What advantages do you have when attacking a village in Civilization?

You get several advantages when attacking a village.

1. You are the attacker and know what units they have

Being the attacker means they must play the first unit.  Even if you have not bought any additional unit cards, have no combat bonuses, nor have any unit upgrades from technology, and attack with a single army, you can still win the battle off of this alone as follows:

The village plays a unit (without loss of generality, let's say an archer)
You play the trump to that unit (in this case a horesman), killing it without taking damage
The village plays the trump to your unit (a spearman), killing it without taking damage
Etc. (you play an archer)
Etc. (they play a horseman)
You kill their last unit (you play an infantry)

Result: you win, losing 2 units

The big piece of variance here is the innate strength of the units.  Units range in base strength from 1 to 3.  A good draw for the village means they may have units that are stronger than yours, whereas a bad draw could leave them with units weaker than yours.  If the average strength in your deck is less than 2, do not attack a village with only one army.  Another problem here is that, while you win the battle and get the village token, you may lose your army since you lost 2 units in the battle.

2. You can bring more than three units

By attacking with multiple armies and having bought extra units, you can attack with more that the three units.  Not only will this practically guarantee victory, it also gives you more options in terms of what to play, allowing you to send your worse units out first (causing them to die and improve the average strength in your unit deck) and have more options with trump units.  Here is an example battle with 5 units (assuming all units are base strength 2):

The village plays a unit (let's say an archer)
You play the unit that is trumped by that unit (in this case a spearman) on a new front, since they no longer have a unit that can trump it
The village already played the trump to your unit, so they must play the same type (a spearman), killing both
You play the unit that is the trump to their remaining unit, which you know because they always have the same unit composition (they have horseman left, so a you play another spearman)
They play their remaining unit (a horseman) on a new front, since anywhere else it would be trumped
You play your remaining units on new fronts since there is no benefit to killing the village's units

Result: you win, losing only one unit

While you could do this with only three units in your battle hand, it is much less likely, since it requires them to play a specific one of their units first, which they probably won't do (especially if they have been paying attention to your purchases).

3. You can have combat bonuses

A combat bonus is part of the determination of who wins the battle.  A battle consists of each side playing all of the units they are allowed to bring as a result of their battle hand size.  Units may be killed during the battle, and this death is permanent.  However, you need not kill units to win the battle.  The winner of the battle is the person with the highest total of strength of surviving units, plus their combat bonus.  So, while a combat bonus does nothing to keep your units alive, it helps in you being considered the winner of the battle, independent of what happened in the fighting.  Since villages always fight with 3 rank one units and have no combat bonus, the most strength a village can ever have at the end of a battle is 9, so a +10 combat bonus guarantees that you will beat a village regardless of what happens in the battle, even if you have no units in your deck to fight with!  Obviously this is an extreme example, but even in less extreme cases, combat bonuses help you get the village token regardless of in-battle losses.

4. Your units can be higher level

This is the big one.  The other boons help you win, and having more units can help a lot.  This one helps a ton.  The villages always have the same units and their units are always level 1.  That means they deal at most 3 damage and have at most 3 health.  If any of the units you have in your battle hand are level 2 or level 3, that means you can now be running around with guys of 4 or even 5 strength; 3 strength also becomes much more common among your units.  With several level 3 units, you can sometimes win the battle without losing any units at all.  Leveling your units makes the threat of the village getting a good draw just so much less scary.  If there are still villages left by the time you get level 4 units, go pick them up.

5. You can use other technology abilities

You can use abilities on technologies like Mathematics or Animal Husbandry to help you win the battle.  The villages do not have any resource abilities at their disposal.  Spending a resource to win the battle can be a bit silly though, since beating the village may just give you the resource you spent to capture it (using an iron to capture a village that gives you an iron is not a great use of time or units).  The exception to this of course is if you have some other reason to want to win the battle, such as getting a coin on Code of Laws.  Abilities like 'Animal Husbandry' though (which are free), can help you win a no-casualties battle, especially if you have higher level units.

Conclusion

No, you don't get free units or inherent combat bonuses when fighting villages, but you do get to bring all of your technological might against their primitive army.  Consequently, fighting a village right out of the gate is probably a bad idea since that is when you have the fewest advantages.  Wait until you either have two armies and five units to bring to the battle, or until you've gotten a technology to level one of your units so that you only have to lose one or no units fighting the village.  These are the same things you will want for fighting other players as well.  The things you want to have are:

Higher ranked units
Combat bonuses from barracks/academies
More units (note that this requires you to have both more units in your reserves and multiple armies to allow you to bring extra units into battle)

One more thing to keep in mind: when fighting a village, killing their units doesn't matter; it's just about winning.  Consequently, don't waste your units that have a base strength of 3.  These units remain the best as you increase in technology; don't get them killed fighting barbarians.  Conversely, do lead with your units with a base strength of 1.  These units are not great to have in your deck and playing them early will not only cull them from your army, but will also force the barbarians to spend battle turns killing your crappy units instead of your good ones.


Is there a term for: "Doesn't untap during next untap step"?

Short answer, "no".
Long answer, "noooooooooo".

However, in casual games I [personally] tend to use the term "locked" or "locked down" if something doesn't untap during untap phases at all.

As SocioMatt suggested in the comments, "exhausted" would be a good turn for a single-hit of this on creatures. For permanents in general, you could say "delayed" - or for flavour representing disruption of a player's magical link to their permanent, something along the lines of "obscured" or "tangled".


You can tap lands for mana at almost any time. Pretty much any time you could do anything else, anyway. Among other things, you can tap land for mana any time you want to play a spell or ability and you need mana to do so.

You can only untap a land when you untap your other cards during YOUR untap step (or if a spell or ability instructs you to untap a card). So no, you cannot untap your lands after each phase when the mana they produced goes away, or during your opponent's untap step.

So without getting into the specific details of the comprehensive rules, which would just cause confusion for beginners, what you really need to know is that you can tap a land any time you need mana, and your lands will normally only untap at the beginning of your turn.

Relevant rules from the Basic Rulebook:

Under "Casting a Spell"

  Now check what the spell’s cost is. Tap your lands to
  produce the mana necessary to pay that cost, and pay it.

Also note that mana will empty from your mana pool at the end of every step, not just at the end of each phase. Each phase is divided into multiple steps.


Are rooms drawn because of tiles and cards always considered 'discovered' and thus the symbol on the card executed?

Any time you enter a newly-drawn room, you must resolve the symbol in that room if it has one.

The only way a room can appear in the house without having you enter that room at the same time is during a Haunt's setup instructions. During these setup instructions, you will ignore any symbols in the rooms, because there is no player entering the room to resolve the symbol.

The events that can cause you to need to draw a new room tile will also tell you to move into that room, and when you do so, you must resolve the symbol. Note that if you ever ignored symbols in this way, you could end up with a game where the Haunt never begins (you ignore an Omen symbol, and then you only have 12 Omens instead of 13 to resolve. And it is possible, though very unlikely, that you will still pass the Haunt role with 12 Omens. But with 13 Omens, it is impossible to pass the role so the Haunt begins).

The closest the rules get to being clear about this is here:

  A room may have a card symbol on it. The
  first time you discover a room with a card symbol, you must
  end your move in that room and draw the appropriate card.

It doesn't specifically define "discovering", but it seems that the only assumption where the game makes sense is that discovering is any form of drawing a new tile and entering that room.

Note that in the first edition, the event Revolving Wall specifically tells you to ignore any symbols in the new room, but this is a mistake due to the never-ending game problem and was fixed in the second edition. See the errata for the game:

  Revolving Wall -- This states, "Icons in [the newly drawn] room do not affect you this turn." Does this mean the icons affect you (thus ending your movement) on the next turn?

    Errata: Any icon in the new room does affect you when you enter. Otherwise it is possible (though unlikely) to have a game with no Haunt.


Can I transform Westvale Abbey during either assign attackers or assign blockers phase

You can transform Westvale Abbey at several points of the Combat phase and potentially use Ormendahl as an attacker or blocker.
The Abbey's abilities other than its mana ability are normal activated abilities that require you to have priority.
There are 5 steps to combat:

506.1. The combat phase has five steps, which proceed in order: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat.

During beginning of combat, everyone gets priority in APNAP order and you can transform Westvale Abbey. This is your last chance to transform if you want Ormendahl as an attacker this turn, and the other players will still get the opportunity to play instant spells and abilities after the Abbey has transformed.

Beginning of Combat Step

507.2. Second, the active player gets priority.

After everyone has passed priority, attackers are declared. If you are the attacking player, you can declare Ormendahl as an attacking creature if you controlled the permanent (Abbey/Ormendahl) uninterrupted since the  beginning of your turn, i.e. it has no summoning sickness. Directly afterwards, players again have the opportunity to cast spells and activate abilities. If you want Ormendahl as a blocker, now is your last chance to transform the Abbey.

Declare Attackers Step

508.1. First, the active player declares attackers. [..]
508.2. Second, the active player gets priority. [..]

Note that this means that as soon as the declare attackers step has started, anything that isn't already a creature cannot be declared to attack, and it's too late to transform the Abbey.
Next, blockers are declared (including another round of priority). Again, anything that isn't already a creature can't be declared a blocker.

Declare Blockers Step

509.1. First, the defending player declares blockers.
509.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority.

Finally, damage is dealt and combat ends.


Spy Kit + Oddly Uneven: How can I determine what should occur?

