No, ice can only be trashed when installing other ice.

The terms "in a server" and "protecting a server" are not interchangeable, but rather used discretely to refer to different types of cards and their relation to servers. Agendas, assets, and upgrades are installed in servers, while ice is always referred to as protecting a server, and is never considered to be in a server for the purposes of any rules or card effects.


Activate Aura of Dominion's ability on a creature Island

No, you can't untap an enchanted land creature with Aura of Dominion using only that enchanted land creature.
The process of casting a spell and activating an ability work basically the same way:

602.2a The player announces that they are activating the ability. [..]
602.2b The remainder of the process for activating an ability is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2b–i. [..]

The relevant parts of the process of casting a spell are:

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. [..]

Tapping an untapped creature is an additional cost.

601.2g If the total cost includes a mana payment, the player then has a chance to activate mana abilities (see rule 605, “Mana Abilities”). Mana abilities must be activated before costs are paid.

If you wish to pay the {1} cost with the enchanted Island, then now is your last chance to produce it. However, once you do that, the Island is tapped.

601.2h The player pays the total cost in any order. [..]

Now you have to spend the 1 mana and tap an untapped creature. If you already tapped the Island for the mana it can produce, you can't tap that Island again for Aura of Dominion's additional cost.

601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time.  [..]

Note that the loops in the KCI deck work because the various "return to battlefield" abilities are triggered, i.e. they happen after the spell casting (or ability activating) process is finished, see 601.2i. That is a fundamental difference to the process you are asking about, because no triggered abilities are involved in that.


Why is Homelands considered among the worst Magic expansions?

It helps to look at the whole set in Gatherer and think about what you don't see.

The only counterspell is Memory Lapse (this is actually better now than it was back then -- remember this was competing with Counterspell and Mana Drain).
There are no real card draw spells. There is one looting spell, Forget, and one search spell, Merchant Scroll; all the other "draw a card" cards are cantrips.
The only straight-up removal spell costs 5 (beyond that, you've got the annoyingly-specific artifact-smashing Legends and Serrated Arrows, which is one of the few cards to escape Homelands and actually see competitive play).
The only sweepers are a couple of cards that do 1 damage to everything (e.g. Dry Spell) and Apocalypse Chime.
There's no real burn in the entire set. Direct damage is limited to overcosted pingers and cards like Winter Sky.
There are no mana-ramp cards in the set. Only Renewal, which is an awful Crop Rotation.
There are a lots of cards like Æther Storm and Aysen Highway -- which do practically nothing (one notable exception: An-Zerrin Ruins).
Its flagship cards are Legends-style giant honkin' Legends that are practically unplayable against the competitive decks of its day.

Basically it's a set that's full of rather weak creatures and almost nothing else. Have fun turning Spectral Bears sideways!

Mark Rosewater described Homelands this way:

  It wasn't very innovative. It didn't introduce any strong mechanics.
  It didn't have good synergy. It wasn't particularly elegant. It didn't
  have many of the qualities that we now judge a set's design by. (To be
  fair, the set was very flavorful, so it wasn't without any design
  merit.)

This reputation was further cemented when Wizards tried to "fix" Homelands' unpopularity by adding stupid rules forcing you to use Homelands cards to the first Pro Tour.

What I find surprising isn't so much that Homelands had all these problems but that the original Magic set (Alpha/Beta/Unlimited) largely didn't. Most of the design space of modern-day Magic can be traced directly to about 300 cards in ABU: direct damage, removal, countermagic, bounce, fast mana, mana ramp, card draw, card filtering, tutors, sweepers, tokens, reanimation, X-spells, even morph.

Now, Homelands was never really meant for stand-alone play; note the inclusion of Leeches, for instance, without any in-set poison cards. As a 1995 Duelist article explained:

  Legends also sparked a few key card ideas; in response to
  Serpent Generator and Pit Scorpion, for example,
  Scott and Kyle added an anti-poison card to the set — one of
  what would turn out to be a series of cards meant to help
  counteract various deck strategies.

But, even if you use the core set or previous expansions will make up for them, I think the gaps in the set are still noteworthy as reflections of the designers' general unpreparedness and confusion: Why are there no real burn or removal in Homelands? Because the designers just couldn't seem to get their heads around the role of those things in a game of Magic. Instead you've got way too many narrow cards that try to answer strategies that were mostly too weak to need "answers" anyway.

Overall, it has the feel of someone taking their "kitchen table" dynamic and turning it into a set. I think that's a reflection of the set being designed by folks who weren't really plugged into the ways Magic had developed as a strategic game.


How did a player survive 24 commander damage?

According to the video title, this clip comes from a brawl game, not a commander game.
There's no commander damage in brawl


I haven't seen recommendations for six-player, but I can't think of a reason it can't be done. I think the only thing that needs to be decided is the size of the players' starting hands. 4 and 5-player games start with two cards. You could either go with two or drop it to one. I'd probably stick with two. Beyond that I think you can just play. There's nothing in the game that will break by having six people.

That said, I'm not sure how well it will play. The consensus is that the game gets harder with more people, but fortunately it's very easy to tweak the difficulty in Pandemic. You can decrease the number of Epidemic cards, increase the Special Event cards, or allow players to choose their role, each of these will make the game easier to beat.

If I were going to try it, I'd probably go with two cards for the starting hands, four epidemic cards, and I'd put all 13 Special Event cards in. I'd see how that goes and then tweak it from there.


Your Mirage Mirror will go to your graveyard.

This is covered in the rulings on Mirage Mirror's Gatherer page:

  If Mirage Mirror becomes a copy of an Aura, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard unless it’s somehow attached to an appropriate object or player already. If it becomes a copy of an Equipment and is attached to a creature, it’ll become unattached when it becomes a non-Equipment artifact again.

Which is a natural consequence of the following rule (emphasis mine):

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

In order for the Mirage Mirror to not be moved to the graveyard you would first need to attach it to the land some other way. If you can find a way to attach Mirage Mirror to the land first, and then copy the Market Festival, the Mirage Mirror will stay attached and not go to your graveyard.


Does Consult The Prisoner move jump track again, after an auto-jump?

Yes.  The situation is a little strange, but it's clear that the card is intended to increase the jump track twice on a passed check, and the rules for resolving cards are clear.


Splendor: Visibility of reserved development cards

Can you keep any reserved card hidden from the other players

Definitely. You can keep the information to yourself. That's the point of the hand. There would be no point in drawing a card without showing it to others only to place it somewhere others can see.

  Must you keep any reserved card hidden from the other players

This is the interesting question.

A rule on whether you can share private information is rarely stated explicitly unless it's forbidden because the game sees keeping the information private as an advantage for you, so the default position I take is that you can share private information as long it's not explicitly prohibited.

Unless the game has some kind of team or co-op element, when a game indicates that information is private except for one player, it's for that player's advantage. They won't mention that you can reveal the information because there's rarely any reason to do so.

Rules clarifying that you can share private information would usually be found in tournament rules, not the game's rule. For example, the Magic: The Gathering tournament rules include the following passage:

  players may choose to reveal their hands or any other hidden information available only to them, unless specifically prohibited by the rules.

I feel that's the default position one should adopt for any game. Games where information must absolutely be kept secret will state this. In Splendor, I wouldn't hesitate to show a card I had reserved if I had a reason to do so.


When a creature dies and later returns to the battlefield, does it keep +1/+1 counters?

No, it does not keep the +1/+1 counters. Specifically, rule 121.2 says

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

and rule 400.1 says

  A zone is a place where objects can be during a game. There are normally seven zones: library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, stack, exile, and command. Some older cards also use the ante zone. Each player has his or her own library, hand, and graveyard. The other zones are shared by all players.

So, when the Hoplite dies, it moves from the battlefield to the graveyard, and its counters disappear.

More generally, rule 400.7 says

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

It has exceptions, but none apply here. The Hoplite that you return to the battlefield counts as a completely new creature with no memory of its previous existence on the battlefield.


You have play the triomino that you bought, you can't use the triomino that you already had.

From the rules:

  YOU HAVE NOT PUT DOWN A TRI-OMINO?

  If you cannot or do not want to put down a matching Tri-omino, you MUST 'buy' a Tri-omino. You may then play this 'bought' tile in the same turn. (emphasis mine)


Where do I find the Magic: the Gathering article about varying card backs?

I've found a couple of articles on MtG's card backs, aside from that one in your original post.

One of them is fairly old, from 2002, and it talks about how Arabian Nights was conceived.

The second one is from October 2017, where Wizards of the Coast unveiled their new MtG logo. This one specifically talks about how they have no intention about changing the card backs at any point for the foreseeable future.

I'm still on the hunt for the specific article you mentioned, but I've not yet managed to find it.


Contract Bridge: Revoke first noted by dummy

Citations in this answer are to the 2017 Laws of Duplicate Bridge).The Laws  of Rubber Bridge are very similar.
Relevant Laws
LAW 9 (PROCEDURE FOLLOWING AN IRREGULARITY) A 4 (page 13) says:

Dummy may not call attention to an irregularity until play of the hand is concluded
(This corresponds to law 13 for Rubber Bridge)

Under Law 43 (Dummy's limitations) (page 49 of the law booklet), Law 43 A (1)(b) and 1(c) says:

(b) Dummy may not call attention to an irregularity during play.
(c) Dummy must not participate in the play, nor may he communicate anything about the
play to declarer.

