damage triggering a simultaneous modifier of damage

The Griffin Protector will not get the bonus power and toughness from its ability until after it deals its damage.

All combat damage is dealt simultaneously (ignoring First Strike and Double Strike). So, in this situation, first the Earl of Squirrel and the Griffin Protector both simultaneously deal their combat damage, and the Earl of Squirrel immediately creates 4 squirrel tokens. This triggers Griffin Protector's triggered ability 4 times, and after this process is done, those 4 abilities go on the stack. Finally, assuming nobody responds, each of those abilities resolves and the Griffin Protector gets +1/+1 from each, for a total of +4/+4. As you can see, it gets these buffs significantly after it deals its damage, so the buffs don't apply to the damage it deals.

One simple way to change that is to give the Earl of Squirrel the ability first strike. If a creature has first strike, it deals its combat damage in a separate combat damage step before the regular one. In that case, the whole process I just described happens in the first combat damage step, except that only Earl of Squirrel deals its combat damage. Then, in the second combat damage step, after Griffin Protector gets those buffs, it will deal its combat damage.


Do I or my planeswalker need to take damage for Blood Reckoning to trigger?

Short answer: all your opponent has to do is declare attackers. As soon as they do that, they lose the life. Blocking and dealing damage come later. And yes, it triggers separately for each creature your opponent attacks with.

Longer answer: You're confusing terminology a bit here. "Target" has a specific meaning (spells and abilities can have targets), and attacking with creatures doesn't target. "Attack", as in "Whenever a creature attacks you" also has a specific meaning - it means in the declare attackers step, that creature is declared as an attacker*. Blood Reckoning's triggered ability sees that happen, triggers, goes on the stack, then resolves, causing your opponent to lose life. All of this happens before going on to the next step, declaring blockers.

For reference, the steps of the combat phase are beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, assign damage, and end of combat. (Often nothing happens in the beginning and end steps.) The sequence of combat steps is summarized in the basic rulebook, and there's a great detailed walkthrough of combat (and all the details you could want to know about assigning damage) about halfway through this article. (The article's actually about rule changes from Magic 2010, so there's a bit of "this is the new way", but it's a good walkthrough nonetheless.)

As for the per-attacker triggering, there's not much to say - triggered abilities just trigger for every bit of the game that matches their trigger condition. Blood Reckoning cares about "a creature is declared as an attacker" so if there are five of those, there are five triggers. Note though that this is helpfully mentioned in the rulings at the bottom of the card's Gatherer page!

* As pointed out in the comments, "a creature is declared as an attacker" is different from "a creature on the battlefield is attacking". There are cards like Geist of Saint Traft which put a token creature onto the battlefield already attacking. That creature was never declared as an attacker, so it doesn't trigger abilities like Blood Reckoning's.


Does playing one virus from my hand allow me to get all copies from my deck?

Your initial impression is correct, when you play a virus card, you may play another copy of it from the deck onto the play area (two total).  Otherwise, it would be OP to have that many resources down at once, plus the card would likely say something like you may play 'all' copies of the card when you play it, rather than 'you can play a copy, then shuffle'


Does a fortress count as a unit when defending a city?

No, your Fortress does not act as a unit, and the foriegn unit does not need to defeat the Fortress. They only must survive the first round combat. The rules for Fortress (page 6) tell you, "During the first combat roll of a battle: +1 die for combat and Cancel one hit." So, your Fortress allows you to roll a single die, and if that defeats the foreign Army unit, combat ends with no winner or loser. If not, the city is conquered and any Settlers are defeated. (remaining rules page 12)

Land Combat - Battles typically occur during a "Move" action when an Army moves into a space with one or more foreign umits or a foreign city [...]
Combat Roll and Combat Value - Battles are resolved through combat rounds. [...] If one side loses all his units, he has lost the battle. If both sides lose all their units, combat ends with no winner or loser. [...]
Settlers in Combat - [...] If Settlers end up in a space alone with a foreign Army unit, a battle occurs in which any Settlers are defeated automatically (no cards are played or dice rolled). [...]


When does Dreadhorde Arcanist check it's power when resolving the trigger in this situation?

You would only be able to cast a spell with a converted mana cost of 1.

This is confirmed by the rulings on Dreadhorde Arcanist:

  The instant or sorcery card you target must have converted mana cost less than or equal to Dreadhorde Arcanist’s power immediately after Dreadhorde Arcanist has attacked. Any other abilities that trigger when creatures you control attack won’t have resolved yet.

This is because you must choose targets when you put the ability on the stack, before it resolves, and at the time you are choosing targets, Dreadhorde Arcanist still has a power of 1. You will be placing both triggered abilities on the stack before either one of them resolves.

  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.

Note that targets are checked for legality again when a spell or ability resolves, so Dreadhorde Arcanist must still have a high enough power to cast the chosen spell when its ability resolves. If the Arcanist's power were lowered after its ability was put on the stack, this could cause its ability to fizzle (not resolve).

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. [...] 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.


Which Magic Ring should I choose in DungeonQuest?

I usually try to get the Healing Ring every time I play because the Champion of Chaos and Skeleton Warrior tend to hit me pretty hard if I encounter them.


Is there a limit to the number of locomotives used to build a route?

No, there is no limit. You could even complete a route using only locomotives. Remember that even though Locomotives are Wild and can be used freely like that, it is harder to collect them. Rather than being able to pick up TWO cards on your turn (i.e. two yellows), when picking up a Locomotive, you can only pick that ONE card. The only way you can collect TWO Locomotives on your turn is if you draw both randomly in succession...steep odds.

Now, in Advanced sets, some Routes REQUIRE one or more Locomotives as part of the total number.

In the original rules, the relevant statement is

  Locomotives are Multi-colored and act as a wild card that can be part of any set of cards when claiming a route.

"Any set of cards" means that it may contain more locomotives. Note that it does not mean that it may contain any further combination of colours, as

  To claim a route, a player must play a set of cards equal to the number of spaces in the
  route. A set of cards must be of the same type.

In the rules of Ticket To Ride: Europe this is explained better:

  Locomotives can always act as a stand-in for any given color.

and (as an example):

  To claim a Blue route that is three spaces long, a player may play any of the following card combinations: three Blue cards; two Blue cards and a Locomotive; one Blue card and two Locomotives; or three Locomotives.


Is there a rule specifying which direction your card faces?

Even it is not a rule per se the game is created with the orientation in mind, as most cardgames i know of, that your cards are readable for you.
By turning the cards name to the bottom you would switch the game state as Link Arrows would point in different zones than intended.

While there is no rule in the rule book agaist it, there is a rule in the tournament floor rules (IV G. Game State)

http://www.yugioh-card.com/ygo_cms/ygo/all/uploads/KDE_TCG_Tournament_Policy_1_4.pdf


Does how you discard a Madness card affect whether it resolve before its source?

Yes to both questions.
Madness is a two-part keyword ability:

702.34a Madness is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the card with madness is in a player’s hand. The second is a triggered ability that functions when the first ability is applied. “Madness [cost]” means “If a player would discard this card, that player discards it, but exiles it instead of putting it into his or her graveyard” and “When this card is exiled this way, its owner may cast it by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost. If that player doesn’t, he or she puts this card into his or her graveyard.”

If you discard a Madness card as part of the costs of a spell or ability, the Madness trigger will be on top of the spell or ability that had the discard cost, because putting that spell or ability on the stack is always the very first step, before costs are paid:

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. [..]]
602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

If the discard happens as part of the effect of a spell or ability, it can obviously only happen after that spell or ability has resolved, not before. The Madness trigger goes on the stack immediately after resolution of that spell or ability.


The rules don't say anything about it, because they assume it won't happen.  Making rules for it would potentially allow people to game the system by claiming that they forgot.  I think the best way to handle it is make all players (not just the current one) responsible for ensuring that no base is ready to score.  Make a habit of going through each base as a group and counting up the power on it.

If you still realize that you made a mistake before the end of the next turn, correct it as soon as you notice it, reversing state as needed.  If you get to the end of the next turn and then realize the mistake, just score it then.


Can a non independent character deploy in a dedicated transport?

Tycho has two different profiles, Captain Tycho and Death Company Tycho.

Since Death Company Tycho is not an independent character (codex p. 41, FAQ p. 4), it is disallowed by the Dedicated Transport rules (p. 78):

The only limitation of a Dedicated Transport is that when it is
deployed, it can only carry the unit it was selected with (plus
any Independent Characters that have joined it).


What is the standardized format for Scrabble match annotations?

Ok, I found one example of an annotation method used.  The gcg format seems to be allowed on Cross-Tables.

This format consists of a number of lines which can be divided into 2 classes:

Events
Pragmata

The former are moves by players, passes, exchanges, challenges, and end of game events (penalties or bonuses for tiles remaining at the end of the game).  They start with the character >

The latter are comments on the game, player names, the contents of player racks and a bunch of other options for future expansion or which have been made obsolete.  They start with the character #

The development of .gcg can be traced back to John Chew in August 2000.  I am not aware of its significance in the world of Scrabble nor of any competing annotation schemes which may be in place, particularly in Scrabble which is not TWL and especially for non-English Scrabble


MTG reacting instant speed on creature entering game

This has to do with priority. When anything goes on the stack (a spell being cast, a trigger from anything etc), players get "priority" (a word to describe the chance to do something) in APNAP order (active player, non-active player).
When a creature enters the battlefield and has a triggered ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield, that trigger goes on the stack and then all players get priority before it resolves. When a creature does not have such an ability, then the active players gets priority until they either pass actively (such as "moving to end step") or cast/activate something else.
To go into your example, they have a moment with Lurrus on the battlefield where they have priority (i.e. you cannot cast/activate something) and they can for example cast a creature from their graveyard. Only when they do this, you get priority and can then kill Lurrus in response.


