What decides whether a card is exiled or returned as a player loses?

There is a subtle difference between your two examples:

The Act of Treason'd Runeclaw Bear is under Alex's control because of a control changing continuous effect.
The Serra Angel is put into play under Alex's Control.

This is a subtle but important difference. Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, whoever controls it at the time is considered to be its controller. Usually this means that the person who owns the creature is also the controller but because of cards like Bribery that isn't always true. This is covered in the comprehensive rules:

  110.2.: A permanent’s owner is the same as the owner of the card that represents it (unless it’s a token; see rule 110.5a). A permanent’s controller is, by default, the player under whose control it entered the battlefield. Every permanent has a controller.
  110.2a: If an effect instructs a player to put an object onto the battlefield, that object enters the battlefield under that player’s control unless the effect states otherwise.

This is different from an effect such as Act of Treason that causes a creature to change controllers. These effects are called continuous effects and are treated a bit differently.

  611.1.: A continuous effect modifies characteristics of objects, modifies control of objects, or affects players or the rules of the game, for a fixed or indefinite period.

So to bring this together lets have a look at what happens when a player loses the game:

  800.4a: When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. Then, if that player controlled any objects on the stack not represented by cards, those objects cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game.

So in your first example you can see that the Runeclaw Bear is under Alex's control because of a effect which gave him control. When Alex leaves the game this effect ends, so the Bears revert to Binaca's control.

In your second example Serra Angel doesn't have any control changing effects applied to it, so those effects can not end (they never started). Instead it is just treated as any other permanent that is controlled by Alex and is removed from the game.

Additional Notes: One thing I figure I should mention is that not all control changing continuous effects are temporary like Act of Treason. Cards like Beguiler of Wills will give you permanent control of the creature, but will still be treated the same as Act of Treason when the player leaves the game.

Secondly, you are correct in that the game only knows the controller and owner of permanents. That is why in your second example Alex loses the Serra Angel when Bianca leaves the game, she owns the card so it will leave the game with her.


Can I counter a creature by invalidating the target of its “comes into play” effect?

Easy answer is the second scenario you propose. Akoum Boulderfoot's ability is a triggered ability, with the trigger for the ability being 'Akoum Boulderfoot has entered the battlefield'. Targets for spells and abilities are chosen when the spell or ability is put onto the stack. Triggered abilities do not go on the stack until the trigger for the ability is true. Permanents are not actually on the battlefield until the spell resolves.

Answer to your primary question though is no, you can't counter a creature by invalidating the target of its 'come into play effect', due to the come into play effect not going on the stack until the creature has fully resolved.


Does River Heralds' Boon with one target count as one or two instances of adding +1/+1 counters?

There's only one event in your scenario, so it would only get one extra +1/+1 counter.

River Heralds' Boon has only one verb, so there's only one instruction, so  it places the two counters simultaneously.

If you chose the same creature to receive both counters, there's only one event of "placing counters on an artifact or creature you control" since the counters are placed simultaneously, so three +1/+1 counters are placed instead.

If you chose different creatures to receive the counters, there are two events of "placing counters on an artifact or creature you control", so each creature will get two +1/+1 counters.

Finally, if there were multiple instructions to put a counter (as is the case for Lifecrafter's Gift and Common Bond), then each instruction would place an extra counter.

The same answer has been given (in less detail) by a judge in the Cranial Insertion article titled  "Don't Forget the Merfolk!"

Also of interest is the following ruling found on Winding Constrictor:

  If an effect includes multiple instructions to put one or more counters on an artifact or creature, such as Lifecrafter’s Gift does, Winding Constrictor’s effect applies to each of those instructions.

Extra! Let's play "Count the events!"

  700.1 [...] The text of triggered abilities and replacement effects defines the event they’re looking for. One “happening” may be treated as a single event by one ability and as multiple events by another.

Start by identifying the instructions because each instruction is performed atomically (all at once), and instructions are performed sequentially. This is done by identifying verbs.

"Do X. Do Y." has two instructions.
"Do X, then do Y." has two instructions.
"Do X, and do Y." has two instructions.
"Do X and Y." has one instruction.

Then you match the instruction's effect against the events defined by triggered abilities and replacement effects.

For the instruction "put two +1/+1 counters on target creature you control",

2 "placing a counter on a creature you control" events
1 "placing counters on a creature you control" event
1 "placing counters on creatures you control" event

For the instruction "put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control and on a different target creature you control",

2 "placing a counter on a creature you control" events
2 "placing counters on a creature you control" events
1 "placing counters on creatures you control" event

For the instructions "put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control, then put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature you control",

1 "placing a counter on a creature you control" event, then another.
1 "placing counters on a creature you control" event, then another.
1 "placing counters on creatures you control" event, then another.


What is a good modern miniatures Tank combat game/system?

Google "Jane's Naval Wargame." It forms a turn based structure, using the statistics of real life systems, to establish analogs for the game.

Actions are interpreted from the Jane's Fighting Ships books.

A similar system could be developed to reflect the nature of ground combat.


(I assume you mean Builders’ Union, where other players have to pay 1 coin to the bank for each Wonder stage they built.)

Yes, players have to pay also for stages built in the same turn.

From the Cities rules about Debts (page 4):

  Important : monetary losses are always resolved at the end of a turn, after players have played their cards, possibly having paid for trade and/or obtained money...


Putting a reclusiarch terminator in a drop pod?

According to the rules cited in my other answer to your question regarding Dedicated Transports, you are permitted to attach either a Librarian or Reclusiarch (either in Terminator Armour) along with your Death Company and deploy them in a drop pod because these models are also independent characters.

There is an additional stipulation, however, which is that Terminator Armour, by virtue of being enormous, counts as two models, reducing your Death Company capacity to 8 + your HQ.

In the codex, p. 61:

Terminators count as two models for the purposes of transport capacity

There is an unfortunate ambiguity of the Rule-as-Written interpretation by writing "terminators" rather than "a model wearing Terminator Armour", as the rest of the paragraph uses.  But for Rule-as-Intended, I believe it is clear that by virtue of being placed under ARMOUR (rather than the Terminator entry)--and by the fact that Terminator Armor is still huge (whether worn by a normal squad or by a Librarian)--that the intended rule is "any model wearing terminator armor counts as two models for the purposes of transport capacity".


Spawning from special zombie cards inside buildings

Yes, zombies of that type get an immediate activation. Do not discard that card and draw another, do whatever is on the card. Nothing will spawn in room/zone of the corresponding "special" card. This is covered in the first page of the FAQ

Q: When spawning the Zones of a building I just opened, what happens if I draw an extra activation or manhole card?
A: Always do exactly what the card says no matter when you draw it. If you draw an extra activation card, that Zombie type receives an extra activation immediately. If tou draw a manhole card, spawn Zombies in the manholes normally. in these cases, the building Zone for which the card was originally drawn receives no Zombies.

This is also repeated at the bottom of page 10 of the rule book, just above the so many zombies, so few miniatures sidebar.

There are two special cases: the “extra activation” cards and the “manhole” cards. In both cases, no Zombies appear on the designated Zone.


Android netrunner data and destiny deck lists

Yes!
Instead of answering here, I'll link you to netrunnerdb. It is one of several sites that provide tools for building and sharing Android: Netrunner decks. If you are looking for ideas around a specific card or group of cards, you can do a query like this one to see decks other people have built that include that card.


Where can I buy a deck of personalized cards?

I've had great experiences with Printer's Studio.

You can have anything from a custom back on standard playing card fronts to completely custom fronts and backs that are different for each card.
Good interface for building these decks.
While the images you submit must have a bleed, the jobs I submitted were spot-on.
No minimum order size (though you get discounts for buying in bulk).

Tips:

Don't order without a coupon. You can always get a deal. At the very least, sign up for the mailing list to get $10 off, which will cover the shipping. (The best I've seen was early in the new year where they had a deal for 15% off and free shipping!)
You might be able to save a buck by going to the Canadian portal. The prices of items are the same as the US portal, but the Canadian dollar is weaker. The company is based in Hong Kong.
If you want cards that are perfectly flat, go for the linen instead of the standard. Both types are high quality. (I have no experience with their "plastic" cards.)


Revealing a card in Harry Potter Hogwart's Battle

From what I understand, it just goes back on the top of your deck and you'll just know at least one of the cards you get on your next turn.

From boardgamegeek

  Musketeer84 wrote:

  If you don't need to discard a card, would the card sit at the top of the deck or move into your hand for the start of next turn?

  The standard interpretation of "reveal" in most deck games is that the card stays in its location, in this case on the top of your deck, unless an instruction says otherwise. The only purpose of a reveal is to make a hidden card public knowledge.


The creature will not die or be exiled, and instead the aura with Totem Armor will be destroyed.

Anger of the Gods says

  Anger of the Gods deals 3 damage to each creature. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead.

And Totem Armor is an ability defined in rule 702.88a:

  Totem armor is a static ability that appears on some Auras. “Totem armor” means “If enchanted permanent would be destroyed, instead remove all damage marked on it and destroy this Aura.”

Importantly, Anger of the Gods replaces a creature dying, and Totem Armor replaces a creature being destroyed. These are very similar, but not the same. Dying is defined in rule 700.4:

  The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”

And Destroy is a keyword action defined in rule 701.6a:

  To destroy a permanent, move it from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard.

