Why Does The Parade Scoring System Work The Way It Does?

Obviously, I don't know Naoki Homma's reasoning for his points system, but probably the answer to your question is that turning the points around would drastically disbalance the game.  The main reason is this:

A positive point for you is like giving every other player a negative point

When playing with multiple players in a game, one must be very careful about giving one player an advantage because it's the same as giving all other players a disadvantage (and visa-versa).  This bonus is powerful enough so that a single extra card (making 6 cards) can make a huge point swing:  -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 = -40 points to +6 * 3 (in a 3 player game) = 18 points.  So one card makes the difference of 58 relative points in the game.  The other way, it turns -40 into -6, which is still huge (34 points), but nearly half as big.


In Spades, who wins if both partnerships reach more than 500?

The partnership that have more points.  That is the partnership that scored 505.  The 1 points per overtrick is a real point, not just an indicator of bags.

From Pagat:

  The side which reaches 500 points first wins the game. If both sides reach 500 points in the same deal, the side with the higher score wins.


In Pandemic, do certain setup and card order combinations make it impossible to win?

Yes - it's possible not to be able to win.  In fact it's possible to not be able to survive until the second turn.

Here's an example of someone playing a game which they lost on the first turn: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/373797/it-takes-talent-to-lose-on-the-first-turn

Maybe they could have done better, but if they had cards such that they couldn't treat anything in the black area then that would be the end of the game.  Here's a full example:

Initial placement of cubes are three in Baghdad, Riyadh and Karachi, two in Cairo, Tehran and Delhi and one in Algiers, Istanbul and Moscow (i.e. 18 of the 24 black cubes are already on the board).

Position after initial infection

Four players, player 1 is Medic with Santiago and Beijing. The other players (Operations Expert, Scientist and Dispatcher) have no special events, and don't have Atlanta.  The first player can't treat any cities in four actions, and picks up one city and one epidemic at the end of their go.

The epidemic city is Mumbai, the marker is moved up one space, and after shuffling the city cards Baghdad and Riyadh are drawn.  These cause two large chain reactions with 18 outbreaks and requiring 45 cubes on the board - a loss by two methods.

Position after epidemic in Mumbai, and infection in Baghdad (outbreaks highlighted in green)

Position after infection in Riyadh

Pandemic can be a frustrating game at times.  I think the author of the session review sums this up pretty well:

  All that set-up, for less than a minute of game play!


Do I need to reveal card added with the Archived Memories?

Short answer: yes you must show the card and they will see what it is.

Visible cards remain faceup when they go to the Archive.

The Corporation must show cards chosen by effects to the Runner without changing the face-up/down status, and if it is faceup the Runner will be able to see what it is.

Only facedown cards remain hidden from the Runner unless a game effect instructs you to reveal one.

If you were to have facedown cards in the Archive your opponent would see that you picked a facedown card but not see the front of it.

From the official rules

  Revealing Cards

  If a Corporation card is not visible to the Runner when it is trashed
  or discarded, then it is sent to Archives facedown. If a Corporation
  card is visible to the Runner when it is trashed or discarded, it is
  sent to Archives faceup.

  If a specific card or card type in an inactive state is chosen by a
  card effect, the Corporation must show that card to the Runner without
  changing its faceup or facedown status. The Corporation only reveals
  the card if it was facedown and the effect says he must reveal it.


Recasting Azor's Gateway after it has been returned to my hand

It will have to start again.

The exiled cards previously associated with Azor's Gateway are no longer associated with any object that still exists, so they're just normal exiled cards now.

The relevant rule is the following:

  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. There are nine exceptions to this rule:

None of the exceptions apply. Also, this rule is related:

  406.6. An object may have one ability printed on it that causes one or more cards to be exiled, and another ability that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object].” These abilities are linked: the second refers only to cards that have been exiled due to the first. See rule 607, “Linked Abilities.”

So Azor's Gateway can only track the cards exiled by its own ability (not the ability of "some other" Azor's Gateway).

There are a number of ways Magic cards have been written to get around this. For example, Caller of the Untamed cares about cards that have been exiled by cards with a certain name, rather than its own object. Mairsil, the Pretender looks at exiled cards that have a certain type of counter on them.


Can I sacrifice an opponent's creature to Shadowborn Demon?

You cannot sacrifice a creature you do not control. The rule on sacrifice, 701.14a says

  To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.

From a common sense point of view, getting rid of something that's not yours isn't really a sacrifice.


In Catan, should development cards be drawn one at a time?

Buying multiple Development Cards at once is a legal play.
The rules state this:

Build
Now you can build. Through building, you can increase your victory points, expand your road network, improve your resource production, and/or buy useful development cards. To build, you must pay specific combinations of resource cards (see the Building Costs Card). Take the appropriate number of roads, settlements, and/or cities from your supply and place them on the game board. Keep development cards hidden in your hand.

(Taken from this answer: In Settlers of Catan, are all actions on the same turn simultaneous?)
So, spending resources can be done in bulk, with no distinction between roads, villages/cities or development cards.
The Rules Almanac, an appendix to the main rules book, has some clarifications and additional limitations to playing Development Cards. These are that you cannot play development cards on the turn you buy them, and can only play one development card per turn. VP cards are an exception to both of these rules however, as you don't play them but reveal them when you get to 10VP.
Although the almanac states that buying your tenth VP ends the game, it also allows for buying in bulk.

The FAQ doesn't exactly clear things up either:

Victory Conditions
May I continue scoring points after having reached the number of victory points required for a win?
Answer
This could make sense in a private tournament where the scores from several games are added up. For individual games and official tournaments, the following applies: You have won as soon as you have reached the required number of victory points on your turn – and then the game is over.


do basic lands count against sideboard total?

You cannot swap in basic lands during a match or tournament in constructed unless they are part of your sideboard.

The fetch lands are in the deck to filter the lands as soon as possible. They only fetch forests in this deck. When you fetch a forest, there are less cards in your deck, so the chance of drawing a card you want (not a land usually) is bigger.

The black and blue cards in the sideboard are traps, they can be played for free in certain circumstances, so therefore you need no black or blue mana.


What happens if no one wants to buy a property at auction in Monopoly?

Philip Orbanes is the renowned master of all things Monopoly.
He is the author of 3 books on Monopoly :

The Monopoly Companion: The Players' Guide
The World’s Most Famous Game--and How It Got That Way
Monopoly, Money and You: How to Profit from the Game's Secrets of Success.

Kevin Tostado is Director of the movie
Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story,
a documentary about the Monopoly national and world championships that are held around the world every four years; the movie won 4 Emmy Awards, including that for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary.
Reference : http://www.monopolydocumentary.com/

Kevin Tostado answered the following question :

How do you properly hold an auction in Monopoly?

Reference : https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-properly-hold-an-auction-in-Monopoly

"The answer can differ depending on how you interpret the rules, since it's not clearly defined within the rules that Charles Darrow wrote when he first published MONOPOLY. But I'll describe how chief judge Phil Orbanes ran auctions at the 2009 US & World Championships.

When a player lands on an unowned property and decides that he or she does not want to purchase it at face value (either because they can't afford it, don't want it, or think they might be able to get it at a lower price), then that property immediately goes up for auction.

The banker conducts the auction and puts the property up for bid starting at $1, regardless of the original face value of the property. Any player, including the one who landed on it and declined to purchase it originally, can bid on the property. Any player can name a price, and there is no sequential order to how bids are offered. The auction continues until the banker concludes the auction with the highest bidder."

So, the chief judge, Philip Orbanes, at the Monopoly US & World Championship says bidding starts at $1.


Does Olivia Voldaren's second ability still work if I steal her in response?

This one is an edge case, so it's interesting. Yes, the second ability resolves, but as the player activating the ability no longer controls Olivia, the end result is similar to if it hadn't, as she is no longer under that player's control.

There's a ruling on the gatherer page confirming this:

  If you activate Olivia Voldaren's last ability, and before that ability resolves you lose control of Olivia Voldaren, the ability will resolve with no effect. You won't gain control of the targeted Vampire.


What are the ramifications of turning a planeswalker into a creature?

Can the loyalty abilities still be activated?
  Can they be activated after the creature has attacked? (ie. during the 2nd main phase)

Yes and yes. Nothing stops loyalty abilities from being activated just because Planeswalker is not the only type on the card. Actually, nothing stops a loyalty ability from being activated even if the permanent has not the Planeswalker type. Also, a loyalty ability doesn't include the tap simbol, so it doesn't matter if the creature is tapped or has summoning sickness.

  Does the creature die if it's loyalty hits 0?

Yes:

  704.5i If a planeswalker has loyalty 0, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard.

  Does the creature die if it has lethal damage counted on it?

Yes:

  704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

  Can damage applied to the creature be directed to apply to the loyalty, on only counted as damage on the creature? (ie. counted against it's toughness)

It counts for both. So if the creature-planeswalker is dealt two damage, you remove two loyalty counters and mark two damage on it (remember that damage does not reduce thoughness).

