MTG Gatecrash Simic Strategies for a Prerelease event

In regards to GTC Simic in general, here's this humble magic players breakdown of the playables. The only cards included here are commons since you really can't ever rely on seeing even uncommons. There's about 80 uncommon cards a set, and you're going to see a total of 18. So maybe three or four of those will be simic, and maybe one of those will be playable. If they are great, but let's focus on the bread (no pun intended) and butter of your guild first.

If a card doesn't appear in this list, it's because I personally didn't think it would be a good fit for the "grow 'em" strategy, which is undoubtedly what simic will be playing. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad (although it probably means I think it's bad in general), and I welcome challenges to anything present in or absent from the list. I am comfortable making the list because it's 1) objective based on certain criteria, 2) limited (only 34 cards of the 259 are eligible for the list) and 3) comprehensive (it's not just a list but the reasons why are included so someone could apply the same sorts of logic to other cards).

Green playables:

Creatures:

Crocanura - 3 toughness reach is decent - flying is huge in limited. Evolving will make it hit higher power quickly.
Crowned Ceratok - 4 power trample is great. Giving all your evolve trample is great too. Three toughness makes it weaker to red aggro cards like a 3/1 or 3/2, but it's still a great card.
Disciple of the Old Ways - He's a bear, which is usually playable anyway. His bonus is great if you're splashing red.
Greenside Watcher - If you have 3 or more gates, he's worth playing.
Ivy Lane Denizen - Every green guy gets a +1/+1 counter. Note that this +1/+1 counter happens in parallel with evolve, which is excellent!
Slaughterhorn - A 3/2 for 3 is probably playable anyway, but having bloodrush is simple excellent.
Spire Tracer - He's not a flier, but he acts like one. Green rarely gets fliers, so this is excellent news. Expect him to be targets of +1/+1 counters and bloodrushes.
Wasteland Viper - A 1/2 for 1 is rather lame considering last set gave us Dryad Militant (although that was uncommon). The bloodrush component of this is still excellent.

Spells:

Forced Adaptation - You risk being 2-for-1ed with this, but this will make your creature scale well with your turns. Combos well with Ceratok.
Pit Fight (R/G hybrid) - Cheap instant-speed removal at common. Between evolve, big green creatures, and Wasteland Viper, you've got a lot of viable fighters in your colors.
Verdant Haven - Everyone loves acceleration, but green traditionally has the best.

Blue Playables:

Creatures:

Cloudfin Raptor - will probably swing for 1 on turn 2 as you'd expect with a typical flier.
Keymaster Rogue - This guy is great for triggering those +1/+1 counters all over the place.
Metropolis Sprite - he has the +1/-1 ability that Frostborn Wierd had in RTR, and that proved to be very effective. Putting it on only one color isn't as good, and having only two toughness is also not as good, but if you have ways to get counters on blue creatures, this is a good place for it. Otherwise leave this out of the game.
Leyline Phantom - good for triggering +1/+1 abilites, although it's late in the game, simic should be able to drag the game out to make him worth it. He's kind of like an expensive keymaster rogue.

Spells:

Hands of Binding - probably the best blue spell at common, this is a must play if you have good fliers or other evasion.
Last Thoughts - this is pretty expensive if you don't get a lot of uses out of the cipher component, but if it does work out for you it's excellent. If your opponent has a lot of removal, sideboard this out.
Spell Rupture - If you have the big green fatties of old, this is effectively a Cancel for 1U isntead of 1UU. That's a great thing.
Way of the Thief - Maro promised gates would mean more in this expansion than in RTR. The only real use of gate in RTR before was on a fairly crappy defender in black that really didn't fit the profile. This on the otherhand is a pretty good fit. +2/+2 and unblockable is good, but doing it for 4 is pretty expensive. On the other hand, if the unblockable creature has a couple ciphers on him, well now you're going to win the game. Congrats.

Simic Playables:

Creatures:

Drakewing Krasis - he's a 3/1 flample - since he's still green he combos well with Ivy Lane Denizen.
Shambleshark - 2/1 flash evolve for 2 - requires exactly UG so could be tough to drop on turn 2. But with flash, you can leave the mana open and your opponent may think he's safer for a turn longer than he really is. Great potential here.

Spells:

Bioshift - if someone kills your creature with a bunch of +1/+1 counters (see Forced Adaptation) you can save them quickly.


[a level 1 shipyard] has no materials needed to be shipped

I believe you've got that part wrong: A shipyard does require coal (look at the brown square at the bottom-right corner of the tile), so a city must be connected to a source of coal through canals or rails before you can build a shipyard there.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/307212/brass

Barrow-in-Furness and Birkenhead may only have rail links (notice that there's no blue line) to the rest of the map, from where coal may come.

Therefore during the canal phase, the only possible shipyard location is Liverpool as you can build a canal link to Wiggan or other potential coal sources; but there is no such potential canal link out of Barrow-in-Furness or Birkenhead.


Can Sacrificial Construct be uses to prevent the trash of cards like Clone Chip or Shiv?

Yes and no.

While you are free to use Sacrificial Construct to prevent sacrificing your Clone Chip or your Shiv, this means the cost was not paid and nothing happens, other than the Sacrificial Construct being trashed.

Compare Clone Chip with Acacia: Acacia will still work and can be saved by Sacrificial Construct, Clone Chip will not, since Clone Chip's cost was prevented.

From the official FAQ:

  If the cost of a paid ability requires a card to be trashed, then preventing that card from being trashed prevents the cost from being paid and the paid ability does not resolve.


Can I activate Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar on the battlefield?

You won't be able to active Multani on the battlefield. See Comprehensive Rules 113.6k:

113.6k An ability whose cost or effect specifies that it moves the object it's on out of a particular zone functions only in that zone, unless that ability's trigger condition, or a previous part of that ability's cost or effect, specifies that the object is put into that zone.
Example: Reassembling Skeleton says "{1}{B}: Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped." A player may activate this ability only if Reassembling Skeleton is in his or her graveyard.

Multani states:

(1)(G), Return two lands you control to their owner's hand: Return Multani from your graveyard to your hand.

Since it says it is returning from your graveyard, you can't active unless it is in your graveyard.


Bridge auction and play with a 5521 hand opposite 1255

You could attack Diamonds before touching clubs, while the A♧ is still an entry to south. This sets up a long diamond, but it works only if the opp with short diamonds is also short in trump. On the actual lie, the long diamonds will be trumped.

You don't mention it, but on your line a diamond must have been discarded on the second club trick so that the second diamond can be trumped.

You also don't mention but in the 4-card ending when you hold ♤Tx ♡8x  in the north hand, (after the Diamond ruff) you must lead a spade so that the opponets will have to lead trump into your 8x. This works on the actual lie.

I don't see a celarly better line of play.

On bidding, I agree with the comment that you could stop in 3NT. But on the actual lie, i don't see a play for 9 tricks, with neither black suit breaking favorably.

And I don't see a good reason to try for slam over 3NT. It certainly doesn't work on the actual lie, but with no running suit and no more than 28 HCP between the hands, it is hard to see how slam is plausible. Also the 3NT bid seems to deny any slam inters.


Does the discard get shuffled into the deck when adding the heat up card?

Yes, it specifies in the rule book that the shuffling of the boss deck means you have to relearn the Boss's pattern. If you only shuffled the deck (not discard) it would be trivial to wait until the entire deck was in the discard, then do the final damage to "heat up" maintaining exactly the same order for the rest of the deck, with the heat up card being next (and therefore last).


Yes, but only if the head judge agrees. The Mtg Tournament rules require that the card has white or black borders (no UN cards or World Champion cards), and the alteration cannot make the card marked. As ghoppe points out, you might have to worry about bleed unless you use Opaque card sleeves. If you choose to do this, a judge will likely still be called to verify that the cards aren't marked for randomization purposes if sleeves aren't used, and the cards are legal white\black bordered cards and not World Champion cards in either case.


[Note: This answer focuses on the history of this subject, citing some famous examples, as opposed to contemporary propagandistic games, which I have no doubt exist, although I can't comment on the anonymity issue. Generally, designers are proud to be associated with such games, but we do seem to be entering a new era of propaganda, with definite emphasis on obfuscation of sources.]

You will want to look into the predecessor of Monopoly, known as The Landlord's Game.

There is a delicious irony here in that, while the game was designed to teach about the dangers of certain aspects of capitalism, the later Monopoly, the most commercially successful boardgame in US history, glorifies practices that Landlord's inventor, Elizabeth Magie, was cautioning against.

From the wiki:

  The game was created to be a "practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences". She based the game on the economic principles of Georgism, a system proposed by Henry George, with the object of demonstrating how rents enrich property owners and impoverish tenants. She knew that some people could find it hard to understand why this happened and what might be done about it, and she thought that if Georgist ideas were put into the concrete form of a game, they might be easier to demonstrate. Magie also hoped that when played by children the game would provoke their natural suspicion of unfairness, and that they might carry this awareness into adulthood.

There were also earlier boardgames designed to teach moral lessons to children and reinforce religious beliefs, including Snakes & Ladders, Mansions of Happiness, and The Game of Pope or Pagan (aka The Siege of the Stronghold of Satan by the Christian Army.)

Nuclear War, the card game, is a famous recent example.  Created during the height of the Cold War, it demonstrated the principle of Mutual Assured Destruction in that the game very often results in all players losing.

Also of note is utilization of games by think tanks such as the Rand Corporation. John Von Neumann, the originator of Game Theory, was a consultant at Rand starting in the late 1940's.


Yes, he can attach then, and yes, this does circumvent Ensnaring Bridge.