Can the Russia no first turn attack rule be realistically extended for more turns?

Note that the following assumes that all players are playing a perfect game with no mistakes. In real games every player will make occasional mistakes so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. For the details on optimal play check out http://donsessays.freeservers.com/

The Russia first turn restriction does nothing to change the balance of classic Axis & Allies. This is because Russia should never attack on the first turn. A&A classic offers very little margin for error in its economy. If Russia produces 9 infantry a round it will survive, if it produces 7 a round it will die. In order to keep up production Russia must conquer Norway during the second round. No other ally may take Norway; it must be Russia. It can't do this if Karelia falls. The only way to prevent Germany from taking Karelia on the very first turn is to place literally all of your defenses in Karelia except 1-3 infantry in the Caucasus (to prevent a blitz through to Russia) and 7 infantry + 1 tank in Yakutia (you can't defend the Russian Far East at first so don't try.) Attacking Manchuria on the first turn will cost you the game. You must slowly build up a large stack of infantry in the Yakut SSR to prevent Japan from breaking through.

On the other hand extending the restriction to turn 2 would mean certain doom for the Allies. Yakutia must pose a second turn attack threat to Manchuria so Japan reinforces it instead of throwing everything at India. Russia must also be able to take Norway and Ukraine on turn 2 or else it won't have the money to crank out 9 infantry on turn 3. Eventually the US will take pressure off and you'll have more of a margin for error, but the first five or six turns are critical.

This house rule might work in some other edition of Axis and Allies, but in Classic it would break the game. The 1-turn rule does nothing but prevent Russia from killing itself prematurely, but more than 1 turn would change the game fundamentally.

A two-turn restriction would not make sense from a historical standpoint because the beginning of the game represents a moment when Russia and Germany were already at war. You'll notice that the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic is already occupied by German forces. In real life the USSR did not go to war with Japan until three weeks before Japan's surrender. Of course in real life Japan never posed a real threat to the USSR, and they certainly weren't capable of marching across Siberia and attacking Moscow from behind.


From the rules I have seen, Village Idiot is one of a handful of climbing card games. The most notable of these are The Great Dalmuti/Dilbert Corporate Shuffle.


First let's look at the normal rules. The rules for scoring state that:

  The first player to get rid of their cards receives points for cards left in all of players' hands

If a player gets rid of all their cards first, they will be the scoring player even if they end up with cards and someone else does not.

The rules do not say that cards in your own hand count against you.

The rules specify "all of players' hands" and do not exclude yourself.

Thus you score points normally from any cards in your own hand at the end of the round. This statement is true in either variant.

In the "getting caught" variant, you only count the cards in your hand. If you have cards in your hand for any reason, they will count against you.


Can other Heroes and/or Monsters be purchased separately for Castle Ravenloft?

A Gray Hag promo exists, but it was a fairly limited release.

Wrath of Ashardalon is fully compatible with Castle Ravenloft, and Wizards has released bonus adventures that combine the two games.

Legend of Drizzt is the latest game in the series and, according to the product information page, is also fully compatible with both other games.


Activating Golos during another player’s turn

Gatherer often answers rules questions about cards with special effects directly. In this case, it says

  Golos’s last ability doesn’t change when you can play the exiled cards. For example, if you exile a sorcery card, you can cast it only during your main phase when the stack is empty. If you exile a land card, you can play it only during your main phase and only if you have an available land play remaining.

Which is to say, if you activate him on your opponent's turn, you can only cast exiled instants and cards with flash, just as with regular cards from your hand.


The tile does not count as the "at least one tile." You would still need to use an additional tile(s) from your rack to play the joker.


Can the Armory district card destroy a district in a completed city?

Apparently Bruno Faidutti (the game designer) intended to allow this.
The Warlord has the following limitation (as found in the official Citadels rules):

You may not, however, destroy a district in a city that is already completed by having eight districts (or seven districts when the Bell Tower is in play).

But apparently Faidutti intended for the Armory not to have this limitation.
As found on BoardGameGeek, the Warlord would even be able to destroy a district from a city that once was completed, but became uncompleted because of the Armory:

Nonetheless, here is how, according to Bruno Faidutti's ruling, a the final round may play out:
Assume Ashley (a Magician) should build an eighth district first, triggering the end of game condition.
Brad (the Bishop) pops his Armory to destroy Ashley's Cathedral (her only religious district). Even though she has seven districts, the game will still end when the round finishes.
Clara (using the Architect) builds twice, bringing her district count to nine.
Finally, David (acting as Warlord) wants to destroy a district (the gold is useless to him otherwise). David cannot destroy anything of Clara's, since her city is complete, and Brad is the Bishop, so he is safe. Ashley's is no longer complete, so David destroys another of Ashley's districts.

There is some ambiguity as to whether the game would still end after such a round (imagine that Clara in the previous example would not have completed her city) and as to which bonuses Ashley in the previous example would receive.


Psi 0, 1, or 2 games - are credits from thin air or player's pool?

Yes, this card is an example of the Psi game mechanic, and credits are always spent from your credit pool. If aplayer has no credits, then they can only bid 0 during the Psi game (note: this is an excellent way of dealing with Caprice Nisei!).

From the manual (p.7),

  Credit Pool: Each player has a credit pool where he keeps the credit
  tokens he has available to spend. Spent credits are returned to the
  token bank.


Can I use expansions with the second edition without owning the first edition?

Even if you don't have the first edition core game, you will still be able to use "Call of the Wild" and "Forbidden Alchemy" to expand your second edition.

(However, the "Suppressed Memories" expansion for second edition will probably be a better choice in financial terms.
It contains all the components from "Call of the Wild" and "Forbidden Alchemy" that are used by second edition)


What Mahjong set of rules can be recommended to beginners?

This set of rules for Chinese Mahjong might be a little terse, but are essentially the rules I have always played with.   The last chart gives a nice limited set of honor hands too.


How does Pandamonium work with effects that destroy unicorns?

You don't have any unicorns in your stable

Pandemonium turns all of your unicorns into pandas for all other effects.  This means that any effect that does something to the unicorns in your stable will see that you have zero unicorns and act accordingly.

This can be a pretty powerful protective shield at times.  The catch is that you can't win the game while it's there.


Don't know how much of an improvement this is but I found this:

http://www.witchmastercreations.com/board-game-mod-afrikan-zombeja-or-in-almost-english-afrikan-zombies/


What is the correct creature type for Lesser and Greater Werewolf?

The creature sub type "Lycanthrope" has been removed from the game; "Werewolf" is correct as per Oracle reference.

Oracle is always the final authority on all questions about a specific card:

  108.1. Use the Oracle_(TM) card reference when determining a card's wording. A card's Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at http://gatherer.wizards.com.

A rule specifically tackling your question:

  205.3f Many cards were printed with subtypes that are now obsolete. Many cards have retroactively received subtypes. Use the Oracle card reference to determine what a card's subtypes are. (See rule 108.1.)

I don't see any way to convince other players of that fact if they choose not to believe you, except by showing them the Oracle reference. Note also that in the Comprehensive Rules, section 205.3m, there is a list of all currently legal creature subtypes, and it does not list Lycanthrope.

For reprinted cards with that issue, you could take 1 of the reprinted cards as a sample and prove it that way.


Yes, you can. By the time Hive Mind's ability copies your opponent's Counterspell, that Counterspell is already on the stack. So you can choose it as a target for your own copy of Counterspell.

In more detail, what happens is this:

You cast your creature spell, which let's say is a Weirded Vampire. (Why would you be playing Weirded Vampire against Hive Mind? Weird, huh.) The stack is

Weirded Vampire

Your opponent casts Counterspell, and Hive Mind's ability triggers. The stack is

Hive Mind's ability
Counterspell (opponent's)
Weirded Vampire

The ability resolves, giving you a copy of Counterspell, which you can choose to have target the original Counterspell. The stack is

Counterspell (yours)
Counterspell (opponent's)
Weirded Vampire

Your Counterspell resolves, countering your opponent's Counterspell. The stack is

Weirded Vampire

The Weirded Vampire now resolves.

This does mean that (in a 2-player game) Hive Mind basically nullifies any counterspell which can target a copy of itself.


No version of werewolf I have found forbids a player from voting for him/herself during the day.

The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow

  The players, after much debating and arguing, must select one player that they want to eliminate when they vote.

Stellar Factory Werewolf (playwerewolf.co)

  Daytime is very simple; all the living players gather in the village and decide who to kill. As soon as a majority of players vote for a particular player to kill, the moderator says "Ok, you're dead."

Ultimate Werewolf

  Each day, the players discuss who among them is a werewolf, and vote out a player.


Yes, here's a link that talks about an example, The Switcher.

And here's a great link that lists them all.


Does Mirrorwing Dragon's ability trigger when redirects are involved?

No, it doesn't.
Mirrorwing Dragon says

Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Mirrorwing Dragon

(emphasis mine)
By the time you successfully redirect the Murder with Bolt Blend, it's already cast, so it's too late for Mirrorwing Dragon's ability to trigger.

