How do game designers come up with suggested (or minimum) age requirements for games?

According to this and this, the government has a role in labeling of products that can be used by children, and that 13 is the youngest recommended age you can put without doing additional testing (though sometimes even that is not sufficient). The lower the age, the more robust the testing required, particularly for things recommended under age 3. The rules were different when Squad Leader came out, which could be why it says 14+.

The general rule of thumb in the industry seems to be to put the highest age you can that you don't think will adversely impact your marketing. For Pandemic, this is pure speculation, but if it were me, I would assume that any parent who's OK buying a game for their family in which you can lose and the world's population will succumb to disease either knows their children well enough to know if they can handle it or doesn't really care about theme in games (either way, 13+ probably wouldn't scare them either). Gamewright's core demographic is parents of young children, and they're sold in more mainstream stores than Z-Man Games (generally speaking), so it would make sense that they'd want Rat-A-Tat-Cat to be listed as young as reasonably possible to actually play the game, even if they aren't getting the most out of it.


Do experience counters remain when the card creating them leaves the battlefield?

Yes, you keep the experience counters if Mizzix leaves the battlefield.

Mizzix's ability says

  Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell with converted mana cost greater than the number of experience counters you have, you get an experience counter.

The counters go on you, the player, rather than on any other object. When creatures die that has no effect on counters on players.


Can Aesop's Pawnshop Remove Wyldside before the start-of-turn resolves?

You choose the order they resolve.

If Wyldside resolves first:

Draw two cards, lose a click
Sell Wyldside with Aesop's: trash it and gain three credits

Or, if Aesop's resolve first:

Sell Wyldside for three credits
Wyldside does nothing because it's been trashed (so you keep all four clicks)

This specific scenario is actually covered in the rulebook (PDF) on page 22, under "Simultaneous Effect Example":

  The Runner has Aesop’s Pawnshop and Wyldside installed and both have the same trigger condition of “When your turn begins.” The Runner begins his turn and can choose to trigger the optional conditional ability on Aesop’s Pawnshop first, gaining 3 [Credits] by trashing Wyldside. This stops Wyldside’s required conditional ability from triggering, keeping the Runner from losing [Click].


Blocking multiple creatures with multiple creatures

You can split the damage any way you like, as long as you follow the damage assignment order. The correct end result of the damage assignment is all that counts.

  510.1d [..] If it’s blocking two or more creatures, it assigns its combat damage to those creatures according to the damage assignment order announced for it. This may allow the blocking creature to divide its combat damage. However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that it’s blocking unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocked creature is assigned lethal damage.
  [..]


Do horcrux effects come into play before or after abilities?

From my previous answer regarding the situation, I don't think you can avoid the stun by gaining the heart. As soon as you play an ally the horcrux would trigger, causing the stun to happen and stunning states:

  You cannot lose (or gain) [heath] any more this turn.

Then the card effects would happen. Here's a BoardGameGeek thread discussing this exact situation:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1677572/diary-affect-timing


Aqueous Form's scry ability triggers when the creature attacks. Jhessian Thief's draw ability triggers when it deals combat damage to a player. Thus Aqueous Form's ability will trigger and resolve in the declare attackers step. Jhessian Thief's ability won't trigger until later, in the combat damage step.


No, a card can't be hosted on two different cards at the same time. From the Netrunner FAQ on Fantasy Flight's website:

  Can the Runner install Parasite on a piece of ice but host it on
  Djinn?

  No. A card or counter can only be hosted in one place at a time.
  Parasite has the restriction that it must be installed on a piece of
  ice, and therefore it cannot also be hosted by Djinn


Am I understanding the China Card right in Twilight Struggle?

That's correct. The China Card is only used for operation points. What's unique about the China Card is the operations value differs depending on where you decide to spend the points. If you spend all of the points inside Asia (and Southeast Asia) you can use 5 OP instead of the 4 printed on the card. If you use the card anywhere else, or in combination with Asia, you can spend 4.

Additional notes from the Deluxe Edition rulebook:

  9.1 China’s role in the Cold War
  is abstracted through ‘The China
  Card’. Either player may play
  ‘The China Card’ as if it were part
  of his regular hand. ‘The China
  Card’ does not count towards the
  hand limit.

and

  9.2 Every play of ‘The China
  Card’ counts as one of the Actions
  (6 or 7) that a player is permitted
  during a turn. As a result, players
  may have more cards left in their
  hand than usual, if ‘The China
  Card’ is played.


Do Crawlers get an extra activation, when all figures are in play and attack on Skinner has a 1?

The rulebook of the Rue Morgue expansion, at page 25, includes crawlers in the extra activation rule when running out of miniatures.

The Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue box contains enough Zombies to invade a city. However, players may still run out of miniatures of the indicated type when required to place a Zombie  on  the  board  through  spawning (including  Crawler spawning!) or populating a building. In this case, the remaining Zombies  miniatures  are  placed  (if  there  are  any),  and then  all Zombies  of  the  indicated  type  immediately  resolve an extra Activation.

A few pages before, on page 12, the rulebook uses Crawler Spawning to refer the way Crawlers appear when killing Skinner zombies rolling "1s".

1 – Crawlers can appear each time Skinners are eliminated. After removing Skinner Zombies, whatever the type (Walker, Fatty,  or  Runner), and earning  experience points for the kill(s), add a Crawler for each “1” rolled on the attack roll. If you own Zombicide-themed dice, the “1” is replaced with a Zombie head. Read only the dice results: the +1 to dice roll Skills have no effect on Crawler spawning.

So crawler spawning refers to this way of adding figures. Anyway, when adding them through the bed card, extra activation rule activates too, as it's said in page 25, right above the "Running out of miniatures" section.


You'll lose here. You're trying to draw too many cards before your opponent loses any life. (Your statement "after the first draw ... the opponent loses their last point of life" is where you went astray.)

Psychosis Crawler does trigger off your card draw, but you lose the game when state-based actions are checked, before the trigger resolves:

  704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority. This process also occurs during the cleanup step (see rule 514), except that if no statebased actions are performed as the result of the step’s first check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, then no player gets priority and the step ends.

Your opponent doesn't lose life until the triggers resolve, so you draw your two cards before your opponent loses any life.

To be specific, what happens is:

You draw your first card. (Psychosis Crawler triggers, but the ability isn't on the stack yet.)
You try to draw your second card, but can't, and now you're going to lose the game the next time state-based actions are checked.
State-based actions are checked, and you lose the game. (Your opponent hasn't lost any life yet.)

For you both to lose the game, resulting in a draw, the card draw and loss of life would have to be part of the resolution of the spell. For example, Urza's Guilt:

  Each player draws two cards, then discards three cards, then loses 4 life.

could cause you to draw too many cards, and your opponent to fall to zero life, then you'd both lose at the same time after the spell resolves (when state-based actions are checked), and the game would be a draw.


May I choose a planet to attack in an opposing system where I already have tokens?

You played this correctly.

The only rule explicitly stating that the offense gets to change their Destiny card is when they draw their own system. The rule book is also explicit that the defending player must still defend, but with 0 ships (on page 12):

  As stated earlier, if a player has no colony on a home planet that he or she is defending, the player defends the planet normally except that his or her ship count is zero.

This section covers your problem. The offense drew a system where the defense had no colonies, so the offense picks a planet and attacks normally. The player whose home system is being attacked still gets to defend, but with 0 ships.


This sounds like Top Secret Spies, also known as Heimlich and co.

link to bgg

This game came out in 1984.  Players are all allocated a secret character and they move around the edge of the board so it fits your description.  Players could move any piece but when a piece landed on the safe all characters scored points depending on position on the board.


Does Teferi, Time Raveler prevent casting spells for their madness cost?

Yes, you are correct. Opponents can't cast cards by using the madness ability. Teferi, Time Raveler's restriction applies to madness as well.


Whan Happens if I Copy Etrata, the Silencer?

No, you don't get to shuffle Etrata into your library if you sacrifice her.
First of all, Quasiduplicate is a sorcery. That means you can't play it while Etrata's ability is on the stack. You can play sorceries only when you have priority, during your main phase, and when the stack is empty.

307.1. A player who has priority may cast a sorcery card from their hand during a main phase of their turn when the stack is empty.

Second, if you somehow manage to play Quasiduplicate at instant speed in response to Etrata's trigger, it would resolve first and, as you already noted, you would have to choose which Etrata to keep. If you keep the copy, the original that triggered its ability goes to the graveyard. When the triggered ability resolves, it tries to shuffle Etrata into your library, but the card in the graveyard is a new object - Etrata's ability "loses track" of its source when it changes zones. It will still exile the targeted creature with a hit counter on it, but Etrata will not be shuffled back.

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.
609.3. If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.


How to encourage rolling two dice in Machi Koro?

1) If all but you gets cards that provide $ from 1 or 2 valued rolls, then it kind of does devolve into that.  Early on, get a few of those cards, but then shoot for 2 dice, and some cards that trigger on the 4 - 10 range.  You'll be able to leech off of the single-die players, but can still do your own thing.

2) play with the variant where not all cards are available at all times.

3) The expansions add even more cards to the mix that allow #2 to be even more feasible


Cloning a Molten Primordial at instant speed - who will end up controlling the target creatures?