  Since the permanent is still a planeswalker, can it still be attacked like a normal planewalker? (ie. a creature attacking the planeswalker instead of me, the player)

Yes. Planeswalkers can be attacked by creatures. There is no exception in the rules for a planeswalker that is also a creature.

As a wrap-up: to a permanent that is both a creature and a planeswalker, both rules for creatures and rules for planeswalkers apply.


There are two strong possibilities that are both played on a 19x19 board, Pente and Go Moku. Both have as a goal to get 5 in a row.  Pente also allows capturing and you can win by capturing 5 pairs of stones.

Pente

Pretty good game, I had it confused with Go for the longest time as well.  There have been a bunch of editions over the years, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a set.


In SAYC, what does doubling a 2-level weak jump overcall mean?

This filled out convention card for SAYC indicates that negative doubles are played through 2S. By this agreement (which could be amended by partnership agreement, but which invalidate the claim to be playing pure SAYC) the double of a 2S jump overcall is a Negative Double. This bid should indicate 4+ hearts and game invitational values (10+ points), and generally deny any particular strength in spades.

If the jump overcall were above the level of 2S, such as in the auction

  1H - 3D - double,

it wold be a penalty double showing diamonds and suggesting the collection of a penalty against a 3D contract.


After a lot of searches, I finally figured out they are called "Top Trump Cards".

http://www.toptrumps.com (site appears to be down, from my side, though)

But it does appear that I have either recalled the rules incorrectly, or we made our own rules when we were kids (latter is the most probable).

I also found out where I could buy them in South Africa (where I live):

https://www.takealot.com/all?filter=Brand:Top+Trumps


Can I use spells with dual mana symbols against Iona, Shield of Emeria?

You can't cast Unmake.

Those are called hybrid mana symbols.

105.2. [...] An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame. An object’s color or colors may also be defined by a color indicator or a characteristic-defining ability. See rule 202.2.
107.4e [...] A hybrid mana symbol is all of its component colors.

So Unmake is white and black, so Unmake is white, so you can't it.


Can you remove a special ship part and keep it for later?

Page 7 of the official rulebook states in relation to Ancient Ship Parts (which are the special type of parts you are referring to):

  you may place this part in any of your Ships (returning an existing part
  if needed); you may also keep the part next to your
  board and place it later with the Upgrade action; if you later want to
  replace an Ancient Ship Part, it is discarded.

So to answer your question they are discarded.

Source: [Official English Rulebook]


There are many books written on this subject; Ron Klinger's 'Improve Your Bridge Memory' was the one I used, but I imagine your public library or bridge club will have a selection.  The problem is that nobody but yourself knows what methods work for you.

Two examples from Klinger, one easy and one harder; you don't need to count how many of your own trumps (or other important suit) have gone, so long as you pause at the beginning of the hand, say to yourself 'I have four trumps and dummy has three; that means they have six between them', and then count each time one of the six is played.  And secondly, always try to make up a mnemonic for a principle: playing Roman Blackwood, 5H shows two aces the same colour, 5S either two major-suit or two minor-suit aces, and 5NT two either hearts and clubs or spades and diamonds. That's hard to remember, but if you think of clubs and hearts as both a rounded shape, and remember C for colour, RA for rank and SH for shape, C-RA-SH should be enough to remind you what your response should be. (You make up your own mnemonics based on what helps you to remember, of course).

Personally, I found the second tip useful and the first counter-productive; but only you can tell what will work for you, and only after hard work both in finding methods and in practising.  (Don't believe anyone who says 'it just comes naturally'; usually they have been playing for thirty years, and have forgotten how long it took before it all came together.)

Edit: I gather the real problem is remembering everything at once. In that case, try to build up your memory gradually, and try to separate the problems. So don't try to remember the exact probability of every possible distribution, start with '3-1 is 50%, while 3-2 is 60%'; you can add more, and refine the numbers, as you get better.  And having made your plan based on the assumption that trumps will split 2-2, you don't need to remember why you came to that conclusion, just to count how many have shown up.


Spend mana as though it were mana of any color and Sunburst/Converge

No, that does not work. Mycosynth Lattice lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color, but the spell cares about what types of mana you actually used to cast it.

Rule 609.4 says

  Some effects state that a player may do something “as though” some condition were true or a creature can do something “as though” some condition were true. This applies only to the stated effect. For purposes of that effect, treat the game exactly as if the stated condition were true. For all other purposes, treat the game normally.

In this situation, that means that you can treat the mana you're spending as any color while paying a cost, but that effect doesn't extend to when you're resolving a spell or ability, and you want to check the colors spent.

The card Celestial Dawn has a similar ability:

  You may spend white mana as though it were mana of any color. You may spend other mana only as though it were colorless mana.

And there is an official ruling about it that applies to the situation in question:

  You may use a different color mana than the color required for spells and abilities that require a specific color. If you do, and the spell or ability checks the actual color of the mana, it can tell the difference.

This conclusion is supported by a few rulings from the level 3 judge who runs the "Ask a Magic Judge" tumblr blog:

  How would Mycosynth Lattice work with converge spells - would "use mana as though it were mana of any color" satisfy "each color of mana spent"?

    Not very well.

    While you can spend colorless mana through the lattice as though it were any color, it’s still colorless mana as far as Converge is concerned.

  Mycosynth Lattice in EDH: spending colorless mana AS IF it were mana of any color doesnt break 903.9.... right?

    Correct.

    However, you’re still not spending mana of that color, so something like Sunburst or Firespout will know the difference.

  If I control Mycosynth Lattice, then cast Skyreach Manta spending WWWWW as though it were WUBRG, how many +1/+1 counters will the Manta enter the battlefield with?

    One.

    Sunburst always knows what you actually paid.


If I cast Flicker on an unearthed creature, does it remain exiled?

"If it would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else." means that if the creature would leave the battlefield for some zone other than exile (because exile doesn't fit the condition of "anywhere else"), it's exiled instead. Therefore unearth replacement effect doesn't apply here. Obviously flicker won't lose track of the creature and will return it to the battlefield just fine.

But even if the unearth replacement effect could apply, the creature would still return. Replacement effects modify other actions, they don't do anything by themselves. It's still flicker who is exiling the card even if we could apply unearth replacement effect, therefore it can track the card because of rule 400.7g. Rule 400.7g doesn't actually apply here, because it refers to cards that changed zones while the card/ability was being played/activated. Flicker finds the card because it doesn't need to know that it was the same card that was on the battlefield. It just knows that there is a card in exile that is going to be put on the battlefield.

Note: I'll edit this and quote the rule to support that replacement effects don't do anything by themselves when I get home, right now I can't access the rules (I couldn't find a rule talking specifically about this, but there is an official ruling here that talks about the same thing)


On the BoardGameGeek Store, they sell an item called "Rattlebones" Prototyping Dice. These dice have snap-on faces so you can changes how many times a given colour face appears on each, and in addition you can draw symbols on those faces.


Welding Jar can target itself.

When you cast a spell or activate an ability, you choose targets (601.2c) before paying costs (601.2g). So the Welding Jar is still on the battlefield when it's time to choose targets, and is a valid target for its own ability.

That ability will fizzle, of course, since you've already put Welding Jar in the graveyard by the time it would resolve.


Is it correct to play defensive high-lo or "echo" with two small honors?

Larry's advice is for when the card you play is winning the trick. When you're playing an honor that is lower than some other honor already played to the trick, play the top of touching honors.

This isn't an attitude signal (ie echo). This is communicating the honor layout of the suit.

Never* play an honor under a high honor unless you have the touching honor below it or it is a singleton. This signal allows partner to underlead to get to your hand if necessary.

*Never say never in bridge, but this is closer to true than "third hand high" and "eight ever, nine never."


Warhammer 40k Unit Composition - Marines

Yes, its perfectly fine to play your custom chapter as ultramarines. The fluff says that most chapters follow their example.

As for using special characters, yes you can use them in a non-space marine army. An FAQ in White Dwarf answered a similar question for blood angels:

Q: Can I use Commander Dante [commander of the Blood Angels chapter] as my Flesh Tearers chapter leader?
A: Yes, but keep in mind that he is the Blood Angels chapter leader, not the Flesh Tearers.

Hope that helps.


Creating a copy of a creature with "entering the battlefield" abilities

Yes, the enter-the-battlefield ability will trigger.

  701.6a To create one or more tokens with certain characteristics, put the specified number of tokens with the specified characteristics onto the battlefield.

When a token is created, it enters the battlefield. In the case of Glimmervoid Basin, the token's characteristics are defined by the creature it is copying, which includes any abilities it has.

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


The fear of door knobs and being moved by the keeper

The investigator should roll even if they're forced through the door by the Keeper. It isn't covered explicitly in the rules, but it is essentially a horror test and the entire benefit of the trauma is that the Keeper should be able to exploit it.

I would say that, as with normal horror tests, passing through the same door more than once in the same turn should only force one test however.


In Spades, what is the meaning of a high/low sum of bids?