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell includes proposal of the spell (rules 601.2a–d) and determination and payment of costs (rules 601.2f–h). To cast a spell, a player follows the steps listed below, in order. A player must be legally allowed to cast the spell to begin this process (see rule 601.3). If a player is unable to comply with the requirements of a step listed below while performing that step, the casting of the spell is illegal ; the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule 721, “Handling Illegal Actions”).
601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, they get priority.


Unique Assets with same name in my possession

You keep both. There is no limit, according to the FAQ:

  Q. Can an investigator have multiple copies of the same  Unique
  Asset?
  A. Yes. There is no limit to the number of Unique Assets an
  investigator can have.

Source


Hideaway - do I get to put cards put on the bottom of my library in any order?

Yes, you choose the order:

  702.74. Hideaway

    702.74a Hideaway represents a static ability and a triggered ability. “Hideaway” means “This permanent enters the battlefield tapped” and “When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. The exiled card gains ‘Any player who has controlled the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.’”

Note that the italics text written on  Spinerock Knoll is just reminder text, it is not the actual rules for Hideaway.

  207.2. The text box may also contain italicized text that has no game function.

    207.2a Reminder text is italicized text within parentheses that summarizes a rule that applies to that card. It usually appears on the same line as the ability it’s relevant to, but it may appear on its own line if it applies to an aspect of the card other than an ability.

So that text is simply a summary of what Hideaway means, but it is not intended to be an actual rule you follow. The full rule for Hideaway is what is defined in 702.74.


I have not seen anything for an official rules for a time limited game but I have played in settings where there was limited time and players would come and go as they could.

In those situations we would set the chips and the buy in to an amount that can easily be converted back and forth. For example we would set chips to mirror coins (down to the smallest amount you want to deal with) and at the end of the night (or when someone needs to leave) they cash out for how much they had in chips at that time.

Since the games are just for fun there won't be a rush at the end to get a few more chips to win it all but just a general progression to try and at least break even.


How can I refer to specific hexes on a hex board?

There is no standard way, but as it's a two-dimensional grid you can easily project a coordinate system on it.

You can either go in a 90° angle then every second row or column is offset for one half to the bottom or right.

Or you can go in a 60°/120° angle to have straight lines but that looks unusual (and depending on your starting point can easily go into the negatives).


What happens when a card with undying dies that has a +1/+1 counter put on it by something other that undying?

Undying doesn't care how the +1/+1 counter got there. Undying won't trigger.

Conversely, if Undying previously placed a +1/+1 counter on a permanent, but the counter got removed somehow before the permanent died a second time, Undying will trigger and bring the card back a second time.


PDS II space cannons of third-party players

The valid options are #1 (not shooting) and #2 (shooting the ships of the active player).
Shooting space cannons is optional for any player (so #1 is always an option).  Then, #2 is an option but not #3 or #4 because space cannons apply their hits to the ships of the active player, with the only exception being for the active player's space cannons.
Here are the relevant rules for Space Cannon Offense from the rules reference (my emphasis):

Beginning with the active player and proceeding clockwise, each player may use the “Space Cannon” ability of each of his units in the active system by rolling a specific number of dice for each of those units; these are called space cannon rolls.
If a player has the “Deep Space Cannon” technology, he can use the “Space Cannon” ability of his PDS units that are in systems that are adjacent to the active system. The hits are still assigned to units in the active system.
The active player must choose and destroy one of his ships in the active system for each hit result produced against his units.
If the active player is using the “Space Cannon” ability of his units, he chooses a player who has ships in the active system. That player must choose and destroy one of his ships in the active system for each hit the space cannon roll produced.

This is corroborated by the Learn to Play:

After the active player’s ships move into the active system, each player’s units in the active system may use their “Space Cannon” abilities against the active player’s ships in that system. The active player may also use his units’ “Space Cannon” abilities at this time.


Is a pawn allowed to capture onto a promotion square?

No, this in incorrect. A pawn may capture and promote on the same move, there's no rule prohibiting this (§3.7 of the official rules regulate pawn moves, including captures and promotions).

With two rooks next to each other, the pawn might be 'pinned' because your king is on the same column and there are no other pieces or pawns in between; then, a capture would put your king in check. Otherwise, capturing is just as legal as moving forward.


What is this game with multiplying aliens and random weapons?

The Awful Green Things From Outer Space by Steve Jackson Games


Is there another good 3 player variant of Canasta?

Hand and Foot

While I'm not a huge fan of this variant, everyone else in my family is and it is now the only version of canasta played regularly for us.  There are a lot of slightly different rules set out there, I've linked to the one that seems to resemble the rules my family uses.

The main difference for Hand and Foot is that each player is dealt 2 Hands (called a Hand and a Foot).  The player only uses the "Hand" to start.  When they drain the Hand of cards, they may immediately pick up the "Foot" and continue the turn they are on.  Timing the pickup of your Foot is the key to the game.

Any number of players is well supported, we play with three often.  Four decks will give you a nice game of Hand and Foot for three players.

My objection to this variant is that you are really dependent on what is in your "Foot" each round.  For me, it introduces a larger luck factor than I prefer to play with.  This leads to more games with large differences in score which I don't find enjoyable.  It's definitely worth a try to see if it is your cup of tea.


Does Epic Spell Wars actually contain profanity?

No, aside from the rulebook's preamble, it does not contain profanity.

Samples:

Sir Lootzor's // Polished // Snakedance
Ben Voodoo's // Boulder-iffic // Bedazzlement
Pam and Hecuba's // Two-faced // Cone of Acid
Midnight Merlin's // Devilicious // Power Vortex
Whirly Do's // Burst-o-Ramic // Meatier Swarm

At worst, it's just a couple of cards that can be removed.

The rulebook of the sequel (Rumble at Castle Tentakill) is clean, and the following are the only offending cards:

Bitch Witch
Sexsquatch
Dr Gravelovers (the art is iffy)
Auto-Erotic
The F-U Suit (spelled exactly like this)


When "an opponent" has to do something in a multiplayer game, who does it?

The player who controls the spell chooses the opponent.

There could be some political issues here, but no more so than if you had a friend in a 4-player game who refused to attack you because you were friends. He's still your opponent in the game, so he should be making the decisions that will give him the best chance of winning; not trying to help you.

From the comprehensive rules:

  601.3. Some spells specify that one of their controller’s opponents does something the controller would
  normally do while it’s being cast, such as choose a mode or choose targets. In these cases, the
  opponent does so when the spell’s controller normally would do so.

    601.3a If there is more than one opponent who could make such a choice, the spell’s controller
    decides which of those opponents will make the choice.


Yes, you can do that. From the rules:

  UNFREEZING THE DISCARD PILE

    A frozen discard pile is unfrozen only by being taken. When the discard pile is topped by a wild card or a black three, at least one natural card must be discarded on top of the pile before the pile may be taken. Then, a player may take that card (and the pile) only with a natural pair of the same rank from his hand. Before touching the discard pile, the player should show the pair (together with any additional cards if needed to meet the minimum count of an initial meld).

As long as you have a natural pair in your hand, it doesn't matter what else you have on the table. In fact, it is a common strategy to not add to an existing meld (even if it would form a Canasta!) to make your opponent think that a particular rank is a safe discard on a frozen pile.


Are there any alternative rules for Settles of Catan to rely less on luck?

There is actually a commercially produced event deck. When using it, you reveal a card every turn to get a number from 2-12 instead of rolling the dice. A card that reshuffles the deck is mixed in the bottom 5 cards, so the exact composition when the deck gets thin cannot be exactly guessed. (The cards also feature events that affect the game in other minor ways, if you choose to use them that way.)

Other games in the Catan series explore the idea of providing resources or compensation for players who strike out at the dice. Cities & Knights of Catan features an upgrade that gives you a resource of your choice whenever a number that doesn't produce anything for you is rolled. In a similar vein, Settlers of America gives any player Gold tokens who otherwise strikes out on a turn; gold can be later traded for other resources.


Honors point count for holding all four aces in one hand?

No, this has never changed in the Laws of Rubber Bridge (2014).

  For holding all four aces in one hand at a no trump contract: 150

In a suit contract the only scoring honours are a holding of four or five of the top five trumps.

From Law 81 - Scoring Table:


In cribbage, do you get points for doubles after getting to 31?

No.

According to the rules of cribbage:

  Card combinations cannot span a reset; once the total reaches 31 (or a Go has been scored) and counting has re-started at zero, cards already played cannot contribute to runs or pairs.


Can Laquatus's Creativity cause an opponent to discard their hand if you have Narset, Parter of Veils on the battlefield?

Yes, but not quite. That's because Narset, Parter of Veils only stops cards drawn beyond the first, and Laquatus's Creativity is a sorcery. That means that if you cast it during your turn, opponent gets to draw at least one card (they don't have a draw step during your turn), and they will end up with one card left afterwards.

If opponent currently has no cards in hand, then Laquatus's Creativity does nothing.
If opponent has one card in hand, then they draw one and discard one.
If opponent has two cards in hand, they draw one and discard two.
If opponent has three cards in hand, they draw one and discard three.

Et cetera.

If you manage to cast Laquatus's Creativity at instant speed, then if you cast it during your opponent's turn (after their draw step when they have already drawn a card), they will indeed have to discard everything.