You get to control one creature, the one controlled by the opponent who played their own Molten Primordial.
The wording of Molten Primordial's ability is shorthand for:

Gain control of up to one target creature controlled by opponent A until end of turn. Gain control of up to one creature controlled by player B until end of turn.

and so on for each opponent in the game.
Legality of targets is checked twice; once when the ability triggers, and again when it tries to resolve.
When the ability triggers after MP enters the battlefield, all targets you choose are legal. Opponents A, B, C, and D each control a creature, you target one of each.
Before your ability resolves, opponent A casts his own MP. He targets one of your creatures, and one each of B, C, and D. The creatures of B, C, and D are the same you targeted earlier. The ability resolves and he controls them now.
Now your ability gets to resolve. It checks all its targets' legality again. According to the text of MP's ability, for each opponent (A, B, C, D), that opponent has to control the targeted creature. That is false for the creatures of B, C, and D, because A controls them. Only the creature previously controlled by A is still controlled by A.
Therefore, the ability does as much as possible with the remaining legal target, and you gain control of creature A.

Handling Triggered Abilities

603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d.

Casting Spells

601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell requires.  [..]

Resolving Spells and Abilities

608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard. Otherwise, the spell or ability will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal. [..]


Can anyone explain the last move on this go board

The black group in the upper corner has two liberties, as does the main white group before you play that last piece.  Therefore, if you had instead decided to play elsewhere on the board, white could have decided to capture the black group and done so before you could save it.

With that final spot filled in, you are now guaranteed to capture the white group before the black group is captured. That means you are free to play elsewhere on the board without being in danger of losing this corner - if white ever plays here you can always safely respond.

Superficially, it may look like that last piece is easily captured, but every move that white could make has a response that puts them back at one liberty away from capture, so it's not as vulnerable as it appears.


Oko, Thief of Crown's +1 vs. Deputy of Detention

You will get your creature back when the Deputy leaves the battlefield - even if they have no abilities at the time.

Deputy of Detention's ability creates a delayed trigger at the time the ability takes effect (that is, when the creature is exiled).  Removing the Deputy's abilities at a later time doesn't affect the trigger, because the trigger, once created, is independent of the Deputy (even though it is still 'watching' it).

  603.7a Delayed triggered abilities are created during the resolution of spells or abilities, as the result of a replacement effect being applied, or as a result of a static ability that allows a player to take an action. A delayed triggered ability won’t trigger until it has actually been created, even if its trigger event occurred just beforehand. Other events that happen earlier may make the trigger event impossible.
  Example: Part of an effect reads “When this creature leaves the battlefield,” but the creature in question leaves the battlefield before the spell or ability creating the effect resolves. In this case, the delayed ability never triggers.
  Example: If an effect reads “When this creature becomes untapped” and the named creature becomes untapped before the effect resolves, the ability waits for the next time that creature untaps.

  603.7b A delayed triggered ability will trigger only once—the next time its trigger event occurs—unless it has a stated duration, such as “this turn.” If its trigger event occurs more than once simultaneously and the ability doesn’t have a stated duration, the controller of the delayed triggered ability chooses which event causes the ability to trigger.

  603.7c A delayed triggered ability that refers to a particular object still affects it even if the object changes characteristics. However, if that object is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at the time the delayed triggered ability resolves, the ability won’t affect it. (Note that if that object left that zone and then returned, it’s a new object and thus won’t be affected. See rule 400.7.)
  Example: An ability that reads “Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step” will exile the permanent even if it’s no longer a creature during the next end step. However, it won’t do anything if the permanent left the battlefield before then.

Back in the olden days, cards like this were templated differently, and it was possible to lose a creature forever.  Cards like Oblivion Ring had two triggered abilities - an enters the battlefield ability and a leaves the battlefield ability.  By removing the card's abilities you could remove the card from play without the leaves the battlefield ability triggering, and render a creature permanently exiled.

Another fairly common trick was to bounce the exiling permanent back to its owner's hand while the first ability was still on the stack.  The second trigger would resolve while there was nothing in exile to return, and then the first ability would resolve, exiling the card permanently.  This doesn't work with the modern template, because the ability will see that the delayed trigger condition has been fulfilled and won't try and exile the target in the first place.

The template changed with the 2014 Core Set, when Banisher Priest was printed with a modern delayed trigger.


Generally, quite a few older deck names aren't really meaningful — they're a weird in-joke or just a random word someone pulled out of nowhere — and that tradition has been carried forward to the modern day in Legacy/Vintage as well. This is how you get the likes of Fruity Pebbles, Cephalid Breakfast, Team America (which is BUG, not red-white-blue), and Tinfins.

Sometimes there's a story behind it, but that story amounts to "I liked this reference" or "We had waffles at this restaurant the day before." About the most interesting story you're going to get from these is Boat Brew (created for a cruise; achieved massive hype quickly; lots of people today joke that it was an awful pile of a deck).

I've seen various backronyms for MUD, but really what you need to know is:

MUD plays gobs of artifacts
MUD decks are usually defined by Metalworker
Artifacts (used to) have brown frames

The rest seems to be speculation and folk tales.


Can I steal another player's tower of power stash cards with 5 of a kind?

This is subtle but it is hidden in the rules:
In order to play the card, you need to wear the Tower of Power Crown:

To play this card, wear the Tower of Power Crown. Then take the Stash Cards, and without looking, put them inside on top of your head.

But if you wear the crown, you need to wear the crown for the rest of the game:

You may never move Stash Cards from the Tower of Power Crown into your
own hand. It only protects you from stealing stealers who want to
steal cards from you. Continue wearing the Tower of Power for the
rest of the game.

So if you retrieve the card from the discard pile after it is played (and not noped) then you can't play it anymore because you can't wear the crown.
You could play it if you already have the crown, but it does nothing because the stash is also empty.
So there is no way you can gain any benefit from playing the card a second time in the same game. So you better use your five of a kind to find a useful card.
By the way, the crown is awesome:


Can I advance an agenda over it's scoring cost?

Yes, you can. From the rulebook, p. 14

  Agendas can always be advanced while installed. Cards other than
  agendas can only be advanced if their text box allows it. There is no
  limit to the number of times a card can be advanced.

and

  Scoring Agendas– When the number of advancement tokens on an agenda is
  equal to or higher than its advancement requirement, the agenda is
  fully advanced and the Corporation can score it


Can Mushin No Shin be played on any card?

The ability is:

  Install an asset, agenda, or upgrade from HQ in a new remote server.
  Place 3 advancement tokens on that card. You cannot score or rez that
  card until your next turn begins.

Unlike cards like Shipment from Kaguya, Mushin No Shin has no restriction here that the card must be a card that can be advanced.

Thus, any card that can be installed in a remote server, namely any Agenda, Asset, or Upgrade, is a valid choice.  For example, you could use Mushin No Shin on a Snare!


How many cards should be collected using the Mining Progress card?

You only collect two ore.

The 4th edition cards(pg. 15) contain updated text which makes this clear.

  You may take two ore cards from the bank for each mountain hex which is adjacent to at least one of your cities or settlements.

You can purchase an updated card deck.  I think this is all you need to update your set to the latest edition.


How does the Merlin's company expansion change Shadows over Camelot?

Merlin's company comes with a few different things:

8 new knights
more black, white, and loyalty cards
a new travel deck

The 8 new knights can add some variety as you learn to use their powers. MC lets you play with 8, and if you really want to you can probably play with 9 or 10 without any major issues. The loyalty cards allow for as many as 3 traitors, although this substantially affects the difficulty level.

The new black and white cards are the real core of the expansion. There are plenty of new special blacks and whites, as well as enough standards to balance things out. The new threats and powers added by these cards are what really makes the game more interesting and fun.

The travel deck is basically just a cool way to make the game harder. Every time you move to a new quest you have to draw a travel card, most of which do bad things, although sometimes they will bring Merlin to your side and let you draw more white cards while on a quest. This adds a fair bit of tension and difficulty and makes the knights think very carefully about when to move around the more treacherous roads around Camelot.

Overall the expansion adds more variety, letting you add more players, choose different knights, play with 2 traitors, and use the travel deck to tweak the difficulty level. I'd highly recommend it if you play SOC a lot as it makes the game a lot more interesting. :D


Are there any tabletop apps to allow you to play warhammer 40k with friends in other cities?

As @Skeith mentioned, Games Workshop LLC is very vicious when it comes to protecting their Intellectual Property license, so it will be very hard to find anything designed for this on purpose.

That being said, Steam recently released a game called Tabletop Simulator, which, with a lot of work, could probably be used as a tool for this (right up until GW catches on and their lawyers destroy the life of whoever is supporting the mod).


The Mercurial Pretender will enter the battlefield as a copy of Terastodon, without Lazav's name, ability, or Legendary supertype.
After Lazav's ability resolves, it is a 0/0 (plus the +1/+1 from Caged Sun) Legendary Shapeshifter Creature named Lazav, the Multifarious with the following text:

You may have [this creature] enter the battlefield as a copy of any nonland permanent on the battlefield.
{X}: Lazav, the Multifarious becomes a copy of target creature card in your graveyard with converted mana cost X, except its name is Lazav, the Multifarious, it's legendary in addition to its other types, and it has this ability.

