If more than one user is on a twist phase do they each draw their own phase? In Phase 10 Twist there are only 10 twist phases.  If everybody drew their own twist phase then we'd run out really quickly.

So, if more than one person is on a twist phase at a time, do they all play the same twist phase or do they each draw their own phase and we just recycle the cards when we run out?

After re-reading the rules we decided that it was best to have each player on a twist phase draw their own card and we'd just recycle them when we ran out.

The reason for this being, players aren't obligated to show other players their twist phase.  If all players drew the same twist phase then this sort of secretive strategy part of the game would be lost.

We also doubled the number of twist cards we have since somebody spilled beer on our first board and we had to get a new one.  The cards weren't ruined though so now we just double them up and have to recycle them less often.


How does Liliana's Standard Bearer work if Kaervek the Spiteful is on the battlefield? Let's say one creature has died this turn. I have Kaervek, the Spiteful on the battlefield, and then I flash in Liliana's Standard Bearer. This card has an enters-the-battlefield trigger which says "draw X cards where X is the number of creatures that died this turn".
Obviously the Standard Bearer is going to die immediately to Kaervek's static ability. When the enters-the-battlefield trigger resolves, does it count the Standard Bearer as a creature that died this turn?

Yes, you will draw a card for the Standard Bearer as well. This is explained in the rulings under the card in Gatherer:

The value of X is determined only as the triggered ability resolves. If Liliana’s Standard Bearer dies while that ability’s on the stack, it will count itself.


Does "tournament experience" show "too many players" in a game of monopoly? The rules say that the game is for 2 to 8 players. But there are only eight monopolies on the board, meaning that in a game of eight players, there would only be an average of one monopoly for each player. Meaning that some players probably would have no monopolies. And it might be hard for any player to get a monopoly (except, possibly, by trading). Then you would have a great divide between the propertied, and non-propertied players.
But six players is mandated in some versions of Tournament Monopoly. Are there any tournaments that feature more than six players? Do other tournaments have five, four or three players more frequently than "six"
In the interest of keeping answers relatively objective, the best answers would address tournament experiences and results, or cite a book or study using an expert author's experiences (either first hand tournament or computer simulated).

Board Game Geek has some session reports for Monopoly.

The main problem with having more players is that starting order becomes increasingly important as you add more players. If you're going 6th, 7th or 8th then your chances of landing on an unowned property are very low. You're pretty much screwed from the start.


Do multiple Archetypes work together? What if I had three different archetypes on the field: Archetype of Imagination (gives flying), Archetype of Endurance (gives hexproof), and Archetype of Finality (gives deathtouch)? Would all three of their effects work on my creatures at once or not at all because of the Archetype of Endurance?

Yes, they'll work together. The definition of hexproof is:

  702.11b "Hexproof" on a permanent means "This permanent can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control."

The Archetypes' abilities don't target, and they're not controlled by your opponent, so hexproof definitely does not prevent them from applying.


Finishing a turn on a previously discovered room, draw icon card? Do you draw an icon card for a previously discovered room if you end your turn there? Or are icon cards only taken when the room is discovered? I could not find it clarified in the rule book

You only draw when you first discover a room

From Page 5 of the Second Edition rules (emphasis mine):

  A room may have a card symbol on it. The first time you discover a room with a card symbol, you must end your move in that room and draw the appropriate card.

There is no rule instructing you to draw cards during subsequent visits, therefore you do not draw it on subsequent turns.

Given that you cannot move after drawing a card, not following this rule would mean that adventurers would only ever be able to move through one room per turn (except for those without a card symbol). That would be a slow, plodding game that would mess with lots of haunts.


Does Giant Killer get destroyed with Warstorm Surge? or is it able to destroy my creature with it's instant ability? My friend has Giant Killer out on his battlefield. I have Warstorm Surge and I bring out Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. Does Giant Killer get destroyed first as a creature before my friend can cast it's instant adventure? Or is he able to cast its ability to destroy Gisela and exile itself before being destroyed?