A low/high sum of bids can mean anything.  The sum of 4,4,4,3 is the same as 1,1,1,12 (exaggeration), but those two mean completely different things.  Instead of looking at the sum of the bids, you get more information from looking at the individual bids.

It's safe to say that an Ace or king of any suit is likely to take the trick it is played in.  As there are 8 of these a player will typically get at least 2, and bid on them.  Players receive 13 cards, so your average is 3 cards of each suit, plus one of any suit.  On a true average deal, this means that at least one opponent has 4 cards of one non-spade suit, and you will typically exhaust your supply of that suit before them, allowing you to play a spade if they lead with that suit.  Any spade suit card has a higher value than any non-spade card, so you would win that trick if you play a higher spade than the other opponent.  If you have 4 spades and 3 of the other suits, you are also likely to trump (play spade on a non-spade trick) a trick and take it.  In either of these two scenarios, a player is likely to bid on at least 1 (if not 2) low-mid value spade card.  Therefore, on average, a competent player might bid 3-4.  Now let's look at higher and lower bids from an individual, and what that means.

A low bid could be caused by a number of things:

Having multiple cards in the 2-8 range means you are unlikely to take many tricks.
Having few to no spade cards means the other 3 players have them, and you are much less likely to take tricks by your own merit in the late-game.
Having many cards of one non-spade suit is a huge detriment.  Not only do you yourself not have many spades for the late-game, but your opponents can start trumping you sooner, and if a suit is led with spades you might not be able to compete for that trick.

Now let's look at a high bid, which is basically the opposite:

Many cards in the high range increases your chances of taking a round.
Many spade cards means you can trump your opponents sooner/more regularly.  If you have all 13 spades, you take every single trick in the round.
Few to no cards of a non-spade suit is a great hand, because you can remove low value non-spade cards early in the round, and trump high value non-spade cards played by opponents.
If you play by the rule that your first card played is the lowest club in your hand, and your lowest club is 8+, it's safe to bid on that trick.

Overall, a low/high sum of bids doesn't say anything about hands, because you don't know if there are outliers.  A low/high individual bid can give you some insight as to the suit distribution and number value of cards held by that player.  If you pay attention to someone's bid, and watch the first few tricks they play, you can get a good idea of what the rest of their hand is.


What does it mean when you prevent a unit from attacking?

Of course you can kill it. That's the point of the Illusionist. The ability doesn't say "The enemy cannot combat", just that you can skip its attack phase.

I like to see it as

  "Your fellow illusionist cast a powerful spell that makes the monster
  believe you are elsewhere. The monster tries to attack you, but
  instead he attacks an empty space, making his attack so worthless you
  don't even need to block. Now you can strike back and put him out of his misery!"


Canceling a creature spell during combat

If he has said that he takes the life loss from Shaman of the Pack then the spell has already resolved, entered the battlefield, the enter-the-battlefield-trigger has been put on the stack and resolved. It is then way too late to decide to counter the Shaman.

If he had not yet acknowledged the life loss from the Shaman verbally or by obvious gesture, then he still retains priority and you cannot decide to move to combat.

The important thing is that he acknowledged the loss of life.


Enchantment Legal only because of it's Effect. Remains on target?

Choice number 2 is the correct one: the Progenitus is an Insect with no abilities except Indestructible and the Aura stays attached to it. Rule 613.1 says

  The values of an object's characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers

The key point is that determining the values of an objects characteristics involves applying all applicable continuous effects. Also, since we start with "the actual object", any effect that causes Progenitus to lose the ability is applied after its own ability, it ends up without the ability no matter what the relative timestamps are. So, as long as the Aura is attached, whenever state-based actions are checked, the Progenitus doesn't have Protection, so the Aura stays on.


Why was the banding ability 'removed' from MTG? What was so complicated about it?

Take it from the horse's mouth:

The short explanation of banding is that if your creatures attack or block in a band, the controller of any creatures that deal combat damage to them doesn’t get to assign that damage -- you do. Pretty cool. Everything else about banding, though, elicits a “huh?” It works differently when attacking and defending. (In an attacking band of X creatures, at least [X-1] of them must have banding. In a defending band, only one creature must have banding.) A lone blocker could block multiple creatures if they were banded together. If an attacker with evasion (flying, swampwalk, whatever) is banded to a creature without evasion, the whole band can be blocked. Then it gets really complex: What if the only defensive creature with banding is destroyed before damage is dealt? What if my band of three attacking creatures, one of which has trample, is blocked by your band of three defending creatures, one of which has first strike?
The only answer I can give you is, “I dunno.”

Banding was an ability that was flavorful and simple enough in the simple cases. But when you left the simple cases and got into more unusual situations, the rules suddenly became very complex, unintuitive, and opaque. You wind up with a mechanic that cannot be understood or accurately applied simply by reading the text on the card and applying your general rules knowledge. Instead, you have to know a whole bunch of banding-specific rulings, and hope you have a copy of the comp rules handy if it ever comes up.
And all of this complexity is maintained for a mechanic that rarely actually mattered. I could be wrong, but I don't believe there is any card with banding that has ever been a tournament staple. Under these conditions, the best choice is the one that Wizards made, which is to let banding lay fallow and pretend the whole thing never happened.


What are the requirements for the achievements in Ticket to Ride: Europe?

The basic requirement is to purchase the Switzerland map expansion as an in-app purchase and complete the achievements using that map.

For the achievement Chocolate Exporter you must connect all four countries (France, Germany, Austria, and Italy). To complete this, priority number one is to actually connect the four countries. This will take most of your trains and many of your turns. Try and grab as many country tickets as you can, but don't push it, they're relatively high value. Avoid non-country tickets as you probably won't have enough trains to complete them.

Here is an example board showing a victory with all four countries connected

and here is the achievement

For the achievement Valley Commuter you must not claim any tunnel routes on the Switzerland map. To complete this, grab as many tickets as you can that can be completed without a tunnel. It's relatively easy to connect most of the cities that don't require tunnels, at which point many of the tickets you will grab will be already completed.

Here is an example board showing a victory with no tunnel routes claimed

and here is the achievement


Can the anti-whale tile be used to defend against the giant squid?

Yes, you can use the anti-whale tiles to defend against the giant squid.

Although I was unable to find a FAQ for the game on Stronghold-Games website, Kevin Nesbitt who is a credited designer of one of Survives other mini expansions said the following:

  The Giant Squid and Whale are meant to be largely interchangeable, at least in how they are brought into and out of play. Since a player must select either a whale OR a Giant Squid, they may also choose to harpoon either by play of the defensive whale tile (but only one "harpooning" per tile, please!)


What are the differences within/between Pokemon series?

It's not the set theirselves, it's the "era". BW: Dragons Exalted and BW: Emerging Powers are from the same era and share the same mechanics (although starting from BW: Next Destinies Pokémon EX were introduced, and from BW: Plasma Storm we got Team Plasma cards with certain advantages when combined with other cards that give them effects).

However, the Black & White series and the HeartGold & SoulSilver series are different in that, given the former has Pokémon EX and Team Plasma Pokémon, the latter has Pokémon Prime and Pokémon LEGEND (Prime cards are more powerful versions of certain Pokémon, and LEGEND cards are Pokémon that can only be played by having both parts of the whole card in your hand).

Sometimes the rules change over the eras aswell. In BW some cards received errata (such as Rare Candy) and certain rules were reworked (such as who goes first), but besides that the game remains largely the same.

Hope that helps.


How does shuffling work when your library is empty?

Yes, you can still shuffle your library like normal even if it is empty. This includes both effects that shuffle your library normally, such as Entomb, and effects that shuffle your graveyard or hand into your library, such as Clear the Mind.

  701.19e If an effect causes a player to shuffle a library containing zero or one cards, abilities that trigger when a library is shuffled will still trigger.

So there is no difference between shuffling an empty library or a non-empty library as far as game rules are concerned.


MTG - Cards that share names stack abilities?

No. This does not work that way, The first Creature has entered the battlefield and triggered the ability. It does not then enter the battlefield a second time if you play a second Aether Poisoner. In this situation the only thing the cards share is a name. The ability is exclusive to the card it is read on at the time unless it states otherwise.

In your second example Manna abilities are exclusive to each card so you would have to pay the cost twice - Once for each copy of the card in play. That's provided that you wanted to give both of them flying, you can pay the cost once and give one of them flying.


How can I improve my deck building skills?

It does seem, from your description of your play style, that you do have a problem in consistently misinterpreting what things help people win Magic games.  Let's have a look at some of the things you say you like, and that you underestimate:

LIKES

Lifegain - with a few rare exceptions, lifegain cards are TERRIBLE - they do nothing to help you win the game, just slow down the rate at which you lose it.
Creature buffs - if you spend a card putting +1/+1 counters on a creature, and your opponent Terrors it, you've just 2-for-1'd yourself.  Not good.
Creature destruction - okay, your instincts are correct on this one.  Removal is and always will be king.
Mid-sized creatures - these tend to be the least efficient choice.  Either you want highly efficient "weenies" who can win the game for you fast, or you want massive monsters who can end the game in a couple of swings.
Enchantments of all kinds - I assume you include Auras in this.  See the 2-for-1 problem I mentioned under Creature Buffs, above.
Mana generation - it would be fair to say that mana ramp strategies can play a part in successful Tier One decks; but you need a definite game plan and a strong likelihood of consistently using all your mana every turn.  Just having more mana than your opponent, while he's swarming you with creatures, seems like a really bad place to be!