In other words, destruction is an action that causes a permanent to go to the graveyard, and dying is the event of a permanent moving to the graveyard. By my reading, this means that destruction causes dying, so destruction happens first Therefore, the Totem Armor replacement would apply first and save the creature, and we never get to the point where the creature would die and the Anger of the Gods replacement would apply.


In Robo Rally, what happens if I run out of cards and can't play a card on the 5th register?

Unfortunately the rules don't quite say this explicitly, but the intent is that you must have a card in every register. If you only have 5 cards, then in order to satisfy that you have to put one on each register, meaning you can't use crab legs.

There are a few things in the rules that at least strongly imply that. The biggest one is the "reveal program cards" step, which says "Each player reveals his or her Program card for that register at the same time." That doesn't make much sense if a register can be empty. The instructions for placing your program cards also seem to assume you're putting one on each register.


The Lazav that entered after Essence Flux is a new Lazav

Any old abilities that may be on the stack only see that the Lazav that they were supposed to change is no longer on the field.

This is similar to flickering the target of a spell or an ability to 'dodge' the ability (such as using Essence Flux to flicker a creature that is targeted by Murder) in that both interactions are governed by rule 400.7

  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 9 exceptions to this rule, and none of them apply here.

If Lazav changes controllers with its ability on the stack, that ability will still resolve.

In the secondary question (assuming Lazav wasn't flickered), the ability that targets Clone in your graveyard will resolve. Although Lazav changed controllers, the ability on the stack did not change controllers. "Your" in Lazav's ability on the stack still refers to you (the player who previously had control of Lazav), and Clone is still in your graveyard, so it is still a legal target. That ability will still find Lazav, even though it changed controllers, because it didn't change zones.


How do I combine regular Munchkin with Munchkin Zombies?

Shuffle them all together.

That is why this is a great gateway game but unfortunately it is also a little silly since so many cards have different backings when they are added to the core set. (Sorry, personal opinion)

You are a zombie - that is how you start, you have no powers when there is no mojo - you can discard a mojo to become a plain zombie.

Shuffle, deal.


In Haunt #43 - The Star Sickness: I'm a Traitor and Have the Serum, now what?

You were in a very awkward position: you had one "obvious" thing to do, and if you didn't do it, you would clearly be a traitor. For best results, don't make the serum in the first place. Any advantages you get from remaining hidden for a few turns longer are vastly offset by creating the items that the Heroes require to win. (And you are only going to remain hidden for a few turns; any further requires a Sterling-silver tongue and extremely gullible players.)

You had three options:

Stall for time. Instead of making the serum, you harvest extra mandrake, while claiming that you're harvesting enough for two doses "to save time running around." Depending on how hard it is to get extra mandrake, this may be too obvious of a lie.
Run away. First, walk towards the lab to stall for a turn or two, then run as far away as you can.
MURDER. If you can't plausibly pass off your actions as innocuous (and frankly, holding the serum or enough mandrake to make it means it's very hard), then embrace your Traitor nature and try to infect or kill the un-infected players. If you already have the serum, then bring it into combat anyway. (You could drop it in a distant room, but that will make it too easy to recover.) Your optimal targets will be:

Weak against your attack (Usually Might, but it could be Speed or Sanity with the right items)
Far from other players
Already have some mandrake, so their death/infection will slow down the Heroes' victory


Does immediately ending the turn cause mana burn?

Mana burn does not exist as a rule in MTG anymore. It was removed from the rules when they released the 2010 core set.

http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42a

Back when the mana burn rule did exist, Time Stop still would cause a player to lose life due to mana burn. This is because mana burn happened automatically whenever a phase ended, and time stop caused the current phase to end. Mana burn did not use the stack, and was simply an automatic game action that occurred.


Exciting skirmish: a family versus a shovel. Who wins?

Only tribe members ("people") may fight in a skirmish, so the only player that is actually involved in the skirmish is the player that had the tribe member card.

However, since you need to win a skirmish by 2 (when playing with only two players), and the tribe members have 0 attack,  the outcome of the above example skirmish would be considered a draw and the contested card would go to the junk pile.


In general I try to do as little box customizing as possible, but here's some tips I've developed for storage:

Check out the fishing section of your local department store. Not for whole tackle boxes, though. You want the little plastic divided trays. There's a lot of different sizes available and most brands even have repositionable dividers for further customization.

So that takes care of the organization. And by the way, even if everything does fit back in the original box, I recommend getting these trays to organize bitsy games.

For storage, if you can't fit it into the original box (and if you're using a few tackle box trays you probably won't be able to) then you need a new box.

There are a lot of plastic tubs you can get (think halfway between a rubbermaid leftovers box for the fridge and a giant put-it-in-the-basement-and-forget-about-it box). Some places even have decent looking storage solutions. I was at walmart the other day and they have canvas-covered storage boxes in a variety of sizes that could be repurposed into game storage.

I don't really decorate my storage boxes, but if you wanted to there's plenty of images available for download from boardgamegeek.com for the particular game you're storing. You can print them out on full-page stickers and cut them out with an X-acto for an easy way to label what's in each storage box you make.

Here's a picture of what I did for Dungeon Lords:

Luckily the box was big enough that everything fits back into it. You can see the tray has moveable dividers; some of them are in place for smaller bits, some are removed so I can fit the decks of cards in. You can also see there that I decided to use one big bag for all of the wooden bits. They could be broken out by type, but they're easily divided up come game-time.

Hope this helps!


Can I tap equipped artifacts for Improvise?

Yes you may use Equipped Artifacts to pay costs of spells with Improvise.

The Improvise is defined in the comprehensive rules under 702.125 as follows:

  702.125a: Improvise is a static ability that functions while the spell with improvise is on the stack. “Improvise” means “For each generic mana in this spell’s total cost, you may tap an untapped artifact you control rather than pay that mana.”

Whereas equipment is defined under 301.5 as:

  301.5: Some artifacts have the subtype “Equipment.” An Equipment can be attached to a creature. It can’t legally be attached to an object that isn’t a creature.

All the Improvise mechanic cares about is that the object you are tapping is an Artifact, and your equipment fulfills that condition. Tapping the equipment isn't one of the conditions outlined in 301.5 for unattaching equipment, so it will remain attached (and continue applying its effects to the attached creature). For completeness sake common conditions that will cause the equipment to unattach are:

The Equipment becomes a creature
The Equipment loses the subtype "Equipment"
The Creature it is attached to stops being a creature
The Creature it is attached to gains protection from the equipment
The Creature it is attached to leaves the battlefield
The Equipment is attached to a different permanent
An Effect specifies that the Equipment should be unattached

One thing to keep in mind is though is when some people attack with a creature, they will tap the attached cards along with the creature they are attacking with. This isn't actually correct, but rarely makes a difference in the game. So just know that if you attacked with equipped creature you may still use the Equipment to pay costs of Spells with Improvise.


Is a draw possible in Quarto with the advanced rules?

A draw is definitely possible. For example here is a game I played against myself on an Android app.

However I've not seen any results about whether this version of the game is a draw with perfect play or not (in contrast to the basic game which is known to be a draw). The extra victory condition might mean that perfect play results in a win for one of the two players.


The Winged Dragon of Ra's ATK & DEF increase

The card text on Winged Dragon of Ra (the playable one with effect text) specifies that the only timing for increasing Winged Dragon of Ra's attack and defense is when it is normal summoned. This is a separate effect from the monster destruction effect.

  When this card is Normal Summoned: You can pay LP so that you only have 100 left; this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the amount of LP paid.

This sentence, in Problem-Solving Card Text format, describes a single optional effect of the Winged Dragon of Ra. It specifies a timing (when Winged Dragon of Ra is Normal Summoned, as indicated by the colon), a cost (paying enough LP to lower the current player's LP total to 100, as indicated by the semicolon), and an effect that occurs if that specific cost is paid (Winged Dragon of Ra's ATK and DEF increase by the amount of LP paid at summon time).

As for Winged Dragon of Ra's other effect:

  You can pay 1000 LP, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy that target.

This describes a separate optional effect with no specific timing but with a cost AND targeting (as indicated by the semicolon). The effect also destroys the target and does absolutely nothing else because no other text is a part of that effect, even if it would lower the player's LP total to 100.


Killing opponent's Arclight Phoenixes with Massacre Girl, with Cauldron Familiar in graveyard

Your opponent can prevent another -1/-1 effect, no matter how you play it.

The clause "Whenever a creature dies this turn, each creature other than Massacre Girl gets -1/-1 until end of turn" is part of the Massacre Girl's ability, because there is no new paragraph separating the lines.

  113.2c An object may have multiple abilities. If the object is represented by a card, then aside from certain defined abilities that may be strung together on a single line (see rule 702, “Keyword Abilities”), each paragraph break in a card’s text marks a separate ability. [..]

It is a delayed triggered ability that only comes into existence as the ETB ability resolves. If the Familiar dies before the ETB has started resolving, it will not create another -1/-1 effect.

  603.7a Delayed triggered abilities are created during the resolution of spells or abilities, as the result of a replacement effect being applied, or as a result of a static ability that allows a player to take an action. A delayed triggered ability won’t trigger until it has actually been created, even if its trigger event occurred just beforehand. Other events that happen earlier may make the trigger event impossible.