Only the 'equip' ability is restricted to sorcery speed.

The '{B}{B}: Attach Cranial Plating to target creature you control.' ability can be used anytime you have priority. That's why it's more expensive to use even though it has the same effect as Equip.

Since the creature has already been declared as an attacker and correctly met the conditions needed to attack at that time (508.1c in the comprehensive rules), it has been declared as an attacker already, and suddenly failing to meet the conditions doesn't remove it from combat (506.4 and 506.4a). So all that mattered is the 'thopter was 0/2 when it attacked.


How can I set up a game of the Resistance without anyone needing to close their eyes?

This solution would work, though it may take a minute to perform. For p players, with t traitors and n "normals", you need:

t "You are a traitor" cards and n "You are a normal" cards, obviously
p "player" cards marked with unique colours (or numbers or whatever)
1 card with an identical back to the player cards and a blank face (a kind of joker)

Deal each person a "Traitor/Normal" card so they know their faction, then the process is:

Everyone takes a coloured "player" card. Show them publicly since they identify each player.
Everyone holds their player cards with their hands under the table.
The first player takes the blank card face-down under the table too.
Players will pass the spare card around under the table, BUT, if they are a traitor, they will instead pass their own player card.
Once the spare card gets back to the leader, he should keep it face-down on the table, since it reveals the identity of a traitor! Then, everyone secretly looks at their card. Normals will see their own card again, of course, but traitors will see the card of one other traitor (or the joker if they were the first traitor).
Perform steps 4 and 5 a total of t+1 times.
Now all players (including traitors) should have their own cards back and the leader can flip the joker to reveal that it IS the joker. If it isn't, someone cheated/messed up. The traitors should have each learnt a new traitor's identity on each lap (except for one). Everyone should reveal their colours again to remind everyone what they were (though it's only relevant for traitors).

A detailed example
Alan (Red), Ben (Blue), Chris (Green) and Dave (Yellow) are sitting round a table. Ben and Chris are traitors. Alan, the leader, takes the joker and, because he is not a traitor, passes it to Ben. Ben IS a traitor so he keeps the joker and passes his own card to Chris. Chris - a traitor - keeps Ben's card and passes his card to Dave, who, being a normal, passes it on back to Alan. Alan puts it face-down to one side.
Everyone looks at their cards. Alan and Dave see their own. Ben sees the joker (so he can already deduce that Alan is not a traitor). Chris sees the blue card (Ben's), so he knows his co-traitor.
Alan now takes the face-down card (Chris' green card) and passes it again. After they repeat the process, Ben has Chris' card and Chris has the joker. Then they perform the rotation one more time so that the traitors both get their cards back and the joker is flushed out.
Everyone reveals their coloured cards and Chris confirms the owner of the blue card, while Ben confirms the owner of the green card. The game begins.


What board game for 2 to 4 players with 1 token each and the winner is the first to the top of a raised platform?

The game's description corresponds a type of Chinesenspiel.

I identified it earlier this year.
In the reference link I provide, you have to scroll down because my answer has not received enough upvotes to appear at the top of the page.

probably antique French game - asking for identification

To play, a six-sided die is used, with the four colours on the board each represented by a coloured square on one of the die faces. The 2 unused die faces are white.

Since yours is more recent, it could simple be a variant of the Parcheesi family of games. For marketing purposes, it could have been named anything; for example, "Trouble", or "Voice of The Mummy", or "Dark Tower"
(Edit : I deleted the images of these games since they are clearly not the game you seek).

Does your game at all resemble this one,
Sacrificial Offering The Board Game,
which is definitely Chinesenspiel-inspired?


Does a concealed Kan interrupt the game flow?

Warning: not exactly familiar with the term Riichi, nor with the specific Mahjong ruleset Riichi Mahjong (Henceforth, RMJ).

In the books I've read, and the 3 different published rulesets I've played (One of which was a 1960's Japanese rulebook translation), the functional definition of "on the first turn" is "without having discarded."

Having just read the rules for Riichi from the EMJA, the rules for Riichi Blessing of Heaven (East out on deal), Blessing of Earth (non-east out on self-drawn tile), and Bleassing of Man (non-east out on claimed discard) forbid concealed Kong.

Both the RMJ rules and the 1 of the rulesets I've played agree that any play after a discard is claimed is no longer first turn.

TLDR: in the Riichi ruleset, yes, Kans/Kongs do preclude the "first turn" bonuses.


Is there a standard way to number the faces of a 20-sided die?

I assume that we are speaking about a D20 that makes some attempt to roll fairly, such as the ones used in D&D. This is different from the aptly named "spindown" D20 which is numbered in a simple spiral.

Why do opposing faces add up to 21?

According to Everything2.com's article on D20, opposing sides add up to 21 so that the numbers most distant from each other to appear on opposite sides of the die.

Ok, now we have 10 pairs of 21. How do we arrange them?

If you are engraving the numbers, you'll have to carve out more material for some numbers than for others. The more you dig out, the lighter that side becomes.

Everything2 advises that we arrange these pairs in a way that heavy sides are next to light sides, but they provide no actual arrangement. In fact, I cannot find any actual mathematics behind what the best possible arrangement actually is. After a substantial amount of searching, I have concluded that the "standard" arrangement we know today probably originated from D&D, but I can't back this up.

Speaking of standard arrangement, here is the actual answer to your question.

Image from DiceCollector.com


Can I use chapter specific characters in a custom space marine chapter?

Yes, since your chapter has the Adeptus Astartes keyword, units with that or imperial keyword can be included BUT these HQ units will function as written, their abilities won't change to reference your custom chapter.

Using Lysander as an example, Icon of Obstinacy will ONLY affect Imperial Fists units, For the Khan! from Kor'sarro will ONLY affect White Scars. When talking about casual play, house rules can change this, you can agree with your opponent to allow these abilities to work on your custom faction, but not in tournament.


Cheating with foils and card orientation

The rules simply say that you cannot have marked cards, without enumerating all the specific ways they might be marked. From section 3.11 of the tournament rules:

  A card or sleeve is considered marked if it bears something that makes it possible to identify the card without seeing its face, including scratches, discoloration, and bends.

So if someone is actually able to identify cards by messing with their orientation, or determining whether they're a foil, or anything else, they're breaking the rules. (Note that bends are explicitly mentioned, so that part of "is it a foil" is right out.)

Exactly how someone might get caught doing this and what the consequences are of course depends on the situation and the level of play. If someone accidentally has a card turned the wrong way at FNM, I doubt they'll be thrown out of the building. But if you're at a serious tournament and you notice your opponent carefully feeling the thickness of the top card of their library, things probably aren't going to go well for them.

In any case, the takeaway here for everyone is sleeve your cards and don't cheat. Cheating is bad, and if you think you see it, call a judge. But at an FNM or a kitchen table, it's possible to be friendly about little things. If there's a card out of place, just talk to your opponent, and fix things. They're probably a person who just like you is trying to play Magic and not cheat, and all it takes is a few words to turn the card around and get back to the game. I don't think any of this is a real problem - it's a kind of dumb way to try to cheat, one that won't ever get you much information - but if you do suspect it's happening, just pretend you're dealing with nicked sleeves and handle it however you'd handle that.


The number of stones for a board is meant to be effectively infinite. The typical procedure if players run out is to exchange captured stones in equal quantities and continue with them.

This means that enough stones so that either player could completely fill the board is guaranteed to be enough stones.


These dice aren't specific to a game. These appear to be casino dice, as seen in this online store listing:

In order to make them as fair as possible, they have sharper edges than those you normally find in board games[1], and the pips aren't carved out of the dice.
In addition to the markings being in line with many casino dice, the pip style appears to be common in casino dice.

Board game dice are commonly made using a different process which requires them to be tumbled or polished to remove aberrations, but this can wear out the dice unevenly. How dice are made.


Does Aligned Hedron Network exile creatures that enter after it does?

The second option is correct: the Aligned Hedron Network has a triggered ability, that exiles a set of creatures when it enters the battlefield. This exile effect lasts until the Network leaves the battlefield, at which time the creatures return to the battlefield. It does not continuously exile creatures that enter after it does.

First, the rules describing Triggered Abilities, specifically 603.1, say

Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[Trigger condition], [effect],” and begin with the word “when,” “whenever,” or “at.” They can also be expressed as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger event], [effect].”

In the case of Aligned Hedron Network, the trigger condition is

When Aligned Hedron Network enters the battlefield

and the effect is

exile all creatures with power 5 or greater until Aligned Hedron Network leaves the battlefield

When the Aligned Hedron Network spell resolves, it enters the battlefield as a permanent and the ability triggers. That is the only time it happens, because it is the only time that the trigger condition is true.
Then, the effect has the "until Aligned Hedron Network leaves the battlefield" clause. The rules regarding One Shot Effects say

610.1 A one-shot effect does something just once and doesn’t have a duration. Examples include dealing damage, destroying a permanent, putting a token onto the battlefield, and moving an object from one zone to another.

610.3 Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.

So, as soon as the Network leaves the battlefield, the objects it exiled return to the battlefield under their owners' control.


What dice to use in a game that revolves around triangles?

Doing some research shows you will still 5-9 range but it will be slightly more when you are using d4. Now if that difference causes a problem that would be up to you to decide. One other thing to note is you will no longer be able to roll a 2.

