that Maro can't be one of those 7, because by the time Maro's power is checked Maro has left your hand and entered the stack).  Generally speaking, if the P/T box reads */* (or */1+* then the creature has a characteristic-defining ability.
Shanna, Sisay's Legacy has a P/T of 0/0 and an ability which gives her +1/+1 for each creature in play.  She works the same way Nyxathid does, albeit in the opposite direction.  Unless she is on the battlefield, she is a 0/0. (I suspect that this template will be replacing characteristic-defining abilities on most (or all) newer variable P/T cards, but I don't know for sure.)  Shanna will not trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing
Hungering Hydra has a replacement effect that puts +1/+1 counters on it as it enters the battlefield, based on the value of X chosen when the Hydra was cast.  Even though X was defined when the spell was cast the counters don't appear until the spell resolves - while the Hydra is on the stack it is a 0/0 just like it is everywhere else that isn't the battlefield.  Hungering Hydra will not trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing
Slime Molding creates an X/X Ooze creature token where X was chosen as the spell was cast.  Slime Molding isn't a creature spell.  It will not trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing.
Finally, it's worth noting that variable tokens can be created in any of thses ways.  Voice of Resurgence creates Elemental creature tokens with characteristic-defining abilities based off of the number of creatures you control.  If the number of creatures you control changes later, so will the Elemental's power.  Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter creates X/X Construct (artifact) creature tokens where X is the number of creatures you control when the ability is used.  In this case X is fixed at creation - later changes to the number of creatures you control will not change the Construct's P/T.
Neither creature will trigger Sarkhan's Unsealing.


Does a Yeld spyrer's fly ability work just vertically, or on a hypotenuse?

You measure from the base of your starting position to the base of where your movement ends. The movement must finish at an appropriate point (it cant be mid air for example). If that end point is higher than your starting point then its 2", if its lower its 1/2"

So for example, if you have movement 8, you have three options

Complete a move up to 4" ending above your starting position.
Complete a move up to 8" horizontally (normal move)
Complete a move up to 16" ending your movement below your starting position.


Catan Seafarers Bonus points when you build a new settlement on a new island in certain scenarios

You get the two bonus points for the first build on the island.
If you change the settlement to a city, it is not the first build anymore. So you keep the bonus points for the settlement.


Rivals for Catan card game clarification

The rules on page 7 has this note:

  Please note: Some cards are marked "1x."  This means that you may only have one of these cards in your principality.


Is sharing your ports with other players legal?

Ports/harbors enhance the maritime trade. This is a trade between one player and the bank. You can only use maritime trade during your turn. So it is not possible to offer port services to other players.

From the rules:

  You can also trade without the other players! During your turn, you can always trade at 4:1 by putting 4 identical resoirce cards back in their stack and taing a 1 resource card of your choice for it. If you have a settlement or city on a harbor, you can trade with the bank more favorably: at either 3:1 ratio or, in certain harbors, at 2:1 (trading resource type shown).

However, you can trade the turn of the player owning the port in several steps. Using your example (Player A wants to trade 3 sheep for an ore with player B who does not have an ore yet.

On his turn, Player B trades a wood (or an other non sheep/ore) for two sheep with player A.
Player B uses his port to trade two sheep for one ore.
Player B trades the ore for the sheep and the wood.

The effect is the same. It is only possible on the turn of the player owning the port


Do I get cards from Rebel Cantina even if another player played Produce?

Yes. The only difference between the player who plays "Produce" and everyone else is the free good on a windfall world. Every other effect applies equally to every player - there's no difference between Rebel Cantina and any other world with a "Produce" effect.


Is it possible to combine the Jungle variant tile with Cities & Knights?

There is no official ruling on combining the Jungle hex with Cities & Knights, but there are documented suggestions.

This site has two suggestions:

Two Discovery Tokens may be traded in for one Resource or Commodity card of your choice.
Three Discovery Tokens and one Commodity Card may be traded in for one Progress Card of that color.


How do you keep track of which units have already moved?