These characteristics are the result of the copy effect from Lazav's last ability, so they become its new copyable values. This is specified in rule 706.9:

702.9a Some copy effects cause the copy to gain an ability as part of the copying process. This ability becomes part of the copiable values for the copy, along with any other abilities that were copied.

[...]

706.9c Some copy effects modify a characteristic as part of the copying process. The final value(s) for that characteristic becomes part of the copiable values for the copy.

Mercurial Pretender's ability, and Clever Impersonator's, are enters-the-battlefield replacement effects. When applying replacement effects, you follow the process in rules section 616:

616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).
[...]

616.1c If any of the replacement and/or prevention effects would cause an object to become a copy of another object as it enters the battlefield, one of them must be chosen. If not, proceed to rule 616.1d.

[...]

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

So, as the Clone enters the battlefield, you follow that process like this:

Mercurial Pretender's replacement effect applies. You choose to copy the Lazav with the characteristics above. So, the Mercurial Pretender becomes a 0/0 Legendary Shapeshifter Creature named Lazav, the Multifarious with Clever Impersonator's ability and Lazav's activated ability, and the activated ability added by Mercurial Pretender's copy effect.

Lazav's first ability (from Clever Impersonator) applies. You choose to copy Terastadon. So, this Lazav becomes a 9/9 Elephant Creature named Terastodon with Terastodon's ability. This copy effect overwrites all of the creature's characteristics, so it is no longer Legendary or named Lazav and it no longer has Lazav's ability.

No more replacement effects apply, so the Terastodon enters the battlefield and its ability triggers.


In Descent, can you make an attack without an implement?

Yes, a character can attack unarmed.  "If a hero attacks without a weapon, he attacks with his fists.  This is a melee attack that grants one red die and has no special abilities."  (Descent rules, p19.)  So it's a base melee attack using the minimum melee dice - the red plus however many black.

Ranged and Magic attacks cannot be made without a weapon.

If you want to house-rule allowing weaponless attacks of all three kinds, I would argue strongly in favour of using the base red (melee), blue (range) or white (magic) die as well as the black; this is the basic die used for all weapons of that type and is important for game design in distinguishing the range/damage properties of each attack type.  These basic attack dice also carry the important one-in-six automatic-miss chance.


In Hive, can a beetle go up/down into an empty space?

If a beetle is not climbing up onto or down off of a piece, it moves exactly like a Queen Bee. A beetle cannot move into a space it cannot physically slide into.

reference: http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Hive_FAQ#toc10


What spells affect Planeswalkers in MTG?

There are a ton of such spells, in several categories. A spell might affect (or target):

any permanent (e.g. search for "target permament")
nonland permanents, noncreature permanents, etc (e.g. search for "target nonland permanent")
just planeswalkers, but this is rare (and there are things that say "target creature or planeswalker", so it's a little trickier to search for - this works, but has false positives)

Along with those searches, you can also search for things like "all nonland permanents" to find plenty of things that don't target.

And if a source you control deals non-combat damage to an opponent, you can redirect that damage to a planeswalker they control.


International Tabletop Day has been hosted by Geek & Sundry every year since 2013,* but the schedule has been somewhat inconsistent as to when it is. I had a hard time finding the dates, especially for the early ones, but here they are:

March 30, 2013
April 5, 2014
April 11, 2015
April 30, 2016
April 29, 2017
April 28, 2018

If the pattern for the last couple of years holds, then one would expect that in the future it will be held on the last Saturday in April.

* The logo for International TableTop Day says that it's "since 2012", but I cannot find any evidence that it was actually held in that year. @PatLudwig in the comments provides supporting evidence that 2013 was the first.


Does "-5 on your next combat" include helping someone?

The Official Munchkin FAQ states:

  Q. If a card that affects "your next combat" is played on you during a combat, does it affect THAT combat, or the next one you're in?
  A. If the combat is still unresolved (and obviously it is, because people are still playing cards on you for it), then that combat is the "next" one. Most Munchkin games say this explicitly in the rules, but it's true even if we left it out by mistake.

That seems quite clear. The next combat to resolve  in which "you are a participant".


MTG: Sideboard if maindeck has more than 60 cards

In constructed play your sideboard can not contain more than 15 cards at any time. The relevant rule here is rule 100.4a from the comprehensive rules, for constructed play:

  100.4. Each player may also have a sideboard, which is a group of additional cards the player may use to modify his or her deck between
  games of a match.

  100.4a In constructed play, a sideboard may contain no more than fifteen cards. The four-card limit (see rule 100.2a) applies to the
  combined deck and sideboard.

No specific circumstances are mentioned so it applies at all times. This rule was updated with the M14 core set. Matt Tabak explained it as follows in the M14 rules preview article (emphasis mine):

  With the new rule, your main deck is still sixty or more cards but your sideboard is now up to fifteen cards. Additionally, you are not required to swap cards between your main deck and sideboard on a one-for-one basis. For Games 2 and 3 (and so on), as long as your main deck is sixty or more cards and your sideboard is no more than fifteen cards, you're good.


Do the Collector's Sets (e.g. Premium Gold) contain/equal booster packs?

While the Premium Gold packs aren't really a booster pack in the traditional sense, they make for great gifts. You're getting much better cards for the price.

A newer product to look into would be an Invasion: Vengeance Special Edition box. These contain 3 boosters packs and 2 Super Rare cards.


Aces are low in cribbage. Their point value is one in pegging and in adding up to 15 during pegging, in the hand, or in the crib. The American Cribbage Congress' Rules of Cribbage define a straight as "a sequence of three or more consecutive cards", and the card order is shown with King as the highest descending normally through Ace as the lowest.

I've never heard of Ace being played high in cribbage, so from my personal experience I don't think it's a common variant, but you could definitely play it that way as an uncommon variant! I don't think it would change the game a great deal.

As far as reasons for Ace being only low, I would use the consistency argument as in your answer. There's no inherent inconsistency in scoring if you think of the order of cards being circular rather than linear, but it does introduce a discontinuity in value.  To be consistent, you could play with Aces as in blackjack, taking either 1 or 11, but that would probably make them overpowered, especially in the pegging. And that would introduce more complications, such as would a A 10 4 be counted as one 15 or two? All-in-all, it's more straightforward to stick with the traditional: Ace's value is 1, and it is low.


Why the insistence on who has the most dice after removals?

Because the dice that are eliminated could eliminate possible results of the since every matching pair must be removed not just one dice from every player.

When they say all possible eliminations must be made, they mean that for each attacker/defender die elimination you can make, you must make that elimination. It is not trying to say that an attacker's own dice can eliminate each other, otherwise we wouldn't have this second sentence saying they can't do that

Beta Rules

  Fire and Water eliminate each other.
  Earth and Air eliminate each other.
  Spirit and Void eliminate each other.

  When two dice eliminate each other, remove them from the pool of rolled dice. Dice that the attacker rolled can only eliminate dice that the defender rolled and vice versa. All possible eliminations must be made.

  Spirit: The attacker is Injured.
  Fire:All ninjas in the attacker’s influence zone, including the attacker, are stunned. (See Stun, page !X!)
  Air:The attacker may move the defender up to 3 spaces in any direction.
  Water:The player who picked Water as the result may move the attacker up to 3 spaces in any direction. The defending player then places the defender in the attacker’s front influence zone.
  Earth: The defender is stunned. (See Stun, page !X!)
  Void: The defender is Injured.

Some examples:

Attacker rolls 2 Spirit and Defender rolls 2 Void

Check for matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove
Check for more matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove
No more dice so attack results in nothing happening

Attacker rolls 3 Spirit and Defender rolls 2 Void

Check for matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove
Check for more matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove
Check for matches
Only 1 dice left and is Spirit so attacker is damaged

Attacker rolls 3 spirit, 1 Void and defender rolls 2 void

Check for matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove 1 Spirit from attacker and 1
Void from defender
Check for more matches
Find a match of 1 Spirit and 1 Void and remove remove 1 Spirit from attacker and 1 Void from defender
Check for matches
The 1 Spirit and 1 Void that are left are in the attackers pool so not a match and the attacker can now chose which effect to use


Does anyone remember this game from the seventies?

I agree with comment that the question really needs more details but based on what you've said I will assume your describing Guess Who

It fits your description in following ways...

It came out in 1979 and was certainly around when I was a child and I'm only a little older than you.

The game board had plastic slots in which meant you could have cards standing up or face down.

It was a two player game that was really each player playing their own solitaire game until one of them won.


Will Evoke trigger on a creature that's returned to the battlefield from the graveyard?

A creature will never be considered "evoked" when entering the battlefield in any other situation than being cast.

Here's what the rules says about Evoke:

  702.73a [...] “Evoke [cost]” means “You may cast this card by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “When this permanent enters the battlefield, if its evoke cost was paid, its controller sacrifices it.” [...]

Evoke adds two things to the card :

The first is an alternative cost, meaning it can only be used at any time you would be able to play the card by paying its mana cost.

The second (the sacrifice part) is a triggered ability for the creature, that will trigger when entering the battlefield.
This trigger will make the controller of the creature sacrifice it, if and only if the Evoke alternative cost has been paid.

If a creature with Evoke was played paying it's Evoke cost, then leave the battlefield and later comes back (for example from Acrobatic Maneuver or Reanimate), it will be a completely new object, which Evoke cost hasn't been paid, and so the Evoke trigger won't make it's controller sacrifice it.