You seem to be misunderstanding how Adventure cards work.

Once Giant Killer is on the battlefield; the Chop Down instant/adventure does not do anything. Adventure allows you to cast the Adventure part from your hand like a normal instant/sorcery. When that spell resolves, it is exiled, and while it is exiled, you can cast the creature from exile.

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

    715.3d Instead of putting a spell that was cast as an Adventure into its owner’s graveyard as it resolves, its controller exiles it. For as long as that card remains exiled, that player may cast it. It can’t be cast as an Adventure this way, although other effects that allow a player to cast it may allow a player to cast it as an Adventure.

So your friend cannot do anything with Giant Killer's adventure; your Warstorm Surge triggers when you play Gisela, and if you choose to target Giant Killer, it will take 10 damage (5 which is doubled by Gisela) when the triggered ability resolves.


What caused "Liliana of the Veil" to double its price during a single week? When Innistrad came out in the beginning of September 2011, the most expensive card was "Liliana of the Veil", selling for a little over $25.

This card kept this price for almost a month. On September 30th the price suddenly increased - a week later the price has already doubled. This graph shows the development.

What caused this sudden increase? Has someone discovered a combo that is really strong or is there a specific deck that runs well and requires Liliana? I am asking because I was lucky and got 2 of them from boosters and I wonder how I could put them to good use. I also want to use this example to learn about price development in trading card games as well.

Important Edit: Sorry guys, I am pretty stupid... Innistrad came out on September 30th, not in the beginning... Mixed that up somehow. The increase started the day Innistrad was released. Thanks to Ian for pointing that out.

Magic cards rise in price when the pro players start analysing the new sets and proposing that certain cards will be key players in the new Standard.  I believe Liliana has attracted a lot of favourable press, and has appeared in some successful "Solar Flare" decklists at big events lately: of course people are going to jump on that bandwagon, in case she turns out to the be the next big tournament all-star Planeswalker.

Having said that, a cautionary word from channelfireball's Traderous Instinct column:

  Liliana of the Veil

  Over the past few days, Lilly has started making an end run toward
  Jace, the Mind Sculptor prices.

  She’s out of stock both here and at Star City, and if you want her on
  eBay you’re going to have to spend at least $55.

  If I had one for trade at the moment, I would be asking for around $70
  worth of stuff in return.

  While many people immediately point to Jace as the obvious comp for
  Liliana, a better comparison is Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. That card
  debuted around $45 retail, and had fallen to around $30-$35 by the
  first weekend it was tournament legal. The deck performed well, and
  the card gained $25-$30 in value overnight.

  Yeah, people REALLY don’t want to miss “the next Jace.”

  Just like Tezzeret, though, Liliana is REALLY narrow. She is currently
  seeing Standard play, and I don’t expect that to change, but she
  doesn’t draw cards, bounce creatures, lock your opponent out of the
  game, and then win the game like Jace does.

  The thing is, though, Magic players like to have fun – even tournament
  players. And for many Spikes, fun is roughly equivalent to playing the
  most wonky, slow, toolsy control deck that it’s possible to crush the
  opposition with.

  Much like mono black control, people REALLY want Solar Flare style
  decks to be good. So when two show up in the top 16 at an open, game
  on!

  Even if Solar Flare is tier-1, there’s no way Liliana holds a $60+
  price tag for long. She’s only there because she’s a planeswalker and
  we still haven’t really figure out how to value those yet, five years
  after their inception. I recommend that you sell on Liliana right now
  and buy back in when the hype has died down somewhat.


Does Reduce to Ashes Kill indestructible creatures? When I first read Reduce to Ashes:

  Reduce to Ashes deals 5 damage to target creature. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.

I thought "ok, a way to deal with indestructible", but then I thought again and wondered. Because indestructible will stop you dying, and the exile only kicks in after you die.

So does it work?

The creature will not die or be exiled.

The ability Indestructible is defined in rule 702.12b:

  A permanent with indestructible can’t be destroyed. Such permanents aren’t destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the state-based action that checks for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g).