Having "all the names" does not mean the creature has one mega-name; it means it has multiple distinct names.

Does it have a name with an odd number of words in it? Yes.

Does it have a name with even number of words in it? Yes.

Therefore, it will be destroyed no matter which mode is chosen.


Once the last mythos card is flipped, is there no point to continuing the game?

Since most (or all) mysteries require waiting until the end of the mythos phase to officially complete them, is there no point to continuing the game once you flip the final mythos card and still haven't solved the first 3 mysteries?

In theory this is covered by the Reference Guide under Winning/Losing.

In practice, the official errata explains this:

  If a Mythos card cannot be drawn during the Mythos Phase, the Mythos Phase ends. Then, if investigators have not won the game, investigators lose the game.

So what happens is:

The mythos phase skips right to the end.
At this moment a Mystery card may say "At the end of the Mythos Phase, if [something], solve this Mystery". If this was the last mystery, the Ancient One sheet will usually say that you win.
Anyway, the rules say that you lose, because you had no Mythos Card to draw.
BUT the rules also say that if you win and lose at the same time, you win. (again Winning/Losing in the Reference Guide)

So if that was your last mystery, and you solved it, then you win.

As for beating the Ancient One: Yes, if a game component says you win, then you win. That's the actual rule (Winning/Losing).

Waiting until the end of Mythos Phase to win, is not a rule - it's written separately on each Ancient One's sheet.


Your opponent won the pot.

The fact that there's a flush on the table isn't relevant to whether or not your pocket cards matter. Each player creates the best 5-card hand that he can out of the total 7 cards (2 pocket cards plus 5 table cards). While it is possible that the best 5-card hand is the 5 table cards, that is not the case here.

The best 5-card hand that you could make was Q♠-J♠-8♠-7♠-6♠, and the best 5-card hand that your opponent could make was Q♠-J♠-10♠-8♠-6♠. Your opponent's resulting 5-card hand was better than yours. You both had a flush, so you look at the highest card you each had. This was a tie, so you look at the second-highest card. Still a tie, so you look at the third-highest. Your opponent's third-highest was an 10, while yours was an 8, so he wins.


Are 1/1 creatures sent to the graveyard from one damage before Rite of Passage's ability activates?

You opponent was correct and the creature will die.

In Magic the Gathering there is virtually nothing that "triggers instantaneously". With the exception of abilities that only create mana all abilities go on the stack. There are a few special actions that a player can perform that do not use the stack as well, but these are not considered "abilities" by the games rules. Also if there is an effect that says to do something "instead of" something else then the new action will occur when the original would and not go on the stack.

None of these exceptions are relevant here so when combat damage happens the the trigger will go on the stack, then state based actions will be checked and the creature will die before the ability resolves or any player gains priority. Even if you had a special action you could perform that would save the creature it will be dead before you have a chance to do it.


7 Wonders (Cities Expansion): War from both sides due to Peace Tokens

Once only. According to the cities rulebook, p. 5:

  If there are ever only 2 players left during a conflict resolution, they only face each other once and each take a single token.


Finishing a turn on a previously discovered room, draw icon card?

You only draw when you first discover a room

From Page 5 of the Second Edition rules (emphasis mine):

  A room may have a card symbol on it. The first time you discover a room with a card symbol, you must end your move in that room and draw the appropriate card.

There is no rule instructing you to draw cards during subsequent visits, therefore you do not draw it on subsequent turns.

Given that you cannot move after drawing a card, not following this rule would mean that adventurers would only ever be able to move through one room per turn (except for those without a card symbol). That would be a slow, plodding game that would mess with lots of haunts.


is it possible to target a player as if they were a Planeswalker?

No, you cannot target a player as if they were a planeswalker, and you cannot target a planeswalker as though it was a player. Saying that players are "planeswalkers" is simply part of the flavor of the game.

That being said, there are a couple of ways in which the rules treat planeswalkers as similar to players. While declaring attacks, you may declare that a creature is attacking a planeswalker instead of a player. That creature can be blocked by creatures the planeswalker's controller controls, and it deals combat damage to the planeswalker instead of the player. This is specified in rule 508.1b:

  If the defending player controls any planeswalkers, or the game allows the active player to attack multiple other players, the active player announces which player or planeswalker each of the chosen creatures is attacking.

In addition, if a source you control would deal damage to an opponent, you may choose to have that damage be dealt to a planeswalker that player controls instead. This is specified in rule 306.7 (from the reversed perspective):

  If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is applied.


When do you draw loose tiles in Chinese Mahjong?

From Tom Sloper's rules, there are no loose tiles:

After breaking the wall, each player takes 2 stacks (4 tiles) at a time until everyone has 12 tiles, then:
East takes one tile from the first and third stacks, and the following three players take one tile each in order.

This leaves East with 14 tiles and they discard to start the game.

Here's another set of rules that describes the same procedure but also has a different ending (East simply takes 2 tiles in a stack at the end).


Can You Directly Purchase A Hotel If All Houses Are Gone?

No.

You can only build a hotel if you have four houses on your properties.

You must build houses evenly.  That is, if you have three properties, then you must buy 1 house for A, 1 house for B, 1 house for C, 2nd house for A, 2nd house for B, 2nd house for C, and so on.

You cannot buy a hotel on one property.

If the houses are gone, then you cannot buy them.

https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/monins.pdf


Can you choose whether to use a character's ability after declaring or challenging?

No, you have to use the ability. According to the rules (English Rules, p. 7):

  If one of the players is indeed the announced character, that player
  immediately uses the character’s power (which can happen outside of their
  turn).

Since they don't state "may use", it's mandatory. In your case, Player A correctly challenged Player B, as he denied the latter getting the lead, which could be disastrous if Player B has a coin-generating character (King, Bishop, etc). At least, like that, Player A can choose to swap with a player who can't win, even with the lead, i.e., he has the Spy.


Can I steal a creature then block my own attack with it?

Your opponent was correct. Only creatures controlled by the defending player may be declared as blockers. "Control" doesn't just mean "you decide what it does", it means you control it just like all your other creatures. It's on your side of the battlefield now (temporarily).

But there are still an awful lot of nasty things you can do with a card like Temporary Insanity. For example:

When your opponent attacks you, you can steal one of their creatures and use it to block another of their creatures. (Temporary Insanity is an instant!)
You can steal your opponent's creature and use it to attack them. (Even better if they have to block it and/or kill it to stay alive!)
You can steal your opponent's creature and sacrifice it, if you have a way to do so (for example if you have a Butcher of the Horde).

And plenty of other things - those are just among the most common.

The only way you can force your opponent's creatures to block your attack is with cards that explicitly affect how blocking works. For example, Lure forces your opponent's creatures to block a specific one of yours. Or Brutal Hordechief will let you entirely choose how blocks happen!


Unstable Unicorns - what is the definition of "effect"?

Blinding Light treats your unicorns as if they have no text on them at all, except "Basic Unicorn." So if the Annoying Flying Unicorn is sacrificed or destroyed in your stable, it just gets discarded like any other dead unicorn. When you play a unicorn into a stable that already has Blinding Light, it does nothing – just like a Basic Unicorn.
When I looked up Blinding Light, I found this image, which has much less ambiguous text:

No mention of "special" effects, just all Unicorn card effects, i.e. all of the text at the bottom of a Unicorn card. (If your Unicorns were all Pandas, they would be unaffected by this card.)


Amulet of Sun artifact: lasts one turn, or the whole round?

All effects last only until end of turn. This includes the effects of Amulet of Sun.

The rules are unambiguous. From page 5:

1) Artifacts are Deeds.

  If an effect tells you to gain a new Deed card (Advanced Action, Spell, or Artifact)...

2) Effects come from Deeds, and last only until end of turn.

  Effects

  Deed cards... provide a variety of effects that may be used on a given turn.

  b. Other effects might allow you to modify the rules for the turn, or to gain something you wouldn't normally be able to gain...

  If the effect modifies some values or rules, the change always lasts until the end of the current turn (unless stated otherwise).

3) Amulet of Sun is an Artifact:

  Amulet of Sun

  Gain a gold mana token.

  [Basic]

  If played during the Night, forests have their move cost reduced to 3, you can use gold mana, and you reveal garrisons of nearby fortified sites and all ruins as if it were day.

  [Strong]

  Same as the basic effect, except you get three gold mana tokens instead of one.


In MTG, was there ever a five-color deck that worked well?

Yes. Emphatically yes.

Some notable examples include:

"The Deck" by Brian Weissman – a classic five-color control deck focused on reactive play and denial with only Serra Angel and Braingeyser as finishers; arguably the prototype for all control decks, and the strongest Magic deck of its day.

Jakub Slemr's 5-Color Black Weenie deck — a black-based creature aggro deck using cards of all five colors for efficient answers and disruption (and sheer card value from running most of Visions' good "ETB" creatures); 1997 World Champshiop winner.

Many Llorwyn-era Cruel Control decks, like this one — these were not as absolutely dominant as the previous examples, but Vivid lands made it reasonable to play even absurdly "greedy" combinations like putting Cloudthresher in the same deck as Cryptic Command and Cruel Ultimatum.

There are also numerous four-color decks that could possibly be adapted to a fifth color but don't really benefit from it much, especially in the modern day, when the Legacy/Vintage card pool is a lot deeper and "color pie" design conventions have changed a bit to make it easier to access certain effects without having to go into one specific color.