If you return the Familiar after the ETB has resolved, your opponent can simply decline to Shock the Familiar.

Therefore, if your opponent plays correctly, you will not get a second -1/-1 effect and the Phoenixes will survive.


Mono-Red. Aggressive creatures and burn.

White Weenie. Aggressive creatures, cheap removal and equipment.

Mono-Black Aggro. Aggressive creatures, removal and discard.

U/W Control. Counterspells, board wipes, removal, card draw and a few big finishers.

5-Color Control. Like U/W but with more powerful spells and mana-fixing.

Reanimator. Put fatties in the graveyard and then reanimate them cheaply and quickly. This requires some card draw and filtering to go off reliably. This deck often contains removal and permission like a control deck, too.

Ramp. Spend your early turns putting extra lands on the battlefield and playing mana rocks. Then, start dropping fatties before your opponent can.

Storm Combo. Draw through your deck quickly, upping your storm count until you finish your opponent with Grapeshot or Empty the Warrens.

Land Destruction. Play mana rocks early and then cripple your opponent with a spell like Armageddon or Jokulhaups.


Can you re-equip equipment to the same creature?

Yes, you can choose the currently equipped creature to target with the equip ability since it doesn't require the target to be a different creature.

Note that if you have other cards that care about things becoming (un)equipped or (un)attached they will not trigger since the equipment never actually stops being equipped, and it doesn't gain a new timestamp.

  702.6a Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”


What does the Skaven-themed expansion to Chaos in the Old World add?

The rats are interesting:

They are actually very well balanced to my opinion. While giving more locations for Korne to attack, the rat king can easily kill korne's units if he pleases.

They don't really ruin a region considerably faster, but seem to be balanced in their ability to score points.

That said I'd play with the default 4 powers if I only had 4 people.

Additionally, the expansion adds more difficult old world cards, as well as alt decks for the normal powers.

My players haven't liked the alt-decks, except the alt-korne one (you're supposed to use all of the alt decks or nothing). We haven't tried the more difficult old world cards (which are supposed to make mutual loss much more likely).


Playing the Role of an Arkham Master in Arkham Horror?

You can find a good bit of info addressing your questions through ones already on the site:

Keep the game running smoothly:
How can we play a shorter but satisfying game of Arkham Horror?

"Quick" reference sheet:
What do you recommend putting in an Arkham Horror quick reference sheet?

On playing a 'Herald':
What can I do to ensure that my friends' first game of Arkham Horror with me is as awesome as possible?

But roughly, keeping people on task helps the game speed greatly. Having people know a general idea of where they'll want to move before their turn starts makes movement phase go much faster. It also isn't necessary all the time to make everyone wait for combat. If the outcome of the fight can't affect them, let them take their turn. Taking control of reading encounter cards for people helps trim down on the back-and-forth that can happen when the players don't know where each other are on the board.

Before playing, the players should know:

A rough detail of the four phases

Upkeep: Wiggle sliders & refresh cards
Movement: Move up to your speed. Stop at monsters & fight if necessary
Encounter: If you're in a spot with a picture, get a card
Mythos: A new gate & monsters show up. Too many gates and you lose

Skill checks: Number on the relevant stat + possible helpful items you have - number in the (). Get one success

Combat: Will check at the blue # penalty. Get one success. Then fight checks at the red # penalty. Weapons help. Need blood drops # of successes for combat

Gate closing: Go to a gate token, have a couple encounters where the token takes you, come back & make a fight/lore check. Repeat to win

Clues: Can spend 1 clue to roll 1 more die. Repeat as desired. Also you need 5 to make sure a gate never comes back

If find they don't need to know specifically how many monsters can be on the board, how many can go in the outskirts, & how many gates before losing. 8 players are going to need to be closing gates from the very beginning regardless.

For 'Herald' play I haven't done much more than drawing a few mythos cards and picking which one takes effect, drawing more monsters than necessary and choosing where they get placed, and not reading players the results of choices/success/failures from encounter cards before the result is decided.


Is an artifact paid ability considered a spell?

No, it is neither a spell nor black. Neither Demon's Horn's ability nor Staff of the Death Magus's ability will trigger when you activate Erebos's activated ability.

Spells are cards on the stack (and copies thereof). While activated abilities  are very similar to spells, they are not spells.

111.1. 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.”
111.1a A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card associated with it. See rule 706.10.
111.1b 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.

Furthermore, while Erobos is black, the ability on the stack has no color.

602.2. [...] Activating an ability follows the steps listed below, in order. [...]
602.2a The player announces that he or she is activating the ability. [...] That ability is created on the stack as an object that’s not a card. [...] It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. [...]
109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. [...]


The Mimeoplasm does enter as a copy of the chosen card even if it doesn't actually end up in exile.

This is the full text of The Mimeoplasm's ability:

  As The Mimeoplasm enters the battlefield, you may exile two creature cards from graveyards. If you do, it enters the battlefield as a copy of one of those cards with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to the power of the other card.

The first thing to note is the "If you do" clause in the second sentence. This means that "you may exile two creature cards from graveyards" is actually a cost, as specified in rule 117.12:

  Some spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities read, “[Do something]. If [a player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t], [effect].” or “[A player] may [do something]. If [that player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t], [effect].” The action [do something] is a cost, paid when the spell or ability resolves. The “If [a player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t]” clause checks whether the player chose to pay an optional cost or started to pay a mandatory cost, regardless of what events actually occurred.

The other important bit here is the last sentence. As long as you choose to pay the cost of exiling the cards, the action is performed even if the cards don't actually end up in exile.

In addition, The Mimeoplasm's ability refers to "those cards" instead of "the exiled cards" or otherwise explicitly looking at the exile zone. This means that the cards don't need to be in exile for The Mimeoplasm to become a copy of one or get the counters.


Scrabble - Parallel Words joined at one letter

The official rules state:
New words may be formed by:

Adding one or more letters to a word or letters already on the board.

Placing a word at right angles to a word already on the board. The new word must use
one of the letters already on the board or must add a letter to it.

Placing a complete word parallel to a word already played so that adjacent letters also form complete words.

And in the scoring examples, the last example shows a similar case to yours - the word BIT is played underneath PASTE as such:
  P A S T E
B I T

with the player scoring for the words BIT, PI and AT which are formed from the running parallel words. So yes, your example is valid - it is a single word, played parallel to an existing word, such that all adjacent tiles result in forming valid English words.


Paying with property wild cards, can they be placed anywhere?

Yes. Property cards - including wild cards - can be arranged however the receiving player sees fit, at any point during their turn. For two-colour wildcards, there is no restriction that these have to remain in the orientation that they were originally played.
Note that ten-colour wildcards have zero monetary value so should not be used to pay rent -see Property FAQ points 3 and 4 on monopolydealrules.com.


How to capture territories with no numbers printed on them?

Correct. A Japanese marker is placed on it as it is a captured territory by the enemy and should be treated as such by the allies.

I.e. allies can't land on it without taking it, it can't be blitzed through it without battling units in it etc.

Simply up it just had no IPC value.


The Super Intense Poison attack of Toxapex-GX says:

   Super Intense Poison
  Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Poisoned. Put 10 damage counters instead of 1 on that Pokémon between turns.

Special Conditions (including Poisoned) are considered an effect of an attack. It is not related to damage in any way. The second sentence alters the number of damage counters that are put on your opponent's Active Pokémon between turns, but this is also not considered damage.

Bent Spoon is a Pokémon Tool with this effect:

  Bent Spoon - Item - Pokémon Tool
  Prevent all effects of your opponent's attacks, except damage, done to the Pokémon this card is attached to. (Existing effects are not removed.)

Because the effect of Super Intense Poison is just creating an effect (Poison) on the targeted Pokémon, Bent Spoon prevents this effect from happening.

As a result, if your opponent's Active Pokémon has Bent Spoon attached, your Toxapex-GX's Super Intense Poison attack does nothing.

The "Put 10 damage counters instead of 1 on that Pokémon between turns." part is also prevented, so if your opponent's Active Pokémon is already Poisoned, the Poison does not get changed into 10-damage one.


I have played extensively in clubs in the US and Switzerland, and occasionally in other countries. Bidding boxes are now in almost universal use. Alert rules vary by country, and are substantially different from what you are used to in the ACBL. Fortunately most are simpler than the ACBL's. The club directors I met in Switzerland spoke excellent English -- I recommend asking. Be sure to inquire about Stop Card use as well.

The Swiss Bridge Federation (FSB) site is http://www.swiss-bridge.ch/ but I did not spot anything about alert rules.


Repeatedly targeting one creature with the same "target creature gains..." effect

You may continue casting Broken Fall to trigger Enchantress's Presence for as long as you have the mana to do so.
To break it down, in magic there are few cases where the game cares about what has happened previously (and when the game does care it is usually covered by the rules text on the card). So for your interaction the game sees it like this:

You cast Broken Fall paying its costs ({2}{G}) as per (601.2).
Enchantress triggers allowing you to draw a card.
Broken Fall resolves. You may now activate its ability.
You activate Broken Fall's ability, choosing a target and paying its costs (returning it to your hand). It should be noted that you can choose any creature for this not just your own, so no worries if you want to combo and have no creatures.
Broken Fall's ability resolves (or dosen't, if your opponent response is to either kill the target or stifle it) and the stack is now empty. You may now start again from the top.