This comes from https://anydice.com/program/51b6

#    |  % for 2d6   |  % for 3d4   |
2    |   2.777778   |     0.0000   |
3    |   5.555556   |     1.5625   |
4    |   8.333333   |     4.6875   |
5    |   11.11111   |     9.3750   |
6    |   13.88889   |     15.625   |
7    |   16.66667   |     18.750   |
8    |   13.88889   |     18.750   |
9    |   11.11111   |     15.625   |
10   |   8.333333   |     9.3750   |
11   |   5.555556   |     4.6875   |
12   |   2.777778   |     1.5625   |


Alternatives to the coins supplied in Puerto Rico

Board Game Bits has little wooden disks in various sizes.  You could get some cheap plastic pirate coins you can get at pirate stores.  This might help spice things up also.  There is also a company out of Australia, Campaign Coins, that specializes in coinage useful for games and LARPs.  They're prices are a little steep at $7 for ten coins, but they have a good selection of different designs.


Does tapping a creature force it to attack?

No. It's the other way around: attacking with a creature requires tapping it. (Unless it has vigilance!)

If you do something else that causes a creature to be tapped, it never causes it to attack. Only actually declaring it as an attacker (during the declare attackers step in the combat phase) will do that.

If you do want to force a creature to attack, you have to do it directly, using something like Shipwreck Singer.


Anyone know more 'social' games like 'Werewolves"

It depends on exactly what type of social interaction you're looking for. There is a very broad category of games known as "party games" which loosely meets your definition. Party games tend to favor social interaction over luck and strategy (in many cases, no equipment at all), tend to require less per-player equipment, and tend to be flexible in the number of players they support. Take a look at the linked Wikipedia article for more information, or you can browse the party games category or subdomain on BoardGameGeek. A somewhat older category, that has considerable overlap with party games, are parlour games, so you can look there too.

Within the broad category of party games, there are a few subcategories. The one you mention, Werewolf (also known as Mafia), is known as an "uninformed majority" game, in which some people have information that the rest of the players are trying to figure out, mostly through social means. There's another thread on games with uninformed majority mechanics, though many of them are more traditional board or card games. Other party games in this category include Are You the Traitor? and the How to Host a Murder series of games.

Other subcategories of party games include word games, creativity games, and icebreakers, with some overlap between them. Word games tend to involve someone having one or more secret words, and giving clues that other people use to guess the word or definition. Creativity games involve being given some sort of creative prompt (a pair of words, a picture, an object), and doing something creative with them, such as telling a story, drawing a picture, inventing a product, or the like. Icebreakers are games in which people reveal facts about themselves, in order to provide a structure to break the ice and allow people to get to know each other better.

In the word games category are games like Contact, in which one player has a word, gives the first letter, and players try and discover the word by giving clues that indicate their guesses, making the player who has the word try to figure out what word they're guessing or give up another letter if they can't. There's also Taboo, in which someone is given a word, and has to get their teammates to guess the word, but has a list of other words that they cannot say while describing it.

As both word games and creativity games, there are games like Balderdash or Fictionary in which you pick an obscure word, one person gets the real definition, and a few people make up definitions. The other players have to then figure out which definition is real. There's Charades and Pictionary, in which you get a word or phrase and must describe that to your teammate, in charades by acting it out, in Pictionary by drawing it. Apples to Apples is a very popular party game, which might be considered a word game, in which someone draws a card with an adjective, and everyone must play nouns that closely match that adjective, at least according to the person who is the current judge; due to the limited selection people have to choose from, you get some very amusing juxtapositions in the process.

Some other creativity games include The Big Idea from Cheapass Games, in which you get pairs of words such as "electric pants" and must describe that as an invention and get people to invest in it, Why Did The Chicken? by Kory Heath in which you must make up jokes, and Nanofictionary by Looney Labs in which you get cards for Characters, Problems, Settings, and Resolutions, and must combine those into the best tiny story.

Then there are the icebreakers. These are games like Two Truths and a Lie, in which each person in turn will tell two truths and one lie, and the other players have to guess which is the truth and which is the lie. There's Never Have I Ever, in which each person says something that they've never done, and everyone who has done it gets a point (or has to drink, as it's commonly played as a drinking game, however it's not necessary to play this way, you can simply keep score instead); if only one person has done the thing in question, they need to tell the story. There are many more such games.

A little further afield than what you're looking for, I think, but still involving more social interaction than traditional game mechanics, are negotiation and alliance type games like Diplomacy. I have a question open now looking for "lighter" versions of it, and there are few games that look promising.

Another somewhat further category of games, that can be more social interaction based, is roleplaying games; some creative one-shot roleplaying games can have a lot of the same elements of games like Werewolf, with intrigue, cooperation, and backstabbing. I recall one that a friend ran in which all but one of the players were minions of the dark trying to take over the world, but there were two dark lords, a Satanic type and a Cthulhoid monster, competing with each other, plus all of the minions were competing to be favored by their lord. So everyone had three sets of enemies; the Good, the other Evil team, and the other minions on their own Evil team. It was quite the treacherous game, involving lots of intrigue and social interaction; it turned out that Evil had too much infighting, and Good won. There's an entire other StackExchange for roleplaying games, so check in there if you want to learn more about them.

So yes, there are a lot of games that have more social interacting and less traditional board, card, and dice mechanics. I hope I've given a good overview; feel free to ask about a more specific category or game if you want more information.


You will hit for 20. I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of double strike.

Double strike doesn't affect the actual power/toughness of the creature. It doesn't double the creature's power, it causes it to hit twice. You turn it into a 6/5 with the first Built to Smash, then a 7/6 with double strike with the Uncaged Fury, then a 10/9 with the second Built To Smash, then you pass priority and move to combat damage. It hits for 10, then you move to the second combat damage step because it has double strike, and it hits for 10 a second time.

It is possible to hit for 17, but you'd have to wait for the first combat damage step to occur before casting the second Built to Smash. In that case, it would only be a 7/6 the first time it hit, then you would make it into the 10/9 in time for second combat damage. Why would you do that? There's no obvious reason.


How can I speed up a game of Axis and Allies?

This is an excellent question!

For a board game I love but never play now since me and my friends, all working, can never get the 50 hours needed to finish it :) (ok, it's more like 8 hours no kiddin') if we don't simplify the rules and/or shorten the terms.

We have successfully used gentlemen's agreeements, as follows:

Shortened victory conditions (classic, revised, 1942, anniversary edition and 1940s):

We use the shortest victory conditions, always. It still takes many hours
Capital conditions: If a capital falls; the game is over even if it can be retaken. In practice that is a game winner anyways. I am sure there can be exceptions, but not if you play aware of that condition. It affects mostly the crucial Russia/Germany stalemate.

This helps a lot since you may reach a point at which Germany has good chance of taking Moscow in two rounds, or die so you can simply resolve only the moves and battles that affect that and call it a game.

Japanese stalemate settlement (classic, revised, 1942, anniversary edition and 1940s):

Our housee rule is: If japan has been wiped out from the mainland and has lost its fleet while there are at least scattered Allied ships in the Pacific, give all VP cities to the Allies and check if game is over.  Taking Tokyo is a 6 round affair at this point, that takes hours.

Europe and Pacific 1940:

For Germany: if USSR is advancing while the Atlantic has protected Allied transports unloading troops in Europe for two rounds or more, we call it a game. (Even if Italy is huge, because it failed to counter the previous.)
For Japan: If Japan land troops are both in Caucasus and eastern Russia (3-4 territories) while Japan holds the biggest Pacific fleet, we call it a game as well.

If you are new or almost new to the game:

I think turn time limit helps a lot. Agree on one, just make sure Germany and Japan have a bit higher limit than the allies
If you will play often, play at least 3 games of limited rounds (for instance, 3). Discuss who would win and why. For games like 1942 or Revised this helps a lot because you will better understand what can be achieved at that round and will have an idea about how long your games will take.

And the golden house-rule: Accept the dice, be a gentleman.

Agree on these kinds of conditions when the game starts and accept that the game is over at any of these points.

I am serious on this, because most games finish with a bitter taste of no conclusion with statements like "but I could still attack here and win that and..." which mostly leads to hours of playing to reach the same apparant result.

Not surprisingly there are these A&A chess and "Low luck" (tripleA videogame) housee rules that to me are based on this bitterness. The game is not designed for that, thus making the game somewhat scripted after a while.


What are the changes in the second edition of Doctor Who: The Card Game?

It appears that the majority of the game mechanics are the same, except for the addition of a two-player variant.  The major additions are new cards featuring more of the new Dr. Who universe, which themselves feature different abilities.  The 1st edition covers only the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), whereas the 2nd edition expands this to the 9th-12th Doctors.

The FAQ page for the game says there is a new version of the rulebook, but does not indicate any game mechanics changes:

What’s different about the second edition?
Doctor Who: The Card Game second edition features the same great game as the first edition. We’ve tidied up some of the rules text and put in some more examples. There are rules for playing with 2 players, too.
More importantly, we’ve added in loads of new cards, from the Ninth and Tenth Doctors to Rose and Martha, Clockwork Robots to Ironsides and a whole bunch of new locations, like Royal Hope Hospital (now on the surface of the Moon).

The FAQ also indicates that the rules for the second edition are compatible with the cards from the first edition:

I already own the first edition – do I need to buy the second edition?
Of course not! Your game will still be just as much fun as it always has been. If you want to carry on playing you can do just that – in fact, you can download the new rulebook here, if you like.

...and even suggests shuffling the two editions together to form "one super deck."
As for the new cards themselves, the FAQ suggests that they are not just reskins of the cards from the first game:

Can I still blow up the Dalek Flagship with a Jammy Dodger?
But of course! It’s our favourite trick. You can also turn the tide of battle with an Ironside or escape in the Valiant when the going gets tough, and many more new tricks besides!