The reason you're stumbling is that pre-assembled multi-color decks tend to have garbage mana bases, because part of the game's business model is to force good multi-color supporting lands (which are highly desirable for a range of competitive decks) into rare/mythic slots, and preconstructed decks are limited to only including a handful of rares. On top of that, some styles of cards (like Moxes and no-drawbacks ABU dual lands) are considered too powerful to print today.

This answer discusses some of the benefits of four- and five- color decks, as well as tricks to their mana base construction, in more detail.


What pauper cards are legal in MTGO but not paper?

I have a program that lets me do weird queries, this was an interesting one to code.  Here are the results:

Adarkar Sentinel                  Addle                             Aeolipile
Afterlife                         Alluring Scent                    Anaba Ancestor
Anaba Spirit Crafter              Armored Griffin                   Arrogant Wurm
Balduvian Conjurer                Barktooth Warbeard                Battle Screech
Beetleback Chief                  Bone Flute                        Brass Man
Brilliant Plan                    Brindle Shoat                     Chainer's Edict
Circular Logic                    Citanul Druid                     Claws of Wirewood
Coal Golem                        Dauthi Mercenary                  Death Spark
Demonic Torment                   Desperate Charge                  Drift of the Dead
Ebony Horse                       Elephant Guide                    Elven Lyre
Exile                             Fellwar Stone                     Feral Thallid
Fire Drake                        Flying Carpet                     Foul Spirit
Gilded Light                      Glasses of Urza                   Goblin Commando
Goblin Firestarter                Goblin General                    Gravebind
Heavy Fog                         Hunting Cheetah                   Hyalopterous Lemure
Icatian Lieutenant                Icatian Phalanx                   Icequake
Icy Prison                        Ironhoof Ox                       Jedit Ojanen
Jerrard of the Closed Fist        Just Fate                         Killer Whale
Kjeldoran Elite Guard             Kjeldoran Skycaptain              Knights of Thorn
Kobold Taskmaster                 Lady Orca                         Lava Flow
Lesser Werewolf                   Library of Leng                   Lightning Blow
Mana Prism                        Mightstone                        Mistmoon Griffin
Oasis                             Obsianus Golem                    Ogre Taskmaster
Onulet                            Peach Garden Oath                 Phantasmal Forces
Phantasmal Mount                  Phantom Monster                   Predatory Nightstalker
Primal Clay                       Ramirez DePietro                  Red Cliffs Armada
Righteous Avengers                River Merfolk                     Rockslide Ambush
Roots                             Royal Trooper                     Sea Sprite
Shield Sphere                     Shu Elite Companions              Shu General
Shu Soldier-Farmers               Shyft                             Sir Shandlar of Eberyn
Sivitri Scarzam                   Skirge Familiar                   Skirk Drill Sergeant
Slashing Tiger                    Sol Grail                         Soltari Emissary
Spoils of Victory                 Strategic Planning                Tangle
Tawnos's Wand                     Telekinesis                       Thallid Devourer
The Lady of the Mountain          Thermokarst                       Thrull Retainer
Tobias Andrion                    Torsten Von Ursus                 Tribute to the Wild
Trip Wire                         Wall of Kelp                      Wall of Light
Wanderlust                        Warp Artifact                     Wei Elite Companions
Whiteout                          Wu Longbowman

EDIT: forgot Tempest Remastered:

Armor Sliver                      Barbed Sliver                     Bottle Gnomes
Elven Rite                        Horned Sliver                     Mnemonic Sliver
Patchwork Gnomes                  Skyshaper                         Staunch Defenders
Telethopter                       Verdigris                         Whispers of the Muse


A unit holding that has more or equal valid support to hold than its attacker stays put (wins).  Here are some examples:

Example 0: Greater Valid Support To Hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris
Army Ruhr supports Pairs

Paris's support plus itself is 3 strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong, so the defense is greater and Paris holds

Example 1: Equal Valid Support To Hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris

Paris's support plus itself is 2 strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and the tie does to the defender so Paris holds

Example 2: An invalid support

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Fleet Belgium supports Paris (* invalid -- you can only support where you can move *)

Paris's support from Belgium was invalid, so it doesn't exist.  Paris is at one strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and so Gascony wins and Paris is dislodged.

Example 3: A support of a move instead of a hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris -> Brest (* invalid -- Paris isn't trying to move to Brest *)

Paris's support from Belgium wasn't to hold, so it doesn't help.  Paris is at one strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and so Gascony wins and Paris is dislodged.


Rules of MTG Dive Down and spells priority

This goes to the basics of how the stack works. After a spell or ability has been played, but before it resolves ("takes effect") it goes on the stack. Then all players have the opportunity to play instants, spells with flash and activated abilities. If anyone does, that spell or ability goes on the stack on top of everything already there.

Only when all players pass on the opportunity to play anything does the top object on the stack resolve (or if the stack is empty, the game continues to the next phase / step instead). Then all players once again have an opportunity to play things.

So this is what happens in your case:

Your opponent plays Lightning Strike, targeting your goblin.
Before the Strike resolves (the damage happens), instead of passing, you play Dive Down, targeting your goblin. It goes on top of the Lightning Strike on the stack.
Guttersnipe triggers, and you put its ability on the stack on top of Dive Down.
Before the goblin's ability resolves, instead of passing, your opponent plays a new Lightning Strike, targeting your goblin. It goes on top of the stack.
You both pass, and the topmost spell on the stack resolves. Your goblin takes three damage and dies.
You both pass.
Guttersnipe's ability resolves, and your opponent takes two damage (the ability, once on the stack, doesn't care at all what happens to the Guttersnipe).
You both pass.
Your Dive Down tries to resolve, but all its targets are gone, so it just fizzles (does nothing, is removed from the stack).
You both pass.
The first Lightning Strike your opponent played tries to resolve, but all its targets have disappeared so it fizzles.

Note that your opponent can, if they choose, wait until Guttersnipe's ability has resolved before they play the second Lightning Strike, and the end result will be the same. This will matter if they, for instance, have an ability which lets them draw cards when they take damage. In that case they would want to see what the drawn card is in case it's a better card to use instead of the second Lightning Strike.


Who gets the Commander if it dies or is exiled with a coin counter from Athreos, Shroud-Veiled?

The commander's owner always gets to choose whether the commander remains in the graveyard to get returned, or whether it goes to (and remains in) the command zone. The only difference between the old and current rules is that under the old rules, Athreos didn't even trigger if the commander's owner choose to move it to the command zone.
Previously, moving a commander to the command zone was handled exclusively as a replacement effect. A commander that left the battlefield for any reason wouldn't even hit the zone it was going to, but straight to the command zone, if its owner chose to. In that case, Athreos wouldn't even trigger, let alone return the commander under your control.

903.9. If a commander would be exiled from anywhere or put into its owner’s hand, graveyard, or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event.

614.6. If an event is replaced, it never happens. [..]

Under the current rules, a commander moving to the hand/library from anywhere is still handled with a replacement effect:

903.9b If a commander would be put into its owner’s hand or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. [..]

However, a commander can now move to the graveyard or exile from anywhere and thus trigger all applicable triggers. In that case, its owner gets a choice to move it to the command zone, before anthing on the stack can resolve, as a state-based action:

903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that card was put into that zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.

That means that under the current rules, Athreos would trigger on the commander's death, but if its owner chooses to move it to the command zone, Athreos' ability will not do anything on resolution because the card it referenced is no longer in the appropriate zone.


When a creature is summoned but still on the stack is it considered a permanent?

It's not a permanent while it's on the stack.

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

Before it resolves, it's a spell (on the stack). After it resolves, it's a permanent (on the battlefield).
So no, you cannot cast Avoid Fate targeting a Counterspell that's targeting your Elvish Mystic on the stack. (It's not that Avoid Fate has no effect; you can't cast it in the first place.)


Go to boardgamegeek.com and print and construct the custom tuck boxes for each deck.  Worked great 4 me.  Or, put the game away and just play online at play-Agricola.com

@Monica rubber banding you cards is sac-religious to us ultra board game dorks


There is a long and storied tradition of unspeakably awful deathtraps showing up in dungeons. Kind and generous dungeon masters would allow such traps to be found, but others would skip the tedious step of permitting the party Thief to check for traps, and simply spring the trap upon the unsuspecting victim, sans saving throw, sans opportunity to escape, and sans chance to survive.

These evil Dungeon Masters often point to Gary Gygax as their inspiration. Gygax was, by most accounts, a tough-but-fair DM, but he also created the module Tomb of Horrors: the most trap-filled, instantly-lethal, no-saving-throw dungeon published at that time. (It may still remain the most-lethal professionally-published dungeon, for all I know.)

Some examples of the kind of traps Gygax used in the Tomb of Horrors:

A tapestry that, when torn, fills the entire room with green slime (which is nigh-instantly fatal).
A variety of cursed things: a Cursed Spear of Backbiting (does exactly what it says on the tin, to your back), valuable items that summon demons when taken, and a gem seems to grant you a wish, but then explodes (killing all within 15 feet)
An archway that causes you to reverse gender and alignment if you walk through it.
A variety of teleport traps that take you back to the beginning of the dungeon, sans your equipment.
A giant face, with a 3' wide mouth you could crawl into – it's actually a Sphere of Annihilation (die immediately, no save). Some of the teleport traps mentioned above  dump you right in front of said face (instead of at the dungeon entrance), possibly giving you the impression that if you walk into the face, you'll end up back where you were before you teleported.