This sounds very much like Titan. The Java version may be Colossus.


How do the hand size rules interact with Share Your Nuts?

Yes to both. You quoted the answer You should always have five cards in your hand. You would draw a card to bring your hand size back to 5, and your opponent would have to discard a card to bring their hand back down to 5.


It sounds as though you are talking about artifact creature tokens, not just artifact creatures. If this is the case, then your friend is correct. You know it is a token because some effect created them, rather than them existing as actual cards in the game.

  110.5. Some effects put tokens onto the battlefield. A token is a marker used to represent any permanent that isn’t represented by a card.

Note that it is common to use things that look like cards as the markers to represent these tokens, but those things are not "cards" in the sense that a Mountain is a card; they don't go in your deck, etc.

Tokens work differently than cards when they die. While they do enter the graveyard, they immediately cease to exist before you have a chance to do anything such as casting Crypt Incursion. Therefore you cannot exile them from the graveyard.

  110.5f A token that’s in a zone other than the battlefield ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704.

Also note that even if the tokens did stay in the graveyard, it wouldn't matter, because Crypt Incursion specifically says "creature cards"; and as mentioned earlier, tokens are not cards.


Looks like games from the "Commands and Colors: Ancients" series.

I would assume that one is the base game and the other two are expansions, likely Rome vs. Barbarians and Roman Civil War


Newbie go question: why can I do one move but not the other one

Playing in the space above 82 would result in that black group having no liberties while the white groups surrounding it do still have liberties, so the group would immediately be captured by white. According to Wikipedia, most rulesets prohibit moves like that. If you play in the bottom right hole, on the other hand, that black group still has multiple liberties.


Descent: Can you get rid of cursed items?

I don't recall there being any rules for auto-equipping cursed items; you can elect to use it if you want to, but you don't have to.

You get a curse token for equipping a cursed item, and while you can remove the cursed item as normal, you do not lose the curse token for un-equipping the item (so if you re-equip it later, you get another curse token).

In your example, if the mage can simply choose not to equip the weapon.

Now, Dark Relics, on the other hand, must be equipped when found, and the only normal way to remove them is to die.  Fun fun...


Will Enduring Ideal and Dovescape played together leave Enduring Ideal countered?

No, a copy of Enduring ideal won't be countered by Dovescape because the copy isn't cast.

The reminder text for Epic says:

  At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, copy this spell except for its epic ability.

However, copies are not cast and thus are not affected by Dovescape:

  706.10. To copy a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability means to put a copy of it onto the stack; a copy of a spell isn’t cast and a copy of an activated ability isn’t activated. [...]


Do creatures with summoning sickness deal damage while blocking?

From the rulebook:

  Unlike other types of permanents, creatures enter the battlefield with “summoning sickness”: a creature can’t
  attack, or use an ability that has {tap} in its cost, until it has started your turn on the battlefield under your control.
  You can block with a creature or activate its other abilities no matter how long it’s been on the battlefield.

Blocking is not "attacking back". Blocking creatures deal damage normally, whether they have summoning sickness or not. Again, the rulebook:

  After all blockers are chosen, combat damage is assigned.
  Each creature—both attackers and blockers—deals damage
  equal to its power.

  • An attacking creature that isn’t blocked deals damage to the
  player or planeswalker it’s attacking.

  • An attacking creature that is blocked deals damage to the
  blocking creatures. If one of your attacking creatures is
  blocked by multiple creatures, you decide how to divide
  its combat damage among them. You must assign at least
  enough damage to the first blocking creature in line to
  destroy it before you can assign damage to the next one in
  line, and so on.

  • A blocking creature deals damage to the attacker it’s blocking.


Attaching equipment, when the equipment wasn't actually cast

Equipments never enter the battlefield attached to a creature unless an effect specifically says that it does, no matter whether you cast it or put it onto the battlefield with a card like Genesis Wave.

Aura Enchantments, on the other hand, always enter the battlefield attached to something. If you cast an Aura, it enters the battlefield attached to the object that was the target of the spell. If you put it directly onto the battlefield with a card like Genesis Wave, you choose at that time what object it attaches to. Just like casting an Aura, this choice is constrained by the "Enchant [something]" ability on the aura, so an aura with "Enchant Creature" can only be attached to a creature, whether or not it was cast.

One caveat you should keep in mind is that Genesis Wave puts all of the permanents onto the battlefield simultaneously, so you cannot attach an aura from among those permanents to another one of those permanents. This is different from a card like Warp World, which puts Enchantments onto the battlefield after other cards so that you can attach those Enchantments to other permanents that it puts onto the battlefield.


At what point does a land become controlled?

Yes, you can.

Golgari Rot Farm's ability goes on the stack as soon as it enters the battlefield, and while it is there, all players get priority to do something before it resolves and you need to bounce a land. At that moment, you control seven lands and can tap Shrine of the Forsaken Gods for two colorless mana. This will work even though you might want to use it to cast a creature (which you can't if the stack isn't empty); you can 'float' the mana, because you will lose it only at the end of the current step or phase.


Does Lich's Mastery let me spend down to negative life with Bolas's Citadel?

You cannot pay life that you don't have, even if you wouldn't lose the game. So, Lich's Mastery doesn't help you cast cards using Bolas's Citadel, and using them together is probably a bad idea because of the "Whenever you lose life..." trigger on Lich's Mastery.

The most important rule here is rule 119.4:

  If a cost or effect allows a player to pay an amount of life greater than 0, the player may do so only if their life total is greater than or equal to the amount of the payment. If a player pays life, the payment is subtracted from their life total; in other words, the player loses that much life. (Players can always pay 0 life.)


Can Yahenni become indestructible after taking lethal damage, and does it die then?

There is no way to both use Yahenni to sacrifice all other creatures, and also have Yahenni die due to lethal damage.

Once the creature has actually taken lethal damage, you cannot give it indestructible and save it. It would die the next time state-based actions are checked; and state-based actions are always checked before a player received priority.

However, you can give it indestructible after blockers have been assigned, but before damage is dealt. You would do this in the assign blockers step of the combat phase, which happens before damage assignment. But if you do this, Yahenni will survive. Even if you could use Yahenni's ability after it has received lethal damage, it wouldn't matter, because Indestructible causes lethal damage to have no effect on a creature.

As per  monoRed's comment, to get the result you desire, you would need to have a way to kill Yahenni outside of combat. If you (or your opponent) have any direct damage or destruction spells that are instants or abilities, you could activate Yahenni's ability repeatedly to remove all other creatures, and then while those activations are still on the stack, before they have resolved, use the other spell/ability to kill it.

You can see the details of the combat phase steps here: Where can I find a chart or diagram explaining Magic's turn structure?.


Improve the Power of creatures in the graveyard?

I split your question into three, because I thought it was less ambiguous that way.

Is there a way to put a creature with improved power into the graveyard?

Only one that we know of. Someone mentioned Skullbriar, the Walking Grave in the comments. Skullbriar takes his counters with him to the graveyard, where they continue to modify his power and toughness.

Is there a way to improve the power of a creature in the graveyard?

This is the question you actually asked.

The only way I can think of to actually change the power of a creature that is in the graveyard is to play with creatures like Spellheart Chimera, whose power and toughness are calculated. These are static abilities that function in any zone, including the graveyard.

If you had Spellheart in your graveyard and then you played Grisly Salvage and flipped over 5 instants, Spellheart would suddenly have 5 (plus one from the Grisly Salvage itself) more power than he had before, thereby improving his power.

Is there a way to put high power creatures in the graveyard?

Yes. You can discard a creature card like Bearer of the Heavens by having too many cards, or by being forced to discard it with something like Thoughtseize (which can target yourself). You can also mill with a card like Grisly Salvage, mentioned earlier.

The answer I think you were hoping for was a card like "Target creature in your graveyard gets +3/+3 until end of turn" (a buff) or "becomes a 10/10 until end of turn" (a static ability) or even something that affects the power of all creatures in your graveyard. No card like that exists. I doubt one ever will, because the "status" of cards in your graveyard would become unmanageable. Cards like Spellheart Chimera are exceptional in that their status is printed directly on the card, making it impossible to forget.


Does 'shuffle your library' mandate that the cards actually change order?

As Jefromi points out, the deck is not left in a randomised state unless there's only one of the card being removed in it.

Now, you could pick one of the matching cards at random, but that becomes complicated and error prone. (What if there are three matching card, but the 3rd party only sees two?) I would not accept this.

Original post follows.

In what circumstance would there be a neutral 3rd party handling your deck? But ok, let's assume that's somehow the case. From the tournament rules:

  Randomization is defined as bringing the deck to a state where no player can have any information regarding the order or position of cards in any portion of the deck.

So technically, it is randomised. I'm assuming you okayed it with your opponent, otherwise, the following could apply:

  If the opponent does not believe the player made a reasonable effort to randomize his or her deck, the opponent must notify a judge.

That said, (emphasis mine)

  At Competitive and Professional REL tournaments, players are required to shuffle their opponents’ decks after their owners have shuffled them. The Head Judge can require this at Regular REL tournaments as well.

Given this, a judge may insist you are also required to actually shuffle the deck. Why don't you ask your judge since it really comes down to what he thinks.

Quotes come from the Tournament Rules. They apply to Competitive and Pro REL, but that's the only place your question really matters.