UNDERESTIMATES

Direct damage - this is obviously amazing, because it can act as 1-for-1 removal early on to keep you in the game; but then go straight to the opponent's dome later, when you're only a few life points away from victory.  Look at Fireball and it shouldn't be hard to understand why this is a top pick in almost any draft format.
Creature control - Mind Control is also a #1 draft pick.  By casting it you not only gain a creature, you also steal the opponent's best creature, making it a sort of automatic 2-for-1.
Artifacts - well, these vary from good to bad, but one of the great things about artifacts is that they don't require a complicated manabase to pilot.  Artifact decks never get mana screwed, so you shouldn't underestimate them!
Card draw - something like Divination may not look impressive, but you need to get your head around the idea that getting 2 cards return for an outlay of 1 card is the cornerstone of winning games of Magic...

It seems to me that you would do well to learn more about the principle of card advantage.  If your opponent plays a card and you remove it with a card, you're level pegging.  If you play two creature cards and he removes them with one card, he's a card up.  If you play a card that gives you 7 life, he's also a card up.  Whoever is the most cards up at the end of the game often wins!  The alternative, of course, is blazing speed: kill your opponent before he can get too many cards up on you...

I could talk about this stuff forever but this answer is already getting long; hopefully there are plenty of things for you to think about here already!  Feel free to ask about anything that is unclear in the comments though.


From the FAQ at the end of the Wonder Pack rules:

  If multiple players take cards from the discard pile during a given turn, the resolution order is the following: Halikarnassós, The Great Wall, Manneken Pis, Salomon and finally, the Courtesan’s Guild.

My guess is that nobody thought too hard about balance here: it's important for there to be some order, but it's rare enough and minor enough that it barely matters which. Instead, note that a copy effect always comes after the thing it's copying: Manneken Pis after the other wonders, and Courtesan's Guild after the leader. I'd speculate that this was designed for feel rather than for balance - some players might think it unfair or unintuitive if an opponent could copy their effect before they'd gotten to use it themselves.

Continuing with the speculative post hoc justifications: imagine a game with one of the wonders in play and one of the cards. The person holding the card can see the wonder. The person with the wonder, however, might not even know there's a conflict since they might not know that the card is in play, so it would be quite reasonable for them to build the wonder stage and then grab the discard pile immediately and start looking through it. Rather than make this behavior wrong, the rule just codifies it as the canonical order: wonders before cards.


How do I create an account with Wizards of the Coast if I have a very old DCI number without activation code?

The website http://wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2301/=1

Actually answers this question, but not quite obvious.

It says numbers shorter than 10 digits have been converted and that you can receive your DCI number either at a local WPN store (where you have to ask) or via the contact form.


How early should I move my king in Hnefatafl?

In my experience (albeit with a slightly different tafl variant), a key part of white's strategy is maintaining the ability to play towards any of the corner squares.

The throne square isn't intrinsically all that much safer than any other square on the board. Initially, keeping your king near the center makes it easier to take advantage of momentary gaps in unexpected places. Moving your king is mostly about maintaining this sort of flexibility -- if there are a lot of enmeshed pieces near the center, for instance, running your king off to one side might open up the ability to both play towards the two nearest corners and cut around the jam to get to one of the far ones.


Does Travelin' Farmer deal damage when owner replaces him?

Yes, replacement counts as "leave a play"
This is clarified at boadgamegeek.com forum. The author asks

Does "leaves play" only refer to when the Travelin' Farmer is defeated in battle, or can the owner of this creature replace him and do damage to his opponent at the same time?

And here is the answer from the Matt Hyra (one of the game designers; you can see his name in credits section of the rule book):

Creatures leave play when defeated in combat, when you replace them, or if you use an effect to return it to your hand. Each way makes him work.


What Betrayal at House on the Hill scenarios can work with just two players

I'd suggest playing with 2 characters each.

When the haunt starts, the player who controls the traitor hands their non-traitor character over to the other player to control.


Crane Clan ability when they tie, but another faction would win

The ability is definitely poorly worded. When you are tied you win refers to tie breaking, so while you would win the tie, that does not guarantee you the province win. The ability is meant to override the standard defender wins ties rules, making it easier for crane clan to win on attacks by simply tying the defense. The tie must be a tie for the win to win the province.

See discussion on BoardGameGeek.


Clarification re: Nazgul and characters, can you attack them as a single?

Combat can only occur between 2 armies. Companions or minions by themselves do not form an army. They are only part of an army if there are friendly army units in the same region.
They cannot be killed when they are in a region without friendly army units. (Except when specifically mentioned on a card, like the Ent-cards kill Saruman)
They are perfectly fine walking (or flying) about in the same region as characters or armies of the opposing side.

The question I have then, say the Shadow player flies their Nazgul to adjacent the current known location of the ringbearers, but then Free Peoples player musters and moves some armies:
Does this result in combat? The Nazgul having no combat strength, it instantly dying?

No. Nothing happens. There are no Shadow units in the region, so the Nazgul are not part of an army.


As of 2020, there are 14 sets and 11 promo cards1.

In release order:

Dominion (Base game)
Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia
Hinterlands
Dark Ages
Guilds
Adventures
Empires
Nocturne
Renaissance
Menagerie

And the list of Promo cards:

Envoy (November 2008)
Black Market (March 2009)
Stash (February 2010)
Walled Village (June 2011)
Governor (October 2011)
Prince (June 2014)
Summon (November 2015)
Sauna/Avanto (September 2016) 2
Dismantle (December 2017)
Church (2019)
Captain (2019)

Separately there is also the Dominion Base Cards product; which includes the treasures and victory cards you need to play any setup of Dominion; without including any Kingdom cards. This allows players to purchase just an expansion without needing the base game, and allows 5-6 player games.

Guilds and Cornucopia, each being half-sized expansions, are currently only sold as a combined Guilds&Cornucopia set.

Dominion Base Game and Intrigue each have both a first and second edition, with the second edition for each removing 6 cards and adding in a new 7 cards. Due to some cards being different; you could count first edition and second edition as separate sets. Seaside and later have received minor updates in later printings; but nothing as big as brand new cards. Upgrade packs including just the 7 new cards were released for each.

Note that all sets through Guilds were planned as part of the original design of Dominion; while Adventures and beyond were created later due to Dominion's popularity.

All information taken from http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com.

1 "Cards" is used here to refer to all promos including Summon, even though Summon is an Event, not a Card, within the rules of Dominion.

2 Sauna/Avanto is a split pile; counted here as 1 card even though it is technically 2 separate cards.


Why is having shields in AoS 'optional'?

Age of Sigmar is very much designed with the "beer and pretzels" mindset. The main reason is that you may have a bunch of models without shields. If your opponent doesn't care, you can always say that all the models have shields.


Charterstone - Does "Gain card type" via a building include the Market

If I understand your question correctly the AfterGame 1 section you linked says:

  Persona cards: The first persona card with an ability that each player receives will say something like, “After using a building with a pumpkin cost, gain 1 VP” (the exact resource will vary). This ability only applies when the printed cost on the building includes at least 1 pumpkin icon, not buildings with the “any resource” icon. It is possible to have persona cards that don’t look like your original persona. Also, you may only mark personas as used if you actually use their ability during the game. This wording on Rule 5 (card 15) is a little ambiguous.

It looks to me, that if the persona specify advancement card type, but you are using Market which does not give the exact card type, you do not get the bonus.


Sacrificing Sengir Autocrat and his Serfs at Same Time

Yes, you may sacrifice all three serf creature tokens to help pay Westvale Abbey's Costs.

This is because Sengir Autocrat's second ability is triggered when he leaves the battlefield. By the time you've finished activating this ability, all your serfs have already been sacrificed to the Abby and are no longer on the battlefield to be removed.

Let's break down the interaction step by step:

You have a Westvale Abbey, Sengir Autocrat, 3 serf tokens, and a zombie token.
You activate Westvale Abbey's ability, tapping it, paying five mana and sacrificing all 5 creatures. All the creatures goto your graveyard per comprehensive rules:

  701.15a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.

With its costs paid Westvale Abbey's ability goes onto the stack.
The game sees that Sengir Autocrat has left the battlefield, his ability goes onto the stack.
Assuming no responses, the stack starts to resolve. Sengir Autocrat's ability resolves and checks for any Serfs you control, but they are already gone so nothing happens. Westvale Abbey's ability now resolves and you get your Profane Prince.