Avoid unnecesary moves in the combat move phase

Belive it or not, I found out that the typical source of confusion is that most players move units that are not going to fight (nor Aircraft carriers that won't provide a landing base to attacking airplanes) in the combat move phase.

It's not against the rules but.. there is no benefit in doing so. In fact it's much better to wait for the result of the combats to know where to move.

Never doing that helps a lot: every unit that is not in a combat area, has not move prior to non-combat phase move.

  The airplane combat nightmare

This happens with japan and germany, specially in 1940 editions.  Even though you know that airplanes have moved to the combat zone you need to keep track of the ammount of movement left

There is an idea introduced I think in the revised edition: fuel markers.  Simply, have a die or any other thing that can mark from 1 to 5.  When you gather many airplanes in one zone start adding one marker for each airplane, each showing the ammount of movement (fuel) left. Separating of course each kind of airplane.

When selecting airplanes casualties simply remove the lowest fuel marker (that's called being a good captain) so you are sacrificing airplanes with the least movement.

On the non combat move phase move the remaining airplanes and each fuel marker shows the movement of any given airplane.

  Have your enemies pay attention

This is a gentlemen's game.  They can tell you what has moved and what not. They know because they are looking at your positions for possible attacks all the time

Hope any of this helps!


Can I use Hibernation Sliver to return slivers from my graveyard?

No, for 2 reasons. First, because unless they say otherwise, abilities of permanents only function while they are on the battlefield.

  112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack.
  Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:

None of the exceptions relate to the ability in question.

Also, Slivers that are in your graveyard will not even get that ability in the first place. When a card says "All Slivers", it refers to all Sliver permanents, and a permanent is a card or token on the battlefield.

  609.2. Effects apply only to permanents unless the instruction’s text states otherwise or they clearly can
  apply only to objects in one or more other zones.

  Example: An effect that changes all lands into creatures won’t alter land cards in players’
  graveyards. But an effect that says spells cost more to cast will apply only to spells on the
  stack, since a spell is always on the stack while a player is casting it.

And:

  110.1. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield.


What happens if opponent has infinite turns, but cannot kill me because I have infinite life?

Your opponent cannot win, and forestalls losing to Walking Ballista by looping Nexus of Fate. Therefore, you would win the game either by direct judge decision because you explain the inevitable sequence of events, or by the judge forcing your opponent to let you draw cards and eventually getting you to the Walking Ballista.

There is clearly a loop happening. Remember that "game state" is not a defined term. Even gaining and losing life does not alter the game state if it foreseeably does not decide the game at any point, as is the case in your scenario.

Case 3 of the answer to the question you linked does apply. Your opponent can propose a loop with any (finite) number of attacks, and you can counter-propose the same loop, except you first gain enough life to survive all those attacks. Then a significantly different choice has to be made, i.e. your opponent must let you take a turn. You will eventually draw your Walking Ballista and win.

  721.3 Sometimes a loop can be fragmented, meaning that each player involved in the loop performs an independent action that results in the same game state being reached multiple times. If that happens, the active player (or, if the active player is not involved in the loop, the first player in turn order who is involved) must then make a different game choice so the loop does not continue.

From the tournament rules:

  The judge is the final arbiter of what constitutes a loop. A player may not 'opt-out' of shortcutting a loop, nor may they make irrelevant changes between iterations in an attempt to make it appear as though there is no loop. Once a loop has been shortcut, it may not be restarted until the game has changed in a relevant way. Proposing loops as an effort to use up time on the clock is Stalling.


How can one use the "Guest Option" in Rankade?

Got the answer directly from the Rankade team:

  You can add a new player during the faction step. Just type their email, and
  then choose if you want them to be a 'member' or a 'guest'. Guest user
  cannot access group data and is not listed in the rankings.
  You can 'upgrade' a guest by reinserting them in another match and calling
  him 'member'. Ghosts are users that are not linked to an email address.
  They're managed by the group's admin.
  A Guest user is not listed in the rankings, but he has his (hidden) ranking, indeed. So, yes, the guest "changes the ranks even if he isn't ranked himself" [it's a quote from the question], and you have to insert the actual order (ree calculations depend on all standings, so you need to correctly enter the full results, not just the winner).
  We recommend the use of actual users, because some features (matchup
  stats and more) are not available for guest and ghosts.