Some things to note that your opponent might have had some trouble with:

Once a card enters a private zone (hand, library etc.) the game no longer tracks it. So from the games perspective it has no way of telling that Broken Fall is the same card once it enters your hand. So the game can't tell the difference between casting the same Broken Fall 4 times, or casting and returning to your hand four different copies of Broken Fall.

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...

A creature can have multiple regeneration effects applied to it. The regeneration replacement effects just queue up on the creature and are used up one at a time as needed and if not used disappear at the end of the turn. (Regneration 701.13, Replacement Effects 614.6-8)


Is it possible to postponed the Turn 7 reshuffle to Turn 8?

I've had many games without a turn 7 reshuffle. It's totally possible if playing with the 7 optional cards. This depends on the following:

How many cards are removed from the game in Turns 1-2.
How many cards are held in Turns 3-6: players may hold:

Multiple cards by playing The China Card, Ussuri River Skirmish/Cultural Revolution (multiple China card plays), SALT Negotiations;
No cards through the plays of Blockade, Five Year Plan, Grain Sales to Soviets, UN Intervention.
The space track may also throw a wrench into that, but we won't investigate it as impractical.

Whether Ask not what your country can do for you... or Our man in Tehran have been played or not. This technically falls into #2, but I consider them different enough to deserve a mention on their own.

Here is a theoretical example, assuming: the 3 aforementioned factors work in the way of delaying the reshuffle:

No events are removed in Turns 1-2.
No China Card play in Turns 3-6.

Turns 1-2

There are 38 early war cards: 3 scoring, 6 neutral, 14 US, 15 USSR. For the sake of simplicity, let's also assume no China Card play or hand-size reductions in Turns 1-2, albeit you shall see that it does not affect our analysis. Thus, we assume that players hold a single card in both turns.

16 cards will be drawn on Turn 1, leaving the deck with 22 cards.
14 cards will be drawn on Turn 2, leaving the deck with 8 cards.
At the end of Turn 2, there will thus be at most 14+14=28 cards in the discard pile, assuming that no starred events were removed.

There is no way to trigger the first reshuffle earlier or later than turn 3. On the one hand, there are at most 3 hand-size reductions (Blockade, Five Year Plan, UN Intervention), which would leave the draw pile at the beginning of Turn 2 with 5 cards, if all were played on Turn 1. On the other hand, only 2 extra cards may be held, during Turns 1-2, still not enough to delay the Turn 3 reshuffle.

Turn 3

When dealing cards on Turn 3, there are:

8 cards in the draw pile
14 cards that have to be dealt
28 cards (at most) in the discard pile

Therefore:

The first 8 cards are dealt to both players.
The (max) 28 discarded cards are reshuffled to form a new draw pile.
Finally, 6 more cards are dealt to each player, leaving the deck with 22 cards.

Note that prior hand-size reductions or plays of the China Card in Turns 1-2 do not affect the aforementioned numbers. If players hold more or less cards, this will of course affect which cards are held through the reshuffle, but not the total number of them. For instance, if the US cannot hold a card on Turn 2 due to Blockade, then at the beginning of Turn 3 there are 15 cards to be dealt, but also 29 cards in the discard pile, thus not affecting our numbers at all.

Let's assume now that both players will now on hold exactly one card, thus holding 1 card at the end of Turn 3.

Turns 4-7

There are 48 mid war cards: 4 scoring, 11 neutral, 18 US, 15 USSR. On turn 4:

There are 22 cards remaining from the early war.
The 48 mid war cards are shuffled in the draw pile.
A new pile is formed of 70 cards in total.
We assume that players hold a single card and thus 16 cards are dealt each turn.

This would mean that at the beginning of Turn 7 there will be 70 - 16×4 = 6 cards in the draw pile, thus not triggering a reshuffle! This would lead to the 23 late war cards being added in Turn 8, leading to a delayed Turn 9 reshuffle. This would mean that all late war cards would be guaranteed to be drawn by the beginning of Turn 9.

Hastening the reshuffle

The aforementioned analysis suggests that 6 cards need to be "eliminated" to trigger a Turn 7 reshuffle. These could be:

Early war starred events eliminated in Turns 1-2, thus not entering the reshuffle.
Hand-size reductions during Turns 3-6, increasing the number of cards that need to be drawn.
Playing Ask not what your country can do for you... or Our man in Tehran, which either thin the draw pile or cycle faster through it, respectively. These may also be played on Turn 7, not just during Turns 4-6.

On the other hand, not removing many starred events in Turns 1-2 and successive plays of the China card in Turns 3-4 would result in not triggering the Turn 7 reshuffle. Playing SALT negotiations lets you hold multiple cards, thus delaying the reshuffle as well.

Fine notes: if the reshuffle has not been triggered by Turn 7 and the US player holds Our man in Tehran, then they have a huge control on what will enter the reshuffle or not, if there are at most 5 cards remaining in the draw pile. In this case, he should:

Play as many US cards or scoring cards he would like to enter the reshuffle again.
Play Our man in Tehran to trigger the reshuffle.
Play Ask not what your country can do for you... to discard the USSR or scoring cards they would like to miss the reshuffle (or just space the former).


Can I use Decoy Dragon's effect after Dream Sprite's effect?

In short, Decoy Dragon would be attacked, due to an important part of Dreamsprite:

  When attacked by your opponent's monster, select another 1 of your Monster Cards and designate it as the attack's target, then calculate damage.

This means that damage calculation must be immediately performed, so the Battle Step has been skipped. As Decoy Dragon's effect is activated "when this card is selected as an attack target by your opponent's monster", it is only performed on the Battle Step (as that is when it is targeted), so is not activated in this case. An official ruling also backs this statement up:

  "Decoy Dragon's" effect is activated during the Battle Step when it is selected as the target for your opponent's attacking monster.

To back this up further Konami has also ruled the following two things about Dreamsprite:

  If you control "Dreamsprite", "The Legendary Fisherman", and "Umi" is on the field, "Dreamsprite"’s effect can still change an attack target to "The Legendary Fisherman" because he is not being targeted with an attack, but is being targeted with a monster effect.

This means that Decoy Dragon would NOT be being targeted by the opponent's monster, but by Dreamsprite's effect.

  If you control two "Dreamsprites" and one is attacked, you cannot continue to switch the attack target between the two "Dreamsprites" because the effect of "Dreamsprite" says that you must calculate damage on the new target.

This further emphasises the point that the Battle Step is ended due to the effect.

I hope this helps!

Source: Konami's Individual Card Rulings (web archive version as it has not been online since early 2013): http://web.archive.org/web/20090218205242/http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/yugioh/en/gameplay/faqs/cardfaqs/default.aspx?first=D&last=E


Steam Park: Should danari count be secret from other players?

It looks like you have it correct.
The designer demonstrates hiding his income when explaining the prototype of the game in 2012. (T=8:23 of this video)
He says explicitly in this video from Spiel 2013: "Money are kept secret." (T=9:48)
Later video reviews and/or game play explainer videos also concur:

Tom Vasel (T=7:40)
Dice Tower (T=10:02)


Usage of Philanthropist Flare as Schizoid

I'll start by saying that there won't be an explicit answer to this question. Cosmic Encounter is about interactions, and given the number of aliens with different powers, sometimes you just have to make it up as you go and use some logic to come to the best conclusion. I think this is probably one of those situations.

My interpretation would be when you play the Philanthropist Flare as the Schizoid, the player you lend your power to can look at the win condition. The most logical reasoning for this is presented by dorakeen in a different answer: the player with the Schizoid power "is responsible to announce when any player(s) have fulfilled the winning conditions". When you use the Philanthropist Flare, you no longer have your power and as such cannot declare a win condition met. The person who is now the Schizoid, even temporarily, has that job.

Additionally, there's nothing on the Schizoid card that says you can't show the alternate win condition to other players. If something in the game would cause that card to be revealed to another player or players for some reason, nothing is there to stop that event. The lack of specification about whether other players could see that card leads me to believe that it could be shown.

Having said that, if you and your game group feel that the answer is actually no, there's nothing in the rules to contradict you. Remember the game is about interactions, so do what makes the most sense to you.


What well designed Icehouse games are available for two people?

My favorite 2-player Icehouse game is Volcano, you need to print out one sheet of paper with the "board" (though you could still play without it), rules are simple but the game is quite deep in strategy. The game requires 6 stashes of different colors.


Stacking Sensei's Divining Top Abilities

Yes, you can do exactly what you describe. You can activate Top's first ability, then, while that ability is on the stack, activate its second ability. Then the second ability will resolve, and you will draw a card, then put Top on top of your library. Finally, the first ability will resolve, and you will look at and reorder the top three cards of your library, including the Top you just put there.


No.

If there are 4 or fewer players currently in the game (i.e. not including players who have been eliminated), then there can only be 1 monster in Tokyo, occupying Tokyo City. The only way for another monster to enter Tokyo is for the monster in Tokyo to leave, and unless someone uses an ability to kick the monster in Tokyo out, then this only happens if a player damages the monster in Tokyo, causing them to yield (and hence leave Tokyo).