This BoardGameGeek post has the following details about the card changes:

[T]he 1st Edition has 65 cards that do not appear in the 2nd Edition. The Starting Locations are all different. There are 12 enemies that didn't make it to 2nd Edition (18 cards). Some of the duplicated Defenders have been replaced in 2nd Edition with 4 different companions. Eight of the Support cards are different. All of the Location cards are different.


Your opponent gets to name the card, because his replacement effect always comes first.

From the Gatherer rulings on Gather Specimens:

  The Gather Specimens replacement effect is applied before any other replacement effects that would also modify how the creature enters the battlefield. These are usually worded “as [this creature] enters the battlefield” or “[this creature] enters the battlefield with.” For example, if your Gather Specimens has resolved, then the following things are true: -- If a creature with devour would enter the battlefield under an opponent's control, you choose and sacrifice your creatures as it enters the battlefield under your control. -- If Voice of All would enter the battlefield under an opponent's control, you choose a color as it enters the battlefield under your control.

The reason for this:

It is important to note that you do not name a card when you cast Meddling Mage. You name a card as it enters the battlefield. This naming cannot be responded to; it's not something that ever goes on the stack.

When Meddling Mage would enter the battlefield, there are two different replacement effects to apply: Meddling Mage's effect which causes a card to be named; and Gather Specimens which causes it to enter under your opponent's control instead.

Normally, you would get to choose the order:

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

However, in this case you don't get the choice:

  616.1b If any of the replacement and/or prevention effects would modify under whose control an object would enter the battlefield, one of them must be chosen. If not, proceed to rule 616.1c.

and then

  616.1e Once the chosen effect has been applied, this process is repeated (taking into account only replacement or prevention effects that would now be applicable) until there are no more left to apply.

So first you must choose to apply the Gather Specimens' replacement effect. Now there is a new event, Meddling Mage entering the battlefield under your opponent's control. At this point it's no different than if your opponent had cast Meddling Mage. When it would enter the battlefield under his control, he applies the Meddling Mage replacement effect and names a card.


Bind the Monster is the newest card from a decent list that both taps the creature when you play it, and keeps it tapped. Most of these that do only that cost 3 or 4 mana, the ones that cost only 1 have significant downsides to them:

Tangle Kelp only works at most every other turn - since it keeps it tapped only if it attacked last turn.
Paralyze lets them pay mana to untap it, they can decide if it's worth 4 mana to have their big threat back for the turn.
Bubble Snare doesn't tap unless you kick it, making it a 4 cost.

And then we have the new 1 cost, Bind the Monster, which also has the creature do damage to you when you use it. It does that damage only once however, then it can't attack, it is also not combat damage - so effects like Fynn, the Fangbearer giving poison counters, or Master of Cruelties setting your life to 1 point won't happen. The creature being kept tapped means it won't be able to attack or block, or use any effects that require it to tap, so no more using Elvish Archdruid to generate a ton of mana in an elf deck.
Most of the time it's easy enough to remove a creature instead. Most kill spells cost 2 or 3 mana like Poison the Cup, most spells that exile cost 3 or 4 - neither of these are things that blue tends to do, kill spells tend to be black, exile spells tend to be white. Blue usually deals with creatures three ways:

Countering them before they resolve - this is very time specific, you need to do this when the creature is cast, but it's usually the most efficient and permanent solution.
Unsummoning them. This sends the creature back to the hand, so it's only a temporary fix, your opponent can usually just play it again next turn, but this tends to be the cheapest option at 1 or 2 mana.
Tapping the creature and keeping it tapped. This is the middle ground. The creature is still on the battlefield, but it can't do much while there. It usually costs about the same as more permanent removal in black or white.

There's a few bad habits and ways of thinking that tend to take players a while to get out of, I suffered from these myself when I started:

Avoid losing life - life is a resource just like mana, and it's only the last point that matters. Winning with 20 or more life counts just as much as winning with only one point left.
Play the strongest cards - It's really a balance between how much it costs and how much it does. Low cost spells that have good, if not spectacular effects can often be better in the long run, you can play them easier when you need them.
Auras on my own creatures - Auras can go on whatever they say they can go on, when it says "Enchant Creature" that means it can enchant any creature you can target - not just yours. Most of the creature auras in Magic are meant to give a boost to creatures, but there are still a good number meant to weaken or hinder a creature, those ones you want to put on your opponent's creatures.


If your Commander is in your graveyard when your graveyard is exiled can you return it to the command zone?

Yes, you can put it back into the command zone when it's exiled from your graveyard.

  903.12. If a commander would be put into the exile zone from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead.


After rereading the 'Learn to Play rulebook closely, I found the answer on page 11 (emphasis mine):

  When a player wins a battle at any other planet, his warlord (if it
  was committed to that planet) returns to his headquarters, maintaining
  the state (ready or exhausted) it was in at the end of the battle. The
  planet remains in play, and other surviving units remain at that
  planet, also maintaining their state.

In short, any non warlord units at a planet that is not the first, will remain there after the battle is completed.


Does a stalker monsters always stay if there is an investigator in its current area or location?

The basic monster movement rules state that monsters don't move when they are in the same space as an investigator.

There isn't any reason to think that the stalker addition in Dunwich changes this in any way.


How do you configure the people playing Werewolves to not give each other away?

I played this recently and the group I played with had established the practice of having everyone repeatedly smack their hand on the table while heads are down during the night phase. The table smacking creates enough noise and vibration to mask movements. The only caveat is that people need to remember to keep smacking while they point with the other hand. :)


What adjustments do good bidders make for seven card fits?

Good bidders prefer to rebid in NT with any balanced or semi-balanced (ie no singleton) hand when a 4-card raise is unavailable. This quickly refines both range and distribution of the opener's hand, enabling more precise bidding by both partners. Only weak players rush to either show 3-card support or to rebid 5-card suits.

One exception to this rule is in a competitive auction where 3-card support is combined with shortness in the opposition's suit. Having a doubleton or singleton in opponent's suit as well as 3-card support is information too valuable to either hide or delay showing in a competitive auction. Knowing that the ruffing value is well placed, and with opponent's fit known to increase the likelihood that partner has a 5-card suit, the risk of a Moysian is reduced.

Further, established partnerships generally play New Minor Forcing (or some other check-back convention) over opener's NT rebids to facilitate finding both 4-4 and 5-3 fits in Responder's suit(s).


Munchkins Ruling of destroy item with highest bonus

Items that aren't in use don't give you any bonus.


Mage Wars Academy - zone spells : do they attack mages?

Yes, zone spells effect everything in the zone, including Mages, both yours and your opponent's.

In Academy, there is only one zone, so the spell effects everything in play, unless the spell states that it does not.

Two possible strategic uses could be if you were way behind in creatures, so if will effect more opposing creatures than your own, or as a way to help finish off your opponent's mage.


How would an instant or sorcery with an effect that targets work with Feather?

Shoulder to Shoulder is an instant or sorcery spell that targets; it doesn't matter that the word target only appears in the reminder text.

  114.1e Some keyword abilities, such as equip and provoke, represent targeted activated or triggered abilities. In those cases, the phrase “target [something]” appears in the rule for that keyword ability rather than in the ability itself. (The keyword’s reminder text will often contain the word “target.”) See rule 702, “Keyword Abilities.”

So Feather's ability applies to Shoulder to Shoulder, and it's exiled as it resolves.


No, you cannot turn it into another land to remove it from combat.  The issue is due to layers.
Layer 1 is copy effects (Thespian's Stage).
Layer 4 is type changing effects (Raging Ravine's ability).
Since it is still the same object, both layers are applied in order.  So, for layer 1 you have a Thespian's Stage that is copying a Raging Ravine that is copying a land (say, a Forest).  Then you apply the type changing effect in layer 4 that turns it into a 3/3 creature.
So, you'd end up with a 3/3 Creature Land - Forest (with a +1/+1 counter from attacking as Raging Ravine)

613.1a Layer 1: Copy effects are applied. See rule 706, “Copying Objects.”
613.1b Layer 2: Control-changing effects are applied.
613.1c Layer 3: Text-changing effects are applied. See rule 612, “Text-Changing Effects.”
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
613.1e Layer 5: Color-changing effects are applied.
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.
613.1g Layer 7: Power- and/or toughness-changing effects are applied.


Are there any consequences, if you cannot block Loathsome Catoblepas?

Loathsome Catoblepas creates a requirement for blocking. This means that if the defending player has at least one creature that is able to block the Catoblepas it must be blocked by at least one of those creatures (if the defending player wants to block with more they can as long as one is). If there are legal blockers and none are declared as blockers it is an illegal block and the game will rewind so that a legal block can be declared. If there are no creatures able to block the Catoblepas the ability does nothing.

509.1. First, the defending player declares blockers. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack. To declare blockers, the defending player follows the steps below, in order. If at any point during the declaration of blockers, the defending player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the declaration is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the declaration (see rule 717, "Handling Illegal Actions").
509.1c The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it's affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must block, or that it must block if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of blockers is illegal. If a creature can't block unless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if blocking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.


These cards are mentioned in Uno instructions — you can use one if you lose or damage one of the other cards, or you can use it to include custom house rules card into the deck. See reference in manual:

What Are These Extra Cards For?
Blank Card - This is a special card that you may use in one of two ways. If a card from your UNO deck is lost or damaged you may use the Blank Card as a replacement. Example: If you find that your deck is missing one of the yellow 7's you would simply replace it by taking the yellow Blank Card, marking a "7" on it and adding it back into the deck.
If you family has a special UNO rule you prefer to play with you may write that rule on the Blank Cards and add them straight to the deck

It says also that you should have 4 of these; maybe you have lost the other two?