How is the "Moral High Ground" Mission Card intended to work?

Missions score at the end of your turn, after taking actions such as playing agents.
Although reveal isn't defined in the rule book, they do use it in the context of revealing cards from your hand. You cannot reveal an agent unless it is in your hand.

Moral High Ground: {1} for each killing or turning agent you reveal from your hand.

The Turn Sequence section states:

Turn Sequence - On each player’s turn, they have to perform 2 actions. Players can select from any combination of the following (including performing the same action twice);

Playing an Agent [...]

Re-activating a Command [...]

Buying an Agent or Mission: [...]

Trade in a Mission [...]

At the end of their turn, the player whose turn it is collects their intel points from their Factions and Missions. Players collect intel points from their Factions and Missions each turn as long as the data-tokens remain complete on their Factions and the conditions of the Missions remain fulfilled.

Although the conditions of the mission don't say when they must be fulfilled, I would argue that all the other mission conditions require checking at the end of the turn, so should this one. (You might also argue that to fulfill the conditions, you must continue to reveal the killing/turning agents until the end of turn, or you stop fulfilling the conditions. I.e. You are no longer revealing them.) Scoring of Missions also repeats the conditions must be fulfilled at the end of turn:

Scoring Intel Points - Intel points are awarded:

to players who have completed arrows facing them in their Factions at the end of their turn,

when the condition of a Mission is fulfilled at the end of their turn,

to players towards whom the points are directed when a Free Agent is played.


Is there a way to Bring to Life my Lucky Clover and still cast Animating Faerie?

Nope, your analysis of what should happen is spot on.  Short of having another card or ability to use, there's nothing you could have done.  You'd need to have a way to stop the triggered ability (Stifle), counter the copy or have another legal target.
Silly as it might seem, sometimes normally beneficial effects have detrimental edge cases.  That's just part of Magic.


What happens if you manifest a creature card with morph?

Yes. If a creature card with Morph is manifested, the permanent it becomes may be flipped for either its creature cost or its morph cost. This is covered by the following rule introduced in Fate Reforged:

  701.31c If a card with morph is manifested, its controller may use the procedure described in rule 702.36d to turn a face-down permanent with morph face up rather than the procedure described above to turn a manifested permanent face up.

In your specific example, Anthony may choose to pay either {2}{B}{G}{U} or {3}{B}{G}{U} to flip Abomination of Gudul at any time he has priority.

For reference:

  702.36d Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 115). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up.


Open source engine / software for makruk?

The only open-source makruk engines I know of are:

fairymax
Sjaak II
Stockfish

The latter is my attempt of adapting Stockfish for makruk. Below you can find some recent test results. I can not give an estimate of how these engines compare to strong human players though.

Rank Name                          Elo     +/-   Games   Score   Draws
1    stockfish-mak-f364111         359     103      80   88.8%   15.0%
2    Bilis_v1.0                    127      65      80   67.5%   32.5%
3    sjaakii-1.4.1                 -61      60      80   41.2%   40.0%
4    fairymax-5.0b                -174      62      80   26.9%   38.8%
5    NebiyuAlien                  -185      55      80   25.6%   46.2%


Per the rulebook as written, the terror effect directly results from the failed task roll with the terror result showing.  It takes effect before a die is discarded due to the failed roll.

I would presume by that wording that they are trying to prevent exactly what you are describing - avoiding the terror by discarding the die.  I can't find any errata to clarify the situation.  There is clearly a gap in the timing, otherwise adding dice previously saved couldn't work and once a roll succeeds by that method the terror doesn't apply. Still, once a roll is clearly failed, the terror has to be done before you proceed.

The rules on focusing and assistance are clearer.  Although they save a result and remove a die from the pool, they do so only after a failed roll has already been dealt with.  Since spells can be played anytime on your own turn, this introduces a grey area.  Still, there is nothing in the rules that states a failure can be avoided by removing dice from it, and a terror is part of the failure.