If there are 5 or more players, then Tokyo Bay is also available to be occupied by a single monster. If the monster in Tokyo City leaves, then the monster in Tokyo Bay moves to the City and the monster who caused the departure moves into Tokyo Bay. If both monsters leave Tokyo, then the monster who caused their departure moves into Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay remains unoccupied until another player rolls claws.


What happens if a double-faced card that is copying a different double-faced card transforms, without exile?

In the first 2 cases, you end up still having a copy of the same creature you were already copying.

You are able to follow the instruction to transform it normally:

  701.27a To transform a permanent, turn it over so that its other face is up. Only permanents represented by double-faced cards can transform.

With Meld cards, you would never actually perform the transform:

  711.1d Meld cards have a Magic card face on one side and half of an oversized Magic card face on the other. These aren’t double-faced cards and are subject to their own set of rules. See rule 712, “Meld Cards.”

So these are subject to 701.27c:

  701.27c If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent that isn’t represented by a double-faced card, nothing happens.

Nothing about transforming would cause the Metamorphic Alteration to fall off, so after it transforms, the enchantment is still there, and it would still be making your creature a copy of whatever was chosen.

  706.8. When copying a double-faced permanent, a face-up meld card, or a melded permanent, only the copiable values of the face that’s currently up are copied.

So the physical card would be transformed, but now instead of Reckless Waif being made into a copy of Huntmaster of the Fells, you have Merciless Predator being made into a copy of Huntmaster of the Fells.

If the card it was copying has a when-transform trigger, such as Huntmaster of the Fells, then that ability will trigger:

  701.27e Some triggered abilities trigger when an object “transforms into” an object with a specified characteristic. Such an ability triggers if the object transforms and has the specified characteristic immediately after it transforms.

So the object transformed, and it has the specified characteristic (name), because it is Huntmaster of the Fells. So you will create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token and gain 2 life, even though you transformed from Huntmaster into Huntmaster.

If the enchantment ever goes away, then you will suddenly have a Merciless Predator or a Jace, Telepath Unbound. In the second example, Jace will immediately go to the graveyard for having 0 loyalty tokens.

Also note that in this case, Metamorphic Alteration will be legally enchanting Jace, Telepath Unbound, even though it couldn't normally be chosen as a legal target for it. This is because the copy effect is making it a creature, not a planeswalker.


What is this game with pegs in holes, jumping and capturing each other?

This is Peg Solitaire, also simply known as 'Solitaire'. The empty hole is usually located in the center of the board, but for variations and different shaped boards this is not always true. This size board makes it relatively easy to simply memorize a winning series of moves, but for larger boards a player may never find that series and will spend more time exploring possible games even from a single starting position.


If a sorcery card gives -X/-X to a 1/1 creature till end of turn does the creature die?

The creatures die in all of those cases. If a creature's toughness is reduced to zero (or less), it is immediately put into the graveyard. It doesn't matter if at the end of the turn its toughness would become positive again; it died long before then. There's no coming back from the dead (not without playing a card like Unburial Rites, anyway). In the third case, when the creature dies, since Dead Weight no longer has a creature to enchant, it also immediately goes to the graveyard.

If you care about details of the rules, this is an example of a state-based action. Here's the actual rule:

  704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard. ...

State-based actions happen automatically*; others you already know include creatures dying when they've taken lethal damage or you dying when your life is zero. Another state-based action: auras being put into the graveyard when the creature they enchanted dies (like I mentioned with Dead Weight).

One more general thing you should learn here: when an object changes zones, like a creature being moved from the battlefield to the graveyard, it doesn't "remember" anything about where it came from. The creature card in your graveyard doesn't know it used to be a creature on the battlefield, that its toughness was reduced, and so on. It's just in the graveyard, and it stays there. (If you're curious, this is comp rule 400.7. - it does have a few specific exceptions, mostly things that you'd expect are necessary to make cards work.)

* State-based actions don't technically happen immediately; they happen whenever a player would get priority. This distinction doesn't usually matter, though - pretty much, it means the creature dies when the spell or ability finishes resolving, not halfway through, which doesn't usually make a difference.


When do artifacts lose hexproof when Padeem, Consul of Innovation dies?

tl;dr: Padeem dies from lethal damage before triggered abilities do anything, so the artifacts will not be protected by Hexproof.
When combat damage is assigned, Brood Sliver's ability triggers. However:

603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point.
603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack [...] the next time a player would receive priority.

State-based actions, such as Padeem dying from lethal damage, occur right before any player gets priority (see 704.3). Thus Padeem is off the board, and its static effect is gone, before Brood Sliver's ability is even put onto the stack, and long before it actually resolves (which is when the artifact-destruction ability would trigger).


Does a +1/+1 counter remove a -1/-1 counter?

121.3. If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it as a state-based action, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it. See rule 704.

Both counters will be removed as a state-based action (N=1). Your creature will be able to block and attack.


Is the Catapult expansion as cool as it sounds?

I have seen it demoed before, and I have no intention of getting it.

It definitely seems like a novelty, or at least for a younger demographic.  Judging by the reviews and ratings on BoardGameGeek, I'm not the only one who feels that way -- on their 1-10 scale, the Catapult expansion is rated a full 2.5 stars lower than the main Carcassonne set itself.

Personally, I don't like the idea of adding dexterity to my strategy games, and the new tiles look overly cutesy, but I could see kids getting a big kick out of it.


How do Snapcaster Mage and Cipher cards interact?

Yes. Cipher will continue to work as normal.

Cipher exiles the card it encodes.

  Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.

The relevant part of Flashback is the following replacement effect:

  If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.

Flashback does absolutely nothing if you exile a card using Cipher because the card is not put "anywhere [other than exile]" when it leaves the stack. Cipher will continue to work as normal.

If you chose not to encode the card, Flashback will cause it to be exiled instead of going to the graveyard.


This die is from the game Throw 'n Go Jenga, which is a Jenga variant.

Check this link:
https://board-games-galore.fandom.com/wiki/Jenga


Unfortunately, neither of these spells will help you in this situation.

Vines of Vastwood, sadly, doesn't actually grant hexproof.  It appears to, as it has the same wording (and the latest Oracle text keeps this wording), but it doesn't actually give hexproof to the creature. This is an important distinction, because even if you play it on an opponent's creature, it doesn't prevent your spells or abilities, only those of your opponents, as worded.
(It really should be reworded to hexproof, but it hasn't been.)

Ranger's Guile is no use for a simpler reason: you can't cast it on the Standard Bearer, because it can only target a creature you control. Even the Standard Bearer's ability doesn't redirect Ranger's Guile; as the bearer isn't a legal target for the Guile, the ability never triggers.


Can you add the same hit as someone else?

You were correct

There's two key phrases in the Hit rule to support this,

  You make a hit by putting a card directly on a Phase already laid down. The card must properly fit with the cards already down.

The first phrase deals with your cards being added to the played Phase and not a separate "also could legally go here" pile. In effect, your card becomes part of the phase. This leads to the second part: since your card is now part of the Phase, a duplicate would not properly fit (at least in this example of a straight Phase).

Your opponent can still play the 10 because that will properly fit the run, and either of you could subsequently add a 3, or 11, etc.


In Go can you put a counter in a place that had a prisoner

After a piece and/or group is completely out of liberties, it is removed immediately.

The only rule that would really prevent you from placing a stone back on the captured space is the ko rule, in which you can't re-place exactly the same stone that was just captured in such a way that it completely re-creates the board position from the previous turn (otherwise, you'd basically be stuck in an infinite loop of capturing and re-capturing the same stone ad nauseum and that ain't no fun).

If re-placing your stone doesn't re-create the board position, it's fine.

For example:

$$ A simple ko
$$ . . . . . .
$$ . . O X . .
$$ . O 1 a X .
$$ . . O X . .
$$ . . . . . .

When white plays at a, the black stone at 1 is immediately captured. Black can't then play again at 1 immediately since this would re-create the entire board position (black would be capturing exactly the same stone white just played to capture the original black stone). Black needs to play somewhere else first.

However:

$$ B Not a ko
$$ . . . . . . .
$$ . . X O O . .
$$ . X 2 a 1 O .
$$ . . X O O . .
$$ . . . . . . .

The black stone at a will capture the white stone at 2, however in this case white can play back at 2 immediately since that move will capture both the black stones at 1 and a: This is not re-creating the board position so it's completely legal.

The ko rule only applies to the turn immediately after the capture; once you've played somewhere else, and your opponent has played somewhere else, you can go back and re-capture the stone (if he hasn't defended it) by playing in your original spot just like normal.

Of note, there is another related rule known as the superko rule, which is basically the same thing except it's not limited to the immediate next move. For example, any move that results in the exact same board position being re-created, even if that takes place two or more turns later, could also be prohibited. However, the superko rule isn't as universal as a regular ko, and the exact implementation (or whether it's implemented at all) would depend on your particular ruleset. In casual play, it rarely if ever comes up.


Is there any way my opponent can prevent me from winning in this situation?

Considering only the cards mentioned, and assuming you chose the proper targets for the triggered abilities, your opponent is guaranteed to lose once you block with the Fiend.