4 Blank Cards in each color [new decks]


What can a Runner do to trash ICE that is in play?

I believe the only three current cards that can trash ICE after it's installed are:

Parasite - program that reduces the strength of a rezzed ICE until it hits zero, at which point the ICE is trashed.
Forged Activation Orders - event that forces a Corp to rez an ice, or trash it if it can't (or doesn't want to) pay for it.
Kraken - event that forces the Corp to trash a piece of ice on a server that you choose (but can only be played if you've just stolen an agenda)

In addition, there are other cards (e.g. Imp, Demolition Run) that can trash cards that cannot normally be trashed - such as ICE - from HQ or R&D, preventing them from being installed in the first place.

Edited to add:

False Echo - program that can be trashed when you pass an unrezzed ICE to force the Corp to rez it or take it back into HQ (which is a trash-like effect)
Forked, Knifed, and Spooned - run events that let you trash a piece of ice of a particular type if you break all subroutines on it


In Star Wars: Imperial Assault can all rebels attack multiple times?

"Hero" is a very special term in this game.  Only the main characters that you start the game with are heroes. You can pick up other, non-hero characters as you play through the game. Example: han solo.  All imperial characters are also non-heroes.

Heroes can attack multiple times. Non-heroes cannot (unless another rule overrides this). That means that imperial characters and non-hero rebel characters cannot (normally) attack twice per turn.  You are right in that it's functionally almost as though they have the assault ability. However, they don't have assault on their cards, so they don't have the ability. Attacking twice is simply a feature of being a hero.

This distinction could potentially be important later. For example, imagine if a mission had a rule that the assault ability doesn't work during that mission. Or that no abilities work during that mission. In such cases, the heroes would still be able to attack twice, but other characters with assault would lose the benefit of assault


Can non basic lands be tapped for colorless mana?

No, you cannot tap non-basics for mana unless they have an ability that specifically says otherwise.

Basic lands are handled with a special case in the rules:

  305.6 The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the words “basic land type,” it’s referring
  to one of these subtypes. A land with a basic land type has an
  intrinsic ability to produce colored mana. (See rule 406, “Mana
  Abilities.”) The land is treated as if its text box included,
  “Tap.gif: Add [mana symbol] to your mana pool,” even if the text box
  doesn’t actually contain text or the card has no text box. For Plains, [mana symbol] is {W}; for Islands, {U}; for Swamps, {B}, for Mountains, {R}, and for Forests, {G}. See rule 107.4a. Also see rule 605, "Mana Abilities."

http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Basic


Cloudshifting Angel of Serenity in the middle of combat

Your friend can play Cloudshift before or after you have declared blockers. Either way Cloudshift will resolve before the combat damage step. This means their Angel of Serenity is removed from combat, your friend may choose to exile up to three creatures, and any previously exiled cards are returned to their owner's hands.

If I'm correct this is the order in which everything happens, assuming your friend casts Cloudshift after you declared blockers:

Opponent casts Cloudshift targeting Angel of Serenity, this goes on the stack and it resolves (assuming no counter spells and no further combat tricks).
Angel of Serenity gets exiled (is removed from combat) and its leaves the battlefield ability triggers. Then the Angel of Serenity card returns to the battlefield, creating a new instance of the Angel, and its enters the battlefield ability triggers. Both triggers then go on the stack in either order.

As the enters the battlefield ability goes on the stack, opponent may choose up to three target creatures.

Angel of Serenity's enters the battlefield ability resolves and the chosen target creatures are exiled.
Angel of Serenity's leaves the battlefield ability resolves and any previously exiled creatures are returned to their owners hands. These are any creatures that were exiled when the original instance of Angel of Serenity entered the battlefield.

When the stack is empty and both players pass priority you move to the combat damage step.


A good general principle is that when you have an opening hand and partner opens, you should get to a game.

Partner has advertised a 6+-card diamond suit (some people may rebid 2D with 2353 shape on this auction, but I prefer 2H) and has limited their values (with a good 17-count or better, partner would have a different bid). So you can see that you (probably) don't have an 8-card fit. You don't describe your hand completely, but if you have half a spade stopper or better, 3NT seems like the right place to play. If partner rebids 4D, this is game forcing and suggests some slam interest; it cannot be passed.

If your spades are bad, probably your best rebid is your 4-card club suit; if partner has a spade holding they can rebid 3NT. Rebidding your hearts is not very attractive because you only have 5 of them.


How many creatures should be in a draft deck?

Usually, my draft decks tend to aim for 16-17, 6-7 other spells, and 17 lands.  Generally, if you end up with 19-20+ creatures your deck is going to be aggressive but insufficiently versatile.  If you end up with 11 or fewer creatures your deck may have lots of "answers" but a shortage of ways to actually win the game.  As ever, striking a balance is key.

There's nothing wrong with having 12 creatures or something if your deck is packed with sweet removal: take a red/black deck for instance; the creature quality in these colours tends to be low, but you make up for it in the strength of the removal cards.  Obviously it'd be daft to be adding bad creatures to a deck to "make up the numbers" when you have excellent removal at your disposal: being able to take out one of the opponent's best creatures is almost as good as playing a creature of your own.

Also, make a note of cards in your pool which aren't creatures but basically count as creature cards.  Mind Control is one of the very best cards in the latest Core Set because not only does it remove an opponent's creature, it gives you one as well!  And most sets have an instant or sorcery that generates token creatures these days.  If you draft a lot on Magic Online where it keeps a running total of creatures for you, you'll be familiar with having to take that figure with a pinch of salt - because often it lies!

Anyway, 16-17 creatures or equivalent is definitely "average and typical".  If you're often drastically over- or undershooting that baseline, then (unless you've created some kind of insanely broken rogue decks that crush all comers 3-0) I'd definitely try to steer closer to the 40% creatures mark and see if that works out better for you.


Can the Wildlings attack twice in a turn?

The Wildlings attack twice.

From the rulebook under "Wildling Attacks"

  Note: In rare circumstances, it’s possible for the wildlings
  to attack twice during one Westeros Phase. This would occur if
  enough Wildling icons were drawn to make the Wildling token
  reach the “12” position on the Wildling track, and the Westeros
  card “Wildlings Attack” was revealed

If the Wildings are defeated on the first attack, the second attack will still happen, but with a threat of 0, in which case they are automatically defeated, but players may still bid to win the boon given to the highest bidder.  From the FAQ:

  Q: If the Wildling Threat token is on the “0”
  space of the Wildling track and a “Wildlings Attack”
  Westeros card is drawn, is it still resolved as normal? Is
  there still the possibility of defeat?

  A: The “Wildlings Attack” card is resolved
  regardless of the position of the Wildling Threat
  token. Players still go through the process of
  bidding Power tokens against the Wildlings, but in
  this case, they are guaranteed victory.

Note that the Wildlings do not get an extra attack if the threat level would go to 16 because any advances beyond 12 are ignored:

  Advance Wildlings Track: Count the number of Wildling icons on the three revealed Westeros cards (if any) and move the Wildling Threat token forward that many spaces on the Wildlings track.  If, during this step, the Wildling Threat token reaches position “12”, a Wildling Attack is immediately resolved (ignore any surplus Wildling icons).


No, because the rules specifically say that you attack the other player in a two-player game, or opponents in a multiplayer game. There are no cards which change this.
Here are the full relevant rules:

506.2. During the combat phase, the active player is the attacking player; creatures that player controls may attack. During the combat phase of a two-player game, the nonactive player is the defending player; that player and planeswalkers he or she controls may be attacked.
506.2a During the combat phase of a multiplayer game, there may be one or more defending players, depending on the variant being played and the options chosen for it. Unless all the attacking player’s opponents automatically become defending players during the combat phase, the attacking player chooses one of his or her opponents as a turn-based action during the beginning of combat step. (Note that the choice may be dictated by the variant being played or the options chosen for it.) That player becomes the defending player. See rule 802, “Attack Multiple Players Option,” rule 803, “Attack Left and Attack Right Options,” and rule 809, “Emperor Variant.”
[...]
802.1. Some multiplayer games allow the active player to attack multiple other players. If this option is used, a player can also choose to attack only one player during a particular combat.
802.2. As the combat phase starts, the attacking player doesn’t choose an opponent to become the defending player. Instead, all the attacking player’s opponents are defending players during the combat phase.

(There are additional rules for multiplayer variants where there are restrictions on who you can attack, but rather than quoting absolutely everything, I'll just reiterate that nothing ever says you can attack yourself.)


What is this "dice, cubes, hexes and ships" game?


The answer is no. I've played early and late prototypes from dozens of published boardgame designers including several who are successful enough to do it for a living and I've never been asked to sign an NDA by any of them. Boardgame ideas just aren't worth stealing.

The only time I've been asked to sign boardgame NDAs is by unpublished designers who were inordinately fond of their ideas (no insult intended). Most ideas don't actually turn into publishable games, and even when they do, a very small percentage of them actually get published.

Worse, boardgame ideas aren't actually protectable: the only law that protects ideas is a patent, and no boardgame patent has been successfully defended in court (the only exceptions are games with mechanical designs, like Hungry, Hungry Hippos or MouseTrap). If you want to see money wasted search the patent office for boardgame patents: I've paged through hundreds and have yet to find one that actually became a recognizable published game. I know of two examples of patented games that were published, and only one of them, Magic: The Gathering went on to make any money.