So, if you resolve Reduce to Ashes targeting an indestructible creature with 5 or less toughness, this is how it plays out:

First, Reduce to Ashes deals 5 damage to the creature. For the rest of the turn, if that creature would die, it is exiled instead.

Then, State-based actions are checked. In particular, rule 704.5g says

  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.

But the creature has indestructible, so it can't be destroyed and nothing happens.

Then, since the creature wouldn't die, the replacement effect never happens. Rule 614.7 says

  If a replacement effect would replace an event, but that event never happens, the replacement effect simply doesn’t do anything.

However if the creature dies for some unrelated reason (if its controller sacrifices it, for example), then the replacement effect will kick in, and the creature will be exiled.


Do some combat checks occur without monsters? Many location encounters reference a monster (such as a monster appearing) and require a combat check.  One encounter at St. Mary's Hospital says

  The corpse you are examining isn't quite dead yet. It reaches out and grabs you by the throat. Lose 1 Sanity. Then you must fight the corpse. If you pass the Combat (-1) check, you defeat it and gain 1 Clue token.  Otherwise, move to the streets

Am I to draw a monster randomly and skip the option to evade here (doesn't seem implied), or am I to simply do a Fight check enhanced by those items that regularly can enhance it during combat (such as 2 hands worth of weapons and other combat enhancing boosts) and then forgo any modifier for the creature's combat rating since there is no creature?

I'm assuming when there is mention of a monster appearing or attacking, and then a reference to a combat check, that normally I would want to draw a random monster as in the various mentions to a monster appearing.

You don't draw a monster. Like you said, you just make a combat check - except there is a modifier, the (-1) specified by the encounter. And it really is a combat check, not a weird fight check; that's why your items with combat modifiers apply.

If a monster is to appear, the card will say so, and plenty do.


What are the differences between Vinci and Small World? Small World has been described as a re-implementation of Vinci, but I've heard that there are some non-trivial differences.  How do these two games differ in terms of rules/mechanics and feel of play?  (I'm not concerned with the change from Europe to a fantasy map unless it affects play.)

I'm familiar with Vinci but have never played Small World.

There is an excellent comparison of the two here.  Some highlights:

Vinci has one big set of powers and you draw two for each race.  Small World splits them into Race Powers and Abilities, preventing some combinations from occurring.
Vinci charges you two points for each race you skip over, Small World only 1.  This modifies the dynamics of which races you might choose.
The end game conditions in Vinci are reaching a certain number of points, making the length variable.  Small World has a fixed number of turns based on number of players.
Small World has different maps for different numbers of players, and you always get the same number of tokens for a race/power combo.  Vinci only had one map, but varied the number of tokens a power combo started with based on the number of players.
Small World adds a reinforcement dice which gives you a random chance to take over a single province that you wouldn't be able to conquer normally at the end of your turn.


Can you activate an activated ability more than once per turn? I am using the card Blood Bairn, which has the following activated ability:

  Sacrifice another creature: Blood Bairn gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

I use my Blood Bairn in conjunction with Festering Newts, which allow me to give a target creature -1/-1 when it dies. The sacrifice allows it to die and lets me hurt a creature. If I have, say, 2 Festering Newts on the field, can I activate Blood Bairn's ability with both Festering Newts, allowing me to not only give -1/-1 to 2 target creatures but also giving Blood Bairn +4/+4?

Yes, there is no restriction in the rules that prevents a player from paying the costs of an activated ability twice, to get the effect twice.
An Activated Ability is the only ability that can be activated. You may activate it whenever, and as many times as you like, as long as you have priority by paying the cost.

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as "[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]"
602.1a The activation cost is everything before the colon (:). An ability's activation cost must be paid by the player who is activating it.

Unless the ability itself restricts its usage.

602.5b If an activated ability has a restriction on its use (for example, "Activate this ability only once each turn"), the restriction continues to apply to that object even if its controller changes.