Law 43 A 2 and A 3 say:

2.(a) Dummy may not exchange hands with declarer.
(b) Dummy may not leave his seat to watch declarer’s play of the hand.
(c) Dummy may not look at the face of a card in either defender’s hand.

A defender may not show dummy his hand

Law 43 B 3 says:

If dummy after his violation of the limitations listed in A2 is the first to draw attention to a offender's irregularity, there is no immediate rectification. Play continues as though no irregularity had occurred. At the end of play
if the defending side has gained through its irregularity the Director adjusts only its score, taking away that advantage. The declaring side retains the score achieved at the table.

(This corresponds to law 43 for Rubber Bridge)
Law 63 A (page 70) msays
(This corresponds to law 43 for Rubber Bridge)

A revoke becomes established:

when the offender or his partner leads or plays to the following trick (any such play, legal or illegal, establishes the revoke).
when the offender or his partner names or otherwise designates a card to be played to the following trick.
when a member of the offending side makes a claim or concession of tricks orally or by facing his hand or in any other way.
when agreement is established (as per Law 69A) to an opponent’s claim or concession;

Law 64 (PROCEDURE AFTER ESTABLISHMENT OF A REVOKE) C (1) (page 72) says:

When, after any established revoke, including those not subject to trick adjustment, the Director deems that the non-o‘ending side is insufficiently compensated by this Law for the damage caused, he shall assign an adjusted score.

(This corresponds to law 64 for Rubber Bridge)
Analysis
It is not explicitly said in the question that the revoke was established. If it was not it should have been corrected and play should have proceeded.
If the revoke was established and dummy called attention to it during play, there should not have been an automatic two-trick adjustment, Instead, play should have continued. After play was complete, the damage done by the revoke, if any, should have been assessed, by the Director in a duplicate game, by the Arbiter in a club rubber game or any game that has an Arbiter, or by the players in any Rubber game without an Arbiter. The damage done by the revoke should have been restored. That is, if the revoke led to the offenders taking one trick more than they otherwise would have, the non-offenders would be awarded a one-trick adjustment, or whatever number of tricks difference the revoke caused. If there is honest doubt as to hoe much damage was done, it should be resolved against the offenders.In a duplicate game under Law 43 B 3 there would probably be different scored assigned to the two sides by the Director.
If the dummy called attention to the revoke after play was complete, the normal two trick adjustment should have been made. However, if the damage was more than two tricks, the adjustment should restore all damage, to result in the same score that would have been achieved if the revoke had not occurred.
In no case should the had be thrown in because of a revoke, or because of dummy calling attention to a revoke.
In a duplicate game the Director would, if there was doubt, and if feasible, conduct a poll of players of similar skill level to help determine the amount of damage.
In an informal friendly game, dummy might kibitz (watch) declarer's play, although this would violate law 43 A 2 in a duplicate or club rubber game. But even in a friendly game it is a bad idea fro dummy to be looking at the cards still in the hand of either defender, and if dummy does watch declarer, s/he should be particularly careful not to make any comment on the play, or call attention to any error or irregularity until play is complete.
Without the hands and the play up to the point of the revoke, I cannot independently asses the damage done by the revoke.
Background
I am a qualified ACBL club director who ran a small bridge club for a number of years, prior to 2010.


Question regarding when a player gains Ascend

You can respond to spells with Ascend on the stack, but once a permanent with Ascend is on the battlefield, its controller will immediately gain the city's blessing, as a continuous effect that doesn't use the stack, the moment the condition (controlling ten permanents) applies.
This is a bit confusing if you just go by what's on the cards, but it's spelled out in several secondary sources.
The detailed rules
Your intuition is good, but it's a little off this time — mostly because the actual mechanics don't quite match the reminder text.
If you look at the rulings text for Storm Fleet Swashbuckler, you'll see:

1/19/2018 Ascend on a permanent isn’t a triggered ability and doesn’t use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can’t respond to getting the city’s blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can’t respond before you get the city’s blessing.

To understand why, take a look at the way the MTG comprehensive rules define Ascend:

702.130a Ascend on an instant or sorcery spell represents a spell ability. It means “If you control ten or more permanents and you don’t have the city’s blessing, you get the city’s blessing for the rest of the game.”
702.130b Ascend on a permanent represents a static ability. It means “Any time you control ten or more permanents and you don’t have the city’s blessing, you get the city’s blessing for the rest of the game.”

So, based on the wording in the comp rules, it's a continuous effect and not a triggered ability. And that "if" in the card's reminder text is just misleading, pretty much.
The Rivals of Ixalan set FAQ spells out exactly what this means for play:

If you cast a spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city's blessing.

Ascend on a permanent isn't a triggered ability and doesn't use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can't respond to getting the city's blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can't respond before you get the city's blessing.

If you control ten permanents but don't control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won't have the city's blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.

If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterward (most likely due to the "Legend Rule" or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city's blessing before it leaves the battlefield.

Your example
To understand what happens, let's start with what happens if you do nothing:

Alex's main phase. Alex has nine permanents in play (assume one is a small creature, like a Swab Goblin). Alex casts Storm Fleet Swashbuckler.
Priority passes to Jens. Jens passes.
Once priority passes back to Alex and nothing is above Storm Fleet Swashbuckler on the stack, it will resolve.
Alex will gain the city's blessing as soon as Storm Fleet Swashbuckler resolves, before any triggers from that event are put on the stack.

Here's how you can use Moment of Craving to block Ascend by removing another creature:

Alex's main phase. Alex has nine permanents in play (assume one is a small creature, like a Swab Goblin). Alex casts Storm Fleet Swashbuckler.
Priority passes to Jens. Jens casts Moment of Craving targeting the Swab Goblin.
Alex passes, Moment of Craving resolves.
Jens passes, Storm Fleet Swashbuckler resolves. Alex now has only nine permanents, so Ascend does nothing until Alex somehow gains a tenth permanent.

Using Moment of Craving to kill the Swashbuckler will not stop Ascend:

Alex's main phase. Alex has nine permanents in play (assume one is a small creature, like a Swab Goblin). Alex casts Storm Fleet Swashbuckler.
Priority passes to Jens. Jens passes.
Once priority passes back to Alex and nothing is above Storm Fleet Swashbuckler on the stack, it will resolve.
Alex will gain the city's blessing as soon as Storm Fleet Swashbuckler resolves, even before any triggers from that event are put on the stack.
After Alex passes priority, Jens casts Moment of Craving targeting the Swashbuckler.
The Swashbuckler dies, but Alex retains the city's blessing.


Do I tap a creature when it fights? Can a creature with summoning sickness fight?

No you don't tap the creature; even tapped creatures can fight. If you had an instant fight card you could use it during combat as a combat trick. Summoning sickness only effects combat, and tap abilities; fight cards can certainly target a creature with summoning sickness.
The relevant rules from the comprehensive rule book:

701.10. Fight
701.10a A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.
701.10b If a creature instructed to fight is no longer on the battlefield or is no longer a creature, no damage is dealt. If a creature is an illegal target for a resolving spell or ability that instructs it to fight, no damage is dealt.
701.10c If a creature fights itself, it deals damage equal to its power to itself twice.
701.10d The damage dealt when a creature fights isn’t combat damage.

Also relevant, since it isn't combat damage, first strike doesn't do anything, but abilities like lifelink, or deathtouch do work.


Does a Trumpet card count as following suit?

In most games with a trump suit, you must follow with a card of the suit that has been led, unless you are void in that suit (have no cards of that suit), at which point you may play a trump card. Given that, I would assume the rules in Trumpet are the same, and you cannot play a Trumpet unless you're void in the suit led.

This thread on BoardGameGeek agrees, so I'd say it's fairly common to play by that rule, even if the original rules are unclear.


Should you overcall with a (slightly) weaker hand if it is more "disruptive?"

I like to think that 1-level overcalls have three purposes, at least two of which should be fulfilled to justify the overcall:

Showing values
Directing the defense (ie showing a good suit you want partner to lead)
Preempting the opponents

So eg I'm happier to overcall 1S over 1C with a weaker hand than over 1H.

2-level overcalls are trickier. It is far easier for opponents to penalize you at the 2-level, and it's more difficult for your side to make the game-partscore decision when you have the bulk of the high cards because there's less bidding room.

One rule I've heard is that a minimum opener with 5332 shape is insufficient for a 2-over-1 overcall, but many ten-counts with a good 6-card suit are sufficient. And it does seem reasonable to stretch a little to bid 2C over 1D, but not too far. As a friend of mine likes to say, 2-level overcalls are serious business.


It is a 4/4.

Because The Scarab God's copy ability sets the power and toughness, the characteristic defining ability of Consuming Aberration is not copied.

  706.9d When applying a copy effect that doesn’t copy a certain characteristic, retains an original value for a certain characteristic, or modifies the final value of a certain characteristic, any characteristic-defining ability (see rule 604.3) of the object being copied that defines that characteristic is not copied. If that characteristic is color, any color indicator (see rule 204) of that object is also not copied.