Don't worry about your idea being stolen. Focus on playing the game with as many people as possible, and then when you think you've got something publishable, get as many people as you can that you don't know to play it without you there, just with rules and a prototype (called "blind playtesting").

If your idea survives all of the changes you'll discover you need to make after you work through the results of blind playtesting, then start approaching publishers. You'll discover that none of them will sign NDAs either, though for a more practical reason: they may well have something in development that is astonishingly like your game, and they'd lose the ability to publish it due to the NDA. That, or they've already received submissions that are remarkably similar to yours, with the same problem.

It turns out that most ideas, including game ideas, build on what already exists, consciously or not, and that very similar or even identical ideas come to multiple people at about the same time, as they're exposed to much the same things. It doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing, it's just a matter of the reality of ideas.

Anyway, I don't mean to discourage you; rather, I encourage you to go forth and test, redesign, and test some more until you've polished something really great. And then I look forward to playing it!

Note: I am not an attorney, so do not take what I've told you as legal advice. I am relaying what I've learned from publishers and designers while involved in the game design world over the last ten years.


How to view cards in the stack below the top card in MTG Arena?

There are two things two answer that question:

You can simply examine the cards on the stack by right-clicking on them. Then it will open in the large preview (usually on the left on the screen).
It is nevertheless a design flaw, as the way of doing this is not very intuitive (in my point of view) and also not "real like", as it would be if the stack was unfolding while hovering over it.


Is using a distinct pitch or tone in your voice for your hint legal in Codenames? I.e., "colddd" to link "blanket" and "Arctic"

I gave a similar answer to a different question here But this is a different question with almost the same answer.
The rules here say

DON'T BE TOO STRICT

So if the word is a legal clue then there is nothing in the rule to say you can't use a certain voice.  I guess the balance is you couldn't use Western Film accent to say "Paris" to give a clue for "Cowboy" and "France".
Also its worth looking at the rules for Homonyms which say (emphasis mine).

Some people prefer to allow a more liberal use of homonyms. You can allow knight to be a clue for night-related things if that makes the game more fun for you.

You can apply that rule to making sounds with you clues.  Would saying "colddd" make the make more fun for your group?  If so then yes it would be fine.
In general if you're not sure if a clue is legal ask your self, Do the rules specially say you're not allowed to do it?  If the answer is no, and your group are having fun then the clue is almost certainly fine.


Recommended rules for 1000 Blank White Cards

We played the game based on a badly remembered skim through the rules, and that version has stuck.  We also call it 1001 blank cards because we remembered the title incorrectly!  Personally I think it's better than the original game, but I'm sure many would disagree.

To set up, each player is given a pen and something to lean on.  A deck is created containing about 50-100 cards.  Most of the cards should already be written, and some should be blank ones.  Before the first game this will require the creation of a load of new cards, but we usually each create new cards before a game anyway.

The cards are shuffled, each player is dealt five, and then the rest are placed in a draw pile.  Each player starts with a score of zero and the player with the highest score at the end is the winner.

A players turn consists of playing a card from their hand into a discard pile, following the rule, and then replacing it with a card from the deck.  If a player takes (or is dealt) a blank card then they must create a new card, and place it at the bottom of the draw deck. They may then take a replacement card from the deck.

Each card must have three parts - a title, a picture and a rule.  There are no restrictions on the rules on the card, but we have a gentlemanly agreement not to obviously benefit ourselves with the rules - e.g. we tend not to create cards that say "Jack gets a million points".  The other thing to take into account is replay-ability, as any of the cards could end up being used in future games.  However, it is a source of constant amusement to be playing with cards that no longer make sense - e.g. "Score 10 points if you can guess how many baubles are on the Christmas tree".

When the draw deck is exhausted, play continues, but players no longer pick up new cards.  When a player has no cards that will go, and the draw deck is exhausted, then the game is over.

The major benefit of our version of the rules, compared with other versions I have seen, is that there is less incentive to create a good or bad card.  Whenever you create a card you do not know who will end up playing it.  The primary aim is to get the most points, but I think everyone agrees that the real aim is to create the most noteworthy cards!


In bridge, should East consider "overtaking" his partner's lead if able?

No; overtaking partners honour should not be on East's list of possible actions as dummy comes down.

That is not to say that it is never right for East to do so; or that East should never take such an action.

Rather, there are far too many more important things for East to be studying as Dummy comes down than a check-list of rare and unusual plays. Any such bold action can only be performed confidently through an extremely good picture of the hand, and how the defensive setting trick is to be developed. Such an understanding of the hand will only be hindered, significantly, by spending (need I say wasting) valuable seconds considering a list of circumstances that only occur every one or two hundred hands.

If the action is correct, and one obtains through more efficient means a sufficient picture of the hand to predict this as required to establish the setting trick, it will then become an obvious action.


What games are suitable for a large number of people with only a pack of playing cards?

The best large-group card game that I know of is Up and Down the River, which Wikipedia knows as Oh, Hell. I find the rules given by Wikipedia to be confusing, though, and found a better set here at eHow. (Note that both of these rulesets differ slightly from the version I'm familiar with, as there are endless variants of most of these games.)


Etrata, the Silencer and token creatures

Yes, but it doesn't count towards losing the game because it's not a card.

If Etrata’s ability exiles a token creature, it won’t count to determine whether three cards are exiled with hit counters.

Creature tokens on the battlefield are creatures, so they are valid targets for Etrata's ability.
When Etrata's ability resolves, the following happens:

The targeted token is exiled.

A hit counter is put on the now-exiled token.

Token aren't cards,[CR 108.2] so you don't lose the game.

Etrata is shuffled into its owner's library.

Immediately after Etrata's ability resolves, the following happens:

Tokens outside of the battelfield cease to exist as a State-Based Action.[CR 704.5d]

108.2. When a rule or text on a card refers to a “card,” it means only a Magic card or an object represented by a Magic card.
108.2b Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card-sized game supplement that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.
704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. [...]
704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:
704.5d If a token is in a zone other than the battlefield, it ceases to exist.


Playing Hidden Predators after an opponent already controls a large creature

Hidden Predators has what is called a 'state trigger', this means that it looks for a specific thing to be true and then it triggers. So if your opponent already controls a creature with power 4+ when Hidden Predators enters the battlefield it will see that the game state it is looking for is true and trigger. Hidden Predators will then become a creature when the ability resolves.

  603.8. Some triggered abilities trigger when a game state (such as a player controlling no permanents of a particular card type) is true, rather than triggering when an event occurs. These abilities trigger as soon as the game state matches the condition. They’ll go onto the stack at the next available opportunity. These are called state triggers. [...] A state-triggered ability doesn’t trigger again until the ability has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack. Then, if the object with the ability is still in the same zone and the game state still matches its trigger condition, the ability will trigger again.


When to choose Lantids and how to make the most from them

Lantids will become more attractive to pick, the more of the following are true:

It will be easier to find suitable planets to colonize in games with high player count. So they will be more attractive in a four player game, than in games with fewer players.
During the first or second turn, you will get bonus points for building your Planetary Institute
The round booster giving points for each mine is in play. Lantids should on average have a high number of mines in play already midgame.

Lantids will become less attractive to pick, the more of the following are true:

One of the endgame bonuses is for number of colonized Gaia planets.
One of the endgame bonuses is for number of different planet types colonized.
It's a two- or three-player game.

During the game, you will probably want to:

Get your Planetary Institute on the board early, enabling your special ability to get tech every time you build a mine on another players planet.
Once your Planetary Institute is in play, you should spam mines. This will elevate your income of Iron, and net you a nice boost in tech.
Save one or two mines, though. And be very careful to only build these on planets that have neighbours. Thus you will be able to upgrade them to Trading Stations at the cheap rate, and get the mine back for colonizing new planets later on.

(My personal best score with Lantids at the time of writing this is a mere 148 points. So take my advices for what they are. I'm sure there's more to consider.)


MTG: march of Multitudes and Early Harvest

Yes, if you do things in the right order. While you are casting a spell and paying the cost, you don’t have priority to do something like cast Early Harvest, so you cannot do this if you start to cast March of the Multitudes first. By the time you would be able to cast Early Harvest, March of the Multitudes would be finished being cast and couldn’t be changed afterwards.

However, you can tap all your lands first, producing some amount of mana; then cast Early Harvest; then tap all your lands again. This will let you use all of your lands twice to have double your normal amount of mana (minus the 3 you spent on Early Harvest). All of this mana will stay until the end of the current step; so you can use it to cast March of the Multitudes.


Do cards with abilities that target trigger heroic?

No, Heroic cards specifically state "whenever you cast a spell that targets [this card]". Abilities are not spells. Here is the definition of a spell:

111.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, “Casting Spells”), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner’s hand. (See rule 405, “Stack.”) A spell remains on the stack as a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, “Resolving Spells and Abilities”), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the stack. For more information, see section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and Effects.”
111.1a A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card associated with it.

The Satyr Grovedancer's ability goes into the stack when it enters the battlefield which  doesn't happen until after it was cast (and subsequently resolved). The effect is on the stack, but is not spell because it is not a card being cast (or a copy of a spell).
Instants and sorceries that say "target" will trigger heroic. Enchantment auras will as well even though they do not say "target" because of rule regarding auras:

113.1b Aura spells are always targeted. These are
the only permanent spells with targets. An Aura’s
target is specified by its enchant keyword ability (see rule 702.5, “Enchant”). The target(s) are
chosen as the spell is cast; see rule 601.2c. An Aura permanent doesn’t target anything; only the
spell is targeted.

Anything else will be an ability and thus do nothing.


How do monsters move on local paths to side boards?