Putting it a better way since I ran a few searches - you generated a terror on a failed roll.  Why would you not suffer an effect simply because you're saving the dice for later?  That just confirms you rolled it.

So my answer would be, unless you can by action change a failed roll into a successful roll, you would have to go through with the terror effect.


Basic lands have hidden text that is no longer printed on them. It reads as follows.

  Tap: Add [color] to your mana pool.

This is an activated ability. If you announce that you are activating that ability, and then tap your land, then you have activated that ability. You cannot undo an activated ability.

What if I tap a land, don't announce it, take an action, and then change my mind?

Most people don't announce that they are activating the mana ability on a land. They simply tap it. I had an opponent that tapped all of his land and announced Sphinx's Revelation for 6. I responded with Skullcrack. My opponent claimed that he had not announced his land activations yet. I called a judge. I personally experienced a Competitive REL floor judge tell that opponent that his intention was obviously to activate the mana abilities, whether or not they were explicitly announced.

Player intention is often a consideration in judge rulings.

What if I tap a land, don't announce it, take no action, and then change my mind?

You tapped your lands, but you didn't announce it, and you haven't cast anything. I call this "fiddling" with lands. There is nothing in the comprehensive rules, the regular REL rules, or the competitive REL rules that address this. Some unqualified sources on the Internet say you can take it back. Others say you cannot. In general, if the MTG rules do not permit something, it is not permitted.

What I do know is that MTGO allows you to "undo" your land activations, and that top 8 at Grand Prix's and feature matches from StarCityGames tournaments streaming on Twitch.tv have all shown untapping of lands without a judge intervening. In other words, even the top level judges allow untapping lands, as long as you haven't taken any action since you tapped it and nothing triggered when you tapped it.


Does the 3-3 invasion work with 3 stones already placed?

Liam showed a good way to kill the invasion already, but you can be even more mean and play 2 at 4:

$$Wm1
$$ ----------
$$ ........|
$$ ...X....|
$$ ...X.1..|
$$ ....X...|
$$ ......2.|

If white then plays 3, you just draw back instead of playing below 1, and you avoid a cut at 4:

$$Wm1
$$ ----------
$$ .....c..|
$$ ...Xb.a.|
$$ ...X.1..|
$$ ....X.3.|
$$ .....42.|

Then, a, b and c are miai to kill.

The cut would not usually be dangerous, but it at least allows white to get 1 or 2 outside sente moves in the area, which is more than she should get - the original invasion at 3-3 was way too deep (the deepest possible would be white 1 at 2 in the above diagram, but that is a bit advanced, don't worry about it too much).

White may try to be sneaky and return to the variation with the cut present like this:

$$Wm1
$$ ----------
$$ ........|
$$ ...X....|
$$ ...X.1..|
$$ ....X...|
$$ .....32.|

In that case, you can easily play at 6 instead of a to gain more and avoid white's sente atari at 6. The white inside group is still dead as per what we saw above.

$$Wm1
$$ ----------
$$ ........|
$$ ...X....|
$$ ...X.1a.|
$$ ....X45.|
$$ .....32.|
$$ ......6.|


It should play the same as a Skip-Bo card in Skip-Bo.

It's just a wild card - and no, it shouldn't "retain" its value in later plays ... how would you remember which Ratuki card had been played with what value?


Does Karmic Justice Trigger if a Planeswalker dies from combat damage?

No, Combat damage is not "a spell or ability an opponent controls".
It's not a Spell:

112.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, “Casting Spells”), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner’s hand. (See rule 405, “Stack.”) A spell remains on the stack as a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, “Resolving Spells and Abilities”), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the stack. For more information, see section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and Effects.”
112.1a A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card associated with it. See rule 706.10.
112.1b Some effects allow a player to cast a copy of a card; if the player does, that copy is a spell as well. See rule 706.12.