Scion of the Ur-Dragon multiple transformation

It works. The following will explain the mechanics that you're asking about, passing over the parts you've identified.

Scion of the Ur-Dragon, after the second activation of it's ability resolves, will be a copy of Shivan Dragon. Now, the First ability will try to resolve, and looks for the Scion of Ur-Dragon, finding it as Shivan Dragon.

This is because of rules 109.1, 109.3, 201.4, and 201.5.

  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.

Your Scion of the Ur-Dragon, now a Shivan Dragon, is an object.

  109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects can have some or all of these  characteristics. Any other information about an object isn’t a characteristic. For example, characteristics don’t include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell’s target, an object’s owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

Of the multiple Characteristics the object has, we care about its name: Scion of the Ur-Dragon.

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

Specifically, we care about its name at the time the abilities of interest are activated, because that ability refers to it by name.

  201.5. If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.

When the ability is activated and placed on the stack, though it said Scion of the Ur-Dragon at the time, it is referring to that card. Even after the effect of the second ability activation copies the Characteristics of Shivan Dragon, the ability on the stack still point at that card.


Can you become the deputy of Arkham after another player has?

This is explicitly answered in the FAQ:

Q: Can an investigator trade in trophies to become the Deputy if another investigator is already the Deputy (the existing Deputy would stop being Deputy)? If so, do they acquire the Patrol Wagon and/or Deputy’s Revolver if they are still in the other investigator’s possession?
A: No.


Playing a Wild Draw Color Card on top of another Wild Draw Color Card to get out of drawing cards in UNO FLIP

No, it's not valid to do so since according to the Mattel's UNO FLIP! rules the next player:

  Wild Draw Color Card (DARK SIDE)
     ... must draw until they get a color of your choosing (no matter how many cards they have to draw to do so) and lose their turn.

  Wild Draw 2 Card (LIGHT SIDE)
    ... must draw two cards from the DRAW pile and lose their turn.

But for the player after the next player (who had to pick up the cards) it's a valid play.

Note: Stacking or Progressive UNO, i.e. playing a Draw +1/+5 Card on top of another Draw +1/+5 Card without first drawing card is not allowed, but it's a common house rule used by many.

  Draw One / Five Card
  the next player must draw one / five card and miss their turn


In Gin-Rummy, how likely is that a round ends in a Draw?

I have played Gin often with my family, at least several hundred rounds. I do not recall ever having participated in a game which ended in a draw.

I will note that I have primarily participated in two-player games, logic indicates that games with additional players would have a higher probability of ending in a draw as there would be fewer rounds per player and each additional player results in one card per round that cannot be accessed.


What's the expected damage from playing Terror of the Peaks, when I have Mirror March out?

Let's go through this:

The first Terror (the one you cast) comes out, the March triggers, but not the Terror. The March resolves, and you flip coins, getting N heads, meaning N Terrors enter the battlefield. Including the one already there, they all see all the others enter the battlefield, see rule 603.6a (emphasis mine):

  603.6a Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are
  written, “When [this object] enters the battlefield, . . . “ or “Whenever a [type] enters the
  battlefield, . . .” Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all
  permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-
  battlefield triggers that match the event.

So that's one Terror that deals damage N times, and N Terrors that each deal damage (N-1) times, for a total of 5*N^2 damage.

The probability distribution of N (assuming a fair coin) is given by

  P(N=n)=2^(-n)

By definition of expectation, the expected damage dealt is therefore:

  P(N=0)*5*0^2 + P(N=1)*5*1^2 + P(N=2)*5*2^2 + ...

According to WolframAlpha, this comes out to be 30.

If you want to know how to actually get 30 from this, math.SE is probably a better place to ask for the details. I'd be happy to answer it for you over there, as would many others I'm sure (as long as you stick to our guidelines for a good question). It's a lot easier to write math there as well.


When are players obligated to tell their opponent that the storm count is wrong?

Nathan is not obligated to inform Alice that the storm count is wrong until Grapeshot's triggered ability resolves. In the section of the rules regarding player communication, there is no rule that says that players are at any time obligated to volunteer information spontaneously.

However, the rules also say "Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly" and "Players must answer completely and honestly any specific questions pertaining to free information." According to this forum post Rainbolt found, storm count is free information. So if Alice asks what the storm count is, Nathan must give the correct answer.

Once Grapeshot's triggered ability resolves, the two players must agree on what spells are on the stack, which means that Nathan must then inform Alice of the actual number of copies of Grapeshot created. That is because, if Alice put the wrong number of copies on the stack, that would be a Game Play Error, which means that if Nathan lets her do it, that would be a Failure to Maintain Game State.


Identify a card game where you make card patterns to earn points

Per the comments, it's some sort of Rummy. If you're looking to get back into playing the game, I'd recommend checking out the rules and variations over at Pagat.


Does Wildfire Eternal give Dread Wanderer graveyard flash?

No, you can't do that.

When an activated ability says "activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery", that is placing additional restrictions on the normal rules governing when you can activate an ability (normally, when you have priority).

  307.5. If a spell, ability, or effect states that a player can do something only “any time he or she could cast a sorcery,” it means only that the player must have priority, it must be during the main phase of his or her turn, and the stack must be empty.


No you can't cast the spell if there is no valid target for it.

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from the zone it’s in (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 follows the steps listed below, in order. If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the spell was cast illegally; the game returns to the moment before that spell started to be cast.
601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires.

magic rules


If my commander's mana cost is colorless, but it has an ability that includes another mana type, what cards can be in my deck?

The color identity of your commander includes mana symbols in both the cost and any abilities; so you would be able to use cards of any color if your commander is Morophon.

903.4. The Commander variant uses color identity to determine what cards can be in a deck with a certain commander. The color identity of a card is the color or colors of any mana symbols in that card’s mana cost or rules text, plus any colors defined by its characteristic-defining abilities (see rule 604.3) or color indicator (see rule 204).

903.5c A card can be included in a Commander deck only if every color in its color identity is also found in the color identity of the deck’s commander.

And similarly, Morophon could only be in your deck (as not your commander) if your commander contained all 5 colors in its color identity.


What happens when a vehicle dies with Hofri Ghostforge in play? (STX Spoilers)

The token will be an Artifact - Vehicle. It will not be a Spirit, even if it becomes a creature later.
This is primarily a consequence of rule 205.3d:

An object can’t gain a subtype that doesn’t correspond to one of that object’s types.

The subtype Spirit only corresponds to the types Creature and Tribal, and the permanent has neither of those types, so it cannot gain the Spirit type either.
The card Glasspool Mimic has a similar ability that copies a creature and adds creature subtypes:

You may have Glasspool Mimic enter the battlefield as a copy of a creature you control, except it’s a Shapeshifter Rogue in addition to its other types.

That card also has a couple of rulings that explain how that is handled with non-creature cards:

Glasspool Mimic copies exactly what was printed on the original creature (unless that creature is copying something else or is a token; see below), except that it’s also a Shapeshifter Rogue. It doesn’t copy whether that creature is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or any Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that have changed its power, toughness, types, color, or so on. Most notably, if it copies a creature that’s not normally a creature, it won’t be a creature.

If Glasspool Mimic isn’t a creature, most likely because it copied a creature that was only temporarily a creature, it won’t be a Shapeshifter Rogue, even if it becomes a creature later.

Like on Glasspool Mimic, Hofri's ability says "in addition to its other types", so it will still have the Artifact and Vehicle types.

If, instead of a Vehicle, the artifact in question was an animated Tribal Artifact such as Thornbite Staff, the token copy would have the Spirit type because the Sprit subtype corresponds to the Tribal type.


Whispersilk cloak - does it protect from Sudden Spoiling and Condemn?

Both Whispersilk Cloak and Sudden Spoiling generate continuous effects (even though Sudden Spoiling says 'until end of turn'), so this situation is covered by rule 613. Interaction of Continuous Effects:

613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
...
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.
...
613.2. Within layers 1–6, apply effects from characteristic-defining abilities first (see rule 604.3), then all other effects in timestamp order (see rule 613.6). Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a layer. (See rule 613.7.)
...
613.6. Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp.
613.6a A continuous effect generated by a static ability has the same timestamp as the object the static ability is on, or the timestamp of the effect that created the ability, whichever is later.
613.6b A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability receives a timestamp at the time it’s created.

Since Sudden Spoiling is cast after equipping Whispersilk Cloak, it has a later timestamp and it 'wins'; the creature doesn't have shroud. Therefore, it's a valid target for Condemn.


How Does Syr Konrad Interact With Living Death?

Scenario 1: Syr does indeed see all. Living Death does three things in order, one after the other. First it exiles all creatures from graveyards. At this stage, Syr is on the battlefield, so he sees this happen, and triggers from the creatures leaving your graveyard. Next, all creatures are sacrificed. Syr does indeed see all creatures that die at the same time he does, and he triggers. This is explicitly mentioned on his Gatherer page:

  If one or more creatures die at the same time as Syr Konrad, its first ability triggers for each of those creatures.