Each location is a space, so regardless of what type of path exists, a monster moving from Shanghai to Space 17 and then to Cairo has moved 2 spaces.


Is the unique asset deck reshuffled when cards are discarded?

The unique asset cards are still asset cards therefore they are discarded and not shuffled back in.

As Joey stated in a comment:

  Considering the reason they (the assert cards) are shuffled right back
  in is likely to retain the variety of these "double-sided same on one
  side different on the other" cards, the unique assets are likely
  handled like assets and artefacts.

Also, the unique assets are unique. Which means that, from a story telling point of view, you cannot get the same one twice within a game. It would make no logical sense.


If I cast a spell that gives haste to all my creatures until end of turn, then cast a creature, will it gain haste?

Only creatures in play when Burst of Speed resolves are affected - it even says so in the rulings. But in your example, it won't matter because by the time Goblin Lackey lets you get your extra Goblin out, you're already well past your chance to attack (unless you somehow get a second combat phase).

If you're curious about the actual rules behind this, unfortunately, it's one of the more annoying nitpicky details. Spells and non-static abilities which modify characteristics (name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier) determine the set of objects they apply to when they resolve. Haste is an ability, which is a characteristic, so Burst of Speed only affects the creatures that are on the battlefield when it resolves.

On the other hand, spells and non-static abilities which don't modify characteristics are considered to be modifying the rules of the game and determine what they apply to continuously. For example, there's Dread Charge, which looks like it's granting something like fear, but since it's not actually granting an ability, will indeed apply to creatures which come into play after you cast it. Alternatively, in the context of your example, if hypothetically haste weren't an ability, and instead Burst of Speed said "Until end of turn, creatures you control can attack even if they haven't been under your control continuously since your most recent turn began", then it would affect subsequent creatures that enter the battlefield.

"Indestructible" was recently "fixed" to become a keyword ability, so like with haste and Burst of Speed, for example, Boros Charm now only applies to creatures in play when you cast it. On the other hand, "is unblockable" was changed to "can't be blocked" to emphasize that it's not an ability, so for example Glaring Spotlight's ability does apply to creatures which come into play after you use it.

Here's the full rule:

  611.2c If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won't change. (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a static ability.) A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability that doesn't modify the characteristics or change the controller of any objects modifies the rules of the game, so it can affect objects that weren't affected when that continuous effect began. If a single continuous effect has parts that modify the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects and other parts that don't, the set of objects each part applies to is determined independently.

  Example: An effect that reads "All white creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn" gives the bonus to all permanents that are white creatures when the spell or ability resolves -- even if they change color later -- and doesn't affect those that enter the battlefield or turn white afterward.

  Example: An effect that reads "Prevent all damage creatures would deal this turn" doesn't modify any object's characteristics, so it's modifying the rules of the game. That means the effect will apply even to damage from creatures that weren't on the battlefield when the continuous effect began. It also affects damage from permanents that become creatures later in the turn.

Finally, static abilities also apply continuously. This isn't usually confusing; they're written as simple statements of fact, like Blur Sliver's "Sliver creatures you control have haste", which while in play gives all your Slivers haste, plain and simple. The full rule for that:

  112.3d Static abilities are written as statements. They're simply true. Static abilities create continuous effects which are active while the permanent with the ability is on the battlefield and has the ability, or while the object with the ability is in the appropriate zone. See rule 604, "Handling Static Abilities."


My suggestion is very similar to Scott's, but with subtle variations to make it less burdensome to play in person.

This isn't a rule, just a suggestion: Play with someone you trust. There's going to be hidden information, and if you think the other player is going to cheat you're going to be paranoid about looking for malfeasance and not have fun. Two honest players can make this work without a moderator, which I think is important.

Two boards, one for the axis and one for the allies. If multiple players  represent each side then they see their side's board; this models the sharing of intelligence amongst friends and reduces the need for more than two boards. The boards should be set up in full view of both players and then a divider put up between then. After setup, the army trays and money are set to the side in view of both players so that it's clear what's going into and coming out of the trays (doveryai, no proveryai). Having the players in two rooms would be a logistical nightmare; this is simpler.

Each player can see units in enemy-controlled adjacent land territories. The friendly territory only has to be controlled, not occupied. This models the ability to generally know what the enemy has on the front lines and eliminates the need to add a new surveillance mechanic to the game. (The bomber idea sounds cool but would be tedious and error-prone in practice. Imagine the time spend reading off all the locations you wanted to spy on and then adjusting the board--at the start of every turn).

You cannot see adjacent naval territories. This models the largeness of the sea and difficulty of conducting naval reconnaissance with WWII-era ships. The only way you know what is in a sea territory is if you try and move into it. This would require only a minor change to the current rules: all naval movements are combat movements, unless ships were moving into friendly-occupied sea zones.

Fighters and bombers can only conduct "reconnaissance" of sea zones if they attack. If aircraft attack an occupied sea zone then combat commences as normal; if it is empty then their movement is consumed, but nothing else happens. Overflying a sea zone reveals nothing; you must commit to attack it. This models that searching the sea for ships is harder than overflying territory on your way somewhere else.
I like that this is similar to the original idea of using planes for spying but with less overhead. I also like that this enables submarines to become a more effective naval unit because they can "hide" in plain sight. An enemy has to use a fighter's attack to even see if they are there. I get excited thinking if Germany could use this rule to build a North Atlantic navy under the UK's nose.

Purchases are public knowledge; placement is not. Players must show their money and what they're buying. Purchases are placed in view of both players while the rest of the turn is conducted. This models the ability of nation to get a general idea of their enemies industrial capacity and capabilities. This also has the added benefit of reducing the opportunity to cheat because both players are verifying the amount of money being turned in and the units being purchased. (Also, honest math mistakes in purchasing are common.) Units are placed in secret, except for those placed on the front lines.

With these changes I think it would be possible to play with only two boards, in a single room, without a moderator. If anyone can think of any holes let me know.


BANG! Can I use the "Lady Rose of Texas" card to lock out the other player when it is down to two players?

Here is some clarification posted on this card over at Board Game Geek where someone got answers from the publishers.

Looking at the answers that where posted it looks like in your case the card was intended to be used only twice as at that point in the game it is only a two player game.

  Q: Lady Rose of Texas. Can a player use this ability just once per turn, or more often?
  A: Once per turn.

  Q: Lady Rose of Texas (and Dorothy Rage). Can this card be used at any point in the turn? For example, can Willy the Kid Bang! the player on his left, switch seats to the right, and then Bang! the player on his right?
  A: Yes, Lady Rose of Texas (and Dorothy Rage) can be used at any point in the turn.

  Q: Lady Rose of Texas. Is there a limit to the number of times this can be used in a row? For example, if the game is down to two players, one of them could keep swapping places and the other would never get a turn. Even with the Sheriff and 2 or 3 Outlaws, the Outlaws could keep swapping with the Sheriff and never let him get a turn.
  A: The card was intended to be played a maximum of N times where N is the number of players currently in the game.


Could Panther shark be played face-down defense when summoned by its own effect?

If you normal summon you can play in face down

but

If it is special summoned it has to be face up


Is the four move checkmate the fastest way to win a game of chess?

There is a quicker checkmate called the Fool's Mate which only takes 2 moves.

The moves that demonstrate the checkmate are:

1. f3 e5
2. g4 Qh4#


Does Unbridled Growth provide two mana or one?

You don't get two mana. If you enchant a basic land (mountain, forest, etc.) then it now essentially has two abilities. For example, if you enchant a mountain, then it's as if that mountain now reads:

  {T}: Add {R} to your mana pool.
  {T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

So you can tap it for the first ability, or the second. You don't get to do both (just like you can't tap a creature to attack and use an activated ability).

Alternatively, you might enchant a non-basic land. For example, also from Aether Revolt is the land Spire of Industry. If you enchant it with Unbridled Growth, then it's as if the card now reads:

  {T}: Add ◊ to your mana pool.
  {T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you control an artifact.
  {T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.


Survival of the Fittest activations and priority

NB: Survival of the Fittest has an activated ability, not a triggered ability.  Triggered abilities always use the words "When", "Whenever", or "At".

You must discard a creature card (and pay green) as an activation cost in order to put the ability on the stack.  It now goes on the stack and your opponent gets priority before it resolves.  So they could destroy Survival of The Fittest before you get to search and add a card to your hand.

You still get to do your search and add the card, but obviously you cannot now use the ability again.

You can discard as many cards to it as you already have in your hand while retaining priority and not allowing your opponent to respond.  However, they will have a chance to respond before you're allowed to tutor up the new ones.


At the beginning of your upkeep:

Both instances of the card will put their own triggers onto the stack.
You can choose which order the triggers go onto the stack, not that it matters very much.
The stack resolves in LIFO order as always.
The first trigger resolves. You can choose whether to return a land to your hand or sacrifice the specific instance of the card that created that trigger.
The second trigger resolves. You can choose whether to return a land to your hand or sacrifice the specific instance of the card that created that trigger. This is a separate event from the first trigger resolving, so you cannot return the same land or otherwise count that because that land is already back in your hand.

tl;dr: you need to return one for each.


Can a berserk unit advance in Advanced Squad Leader?

It can't advance while berserk:

  A15.431: ... nor may it move in the
  APh ...

but, it may lose it's berserk status in the Advancing Fire Phase, and then advance in the Advance Phase:

  A15.46 RETURN TO NORMAL: A berserk unit loses its berserk status and returns
  to Good Order whenever it (or the
  group it attacks with) eliminates all
  (but at least one) Known enemy units
  in its Location with either TPBF
  (halved) during the AFPh or CC, or if
  at the end of a charge there is no
  Known enemy unit in its LOS (15.431).