It's not an Ability:

113.3. There are four general categories of abilities:
113.3a Spell abilities are abilities that are followed as instructions while an instant or sorcery spell is resolving. Any text on an instant or sorcery spell is a spell ability unless it’s an activated ability, a triggered ability, or a static ability that fits the criteria described in rule 113.6.
113.3b Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]” A player may activate such an ability whenever they have priority. Doing so puts it on the stack, where it remains until it’s countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. See rule 602, “Activating Activated Abilities.”
113.3c Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[Trigger condition], [effect],” and include (and usually begin with) the word “when,” “whenever,” or “at.” Whenever the trigger event occurs, the ability is put on the stack the next time a player would receive priority and stays there until it’s countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”
113.3d Static abilities are written as statements. They’re simply true. Static abilities create continuous effects which are active while the permanent with the ability is on the battlefield and has the ability, or while the object with the ability is in the appropriate zone. See rule 604, “Handling Static Abilities.”


When should I add cards whose primary feature is drawing more cards to my MTG deck?

Cards in hand are options. Having more cards in hand gives you more options. Having the right cards in hand gives you better options.

Card filtering (of which scry cards are a subset) is good any time you want a specific card. Your intuition about combo decks is correct, but it doesn't stop there. Consider a control deck that uses a mixture of counterspells, spot removal, and board wipes, for instance: if your opponent's about to burn you out, you need a counter; if your opponent dropped a Titan or a planeswalker you'll want spot removal ASAP (and it has to be the right kind, too); if your opponent has two Dungrove Elders or an army of Spirit tokens beating you down you'll want that sweeper. Card filtering makes it easier to have all of those when you need them; this is especially valuable with very specific hosers you keep in your sideboard.

Card draw implicitly has all the same benefits as card filtering (since you're likewise digging faster through your deck) but also gives you card advantage. Card advantage almost always matters. Any time you're actually going to get to play most of your hand before the game ends, card advantage will make a difference; if you're playing against, say, a very fast red deck that just throws its resources away to try to kill you as quickly as possible, then the loss of tempo from casting a card-draw spell might not be worth the benefit of extra cards in hand.

There's a third class of cards it's worth thinking about in the same discussion: cards that search your whole deck, also known as "tutors". Card-filtering cards conceptually occupy a middle ground between pure card draw and tutors; they're appealing because many decks have several cards which can acceptably answer a problem, and being able to dig up an acceptable card cheaply and quickly is often regarded as more valuable than finding just the right card at too high a cost or a turn too late.

The main price of all these advantages is tempo. Any time you're spending a turn's mana on something that doesn't immediately affect the board state, you're potentially losing ground to your opponent(s). Hand-sculpting is all about giving up something now to get a better hand for next turn. The decks that use it best are either those that can devalue tempo (using control techniques) or those that are willing to throw everything away to improve their next turn. That said, any time a duel comes down to attrition of cards in hand, card draw can power you through a finish -- every deck wants card draw as long as it can afford to pay the price (which is why, in its day, Skullclamp was all over aggro decks).

When weighing the value of different get-more-cards cards, pay attention to spell types and casting costs. Reactive decks are much better off with Instant-speed card draw/filtering, because being able to play your hand-sculpting cards on your opponent's end step allows you to keep mana open for responses during your opponent's turn. You also want spells that fit nicely into your mana curve -- ideally, ones you can cast before you'd be casting whatever it is you'd usually dig for, so they're not slowing you down. It's reasonable to run a few big splashy high-cost card draw cards to help you lock up the late game (Consecrated Sphinx or Blue Sun's Zenith, for instance), but card filtering is generally best on little cards you can use early to find what you need.

The other thing you should be on the lookout for is hand-sculpting cards with convenient side-effects. Forbidden Alchemy, for instance, dumps three cards into your graveyard -- to some decks, that's like three extra cards in hand. Brainstorm is a powerhouse in any Legacy deck that plays blue, but also powers up cards that interact with the top card of your library, like Counterbalance or Delver of Secrets. Preordain not only allowed Pyromancer Ascension decks to search for cards to trigger their combo but also served as a worthwhile trigger itself. Tezzeret's Gambit is choice card draw for decks obsessed with +1/+1 counters, poison counters, or planeswalker loyalty counters.


ticket to ride new york - do I have to pick destination cards?

You are never required to obtain additional destination tickets cards, even if you've completed the ones you have.