On a personal note, I have played through a few Gygax-inspired dungeons. The twisted traps that a clever DM can come up with are truly amazing, truly enlightening, and truly lethal. (It was good fun; we all expected to die horribly, and were not disappointed.)

The Duck of Doom, then, is likely inspired by exactly that sort of Evil Dungeon Master. A duck that curses you horribly the instant you pick it up is exactly the kind of thing that an Evil DM would put in.

For the phrase "Duck of Doom", the oldest role-playing-game-related results I found on Google were from Munchkin, so Munchkin itself is likely the originator. (There's some ancient Australian bird, Bullockornis, occasionally called the Demon Duck of Doom, but it's utterly unrelated to "harmless" rubber ducks in dungeons and cursed items.)


Why does Spell Queller prevent spells from resolving?

Spell Queller exiles the spell itself. The other situation you're talking about is removing the source of an ability on the stack, while leaving the ability there on the stack.

Spells and abilities can only resolve if they're on the stack. So when Spell Queller exiles a spell, it's just gone. There's nothing there to resolve anymore.

On the other hand, if your opponent casts a creature with an "enters the battlefield" ability, say Ulrich of the Krallenhorde, we're talking about two objects: Ulrich himself (a creature on the battlefield), and its ability (on the stack). The two are independent. If you actually removed the ability, say by casting Summary Dismissal, then it wouldn't resolve. But if you remove Ulrich, the ability is still there to resolve and give the targeted creature +4/+4.

Same goes for activated abilities, like Thermo-Alchemist's ability to deal one damage to each opponent. If you remove the Thermo-Alchemist, the ability is still there to deal you damage.


What kind of paper can I use for a game card?

If you are looking to prototype a game there are really three options, you'll want to weigh Expense vs Effort vs Polish. Obviously if you are just playtesting (especially early in the process) Polish is not important, and keep expense and effort low will probably be helpful if you're going to be iterating your design a bunch!

There are three main options:

Print on heavy weight cardstock

Pros: fairly cheap, very low effort

Cons: Not very polished, cards will exhibit wear fairly quickly.

Print on paper and sleeve w/ CCGs for stiffness

Pros: Sleeves are probably the expensive bit, as it's not too hard to find someone who'll hook you up with junk commons from a Collectible Card Game like Magic. You can print on regular paper, and if just a few cards need changing it's quick and easy. Great for iterative design

Cons: Not everyone has access to junk cards to use as backing. Not polished, especially for final version.

Print on Demand Example: Drive Thru Cards

Pros: Assuming you've got good art skills can look professional/polished.

Cons: Not cheap, also not cost effective except as a vanity run/final playtest/review copies.


How long does a creature returned by the Whip of Erebos remain on the battlefield?

The creature will remain on the battlefield for the remainder of the turn that it came into play. The last phase of each turn is the ending phase, and the first step of that phase is the end step. When that step starts, the triggered ability "Exile it at the beginning of the next end step" will trigger and you will exile the creature.

The next part of the ability says "If it would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else." This means that if it would go to your hand from the battlefield (you "bounce" it), it is exiled instead.


How is the "Longest Route" calculated in Ticket to Ride?

The owner of the longest continuous number of train cars is the winner.  (It works just like longest road in Settlers of Catan)

Here is an image provided my Matthew Frederick from his original edition of the game.  He also notes that the online versions provided by Days of Wonder work this way.


Small World: Strategies for using dwarves in a 2-player game

Dwarves just aren't a great race, you're never going to want to pick them highly.  However, once there is a little stack of Victory coins on top of them, who knows?  If you reckon you are in a position to conquer a couple of Mine regions (perhaps, as you say, by Flying) and then hold them over a fair number of turns, defended by your Active race, then they may be cost effective.

In general though, it's not advisable to look at Small World and say "all races and powers must be balanced - if this one seems excessively weak, I must be missing something".  The races and powers are not created equal: players must use their skill and judgment to decide how much they're willing to pay to grab a good combo, or willing to be paid to take a less-than-attractive one.  That's one of the major factors in being a great Small World player!


Does spreading a bite effect at the colony affect helpless survivors?

Helpless survivors are not affected by the spreading of a bite effect.

Bite effects spread to the character with the lowest influence first. Helpless survivors do not have any stats (If they did, I would assume that they would have the lowest influence out of all the survivors).

The exact wording in the rules (page 11) is as follows:

  Roll the exposure die again. On a blank result, the survivor that the
  bite effect spread to is not killed and the bite effect stops
  spreading. On any other result, the survivor that the bite effect
  spread to is killed and the bite effect spreads again. The bite effect
  will continue to spread until a player either chooses option 1, rolls
  a blank result after choosing option 2, or there are no more survivors
  at the location.


Unfortunately, there was never any one person known as Mr. Suitcase. Mr. Suitcase is old-school slang for someone with a lot of cards. More likely than not this was just some random guy who was kind of a big deal at his local shop.

The basic idea is that in the early years your average player didn't have a lot of money as most players were students. So they would show up to tournaments with decks built from their limited collections of cards.  Mr. Suitcase, however. Well, he had tons of disposable income and a collection to match.  A collection so big he had to carry it around in a gosh-darned suitcase. This meant that he could build pretty much any deck he wanted and it would be better than anything else anybody else could bring.

Mr. Suitcase isn't necessarily good but he usually has an ego. It's not surprising that he would sign what was probably his ante card when he lost the match


Civilization Board Game - founding cities gives army extra move?

Those units can still move their full Travel Speed during the Movement Phase.

In the first paragraph of the rules regarding movement on page 19, the rulebook has this to say (emphasis mine):

  During this phase, each player, in turn, may move all of their figures, one at a time.

The rulebook doesn't go on to restrict which units constitute "all" units. Given the verbiage here, you should be able to move any units that were displaced when a city was built. The rules are also pretty explicit in that a unit can't split its movement points to perform other actions:

  Once a figure has begun its move, it must complete its move before any other figure may move.

So you also wouldn't subtract movement points from those units during the Movement Phase.

The rule you quoted ends by saying that the units have to go where "they can legally end" their movement. This is meant to prevent units from being able to end a turn on an illegal space should the player decide not to move those units during the Movement Phase.


order of attack and blocking with a creature with modifying other creature's ability

Combat damage is all dealt simultaneously. They'll each deal damage equal to their power (i.e. X will deal 4 damage), then if one or both of them die, well, they die, but the damage is already dealt.

The one exception is if the creature blocking Paragon of Gathering Mists has first strike (or double strike). Then it'll deal its damage first during the first strike combat damage step, Paragon of Gathering Mists will die, and X will immediately become a 3/3, so when deals its damage during the normal combat damage step, it'll only deal 3 damage.

This has nothing to do with order of attacking and blocking, but for what it's worth, the steps of combat are:

Beginning of combat: a last chance to do stuff (cast spells or activate abilities) before the next step
Declare attackers: you declare your attacking creatures, all at once. (Yes, in practice you say "I attack with X and Y" but that order doesn't matter, they both attack at the same time.)
Declare blockers: your opponent declares which of their creatures block which of your creatures, all at once.
Combat damage: attacking creatures deal damage to blocking creatures and/or the opponent, and blocking creatures deal damage to blocked creatures, all at once. (If any of the creatures have first strike, there's a first strike combat damage step exactly like this before the normal one.)
End of combat step: a last chance to do stuff before the second main phase.

So yes, the steps go in that order, but within each step, nothing happens for one creature before another.

I do highly recommend reading the basic rulebook. It'll help you answer a lot of basic questions like this, and it's written to be easy to understand.

Side note: "fight" is a word with specific meaning, and has nothing to do with combat. When a card says "X fights Y" it means that X and Y deal damage equal to their power to each other, then and there, no combat, no attacking or blocking or anything.


Does Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker's first ability trigger "enters the battlefield" effects?

No, Sarkhan's ability does not trigger enters-the-battlefield abilities because he is already on the battlefield. He changes type and gains abilities but he is still the same object.

An enters-the-battlefield trigger is what is called a zone-change trigger. Rule 603.6a describes these triggers:

  Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are written, "When [this object] enters the battlefield, ..." or "Whenever a [type] enters the battlefield, ..." Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event.

Sarkhan's ability changes his characteristics. Those are defined in rule 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. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information about an object isn't a characteristic. For example, characteristics don't include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell's target, an object's owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

The highlighted characteristics cover everything that Sarkhan's ability sets. More specifically, the ability creates a continuous effect that modifies those characteristics. Rule 110.3 says

  A nontoken permanent's characteristics are the same as those printed on its card, as modified by any continuous effects. See rule 613, "Interaction of Continuous Effects."

So Sarkhan is still the same permanent, but once the ability resolves there is a new continuous effect that is modifying its characteristics.


Database of chess games for evaluating ranking systems?

There was a Kaggle competition sponsored by the FIDE looking for an alternative to the current ELO system. The link is:

http://www.kaggle.com/c/ChessRatings2

The dataset has over a million actual games covering ~50k players. There's also discussions of the alternative approaches used (the competition itself is now over) and scoreboard of metrics to see how well your ranking system compares.


Can you block with a creature and then sacrifice it?

Yes, that works; you won't take any damage, unless the Allosaurus somehow has trample. The Allosaurus remains a 'blocked' creature after the Boar is assigned to block it:

  509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. A creature remains blocked even if all the creatures blocking it are removed from combat.

  510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage.

After declaring blockers, before the combat damage step begins, there is an opportunity for both players to play instants or activate abilities like the Boar's.