Finally, creatures are brought back from exile to the battlefield, but 1) Syr is in the graveyard, and 2) he doesn't care about that in the first place.

Once Living Death is finished, all the triggers are put on the stack (once for each creature exiled from your graveyard, and once for each creature sacrificed, apart from Syr himself), and your opponents are probably quite unhappy with all the life they are about to lose.

Scenario 2: Syr's ability only works while he is on the battlefield. And all creatures that go into or out of graveyards do so well before Syr enters the battlefield. So he won't trigger.


What happens if a target for removal becomes ineligible after a card has been cast?

At resolution, Complete Disregard will instead leave the stack and be put into its owner's graveyard without doing anything, because all its targets have become illegal.
Targeting spells and abilities check the legality of their targets twice; once as you put them on the stack, and again just before they resolve. If all their targets have become illegal at the time of the second check, it doesn't resolve at all.
If some, but not all, of its targets become illegal before the second check, the spell or ability resolves but does not affect or obtain information about those illegal targets.

Resolving Spells and Abilities

608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard. Otherwise, the spell or ability will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal. Other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them. If the spell or ability creates any continuous effects that affect game rules (see rule 613.11), those effects don’t apply to illegal targets. If part of the effect requires information about an illegal target, it fails to determine any such information. Any part of the effect that requires that information won’t happen.


Is there an official rule on "setting up" your deck before play?

The Magic tournament rules have this to say (emphasis added):

3.9 Card Shuffling
Decks must be randomized at the start of every game and whenever an instruction requires it. 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. Pile shuffling alone is not sufficiently random.

Per the Gilbert-Shanon-Reeds model, the number of riffle shuffles1 needed to properly randomize a deck can be expressed mathematically as a function of the base-2 logarithm of the number of cards in the deck2. For a 60-card deck, you would need nine riffle shuffles, while a deck with 40 cards in it (a Limited game, or a Constructed game that's been going for a bit) would need eight shuffles3.
When your deck is properly randomized, nothing you have done to it prior to the randomization has any effect on the final permutation. If you're randomizing your deck correctly, the mana-weaving you and your friends are doing has nothing more than a psychological effect. Since it isn't affecting the outcome of the game, it's legal, although it wastes time.
At Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level (REL) tournaments, which use the Infraction Procedure Guide to determine penalties for various infractions, failing to properly randomize your deck can result in Tournament Error — Insufficient Shuffling. The penalty for this is a Warning assuming the error was unintentional (if the error is intentional, then it falls under Unsporting Conduct — Cheating). If you get the same Tournament Error a second time (or more), the Warning is upgraded to a Game Loss.
At Regular REL tournaments (Friday Night Magic, prereleases, etc.: the type of tournaments most players attend), which use Judging at Regular REL (JAR) to guide judges in decision-making, "Inadequate Shuffling" falls under General Unwanted Behaviors. At Regular, the judge will most likely instruct you on proper shuffling technique and/or simply remind you to shuffle better or shuffle more. Only if you are consistently failing to properly shuffle your deck will you get Game Losses at Regular for the error.
In a tournament, after shuffling your deck, you must present it to your opponent (with the implicit claim that you have randomized the deck). At Regular REL, your opponent may shuffle the deck, cut the deck, or even leave the deck as is, essentially trusting that you've randomized it correctly. At Competitive and Professional REL, your opponent must shuffle the deck you present them. If you do not feel comfortable with your opponent shuffling your deck (for example, if you see evidence of your opponent mistreating his own cards, while you have expensive Mythics etc. in your library), you can request a judge's assistance (although a judge may not have the time to oblige you every time the deck needs shuffling).
At all levels of play, while mana-weaving isn't against the rules when followed by sufficient shuffling, it may raise red flags in the minds of your opponents and the judges and cause problems where there oughtn't be any. It is recommended that you do not do this at a tournament, even if you are shuffling correctly afterwards.
Also note: a properly randomized deck will often have runs of only lands or only nonlands: there are many permutations of your deck where this is so, and a properly randomized deck will not have preference to one permutation over another. this is a point of consternation of many Magic Online players, who do not do a proper job of shuffling their paper cards and are befuddled by the properly shuffled digital decks, which do not have a near-uniform distribution of lands to nonlands, but are, in fact, random.

The GRS model deals only with riffle shuffles, not other kinds of shuffling. Riffle shuffles are generally the most efficient, and other shuffling methods would require additional shuffles to achieve the same randomness.
Sepcifically, 3/2 * log_2(n), where log_2 is the base-2 logarithm and n is the number of cards in the deck.
A graph of the number of shuffles required: Wolfram Alpha


Phase 10 Going Out - Do you keep picking up?

Before making your phase, your turn structure is like this:

You MUST draw a card from the deck or discard pile.
You MAY make your phase and put it on the table.
You MUST discard a card onto the discard pile.

When making your phase you MAY immediately add any number of your own cards to other phases on the table. Afterwards, you MUST discard a card to end your turn.
Then after making your phase, your turn structure is like this:

You MUST draw a card from the deck or discard pile.
You MAY add any number of cards from your hand to the phases on the table.
You MUST discard a card onto the discard pile.

The round ends immediately when a player gets rid of their last card.


Are expansion sets in magic designed for use with specific deck archetypes?

Most sets of Magic feature a certain kind of game mechanics, and favor some archetypes more than other.

For instance the previous set (Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, Maze I don't remember) favored multicolored decks, even 3 colored ones, featured lots of multicolored creatures, whereas the beginning of the current set (Theros, Born of the gods) favored mono colored decks. Some capacity are absent from different sets, and some sets really favor some kind of build (eg Theros set gave the opportunity to create really powerful blue aggro, Innistrad set allowed very efficient graveyard oriented decks...).

Nevertheless, some archetypes are always valids, and even if some blocks don't favor them, you will still find useful cards and maybe the next set will favor it again. Some archetypes are also more common and nearly always efficient, "red deck wins", a mono red archetype is among them.

If you don't care about having a deck in the current set, you shouldn't mind about this, if you seek competitive T2 game (last two blocks), you will change deck every block to have the more favored (and fun) archetype. An easy way to see toward what a set is slanted is to have a look at the top 10 tournament decks, you can also guess that by yourself after gaining some more experience by just looking at the cards featured.

To finish, if you play drafts (which I advise you, it's really funny), the favored archetypes will be different from built decks.


What is the optimal strategy in Quantum Tic Tac Toe?

In Solving Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe, Ishizeki and Matsuura use a computer to search the game space to find solutions, but don't specifically speak to strategy. However, there are a few strategies we can glean from their results:

Go for a half-point victory, not a full point victory. In their search they found the first player, X, cannot guarantee a win by being the only player to get three in a row. But a win can be guaranteed where X and O both have 3 in a row, but X has the lower maximal subscript.
As player X, make your first marks split into opposite corners. If X plays perfectly, a half-point win can be guaranteed by playing the first pair of marks, X1, in opposite corners.
Don't play as O, the second player. Obviously this is not a fair strategy or one you're likely be able to follow in a real game. But since X can guarantee a half-point victory, it follows O can't guarantee a victory.

Since there is a guaranteed path to victory for X, the obvious strategy is to, after playing the first pair in opposite corners, always respond to a move by O by playing such that you are still guaranteed victory (or for O, always play the move that gives you the most options for victory, and hope X makes a mistake). Unfortunately the authors didn't include all of the paths in their search, so it would be necessary to reproduce their results to apply this strategy.

However, I have tried to glean some strategies from the one game they did include in the paper (see Figure 5. I've broken this out into each move in the image below):

Avoid entanglements. By not creating a cycle you avoid giving your opponent the advantage of choosing where your marks are fixed. Of course, if you can make a cycle such that either choice is a win for you, like the placement of X9, then you should do so. See both the resolution of X9 and the alternate resolution.
Play at least one mark of a pair in an empty square. This increases the chances of having the lowest maximum subscript in a tie breaker, as on each play you add another square where you have the mark with the lowest subscript. X does this up until the last move.
Play to increase the number of probable wins. For example on Move 3, after playing X1 in opposite corners, play one X3 in the middle and the other in a corner. When one X1 collapses, the other X1 that is now fixed will be in line with either X3. The same is true for X3 in relation to X1
Don't play on your own marks. X never does this until the final move when there is no other option.
Don't let your last mark be part of your three in a row. Of course your last move has the highest subscript, and can make you lose the tie-breaker. Making this actually happen may require some additional planning.


When should I choose to redesign my Alhambra?

As far as I'm concerned, your intuitions through play are correct.  Redesigning your Alhambra is an action of last resort, rather than an action a player is likely to take multiple times per game.  Quite often I don't redesign my Alhambra at all during the course of a game.  If you can construct a reasonably expansive Alhambra where it is easy to add new tiles no matter what their configuration of walls, you may well not need to resort to a redesign at any point in the game.