You have three options available to you:

You could claim a route. Remember, routes are worth points, and nothing prevents someone from claiming routes once their destination tickets have been completed.
You could pick new destination ticket cards. You might get lucky and get one or more that's already completed! If you don't think you're winning, this can be very effective.
If you're unable or unwilling to take the above actions, you can effectively "pass" by drawing more transportation cards.

While I used the terminology of New York in this answer, this answer applies to all of the following:

Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride: Asia
Ticket to Ride: Europe (You also have the option to build a train station.)
Ticket to Ride: Germany
Ticket to Ride: India
Ticket to Ride: New York
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries
Ticket to Ride: Pennsylvania
Ticket to Ride: Switzerland
Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom (You still have the option of buying a technology card before your normal action.)

I have no experience with the other Ticket to Ride titles.


Yes. Each card that makes a run during play scores the run.

From https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/cribbage-rules.htm

  Similarly, if anyone lays a card such that with the three or more preceding cards, a run can be constructed, the number of cards which would make up that run are scored. e.g. suppose cards were laid in the following order: 8,6,4,5,7. The fourth card would score 3 points, the fifth card would score five points.

See for more: http://cribbagecorner.com/node/536


Phases order in "Catan: Cities & Knights"

Yes, you can take the same kind of action at multiple points in your turn. The relevant rule is:

You may do any or all of the following in any order:
– Trade resources and/or commodities with the bank and/or other players.
– Build roads, settlements, cities, knights, city walls, and/ or city improvements.
– Activate, promote, and/or perform actions with your knights.
– Play any number of progress cards.

This could be read to mean that each of those four bullet points are "phases" that can happen only once each in an order of your choice, but we can infer that the intended meaning is the more permissive one by this later rule:

Trading and Building
In Cities & Knights, you are allowed to build and trade any number of times and in any order. You do not need to finish all of your trading before you begin your building.


Can flip effects be in response to something?

No, she cannot.

Monsters are only flipped face up under certain conditions:

Flip summon - a flip summon during the main phase, like you describe in your question.
Damage step - During the battle phase when a face down defense position monster is attacked.
Resolving an effect - When an effect specifically instructs to flip a monster face up, or instructs you to change a face down monster into attack position, which requires the monster become face up.


Will Rings of Brighthearth + The Chain Veil let me use Chain Veil's ability more than once?

Yes. The sequence would/could be as follows:

You activate The Chain Veil, and put its ability on the stack.
The ring's triggered ability triggers, and is put on the stack.
(after all players pass priority) The triggered ability resolves, you are given the choice to pay 2 and copy the ability, and the copy is placed on the stack.
(players pass priority) The copied effect resolves.
(players pass priority) The original effect resolves.

A ruling from Gatherer confirms that The Chain Veil's ability can be repeated, i.e. each effect allows an additional loyalty ability to be played, on top of the single normal use.

  Each additional time The Chain Veil’s last ability resolves will allow you to activate a loyalty ability of each planeswalker you control an additional time. For example, if you activate The Chain Veil’s last ability, untap it, then activate it again, you can activate a loyalty ability of a planeswalker you control three times that turn.


When do copied abilities on a creature go away?

It will keep its abilities as long as it doesn't leave the battlefield. When it leaves the battlefiel, it is considered a new object:

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

  400.7a Effects from spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities that change the characteristics of a permanent spell on the
  stack continue to apply to the permanent that spell becomes.

  400.7b Prevention effects that apply to damage from a permanent spell on the stack continue to apply to damage from the permanent that spell
  becomes.

  400.7c If an ability of a permanent requires information about choices made as that permanent was cast as a spell, including what mana was
  spent to cast that spell, it uses information about the spell that
  became that permanent as it resolved.

  400.7d Abilities that trigger when an object moves from one zone to another (for example, “When Rancor is put into a graveyard from the
  battlefield”) can find the new object that it became in the zone it
  moved to when the ability triggered, if that zone is a public zone.