Do defeated keeps increase the hand size for allies?

Yes. Each ally's hand limit is increased by the number of keeps they themselves own.

The general rules for drawing cards only refer to your own keeps, since cooperative rules are ignored in the general section. However, on Page 13, under Team Rules, the rulebook states:

  When in or adjacent to an allied keep, his
  Hand limit is increased, but only for the keeps he owns himself.
  That means, if close to an allied keep but he has no keeps of his
  own, his Hand limit is not modified.

Don't forget that a city hand limit bonus does not stack with this bonus, you simply get whichever is better. This also applies to your allies.


Use of race tokens when conquering new regions

You only use your unused race tokens (those you took into hand at the start of your turn). The only time you can take race tokens from already conquered spaces is 1) At end of turn when you can reallocate tokens on conquered spaces, and 2) At the start of the turn when you can take race tokens from conquered spaces into hand.


How do Solemnity and Delaying Shield interact?

It's 1.; you don't take damage and this is a nice combo. The Gatherer rulings under Solemnity say:

  If a replacement effect allows a player to modify or replace an event by putting counters on an artifact, creature, enchantment, or land, that player may apply that replacement effect. Counters won’t be put on the object, but if the original event is entirely replaced (such as by applying Soul-Scar Mage’s replacement effect), the original event won’t happen.

Delaying Shield's effect is a replacement effect, see the Gatherer ruling below it:

  Note that the damage is replaced and is not “prevented”. This means it can replace damage that “can’t be prevented”.

so it's covered by this Solemnity rule.


How does casting a Storm spell on Zada, Hedron Grinder work?

Zada only makes copies of the original Storm spell, not the copies that it makes.

Zada has the text

  Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Zada, Hedron Grinder, copy that spell for each other creature you control that the spell could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures.

And the definition of Storm says

  Storm is a triggered ability that functions on the stack. “Storm” means “When you cast this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each other spell that was cast before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any of the copies.”

The copies of the spell that storm creates are put onto the stack, not cast, so Zada's ability does not trigger when that happens. So, Zada only makes copies of the original spell that you cast.


How can white checkmate black in this chess puzzle?

Assuming white is moving up the board in the position as shown,

1.Rxg8+ Kh7
2.Rxg7#

BTW, the usual notation for Knight is N, not H.

You can also use online tools to make better pictures (and to produce more easily-shareable notation for the board).

For example https://www.365chess.com/analysis_board.php

For instance, your puzzle in FEN is

RR4bk/1B1ppnp1/5PnP/2pN2P1/1b6/2P2pp1/1P1P1p2/7K w - - 0 1


What happens if Jace, Telepath Unbound is returned to your hand?

When it enters a new zone, it resets back to its default characteristics. Namely as a creature card. So, you can then recast it as Jace, Vryn's Prodigy.
This is based on two rulings on Gatherer:

While a double-faced card isn’t on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of its front face.
A double-faced card enters the battlefield with its front face up by default, unless a spell or ability instructs you to put it onto the battlefield transformed, in which case it enters with its back face up.


Up to three fighters/tactical bombers can be scrambled into each sea zone adjacent to a territory that contains a functional airbase.  Any aircraft that are used in this way cannot be used for any further combat operations for the remainder of the round.  You may select units to be scrambled after the attacking player has finished all of his combat moves and you may do so any time the appropriate sea zone in attacked by either air or sea units and that included defending the territory against amphibious assaults.
An example is sea zone 109 and 110 are adjacent to United Kingdom territory.


ARMOR
Some creatures have an armor value to the right of the card title. Armor prevents an amount of damage equal to the armor value that the creature would take each turn. For example, if a creature has two armor and is dealt one damage, that damage is absorbed by the armor, leaving the creature with one armor for the rest of the turn. If the creature is later dealt three more damage during that turn, one damage is absorbed and the other two damage are dealt to that creature.
[...]

It absorbs all forms of damage, not just damage resulting from combat.
Note that the armor value is the amount of damage that is absorbed per turn, not per damage event.


What is the card type Phenomenon and Ongoing?

Both are used in Magic variant formats; that is, not the "usual" rules of the game.

Phenomenon is a card type used in the Planechase format. Cards of this type are oversized, and put in a separate planar deck, along with Plane cards, not the deck that becomes the player's library.
Ongoing is a supertype that only applies to the Scheme card type, which is used in the Archenemy variant. Cards of this type are also oversized, and put in a separate scheme deck.


Why didn't my station complete the route?

A Train Station allows its owner to use one, and only one, of the
  routes belonging to another player, into (or out of) that city to help
  him connect the cities on his Destination Tickets.

As per the instructions (emphasis mine), a station can only be used on a single route into or out of the city on which it's placed.  Even if the route from Riga to Kyiv was complete (and I'll assume you double-checked that), the Kyiv station could not be used to complete the ticket if it was already being used to connect a different route (i.e. via Kyiv-Warszawa, Kyiv-Smolensk, Kyiv-Wilno, Kyiv-Kharkov or Kyiv-Budapest).

If the Kyiv station was already prescribed to a different route, you could still complete the ticket by activating the Kyiv-Bucaresti line through a station placed on Bucaresti instead.

As for the electronic version of the game, it does not immediately show tickets as complete if they rely on stations; since only one of the routes out of any given city can be used, and which route that may be is not decided until after the game is over (but before the score is calculated), the game doesn't know which route you want to use until the end of the game. It will give you credit for routes completed with properly-used stations when it tallies up your score at the end.


Can I conquer anywhere if I have no pieces left on the board?

Absolutely, the rulebook (on page 4) under the section on Enemy Loss & Withdrawals explicitly covers this:

  If all of a player's Regions were attacked this turn, leaving him with some Race tokens in hand but none on the board, he may redeploy these as if he was doing a First Conquest, on his next turn.

As stated in the other answer, you can also voluntarily withdraw troops from some or all regions.


I think that you are right because of the unspoken rule of cooperative games. I could not find anything in the erratas apart from a reference to "move".

  You are unaffected by other game effects […]

This does imply that the investigator cannot have any effects at all. So they cannot be a target for anything at all: spells, Dark Pacts, etc…

This is again implied by the errata, although it refers to "moves" and not other specific effects.

  Q. Can an investigator with a Lost in Time and Space Condition
  be moved by another investigator using the Plumb the Void Spell?

  A. No. If an effect states that an investigator cannot move,
  such as a Lost in Time and Space Condition or a Detained
  Condition, that investigator cannot move on his own nor can
  he be moved by any effect.


Phase 10 how to play on after completing 5 and 3

TLDR

Based on the wording of the rules you won...

So the rules say that a player is the winner if:

  THE WINNER: The first player to complete Phase 10 at the end
  of a hand is the winner. If two or more players complete Phase 10 in the same hand, then the player with the fewest total points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the players that tied replay Phase number 10. The first one to go out is the winner.

Looking at this specifically according to the wording it reads that once a hand has ended the first player to have completed phase ten has won. It does not say the winner finished the hand or that the winner finished without cards. It simply says that at the end of a hand the first to have completed the final phase is the winner.

In addition, consider this statement:

  If two or more players complete Phase 10 in the same hand, then the player with the fewest total points is the winner.

This would mean that a hand has ended and two or more players have finished the final phase. One may have cards left and the other may have gone out. Or both players finished with cards and someone else has gone out to end the hand. Either way they both finished in the same hand on phase 10.

According to the rules, the game has ended for all players that did not finish the last phase and the last players now must determine who won. First, the player with the lowest number of points is the winner. If that is not possible then the tying players play the final phase again and the first to go out is the winner.

Since the hand ended and you were the only player to  have completed the final phase, you win by default.


Does a Wolf enters the battlefield and fight target creature with or without buff?

Wicked Wolf enters the battlefield as a 4/4
You get priority after Wicked Wolf's ability is put on the stack, and you can use this to activate Wicked Wolf's second ability
The Wolf 'Lord's ability is a static ability. (Lord is an informal term that refers to creatures that give other creatures of a certain type a stat bonus and/or additional keywords.)
From the comprehensive rules:

604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they’re simply true.
604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 113.6.

It is simply true that Wicked Wolf has +1/+1 as long as your wolf 'lord' is on the battlefield. This isn't an ability that needs to go on the stack to resolve. It will have this buff when it eventually fights up to one creature from it's first ability. (Assuming the Wolf Lord is still on the field at that time.)
The second question is asking about an entirely different case. If you are the active player (you usually will be if you are playing a creature), you receive priority first when responding to an ability. Wicked Wolf's enter-the-battlefield triggered ability is placed on the stack, and the active player (probably you) gets priority. At this point, Wicked Wolf is on the field, so it's second ability can be activated if you so choose. If you do so, Wicked Wolf's second ability will be placed above the first ability on the stack, and you will again receive priority. If you pass priority at this point, your opponents will have a chance to respond to Wicked Wolf's second ability before it resolves, giving him a +1/+1 counter, indestructible, and tapping him.
Then, there will be another round of players (starting with you) receiving priority, before Wicked Wolf's first ability resolves, causing it to fight up to one creature.


Does movement end when you land on an open gate?

There are two different forms of movement in Arkham Horror.  These are described on page 6 of the rulebook.

They are:

Arkham Movement
Other World Movement

Each investigator must choose which they will use based on where they are located at the beginning of their movement.

If you are using Arkham Movement, use your speed points to move as you will.  Of course you need to stop if you fight a monster.  Other than that, there are few limits.