    Example: Quicksilver Gargantuan is a creature that reads, “You may have Quicksilver Gargantuan enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it’s still 7/7.” Quicksilver Gargantuan enters the battlefield as a copy of Tarmogoyf, which has a characteristic-defining ability that defines its power and toughness. Quicksilver Gargantuan does not have that ability. It will be 7/7.


In Stone Age, can I use the resources gained on a turn to pay for the cards?

Yes, of course you can. The only "problem" is that you risk not getting the resources you need and then you won't be able to pay for the card and thus you may waste that worker's turn.

That's not to say that good Stone Age play doesn't involve such risk-taking as long as it's realistic.


"Dead hand" has a few different meanings. It's hard to tell just from that one sentence, but it sounds like the one you're describing is the case where somebody forgets to take a tile, so their hand ends up short tiles (it's also a dead hand if the player forgets to discard and thus has too many tiles). A dead hand cannot be used to win the round, but the player still takes their turns as normal until the round ends.

"Dead hand" also sometimes refers to a declared mahjong that turns out to be invalid (like above, that player cannot win anymore, and play continues), or a round where all tiles are drawn from the wall and nobody makes mahjong, but neither seems to be what you're referring to in this case


Citadels: Price of the poorhouse from Dark City

In the US version, the Poor House costs 5 gold. In European versions, it costs 0 gold. The general consensus is that you should play the Poor House with its face value. If your version says 0 cost, that's what you should play it as. If you don't want to do that, make sure you inform everyone about this before the game starts.

It's not clear which publisher is in error, as the creator of the game, Bruno Faidutti, never spoke on the subject.

There are a lot of inconsistencies between European and US versions of Citadels. Someone on BGG once claimed that the 0 cost version is a misprint, but as far as I could tell they had no official source for that information, and it caused a bit of debate.


WJO and Truscott are generally separable from your system. They are part of your defense and are more like a "component" rather than a part of your system methodology.

Kaplan-Sheinwold (KS) adopts a 5-card Major approach with a weak No-trump opening, ranging from 12-14 HCP. However, its only strong opening is 2C, with 2D, 2H and 2S all being standard weak two bids. However, reverse Benji can be easily incorporated into KS without greatly changing the one-level openings and their continuations.


What is the highest game score theoretically possible in Scrabble using 1 player and the International Scrabble Dictionary?

This is an open problem that hasn't been resolved yet.

That said, the highest known possible score is in the vicinity of 4000 points. See page 69 of Total Scrabble.


One Night Ultimate Werewolf: If your card is moved, whose team are you on?

It is very wrong.

The rules are clear that you act whatever you had, you are whatever you have:

  After the night phase, your role is the card that is currently in front of you, which may be different than your original role.

with emphasis added


Does a cultist's on death effect trigger during it's own turn?

It's unusual, but you're correct. The rules on page 10 state

  A monster will perform each of these abilities in the order listed (if possible) and then end its turn.

So if a Cultist has a wound and 1 HP, it will die before taking any of the actions, and thus setting up for 'on death' doesn't happen.

This is similar to how a figure with retaliate doesn't retaliate if it's killed or exhausted by an attack.

Also, remember that abilities such as disarm and stun also prevent the 'on death' ability from taking place if those status effects were in place when the cultist activated.


Late 80's game, post apocalyptic dinosaurs and guns

Could it have been Gammarauders?  That has Factoid cards with images of TVs (with feet!) and came out in 1987.  Some, although not all, of the creatures in the game were dinosaurs.


You got had! Nice play by your opponent (South).

Terminology:

A finesse is the play of a lower card than the highest held - in an attempt to create an extra trick - by the third hand playing to the trick.
South on this hand employed a ruse to create the extra trick by leading the lower card (Queen from holding topped by just Ace-Queen).

There are Game Theoretic issues with a second-hand holding such as your holding here of Kx - where it is important to not be predictable. I suspect that you, and possibly North as well, have become predictable in your play with short Spade holdings.

Comments being ephemeral, and all that, two comments of mine from below are saved here:

I cannot imagine any strong, or better, Contract Bridge player not regularly leading top of an interior sequence, or second lowest, to see how many errors can be induced by the opponents. I do it regularly. South in this case seems to have a similar low regard for the card skill of his opponents. (Bridge players are snobs about the card skill of Spades, Hearts, and Euchre players - for very good reason.) If you are serious about improving your card play at Spades, and other trick-taking games, learn and study Contract Bridge and its associated play.
A good starting resource is the web site run by multiple National ACBL Championship winner Richard Pavlicek and his son: rpbridge.net/rppt.htm


Yes. Here are a few sources to confirm this.

Hoyle gaming says "you can pick up the discard pile if you can use the upcard in an existing meld or in a new meld" and that a "canasta is a meld."
Bicycle cards says "...a player may take [the discard pile]: ... by adding the top card to a meld he already has on the table. Having taken and melded the top discard as described, the player takes the rest of the pile into his hand...." and that a canasta is a "meld comprising seven or more cards."
Pagat says "In order to [pick up the discard pile], you must be able to meld the top discard, without needing any of the other cards in the discard pile to make your meld valid."

Note: Wikipedia has been updated since the original post, so the below is currently incorrect.

I did find that Wikipedia contradicted this, claiming a player "may only pick up the discard pile if they can use the top card by making a new meld along with two other cards from their hand," but this is the only source where this appears to be written.


Does mana stay in your mana pool after the land has been destroyed

Yes, it will stay in your mana pool until the end of the current step or phase.

There are effects that empty your mana pool, but they specifically say so, such as Mana Short.

  106.4. When an effect produces mana, that mana goes into a player’s mana pool. From there, it can be used to pay costs immediately, or it can stay in the player’s mana pool. Each player’s mana pool empties at the end of each step and phase.


What is this game that is about connecting streams?

You possibly played Ta Yü.

It's one of many games that follow the "connect two sides"-pattern, more popular ones are Hex or Quoridor, versions can even be played on a Goban (Go board)

However, there are differences to your Description:

Players are starting in the middle of the board and try connecting to two opposite sides
The "streams" are apparently never colored red:


What is the real name of Misha's Bidding Game?

This is a variant of liar's dice, played with cards and using only the numbers ${0,1}$ instead of dice with ${1,2,3,4,5,6}$.
On Wikipedia, the article with that name gives more detail.


In Settlers of Catan (like Diplomacy), is the secret to winning avoiding "peaking too soon?"

I often write that it depends on the group, but I think that's especially applicable here. If you are playing against computer AIs for instance, of course you want to maximize your VPs at every step.

In general, though, I don't think it's wise to sandbag in Catan--or to inwardly cheer bad luck. In the worst case scenario, aggressive Robber usage and trade embargos will hold you back until someone catches up with you. At that point, you can earnestly point out that you are no longer winning. Even if you're the obvious leader, as long as you have no more than 6-7 VPs, you can often arrange a mutually beneficial trade with someone desperate enough for what you have to break the opponents' embargo.

Additionally, having a powerful position gives extra resources, which can help you forge ahead or expand a lead, even if the other players are trying to stop you. If you plan to take an early lead, I think it's definitely better to go for cities and settlements, not Longest Road. Definitely avoid going for the Longest Road early in the game, until you either actually need the road, or the 2 VP are close to mattering to decide the winner. Having the card paints a target on you as a leader, and distracts attention from other possible leaders, but doesn't help you generate any more resources. Another worry is getting two cities off the gate (maybe with an early ore/grain settlement placement) but being hemmed in without a decent third building site opportunity.

I've seen players try to stay at 7 VP and hoarding resources until they can make a big break by taking Longest Road and building 1 VP worth of stuff in the same turn. It's sometimes worked, but sometimes fallen flat as savvy opponents can look at the resources you've been gathering and guess what your opportunities are. And isn't the point of pondering strategy to prepare for savvy opponents?


How does Spine of Ish Sah interact with It That Betrays?

This is a situation for Active Player / Non-Active Player (APNAP) ordering:

  405.3. If an effect puts two or more objects on the stack at the same time, those controlled by the active player are put on lowest, followed by each other player’s objects in APNAP order (see rule 101.4). If a player controls more than one of these objects, that player chooses their relative order on the stack.

The attacking player is the active player, and the defending player is the non-active player. So:

The defending player sacrifices two permanents (including the Spine of Ish Sah) to the Annihilator 2 trigger.
Two instances of It That Betrays' triggered ability go on the stack first (one for the Spine, one for whatever other permanent was sacrificed), in an order chosen by the active player.
Spine of Ish Sah's triggered ability goes on the stack.
Assuming nothing else happens, Spine of Ish Sah's triggered ability resolves first, returning it to its owner's hand.
It That Betrays' triggered abilities resolve, but Spine of Ish Sah isn't in the graveyard anymore, so it won't be put onto the battlefield. The other trigger for the other sacrificed permanent can still put it onto the battlefield, though.

This does mean that if the Spine were somehow sacrificed during player B's turn, the order of the triggers will be reversed, and it'll end up on the battlefield under player A's control.


Can you play a piece of Ninja Gear that gives a flat bonus to turn a failed roll into a success?

Yes, in the rules under Fortune Cards (page 4):

  If you fail a skill roll, but you have a useful item in your hand and enough money, you may buy that item from your hand. If it gives you an automatic success or increases your skill enough that you succeed, then you made your roll!