A player cannot choose to take an action that requires them to spend eggs they don't have.
This means that a player with no eggs cannot chose to place a bird in anything but the first column, they cannot choose to spend an egg to get an extra card, and they cannot take any bird actions that require spending eggs.
But bird actions and spending a resource for a bonus resource are both optional, so the only full action that is outright prevented is adding new birds.  A player will always have an option to take an action that does not require spending eggs.


Abhoth - where should I put defeated cultists

Okay, I went through all the rules in all the rulesheets I have from the expansions, and the answer is in the original Reference Guide.

In entry Set Aside, third bullet, it states:

  When a component that was set aside during setup is discarded, it is not returned to the deck or pool like other components of that type. Instead, it is set aside again.

So, the correct answer is to put the Cultist back on the Ancient One sheet (well to play perfectly by the rules, I should track the ones that were spawned by the reckoning effect only).


In Secret Hitler, what happens when exactly 50% of players vote "Ja!"

The Kickstarter page says the following (emphasis mine):

  Each round, the President selects a Chancellor. The whole table votes "Ja!" or "Nein!" on their ticket; if a majority of players vote “Ja!,” the elected President and Chancellor take the following actions to pass a new policy:

Since 50% is not a majority, the election failed.


Does a dashed creature return to my hand at the end of the turn after an opponent takes control of it?

Yes, it will return to your hand.

The dashed creature does not change zones at any time, so it's still the same object as it was when it entered the battlefield with dash. It doesn't matter who controls the creature, or if it's even a creature at all - as long as the object is still the same, dash will "find" it and return it to its owner's hand.

  109.1. An object is an ability on the stack, a card, a copy of a card, a token, a spell, a permanent, or an emblem.

This is in contrast to when the creature is in a different zone when dash resolves, e.g. when it has died during that turn. It also doesn't return if it is on the battlefield but has been in another zone for any length of time, for example when someone Flickers a dashed creature, or if it dies from Dread Slaver. In those cases, your dash creature will be on the battlefield at the end of your turn, but it's a new object that will not be returned to your hand.

  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. [..]


What joseki, if any, yields this position on page 60 of 38 Basic Joseki?

The joseki
This is, as mafu pointed out, the result of a joseki starting with high and low near kakaris against a hoshi, shown in  38 Basic Joseki, page 188, Dia. 4 (with colours swapped and rotated to match the question), and in Josekipedia:
$$Wc Double kakari joseki
$$ -----------
$$ ..........-
$$ ......c7b.-
$$ a...X.54..-
$$ O...9.O6..-
$$ d....38...-
$$ .....1X...-
$$ .....20...-
$$ ..........-

N.B. The pincer is not visible in the diagram mentioned in the question.
The position is also shown in Ishida’s Dictionary of Basic Joseki, Vol II, p. 186, Dia. 96, but with the White pincer (Black in Ishida as the colours are reversed) at a; in this case, after White 9, Black exchanges b for White c before connecting at 10, and finally White plays at d.
This joseki appeared not to be in Senseis Library, though it belonged on the page 4-4 point, low-high double approach, hane; I have since added it there. Eidogo appears to contain only double high and double low kakaris against hoshi, but not the high/low variant.
How to find it
To be worked out

I tried without success to find this joseki/position with pattern search on Sensei’ s Library and Eidogo. That was reasonable, as it appears not to have been in either source, though I have since added it to Sensei and it is now found. I also failed to find it in 38 Basic Joseki, and in Ishida’s Dictionary of Basic Joseki; that was mainly due to not guessing correctly how the joseki started.  I also failed to find it by experimentation on Josekipedia, again through not trying guessing the start. To add: suggestions for more effective searching.
Since Black has seven stones to White’s six, he must have started (probably 3-3, 3-4 or 4-5) or White must have started and then played tenuki.


When an explorer lands in a barrier room from above, which side do they end up on?

If it is the Vault you always appear on the outside, otherwise it is your choice as to which half of a barrier room you appear on.
From the official errata & FAQ:

Collapsed Room -- If you land in a room with two parts, such as the Chasm, which half do you land in?
If anything transports you to a barrier room, you decide which side of the room to end up in. If the arrival causes a counter to be created, as with the Collapsed Room or the Secret Passage, then that counter is permanently on the side of the room you choose. Anything that takes you to the Vault, however, always leaves you outside the door.


Your opponent will get to choose the target of the damage.

Generally, players put triggered abilities on the stack in APNAP order:

  603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.

The "APNAP" rule means "active player, non-active player":

  If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required, followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.

So in your case, your opponent is the active player and casts a creature with kicker. When the creature enters the battlefield, your enchantment and the kicker ability trigger at the same time. You control the enchantment trigger and your opponent controls the kicker ability. Your opponent chooses the target for the damage and puts the ability on the stack, then you put the enchantment trigger on the stack.

The enchantment trigger resolves first and you gain control of the new creature. However, that does not change the controller of the kicker ability:

  603.3a A triggered ability is controlled by the player who controlled its source at the time it triggered, unless it’s a delayed triggered ability. To determine the controller of a delayed triggered ability, see rules 603.7d–f.

So even if your opponent loses control of the creature whose ability triggered, he will still control the kicker ability on the stack.


In Monopoly, what happens if the auction winner cannot pay his/her bid?

The player who cannot pay has just properly incurred, according to the Rules, a debt to the Bank that cannot be paid. That is the definition of Bankrupt.

If the player is unable to relieve the bankruptcy, then all their assets go to the Bank, which then auctions off all properties to the remaining players, as per the Official Rules for Bankruptcy.

The property originally landed on is part of the Bankruptcy Sale of the Bankrupt player's properties.

Capitalism is harsh boys and girls - no second chances in Monopoly.


Games with features like Battlestar Galactica's "Traitor" Mechanic?

There are many games with a "traitor" or "uninformed majority" type mechanics. In some of them, such as Mafia and Are You The Traitor?, that is the main point of the game; you are trying to discover each person's role, with not much else on top of that. In others, it's a more incidental feature, usually involving the win conditions for each player or team, but with more traditional gameplay mechanics for the main duration of the game. In the following descriptions, I sketch only out how the "traitor" mechanics work for each game, not how the whole game works.

There's Mafia, also known as Werewolf or Assassin, which is probably the most well known, and one of the oldest, of the genre. In its most basic form (using Werewolf terminology), you have two Werewolves, one Seer, and the rest are Villagers, though only the Werewolves know who each other are. Each day, everyone (Villagers, Seer, and Werewolves) try to decide who the Werewolves are, and hang one person. Each night, the Werewolves silently and secretly choose one person to kill. Each night, the Seer gets to discover, silently and secret, whether one player is the Werewolf. The humans (Villagers and Seer) win if they kill both of the Werewolves, the Werewolves win if they equal the humans in number. The Seer is trying to help guide the Villagers to kill the Werewolves instead of innocent Villagers, without revealing himself as he will be killed by the Werewolves the next night (unless he identifies both of them openly; but of course, a Werewolf could also claim to be the Seer...).

In Are You The Traitor? from Looney Labs, there is a Key-Holder, trying to deliver a key to the Good Wizard, while the Evil Wizard tries to get the key instead (only the wizards know which is which). The Guards are trying to help the Key-Holder get the key to the Good Wizard, but there's a Traitor in their midst, who's trying to (secretly) reveal to the Evil Wizard who has the key, without being caught by the Guards. The Good team wins if the Key-Holder delivers the key to the Good Wizard, or the Guards catch the Traitor. The evil team wins if the Key-Holder accidentally delivers the key to the Evil Wizard, the Guards attack someone other than the Traitor, or the Evil Wizard catches the Key-Holder is before the Key-Holder delivers the key (the Traitor can never win directly, only by communicating secretly to the Evil Wizard). It's an interesting twist on traitor mechanics, lots of different roles, all with very different goals, but still has the basics of the traitor mechanics.

The multi-player version of Homeworlds, an Icehouse game has a traitor mechanic, though the 2 player version, Binary Homeworlds, is more popular. In the multi-player version, players are secretly assigned Good and Evil roles. The basic mechanics of the game are an abstract strategy game, in which players are trying to eliminate each other (I won't go into the details, as they aren't relevant to the traitor mechanic). The Good players are on a team; they win if all Evil players are eliminated. Each Evil player is playing for themselves; they win if they eliminate any other player, Good or Evil. So, Good players are all cooperating, and Evil players are all competing.

Bang! is a spaghetti western card game, with a Sheriff who is known to everyone, and Deputies, Outlaws, and a Renegade. The Outlaws are trying to kill the Sheriff, the Sheriff and Deputies are trying to kill the Outlaws and Renegade, and the Renegade is trying to be the last man standing.

Napoleon is a trick-taking card game (played with ordinary playing cards) originally from Japan (and apparently over 100 years old, though not in its exact present form). 10 cards are dealt to each player, and two blinds are left. The players bid a number of tricks and a trump suit, similar to Bridge. The winning bidder is Napoleon. He names another card, and the player who has that card becomes his General (but only the General knows that); they together need to make the bid to win the game. Napoleon now gets to take the two blinds, and discard two cards; if the card he named was one of the blinds, he's playing alone, with no General. The game is then played as a trick taking game with the named trump. No one but the General knows who that is, and Napoleon and the General (or Napoleon alone) are playing on a team against the other players, who are also on a team.