You do not use speed points to go through a gate.  Going through a gate is typically done during Phase III: Arkham Encounters


Where can I find examples of Game Mechanics?

You probably should go looking at the various mechanic lists on boardgamegeek.com.

Examine the various reviews, and find where people talke about the mechanics, as well.

It's a concentrated resource for doing exactly the kind of research you probably should be doing.


Diplomacy: What happens when two units attack each other with unequal support?

Moscow is moving to Warsaw with strength 4 (itself + 3 supports). Warsaw is moving to Moscow with strength 3 (itself + 2 support). The Army in Prussia moving into Warsaw is irrelevant (It's of strength 1, which is also less than 4). The MOS-WAR move has greater strength, so succeeds and the Army in Warsaw is dislodged. The Prussian army remains in Prussia.


How long does a normal game of Monopoly, with 4 players, last?

In my playgroup (using the base rules, no house rules), our 4-player games take about 90 minutes depending on how intently we're focusing on the game instead of just hanging out.
In addition to the common house rules that extend the game, certain strategies favor long, drawn-out games. Anecdotally, if everyone plays "not to lose" and refuses to make deals or bid on contested properties, the game can drag on. But if people are playing to win, the game goes much more quickly because of how much Monopoly snowballs. Most moves made to win are high-risk, high-reward. These games end rather quickly, with a player eventually just dominating the board and snapping up property at bankruptcy auction.
Here are some play style adjustments that can lead to shorter games:

Put more property up for auction. This will often lead to players draining their resources more quickly, which will allow for faster bankruptcy.
Make aggressive deals to get monopolies, even if you think you're getting a "worse" monopoly. The key thing to remember is that a deal that gives two players monopolies helps both of them overtake the remaining two opponents. You go from ~25% to win a slow game to ~50% to win a two-player slugfest.
Build houses aggressively. The best way to bankrupt others is to get the cashflow snowball started by building houses. The first and third houses are particularly important. The first house greatly makes rent cost a relevant amount (and help you build future houses), and the third house will often be enough to bankrupt players.


Crop Circles expansion - Do players HAVE to place a meeple?

The crop circle rules are slightly ambiguous but my reading of option A is that all players MAY place an extra follower on a tile they have a follower, but if they do it MUST be with a follower of the same type.

I think it reads better if you put the rules together rather than separating them.

He then decides for every player, starting with the player to his left, if:
A) they can place another follower on a tile where they already have a follower
of the type designated by the crop circle.... the player must place the new follower with another one of his followers of the same type (a farmer with a farmer, a thief with a thief, a knight with a knight).


This is a form of contract rummy called progressive rummy.
(I note that since the contracts you name include ever-increasing ones eventually leading to ones that cannot be met with only seven cards that each deal probably involves an additional card)

Progressive Rummy: Progressive Rummy is played very similarly to Contract Rummy. The main differences are in the number of cards dealt in each of the seven deals. The first deal starts with 6 cards dealt, the second deal 7 cards are dealt, and so on until the 7th deal where 12 cards are dealt. The initial meld requirements are the same as in standard contact rummy. The player generally completes the hand by playing all his cards to the table to meet the contract, as he will usually not have any additional cards in his hand (unless he opted, on another player's turn to take the current upcard, as described in the rules for Contract Rummy, above). If this is the case, the player may play cards to other melds on the table (if any) once they have made their initial meld. A player may also play their last card by discard, at which time they also win the deal. Scoring in progressive rummy is the same as in Contract Rummy, except that jokers are worth 25 points each.


How do the new Dark Eldar interact with the Kill Team rules in the Battle Missons rulebook?

If there is nothign in the Kill Team rules that says individual models are considered to be a single squad of 1, then I would say the pain tokens are given to the entire squad (a squad being one elite, troop or fast attack choice) for wiping out an entire enemy squad.

However, if the Kill Team rules explicitly state that each model is conisdered to be its own squad, then I would say pain tokens are given on an individual model basis for each model they wipe out.


Can my opponent respond to an "enters the battlefield" ability?

Both things happen. First, your opponent's creature will deal damage to Shadowborn Demon (thanks to Fall of the Hammer); then the Demon's ability will kill the creature — even if Fall of the Hammer already killed your demon.

When Shadowborn Demon enters the battlefield, you get to choose a target for its ability. The ability then goes on the stack, just like spells do when you cast them. (Check out the MTG Basic Rulebook for more information about the stack and casting spells.)

While the Demon's ability is on the stack, your opponent can respond to it by activating abilities or casting Instant spells, including Fall of the Hammer.

So, now the stack looks like this (most recent thing on top; that's why it's a "stack"):

  (top)
  Fall of the Hammer
  Shadowborn Demon's "destroy" ability
  (bottom)

When nobody else has more actions (you could respond to Fall of the Hammer by casting Giant Growth on your Demon, for instance), we resolve what's on the stack.

So, the Fall of the Hammer happens first, allowing your opponent's creature to deal damage to the Shadowborn Demon. If this is enough damage to kill your Demon (for example, the opponent's creature is an Arbor Colossus), you'll put the Demon into your graveyard.

After you're done resolving Fall of the Hammer, you'll resolve the Demon's ability, destroying your opponent's creature. Even if your Demon is already dead, though, the opponent's creature will be destroyed. That's because the "destroy target non-demon creature" ability doesn't directly depend on your Demon if you've already put it on the stack.

So, your opponent's creature will damage your demon first (potentially killing the Demon, if it was a lot of damage), and then afterward the creature will be destroyed.


Can Astral Slide plus Viridian Shamen kill Glimmervoid living off of Blinkmoth Nexus?

Yes, Paquette will have to activate the Blinkmoth Nexus at some point or lose the Glimmervoid. The two scenarios are:

Nexus is activated during the endstep with the glimmervoid trigger on the stack. Simply slide out the nexus after it becomes a creature (but before the glimmervoid trigger,) it will be gone until the next endstep because this endstep has already begun!
Nexus is activated before the endstep.

If its your opponents turn, slide out your Viridian Shaman, and target the nexus during the endstep, the glimmervoid will be destroyed during your next endstep*. If you slide the nexus, your oppenent would be able to reactivate it on their turn because of the APNAP** ordering of triggers, (better to destroy the artifact now.)
If it is your turn, Simply slide out the nexus after it has become a creature but before the endstep* and the glimmer void will be destroyed before the nexus returns. Due to APNAP** your slide trigger is below their glimmervoid trigger, and they won't have the nexus back until the glimmervoid is already dead.

*because of the intervening if clause, the trigger will not trigger if the clause is not satisfied at the beginning of the end step (intervening if clauses are checked twice, once to trigger, and once on resolution!)

** APNAP is Active Player, Non-Active Player, it is how simultaneous triggers are resolved.

N.b. it seems Paquette's best play in this, contrived, situation is to simply let the glimmervoid die, that way they can keep the nexus.


Do Spirit races persist in decline indefinitely?

Yes they will stay on the board because the spirit power overrides the rule that prevents them from being removed while in decline. The White Ladies are unlikely to have a lot of territory as other players are likely to target them strongly before you have a chance to put them in decline.
https://www.ultraboardgames.com/smallworld/special-powers.php

When the race tokens associated with your Spirit Special Power go into Decline, they never count toward the limit stated in Entering In Decline regarding having a single In Decline race on the map at any given time.


If a card becomes cloned while another text-modifying effect is on the stack, what is the result?

Your stack after step 4 is (top to bottom):

Shapesharer's activated ability
Quicksilver Elemental's activated ability

Shapesharer's ability resolves first. Quicksilver becomes a copy of Creature 4. Per rule 706.3, Quicksilver's abilities become those of Creature 4. This also means that Quicksilver loses its original ability.

  706.3. The copy’s copiable values become the copied information [...]

Quicksilver's ability resolves second. Quicksilver (who is now a copy of Creature 4) gains all activated abilities of Creature 3 until end of turn. It does not lose any abilities it already had. The fact that Quicksilver changed names before the ability resolved does not matter per rule 201.4.

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

The result is that Quicksilver will end up a copy of Creature 4 with the abilities of both Creature 3 and Creature 4, but not its own original ability.

If Quicksilver were to become a copy of another creature, it would still retain the abilities of Creature 3. This is because the effect granting it abilities is not a copiable characteristic (per rule 706.2), and thus is not overwritten when it becomes a copy of something else.

  706.2. [...] The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied


No. You are never obliged directly to use a specific piece to move.

The only exception is trivial: a game played under forced capture rules where there is exactly one piece able to make a capturing move.

Even then, if that piece has a choice of captures, the player may choose which capture to make.

It is likely your opponent has either confused this rule with another, has played in environments with this uncommon variant rule, or the king had a capture available and no other pieces did.


Where can I find the dimensions and weight of a game?

Check with Board Game Geek.  On pages for games, they have a list of all versions with the size and weight.  For example, see this entry for Race for the Galaxy.  It states that pretty much all versions are 10.83 x 7.48 x 2.56 inches and 1.44 lbs.  Other games should also have version sections with similar information.


Adrenalash   --> 50 damage

  During your next turn, each of this Pokemon's attacks does 50 more damage (before applying Weakness and Resistance)

So it means exactly what is written. Every time you use this move, your next turn has an additional +50 boost for any move. The boost will continue every next turn as long as you keep using Adrenalash.