As part of casting a spell, you must announce the nonhybrid equivalent cost you intend to pay.[601.2b] For Beseech the Queen, this is any of the following:

{6}
{4}{B}
{2}{B}{B}
{B}{B}{B}

Each artifact you tap covers {1} of the cost, so yes, you can pay for Beseech the Queen by paying {1}{B}{B} and tapping an artifact if you first pick {2}{B}{B}.

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell includes proposal of the spell (rules 601.2a–d) and determination and payment of costs (rules 601.2f–h). To cast a spell, a player follows the steps listed below, in order. [...]
601.2b [...] If a cost that will be paid as the spell is being cast includes hybrid mana symbols, the player announces the nonhybrid equivalent cost they intend to pay. [...]
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.”
702.125b The improvise ability isn’t an additional or alternative cost and applies only after the total cost of the spell with improvise is determined.


How are vehicles costed, and how do I tell if the crew cost is worth it?

Evaluating the vehicles like they're creatures is a mistake. As @JonTheMon says, vehicles are very analogous to equipment; they're worthless without creatures (or one of the other, fringe-ier enablers), and they can be "moved around". A good first step is then comparing the statline to the crew cost.

Another major consideration is the crew cost, just on its own. A Crew 1 vehicle will almost always have a creature capable of crewing it alone. A Crew 2 vehicle is usually safe too, but Crew 3 and above gets difficult. Crewing vehicles with multiple smaller creatures is ill-advised, as now you're tapping out a lot of your board for smaller gain. The best vehicles printed in Kaladesh block are Heart of Kiran and Smuggler's Copter (the latter being strong and pervasive enough to be banned). Copter had crew 1, which made it very good. Heart of Kiran is much harder to crew, but it makes up for it by being able to use planeswalkers as crew instead.

When a vehicle has a high crew cost, you need a larger creature to use it effectively. If you have such a huge creature (for example, one with 6 power to crew Consulate Dreadnought), you are in a strong position anyway, and the 7/11 is likely not that much stronger (we call cards like this "win-more" cards, and they're generally bad). Again, maybe you crew it with a bunch of small creatures, maybe tokens, but this is bad; a major source of value from tokens is their ability to clog up the board, and tapping a bunch of them down for one large creature is very unappealing, unless that card literally wins the game.

To properly evaluate vehicles, you have to do a little more than look at their statlines. Instead consider this; when does having this card on the board, or in my hand, help me? If a card is at its most useful when you're already winning, like Consulate Dreadnought, it is probably not a good card; the Dreadnought comes down on turn 1, but you're unlikely to be able to crew it until turn 4 or 5 at the earliest, and you're either tapping down an already large creature, or giving up on your entire board to do it. It lacks trample or any evasion, so it can be stopped by 1/1s, and on top of all that it adds only 1 power on top of what damage your crew could do normally. It is at its best when the board is clogged with large creatures, so it's 11 toughness can shine. This is a very specific situation that is not even likely to come up most games. Comparatively, see limited all-star Renegade Freighter. At Crew 2, it's likely that by turn 4, when it's able to attack, you'll have one or more creatures capable of operating it on its own. Landing on turn 3 means that it arrives early enough to be relevant, but it has an aggressive enough statline to remain useful late in the game, if that comes to it. It's great at developing your board, it closes out games that you're already winning, and it is beefy enough to block for you if you're losing.

This idea of evaluating when cards are useful, instead of just looking at their stats, is a very good philosophy for evaluating magic cards in general, but it's particularly useful for weird, newer types of cards like vehicles.


The land is a rare for a couple reasons:

It is a land that can provide two colors and it has the chance to enter untapped. Entering untapped is important for maintaining tempo.
It is a dual land*, in the classic sense of having two basic land types(Island Swamp). Lands with two basic types are very important, especially when fetch lands are currently in standard. A Plain-Island fetchland could get a Sunken Hollow, allowing the player access to black mana.

*I call it a dual land, but there are many lands that can be considered dual. Any land that produces two (or more) types of mana may be considered dual, even if they aren't a basic land type (e.g. Llanowar Wastes produces green and black, but isn't a forest nor a swamp, and costs life to make colored mana). Many dual lands enter tapped, which trades mana fixing for speed. Some do give you a slight benefit (1 life, scry 1, relevant land type).

And of the dual lands with two land types, each of them is slightly different. The original dual lands always entered untapped. Shock lands enter tapped unless you pay 2 life but it can be untapped the first or second turn. The dual land you have won't normally enter untapped until the 3rd turn or later.


what happens with commanders and o ring effects?

Yes, as rule 903.9 describes, the commander's owner may put it in the command zone:

  If a commander would be exiled from anywhere or put into its owner’s hand, graveyard, or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead


Do Collective Restraint and Nylea's Presence work together in a non-5-color EDH deck?

Yes.

Since Nylea's Presence turns the enchanted land into every basic land type, it means that you have all basic land types under your control. Whether you could have originally have them or not doesn't matter to either continuous effect of your enchantments.

Here's a ruling that supports this:

  2/1/2009: A number of nonbasic lands have basic land types. Domain abilities don't count the number of lands you control — they count the number of basic land types among lands you control, even if that means checking the same land twice. For example, if you control a Tundra, an Overgrown Tomb, and a Madblind Mountain, you'll have a Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest among the lands you control. Your domain abilities will be maxed out.

This doesn't refer specifically to your question, but as you can see, since your enchanted land will have every basic land type, Collective Restraint's ability will consider it as being a Forest Mountain Swamp Island Plains land.


Can I throw more than one cargo overboard during a single Traitor's turn?

Yes. Per a post on Board Game Geek where game designer Oliver Pauwels responded to concerns about the vagueness of the rule book:

Can more than one cargo be thrown off in a single round?
Yes, as long as you have enough gold to pay : )


Why did Experiment One not get a counter when my Undying creature returned to play?

Well, it should have.

In the ruling for Experiment One it clearly stats:
If a creature enters the battlefield with +1/+1 counters on it, consider those counters when determining if evolve will trigger. For example, a 1/1 creature that enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it will cause the evolve ability of a 2/2 creature to trigger.

You should report this bug to the MTGO support.


Why does Tales of the Arabian Nights have the victory condition it has?

Other games, such as Careers, also have this mechanic. Such Victory Conditions have the effect of increasing replay value, by increasing the number of possible strategies for victory.

Considering that such a mechanic is easily understood by children as young as 10, perhaps even a bright 8 or 9, the additional complexity is truly minimal.


What is the name of this Yahtzee variant with 10 dice?

Is it Double Cameroon. It sees to match.


Can monsters with no speed cross barrier rooms?

Yes.

From the rules, under Special Rooms, page 6:

  Crossing the barrier doesn’t count as moving a space.

and

  Monsters always ignore barriers.

The fact that a monster's movement is defined by speed is relevant to discussing how many rooms the monster can move between.

  At the start of the monster turn, roll a number of dice equal to each monster’s Speed. That’s the number of spaces that monster can move that turn

This means that a monster than doesn't have speed can move 0 spaces each turn. But your question is not related to how many space a monster can move. Your question is about which side of the barrier room the monster is considered to be on. And monsters can choose to be on whichever side of the barrier they want to be on. Going from one side of the barrier to the other isn't "moving" as the game generally describes moving.

It is worth noting that many rules in Betrayal are either unclear or lacking; and this is a case where the rules as written are not fully in line with the thematic answer. That is to say, it makes sense thematically that a monster that "cannot move" couldn't ever get from one side of the tower to the other. Because of this, it makes perfect sense for your playgroup to decide to play the game with the thematic answer rather than the strictly rules-based answer.


multiple lines in spell abilities - why new paragraph sometimes

The paragraph breaks are only there for clarity. You always do everything the card says, and there's nothing in the game that tries to count how many effects a spell had. That said, Wizards is pretty consistent about doing this for readability, I think in roughly the way you've noted.

Incinerate is all in one paragraph because it's all related; the second sentence wouldn't make any sense without the first. It has a one-shot effect (dealing damage) and also creates a related continuous effect (no regeneration) that lasts until the end of the turn.

Remand does two entirely separate things, so they split it up to make it read more easily. The first part is a one-shot effect (counter the spell) with a related replacement effect (if it's countered, return it to hand instead). The second part is another one-shot effect (draw a card). It would do exactly the same thing if the paragraph break were removed, though - and in fact, if it were the effect of an activated ability on a permanent instead of a spell on its own, it would presumably be written as one paragraph.

The instructions you follow while resolving an instant or sorcery are spell abilities (112.3a), so in combination with 112.2c, I believe that technically means that Incinerate has one spell ability and Remand has two. I can't think of anything in the rules or the game that actually cares about that fact, though. The rules really only even mention spell abilities in a couple places where they need a phrase to specify that something is part of resolving a spell, like the first part of Cipher (the part that lets you encode the spell). Splitting abilities on paragraph breaks is far more important on permanents, where they might be activated or triggered abilities that really need to be clearly delineated. For example, on Dragon Tempest, it's important that the two paragraphs are separate abilities!

Yes, linked abilities do exist, and two linked abilities are often put in multiple paragraphs (like Oblivion Ring). But the paragraph break isn't what makes something a linked ability. There are a variety of things that indicate a linked ability (e.g. "cards exiled with X") but only one mentions paragraph breaks and in fact requires them to be in the same paragraph to be linked (static abilities and triggered abilities in the same paragraph are linked). There's none of that going on here.