Shadows Over Camelot is a cooperative game, but there is a variant in which one player might be a traitor (or there may be no traitor). The players are working together against the game, but the traitor will try and sabotage the progress of the other players while remaining undiscovered. The loyal knights may accuse someone of being the traitor; if they're correct, they get an advantage, if they're wrong, they're set back; of course, depending on the game, there might not even be a traitor. If the traitor remains secret until the end of the game, he can set the players back and turn victory into defeat.

In The Resistance you are a group of resistance fighter running missions against a corrupt and evil government. However, there are government spies in your midst. You need to complete three out of five missions successfully, without a spy sabotaging the mission. Each round, a new player is the leader, and must select a team, trying to choose only loyal resistance fighters and no spies. After selecting the team, the players vote on whether that team should be formed. If the spies sow discord, and no team can be formed after 5 tries, the spies win and the government crushes the resistance. Otherwise, they go on the mission; but any spies on the mission have the chance to sabotage it, causing it to fail. If they do, however, they risk being found out.


What's the best way to get a good food engine going in Agricola early on?

There are a number of options, but if you've only played a couple of times then a Fireplace + sheep is the way to go.

Sheep are worth two food each, so a pile of sheep is a valuable commodity. If you can keep them in pastures long enough to breed (i.e. without eating them first), then they're a valuable investment, providing you with two action-free food every harvest. Two key points to remember about eating animals:

You need a Fireplace or Cooking Hearth (you can't eat raw animals!)
You may take all animals on a space and cook them immediately, even if you don't have space to keep them on your farm.

The second point is crucial. If your opponent is able to pick up a Fireplace, then you must always be alert to the possibility that he could take all of a given animal, and just convert the lot into food. Of course, you can do the same.

Once you've played a few more games, you'll realise that setting up your food engine correctly every time is much more subtle than this. There are several key food sources, and how you put them together depends to some extent on your Occupations/Minor Improvements, and on what your opponent(s) go for. You can

Eat animals
Bake bread
Eat vegetables
Pick up food from Fishing or other food accumulator spaces
Buy one or more specialist Major Improvements (Basketmaker's Workshop/Joinery/Pottery), and eat resources
Use food-based Occupations or Minor Improvements (if you have them)

Your overall strategy for the game, coupled with how your opponents play, will drive your choice of food engine. There are far too many permutations to discuss them in detail here, but for example if you have Occupations/Minors that aid with plowing, sowing or baking, then bread could be a solid food source. If you can get wood quickly, or if sheep come out early, then animals might be preferred. If you can get to a Cooking Hearth, or if you have a Schnapps Distiller, or a way of getting vegetables very early, then vegetables can be a great food solution. On the other hand, if your opponents take the Ovens before you, then baking may become too inefficient, and you'll have to switch to something else. It all depends.


You must match all three numbers so this is not allowed. So you can not place the tile there.

In this version of the rules:

  Bridges are made by matching one side of the tile and the point opposite. Score the tile's points plus a 40 point bonus


Battlestar Galactica (base game) Sympathizer explanation?

All of the loyalty cards are dealt out.  The starting loyalty deck compositions have (2n - 1) cards in 4 and 6 player, where n is the number of players, so that when the sympathizer card is added, there are exactly enough loyalty cards.
The point of the sympathizer card is to be half a cylon, by being either a handicapped cylon (no super crisis, can't activate the cylon fleet) or a handicapped human (in the brig).  As each of these favors one side slightly, the side that is losing at sleeper phase gets the advantage so the game is a bit self-balancing.  If the humans are winning (all resources in the blue), the sympathizer is a handicapped cylon; if the cylon's are winning (at least one resource in the red), the sympathizer is a handicapped human.  Note that the sympathizer is always something; the sympathizer card always gets revealed and does something to that player.

Note on the sympathizer: Fantasy Flight (the maker of the game) was never quite happy with how the sympathizer worked.  The game at its heart works best with 5 players and everything else is an attempt to make it work with other numers.  The Pegasus and Daybreak expansions introduced four potential mechanics to replace the sympathizer, Pegasus introducing the "Sympathetic Cylon" and "Cylon Leaders (agenda cards)", and Daybreak introducing the "Mutineer" and "Cylon Leaders (motive cards)".  Having tried all of these, the best option for a 4 or 6 player game (in my opinion) is using a Cylon Leader with motive cards from Daybreak.


How to apply the effect "You may treat all Constructs as Mechana Constructs" in Ascension game?

Yes, once you have the effect of "You may treat all constructs as Mechana Constructs", this applies to acquisition (e.g. runes that can only be used to purchase Mechana constructs can be used to buy any construct under this effect) and to effects that count the number of Mechana constructs in play. (There may be other effects from later expansions.)


Can I see the card I draw before deciding to activate Dawn of Hope a second time?

You can and will (by how the game mechanically works) see 1 card before choosing to use it a second time.

What will happen is as follows:

Both Soul Warden Triggers go on the stack, the order of which doesn't matter for this case.
Both players pass priority, causing the top of the stack to resolve (i.e. you gain 1 life from the first Warden trigger).
Dawn of Hope will trigger because you have gained life and will go on the stack, above the 2nd Warden trigger.
Both players pass priority
You can now resolve Dawn of Hope, where you decide if you want to pay for it then draw a card if you do pay for it.
Both players pass priority.
Second Warden trigger finally resolves and will follow steps 3-5.

For completion's sake: if you have multiple life-linkers attacking or blocking, they all will trigger Dawn of Hope, putting a trigger on the stack for each one. Each trigger will also resolve one at a time just as above.


What are good standard strategies for Carcassonne ?

Strand your opponents Meeples

When you place a piece, of course try to make it advantageous to yourself.  But if you can, place it to hinder your opponent.  If he is trying to complete a city and you weren't able to figure out a way to share it, then place a tile next to the potential closing piece.  This will limit his options.  By slowing down the rate that his meeples return you will gain an advantage.

Often times, it is possible to leave an empty space that no tile can be placed in.  If your opponent has an unfinished city or road that connects to that empty space then his meeple will not be returning to his hand and will generate a sub-standard score.

There are 2 main empty squares that cannot be filled using pieces from only the base set.

There is no tile containing 1 road, 1 city, and 2 field sides.
There is no tile containing 1 road, 2 city, and 1 field sides.

With a little practice it is pretty easy to get this to work against even moderately experienced players.  I played a game online recently that followed this general sequence

My opponent had a couple pieces towards a city
I played a city tile with a meeple to try to encourage sharing the city.
He played another city+meeple to defend and was able to connect his 2 before I could share
I was able to complete my city while surrounding an empty square, making it unplayable.
As a bonus, he also had an unfinished road running into the empty square.

My opponent had 3 meeples stranded and it we were only 1/3rd of the way through the game!  He stood no chance to win the game at that point.


What to do when all 3 diplomacy tokens are in use and you need a 4th?

I think it's pretty safe to say that there are only 3 Diplomacy tokens provided because the scenarios in which 4 or 5 Diplomacy tokens are required at once are so vanishingly rare.

As I discovered from previous discussions of the finer points of the rules terminology (and I went so far as to double-check with the game designer Antoine Bauza via Twitter!), 7 Wonders is not a game where you need to obsess about the minutiae.  In unusual corner cases, things probably work in a commonsense sort of way, no need to over think then.

There is no obvious reason why a player should be deprived of a Diplomacy token because 3 have already been taken already; and certainly no available justification for taking somebody else's Diplomacy token that has already been given out!  In the unusual event that more than 3 Diplomacy tokens are required at once, I believe the sensible course of action is just to use something else as a stand-in Diplomacy token for the turn.


Does "Stink Bomb" damage the Paladin when he is the first hero?

As @Samthere said, the word new is to clarify they are refering to the character that is in the first position after the first effect of the card.
Anyway, let's go to the rulebook, page 17, Paladins:

  The paladin is a special adventurer that is always at the front of
  the party. Any new warrior will push ahead of everyone but
  the paladin.

So the card specifies the Paladin won't move so it does not go against this primary rule, but the Paladin will take the damage anyway.


Are creatures destroyed if their destruction happens at the same instant they lose "indestructible"?

The destruction only happens once, it's instantaneous, and there's only one creature vulnerable to it when it happens.

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

Think of it a state machine. There's only two game states in the scenario.

State 1:  Timber Protector and some indestructible Treefolks are on the battlefield.
Action: Destroy all creatures.
State 2:  Timber Protector is in the graveyard. Some Treefolks are on the battlefield.


Instant and sorcery lifelink multiplied by targets or just casting?

You gain life equal to the total damage you dealt; which in this case would be 2 for each non-Pirate creature.

  702.15. Lifelink

    702.15a Lifelink is a static ability.

    702.15b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes). See rule 119.3.

If Fiery Cannonade dealt 4 different creatures 2 damage each; then Fiery Cannonade dealt 8 damage. All that matters is how much total damage was dealt.


I'm assuming you're talking about Letters from Whitechapel.

Wretched Pawns may never occupy the same space as a Crime Scene marker, whether as a result of Jack the Ripper's Woman token placement or the movement of the Head of the Investigation.

Rule citations are as follows:

In Phase two of the First Part of a night (page 9 in the rulebook), when Jack the Ripper is placing the Woman tokens, he cannot place any on a red circle that also has a red Crime Scene marker (a location that he had killed a target on any previous night). This restriction applies even if it is an unmarked (decoy) Woman token being placed.
In Phase six of the First Part of a night (page 13), there are Four restrictions on the movement of Wretched Pawns:

The movement must end on an unoccupied numbered circle.
The movement must not cross over a Police Patrol token.
The movement must not end adjacent to a Police Patrol token.
The movement must not end with the Wretched Pawn on a circle with a red Crime Scene marker.