The active player is the player taking the current turn [CR 102.1], not the player with priority or anything like that. So in that entire sequence, there is no way for your opponent's triggered abilities to go on the stack on top of yours. As mentioned in the question, both of your abilities go on top of the stack and each deals 1 damage to the opponent, so they lose before their own creature's triggered ability can resolve.


How can I put custom symbols on the side of blank foam dice?

You may have better luck if you start with a coat of primer that is intended for foam, such as this: http://www.krylon.com/products/craft-foam-primer/

Also, a clear top coat might help.


The Unofficial Bang! Blog has, among other great variations, a set of instructions (pdf) for single player Bang!

The main changes in this solitaire version are that all roles and cards held are known to the player from the beginning, and that you play as both the sheriff and the deputy, with other "NPCs" making semi-predetermined moves.

You can increase the difficulty by giving more cards to NPCs at the start, but not too many! The author can barely survive with two cards given to each NPC at start. (I'm afraid even I'm not that good :p)

Not always having a large crowd to Bang with, I have thoroughly enjoyed this rule set and have now almost played it more than "normal" Bang!


Yes, Day of Judgement will destroy a creature with Protection from White.

(from AlexP) No, Elite Inquisitor cannot be blocked by Zombies. Elite Inquisitor can, block Zombies normally. If a Zombie would assign combat damage to him, it is prevented and he takes no damage instead.

Protection from {quality}, grants four different things that can be easily remembered from the acronym, DEBT.

Creatures with Protection from {quality} cannot be:

D amaged, by sources with that quality (the damage is prevented).
E nchanted / E quipped / Fortified, by cards with that quality.
B locked, by creatures with that quality.
T argeted, by spells or abilities from sources with that quality.


How can we beat Prince of Gluttons in Aeon's End

Any tips to beat him?
-Great work gaining cards that were devoured. That helps.
-Consider that when you gain any cards from the supply you help the Prince. How much damage can you do based on minimal card buys? For instance, buy ONLY ONE gem like Searing Ruby for the whole game. Now, how can you set up a hand to be that Ruby + 4 Crystals? Because 7 aether can buy any spell in the game. Now you're cooking.
-Consider player health and Gravehold's health as a just another resource you're spending. If players and Gravehold are at full health but you lose because Prince devoured the store then maybe you were being overprotective. Take some trade offs, absorb more damage and focus on preventing devours and dealing damage on the Prince.
-If you're losing because of Devours than defensive mages like Brama (heal player health) and Phaedraxa (prevent damage) don't have abilities that help. Better to choose attackers like Jian and Kadir and win during Tier 2.
-You know the cards. You know what's coming. What are you keeping prepped to crush Cerephage?
Specific compositions to have? Do we need to buy expansion packs to get better/other mages/cards?
-No. My partner and I have played an embarrassing amount. We have no trouble against the Prince with randomly chosen mages and supply.
Soft advice for new players.
-You'll get it with more playing/experimenting.
-Look at high cost cards that don't seem worth it. The design team is smart. Challenge yourself to think about why those strange cards are so valuable. You'll unlock another insight to help.
-This is a game about efficiency. You want to play 'tight' where nothing is wasted. I often see new players love opening breaches (because it's rad) without any spells to prep. Having 1 aether left over that you do nothing with is like a tiny bit of damage to the team.
-How's your development? Your decks start wimpy, start to grow, then at least one player should be ready to drop bombs. The minions are a decent measuring stick. If a minion, like Tier 2 Venomite (9) appears then at least one player should be reasonably positioned to deal out at least 9 damage in the round.
-The endgame is often a 'boss rush'. All players need to agree it's time to go all in on damaging the boss, absorbing damage from nemesis cards.
-For practice, if you're playing 2 or 3 player, put more Tier 1 and Tier 2 cards in the nemesis deck. This is how we got our first victories many battles ago. It will make the game a bit easier but still give you a lot of practice.
-Experiment by playing a battle where you ALWAYS prevent a nemesis Power card.
Sorry for the long answer :) I hope this finds a player who finds it useful. Needless to say, we've really enjoyed this game.


Note that (1) and (2) are satisfied by any derangement of the cards. There are probably many "mappings" that satisfy your conditions, but since all you seek is one possible answer, I propose the following solution.

For the values, map them in this way:

A -> 2, 2 -> 4, 3-> 6, 4 -> 8, 5 -> 10, 6 -> Q, 7 -> A, 8 -> 3, 9 -> 5, 10 -> 7, J -> 9, Q -> J, K -> K

Then: A234567890JQK -> 24680QA3579JK

So clearly any straight will not map to any straight. And because any 4 of a kind maps to a 4 of a kind, there won't be any suit duplication (your condition 3).

For the suits, consider some order of the suits [clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades]:

For values A-4: map to the same suit
For values 5-8: map to the next suit (e.g. clubs -> diamonds, spades -> clubs)
For values 9-Q: map to the previous suit
For K: map to the "opposite suit"

Then any flush (which consists of 5 cards of the same suit) cannot map to a flush, because you cannot obtain more than 4 cards of the same suit if you start with a flush.

Note that changing the suit of the K resolves the issue where K -> K, since it is required that no card be its own "twin".


Bottom card drawn during epidemic: What happens if there is already more than one disease cube in the city?

This is actually explicitly mentioned in the rulebook, on page 6, under Epidemics:

  2)   Infect: Take the bottom card from the Infection Draw Pile and add 3 cubes to the city pictured on the card, then place the card into the Infection Discard Pile. Note: No city can contain more than 3 cubes of any one colour. If the Epidemic would cause the city to exceed that limit, any excess cubes are returned to the stock and an outbreak is triggered. See rules for Outbreaks on page 7.

Note that this is only one outbreak:

  any excess cubes are returned to the stock and an outbreak is triggered

If Mumbai has 2 black cubes, and comes up during the Infect phase of the epidemic, Mumbai only outbreaks once, and ends up with 3 cubes. Of course, this outbreak might cause chain reactions as usual (which, as usual, cannot cause Mumbai to outbreak a second time during the chain reaction).

The best way to prevent this situation is to keep track of the cities that might outbreak (3 cube cities that aren't in the infection discard pile, or if the infection discard pile is getting large, all 3 cube cities), and reduce them to 1 cube cities. I think it's also important to deal with cities that have just had outbreaks - since if they pop again, there will be a large group of interconnected 2/3 cube cities, leading to the loss situation you describe.

Keep in mind that the particular draw of the setup, affects the difficulty a lot - in my opinion, much more than the number of epidemic cards in the deck. One way to deal with this is to choose the number of epidemic cards to play with after you've set up the initial infected cities.


Do events that occur "After the Activate Cylon Ships step" occur on revealed Cylon turns?

This question was apparently put to Fantasy Flight Games and their ruling was that the current player would simply discard the Crisis card and then resolve the top card of the Crisis deck (as instructed in the parenthesis).

(According to this link: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/398485/rule-question-revealed-cylon-caprica-and-fulfill)

I've only played BSG once and I was quite drunk at the time, so I'm hesitant to unpack things any further than that, but I hope this link is enough to settle your doubts!


What is the best opening in Hansa Teutonica?

As the first player in a 4 or 5 player game, I like to play a merchant (disk) and a trader (cube), one on each road into the action city. In the crowd I play with, these roads are highly contended, so I will likely have 3 additional pieces on the board before my next turn. This will leave me in good position to become the third player to get a third action, or perhaps the first to improve the movement or refresh skill, or to get the "remove 3 pieces" bonus marker. In short, I find it maximizes my flexibility while getting additional pieces onto the board.


Locking Assigned Dice During Resolution Phase in Elder Sign

Yes, that would be correct.

The task on the current adventure is complete, and absolutely nothing in the rules states that anything can change that task state back to incomplete during the current turn.  So up until the adventure card is completed and awarded, or in the end is failed and all the dice cleared, it's good.  Even if it was a monster task, there is no rule that states the task can then be failed.

The specific text under the "Locked Die" says that:

  Locked dice cannot be in the dice pool until they are unlocked.

If the die hadn't yet been used and was still in the pool, it would have immediately been removed from the pool and you would have been out of luck.  Since it wasn't in the pool, just set aside to mark the task completion, the ruling was fine.

It could have been moved immediately to the locked marker and it would have simply been "understood" that the task was still complete, or as you did, simply moved it after it was no longer needed to mark the task.


In Elder Sign, can I free a focused die?

No.  Once focused, a die may only be used to complete a task using its locked side.

This is not specifically mentioned in the rules or the FAQ sheet - however, based on other rulings in the FAQ, it is clear that not being mentioned in the RAW is not considered proof positive that a rule doesn't exist by the creators.  Focused dice are especially limited in usage, and they seem to be intended to be used only in a very specific way.  I believe you should go with the same ruling as the video game.


If someone surrenders can I check their graveyard?