To which game would these dice belong? Someone on Facebook happened on these old dice.
Characters are engraved on some of them :
345 L D (?) HILLTOP, and some symbols.
Can someone identify the game from which they come?

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

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

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


Which effects affect both opponents and which only one in Two Headed Giant? Say, for Cruel Edict I have to choose which one of my opponent's heads sacrifices a creature. But I think that Sudden Disappearance makes all of their permanents go away, not just one person's. Can someone tell me why?

Cruel Edict and Sudden Disappearance both only affect a single opponent. In general, the only cards that would affect both heads of an opponent in two headed giant (2HG) are cards that say each or all within the rules text (example: Heartless Hidetsugu), but this would be have the same effect in non-2HG duels or multiplayer games.
The only differences in 2HG with respect to rules text, is that players attack/defend in teams and take their turn as a team. A card that referred to an attacking or defending player would be referring to both members of the teams, or cards that add/skip turns or phases. The MtG Comprehensive Rules state:

810.7a Each team’s creatures attack the other team as a group. During the combat phase, the active team is the attacking team and each player on the active team is an attacking player. Likewise, the nonactive team is the defending team and each player on the nonactive team is a defending player.
Example: One player in a Two-Headed Giant game controls Teferi’s Moat, which says “As Teferi’s Moat enters the battlefield, choose a color.” and “Creatures of the chosen color without flying can’t attack you.” Creatures of the chosen color without flying can’t attack that player’s team.
Example: If an attacking creature has forestwalk and either player on the defending team controls a Forest, the creature can’t be blocked.
805.8 If an effect gives a player an extra turn or adds a phase or step to that player’s turn, that player’s team takes the extra turn, phase, or step. If an effect causes a player to skip a step, phase, or turn, that player’s team does so. If a single effect causes more than one player on the same team to add or skip the same step, phase, or turn, that team adds or skips only that step, phase, or turn. If an effect causes a player to control another player, the controller of that effect controls the affected player’s team.


Creatures Dying At Same Time Controller Loses Player A, B, and C are in a Multiplayer Game. It is player A's turn.

Player A has: Sword of Vengeance attached to Kobolds of Kher Keep, a Mystic Crusader, and 1 life.

Player B has:  Memnite, a tapped Darksteel Colossus and 1 life

Player C has:  Blood Artist enchanted with Rancor and 2 life.

No one has a hand, graveyard or any lands.

Player A attacks Player B with the Kobolds and he attacks player C with the Mystic. Player B blocks with the Memnite and takes 1 damage in the first strike step. Does Player C's Blood Artist trigger from the memnite's death, allowing Player C to win by targeting Player A with the ability. Or does memnite never make it to the graveyard due to Player B losing the game, allowing Player A to win when the Mystic deals combat damage?

Player C can win with Blood Artist's triggered ability.
After First Strike damage, Player A would gain priority, so state-based actions are checked. The following ones actually happen:

704.5a If a player has 0 or less life, he or she loses the game. (Player B, in this case)

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. (Player B's Memnite, in this case).

Then rule 704.3 says

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

So, simultaneously, Player B loses and Memnite goes to the graveyard. At this point, Blood Artists ability triggers. Rule 800.4 has a complete description of what happens when Player B loses; essentially, they take all of their cards and leave. Now, SBA's are checked again, and since no action needs to be taken, Blood Artist's triggered ability goes on the stack, with Player C presumably choosing player A as the target. Eventually, the ability resolves, putting player A at 0 life. The check described above repeats, and player A loses.
The important thing here is that there is no mention in rule 800.4 or any of its subrules that anything happens to abilities that other players own and control that happen to have trigger conditions associated with the losing player.


Confusion in Line and the Master Spy The question

In Guillotine, the Confusion in Line -action card says:

  Choose a player. Randomly rearrange the line just before that player
  collects his or her next noble

The Master Spy card says:

  After each action card is played, move this card to the end of the
  line.