Understanding influence and using it properly

First of all, are you confusing influence and thickness? See my answer here for the difference.

Influence and thickness obviously have to lead to territory in the end, the questions is, how?

The rationale behind "Do not use thickness to make territory" is to not use it directly in a crude way. Imagine a situation like this:

$$Wcm1 Black's direction of attack is bad
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 1 . 2 . . . X O . O O O . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . X X X X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

The extension to B2 is poor direction, as it, while creating some territory, is not using the wall to the fullest. White can think about attaching to the corner stone or simply extending to gain at least part of a base, and black will have a hard time attacking. Compare to this:

$$Wcm1 Right direction
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . 1 . . . . . X O . O O O . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . X X X X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

White does not have any base and is even forced to jump to the center, not having a single eye. Black can look forward to keep attacking. At the same time, black made some territory in the upper left.

$$Wcm1 Extending is difficult
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . 1 . . 3 . . X O . O O O . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . X X X X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . 4 . . 5 . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

Using thickness to attack

The word thickness, as used in Go, is approximately synonymous with strength A group of stones is thick if it contains few or no weak points and is not vulnerable to attack. It should be obvious that thickness is a good thing to have. Your opponent must be extremely cautious in the vicinity of your thickness, for he will not find any useful kikashi to play against it should his stones get into trouble. Backed up by thickness, you can attack with carefree abandon. Also, in a ko fight the player whose groups are thick will have the advantage. Hence, in the first half of the game, building thickness is just as important as making territory. The key idea in handling thickness is to treat it with respect and not to play too close to it, whether it be your opponent’s thickness or your own.

Let's consider another example.

$$Wcm1 White is very thick but horribly abuses the value
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . 2 . . O O O X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . 1 . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

The white extension to 1 in this example is, well, hideous. Clearly Black 2 is a larger move than White 1, fixing black's problems and creating territory.

Instead, white should invade like this:

$$Wcm1 Use the thickness to attack
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 0 . . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 9 . . . . . O . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . 6 7 . . . 2 . . O O O X . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 5 . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X 3 . . 1 . X . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Continuation

$$Bcm1 Use the thickness to attack
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 1 2 . . 9 . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . O . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X O . 4 . X . . O O O X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O 3 . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O 5 . O . X . a . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . 6 7 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Black has some difficulty finding severe moves. Due to the presence of White’s thickness he had to make defensive plays at 2 (dia1) and 9 (dia2), and the invasion was a success for White. Note that 'a' still remains as a large yose point for her.

$$Bcm1 Black can hardly fight back
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . 2 . . O . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X O . O . X . . O O O X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X . O . X . . 3 . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 O X O . . . 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

If Black had used 18 in the last diagram to capture three stones, as with 1 in this diagram, he would have suffered a big loss. White 2 captures a large territory. It is pointless for Black to extend into the teeth of White’s thickness with 3. White 4, in conjunction with White’s thickness, deprives Black of eyes.

When your opponent has made thickness, you should try to deal with it by establishing some stones a safe distance away from it. After making such a base, you can approach more closely. However, slowly approaching thickness is, well, slow - it means you won't make points as quickly. This is a drawback of allowing your opponent to have thickness.

Creating a moyo

$$Wcm1 Nice moyo for black, thanks to the newly created thickness.
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . # . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

In response to White 1, the niken takabasami of Black 2 in conjunction with Black , is a good strategy. The 3-3 invasion of the corner with White 3 is the usual continuation and with the sequence to 8, Black has made thickness on the outside while White has taken profit in the corner. The marked stone has now become an ideally placed as it is a good extension from both the shimari in the upper right corner and the wall on the lower right side.

Overconcentration

You probably already know this situation:

$$Bcm1 Note that the white extension is 2 space, not 3 space at 'a'.
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . 2 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . 1 O . . O a .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ +----------------------

By kicking at 1, black can force overconcentration of the white group.

The very same idea can be used to counter bad use of thickness. I've found a great example for this:

$$Wcm1 Imagine this situation.
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . O O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . 1 . . . . . . O X O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

White is trying to use her thickness to create territory on the lower edge. We can make use of this wrong attempt.

$$
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X 5 1 2 . . , . . O O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 O 6 . . . . . O X O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Black should play tsuke-osae with 1 and 3. The sequence to Black 7, which is joseki, will follow, leaving Black with a large profit in the corner and White with thickness along the lower side. But what is this thickness worth?

$$
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X X X O . b , a . O O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . O X O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

If White were to make an extension from his formation on the lower left side, the ideal
point would be at 'a'. On the other hand, the ideal point for an extension from the
formation on the lower right side would be at 'b'. The sphere of influence of these two
formations overlap. Eventually, White may have to play on one of these points to prevent Black from invading. But, for White to play on one of the points will result in overconcentration.


Survive Escape from Atlantis: whales and sharks setup

Yes, those creatures only appear when you flip a tile with the aforementioned creature. This is different than the Sea Monsters, that begin on the board at the start of the game.

The nearly complete rules, which a BGG commentor stated have not changed says:

  Set aside the Shark, Whale, and remaining Boat tokens for now.


How many possible starting moves are there in Abalone?

I agree with 44.  Here's my break down:

Diagonal X2 (once for each diagonal direction):

6 moves with a single marble
5 in-line moves with 2 marbles
4 broadside moves with 2 marbles
3 in-line moves with 3 marbles
1 broadside move with 3 marbles

Horizontal

2 moves with a single marble
2 in-line moves with 2 marbles
2 in-line moves with 3 marbles

(6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 1) * 2 + (2 + 2 + 2) = 44.


Name of empire building game with negotiated alliances?

The board described is that of Struggle of Empires.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1597401/struggle-empires


If these are all orders from one country, nothing happens.  From the rules:

  A country cannot dislodge or support the dislodgement of one of its own units

If "F StP -> Nwy" is a different country from the other two orders, the unit in StP is dislodged.  From the rules:

  Support is cut if the unit giving support is attacked from any province except the one where support is being given.


What happens when playing Throne Room / King's Court *twice* with Caravan?

The basic rule is given in the Seaside Rules, pg4

If you play or modify a Duration card with another card, that
other card also stays in your play area until it is no longer doing
anything.

If you have a chain of Throne Rooms or King's Court, you need to retain the cards necessary to correctly process everything on the next turn.
For your examples, discard the initial card (whether Throne Room or King's Court).  The remaining Throne Room is sufficient to indicate that each Caravan needs to be played twice at the beginning of your next turn.
On the next turn, each Caravan would be played twice for a total of +4 cards.
Two more examples should clarify the remaining edge cases here.
Example 1:

Throne Room (1)

Chose Throne Room(2), doubled by (1)

Chose Throne Room(3), doubled by (2)

Chose Caravan(A), doubled by (3)
Chose Caravan(B), doubled by (3)

Chose Throne Room(4), doubled by (2)

Chose Caravan(C), doubled by (4)
Chose Caravan(D), doubled by (4)

In this case, you will retain

All 4 Caravans obviously (ABCD)
Throne Rooms (3) and (4) as they directly modify the Caravans
Throne Room (2) as it will indicate that Throne Rooms (3) and (4) need to be doubled, subsequently doubling the Caravans again.

Throne Room (1) can be discarded as it is has no effect on the Caravans next turn.
Example 2:

Throne Room (1)

Throne Room (2), doubled by (1)

Throne Room (3), doubled by (2)

Caravan (A), doubled by (3)
Caravan (B), doubled by (3)

Caravan (C), doubled by (2)

In this case, all cards will be retained.  Throne Room (1) is needed to indicate that Caravan (C) needs to be doubled next turn.
King's Court will work the same general way, it just makes for even messier examples.
I've distilled this answer from a BoardGameGeek thread where the answers were provided by Donald X. Vaccarino, the designer of Dominion.
He recommends (as do I, for what it's worth) that you use some sort of tree format to help lay everything out as I've done above.  It will help remind you which cards are affecting which in these tricky situations.


Forbidden Island - Extending to 5 players

I tried: you can, but each difficulty level is to be considered one lower.

In order to be able to have a chance to win with your friend if they have never played the game and that you want to start easy, you have to put the water cursor below the first line, adding a new level of difficulty: "extra-novice".

But if you intend to have more than 4 players regularly, may I suggest you buy another cooperative game that is suitable for 5?

Atlantis Rising (2-6 players) takes some of the same principle of drowning land, without being exacly the same game.
Battlestar Galactica (3-6 players) is a team vs team game, except you don't know in which team you are until the middle of the game.
Shadows over Camelot (3-7 players) allows each player to follow his own quest, but be sure to find the traitor and don't let him ruin your work!
Hanabi (2-5 players) asks every player to launch fireworks by playing cards in the right order (exactly like Ligretto) except you hold your cards backwards and everybody sees them except you.
There are 3319 co-operative games (when I write this answer) listed on Board Game Geek!


Buster Blader the DDS did not affect Destiny Hero - Decider effect; why so?

How come buster blader the dragon destroyer swordsman with DNA surgery set to dragons. Didn't stop destiny hero decider's effect

I suppose you mean the effect Decider has that activates on the hand (to reduce effect damage inflicted to 0). Your Buster Blader couldnt' stop it because DNA surgery only affects monsters on the field, from it's text:

  Activate this card by declaring 1 Monster Type. All face-up monsters on the field become that Type.