Can you tap artifacts to an improvise cost to help pay for kicker costs?

Yes, you improvise to pay the total costs of a spell and kicker is an additional cost.

This is per Comprehensive Rules:

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

Total cost is defined in the Casting Spells rules:

  601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. (...)

And kicker is an additional cost:

  702.32a Kicker is a static ability that functions while the spell with kicker is on the stack. “Kicker [cost]” means “You may pay an additional [cost] as you cast this spell.”


Initial card house rule for Kingdom Builder

My groups have enjoyed having players always have two terrains from which to choose.  When you play one draw to replace it.


The spells cast by Mizzix's Mastery would count towards the storm count if you casted them in the correct order.

From the Gather rulings under Mizzix's Mastery:

  If Mizzix’s Mastery exiled multiple cards, you may cast the copies in any order. The last copy you cast will be the first one to resolve.

The correct play to maximize your storm count would be to cast every spell other than Grapeshot first, and then cast Grapeshot last.

For instance, lets say your graveyard had Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, and Grapeshot, and you had casted no other spells that turn.

You cast overloaded Mizzix's Mastery (Storm=1)
Each player passes priority, Mizzix's Mastery resolves.
Exile Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, and Grapeshot, making copies of each of them
Cast the copy of Time Walk (Storm=2)
Cast the copy of Ancestral Recall (Storm=3)
Cast the copy of Grapeshot
Grapeshot's Storm ability triggers on cast with the Storm count equal to 3
Place 3 copies of Grapeshot on the stack on top of the original Grapeshot
Each player passes priority, Grapeshot storm copy 3 resolves
Each player passes priority, Grapeshot storm copy 2 resolves
Each player passes priority, Grapeshot storm copy 1 resolves
Each player passes priority, Grapeshot Mizzix copy resolves
Each player passes priority, Ancestral Recall copy resolves
Each player passes priority, Time Walk copy resolves


What are some interesting starter games for a very young child?

I was going to say CandyLand and Chutes and Ladders, because as annoying as they are they are still a huge hit with my 4 year old. I am hoping that she will soon be old enough for Catan Junior! She already wants to play Catan with Mama.


Another Scenario: Can monster be targeted?

TL;DR Yes

Please have a look at the below given sketch. The line through the upper right corner A = (1,2) of the ranged Hero and the bottom left corner B = (3,0) of the monster is described by the equation y = -x+3. This line doesn't intersect any of both given obstacles since for any x < 2 the corresponding value of y is greater than 1 and for any x > 2 is smaller than 1. Hence, the solely common point is C = (2,1). Since the line (quoting "Line of Sight" (page 12) from the Rules of Play)

  only touches the corner of a blocked space (without passing through the space itself ), the target space is in line of sight.


March of the Monarchs vs Negate Tribute Summon

Yes, Player B can activate Solemn Judgement.

Note the activation timing of Solemn Judgement (emphasis mine):

  When a monster(s) would be Summoned,

I.e., the monster's summon has not been completed.

It is therefore not yet a Tribute Summoned monster, and receives no protection from March of the Monarchs.


Can a corp have more than 1 'Chairman Hiro' rezzed at the same time?

Chairman Hiro is a unique asset (there is a diamond next to the card name designating this status).  While multiple unique cards may be installed simultaneously, only one may be rezzed at a time.

So, if you have two Chairman Hiro's installed, and one is rezzed and the runner runs on it, you could conceivably rez the second Hiro which would cause the first one to trash itself before the runner accesses it (so long as you do this during a legal paid ability window).


Is it allowed for the next player to take the next tile while the current player hasn't finished his move yet?

Tom Sloper, an apparently very experienced American player, writes about etiquette. It turns out that "One person's bad etiquette is another person's official rule" - so you have to adapt. There is a huge difference between tournament play and casual games with friends. Also, you need to consider house rules. In the end, there is a definite answer to your question in the rule book, but its usage in practice depends on the circumstances.

  DISCARDING AHEAD -- When I play with my Japanese friends, they yell at
  me if I claim a discard and then make the exposure before discarding
  (nobody can play until I discard, and they want to PLAY!). But when I
  play with my American friends, they call me dead if I discard before
  making the exposure. One person's bad etiquette is another person's
  official rule! Why it's a bad habit -- Do it with players who strictly
  follow the rules (like in a tournament) and you'll be called dead.

  PICKING AHEAD -- Many American players think "picking ahead" (AKA
  "playing with a future") is the correct way to play. But when these
  players come to a tournament... watch out! Old habits die hard. And
  picking ahead is the surest way I know to get called dead in a
  tournament. In case anybody's been living in a cave, picking ahead is
  a no-no. That other mah-jongg association (I'm not naming names, but
  their initials are NMJL) HATES picking ahead! Read their rulebook and
  yearly bulletin sometime if you don't believe me. Why it's a bad habit
  -- (1) It causes too many conflicts when someone wants to claim a discard. You might think that it makes the game go faster, but it
  really doesn't. (2) Do it in a tournament and you'll be called dead.

He adds a few more points to consider (including "avoid making everyone wait"), it's a very interesting read.


The game you describe seems to be a fairly typical example of the Shithead / Palace / Shed / Karma / China Hand / Ten-Two Slide (Wikipedia) family of card games.  These games are known by a variety of names around the world, and have many local variations.  The game you describe does, however, contain most of the basic elements:

Players are dealt three initial sets of cards: one set in their hand, one face up on the table, and one face down.
The goal of the game is to get rid of all your cards, both those in your hand and those on the table, by placing them on top of a common discard pile.
You must first play the card in your hand, then the face-up cards from the table, and finally the face-down cards, which must be played blind without looking at them.
On each turn, you may place one or more cards of the same rank onto the pile, but only (with some exceptions) if they equal or exceed the rank of the current topmost card on the pile.
The most common exceptions are that a 2 or a 10 may be played at any time; a 2 allows the next player to play any card, while a 10 (or, commonly, any four cards of the same rank together) will clear the whole pile and allow you to restart it from any rank you want.
If you cannot play any card (or fail to play a blind card), you must pick up the entire discard pile into your hand and let the next player restart a new pile.


Is a yellow sign marker still added if the terror level increase is reduced to 0?

Using this card when the terror level is increased by 1 would effectively make it increase by 0 and prevent the requirement to place the yellow sign token.  Notice the wording of the card is to discard it when the terror level is increased to reduce the amount increased.  If it had said something along the lines of discarding it to decrease the terror level, then one might construe that to mean the terror level increased then decreased, but in this case it strongly implies you are cancelling the action, not subsequently reverting it.


Catan Junior: When drawing the "pirate ghost" Coco (parrot) card to move the ghost, do you recieve resources?

We just got this game for our daughter for Christmas and have only played it once. Just as with regular settlers, there is no downside to building development cards so I would say there is no downside to building Coco cards as well. The description says

  You move the ghost captain and take 2 resources.

Then move the ghost captain and take the two resources. I believe the inclusion of

  as if you had rolled a ‘6’

is where the implication of taking the two resource cards comes in. It would be the same as playing a knight in Settlers. You still move the robber and take a resource from another player.


Do good bridge players memorize all cards played?

Obviously, this answer depends on your meaning of the word 'good'.  However, I consider myself a good bridge player, and find myself not often needing to track the nuanced difference between 6 and 7.  Most hands are not decided in table play, but in the bidding, and most are determined by leading, the high cards and the trump suit.   There are situations where I would need to track a spade 6 or 7, but often that's when I've got a hole that I need my partner to fill, or attempt a finesse.  In such situations, I'm looking specifically for those problem cards, so I don't need to track every card.

There are unforeseen situations where tracking every card could give a slight edge, but those happen so infrequently that it won't make much of a difference in one's overall 'goodness'.

Incidentally, there are mnemonic tricks that allow one to easily track all cards, I just find it not worth the effort in standard bridge.


This looks like Gobblet. Check if the pieces fit into one another?


Clone legion - multiple creatures enter battlefield at same time

Deathbringer Regent won't do anything for you, but not because of timing — it does nothing because its ability only functions "if you cast (this card) from your hand", which you didn't do.

You cast Clone Legion, which created a token copy of Deathbringer Regent. That copy checks to see if it was cast from your hand, recognises it's never been in your hand and was never cast because it simply winked into existence on the battlefield a moment ago, and therefore its ability doesn't trigger.

(Note that this is because it's a token copy. A card like Clone copying Deathbringer Regent would behave exactly like the real deal.)

Let's pretend it would trigger though (it wouldn't) and examine the timing: Deathbringer Regent would enter the battlefield simultaneously with the other creatures, and it would also wipe them all out. This is because they all first enter the battlefield, then we check triggered abilities (the ones that start with "when..." or "whenever...") and put those on the stack. Deathbringer Regent and all the other creatures enter, then we check its ability, put that on the stack, and then it'll shortly afterwards resolve — and all other creatures on the battlefield would be destroyed.


Caius the Mega Monarch if targets 2 cards inflicts damage twice?

The opponent will take 1000 damage.

Think of it like this; if you tribute a dark monster, you modify the activation cost (i.e., instead of "Target 1 card on the field", it becomes "Target 2 cards on the field;"). The effect simply states "Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent." This means that the modified effect would become,

  banish them, and if you do, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent, then, if any of those monsters were DARK Monster Cards, banish all cards with the same name as those DARK Monster Cards from the hand, Main Deck, Extra Deck, and GY of the player who controlled them.

As the 1000 damage is not per card - simply an effect to itself - the amount remains the same.