If the Master Spy is in the line, will he go to the end of the line after the card is placed on the table, or after the line is shuffled? i.e. Is it possible to collect the Master Spy with the Confusion in Line (and luck), when there are multiple cards in the line?

Additional info

As Zags noted, user Robrob in BGG has asked a question from the makers of this game (WoTC)

  The Master Spy card goes to the back of the line each time an Action
  Card is played. There are two possibilities: a) an Action Card is
  played - the Master Spy is moved to the back of the line - the Action
  Card is carried out or b) an Action Card is played - the Action Card
  is carried out - the Master Spy is moved to the back of the line

and got a reply

  The answer is B, there is no way to play a card to get the master spy
  to the front of the line without him just going back after the cards
  effects.

But this does not answer the questions, which will arise from the usage of Confusion in line -action card:

c) No action cards are placed on the table - Effect of an action card (Confusion in line) is triggered - Does the Master Spy move? - Noble is beheaded.

or

d) Action card is placed on the table - No effects of an action card is resolved (played Confusion in Line, +2 points at the end of the game, or similar) - Does the Master Spy move? - Noble is beheaded.

My conclusion is that Confusion in Line can move the Master Spy to a different position in line without him moving back.  This conclusion is based on the principal that consistency of rules trumps authorial intent.  The explanation follows.

As noted in this question, there is an official answer from Wizards of the Coast here:

An Action Card is played - the Action Card is carried out - the Master
Spy is moved to the back of the line
There is no way to play a card to get the master spy to the front of the line without him just going back
after the cards effects.

The Master Spy has the ability:

After each action card is played, move this card to the end of the line.

What this put together seems to imply is that the resolution of an action card is included in the playing it, and the Master Spy moves only after the card has finished it's resolution and has been placed face up in the play area or in the discard.  Then, the Master Spy will move regardless of whether or not the card had an effect (so playing Fountain of Blood which is just worth two points but doesn't do anything will still cause the Master Spy to move).
Now we are left with two options in the case of Confusion in Line:
Option 1: Take the WotC's answer to the letter.
This means that we pay particular attention to their point that there is no way whatsoever possible in the who wide game to manipulate the line such that the Master Spy does not end up at the end.  And there is your answer.  You play Confusion in Line, and then the Master Spy ends up at the end.
This is an unsatisfactory answer because it isn't well reasoned.  It's saying the Master Spy's ability trumps Confusion in Line's ability because... it just does.  Author's intent is irrelevant without an official FAQ or card specific ruling.  This is not how I play Guillotine.  For that, move on to option 2.
Option 2: Use what we know about other WotC products (namely Magic the Gathering) to create a consistent rules framework for Guillotine.
There are three phases to a turn in Guillotine:

Play an action card (optional)

Collect the first noble in line

Draw an action card

Confusion in Line creates a delayed triggered ability that takes affect in phase 2 of the turn of the player of your choice.  It must be in phase two, because if it were during phase 1, a player could avoid the trigger by not playing an action card on their turn (in which case Confusion in Line would read "Randomly rearrange the line after that player plays an action card".
With this framework, we can also determine that the Master Spy moves to the end of the line at the end of phase 1.  Thus, phase 1 (if the player chooses to have it) has the following steps:

Play action card

Resolve effects

Put action card on table or in discard as appropriate

Move Master Spy (if relevant)

Repeat these steps if you are allowed to play another action card

Let's say you chose yourself with Confusion in Line.  The resolution of effects for Confusion in Line is merely the creation of the delayed trigger.  It is then discarded.  The Master Spy so cleverly moves to the end.  Then we move on to phase 2.  The line gets shuffled.  The Master Spy is at the front!  You scoop him up and get a delicious four points.
Then, on the next player's turn, they play an action card and the Master Spy leaves your score area to go back to the end of the line :P (just kidding; although this might not be a joke since apparently "Clerical Error... end[s] the day and discard[s] all nobles in line if used to get Robespierre from someone else's score pile."; noble abilities working from score areas is a whole other rats nest that we will kick elsewhere).
Anyways, I like this option flavor-wise as well because it means even the Master Spy is thrown off by mass confusion (there is no good information for him to act off of).