How do I have to arrange the remaining meeples after using the Ultra Bright Smile ability?

From the rulebook:

Ultra-Bright(TM) Smile
Instead of eating the Meeples in your Neighborhood, you can eat the Meeples currently
on the Runaway board. Then reorganize the Meeples on the Runaway board without
triggering any effects.

For Side A:
It isn't particularly clear but I think the key phrase  is "Then reorganize the Meeples on the Runaway board without triggering any effects." That heavily implies that you should follow the normal placement rules (and are safe from re-triggering previously triggered negative effects). The normal placement rules are:

Place the Meeples on the Runaway board, starting with the top
line.

So I would say that yes, you should "fill the first row and put the remaining 3 meeples in the second row".
For Side B:
It shouldn't matter as they are organised by colour and so the only consequence is a completed track may now be open to be re-triggered in future turns.
For reference:
Manuals in French, English and German are available at the manufacturer's site.


Do rockets or destroyed systems count for the green d8?

If I make a melee mech with all of its red dice devoted to a claw attack (hand-to-hand range), can I put a rocket on my mech and still get the green d8 movement bonus?

Yes.  Since Single Shot Rockets don't count as systems, the bonus Green d8 for having no ranged weapons ignores them.

  Even when I'm firing my rocket?

Yes.  (See above.)

  If my mech had a gun, but it got blown off so now it doesn't anymore, do I get the green d8 movement bonus for my last big dramatic charge?

Yes.  Once you have no ranged weapon systems left you gain the bonus Green d8.


Bridge auction: 3rd suit tells – 4th suit asks

This Aces on Bridge shows a good example of this.  Look in the "Bid with the Aces" section.
What this describes is an auction where you're exploring NT, and trying to figure out if you're comfortable with coverage in all four suits.
If you have an auction like:

N
E
S
W

1C
-
1H
-

1S
-
1NT
-

2D
-
?
-

2D there would be "asking" for diamond suit coverage.  It wouldn't show coverage, because that's pointless - if N is not worried about diamonds, N would just bid 3NT.
However, in this auction:

N
E
S
W

1D
-
1S
-

1NT
-
2C
-

?

Now you'd be showing a clubs stopper, and looking to see if North had a hearts stopper, since there are two outstanding suits.
All of this assumes fairly basic conventions, as there are other options for conveying this information of course.
It's also worth noting that this is distinct from "fourth suit forcing" - had South bid 2D in the initial auction, that wouldn't necessarily be "asking" for diamonds, it's a generic forcing bid.  As noted in comments, a common response to fourth suit forcing is still in line with this idea - showing the stopper in the fourth suit by bidding NT.


Volrath's Shapeshifter, Static Buffs, and Combat damage

Assuming nothing other than what is described happens (no first strike, no destruction spells cast, etc.), then yes, the Llanowar Elf will survive.

After combat damage has been dealt, but before any players have an opportunity to play spells, State-Based Actions are checked. The Archdruid is "marked" as having received lethal damage and is to be destroyed. The Llanowar Elf has not received lethal damage, and is therefore not marked for destruction. Then all applicable SBA are performed, meaning the Archdruid is actually destroyed.

Then SBA are checked again. This time, the Archdruid is on top of the graveyard, so the Shapeshifter boosts other elfs. So the Llanowar Elf is again 2/2, and has therefore not received lethal damage. It is therefore not marked for destruction. So when the SBA are performed, nothing happens.

At this point the SBA didn't change the game state, so they are considered finished, and the game continues on to letting players put on the stack any triggered abilities that may have triggered since before the combat damage was dealt. If any triggered abilities were put on the stack, SBA are again checked, and if any of them happen, then triggered abilities are once again put on the stack. And so on, until there are neither any SBA nor triggered abilities left to put on the stack. Then, for the first time, does the active (attacking) player get priority and can activate abilities and cast (instant / flash) spells.

There is no checking for lethal damage "between" the Archdruid boosting the Llanowar Elf, and the Shapeshifter doing the same.


Does Vorinclex help its controller or its owner?

All instances of the word "you" on an ability refer the controller of the source of that ability.

  109.5. The words “you” and “your” on an object refer to the object’s controller, its would-be controller (if a player is attempting to play, cast, or activate it), or its owner (if it has no controller). For a static ability, this is the current controller of the object it’s on. For an activated ability, this is the player who activated the ability. For a triggered ability, this is the controller of the object when the ability triggered, unless it’s a delayed triggered ability. To determine the controller of a delayed triggered ability, see rules 603.7d–f.

If an opponent gains control of Vorinclax, then that opponent gets extra mana from tapping lands, and yours do not untap during your untap step. In other words, Vorinclax controlled by an opponent hurts you and helps your opponent.

When your opponent taps lands to pay for Mind Control, you control Vorinclax. Those lands will not untap during your opponent's next untap step.


How does "it's still a land" affect a permanent that would not otherwise be lands?

You have a non-land Elemental creature.
"It's still a land" does not give the land type. Instead, it prevents the land type (and any other type it might have) from being removed by Awaken because changing an object's type normally removes all of the object's other types.

205.1a Some effects set an object’s card type. In such cases, the new card type(s) replaces any existing card types. [...]
205.1b Some effects change an object’s card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type, supertype, or subtype].” [...]


Can I look at my deck before playing the Zombie Mason

It is indeed a blind play, you cannot look at the top of your deck before choosing what to play with Necromancer (or however else you came to play the Zombie Mason). However, unless a pile has been depleted or you have 'unique' cards in your deck (Knights, Castles, cards from Black Market, etc.) you can always choose to replace the trashed card with an identical copy from the supply. It's not a good outcome of the play, but you don't loose a card in that case.

At the start of the game, the possibility to get rid of a Copper or change an Estate into a Silver or other 3-cost card is really good. If you trash an Action card, no problem, another potential card to play with Necromancer.

Later in the game you might be wanting to play either other Action cards trashed, or another Zombie. But if you are ahead in scoring, accidentally trashing a Province and replacing it with another isn't a bad outcome anyway.


Captive Audience vs. Teferi's Time Twist

That ability on Captive Audience is a replacement effect that modifies how it enters the battlefield. Effects like this are described in the replacement effects section of the rules:

614.1d Continuous effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield . . .” or “[Objects] enter the battlefield . . .” are replacement effects.
614.12. Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c–d.) [...]

When you exiled it and then brought it back, it would have entered the battlefield under the control of its owner, your opponent, but the replacement effect modified that so that it entered the battlefield under your control instead.


Using Wizard on another player when draw deck is empty?

According to the rules. A single card is to be removed from the deck at the start of each round. This removal serves two purposes. The first is to remove perfect information. So that in the final rounds you can deduce the likely card your opponents have but not necessarily with 100% certainty. The second is to be used in situations like you describe. If you need to draw a card for the final action that card is the card which was removed from the game. Then you compare numbers and establish a winner of the round.


The simplest method of accomplishing this probably involves using a Mizzium Transreliquat. Say you control a Mizzium Transreliquat, a Sol Ring, a Smuggler's Copter, and a Grizzly Bears. Then you can get the situation the bulletin is referring to by doing the following:

Activate and resolve the Mizzium Transreliquat's second ability targeting the Copter.
Activate the copy's Crew ability.
While that is on the stack, activate and resolve the Mizzium Transreliquat ability again targeting Sol Ring.
Let the Crew ability resolve, animating a copy of a Sol Ring.


Does taking first strike damage before gaining life from normal lifelink cause me to lose the game?

You lose the game. Each player gets priority in the combat damage step, after damage is dealt. When there is a first strike or doublestrike creature attacking there is a second and separate combat damage step. So you would lose when state based actions are checked, before players receive priority in the first combat damage step.

  Combat Damage Step

    510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously.

    510.3. Third, the active player gets priority. (See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.”)

    510.4. If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) 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.


Can Arlinn Kord's -1 ability target planeswalkers?

Yes, it can. In fact the text has been errataed to say:

  −1: Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon deals 3 damage to any target. Transform Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon.

“Any target” means any creature, player, or planeswalker.

Before Dominaria, we had a rule called the planeswalker damage redirection rule: it meant when we were dealing damage to a player with a spell or ability, we could make that damage hit one of their planeswalkers instead.

Dominaria removed that rule, and any pre-Dominaria card that said “target creature or player” now says “any target” to remain functionally the same. There are a few other changes that were made too: you can read about those in Dominaria Oracle Changes under the “Planeswalker Damage Redirection” heading near the start.

If you see a card from before Dominaria that says “target creature or player”, it now has errata to say “any target” instead.


This appears to be rule 305.7, which I got from: Gamepedia.

305.7. If an effect sets a land’s subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type. It loses all
abilities generated from its rules text, its old land types, and any
copy effects affecting that land, and it gains the appropriate mana
ability for each new basic land type. Note that this doesn’t remove
any abilities that were granted to the land by other effects. Setting
a land’s subtype doesn’t add or remove any card types (such as
creature) or supertypes (such as basic, legendary, and snow) the land
may have. If a land gains one or more land types in addition to its
own, it keeps its land types and rules text, and it gains the new land
types and mana abilities.

Note, the old wording, on the original card in The Dark expansion uses "basic mountain."  My guess is that this rule was added after.