Because of that is that Destiny Hero - Decider was still able to activate its effect, because when in the hand it is still a Warrior and not a Dragon.

Seems that you were asking about the effect that states "Level 6 or higher monsters your opponent controls cannot target this card for attacks."

From Buster Blader's card text, emphasis mine:

  [...] also Dragon-Type monsters in your opponent's possession cannot activate their effects.

However, that effect Destiny Hero - Decider you ask about is a Continuous effect. Those kind of effects do not "activate", as they are always and continuously taking effect. Thus, Destiny Hero - Decider does not activate that effect, this why Buster Blader couldn't prevent it from being "activated".


Does relieving the "volatility" of supply rolls make Afrika Korps better for the Germans?

You narrowly avoided a massive hoodwink.

The game runs in fortnightly turns from March '41 through October '42, a total of 20 months and 40 turns.

By the Supply Rules, the German supply expectation is:
- Apr. '41 through Jun. '41 ( 6 turns @ 4/6) =  4
- Jul. '41 through Nov. '41 (10 turns @ 3/6) =  5
- Dec. '41 through Oct. '42 (24 turns # 5/6) = 20
for a total expectation of 29 supply.

Your friend offered you a guaranteed schedule for only 40 * 4/6 = 26.7 supply.

You would have found yourself in supply difficulty through the final turns of the game, deprived of 2.3 supply relative to a normal supply expectation.

I doubt that a 1.6 additional supply expectation from July through November '41 would have compensated for the reduction by 4.3 through the final half of the game.

Yes, I have simplified the arithmetic slightly by ignoring the guaranteed supply on April '41 I turn - which adds 0.33 to the expectation in both scenarios - a wash


What are all the ways to win by card effect?

What are new ways of winning by card effect?

The following is a list of all the cards that have victory conditions1 for winning that I recall:

Exodia: All five cards in hand and you win. This archetype has several variants, like Exodia Necross. One variant is Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord, which also has victory condition (similar, as you have to send all Exodia pieces to the GY to win).
Destiny Board: All five cards activated on your field, in order, and you win. This is an old set of cards, contemporary of Exodia.
Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo: 3 counters on it and you win. You place them by detaching XYZ material to Leo, which is done by not having Spells or Traps and skipping your Battle phase. Part of the Gimmick Archetype. Its Chaos version, Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo also has win condition, when it has no XYZ material and your Opponent's LP are 2000 or lower.
Ghostrick Angel of Mischief: With 10 XYZ material on it you win. Each turn you can add a Ghostrick card as material to it.
Jackpot 7: All three copies banished by its effect and you win. To banish them your opp has to destroy them while set on your field.
Final Countdown: Just like the song, after 20 turns of its activation you win. Pay 2000 LP to activate. This card was recently limited as some decks were abusing of it.
Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes: also 3 venom counters on it and you win. Part of the Venom Archetype.
Holactie the Creator of Light. Remember the Egyptian Gods? Meet their God. Summon it (by tributing the 3 Egyptian Gods) and you win.
Phantasm Spiral Assault: if your Phantasm Spiral Dragon destroys 3 effect monsters while equipped with Phantasm Spiral equip cards you win.

These are only the "legal" or playable cards. For others like the restricted Last Turn and other info about victory conditions and the winning player read here.

1 It is important to stress that conditions are not card effects. Unlike card effects, conditions cannot be negated. This means that Mind Drain can't "negate" Exodia's "effect", as it is a condition.

This is the same for Number 88; if it has 3 counters you win, period. However, you can cast Breakthrough Skill when Number 88's detach effect is activated, and negate the placement of the counter (ruining his strategy as now it doesn't have enough material to get to 3). But the condition you can't negate.


Exploding Kittens- Slap to get out of multiple turns

You have been slapped thrice, so you now have 3 turns to complete.
If you have a slap card as return, you can shift all to another player. But if you don't have a slap card, you can not return.
But if you draw a slap card in an other turn, you can transfer all the remaining turns to another player. see The rules.

Double slap
End your turn without drawing a card and force any other  player to
take 2 turns in a row. This is not the same as drawing 2 cards in a
row! The target of this card should take their first turn (play cards
and/or draw). When their turn is over, it’s their turn again. If the
targeted player plays a Slap Card in return, they pick a player to
take ALL remaining turns (4 turns, then 6, and  so on). Play always
continues from the targeted player. If you draw and defuse an
Exploding Kitten during a series  of turns, you must continue taking
your remaining turns.

Example
You are targetted with a tripple slap and you have no slap to return. So you are forced to take the turn(s).

Turn 1, you draw a slap. You now have 2 turns to complete.
Turn 2, you play the slap. You target another player that gets the 2 turns of the card + your remaining turns (2nd and 3rd) for a total of 4.


Can tokens be converted to different symbols?

Symbols are used to purchase cards wherever they come from (Dice or Cards on your CV).
As you can only use each symbol once per turn, the symbols from your cards are materialized using tokens which are just a convenient way to remember that you already planned to use the symbol from one of your cards and to avoid that you use it twice...

The Arrows are explained on page 7 of the rulesbook and nothing mentions the source of the symbol there:

A symbol is a symbol is a symbol ;-)
And you can swap them wherever they come from...


The official rules for Zombivors are now available here.

Quick recap:

  Death and zombie infection can’t turn a real hero into a monster .
  Your favorite Survivors can make it back to the game  as Zombie heroes
  called Zombivors! When your Survivor is  eliminated by Zombies, you
  can turn him into a Zombivor:  flip his Identity Card and savor a
  bloody revenge . The Zombivors’ status is indicated with on the
  Survivors’  Identity Card . All Survivor rules apply to them . The
  killer feature about Zombivors is their incredible endurance: a
  Zombivor is only eliminated by five Wounded  Cards in his Inventory
  (instead of two for a standard  Survivor)

  Zombivors are great tanks . There’s a serious drawback, though
  (besides the foul breath): at Yellow  Level, Zombivors don’t gain the
  +1 Action Skill of  standard Survivors

It goes on to explain that you can either play with them starting as zombies, or play with them starting as normal but coming back as zombies if they are defeated (which obviously is a big advantage).


Can you attack again after I decide not to block?

No, you can only attack once per turn

There are certain cards that give you a second attack, but normally, one attack per turn.

If you are new to Magic, you should have a look at the Basic Rulebook (pdf) on the Magic rules website. It contains all the essential info to get you started.

If you encounter situations not quite covered there, you can always check back here, or try to figure it out yourself in the Comprehensive Rulebook (don't use that one to start out).


What happens if a permanent is made to gain and then lose an ability, or vice versa?

Rayami will not regain hexproof from their own ability until end of turn
All effects granting or removing abilities to creatures (and other permanents) are continuous effects, governed by the Layer system described in rule 613.  Specifically, these are ability-adding and ability removing effects, applied in Layer 6.

613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, keyword counters, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.

As these are both applied in the same layer, rule 613.7 determines how they are applied.

613.7. Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp.

This means, for example, if I had a creature with hexproof, and then Shadowspear removed that hexproof, I could give that creature hexproof again with Ranger's Guile and it would gain hexproof, but my opponent could remove that hexproof with another activation of Shadowspear.
If Rayami applied a continuous effect to grant an ability every time a creature was exiled, then they would regain hexproof the way you described.  But that's not how Rayami works.
Rayami has two abilities - a replacement effect that exiles creatures that die, and a static ability that grants a continuous effect granting abilities.  The timestamp for this continuous effect is Rayami's - the moment when Rayami entered the battlefield.  Changes to which cards are exiled with blood counters doesn't affect this timestamp.  Therefore, additional creatures dying will not grant Rayami hexproof if Shadowspear has already been activated this turn.
Thus, the answers to your questions are:

Yes
No
No


Distribution of tokens in Standard 4 player catan?


You should go by the definition in the rule book on page 8

Room - An area of the map tile that has a name and is separated from the other rooms by solid brown walls, doors, or the edge of the map tile. ...

Raise a Zombie in the graveyard: Only those in the Graveyard room.

Whenever a monster enters (or is placed) in an investigator's room (or vise versa), the investigator must immediately make an attribute test called a HORROR TEST. ... If multiple investigators are in the room, the must each make a horror test.

Elder Sign: although poorly worded (the Elder Sign rules text), all monsters in the room are moved two spaces away from her. (Keep in mind that a map tile may have as many as 3 rooms on it, you cannot use the terms interchangeably)

Tile - A single piece of punchboard that contains between one and three rooms.
Elder Sign - "Pass: The keeper must move each monster in your room 2 spaces away from you."


What game is this? 8x8 wooden grid with 2 sets of 9 marbles

Oriental Chess by Lagoon Games

It looks like it is an old game no longer in production.
Here's a couple of pictures of the rules.


May a creature declare an attack while it is exhausted?

According to this post on BoardGameGeek abilities can be declared even if a creature is exhausted.


The older TSR version of the rules make this process a bit clearer:

  Die roll: 4-5-6; Light Wound!  Drop any 1  treasure card. Retreat back to the nearest empty corridor space. Lose one turn.


If I reveal a land with Daxos of Meletis, can I play it?