Once a player concedes they aren't required to show you their graveyard, as at the same time the player leaves the game so does their graveyard (rule 800.4a.).
While rule 400.2. means that you can look at their graveyard at any time because it's a public zone, rulings relating to 104.3a. mean that a player can concede prior to actually showing you the graveyard after you have requested to see it.
However, as the cards that are being milled are entering a public zone it is entirely within your rights to ask to view them as they enter the graveyard, again the player can concede at this point, but you may be more likely to see what's being milled if you view the cards at the same time as the other player.
Related rules:

104.3a. A player can concede the game at any time. A player who concedes leaves the game immediately. He or she loses the game.
400.2. Public zones are zones in which all players can see the cards’ faces, except for those cards that some rule or effect specifically allow to be face down. Graveyard, battlefield, stack, exile, ante, and command are public zones. Hidden zones are zones in which not all players can be expected to see the cards’ faces. Library and hand are hidden zones, even if all the cards in one such zone happen to be revealed.
800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game, any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end, and all spells and abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game.


Does a card with "put into play" trigger an "enters the battlefield" effect?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer:
Your confusion stems from a change in terminology that took place in July 2009:

The in-play zone is now the battlefield.
This was the single biggest Oracle change. A lot of cards—no, seriously, a lot of cards—do something when they enter the battlefield, or do something when they leave the battlefield, or enter the battlefield with counters on them, or put a token onto the battlefield, or so on. It stands to reason; the battlefield is the primary game zone. A total of 2,417 cards now say "battlefield" in their Oracle wordings.
There are a number of variations in the wordings. "Put [something] into play" became "Put [something] onto the battlefield." "When [something] comes into play" became "When [something] enters the battlefield." "From play" and "in play" became "from the battlefield" and "on the battlefield," respectively. There are others, but you get the idea.

Oracle is a database of all tournament-legal cards, which includes the up-to-date wordings that take rule changes into account.  If you had looked up your token-creating card on Gatherer after this change, you would have found that the Oracle wording of the card said something like "Put two horse tokens onto the battlefield."
Note that the wording used for this changed again in 2016. The release notes for Kaladesh explain the new terminology:

Starting with Kaladesh, you're going to see a new rules term on cards: create. This new bit of templating is a new way to say "put a token onto the battlefield." This isn't a functional change in any way. The tokens still enter the battlefield like they always did.

As with the previous update in 2009, older cards once again received Oracle text updates to reflect the new wording. You can see the difference on cards like Advent of the Wurm.


How does the following interaction with Swords to Plowshares and Death's Shadow work?

Yes, this is exactly what happens, so barring any other side effects*, you'll always end up with 13 life.

*: e.g. a card which doubles any life gained, like Boon Reflection (thanks @MichaelSnook)


Problems with learning curve and player elimination in Eclipse

Full disclosure: I have never played eclipse.

From what you describe about what you like and what you don't like I have some suggestions to make this game shorter and easier to learn.

House rules to the rescue!

I would start by making the game semi random. In really though draw based games where I am struggling with a multifaceted mechanic, I remove some of the facets so that I can focus on learning how to play with the others. In this case I would say eliminate an amount of 'bad' tiles/cards to perhaps focus on one facet of the game's strategy.

A game that does this flawlessly(where I got the idea) is Fluxx. With each 'flavor' of Fluxx there are new keepers and other cards added that are not core to the game. By removing them you can get the hang of the game and then incorporate the new content, modifying your strategy as you go.

This strategy often comes with a minimum of two benefits: it makes it easier to play at the outset and it also will usually unbalance the game and thus shorten time to a win condition.

If you don't like the idea of playing with fewer tiles or removing some of the bad ones, set up a limited number of times that you can 're-draw' if you truly think the card you drew is going to ruin you.(Think bennies from Savage Worlds)

This allows you to keep most of the balance and length of the game, but allow for exceptions with new players who are struggling to learn the strategy that may be totally destroyed by one bad draw because they had no idea that horrible thing could happen and thus never planned for it..

I would also enforce a team play situation: You can not win if player X has lost the game. In another answer I made this same suggestion. Play with 'conditional' alliances until there are only two players left, then it is all out war. This has the benefit of freeing up at least two players to play something else while the game goes on.

By eliminating some of the randomness and by enforcing 'conditional' alliances, you will see that the games will become shorter and the mechanics can be focused on. Eventually when everyone has a handle on the most basic strategy, you can include all the games original content little by little.

This also adds the benefit of making the game a bit 'new' each time you play and can make it a bit more interesting to learn.


After any stack-using effect(spell, ability, or otherwise) resolves, or whenever any player would get priority, the Active Player, (the player who's turn it is) gets priority first, and then the NonActive Player gets priority after the active player passes priority.

A player may put any number of spells onto the stack before they pass priority.

If multiple sources controlled by both players would trigger an effect at the same time, they're put on the stack in APNAP order. The Active player puts effects from his sources on the stack first, and he chooses the order for his own effects.  After all of the active player's effects have gone onto the stack, than the Non-active player can put his effects onto the stack, and he can chose the order in which they go onto the stack.

This results in the Non-active player's spells resolving first.


Counters can be removed.

However, I believe there is only one card that currently removes poison counters, and that is Leeches

  Target player loses all poison counters.  Leeches deals 1 damage to that player for each poison counter removed in this way.

Leeches was in the Homelands set.


An exiled planeswalker returned with loyalty higher than printed in Arena

Your thinking is correct, when Teferi, Hero of Dominaria returns from exile as a result of Banishing Light being destroyed, it is a brand new object that should be exactly as if it was being played for the first time.

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 several possible effects that could cause Teferi to have entered with 8 loyalty counters, but no way to know for sure what happened in your particular game unless you know the entire board state.
One simple possibility is that your opponent could have had Doubling Season or Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider or a similar card in play, which would cause their planeswalkers to enter with twice the normal amount of loyalty counters.
They also could have activated an ability such as Gilder Bairn as soon as Teferi entered play.


Starting out in MTG, but core sets are being phased out, so what to do?

If you want to start with a core set, Magic Origins is fine to buy - it's going to be in standard another 18 months. The changes are all in the future: no more core sets after this one, two-set blocks, changed rotation schedule. But that doesn't change that Magic Origins is here now!

Even if nothing were changing, it'd still be another year until the next core set, and if you're going to actually get into the game, a year is plenty of time that by then you wouldn't be worrying about core set vs "expert" expansion anyway. So it doesn't seem like the changes are really taking any intro-level stuff away from you. Besides, Wizards knows they need to keep the game at least a bit accessible to new players; I'm sure they'll keep creating things like the Duel Decks that'll give you a way to pick it up even once the core sets are gone.


The codex is law.

It's expected you follow the codex if it's available, otherwise the Index (with many races on it), otherwise the rulebook (if datas specific to an army are in it), otherwise previous codex, rinse and repeat.

Chapter approved are, like erratas, supplementary materials aimed to balance the game. Sadly, Chapter approved can be outdated. If your codex/index is more recent than the Chapter approved, the codex's price is the right one, otherwise it's Chapter approved.

If you do not own the Chapter approved and play in tournaments or whatever, they should be able to give you the correct prices for the units you want to play.

About the "GW are schmucks", they are a business company trying to make money out of your hobby. To do so they have to make it balanced (not funny when someone stomp you because his army is strictly better than your army), they have to make new releases often, and a lot of other things.

By releasing a lot of new things, they have to make sure it's balanced, why not make profits of it?

Also, Chapter approved ends up in erratas and in reprint, usually.

EDIT : Death Guard Codex released in September 2017, Chapter Approved released in December 2017, therefore Chapter Approved's rules should be used, if any. In your example the price tag should be 100. I also went to my local store and they assured me that if it's printed in your Codex and you do not own chapter approved, you can use your Codex's pricetag.


How do creature that exile themselves interact with Whip of Erebos?

The reason you can dodge the whip with an ability like that is the "instead of putting it anywhere else" clause in the whip's rule.  That ability only applies if the card is going somewhere besides exile, it is fine with allowing the Ghost Council to be exiled by their own ability.  So the Ghost Council is considered to have been exiled by its own ability, not by the whip, and its own ability will return it.


Expansion // Explosion and Alms Collector

Yes, Alms Collector will replace Explosion's draw effect, for the reason you mentioned.

The exact order of events is like this:

Explosion starts resolving.
Explosion deals 4 damage to Alms Collector.
Your opponent would draw 4 cards as the result of Explosion's second instruction, but Alms Collector replaces that effect. Instead, you and your opponent each draw 1 card.
Explosion finishes resolving and goes to the graveyard.
State-based actions are checked. Alms Collector dies because it has lethal damage marked on it.
The active player gains priority.


Should opener's NT rebids after 1-of-a-Major have different HCP ranges than with 1-of-a-Minor?

Probably most experts these days open 1NT with a balanced hand with a 5 card major in their NT range (whatever that is).  Many of them play conventions that allow their partner to ask if they have a 5-card major; probably the most common is for 3C to ask for a 5 card major, but some roll it into their 2C responses or use some other bid.
A few people still that 1H-1S-1N is a wide ranging bid, usually 12-bad17, and use a 2C artificial bid after the 1N to ask about strength and spade support.  (Crowhurst, or variants of Roudi)
Some experts play Gazilli, where 1H-1S-2C (as well as 1H-1N-2C and 1S-1N-2C) is forcing and shows either clubs as a second suit or 16+ points, over which 2D is an artifical response showing game values opposite the 16+ option and everything else denies that strength.  This eliminates the problem since 1H-1S-1N is now limited to 15.
Most somewhat advanced American players now play that 1M-2newsuit is game forcing, so there is never a need to jump to 3N at that point, though it's still useful to play 3N as a specific point range and 2N as other point ranges.  (My preference is that 1M-2X-2M can include a balanced minimum, saving more bidding space.)
If you don't want to learn any of these (or come up with your own), you just have to lie as best as you can.
As usual, agree whatever you want to do with partner.