According to the rules, you can play a Knight card in your turn if you want. But only in your turn.

  b) Playing Development Cards

  At any time during your turn, you may
  play 1 Development Card (on the table).

  That card, however, may not be a card
  you bought during the same turn!


What's the proper etiquette when a Euchre trick is earned?

When I used to play a lot of Euchre the side that didn't call trump would often toss in their cards after taking one trick conceding the rest of the tricks to the caller.

Sometimes all it would take is to show the left bower after the right had been played on the first trick.

Each group has to decide what they are comfortable with, but I think the more you play the faster you will get.


What is the difference between "flying" and "this creature can only be blocked by creatures with flying"?

I know it's the "simple answer", but I have to add it for completeness' sake!

A creature that "can't be blocked except by creatures with flying" has about half the functionality of a creature with flying.  In terms of its evasive power, it's quite similar to a creature with flying; a little better because it can't be blocked by the likes of Giant Spider, and "super-high-flyers" such as Cloud Elemental.

In terms of its defensive capabilities, however, it's much worse than a flyer, since it can only block ground creatures, never a flyer!  And as David Z rightly points out, it is susceptible to a different class of spells such as Earthquake, while laughing at the likes of Hurricane and Plummet...


How does Vorinclex's second ability work at the time of his death?

They will not untap as usual in the next untap step.

The reason is that after the ability triggered (while Vorinclex was alive) it went on the stack as a replacement effect for the next untap step.

When Vorinclex died, it didn't undo that effect.

Any lands tapped after Vorinclex died would untap in the next untap step.

If Vorinclex instead said something like "While Vorinclex is in play lands do not untap as usual" then it's death would change the situation.


What happens when a player loses all of their colonies in Cosmic Encounter?

The Fantasy Flight Games rule book addresses this in multiple locations

Stripping a Planet of Ships
As soon as a player removes the last of his or her ships from any planet, that player no longer has a colony on that planet. Any ships involved in the encounter cannot return to that planet. Ships retrieved from the warp cannot return to that planet. That player has no colony there. If a player has no ships left on one of his or her home planets, he or she must still defend it (with zero ships). If a situation arises where a player must relocate ships but he or she has no colonies anywhere on the board, those ships go to the warp. (Pg. 12)
1. Regroup
Throughout the game, ships will go to the warp when encounters are lost. At the start of an encounter, one of the offense’s ships is retrieved from the warp and placed in one of his or her colonies (home or otherwise). If a player has no colonies, the retrieved ship is placed directly in the hyperspace gate. (Pg. 7)

The FAQ covers what to do if a Mobius Tubes is used.

Q: How does Mobius Tubes work if you have no planets?
A: Your ships exit the warp, then any ships that have no colony to return to are returned to the warp. If you are the offense, you may place up to four of your ships in the hyperspace gate before the others are lost to the warp.


I got this answer anecdotally at my gaming club (sorry about the facebook link, I'll post the discussion here when it halts or reaches a conclusion):

  In a port-strike your subs are automatic involved in a minor port. You cannot choose to be non-included in port.

No reference, but at least it's a ruling of some sort.


"Summoning sickness" does exactly two things: it prevents the creature from attacking, and it prevents the creature from using abilities with the tap symbol.

Nothing else.

If a creature has other abilities, those are all usable.  If the creature is targeted by a spell the spell takes its normal effect (unless it was trying to force the creature to attack).

The creature can even be tapped to pay for costs that read "tap an untapped creature you control", since the cost isn't using the tap symbol instead.

Rabid Bite will behave as normal.


Yes, they are still limited to 3. Though the rulebook does not seems to mention this specifically in regards to engineers, it says:

  Keep in mind that you can only build a total of three Bridges.

And nothing in the section about engineers says otherwise.


You must first discover the cure before you can eradicate a disease. Otherwise, some diseases could begin the game eradicated. From the rulebook, page 4:

Treat Disease

If the last cube of a cured disease is removed from the board, this disease is eradicated. Flip its cure marker from its “vial” side to its “0” side.

Discover a Cure

[...]If no cubes of this color are on the board, this disease is now eradicated. Flip its cure marker from its “vial” side to its “0” side.

And:

Removing the last cube of a disease that is not cured has no effect.


What happens, when you immediately draw Exodia as Player 2?

Does he win automatically, before Player 1 goes into his Standby Phase, or does it have to wait, until the Draw/Standby phase of Player 2?

Exodia's win condition (note the word, it's not an effect), triggers immediately and not only in your turn, so you would win during the start of the Draw Phase of player's 1 turn.

Do note that this is not so common to happen, but it could eventually.

From Exodia's rulings, emphasis mine:

  At the start of the Duel, if the player going second starts off with all five pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" in his hand, then he wins the Duel before the first player draws his card. The same applies if the player going first starts off with all five pieces. If both players have all five pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" in their hands at the start of the Duel, then the Duel ends in a DRAW.[13]


Is there a long-term scoring system for 4 or 5 players who have played the same game repeatedly?

There's a relatively direct translation of the Elo rating system to multi-players: just treat each game as a set of games between each pair of players, with each pair having a winner and a loser based on their relative final rank in the game.

See http://www.tckerrigan.com/Misc/Multiplayer_Elo/ for an example of an even simpler method: pairing each player only with the players directly ahead of and behind him or her in the final standing. That page also includes performance of this method.

Doing a full pairwise calculation is more work (more calculations), of course, but it seems warranted in my opinion. Restricting the score comparison to one's immediate neighbors in finish position seems arbitrarily restricted when attempting to measure skill.

One thing to consider when using either approach is how much the game score is (or should be considered) a measure of relative performance. For pure footrace kinds of games (multi-player solitaire, where each player's actions do not affect the scores of the other players), this system is absolutely fine.

At the other end of the spectrum, king-of-the-hill games where there's really just two levels of finishing: win or don't, you may be better off (i.e., get a better measure of skill) by treating every pair of non-winners as tied, even if there is some score kept to determine who wins that you might obviously use to rank two non-winners relative to each other. You might choose to treat them as tied to reflect the fact that a player, by employing the best strategy to win, may have to risk enough of his or her score so that, if the gambit fails, their score is reduced below other non-winners.

If you rank the non-winners according to score, you may find that the fact of keeping score affects the way they play (i.e., a player may play for second rather than risk a play for the win).

This is already true in the base 2p Elo system, where a player might, by virtue of the score being kept, play for a sure draw over a possible win (and possible loss). But it's more of an issue in multi-player games. It's just a matter of what you want your score to emphasize / what you want the players to play for (max score vs. max chance to win)

(The linked page also mentions another algorithm: TrueSkill by Ralf Herbrich et al. at Microsoft, which I hadn't heard of before now).


Can creatures with summoning sickness be tapped for convoke?

Yes, they can. You are probably thinking of the "summoning sickness rule", which does not apply here:

  302.6. A creature‘s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can‘t
  be activated unless the creature has been under its controller‘s control continuously since his or her
  most recent turn began. A creature can‘t attack unless it has been under its controller‘s control
  continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the "summoning
  sicknes" rule.

So this rule doesn't prevenet creatures for being tapped for any reason other than paying the activation cost of that creature or attacking with that creature.


Does Adarkar Valkyrie's ability target cards in graveyard?

Adarkar Valkyrie's ability does not target anything in the graveyard.

As mentioned in the question, the activated ability clearly targets a creature on the battlefield using the phrase "target creature". That creates a triggered ability that effectively says

  When (that creature) dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control.

The creature that the trigger condition checks is fixed as the activated ability resolves. It is not a target that you choose while putting the triggered ability on the stack.


Can you create more than one of the same-colored grape at harvest?

No you could not create two red tokens from one harvest action.  From the rules here you create up to one white and one red tokens on the crush pad.

To harvest a field, add the total value of all red grape icons on the
vine to create 1 red grape token and then add the total value of all
white grape icons on the vine to create 1 white grape token on your
crush pad.

The rules are specific it is "1" and not 2 in smaller combinations.
In your situation you must try to create a value 3 red grape token and then devalue it.

If the grape icon already has a token on it when you harvest a grape
at that value, you must devalue the grape token to the next available
lowest icon.

In your example you would place a red token on the number 2 space.


My group decided on this house rule:  Changed costs 10 toughness or 2 gates or 1 gate & 5 toughness to get.  However, the path to get it costs two move points instead of one and you are not forced to stop on the way. This make getting there much easier while keeping the cost high.  It is not a perfect solution but it makes Changed worthwhile.


Once person A declares attackers, the Unicorn's ability triggers, and a Shock won't help to stop it. However, if you cast Shock in reaction to the trigger (of course, it's better to cast it before the combat phase), it will resolve before the Unicorn's ability resolves, and will hence kill the Unicorn. I think that person B cast it 'too late' but it's hard to tell; 'before declaring blockers' can be during the remainder of the declare attackers phase.
However, even without the Unicorn around, the ability still resolves, and the other attacking creature will get the +1/+1 bonus. See Does an ability resolve if the source of the ability leaves the battlefield? for more details.


Do Friday Night Magic games count toward your DCI rating?

Yes they do, but they have less impact on your rating, and a less serious level of rules enforcement, than tournaments at a higher level of play.