On the other hand, just because a strategy is not that universally great, doesn't mean you shouldn't use it if circumstances dictate that it is the right one.  I find that, in the early game, going all-out for walls tends to be beneficial, and if you do this you may end up in a situation where there are tiles you want to buy but can't currently place.  In such cases, it makes sense to grab those tiles for your reserve and use a redesign action at some point in the second or third round to make your Alhambra easier to expand.  Likewise, it would often seem foolish to pass up on a tile that you can buy for exact money, just because you can't place it.  You can offset the action you lose by placing the tile in your reserve with the action you've gained by buying for exact.

Generally taking a good money card, or combination of money cards, will be the correct play, before or after buying a tile for exact price.  On the other hand, I usually find that at least once per game you will be confronted with a mediocre selection of money (let's say 5 5 4 4, in unappealing colours).  Such occasions give you a prime opportunity for a redesign of your Alhambra, and dump the inferior money picks on your opponents instead of yourself.  Would you really rather pick up a poor money card, and open up much better picks for your neighbour?  Sometimes picking up the money that is available is an actively unappealing option, and this gives you a prime chance to perform a useful Alhambra redesign action instead.

In short, most of the time an Alhambra redesign is not the optimum play, but there will usually be at least one occasion during a game where there isn't much else you need to do with your turn, making it not a bad play at all.  The player who remains flexible and gives himself the opportunity to change  their strategy via a well-timed Alhambra redesign will win more games, on average, than the player who fixates on a one-track strategy that can be stymied by a bad run of luck. (Case in point: I played against someone who ended the game with about 9 tiles in their reserve the other week. If they'd been imaginative enough to do an Alhambra redesign to open up their board at some point, instead of waiting for the tiles to arrive that would fit into their wall arrangement... they'd definitely have done a lot better in that game.)


What happens if there is both a tapped and untapped Archelos, Lagoon Mystic on the battlefield? (Commander Legends spoilers)

These would be 2 different replacement effects, so the player whose permanent is entering the battlefield would choose one to apply first, and would then apply the other (so only the second one they chose would end up mattering):

614.1d Continuous effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield . . .” or “[Objects] enter the battlefield . . .” are replacement effects.

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

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


How does the example of rule 601.2h work?

When it says that the spell's cost is "locked in" before payments are made, it means that you calculate the cost, including all modifiers, then you pay for it. This matches up with the steps described in the rules: you calculate the cost in step 601.2f, then pay the cost in step 601.2h.

So, when calculating the cost of that Altar's Reap, you take the base cost: {1}{B}, and apply any relevant cost reductions; in this case, you reduce the cost to {B} due to Thunderscape Familiar's effect. Then you pay the cost: you pay {B} and you sacrifice the Familiar. Since you do the sacrifice after you calculate the cost, the Familiar's cost reduction applies, even though it won't be on the battlefield when you're done casting the spell.

Note that sacrificing the Familiar is not what lowers the cost. The Familiar has a static ability that reduces the cost of black spells. Sacrificing it is, separately, part of the cost of casting Altar's Reap.


In Articulate would using Girl Band as the description for Girls Aloud violate the rules

No, you may not give that clue. It's the word, not the exact meaning, that is disallowed. The example given in the Taboo rules is that if "baseball" is part of the answer then you may not use "base" or "ball" - and both of those words have much broader meanings than just their baseball meanings.


Does No Mercy get triggered by Blood Scrivener?

Damage is different than life loss.  For players, damage causes life loss.

  119.3a Damage dealt to a player by a source without infect causes that player to lose that much life

So no, the Blood Scrivener isn't destroyed.


Eclipse is a complicated game. If you have never taught the game yourself, expect a teaching game to take 4-7 hours.

It took me about 20-30 minutes to learn the game. I am an experienced gamer, had browsed the rulebook, and the player teaching me had taught others before. For a first-time teacher and inexperienced players, I estimate teaching will take at least an hour. While each one of the actions is relatively straightforward, there are a lot of them, and the way they interact is not always obvious.

As a small example of the complexity of the rules, consider the ability to take weakened Reaction actions after passing. First, players must remember that this is possible. They won't understand until they understand why you would want to do take these inefficient actions, and at least one player likely won't grasp why one player would pass before or after the rest. (The way the influence discs serve a dual purpose in choosing actions and controlling systems, while a beautiful mechanism, isn't like anything else your players are likely to have come across.)

Also consider, for example, the fact that every technology tile is referenced only by a name and icon. The icons provide a useful reminder of what the technology does, but in general the players will probably have to spend a lot of time referencing what potential technology purchases may do.

The fact that your players are relatively inexperienced at games in general may also mean the rules take longer to understand. For example, to an experienced gamer, the icon for a Reputation symbol outline and Ambassador outline clearly indicates "this is a spot that can hold either a Reputation tile or an Ambassador". To at least one of your inexperienced group, this will probably not be so intuitive and, like every other detail, it will have to be spelled out.

The BGG survey lists the best number of players as 4 or 6, and I agree; but I expect that a first game will take no less than an hour per player, plus teaching time. Expect it to take an entire evening or good chunk of a weekend day with a meal break. With experience the game can be made much quicker, but with entirely inexperienced players, it might even go longer.

Based on the tone of your question and your hesitance, I do not recommend that you purchase Eclipse with the expectation that this group will enjoy it. There is a good chance that they will not. If you can somehow borrow a copy, I would give it a try; I have also been told that the iPad version is quite good (and inexpensive). Playing on the iPad would not only let you know whether you like the game, but also give you familiarity with the rules which would make teaching much easier.


How does the two room penalty work in Grand Austria Hotel?

I think the intention here is you must do whats worst for you.

If you have two rooms on the same highest level and one has an occupied room beneath it the you must choose the one where you can lose both.  You would only get a choice if the conditions was met more than once.

Below means 'aligned and below'.   Look at the picture you posted.  The rooms crossed out are in the same aligned column whilst the ones not below are not crossed out.


How to effectively have three (3) combat phases with Aurelia, the Warleader + Legion's Initiative

Yes, there is a way to get three combat phases with Aurelia and Legion's initiative.

Your first combat.

a. Attack with Aurelia.  This trigger her attack trigger, and since it's the first time she attacked this turn, you get an extra combat step and immediately untap all your creatures.

b. Let combat damage be dealt, and wait to active Legion's Initiative during the End of Combat Step (see rule 511).  Aurelia must survive this long in order to get 3 effective combat steps.  If you active Legion's Initiative before combat damage is dealt, you still get 3 combats, but this first one might not matter much because you aren't actually doing damage.  Still useful for other attack triggers though.

c. This exiles all of your creatures who survived combat until the next combat step.  After this phase ends, you'll momentarily control 0 creatures because they've been exiled by Legion's Initiative.
At the beginning of the next combat (your second for the turn), the creatures exiled by Legion's initiative come back and get haste.

a. Attack with Aurelia.  Since this creature has changed zones, it is considered a new instance of Aurelia, and it has no memory of previously attacking (rule 403.4). The attack trigger will happen because this is the first time that this Aurelia has attacked.  You'll get an additional combat after this one and uptap all creatures.
Start your third combat.

This obviously only works if you can keep Aurelia alive to do damage during your first combat phase.  You can take advantage of similar mechanics with any other way of blinking Aurelia, for example Cloudshift as discussed in another question.  The only tricky thing about using Legion's Initiative is getting the timing right so that you get three combats where you actually do damage with your creatures.


This absolutely sounds like Munchkin or one of the many versions of it by Steve Jackson, and if so it definitely IS a popular game. Equipment cards, monsters, curses and some form of class cards are common to all the versions, many equipment have special restrictions or buffs on top of the basic number bonus, and you use them (and potentially help from other players) to fight monsters with the goal of getting to level 10 first.


Does Mr. X reveal his location on every turn of the travel log that is circled?

Mr X. reveals his current location on, and only on, the circled turns, or at any time he is on the same space as a police player (in which case he immediately loses the game and the police players win the game).  All remaining turns (the majority) are played as hidden information.

Keep in mind that if Mr. X uses a Double Move Token to skip over a reveal turn, Mr. X must still reveal where he was at that time even though he is no longer there.  For this reason as well as convenience, it is a common house rule to leave the Mr. X token on his "last known location" at the last time of reveal.


What happens when an Animate Dead reanimates a dormant god?

Yes, you do still sacrifice Karametra. Magic cards frequently use words like "the creature" to refer to a previously defined object, but it doesn't actually have to meet the criteria of those words. CR 608.2i spells this out explicitly:

  If an ability’s effect refers to a specific untargeted object that has been previously referred to by that ability’s cost or trigger condition, it still affects that object even if the object has changed characteristics.
  Example: Wall of Tears says “Whenever Wall of Tears blocks a creature, return that creature to its owner’s hand at end of combat.” If Wall of Tears blocks a creature, then that creature ceases to be a creature before the triggered ability resolves, the permanent will still be returned to its owner’s hand.