Do Regenerate and/or Totem Armor counteract the Legend rule?

Nope. Regeneration and Totem Armor replace the "destroy" action, and the Legend Rule does not destroy.

704.5k If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are on the battlefield, all are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.” If only one of those permanents is legendary, this rule doesn’t apply.
701.12a If the effect of a resolving spell or ability regenerates a permanent, it creates a replacement effect that protects the permanent the next time it would be destroyed this turn. In this case, “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.”
702.87a Totem armor is a static ability that appears on some Auras. “Totem armor” means “If enchanted permanent would be destroyed, instead remove all damage marked on it and destroy this Aura.”
701.6b The only ways a permanent can be destroyed are as a result of an effect that uses the word “destroy” or as a result of the state-based actions that check for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g) or damage from a source with deathtouch (see rule 704.5h). If a permanent is put into its owner’s graveyard for any other reason, it hasn’t been “destroyed.”


Drafting without being able to look at your picks?

Competitive rules does not allow players to look at their previous picks during or between picks, only between rounds (between each boosters).
You are also not allowed to reorganize your picks until the end of the draft.
These rules prevents cheating and/or player mistakes while drafting.

In a non-professional environment, these rules are optional, so be sure to check with your LGS which one are enforced.

As for what to focus on remembering, the best answer would be "everything".

Curve, removals, the pace of the game, and color synergies are all very dependent on the current format.
You can find format-specific breakdown and strategies guides on the internets, but the best way to improve in real life drafting is experience.

From my experience, if you were to choose one thing to track, it would be your creature/non creature spells ratio, as it is a very important part of deck building in limited, regardless of the current format.


When should I avoid a small ship strategy?

In the base game, always.

Having a large ship full of useful tiles helps you deal with every situation better: guns for enemies, crew for abandoned ships and stations, engines for open space, cargo space to loot planets. And if something bad does happen, a large ship is more likely to be able to handle the mishap and keep going.

If the cards look dangerous, of course, you might want to take your time building and take appropriate precautions. If there are lots of small meteors, be careful about exposed connectors. If there are large meteors or enemies, deploy as many guns as you can. If it looks like you might take cannon fire--or meteors you can't handle--look for a shield and batteries.

Even if the worst happens, all that happens is you lose a few components, turning your large ship into the small ship you were planning anyway! If you're playing a ship with insurance, this is a paltry loss. If you're playing one without, it's a bigger deal, but if an opponent has a successful and safe run while you take a beating, you're going to have a difficult time catching up anyway, so you might as well plan for success.

In the expansions, there may be times when having a certain type of tile is a liability, but even then, more ship is usually better.


Can the hero who goes last push a monster off the end of the momentum track?

That is correct. See page 15 of the rules under 'Getting Wounded'.

If its momentum card is not on the edge of the momentum track when wounded, it shifts a number of steps equal to the number of remaining hits; if it reaches the edge, ignore the remainder.

Tactically, if there is only 1 target left, and it is not next to the Edge, then the last player should strongly consider taking the Plan action after powering and slotting Action cards.

Your advise was sound.


Are there any conditions or situations that prevent a player from choosing to be lead investigator?

The rulebook states:

  At the end of each Mythos Phase, the Lead Investigator may pass the Lead Investigator token to any player of his choice.

Therefore no, according to the rules.

As an added point. If the Lead investigator wanted to pass it to a dead character this would happen:

  If the defeated investigator has the Lead Investigator token, he must pass the token to an investigator of his choice.

But since New Investigators are chosen at the end of the Mythos phase as well you could always ensure that New Investigator choice takes precedence to prevent any chance of the dead player being left out.


Do opposite counters coexist or cancel each other out?

Zero counters. They cancel each other out.

  121.3. If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it as a state-based
  action, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1
  counters on it.


Does a -1/-1 effect from a static ability cause a creature to die before it can do anything, upon entering the battlefield?

Your elf can't do anything. It becomes a 0/0 just after it enters the battlefield, and pretty much immediately goes to the graveyard. There's no opportunity to activate the ability before it dies. This has to do with state-based actions, and the fact that they're checked before you get priority:

  704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for
  state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions
  simultaneously as a single event.

  704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard. Regeneration can’t replace this event.

Triggered abilities, such as that of Elvish Visionary, will still trigger. You will place the ability onto the stack as soon as you get priority, which in this case is after the creature is already dead.


Are there times NOT to bid 1NT with 15 high card points and a balanced hand?

I can't speak for most experts, but I can speak for myself. I never downgrade a balanced 15-count. I occasionally upgrade a balanced 14-count, and I know several good players who do it more frequently (and announce "a good 14-17" when their partners open). Likewise, I never downgrade an 18-count into a 1NT opener, but occasionally upgrade a 17-count into a 1-level opening followed by 2NT rebid (almost always when holding a decent 5-card suit, more frequently when the suit is a major).

On the subject of 5332s, a national champion once told me that when you hold a 5-card major with 15 or 16 HCP, you should either almost always or almost never open 1NT. He was in the almost always camp; he would prefer to open the major if literally all of his high-card points were in two suits.

As to 5422 shapes, whether you should open 1NT depends on a couple of things. Most important is rebid problems. If you have 5 diamonds and 4 hearts (e.g. xx AQxx AKJxx Qx), you will have a rebid problem after partner responds 1S or 1NT. I don't think this hand is good enough to reverse, and rebidding 2D is terrible, so I would open 1NT. On the other hand, if your hand is AQxx xx Qx AKJxx, you have a good rebid after any of partner's likely responses, so there's no need to open 1NT. A difficult case is when you hold 5 clubs and 4 diamonds; if you play Crawling Stayman (i.e. that 1NT-2C-2D-2H shows that responder has a weak hand with length in both majors), you should avoid opening 1NT without at least three cards in at least one major.

Another consideration for 5422 hands is whether your values are in your long suits or your short suits. A hand like Kx Qxxxx Kxxx AK has values concentrated in the short suits; consider opening 1NT instead of 1H.


If both players are killed at the same time, do they both die?

No, it's not correct, and no, it wasn't a draw.

As you know, if they were killed at the same time, it would be a draw. But they weren't killed at the same time. MTG is a turn-based game. It's impossible to cast two instants at the same time (at least under normal circumstances), and it's completely impossible for two instants to resolve at the same time.

Whoever had priority[1] got to cast their instant. Their opponent then got a chance to cast an instant in response. The instant cast in response, being cast last, will resolve first.

The game would have ended before the first instant had a chance to resolve.

It's not possible to determine who had priority from the info you provided. Being your turn, chances are it was you unless you just finished casting a spell.


Is it possible to have more than one active artifact in Redemption?

Yes, you may have two Artifacts active.

Solomon's Temple's rules text seems pretty clear on the matter:

  Holder may activate a second Artifact from Artifact pile or hand on this Fortress if that Artifact was found in Solomon's Temple. Artifact takes immediate effect.

The rules for Artifact Activation only prevent one artifact from being active on the artifact pile.

  Artifact Activation: Only one artifact in the artifact pile may be active at a time. Once per turn, you may select one artifact to be activated and flip it face up on your artifact pile.


What is this alternate cut after 3-3 against double keima round hoshi?


What exactly does the "If you do [...]" clause on Mimic Vat check for?

With the current Commander rules, there is no longer the mentioned replacement effect. Instead, if the commander moves to the graveyard or exile, its owner can then move it to the command zone as a state-based action afterward [CR 903.9]. That simplifies this scenario considerably: now you choose to exile the commander, and you do exile the commander, and then it moves to the command zone afterward. The condition is satisfied, and the Llanowar Elves moves to the graveyard.

Under the previous Commander rules, this worked as follows:
The correct interpretation is the second option. You have satisfied the condition, and Llanowar Elves ends up in its owner's graveyard. This is because rule 117.12 says

Some spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities read, "[Do something]. If [a player] [does or doesn't], [effect]." or "[A player] may [do something]. If [that player] [does or doesn't], [effect]." The action [do something] is a cost, paid when the spell or ability resolves. The "If [a player] [does or doesn't]" clause checks whether the player chose to pay an optional cost or started to pay a mandatory cost, regardless of what events actually occurred.

in addition, rule 117.11 says

The actions performed when paying a cost may be modified by effects. Even if they are, meaning the actions that are performed don't match the actions that are called for, the cost has still been paid.

In this specific scenario, the cost of moving Ezuri to the exile zone is replaced by moving it to the command zone, but the cost still counts as paid.


Can you get a single worker for a single die if you can only use one die roll?

You only need one die to get two workers
From the Castles of Burgundy rules, sourced here

Action "Take worker tiles"
Finally, a player may choose to use any die result to take 2 worker
tiles from the general supply. In this case, the die result itself is
meaningless.

The word 'die' is singular, indicating that you only need a single die to take this action.  This is in keeping with every other action in the game - every action takes exactly one die.
So any house rules are unnecessary.