From the Wizards site:

  FNM events are 8k tournaments and have
  a Regular Rules Enforcement Level
  (REL).

Here's how that 8k figure factors into the calculation of your rating change after winning/losing a watch:

The Elo player-rating system compares players’ match records against
their opponents’ match records and determines the probability of the player
winning the matchup. This probability factor determines how many points a
players’ rating goes up or down based on the results of each match. When a
player defeats an opponent with a higher rating, the player’s rating goes up
more than if he or she defeated a player with a lower rating (since players
should defeat opponents who have lower ratings). All new players start out
with a base rating of 1600. The DCI uses the following equation to determine
a player’s win probability in each match:

Personal Calculation:
                              1
Win Probability = --------------------------------------------------------------
              10^(( Opponent’s Rating–Player’s Rating)/400) + 1

This probability is then used to recalculate each player’s rating after the
match. In the equation below, players receive 1 point if they win the match, 0
if they lose, and 0.5 for a draw. Players’ new ratings are determined as
follows:

Player’s New Rating = Player’s Old Rating + (K-Value * (Scoring Points–Player’s
Win Probability))

For comparison, there are lots of more competitive tournaments at the 16k level, and Premium tournaments are at 32k!


Do I have to sacrifice non-token dragons to Day of the Dragons?

Yes, you would have to sacrifice all dragons creatures and creature tokens under your control, regardless of where they came from or when they were cast. All Dragons means all permanents (creatures, tokens) that have have Dragon in their supertype or subtype. "Under your control" should be clear.


There are a variety of ways to level the playing field in chess. The two most common methods are material advantage and time odds, although there are also a number of more exotic handicaps that one can conceive of (e.g. giving away free moves, requiring a given piece to give checkmate, allowing the King to move two squares, etc).

With material handicaps, you give up some of your pieces, to the advantage of your opponent. This type of handicap has the advantage that it is simple to tune, and can be easily adjusted to correspond to the difference in strength between the two players. This form of odds was very common in earlier centuries, prior to the invention of the chess clock.

The main disadvantage to material handicaps is that a game played with such a handicap is quite different to an equal game. Without a Rook, for example, one cannot castle on that side. Strategic decisions may also be skewed by the weaknesses arising from the missing pieces. For example, you might prefer to focus your efforts on the side of the board missing your opponent's Knight, simply because the piece is absent. In this sense, one can argue that strictly speaking, the game you are playing is chess-like, but it is no longer chess. So there is a philosophical argument here as well - material handicaps are inelegant, and inherently unfair.

With time handicaps, a chess clock is used to disproportionately limit the thinking time of one of the players. For example, you might play with only two minutes of time, while your son has, say, 15 minutes. This effectively limits the depth of your thinking, without changing the conditions of the board itself. Time handicaps are preferred among chess players with even a little skill, because they do not change anything about the game itself, and they allow both players to have a satisfying experience. Psychologically, time handicaps feel more fair than arbitrary material adjustments. However, playing against a clock is a skill in itself, as is making effective use of the extra time you have available. This makes time advantages less effective for chess beginners.

Recommendations: For beginners and children, I would start with material advantage. It's easy to do, and children can easily understand the advantage ("oh, you don't have a Queen!"). As they improve, you can steadily reduce the advantage, until ultimately if all goes well you will be playing on even terms. The problems of material handicaps are just not an issue when you are still learning the basics. Equally important, having more time is not much help without reaching a certain minimal level of competence. You need to know what to think about before being given extra time to think is helpful. Once you have a bit more experience, consider moving to using a chess clock with different time limits for each player.


Could the Japanese player suffer anti-aircraft losses under the Midway reduction rules?

Historically, Midway had both fighter defense (although mostly older fighters) and anti-aircraft, both of which inflicted some losses on the Japanese.

Midway-based Marine fighters led by Major Floyd B. Parks, which included six F4Fs and 20 F2As,[64] intercepted the Japanese and suffered heavy losses, though they managed to destroy four B5Ns, as well as a single A6M. Within the first few minutes, two F4Fs and 13 F2As were destroyed, while most of the surviving U.S. planes were damaged, with only two remaining airworthy. American anti-aircraft fire was intense and accurate, destroying three additional Japanese aircraft and damaging many more.

(Source: Wikipedia)
(And they also had bombers that did attack the Japanese fleet, and after the first attack, would still have been able to fly bombers from Hawaii to hit any ships that tried to do seaborne gun assault though I'm not aware of any way the game models that part.)


Do cards like Cranial Extraction, Slaughter Games, and Memoricide get around protection?

Yes, those cards "get around" protection.
Protection only helps with a specific set of things. Specifically, cards with protection (from x) cannot be:

Damaged by sources with the specified quality. (All such damage is prevented.)
Enchanted, equipped, or fortified by permanents with the specified quality.
Blocked by creatures with the specified quality.
Targeted by spells with the specified quality, or by abilities from sources of that quality.

("DEBT" as a helpful reminder).
In addition to the fact that Memoricide does not do any of the above 4 things, protection also won't do anything because protection is a static ability, which only permanents can have. Cards in the graveyard, hand, or library cannot actually have protection.

702.16. Protection

702.16a Protection is a static ability, written “Protection from [quality].”

604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 113.6.

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

(None of the exceptions involve protection).


What are ways to "read" the shape of your opponents' hands early on?

The opening lead often gives you some hints.  Ask yourself why LHO chose to lead that suit and that card.  You can also get information from later leads if the opponents win tricks early.

If the opening lead is a high spot against a suit contract, there is a good chance it is a singleton or a doubleton.  If LHO is leading RHO's bid suit, is it a high, middle, or low card?  The answer can frequently help you determine the distribution of the suit.  If LHO leads low in a random suit, perhaps he is trying to avoid leading from honors in the other suits.  Against NT, there is a good chance that the suit lead by LHO is his strongest (unless it is RHO's suit).

Ironically, you usually get more information from leads by strong opponents than leads by weak opponents, whose leads are a lot more random.


Making sense of this app's territory resolution

The score is B: because you're playing black, and it's showing your score.
The black stone with the white circle on it is probably being scored as a dead stone right now - it's inside White's "territory".
Many apps do this if you try to score in the middle of the game - they estimate which parts of the board each player will end up with, and show a score based on that.  These estimates are usually not very accurate.

White gets some extra points called komi, because moving second is a disadvantage.  It looks like this game is probably giving White 7.5 komi.  I'll add this up using Chinese scoring, so you get one point for each point of territory you have surrounded, and each stone that is alive.  Black has nine points of territory and two living stones, for a total of 11.  White has 14 points of territory (the one under the "dead" black stone counts too) and three living stones, giving 17.  Once we add in 7.5 komi, black is behind by 13.5.


What does "if there are previously drawn cards in your hand, rearrange the hand so that four cards are visible" mean?

In one-handed solitaire, your "hand" is all the face-up cards on the top of the deck. You are always supposed to have the top four of these cards visible, which can be achieved by fanning out the top four cards.

So this rule means that "if the number of visible cards is less than four, and the total number of face-up cards on the top of the deck is at least four, then fan out the top four cards so that you can see them all".


How do you calculate hand probabilities for 10 cards per hand (8 suits); e.g.: Cripple Mr Onion?

I find hypergeometric series nice for computing, but poor for explaining.  For teaching purposes, I much prefer expanding these out using binomial coefficients.  Some books, and Wolfram Alpha call this "choose."

The key here is to realize that order does not matter.  The total number of possible hands is choose(104, 10) = 26 trillion.

Now, to count how many hands have 2 aces, you need to figure out how many ways there are to choose 2 aces, and multiply that by the number of ways to get 8 cards with no aces.  Writing it out in detail we have:

                    # of hands w 2 aces
P(2 aces in hand) = -------------------
                        # of hands

     # ways to choose 2 aces * # ways to choose non aces
  = ----------------------------------------------------
                      choose(104,10)

     choose(8,2) * choose(96,8)
  = ----------------------------  = 0.14
           choose(104,10)

Here's the Wolfram Alpha expression for all the accuracy you could ever want.

Your second question, how to find {4,5,7} in one of two suits is ambiguous.  Do all three have to be in the same suit?  Or different suits?  There's another issue.  Let's call the suits ABCDEFGHIJ, and say you want the 4,5,7 to be in suits A or B.  Do you care if there is a 4 in suit F?

P(4,5,7 in either of 2 suits, don't care about other suits) =

     # ways to choose {4,5,7} * number of ways to choose other cards
  = ----------------------------------------------------
                      choose(104,10)

         2*2*2*choose(98,7)
  = ----------------------------  = 0.004
           choose(104,10)

Or, the related:
    P(4,5,7 in either of 2 suits, no other 4,5,7 in hand) =

     # ways to choose {4,5,7} * number of ways to choose other cards
  = ----------------------------------------------------
                      choose(104,10)

         2*2*2*choose(80,7)
  = ----------------------------  = 0.001
           choose(104,10)

You might reasonably ask, why are these numbers so much lower than for aces?  This is because you are specifying three cards in the hand, and the aces are only specifying two cards in the hand.

Keep in mind, that in most games, this isn't the full story.  For instance, the way I've computed things, I've included a pair of aces and three kings.  In poker, that's a full house, and so needs to be removed from this probability.  If that's what you want, then things get more complicated.