The land is exiled and you gain 0 life. You may not play the land, because as you point out, the card says "cast" not "play":

  [...] Whenever Daxos of Meletis deals combat damage to a player, exile the top card of that player's library. You gain life equal to that card's converted mana cost. Until end of turn, you may cast that card and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast it.

  [CR601]. Casting Spells

  601.1. Previously, the action of casting a spell, or casting a card as a spell, was referred to on cards as "playing" that spell or that card. Cards that were printed with that text have received errata in the Oracle card reference so they now refer to "casting" that spell or that card.

  601.1a Some effects still refer to "playing" a card. "Playing a card" means playing that card as a land or casting that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate.

Djinn of Wishes and Intet, the Dreamer allow you to play exiled lands, Daxos does not.

The CR define what you can do in MtG, since no rule exists for Casting a Land, you cannot do it. Additionally, rules exist for cards that share the land type and an indication that lands are not spells (about the closest you will get that lands aren't spells).

  305.9. If an object is both a land and another card type, it can be played only as a land. It can’t be cast as a spell.

  505.5b During either main phase, the active player may play one land [...] Neither the land nor the action of playing the land is a spell or ability.


You have it right: from the hand.
From this thread on Paizo:

Unless a specific card says otherwise (for example, as you say, the Sandpoint Cathedral), you can't recharge a card from the discard pile. "Recharging" is a "playing a card" action (p. 10) and you can only play cards from your hand.


Does First Strike cause a creature to deal damage twice?

No, First Strike does not cause your creature to deal damage twice; it only causes your creature to deal damage before normal damage is dealt.

  702.7b If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step.

So in the second / regular combat damage step, creatures with first strike will not deal damage, because they already dealt their damage.

If your attacking creature is blocked by a 3/1 with first strike, it would take a total of 3 damage. If it has 3 or less toughness, then it will die in the first strike damage step, before it can deal damage. If it has 4 or more toughness (which Goblin Machinist does), then it will still be alive to deal its damage after it has taken the 3 damage.

Your friend may have been confusing First Strike with Double Strike, which is an ability that causes creatures to deal damage twice.


When you call a bluff and are wrong, how is the card that dies chosen?


Who wins when everyone takes lethal damage simultaneously?

It's a draw. Whenever all remaining players lose at the same time, the game ends in a draw.

From the Basic Rulebook, under "Winning the Game:

  If both players would lose the game at the same time, the
  game is a draw—nobody wins.

Similar information is repeated under the glossary for "Life total" and "draw the game".


Forbidden Desert: Valid Navigator and Climber combo to save two buried players for one action?

I don't have my game/rules with me, but I don't think that is a legal combination.

My understanding is that the Climber can take someone with him, but that someone would have to go with him for his entire move (on that particular action). So he would not be able to pick up another player in the middle of his movement.

If the Climber were using his own actions, each tile is a new action so he can pick up or drop off as he chooses. but if using a single action given by the Navigator, I think all three tiles would have to include the same set of player tokens.

This is the way I have played. I'll have to double check my rules to see if there is any clarification.

(And I assume this is your question on boardgamegeek).


Various questions about Karametra's Favor

1) Karamertra's Favor doesn't tap, it gives an ability to the creature it is enchanting allowing it to tap for mana. This mana works just like any other kind of mana and empties from your mana pool at the end of the step or phase.

2) You can use the ability anytime you are able to tap the creature, so you can do it with blocking creatures and attacking creatures with vigilance.

3) If the enchanted creature is tapped to attack you are not able to use the ability granted by Karametra's Favor. You do not need to tap in order to block so you can still tap the creature for the granted ability after it has been declared as a blocker.


From the Laws of Rubber Bridge:

  Law 42 – Dummy’s Rights
  Dummy is entitled to give information as to fact or
  Law but may not initiate the discussion.

So if declarer asks, dummy can say what suit was led. It looks like dummy can not do so without being asked, but I'd assume that if you explain the situation to your opponents (or a tournament judge), they'd allow you to dispense with the asking as long as you are consistent (e.g. naming the suit every time should be fine, but naming the suit sporadically might get you accused of some kind of signaling scheme).

Note that Law 42 for Duplicate Bridge is slightly less permissive; definitely clarify with your opponents first under those rules.


When entering Tokyo Bay, does the monster in Tokyo City take damage?

You deal damage to the Monster in Tokyo City, then take control of Tokyo Bay (or Tokyo City if the damaged Monster abandons it).

From the rules, page two far right column:

  If Tokyo Bay is unoccupied but Tokyo City is, the Monster who attacks Tokyo deals damage to the moster controlling it, then takes control of Tokyo Bay - or Tokyo City if the damaged monster abandons Tokyo City.


Golos activated ability and adventure cards

You can do both.

  715.3. As a player casts an adventurer card, the player chooses whether they cast the card normally or as an Adventure.

Playing a spell is the same as casting it. You're right that the adventure mechanic does mention alternative characteristics, but this is different from alternative costs.

  118.9. Some spells have alternative costs. An alternative cost is a cost listed in a spell’s text, or applied to it from another effect, that its controller may pay rather than paying the spell’s mana cost. Alternative costs are usually phrased, “You may [action] rather than pay [this object’s] mana cost,” or “You may cast [this object] without paying its mana cost.” Note that some alternative costs are listed in keywords; see rule 702.


Returning cards to their owner's hands in MTG

A "creature" by definition means a permanent on the battlefield.

  109.2 If a spell or ability uses a description of an object that includes a card type or subtype, but doesn’t include the word “card,” “spell,” “source,” or “scheme,” it means a permanent of that card type or subtype on the battlefield.

So whenever something says "Target creature", it always is referring to the battlefield.

Whenever a spell wants to refer to a card in another zone, such as the graveyard, it will use the phrase "creature card" or "creature spell". See Reanimate as an example.

Worth noting that there is another, somewhat redundant rule, dealing with targeting specifically:

  114.2 Only permanents are legal targets for spells and abilities, unless a spell or ability (a) specifies that it can target an object in another zone or a player, (b) targets an object that can't exist on the battlefield, such as a spell or ability, or (c) targets a zone.

This rule clarifies that if the spell isn't specific about targeting something in another zone, etc, then it can only target permanents.

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


No, the card is used to move minions from a base, not to a base.

If you use it as a special, then you must chose the base that is scoring. And, per the action text, you move a minion from the base, so the target must move the minion away from the scoring base.


Ability to cast for overload cost or just cast

No, you cannot pay the overload cost for spells cast that way.

Dreadhorde Arcanist allows you to cast a spell with an alternate cost of "without paying its mana cost", as described in rule 118.9:

  Some spells have alternative costs. An alternative cost is a cost listed in a spell's text, or applied to it from another effect, that its controller may pay rather than paying the spell's mana cost. Alternative costs are usually phrased, "You may [action] rather than pay [this object's] mana cost," or "You may cast [this object] without paying its mana cost." Note that some alternative costs are listed in keywords; see rule 702.

The Overload ability also defines an alternate cost in rule 702.95a:

  Overload is a keyword that represents two static abilities that function while the spell with overload is on the stack. Overload [cost] means "You may choose to pay [cost] rather than pay this spell's mana cost" and "If you chose to pay this spell's overload cost, change its text by replacing all instances of the word 'target' with the word 'each.'" Using the overload ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f-h.

Then rule 118.9a says this:

  Only one alternative cost can be applied to any one spell as it's being cast. The controller of the spell announces their intentions to pay that cost as described in rule 601.2b.

Since Dreadhorde Arcanist's effect specifically allows you to cast the spell with its alternate cost, you cannot choose to pay the overload cost.


Kruphix and Omnath, what color is the mana

You would have 2 green and 3 colorless.

Kruphix creates a replacement effect that applies to unused mana that would empty from your mana pool. But the text on Omnath modifies to normal game rules:

  101.1 Whenever a card’s text directly contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. The card overrides only the rule that applies to that specific situation.

So because of the currently modified rules, the green mana doesn't empty at all, therefore the replacement effect doesn't happen for the green mana, only for the other colors.

If you had only green mana in your pool, Kruphix's ability wouldn't kick in at all, because nothing "would empty from your mana pool".


When can I activate the special Halicarnassus effect?

The rules do say it (English base game rules, page 8 and also page 9, for the wonder The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus):

  Clarification: this special ability takes place at the end of the turn in which
  this stage is built. If players discard cards this turn (as in the case of the 6th
  turn of an age), the player can also choose from among them.

So when you build this wonder stage, you wait until everyone finished their action, and then you go through the discard pile and build one of its cards for free. One time only (per wonder stage).

Special cases:

if others use the same ability in the same turn (tl;dr: there is a defined resolution order)
if the Babylon (B) player discards the 7th card for money (tl;dr: it gets added to the discard pile before the Halicarnassus player goes through it)


Is it possible to bluff in board games like chess generally?

Bluff (verb):
  1. Try to deceive someone as to one's abilities or intentions.

I like this definition because it speaks to the two different kinds of bluffing - abilities and intentions.

In poker, bluffing is focused on deceiving your opponents about your abilities - that is, how many different hands your hand of cards is capable of beating.

In chess, this sort of bluff is not possible, because all information about your possible decision space is public knowledge.  Instead, bluffing in chess is about deceiving your opponent about your intentions.  Tricking them into defending against a pawn advance in a way that leaves them vulnerable to an attack by the your knights, that sort of thing.