In short, if a Wretched Pawn would end up on the same numbered circle as a crime scene marker, the movement (or Woman token placement) is illegal.

Jack is permitted to reuse the same numbered red circle for multiple nights

There is no rule forbidding Jack from placing a marked Woman token on, say, 65 (a Red numbered circle), waiting once (so that the resulting Wretched pawn moves off the red numbered circle), murdering that pawn, and then placing another Woman token (marked or not) on 65 the next night.

Interestingly enough, forbidding this reuse of red numbered circles (or Jack not waiting during the first two nights, thus placing crime scene markers on two red numbered circles) actually makes it very easy to perform an "instant arrest" on Night 3, as Jack's mandatory first move is to move to one of the two murders that night, thereby giving the inspectors the first move of that night. If the inspectors have cops positioned in a way that they can reach and perform an arrest on both murder sites on that first move, Jack loses, and the likelihood of this goes up significantly if two of the numbered red circles have crime scene markers on them (preventing Jack from placing Woman tokens on them).


How does the Commander interact with Banishing Light or Oblivion Ring?

Yes, you are correct that in the situation you describe, Banishing Light will return the commander from the command zone to the battlefield, but Oblivion Ring will not do that.

The main reason that it works this way is rule 610.3:

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

Banishing Light's effect is one of these. The important thing to note is that returning the object to its previous zone does not depend on which zone it originally moved to.

Oblivion Ring, on the other hand, has two separate abilities, which are called linked abilities. Rule 607.2a describes how this kind of linked ability works:

  If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.

Because Oblivion Ring's second ability refers to "the exiled card", it can only find cards that are actually in the exile zone when it resolves.


First page under Warscrolls & Units heading.

"A unit can have one or more models, but cannot include models that use different warscrolls."

No.  No warscroll may ever join another war scroll.  Characters are always alone and may never join units.  The only exceptions would be if a specific character has an ability on their warscroll that allows them to join another warscroll.  Goblin fanatics (not a character) are the only example I can think of offhand, but they are actually hidden within a unit.


Discarding Damage Cards vs Discarding Upgrade Cards

The X-Wing rules reference overrides the Core Rulebook with the following:

  When an Upgrade card is discarded, it is flipped  facedown. The card
  is out of play for all purposes  except when determining the total
  squad point  cost of the ship to which it was equipped. If an  Upgrade
  card is flipped faceup by a game effect,  it returns to play equipped
  to the same ship.

So yes, discarding a damage card does behave differently from discarding an upgrade card.  In part, this is because facedown damage cards already have significant game meaning, where facedown upgrade cards do not.  Some critical damage cards have ways of turning themselves facedown, which is different from discarding them since they remain a damage but no longer have any special effect.


What happens if I use the Huge Rock to pay the Income Tax?

An item is any treasure card that has a GP value or no value in the bottom right corner.  In this case, yes, the equivalent to "No Value" is 0 gold.
You must discard a card to satisfy Income Tax.  Since the Huge Rock has no value, you must discard at least one card with a value of at least 0, so basically any item will work (note that cards like Impressive Title don't even state "No Value", so it's not an item).


Yes, if Thunder Drake is the first spell you cast in a turn and then you cast another spell, that spell is the second spell you cast that turn, so Thunder Drake's ability triggers.
You're not supposed to think about it as though Thunder Drake is counting the spells, and only triggers on the second spell it sees you cast. Rather, it's simply a fact that whichever spell is the second one you cast that turn, independent of Thunder Drake.


Seafarers: The Fog Island -- discovering hexes with the Road Building Development Card

There is a clear distinction between placing and building.

The road building card says you place them as though they are just built. The hex exploration is triggered by placement, not by building. So logically, you would explore the first road's adjacent hexes before you have to place the second road or ship.

How else could you build the second ship/road if you intend to cross the mist?


They look like they belong to Smess: The Ninny's Chess.


Can the original Ticket to Ride (US) rules be applied to the Europe map?

I would suggest that Ticket To Ride is fairly self-balancing.

What this means, applied to your question, is that the European map and destination tickets won't be as intrinsically balanced as if you'd played with the full rules.  Obviously routes involving lots of ferries and tunnels have suddenly become a lot easier to complete, and as such more attractive to go for.

Equally, though, we can assume all players know this to be the case.  If the game gains an element of competitive jostling to be first to obtain what appear to be underpriced routes, then that's a whole new layer to the game, and one which I imagine would be a lot of fun.

I wouldn't want to play Ticket to Ride: Europe with the US rules a lot of the time, but as a break from the norm there is no reason why it shouldn't be a great game.  Having to re-evaluate a "known" gameboard in the light of a dramatic change of the ruleset is an excellent strategic exercise in and of itself.


No. A player can join a game before cards are being dealt. In that event he usually pays an out-of-turn big blind to avoid people joining the game at opportune moments or skipping the blinds.
House rules may apply.


Destroying a permanent with ability "as long as this card is on the battlefield"

Provided that Player 2 sequences correctly, the artifact will cease being a creature before combat damage is dealt.

The situation that you're describing would play out like this:

Player 1 declares attackers, including the artifact creature.
After attackers are declared, both players will receive priority. Player 2 can use their instant now to kill the Skilled Animator. At this point, the artifact is no longer a creature. This will cause it to be removed from combat, per rule 506.4 (emphasis mine):

  A permanent is removed from combat if it leaves the battlefield, if its controller changes, if it phases out, if an effect specifically removes it from combat, if it’s a planeswalker that’s being attacked and stops being a planeswalker, or if it’s an attacking or blocking creature that regenerates (see rule 701.12) or stops being a creature. A creature that’s removed from combat stops being an attacking, blocking, blocked, and/or unblocked creature. A planeswalker that’s removed from combat stops being attacked.

The declare blockers step begins. After Player 2 declares their blockers (if any), both players will receive priority again. At this point, Player 2 can use their instant again, with the same effect.
The combat damage step begins, and damage is dealt. After damage is dealt, both players will receive priority again. At this point, Player 2 can use their instant; however, at this point, it's too late to prevent the damage, as it has already been dealt.


Can I Ghost Quarter to fetch basic land, while tapping my Gemstone Mine for mana using its last counter?

You cannot do this.
Gemstone Mine's ability is a mana ability, which means that it does not use the stack. So it cannot be responded to; by the time you could do anything after activating it, Gemstone Mine would already be in the graveyard, and could not be targeted by Ghost Quarter.

605.1. Some activated abilities and some triggered abilities are mana abilities, which are subject to special rules. Only abilities that meet either of the following two sets of criteria are mana abilities, regardless of what other effects they may generate or what timing restrictions (such as “Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant”) they may have.

605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets all of the following criteria: it doesn’t have a target, it could add mana to a player’s mana pool when it resolves, and it’s not a loyalty ability. (See rule 606, “Loyalty Abilities.”)

605.3b An activated mana ability doesn’t go on the stack, so it can’t be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after it is activated.

Note that also you cannot accomplish this by switching the order. If you activate Ghost Quarter's ability first, and then respond to it by using Gemstone Mine, then when Ghost Quarter tries to resolve, it will not resolve because all of its targets are now illegal.

608. 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.

If Gemstone Mine's ability were a normal activated ability, instead of a mana ability, (if it didn't produce mana, or if it targeted something), then you would be able to do this, because you could activate Gemstone Mine's ability, then respond to it with Ghost Quarter while the ability was still on the stack.


In this case the road block does nothing as the player in question is not moving past the property so it has no impact. I will walk through two different situations to help explain the rules. They would owe you rent a single time just as if there was no card forcing a plyer to stop there.
Situation 1 what you have here. Player rolls the dice and ends their movement on the property in question and owe rent for landing on it. This is treated as normal if they had landed on it without a roadblock.
Situation 2 when a player rolls but should stop a few squares later. Once they hit the road block card they are forced to stop and pay rent to the owner as if they had landed on that card for normal means. Once they stop their turn is over as normal unless they rolled doubles and can roll again.
what the road block card is doing is ensuring that players stop on that property and pay rent to the owner but it does not earn the owner more rent if they would have stopped at it normally.


Can't understand the end of Game of Life

The rules for The Game of Life have changed over time. In the 1977 version the following happens when you reach the end (Day of Reckoning):

In the 1991 and 2000 versions the following happens when you reach the end (Retirement):


Place road card in between the Treasure cards

Like gems, coal lumps due not bock the road. The path to the treasure may pass through a card with a coal lump.

If they wanted the path to be blocked, they would have used something like the existing 4-way dead-end.

Based on experience, starting from the original ladder would not be feasible.


You are not missing something.  Acquiring a second item if you have a faceup one is generally only helpful if the second item is better than the first, or you can use the first immediately.  But at least you're keeping it away from your opponents!


Is it allowed to use Keruga as a Companion when using a split card with CMC >= 3?

You are entirely right, there is no reason that Response // Resurgence should stop you from having Keruga as a companion. Seems like a bug in MTGO to me.


Do I lose the "High" or "Dark" modifer if I gain a race?

Both High and Dark say: "Add this card to a race card". In my reading this means that you can't be a High Human, and so the question is not applicable.