Selling properties while owing another player

You can sell houses and hotels to the bank (at 50% value).
You can sell empty property to another player even if it is mortgaged.

SELLING PROPERTY... Unimproved properties, railroads and utilities
(but not buildings) may be sold to any player as a private transaction
for any amount the owner can get; however, no property can be sold to
another player if buildings are standing on any properties of that
color-group. Any buildings so located must be sold back to the Bank
before the owner can sell any property of that color-group.
Houses and
hotels may be sold back to the Bank at any time for one-half  the
price paid for them. All houses on one color-group must be sold one by
one, evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected. All
hotels on one color-group may be sold at once, or they may be sold one
house  at a time (one hotel equals five houses), evenly, in reverse of
the manner in which they were erected.
MORTGAGES... Unimproved
properties can be mortgaged through the Bank at any time. Before an
improved property can be mortgaged, all the buildings on all the
properties of its color-group must be sold back to the Bank at half
price. The mortgage value is printed on each Title Deed card. No rent
can be collected on mortgaged properties or utilities, but rent can be
collected on unmortgaged properties in the same group.
In order to
lift the mortgage, the owner must pay the Bank the amount of the
mortgage  plus  10% interest. When all the properties of a color-group
are no longer mortgaged, the owner may begin to buy back houses at
full price. The player who mortgages property retains possession of it
and no other player may secure it by lifting the mortgage from the
Bank. However, the owner may sell this mortgaged property to another
player at any agreed price. If you are the new owner, you may lift the
mortgage at once if you wish by paying off the mortgage plus 10%
interest to the Bank. If the mortgage is not lifted at once, you must
pay the Bank 10% interest when you buy the property and if you lift
the mortgage later you must pay the Bank an  additional  10% interest
as well as the amount of the mortgage.
BANKRUPTCY... You are dec


What is this "power enumerator" in Scythe?

It is the number of each denomination of power card in the deck. This is the same as the table in the rules on page 22.


Tony Morgan: Bounty Contracts during Setup

Yes, you should be able to place bounties on enemies during setup

Setup instructions from Rules Reference, p.27 (Leaving out some unrelevant parts):

  Choose investigators. Each player chooses a different investigator,    and places that investigator’s card in his or her
  play area.

  2-3. [...]

  Assemble and shuffle the investigator decks.

  5-6. [...]

  Collect starting resources. Each investigator gains
  5 resources from the token pool.

  Draw opening hands. Each player draws 5 cards. Each player, in player order, may mulligan once at this time.  =Each weakness card
  drawn during this step is ignored, set aside (without resolving it),
  and replaced by drawing another card from the  deck. Upon completion
  of this step, shuffle each of these weakness  cards back into its
  owner’s deck.

  Read the scenario introduction in the campaign guide.

  Perform the scenario setup instructions indicated by the campaign guide. This includes gathering the encounter sets listed in
  the setup  instructions in the campaign guide, placing locations,
  placing  investigator mini cards at the location each investigator
  begins play  at, setting aside any listed cards, and shuffling
  remaining encounter  cards together to form the encounter deck.

  11-13. [...]

Now, rules for Permanent cards (RR p.16):

  Permanent is a deckbuilding keyword ability.

  A card with the permanent keyword does not count towards your deck size.
  A card with the permanent keyword still counts as being    part of your deck and must therefore adhere to all other deckbuilding
  restrictions.
  A card with the permanent keyword starts each game    in play and is not shuffled into your investigator deck during setup.
  A card with the permanent keyword cannot be discarded by any means.

And let's look at Stick to the Plan

  Permanent. Exceptional.

  Before you draw your opening hand: Search
  your deck for up to 3 different Tactic and/or Supply events, and
  attach them to Stick to the Plan. Shuffle your deck....[Continues]

and Indebted

  Permanent.

  You start each game with 2 fewer resources.

This implies that SttP and Indebted must be in play by 8th and 7th step of setup (since permanents are considered part of the deck, I believe they actually come into play during step 4); scenario setup happens during step 10, Bounty Contracts is a Permanent and already in play by then.


Can I use a "Counter Target Spell" on Enchantments?

Spells are anything that you cast from your hand and add to the stack. Lands and abilities are not spells.

  A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see
  rule 601, "Casting Spells"), the card becomes a spell and is moved to
  the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its
  owner's hand. (See rule 405, "Stack.") A spell remains on the stack as
  a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, "Resolving Spells and
  Abilities"), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the
  stack. For more information, see section 6, "Spells, Abilities, and
  Effects."

So you can counter an enchantment as long as it is on the stack (not resolved).

Lands are not spells and are not put on the stack, so they cannot be countered. Abilities however are put on the stack, but they can only be countered by spells which say they can counter abilities.


Has anyone made regular-themed version of the Star Trek Catan role cards?

The Star Trek theme included the German language mini-expansion Die Helfer Von Catan ("The Helpers of Catan")

An English translation is available as a PDF on BGG.


What kinds of table talk are allowed in Shadows Over Camelot?

Page 8, of the Official Rules talks about collaboration.

You can talk about, generally, what you're going to do.
You can talk about, generally, what your hand can do in terms of your previous intent
You can not talk about specific cards.

After a peek, you can say "This would be bad, take a catapult instead",  but you cannot say "This causes everyone to lose a life" as it will identify that specific card.

Similarly, you can't ask for a "Fight 5" or use any kind of code that will 'get across' the hint of what card you need (e.g. "I need a very powerful warrior, sir" is cheating).

Hands remain hidden, all specifics are hidden.

The best and more fun way I've found to enforce these rules is to speak only 'in character' in the game.  "Sir Arthur, my men-at-arms are lacking in strength to seek the armor, please assist".   Or, "I have heard rumors of the location of the grail, shall I go seek it, or does someone else feel that can find it before me?"


In Magic, when Magus of the Unseen returns an untapped artifact to its original controller, is there a delay before it becomes tapped?

Your interpretation is correct. The Comprehensive Rules:

  514. Cleanup Step

  514.2. Second, the following actions happen simultaneously: all damage marked on permanents (including phased-out permanents) is removed and all "until end of turn" and "this turn" effects end. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack.

During the Cleanup Step, you lose control of the artifact. This doesn't use the stack so can't be responded to.

  514.3. Normally, no player receives priority during the cleanup step, so no spells can be cast and no abilities can be activated. However, this rule is subject to the following exception:

Normally, the new controller of the artifact wouldn't be able to activate its ability. But, because there is a triggered ability waiting to be put on the stack (When you lose control of the artifact…)

  514.3a At this point, the game checks to see if any state-based actions would be performed and/or any triggered abilities are waiting to be put onto the stack (including those that trigger "at the beginning of the next cleanup step"). If so, those state-based actions are performed, then those triggered abilities are put on the stack, then the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities. Once the stack is empty and all players pass in succession, another cleanup step begins.

So the "Tap it." is on the stack, and can be responded to. The change of control didn't use the stack and has already happened. Your opponent can use the glare when they have priority.

It's a bit odd that if this triggered ability wasn't there, your controller wouldn't be able to tap it during your turn, but that's the way it works. Note that because of the Summoning Sickness rule, your opponent wouldn't be able to use the tap effect of any artifact you gained control of unless it had haste. But the Glare cares not for Summoning Sickness.


What happens when a non-creature receives "+1/+1 until end of turn" effects, then later becomes a creature?

Thinking about it in a regular usage scenario, doesn't the vehicle get the +1/+1 effect before becoming a creature?

When you tap the Veteran to crew, isn't the stack:

Vehicle gets +1/+1
Vehicle becomes a creature.

So, the vehicle gets +1/+1 before becoming a creature, but the effect applies after becoming a creature. In fact, there's never a point in time where it is a creature without the +1/+1.


Mechanics for interactivity in card games

Magic's popularity is a bit of a curse because it feels a lot like any reasonable way of letting players act during the other's turn is a rip-off of it.

This isn't out-of-sequence play but it does allow counterplay: have certain cards take a turn to carry out their effect (kind of like Magic's suspend ability). I "cast" a spell, then pass the turn. On my opponent's turn, they can counter my casted spell or do whatever they want, then pass back to me. On my turn, the casted spell now takes effect if it hasn't been hit.

More powerful spells can take longer to come out, you can have spells that come out immediately (like most counterspells wouldn't have to wait a turn to work), you could have quicken or slow type effects that add to the turn-counter for spells, there's a decent amount of untouched design space there.


Does the One Hive rule apply to preserving a continuous hive for your opponent as well?

I've realized that my question was posted out of a misinterpretation of the rules that made me think that BLACK is one hive and WHITE is another, and that all white pieces had to be connected while all black pieces had to be connected. I realize now that the one hive rule pertains to all pieces regardless of color needing to be connected in one big happy family (with bickering siblings).


Feather, the Redeemed and Dire Fleet Daredevil

Feather's replacement effect does not apply to a card exiled and cast with Dire Fleet Daredevil.

Dire Fleet Daredevil specifically takes a card from an opponent's graveyard, so you do not own any card cast this way. Then the final step of resolving spells and abilities, rule 608.2k, says

  As the final part of an instant or sorcery spell's resolution, the spell is put into its owner's graveyard. As the final part of an ability's resolution, the ability is removed from the stack and ceases to exist.

Since your opponent owns the card, it would be put into that players graveyard, not yours, in this step.