For example, here's damage output for two scenarios (Ursaring has another attack for 80 called Strength):

Case 1
Adrenalash -> 50, Adrenalash -> 100, Adrenalash -> 100 ...

Case 2 Adrenalash -> 50, Strength -> 130, Strength -> 80, Adrenalash -> 50, Adrenalash -> 100 ...

(2nd turn receives boost from first turn; for 3rd turn, and you no longer have adrenalash dmg boost because you used strength on previous turn)

So whether it is active every few turns, or every turn, is based directly on when and how you use Adrenalash. If you want to keep the boost active at all times, just keep using that move. If you stop using it, you will have to set up again with one turn of 50 dmg Adrenalash.


Are there different versions of Fortnite Monopoly? I see 2 boxes covers but can’t find which one is more recent

The Blue box is the 2018 edition. The Purple box is the 2019 edition.
Amazon links for reference:
2018: https://www.amazon.com/Monopoly-Fortnite-Board-Inspired-Video/dp/B07GX1DS6R
2019: https://www.amazon.com/Monopoly-Fortnite-Board-Inspired-Video/dp/B07SZRHWYZ


What happens if Kokusho, the Evening Star dies under someone else's control?

The player who controlled Kokusho as it died gains the life, and each of their opponents loses life.
Whenever a permanent refers to "you", it means its current controller, and whenever a card refers to "opponents", it means its current controller's opponents. In other words, card text should be interpreted from the point of view of the controller. The specific rule that covers this is rule 109.5:

The words “you” and “your” on an object refer to the object’s controller, its would-be controller (if a player is attempting to play, cast, or activate it), or its owner (if it has no controller). [...]

Kokusho's triggered ability is controlled by the player who controlled Kokusho before it died because of some of the triggered ability rules:

603.6c Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written as, but aren’t limited to, “When [this object] leaves the battlefield, . . .” or “Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . .” (See also rule 603.10.) [...]

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

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

So, in summary Kokusho's ability is a "leaves-the-battlefield ability", because it triggers when Kokusho leaves the battlefield. So, it "looks back in time" when it triggers, which means that it triggers based on its appearance before it died. This includes its controller.


What do you do about contradictory rules of Pit?

The rules in my copy of the game note that two people get 10 cards. Generally these will be the two people left of the dealer.

You cannot call pit with the Bear in hand; you can call Pit with a Bull and 8 copies of a commodity. If you call Pit with a Bull and all 9 copies you get double points for that commodity.

Of note, it is courteous to remind people that they have 10 cards in hand but only need 9 of a commodity. New players often end up holding all 9 of a commodity while desperately looking for a phantom 10th because they are used to seeing their entire hand match.


How long does the copyright for a game last, after it is out of print?

As previously pointed out, just because a copyright holder has stopped producing a game doesn't mean they stop owning it.  GW still own the rights (unless they have sold them; you could write and ask them if this is more than curiosity).  Games are usually covered by copyright in the rules, characters and concepts though there may be patents on mechanics; whichever feature you are specifically interested in, there will be a law stopping casual copying unless GW's lawyers were totally incompetent, which seems unlikely.


Bonded Horncrest and Prey Upon interaction

If Prey Upon is used on Bonded Horncrest, will it be able to "attack alone"?

No, it won't. Prey Upon is a spell that makes creatures fight each other. Fight is a keyword:

  701.12. Fight

    701.12a A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.

I assume you got confused by the wording on the cards, but fighting has absolutely nothing to do with the combat phase. If a creature (such as Bonded Horncrest) cannot attack alone, it means that it cannot be the only creature declared as an attacker in the "declare attackers" step of the combat phase.

  p.s. If Prey Upon is used on Snapping Sailback, will it get a +1/+1 counter?

Assuming Snapping Sailback survives the damage it was dealt, then yes, it gets a +1/+1 counter.

  and I assume the +1/+1 counter enters after the fight/dmg has been dealt, right?

That's correct.


Actually, White is dead after you fill that liberty.  He can never attack the Black stones, but Black can capture the stone in the corner.  After that there is a ko that will kill White.  There's no way for White to win the ko - filling it in leaves the white stones in atari.  At the end of the game when White has no more ko threats, Black can take the ko, and then the white group.


Are bidding systems geared toward "optimizing" contracts?

Bidding systems, particularly ones experts use against experts, are built around optimizing results overall, not contracts.

Half the time, the opponents have better hands than you do, and you are still trying to make their results as bad as possible.  Sometimes this is by sacrificing - getting to a contract that goes down but for which the opponents score less for setting you than they would for making their own contract.  Often, this is simply by disrupting the bidding enough that the opponents cannot exchange enough information to decide on their best contract.

At the slam level, and even frequently for games, experts are frequently thinking about the entire probability distribution of what partner's hand could be, what opponents' hands could be, looking at their hand, and calculating if there is at least a 50% or 35% (depending on form of scoring and vulnerability) for the contract to make.  They are not counting points.


Can you purchase a ship to win your final Fame Point?

Yes, you can win by purchasing a ship (upgrade to a higher tier). As you stated, the only method of gaining points that you are forbidden to use to win the game is buying 1 point for 5,000 credits. Other than that, anything goes


Is there a best character in Button Men? Is there a worst character?

(disclaimer: i haven't played button men seriously in ages, but i'll share my impressions from back in the day)

My feeling is that Lab Rats is the best button, as its 2-dice will allow skill-attacks on far better dice than it has to give away. Bunnies, with its 1-dice is also strong, but can too-often get trapped into not being able to make any attacks.

The worst by far has to be the dragon with d30s all down the line. Yes, it can take anyone's dice, but odds are you're going to roll one of them low, and give up 30 points at once. Do that twice and there's no way to win against most buttons.

Some are banned from tournaments for power. i think lab rats and bunnies were both banned at some point. Some are banned due to non-playability (how would you roll a pi-sided die for the James Earnest button?), and some are banned for their swingy nature (the xxxenophile buttons, with their 3 x-dice, were considered too "swingy"; you could completely change the nature of your button between rounds, though it looks like they're back on the permitted list)
http://www.beatpeopleup.com/tourname.html


Does one need to bid Stayman with a flat distribution?

In the hand given, you can sometimes make 3NT and never make 4H without misdefense. But change South's hand slightly to AKx JTxx Kxxx Ax and 4H has more chances than 3NT:

You have 7 top tricks (3 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamonds, 1 club). At 3NT, you must develop two more tricks, and hearts seems like your best shot at that. You must hope for honor-doubleton on your right (run the jack; if RHO covers, win the Ace and play up to the ten. You will lose to the honor on your left and then your ten and long heart are winners). If the honor holding is unfavorable but the split is 3-2, you still have hope of picking up the fourth round of diamonds (duck a diamond, then play the A and K; hopefully they have broken 3-3). You will have held up the CA on the opening lead. If clubs broke 4-4 then you'll make if you were able to take 3 hearts but go down if you lost two hearts as you still must lose a diamond. If they were 5-3 you're always going down on a club lead (and if hearts didn't behave, the opponents can still defeat you with a club switch). If they're 6-2, you can make in the unlikely case that the 1-3 tricks you must lose before taking 9 tricks are all lost to the doubleton club holder.

In 4H, you have a sure club and heart loser. In order to develop ten tricks, hearts must break 3-2 and you must ruff a club and a diamond, which requires losing a diamond, so you must be able to play hearts for one loser (which means Qx or Kx on your right). However, you make even if clubs don't break 4-4.

Consider some other hands declarer may have:

Ax KJTx KQxx Axx

KJxx KQxx KQx Jx

xxx QJTx KQx AK

All of these have more play in 4H than 3N.

So this hand isn't a great example of a hand that would want to avoid Stayman. That being said, there are times when jumping to 3NT with a 4-card major is indicated. Here's such a hand:

AKx KJxx Q9x JTx

This is a flat, meaty hand. You don't have ruffing values, but your side has a combined 29-31 HCP. Not enough for a slam, but very comfortable for game -- unless opponents can establish a ruff or two before you gain control. Let's give partner (South)

Qx AQ9x KJTx KQx

You'll almost certainly take 11 tricks in NT. On the other hand, in 4H, it may easily go diamond to the A, diamond ruff, club to the A, diamond ruff.


According the rules, You may only place next to the opponent's pawn (i.e. you may only "move diagonally") if there is a fence behind the said pawn. Note how the diagonal squares are not permissible destinations in figures 2, 3 and 6. Only when the oppenent's pawn is backed by a board (figures 8 and 9) is the diagonal move permissible.

As such, diagonal movement is not allowed in the scenarios in the question, so your first image is incorrect, and your second and third images are correct.


Easy way to see changes between core sets?

wiki.mtgsalvation.com is your friend.

http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Magic_2012/Changes, for instance, has complete lists of all the cards that were added to M12 and removed from M11.  You can find the same information for all previous core sets too.

In addition, there are useful sections on changes in rarity from previous printings, and also a running tally of cards that had (up to that date) been included in every Core Set.  Go go Giant Spider!


What are these Strange Pattern Yugioh Cards

They clearly say Yugioh cards...are they knockoffs?

Those are fake cards*, although from the image I see they use the actual names of existing, original cards, and even the correct effects (for example Hiro's Shadow Scout).
Further reading on counterfeit cards.
*I know they are fake because... experience. But just to point out some of the details:

The YuGiOh logo on the back of the card is clearly not the same as the original YuGiOh logo
The colors are off. Those monsters look red (like trap cards) and trap cards look more like the monster color
The displayed attack on the monster card mimics the one on OCG/Anime (displayed on the bottom right in its own box), whilst the text is English - a clear mix-up


Which tracks on Formula D / Formule Dé has the greatest straight line?