That said, there is some overlap in both games.  Concealing your abilities in poker goes hand in hand with concealing your intentions, since your intentions are shaped by what your abilities are.  And in chess you can try to conceal your skill level, creating traps that your opponents are more likely to fall for because they assume that your move was an error or mistake on your part and thus don't look as carefully for the hook hidden in the bait.  But the primary forms of bluffing for the two games are distinct.


What are the differences between the various versions of Axis & Allies?

This is a community wiki

This is a running list of the changes to the the traditional 1942 version of Axis & Allies listing each progressive revision below it with all the changes from the previous version--just like software release notes.

Please add to the list if you see something missing.

Axis & Allies (Nova Games Edition) — 1981

Initial release

Axis & Allies — 1984

a.k.a. "Axis & Allies: Classic", 1986 reprint: "Axis & Allies 2nd Edition"

Map and setup is changed
Sequence of play has been revised
Costs and incomes are 1/100th that of the previous games
Bombardment is added
Neutral countries can no longer be occupied (previously, it could be done by paying a cost)
Fighters can no longer be built directly onto carriers; they must be built in land areas and then travel to carriers
Air units no longer add 1 to their movement if they start on islands
Loading land units on ships is now part of the land movement phase, rather than naval movement phase
Submarines now participate in normal naval combat, instead of firing a single salvo during their own phase prior to naval combat
National advantages have been removed
The option to produce an atomic bomb through technology research has been removed

Axis & Allies: Revised — 2004

a.k.a. Axis & Allies 20th Anniversary Edition

Map and setup has changed
The Artillery and Destroyer units have been added
Cost of fighters has been reduced from 12 IPCs to 10
Transports may now carry 1 armor + 1 infantry
Armor attacks and defends on a 3+
Victory cities have been added as a replacement for economic victory

Axis & Allies: 50th Anniversary Edition — 2008

Italy and China have been added as factions
A 1941 setup has been added in addition to the standard 1942 setup
The Cruiser unit has been added

Axis & Allies: Spring 1942 — 2009

a.k.a. Axis & Allies 25th Anniversary Edition

The changes from the 50th Anniversary Edition are not incorporated except as follows

The Cruiser unit has been added

Axis & Allies: Spring 1942 (Second Edition) — 2012

The Anti-aircraft Artillery unit has been added


Can the Mage Wars Warlock be played without any Demon cards?

In the starting Core Set I would have to say that it would be a very tough if not an impossible feat to be able to play the Warlock without the Demon cards, as there is only one Flame type creature, but it just happens to also be a Demon.  So you would have to spend quite a bit of your deck points on the doubled points from creatures not being a dark or fire type.

This may be doable, as you may be able to counter balance with some of the powerful Flame attack spells that can really do some damage, especially when combined with an equipment called Elemental Wand, to allow you to bind and recast the attack spells each turn.


Does Copperhorn Scout untap land creatures?

They are creatures, therefore they untap. If the ability doesn't specify that it applies only to nonland creatures, then it applies to all creatures, regardless of other types they might have.


It seems quite similar to Spite and Malice, though that has four discard piles per player rather than five, and is typically played with multiple decks of cards (perhaps requiring more than four play piles).


He probably shouldn't have been able to play the spell.

The game doesn't have comprehensive rules on the order of announcing spells. However, there's no "stack". The stack is a feature of Magic and nobody should assume that Magic's reactionary play and LIFO resolution system applies to other games without them saying so. The majority of games (especially light games like this) work on the assumption that stuff happens as soon as you play it, unless something else explicitly says it can be played in response.

The closest the rules get to this is the following (page 5):

  When you’re the “active player” (when you’re building a Room, or Heroes are moving through your dungeon) your Spell effects are resolved first. Other players’ Spells and effects are resolved in XP order.

Essentially, everyone piles in with their desire to cast a spell and then you see how they resolve. This makes it clear that the designers understand more than one person can be casting at once, and how to resolve it (i.e. not a stack).

In the situation above, the destruction of the room already occurred, causing the discard. Unless the spell is specifically worded to be played in reaction to that situation, I'd recommend just resolving things as they happen.


When a player is killed in Bang! can they still talk?

The rules don't explicitly cover this, so we must use our own judgement.

When a player dies, they reveal their role and their cards. The dead player has no more hidden information. Therefore, I see no reason why they should be required to remain silent. Additionally, one could argue that they aren't even playing the game any longer, and therefore can't possibly be bound by its rules. (In before someone comments that some Bang! character I don't know about can revive.)

If your play group really has an issue with dead players influencing opinions after death, then introduce a house rule. Dead players can't speak (at least about the game).


What is the typical DPI at which playing cards are printed?

From a quick Google search it would appear the standard industry DPI is 300. Another web printing service discusses is here: A Note About DPI. They only print at 300 DPI.

As is mentioned in a comment Graphic Design may be more informative: https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/95/what-dpi-should-be-used-for-what-situation

As to why your cards came out incorrectly there could be any number of issues including incorrect exporting or due to compression their end*. You should always check their FAQ in future:

  To customize your poker cards, create images that are 300DPI and CMYK color mode. Allow bleeding area as specified in our product page. To ensure the highest quality of printing, please use high resolution images.

In my experience with any kind of printing it is hard to get things perfect first time. There are a lot of tools out there (e.g. Publisher can be switched to CYMK mode) but just checking again and again and following the manufacturer guidelines seems to be the best way to improve your results.

*I wouldn't be surprised if they converted SVG to another format incorrectly.


Tyr's Hand should be rezzed after the runner encounters a piece of bioroid ice and declares that they are going to break subroutines on that ice (usually via clicks/breakers).  So, in your example, you would rez Heimdall 2.0 first, and if the runner declares that they are going to break the subs, then you would rez Tyr's Hand.  So, you don't have to rez Tyr's Hand when you rez the ICE (which might be useful if they see Heimdall can't break anything anyways).

When the runner declares that they are breaking, you can rez Tyr's hand and trash it to prevent one subroutine from being broken.  This means: whatever the runner spent to break that subroutine is still spent (e.g. 2 clicks from 2.0 ICE, or credits) - however, they can still spend more to rebreak the subroutine.  So, if they used a breaker - perhaps it just costs them an extra credit.  But if they were relying on clicks, then they are out of luck!


Throughout the rules, "Defense" refers to the number of dice rolled in defense of attacks.

  If the targeted Character has any Defense listed on his card, the player controlling him gathers a number of white Defense dice equal to that character’s Defense.


Does tapping Swiftfoot Boots remove Hexproof from the creature it's equipped to?

Tapping an artifact, or any other permanent, does not change its abilities, or whether those abilities have an effect, unless the ability says so. Tapped vs untapped is simply part of the status of a permanent [CR 110.6].

Historically, artifact abilities did in fact "turn off" when that artifact was tapped. Many of those cards have since been reworded to explicitly only work when the permanent is untapped. Examples include Winter Orb, Static Orb and Howling Mine.


If Felidar Sovereign enters the battlefield during my upkeep, will he trigger?

No, you will not win the game this turn.

This is because both abilities are triggered abilities with "At the beginning of your upkeep" as the trigger. But the Sovereign is in the graveyard at the beginning of your upkeep so it will not trigger, and after Sheoldred's ability resolves and the Sovereign is one the battlefield it is no longer the beginning of your upkeep so it will not trigger this turn.


Does "Mountainwalk" imply "Snow-Covered Mountainwalk"?

Yes.

Since Snow-covered is a land supertype, and mountain is a subtype, a snow-covered mountain is also a mountain and thus plain vanilla mountainwalk applies. The land subtypes are specified in rule 204.3h

  204.3h Lands have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called land types. The land types are Desert, Forest, Island, Lair, Locus, Mine, Mountain, Plains, Power-Plant, Swamp, Tower, and Urza's.
            Of that list, Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, and Swamp are the basic land types. See rule 305.6.

However, you are correct about the converse. A creature with Snow-covered mountainwalk would be able to be blocked if you had a mountain but no snow-covered mountains.


What does "you may not use any investigator cards in this encounter" mean?

Investigator cards are explained in the Arkham Horror rulebook.

They are briefly mentioned on page 2 under Game Components and Preparation, and are covered in more detail on page 3 under Investigator Cards:

  The small cards included in Arkham Horror are called
  investigator cards. They represent useful allies the investigators
  may meet and items they may acquire during the
  course of the game. There are six types of investigator
  cards

The specific cards that fall under this category (in the base game) are:

Common Items
Unique Items
Skills
Spells
Allies
Specials

Silver Twilight Membership
Bank Loans
Retainers
Blessings & Curses
Deputy of Arkham cards

Expansions also add their own additional Investigator Cards, such as Injury & Madness cards in Dunwich Horror.

This does point out a specific lack of clarification in the rules that is not covered in the FAQ as far as I can see: If Curse, Injury, Madness and other detrimental statuses are also Investigator Cards, then by definition of the Science Building encounter in question they could also not be used. This would then present the potential for the encounter with the Mi-Go to become easier for some investigators. (If you chose to play it strictly by the wording of the card as-is. Personally, I would use the implied intent of the card, which is that beneficial Investigator Cards could not be used.)