Ral Zareks first Ability: Magic The Gathering

Yes, you can. You must choose a 'target permanent' for the first part of the ability; the ability doesn't specify you must choose an untapped permanent. The ability won't be able to tap that permanent:

  701.20a To tap a permanent, turn it sideways from an upright position. Only untapped permanents can be tapped.

but that's not a problem; to activate an ability you must choose valid targets, it doesn't matter if the ability resolves fully. Part of activating an ability is paying its cost, which in this case is adding a loyalty counter:

  606.4. The cost to activate a loyalty ability of a permanent is to put on or remove from that permanent a certain number of loyalty counters, as shown by the loyalty symbol in the ability’s cost.

During resolution, even if the first part of the ability doesn't do anything, the second part is still carried out:

  608.2c The controller of the spell or ability follows its instructions in the order written.


What does it mean for a game to be 'Caylus-like'?

The four distinguishing features of Caylus are

It's a worker placement game.
It has perfect information - you know everything about the state of the game, and nothing is hidden.
It has a clever and unusual turn-order mechanic, which is complex to play well, and absolutely critical to the strategy.
It has no luck. Like chess, there are no sources of randomness in Caylus.

Someone describing a game as Caylus-like can be referring to any of these fairly unusual characteristics. In your example, the Family version of Agricola is "Caylus-like" partly because it is worker placement, but also because there are no Minor Improvements or Occupations, so no cards held in hand, so there is no hidden information.

I play this game fairly regularly, and I have to say, it's pretty special. Other games often share one or more of these features, but the combination of mechanics is unique to Caylus.


Erik P's reference to Wiktionary is correct, but he is interpreting the IPA pronunciation incorrectly.
/aˈɡri.ko.la/  is ah-GRIH-koh-lah.  You can hear it pronounced by Merriam-Webster here.


Game (like tic-tac-toe, but with a hole in the middle) where players have to score by getting temples on tiles?

Dokmus

This is the part where I describe the game to show that it lines up with your memories, but honestly you've described it in pretty good detail, and there isn't really anything for me to add.  The tiles are 7x7, though.

The tile movement powers are drafted each round by the players, so each player gets 1 special power and three worker placements.


When should Beginners finish a Game of Go?

Under Chinese scoring (AKA area scoring), you can (and with new players should) play until each player has no move they can make.

There is no downside under Chinese scoring for a player to play stones into untenable positions, nor is there downside for a player to defend a position inefficiently (so long as they don't fill in their eyes).  As a result, a new player should try to attack any area they think they can and you should attack them on any area you can, even if those areas are too small to build a live group.  This will help them get a more concrete sense of why certain groups are alive or dead, understand what territory can or cannot be viably contested, and learn how defend their own groups from attack without losing their eyes.

For these reasons, I actually recommend Chinese scoring for new players.  In addition, I believe it's easier for new players to understand.  Japanese scoring requires players to understand the concept of territory, which is much easier once a player has played several games.  The overall strategy and techniques of Go are not substantially affected by which scoring system you use (it mostly matters in terms of endgame play), so learning to play under Chinese scoring should not be an impediment to later learning Japanese scoring.  See What are the difference between Chinese and Japanese rules in Go? for more information.


Does Spy Kit have any use outside of a Conspiracy Draft?

There are two general categories of things you can do with it.

First, you can use it to power up cards that look for other permanents with a particular name.  Biovisionary is probably the strongest example here.  Here are a few more examples: Cleric of the Forward Order, Shadowborn Apostle, and Urborg Panther.

Second, you can use it to exploit cards that care about things with the "same name".  This works because Conspiracy: Take the Crown added the following rule to Magic:

  201.2b If an object has more than one name, it has the same name as another object if there are one or more names that both objects have in common.

The best use of this I can think of is to get Spy Kit on an opponent's non-black creature (such as via Donate or Act of Treason) and then target that creature with Eradicate, which will exile all non-legendary creatures from their hand, library, and graveyard, which is absolutely devastating to many decks.  You can also use this for slightly less grand effects, such as exiling all non-legendary non-token creatures with Detention Sphere or bouncing them with Echoing Truth.  If all your creatures are legendary, these can be pretty one-sided; you trade one creature (equipped with Spy Kit) for a bunch of theirs.


Thebes: extending your turn past the end of the last year

According to the reference document at OrderOfGamers.com,

  Once players are in 1903, when a player’s marker crosses space 52 he must end on space 1. He may use no more weeks. Once all players have reached
  the space, the game ends and scoring commences.

You must stop on week 1 of (what would be) the year 1904, and you may not use any weeks beyond that.


Purpose of needing 12 swords in Camelot to trigger end of game with no Traitor

Remember the catapults

If there are 12 of them at any time you lose the game. So even with no traitor and 8 white swords, if you are too tight and lose the invasion quests (or simply draw the wrong black cards), you may lose because of catapults before completing the 12 swords on the table.


MTG -- Search for a sorcery -- Green -- EDH

Interacting with sorceries is very much outside of the Green part of the color pie, so this kind of effect is going to be rare at best.

As a basic first search, the following Scryfall search finds every card compatible with a Green commander that has you search your library: o:"search your library" ci:g. The o: search term specifies text in the card's text box to look for, and the ci specifies the color identity to look for. This returns 241 cards, which can be reasonably looked through. If a card matching your criteria doesn't show up in those search results, it doesn't exist.

There are a couple of common ways that cards could allow allow you to search for sorceries that suggest ways to refine that search. Some cards could allow you to search specifically for sorcery cards. A simple way to search for that would be to just add a search for the word "sorcery": o:"search your library" ci:g o:sorcery. This search returns two cards, both of which are false positives.

Other cards might allow you to search for any card. The phrasing for this is "Search your library for a card", so the following search would find cards like that: o:"search your library for a card" ci:g. This finds 14 cards; most find cards with a specific name, or names that match another name, but three cards match requested criteria: Planar Portal, Ring of Three Wishes, and Tamiyo's Journal.

Finally, some cards allow you to search for nonland cards, but the search for that (o:"search your library" ci:g o:nonland) finds no results.

Some specific Sorcery cards can be found by other search effects. The few green and colorless tribal sorceries can be found by any effect that instructs you to search for cards with that specific creature subtype (such as Wirewood Herald). And the creature cards with with Adventure instants and sorceries can be found by any effect that instructs you to search for a creature, which are plentiful in green.


What happens if one of a spell's targets goes away before the spell resolves?

Rites of Reaping will not fizzle, because some of its targets are still valid. The spell will only be countered if all of its targets are illegal. Instead, the spell does as much as possible, which is to give +3/+3 to his creature. This is defined by 608.2b.

Your probably came to the wrong conclusion because your understanding of what happens with Switcheroo is incorrect. It won't be countered (fizzle) if only one of the targeted creatures disappears. However, it won't have any effect either. An exchange requires something to be received and something to be given, so it cannot happen if one of the two targets is illegal.

  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. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. However, if any of its targets are illegal, the part of the spell or ability’s effect for which it is an illegal target can’t perform any actions on that target, make another object or player perform any actions on that target, or make that target perform any actions. The effect may still determine information about illegal targets, though, and other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them.


If a weak creature with death touch attacks a tougher creature, does my own creature die as well?

Yes it does.

The damage to them both happen simultaneously (footnote 1), so the big one receives 2 deathtouch damage, and the little one receives four regular damage. Both of these are lethal damage (footnote 2, 3) to the respective receivers, and they are sent to the graveyard.

This can be avoided by giving the little guy first strike (consider Glissa, the Traitor or double strike, which will cause the little guy's damage to be dealt first (unless the big guy somehow also gains it.) Other things like protection can mitigate the damage too.

I should point out that creatures can't attack other creatures in normal combat. You can only declare them as attackers to a player or planeswalker. The defending player (in this case, the player owning the 4/4) can choose to block or not block.

You can cause them to deal damage to each other with the "fights" mechanic (like Prey Upon, or with spells and abilities (Livewire Lash comes to mind.) If a creature deals damage to another creature, and the damage-dealing creature has deathtouch, then the receiving creature has lethal damage (causing it to be destroyed).

Footnote 1

  510.2. Second, all combat damage that's been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it's dealt.

Footnote 2

  704.5h If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and it's been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked, that creature is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

Footnote 3

  119.6. Damage marked on a creature remains until the cleanup step, even if that permanent stops being a creature. If the total damage marked on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action

  704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.


Does General Onimaru's Clockwork Soldier prevent retreats?

Yes, movement is treated the same regardless of how the pawn is moved. David Sirlin answered this question here:

Q: Onimaru's Clockwork soldier state that the opponent cannot move behind the token. Does it also prevents any retreat? Because the way I see it, your opponent has a "wall" that moves toward him 2 case per turn, but the wording of the card implies something else.
A: The movement rules are the same across the whole game. By "movement," that means "the rules for changing the position of your pawn for any reason, when it would reach an obstacle" are the same across the whole game. It doesn't matter if the "movement" is a move, push, dashing strike, retreat, etc. It doesn't matter if the obstacle is a player pawn, the edge of the board, or a clockwork soldier. In all cases, you go as far as you can, then stop when you reach the obstacle.