Blightsteel colossus, Helm of Obedience and Rest in Peace, can my opponent force the game to a draw?

Even if your opponent keeps reshuffling the Blightsteel Colossus, eventually their whole deck would be exiled. When their Blightsteel Colossus is the last card in their library, but possibly earlier than that, they may not shuffle it back again and must exile it instead. When your opponent's library is empty, Helm of Obedience cannot continue its process, its resolution finishes, and the game continues to their likely loss.
Rest in Peace prevents any card from entering a graveyard, therefore Helm of Obedience's stop condition would never occur, eventually resulting in a library that only contains the Blightsteel Colossus. If your opponent then continues to shuffle the Colossus back into their library, the game state would no longer change, and the opponent has to choose a different option, i.e. to not shuffle the Colossus, resulting in the colossus being exiled and the library to become empty.

722.3. Sometimes a loop can be fragmented, meaning that each player involved in the loop performs an independent action that results in the same game state being reached multiple times. If that happens, the active player (or, if the active player is not involved in the loop, the first player in turn order who is involved) must then make a different game choice so the loop does not continue.

Once your opponent's library is empty, the process of Helm of Obedience cannot be repeated, its resolution finishes, and the game continues as normal.
Note that the Blightsteel Colossus being the last card in the library is just a special case. The general case is when your opponent shuffles the BC back into their library, and the BC happens to get shuffled to the very top so that Helm reveals it immediately again. Then the same game state has been reached twice (BC on top of X other cards), at which point we have fulfilled the conditions for a fragmented loop, and your opponent may not take the same decision as before, i.e. he has to exile the BC instead of reshuffling it.

Non-deterministic loops (loops that rely on decision trees, probability or mathematical convergence) may not be shortcut. A player attempting to execute a nondeterministic loop must stop if at any point during the process a previous game state (or one identical in all relevant ways) is reached again. This happens most often in loops that involve shuffling a library. ref

You have to play out the loop because you may not shortcut it. In the worst case, if the BC gets shuffled 2nd from top every time, you would have to perform ~X shuffles, where X is the number of cards remaining in the library. Therefore, if this happens in a tournament with time constraints looming, immediately call a judge to discuss the matter and how to proceed.
If time is not a constraint, the result is always the same: Your opponent will be caught in a fragmented loop at some point and has to exile the BC (in fact, also multiple BCs and all other cards that may be shuffled back), along with the rest of their library.


Yes, Sanguine will trigger, but you can't set his life total to 1.

Changing life totals is treated as gaining life or losing life to reach the specified life total[CR 118.5]. So that will trigger the bond in this case. (It wouldn't if you started at 14 and he started at 10.)

However, you've misunderstood what Reverse the Sands does. The specific gatherer ruling on this for the card is "You can't split up a life total when you redistribute it". You can only make your opponent's total 10 and yours 14 , or make no changes.

So you end up with the same life totals on different players, and then resolve any following effects. In this case he loses 4 and you gain 4, and then Sanguine triggers off your lifegain and he loses another 4. If you choose not to redistribute, Sanguine won't trigger.


Trading in a 2 player game is a difficult problem. You can have some form of forced trading. For example player 1 (after getting granted a trade action somehow) can name a resource, which player 2, has to give them if they have it, while player 2 gets to name a different resource which player 1 has to give them if they have it. If you name a resource the other player doesn't have, they can give you whatever they want.

Alternatively you can have trades via a third-party, such as a bank. The bank can start with some resources, and if you want something from the bank, you have to give the bank a resource it currently doesn't have. You then deplete the bank of the one it previously had, and the other player can then trade that resource for the one you gave the bank, if they want to. In this way the bank acts as a avenue for trades between players, but each trade with the bank is assessed on it's merits, plus the worry the other player might later benefit, or they might trade for the resource you want later, meaning you should trade now!


Picking up opportunity card on exiting career path

It would, if you actually landed on the Opportunity Knocks square, which only happens 1/6 of the time. When exiting the career path, you continue moving clockwise the full number of spaces that you rolled. Additionally, you need to meet one of the requirements of the new career to enter the career path that the Opportunity card sent you to. From the rule book (2003), (the 1990 version has the same rules, but they are not written as clearly).

Move Your Pawn - Moving After Rolling: If your pawn is on the main path, move it clockwise by the full count of both dice. If it's on a Career Path, move it toward the end of the path by the full count of one die. (page 3)
Before entering the career path, you must meet one of the requirements Listed on the Entrance space (unless you played the Special Opportunity card, which let's you in for free). For example ... (page 5)
Completing A Career: When you leave a career path, continue moving clockwise along the Main path. ... (page 5)


Does the event card "Build Master" force you to put the card back under the same pile as you choose to search in?

It is the same pile.

As in the English rulebook (p22):

  Examine your chosen stack. You may choose any one card from that stack. You may also choose not to exchange any cards. Place your discarded card at the bottom of the stack and return it to the table face-down.


Can Spike, Tournament Grinder tutor for cards outside of your Sideboard at Launch Night's Draft?

You are able to to get cards outside of your sideboard using Spike's ability in both limited and constructed.

This is adressed by Mark Rosewater (The person in charge of silver bordered rulings) on his tumblr Blogatog.

  bolas-our-lord-and-savior asked: In un limited/constructed spike can get cards not in your sideboard right?

  MR:Yes.

Source.

Special note for Commander/EDH play:

With the announcement that Silver-boarded cards will be legal in Commander/EDH until January 15 2018, it should be mentioned that Spike will not work without prior agreement from your play group (as confirmed by Mark Rosewater). This is because Commander already has an established rules for cards that refer to cards outside the game.

  13. Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.

The common way that this is resolved is with the use of a Wishboard.


Can you raise a one bid with only two "filler" honors in a suit?

Certainly it's reasonable, whether or not you are a Bergen acolyte. But it ought to be a rare hand where raising with only two trump is more attractive than the alternatives. These situations come up more often in competition. For instance, if the auction started

(1C) 1S (2C)

I would be happy to raise to 2S with something like

AQ
Kxx
xxxxx
xxx

I agree with Pieter that if you have fewer trump than partner expects you ought to be near a maximum in high cards. This point was made many years ago by Edgar Kaplan.


Is it possible to go from a Backgammon opening position to a Nackgammon opening position in 6 moves?

I don't have a lower bound on number of turns. However, 6 is not enough. (I'm assuming you meant 6 total turns, not 6 turns each.)

You can work backward just from the second player finishing their cleanup. Assuming WLOG that the second player is red.

Red's final move both have to be to 23 or 24 from Bar or 24, and can't take any white pieces.
White's final moves both have to be to 1 or 2 from Bar or 1.
So, in its first two moves, red has to take a minimum of two white pieces in the white home board while moving a piece from 13 to 2 and a piece from 6 into a takeable position. If done as part of the second move, that takeable position has to be 1 or 2.

Every combination I can find that allows red to do this in two moves leaves white unable to fulfill its similar conditions on turn 2.


MTG - Priority and timing between activated abilities and instants

Yes, there's not much difference between activated abilities and instants in this particular case. If you look at the Comprehensive Rules, you'll see that they are treated similarly, e.g. in rule 405:

405. Stack
405.1. When a spell is cast, the physical card is put on the stack (see rule 601.2a). When an ability is activated or triggers, it goes on top of the stack without any card associated with it (see rules 602.2a and 603.3).
405.2. The stack keeps track of the order that spells and/or abilities were added to it. Each time an object is put on the stack, it’s put on top of all objects already there.
405.4. Each spell has all the characteristics of the card associated with it. Each activated or triggered ability that’s on the stack has the text of the ability that created it and no other characteristics.

In this case, you're better off activating the Gargoyle's ability once, and let it resolve before activating it again. If your opponent responds with Shock, you can respond to that with activating the ability again, saving the Gargoyle.


If I respond to a permanent resolving is it in play when my spell/ability resolves?

Yes, though it happens in a complicated way.

Golgari Charm's first mode creates a continuous effect that modifies characteristics (power and toughness). It only affects the creatures on the 'field when it resolves.

  611.2c If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won’t change. (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a static ability.) [...]

(Same goes with Bile Blight. Any Pack Rats entering the field after it resolves won't be affected by it.)

That means the following will happen:

You cast BB
In response, opponent activates his PR's ability
In response, you cast GC
GC resolves: 3x 2/2 PR
PR's ability resolves: 3x 3/3 PR + 1x 4/4 PR
BB resolves: 3x 0/0 PR + 1x 1/1 PR
SBA kills the PR with non-positive toughness: 1x -2/-2 PR
SBA kills the PR with non-positive toughness: No PR

It's a little cleaner if you wait before casting GC.

You cast BB
In response, opponent activates his PR's ability
PR's ability resolves: 4x 4/4 PR
You cast GC
GC resolves: 4x 3/3 PR
BB resolves: 4x 0/0 PR
SBA kills the PR with non-positive toughness: No PR

No matter the order, creating a 5th PR before BB resolves would save them all. But which of the approach you used will affect how strong they are.

Using the first approach, he'll end up with 3x 1/1, 2x 2/2.
Using the second approach, he'll end up with 4x 1/1 and 1x 2/2.


What is the actual name of this card game similar to Go Fish, but with teams and complications?

Your description seems to match the one of a card game called Literature which is apparently sometimes called Canadian Fish

I found references to it on Wikipedia and Pagat

Hope this helps...