I don't actually own Formula D so I am relying on the experts over at BGG. The information before relates to the current incarnation Formula D only, Formula De tracks from earlier releases of the game are not considered.

For the purpose of this question two points on the linked thread stand out...

  Baltimore/Buddh
  I particularly like Buddh. The very long straight is the longest on any of the F1 tracks in the Formula D series (F De has several longer ones) and leads into a 1 stopper followed by an in between length to the 2 stopper.

And specifically mentioning 6th gear...

  Sebring/Chicago
  - Sebring: A fun, challenging track, but in my experience, you can get runaway leaders on it if they hit the 1-stop corners just right. You can hit 6th gear easily.


How do you calculate the likelihood of drawing certain cards in your opening hand?

The calculation you are looking for is called a Hypergeometric Distribution. This calculated your chances of drawing a particular number of "successes" from a population, without replacement.

Population Size: 60 cards
Successes in Population: 4 Birds of Paradise
Sample Size: 7 cards
Successes in Sample: 1 (the minimum number we want to draw)
Results: 39% chance of drawing at least 1 Birds of Paradise.

In the Hypergeometric Distribution calculator linked above, that result is represented in the Cumulative Probability: P(X ≥ 1) field: the chance of drawing greater than or equal to 1.

The online calculator will also give you the odds of drawing greater than that many successes in the sample (6%, the P(X > 1) result), and exactly that number (33%, the Hypergeometric Probability: P(X = 1) result).

You can see the calculation on the Wikipedia page, or searching math.stackexchange.com for Hypergeometric Distribution. Unfortunately, this site doesn't support math formatting. (Note: You will also need to know how to calculate binomial coefficients (and factorials).


How do pump spells interact with damage at end of turn?

...the pump spell wore off at the end step, but damage was not removed until the cleanup step.

There's your problem. "...until end of turn" actually means until the cleanup step - the actual end of the turn, not just the end step.

Cleanup Step

514.1 [discard to maximum hand size]
514.2. Second, the following actions happen simultaneously: all damage marked on permanents (including phased-out permanents) is removed and all “until end of turn” and “this turn” effects end. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

So the damage and the pump go away at the same time, and all is well.


How many units can support in Starcraft TBG?

All of them. The rules appear to be quite clear on this matter (page 27).

  Each supporting unit is then, one at a time, assigned to any of the skirmishes. Every supporting unit can be assigned to the same skirmish, or spread out among the skirmishes in
  whatever fashion the player chooses. A supporting unit adds its support value to the attack strength of the friendly front-line unit in its skirmish.

  Important: A player must assign all of his supporting units to skirmishes. That is, every unit in a battle must participate in a skirmish, either as a front-line unit or as a supporting unit.

Page 31

  Supporting Units: Each supporting unit in the skirmish adds its support strength (or other effects) to the player’s attack value. A unit’s support strength is listed on its owner’s Faction Sheet.

There is only one exception that I could find, but it isn't related to the number of supporting units. It is related to a support unit being unable to target the opposing player's front-line unit (page 34).

  As explained under “Compare Attack and Health Values” on page 31, a supporting unit adds its support value to its controller’s final attack value for the skirmish in which it is participating. However, this is only the case if the supporting unit is capable of targeting the opposing player’s front-line unit in that skirmish. If the supporting unit is not capable of targeting the opponent’s front-line unit, the supporting unit does not add its support value to its owner’s final attack value.


Can Harpie Dancer re-summon a monster on the turn it was returned to the hand?

Is this move legal?

Yes it is.
In no place in Harpie Dancer's effect indicates that you can't summon the monster you returned to hand (emphasis mine):

You can target 1 WIND monster you control; return it to the hand, then you can Normal Summon 1 WIND monster. You can only use this effect of "Harpie Dancer" once per turn. This card's name becomes "Harpie Lady" while on the field or in the GY.

As we can see the only requirements you mus fulfill are (1) target a WIND monster to return and that (2) the monster you Normal Summon is also WIND.... Pay special attention to the "you can"... that means you may chose not to Normal Summon after returning.
In fact, doing this is one of the strengths of her effect, allowing you to return/re-summon even if you only have one other monster (so you can trigger Harpies' Hunting Ground, Divine Wind of Mist Valley, etc.).
What's more, you can even return and re-summon Harpie Dancer herself... or just return her and summon nothing...
Remember that, when a card returns to the hand, it "resets" and loses all memory of who it was on the field (similar to MTG I recall??), so for the purposes of the resolution, the effect doesn't care who that card is, as long as the requirements are met (it is a WIND monster that you can Normal Summon).
As a side note, I'm a main Harpie player :)


Is the Kansas flavor of Solitaire winnable

I won 1 out of 9 games.  (I stopped with my first win.)
Note, that @LScottJohnson's comment is not quite true.  You can "undo" a card moving up to the foundation.  That was a necessary feature for the win that I got.
If you find Kansas very annoyingly difficult to win (I do), the website does offer the nearly identical game Rainbow which is easier to win.


Can the Mirror-Mad Phantasm rescue itself?

Unfortunately that's quite against the law!  Even the laws of the spirit world...

The way the timings work in Magic are basically as follows: after you announce the beginning of combat, both players have a chance to play spells and effects.  After attackers are declared, both players have a chance to play spells and effects; after blockers are declared, both players have a chance to play spells and effects.  Once all of that is finished with, we go directly to combat damage.  There is no window of opportunity for the Phantasm to activate its ability before it deals and receives combat damage and goes to the graveyard.

Well, I say that... there is one way!  If you can manage to give the Mirror-Mad Phantasm first strike, it will deal its 5 damage in the first strike combat damage phase, and then there will be a chance for you to activate its ability before the normal combat damage step.  It's probably not what you wanted to hear, but that's the only way to do it.

Are you getting as excited for Innistrad as I am?  I can't remember the last time a Magic set had so much sheer flavour about it...


Wall of Frost vs a cyphered Hidden Strings

Yes it can because Wall of frost says:

  Whenever Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.

But it doesn't say anything about untapping by another way.


En Passant is when an opponent's pawn is two ranks away from your pawn row (either 4th or 5th rank depending on color), and you move your pawn two spaces forward with one move, so that is is next to his pawn.  You are allowed to make your first move with a pawn two spaces, but the En Passant capture allows your opponent to capture you just as if you had moved one space.  Note, that this capture is only allowed as the very next move.  This prevents you from being able to sneak pawns by your opponent's pawns.

It's not only useful, but chess would be a completely different game without it, since everyone would have to be very concerned about moving a pawn to the 4th or 5th rank, knowing that a pawn could get past them.  The main way you could change it so that the game wouldn't change radically is to disallow 2-space moves by pawns, but that is still a substantial change from the way's it been*, and would eliminate the majority of standard openings. A less tumultuous change would be to simply prohibit double movement in the cases where an en passant capture would be possible. This would have almost the same exact effect as the en passant rule, since it happens more often that the threat of an en passant capture is enough to make an opponent not move two spaces, and actual uses of the move are rare.

* unless you go back to the 15th century, when the ability to move pawns two spaces was added to the game.


Available for sale in PDF form from https://www.wargamevault.com/product/219901/Mustangs-and-Messerschmitts


Is Duplicate Bridge (standard Matchpoints) a game of pure skill?

Even with the same experts playing North-South, there will be luck involved.

For instance

When you have a pure guess in a two way finesse for a Q or distribution etc.
When you have a guess during bidding (sacrifice or not etc)
System wins/losses.
When you overbid/underbid/play incorrectly and hit a lucky lie of the cards.
Same hand could be played differently on different tables, because of different actions taken (during bidding or play) by the players. One might play like a bozo, but resulting in the expert to take the wrong inferences, handing you a win (it happens!) etc.

What you say will reduce the randomization of the field (some people call it field protection), but will not eliminate luck completely.

For instance, a world class level Matchpoint contest will have very little randomization (similar to your proposed situation), but to win you need to play well (skill) and need some luck.

Of course, most of the time it is your skill that matters, but luck does factor in, especially against equally matched opponents.


Does Wind Demon card 648 cause it to attack twice if it can spend wind?

The rules say

Elemental infusions can be used to augment the effects of certain abilities.

So if wind is consumed the wind demon will perform move + 0 and Attack +1 with the greater AOE.
If it was to perform at attack again it would say Attack +X, If you look at this Cave Bear card for comparison which has two attacks.


At any time, including between other rolls, and these do not count against your normal reroll count.


Which rule(s) govern the difference between {T} activated abilities and activated abilities that require tapping?

302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began.

So it's the tap symbol vs. the word 'tap'.

I'm not sure why this is ruled differently; one reason could be that the tap symbol is always an ability of the creature itself, while the word 'tap' indicates an external ability. But there are (of course) exceptions: there's an Elf which allows you to tap three Elves for three green mana. It can tap itself the turn it enters the battlefield.

But I guess one could question the origin of most Magic rules this way; for instance, why do creatures suffer from this but lands do not? (To which the answer probably is: lands are played and creatures are summoned. It does make some sense, flavour-wise.)


What is the name of this game with dice and tiles?

The name of this game is called "Shut the Box". I believe there are one and two player versions of it.

The goal of the game is to obtain the numbers on the tiles through dice rolls, "shutting" the tiles by turning them around.