  400.7e Abilities of Auras that trigger when the enchanted permanent leaves the battlefield can find the new object that Aura became in its
  owner’s graveyard if it was put into that graveyard at the same time
  the enchanted permanent left the battlefield. It can also find the new
  object that Aura became in its owner’s graveyard as a result of being
  put there as a state-based action for not being attached to a
  permanent. (See rule 704.5n.)

  400.7f If an effect grants a nonland card an ability that allows it to be cast, that ability will continue to apply to the new object that
  card became after it moved to the stack as a result of being cast this
  way.

  400.7g A resolving spell or activated ability can perform actions on an object that moved from one zone to another while that spell was
  being cast or that ability was being activated, if that object moved
  to a public zone.

Therefore, in the graveyard, it won't be a copy anymore, so you can't scavenge it.

Leaves-the-battlefield triggered abilities will work, because the game looks for the characteristics of the object on the battlefield. For example, persist will work.

  603.6c Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent
  leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written
  as, but aren’t limited to, “When [this object] leaves the battlefield,
  . . .” or “Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the
  battlefield, . . . .” An ability that attempts to do something to the
  card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone
  that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a
  certain zone “from anywhere” is never treated as a
  leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that
  zone from the battlefield.

  603.6d Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. Continuous
  effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger
  conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like.
  However, some triggered abilities must be treated specially.
  Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a
  permanent phases out, abilities that trigger when an object that all
  players can see is put into a hand or library, abilities that trigger
  specifically when an object becomes unattached, abilities that trigger
  when a player loses control of an object, and abilities that trigger
  when a player planeswalks away from a plane will trigger based on
  their existence, and the appearance of objects, prior to the event
  rather than afterward. The game has to “look back in time” to
  determine if these abilities trigger.

However, remember that abilities like the one in Emrakul, the Aeons Torn are not Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, because they tigger when the permanent is put on the graveyard from anywhere, not only from the battlefield. Therefore, that ability won't work if you copy Emrakul.


How do I know what cards or sets are legal to play with?

It depends on what format you want to play.

Casual

You can use whatever cards you want, as long as your friends are alright with it. This is informally known as "kitchen table magic", at least in my area. Some casual formats are are so popular that they have their own rules, such as Commander. See the link at the bottom for more information.

Standard

Prior to 2016, you could only use cards from the latest two expansion blocks and any core set(s) directly succeeding them. Starting in the Spring of 2016, you can only use cards from the latest three expansion blocks. For those unaware, a "block" is a set of expansions that are released sequentially and revolve around a single story or plane. More details on this format here.

Modern

You may use cards from any set since 8th Ed. Some cards are banned.

Legacy

You may use cards from any set. Some cards are banned.

Vintage

You may use cards from any set. Some cards are banned. Others are restricted to one copy per deck.

All Constructed Formats

The following rules apply Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage.

Deck must contain at least sixty cards
With the exception of basic lands, decks may not exceed four of any card
Cards with a silver or gold border only are illegal
Decks containing a mixture of Alpha and non-Alpha cards must be played with opaque sleeves
A card from an older set is legal if a card with the same name was printed in an otherwise legal set

You can learn more about these formats, as well as some that I did not cover (such as Commander), by visiting Wizards of the Coast's website.


Can Auction be played on a deed that is already Private?

There is an in depth discussion of costs vs. requirements by the rule team here. It boils down to this: the first sentence after the bold text & colon is a cost and must be paid in order to use the card. Everything after that you try to execute, but if you are not able to do so just continue on.

So for Auction, the cost is simply "Choose a deed in play." The only restriction in that sentence is "in play", so already Private deeds are fine. The rest of the text then executes. "It becomes Private" has no effect, but the text about gaining ghost rock executes as normal.


What is the order of resolution of abilities during the damage step?

The official English rule states: Official reference guide

  When defending player receives damage and reveals their damage card, if the card is marked with an EX icon in the top right corner, the player triggers the card's EX Burst and may immediately apply the effects of the card. ...

Therefore here it goes:

Lightning is not blocked and produce damage.
The Ex Burst is triggered.
Then Lightning ability is triggered dulling a forward.

Note that you can't counter Ex Burst. However, auto ability or field ability can be countered.