The exact wording of Feather's ability is as follows:

  Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature you control, exile that card instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves. If you do, return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.

Since the card would not be put into your graveyard at all, Feather's replacement effect does not apply and the card is exiled by Dire Fleet Daredevil's replacement effect.

This is confirmed in an official ruling on Feather's Gatherer page:

  If you cast an instant or sorcery spell that you don’t own, it won’t try to be put into your graveyard, so you won’t exile it with Feather’s effect or return it to your hand.

If Feather's ability instead replaced the spell moving to any graveyard, it still wouldn't put the card into your hand. Rule 400.3 says

  If an object would go to any library, graveyard, or hand other than its owner's, it goes to its owner's corresponding zone.

So, in that situation Feather's replacement effect would end up putting the card back into your opponents hand. This is almost always undesirable, so it's very likely that Feather's ability was purposely written to avoid that.


I've had an answer from Isaac Vegas. This game is competitively based on one versus one, for 4 players play, it's better to make 2 1v1 battle, then a 1v1 battle for losers and one for winners.

Based on further play with friends, we discovered that 2v2 is quite balanced in most cases, and 1v1v1 works quite swiftly.

To prevent stalemates, what is advised is taking risks. Forcing others to attack by fragmenting your forces will incite them to strike you BUT, one will react more strongly than the others so it's supposedly the first to react that'll be maimed.


If I change the text of a permanent while its ability is on the stack, does the ability change?

Green.

If you had let the ability resolve before casting Sleight of Mind, you would surely have no doubt that the squirrel would remain green. This is because tokens are objects with their own characteristics.

The same goes for abilities on the stack. They are full-fledged objects with their own characteristics.

  602.2a The player announces that he or she is activating the ability. If an activated ability is being activated from a hidden zone, the card that has that ability is revealed. That ability is created on the stack as an object that’s not a card. It becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. Its controller is the player who activated the ability. The ability remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, or an effect moves it elsewhere.

  603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. It remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.

Just like changing the text of an object has no effect on the tokens it has previously created, changing the text of an object has no effect on the abilities that were previously created from it because they are separate objects with their own characteristics.

In your example, nothing caused the characteristics of the ability to be changed, so it will produce a green squirrel.


It looks like a "nail balance" puzzle. It is very similar to some of the results of this Google Image Search.


servant of the scale during a board wipe

All creatures die at the same time from a board wipe, and you could not resolve any abilities while the board wipe is resolving.
Servant of the Scale triggers as it dies, but the ability only enters the stack after the board wipe has finished resolving.

603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority.

The active player gets priority (the right to cast spells and activate abilities) after a spell has resolved:

117.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.

By that time, all creatures have already died.
Also, you could not activate Fertilid's ability during the board wipe, for the same reason you don't get the Servant trigger during the board wipe's resolution, because you need priority to do that.


How does Homeward Path work with cards that enchant to steal?

Even though Homeward Path looks to have an instantaneous effect, it's actually continuous:

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

Since both continuous effects apply in layer 2:

  613.1b Layer 2: Control-changing effects are applied.

you have to apply them in timestamp order:

  613.2. Within layers 1–6, apply effects from characteristic-defining abilities first (see rule 604.3), then all other effects in timestamp order (see rule 613.6). Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a layer. (See rule 613.7.)

If Homeward Path is activated after In Bolas's Clutches is cast, the owner will get the creature back:

  613.6. 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.

(quotes are from the Comprehensive Rules)


Does a card moving from Exile to Exile count as being moved?

Hallowed Moonlight instructs you to exile. This is what the replacement effect in question replaces.

  903.11. If a commander would be exiled from anywhere or put into its owner’s hand, graveyard, or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event. This is an exception to rule 614.5.

As such, you may indeed return the Commander to the Command zone, even if the instruction would otherwise have done nothing at all.

As confirmation, 406.7 does presume than an exiled object can be exiled.

  406.7. If an object in the exile zone becomes exiled, it doesn’t change zones, but it becomes a new object that has just been exiled.


Your opponent can still cast spells.  As the last part of Coalition Honor Guard's text says (emphasis mine):

  your opponents must choose at least one Flagbearer on the battlefield
  if able.

If they can't target a flagbearer (because of, say hexproof or a restriction on the spell, ie. "target green creature" and all flagbearers are white), you don't have to obey the rest of that text.


Destroying a Planewalker before its ability is used

MTG is a turn-based game. There is never a time when it matters who said what first.[CR 117.1]
After a spell resolves, the Active Player regains priority.[CR 117.3b] They can then activate one of their Planeswalker's abilities before anyone else can do anything. If you play a Planeswalker and it's not countered, you're practically guaranteed to get a free use of its loyalty ability if you use it immediately after the Planeswalker resolves.[1] The Planeswalker is effectively a very expensive Sorcery if your opponent proceeds to destroy it in response to its ability.[2]
If you pass priority[3], then you could lose your chance to use the Planeswalker's loyalty ability because you allow your opponent to cast Hero's Downfall. If you cast another spell or activate another ability, or if an ability triggers in response to the Planeswalker entering the battlefield, then you could lose your chance to use the Planeswalker's loyalty ability because your opponent could cast Hero's Downfall in response this new spell or ability.
However, if your opponent said they're casting Hero's Downfall before one of these things happen, they're playing out of turn[4].

Notes:

This doesn't apply if it's put into play, or if you somehow play it outside of your main phase or when the stack isn't empty. It also assumes that nothing triggers on it entering the battlefield.

Compare Ajani Goldmane's +1 (2 life for 4) with Sacred Nectar (4 life for 2), although his -1 is better than common Marshaling Cry's for only one extra mana.

For example, by declaring attackers. If you do so, your opponent can say "hold on" or similar (to "shorten your shortcut"), and cast Hero's Downfall.

At which point, you say "hold on" or similar, and activate the ability.

Rules:

117.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority may cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.
117.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.


What progress has been made in computerized bridge play?

There's a fundamental problem that the rules of bridge are not well-defined for computers. Specifically, the rules require that partnerships communicate their agreements - including implicit agreements arising from experience playing with their partner - to their opponents.  No one has really figured out what it means for a computer to communicate its partnership agreements to other humans or to a different computer program.
(Note that it does happen in human bridge where one partnership explains their agreements to their opponents, there is misunderstanding, and a director or an appeals committee has to sort everything out, so these rules are not perfectly well-defined for humans either.)
This is less of a problem if the computer is playing a human designed bidding (and carding) system, but a machine-learning designed bidding system could quite possibly (in my opinion would very likely) be incomprehensible to humans.


When can protection from creatures be played

They can play a card that gives their creature protection, but it is probably pointless if they are playing a card that destroys the blocking creature anyway.

In the combat phase there are 5 steps

Begining of Combat
Declare Attackers
Declare Blockers
Combat Damage
End of Combat

During each of these steps each player gains priority and can cast spells/activate abilities if they want to. In your example the card giving protection must be cast at the latest in the Declare Blockers step, because the first thing that happens in the Combat Damage step is combat damage being assigned, which would deal lethal damage to the 4/4 and send it to the graveyard. However casting the card giving protection is pointless since with the 6/6 being destroyed there is nothing that will deal damage to it. Even though Protection prevents blocking once a creature is blocked removing the blocker or giving the attack protection does not stop the attacker from being blocked.


When and how do I use token and checklist cards?

Certain cards instruct you to place tokens onto the Battlefield (e.g. Silverfur Partisan, Aspiring Aeronaut). You may use token cards as those tokens, though you need not use those. Any physical object will do as long as you can clearly represent whether the token is tapped or not.

  100.2. To play, each player needs his or her own deck of traditional Magic cards, small items to represent any tokens and counters, and some way to clearly track life totals.

Keep in mind that token cards are not considered cards as far as the rules are considered.

  108.2. When a rule or text on a card refers to a “card,” it means only a Magic card. Most Magic games use only traditional Magic cards, which measure approximately 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) by 3.5 inches (8.8 cm). Certain formats also use nontraditional Magic cards, oversized cards that may have different backs. Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.

This means your deck can't contain tokens.

Double-faced cards don't have the normal back other Magic cards have. Such cards would be identifiable in your deck, in your hand, etc.

One solution is to place your deck in truly opaque sleeves.

The other is to use a checklist card as a proxy when the double-faced card isn't on the battlefield.


Lands are colorless:

  202.2b Objects with no colored mana symbols in their mana costs are colorless.


Do effects that can destroy a Commander and generate a token prevent the Commander from being put in the Command Zone?

There are two different kinds of effects that are similar to the one described. One is a card like Pongify, which has this text:

  Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated. Its controller creates a 3/3 green Ape creature token.

If you cast Pongify on a commander, the commander is destroyed when the spell resolves, and its controller can choose to move it to the command zone at that time. Once the Pongify resolves, the Ape token exists as a completely separate creature from the commander.

There are also cards like Turn to Frog, which has this text:

  Until end of turn, target creature loses all abilities and becomes a blue Frog with base power and toughness 1/1.

If you cast Turn to Frog targeting a creature, it still counts as the same creature; it has just changed characteristics. But the property of being a commander is inherent to the card and doesn't change after the game begins, so that creature is still a commander, and can still be moved to the command zone when it is destroyed.