How much of an advantage is going first in Splendor? I've only played Splendor a few times so far, but it feels like the first player has a significant advantage, even if we also stipulate that each player receives the same number of turns (resulting in the possibility of a tie).

Is this apparently significant advantage real, or does it disappear with more skillful players? If it's real, what are some modifications to the rules to make the game more fair?

The player taking the first turn in Splendor receives the following advantages, regardless of player count:

The ability to reserve any single development card before any other player, during the first round of turns
The ability to acquire the correct gem tokens to purchase any single, specific lowest tier (i.e., green-backed) development card in round 3, should no other player reserve that card during rounds 1 and 2
The ability to acquire, in aggregate, at least 2 of a single specific gem color during the first 2 rounds.
The ability to receive a noble first, if the requirements are met, prior to any other player also meeting those requirements on their turn, during the same round.

In theory the advantages provide an opportunity to enact a strategy given the visible development cards and nobles, e.g., "get the development cards corresponding to the most common color among nobles."  In practice, the strategy may not be feasible for the entirety of the game as new development cards are revealed and other players acquire them.  Also consider that a player may take advantage #1 to the exclusion of advantages #3 and 4 (ceding those advantages to player 2) and vice versa.  Certainly, as some games play out, the actions taken by the first player during the first few rounds may look sub-optimal in retrospect!
The player taking the first turn in Splendor receives no initial disadvantages.  However, possibly based on player count and remaining gem token count, the first player may have to take a sub-optimal action starting on the third round. That is tougher to exactly quantify given the gem token counts at different player counts (and of course specific player actions).  Here is one possible scenario, which illustrates the minimum non-joker gem token counts the first player can expect at the start of the 3rd round:

Now for (more?) anecdotal evidence: I've played over a hundred games of Splendor at 3 and 4 player counts, and I've never felt like player order mattered much.  Although going last has caused me to make contrarian token picks in the hope that I get lucky when new development cards are revealed.  I have won games vs good players even when I was the last player. I have also lost games badly when I was the first player.


How do you become a toad in Talisman? I played the board game Talisman the other night and in the rulebook there was mention of what happens when you become a toad, but no indication of how that occurs.  I assumed that it was an effect from an event or dice roll (which it is in some cases), but a couple of the others had played where rolling a 1 multiple times during movement turned you into a toad.  We played for several hours (not getting very far) and did not turn to a toad even once, which does not seem correct even if limited to event cards or encounters.

EDIT:
The others who played before became toads more often, but am not sure if that was a house rule or an older edition rule.  Whether via events or encounters I would expect it to have happened at least once over several hours. We also ended up with several Place cards occupying the draw-a-card spaces

So, is there something missing from the rulebook, or has 4th edition changed to 'encourage' more PvP?

It is hidden in the encounter section of the rules:

  Other times the encounters are hostile
  and attack the character, or even turn him into a slimy Toad!

You will remain a toad for three turns, unless:

  If a character is already a Toad and is turned into a Toad
  again (for example, as a result of the Random Spell), the character
  remains a Toad for three more turns starting from the
  second transformation.


The Winged Dragon of Ra's ATK & DEF increase My friend keeps telling me that he is increasing his Ra's ATK & DEF points by using Ra's "Pay 1000 LP, destroy 1 monster on the field" effect. I'm wondering if that is the case or if Ra can only increase ATK & DEF points when he's summoned.

The card text on Winged Dragon of Ra (the playable one with effect text) specifies that the only timing for increasing Winged Dragon of Ra's attack and defense is when it is normal summoned. This is a separate effect from the monster destruction effect.

  When this card is Normal Summoned: You can pay LP so that you only have 100 left; this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the amount of LP paid.

This sentence, in Problem-Solving Card Text format, describes a single optional effect of the Winged Dragon of Ra. It specifies a timing (when Winged Dragon of Ra is Normal Summoned, as indicated by the colon), a cost (paying enough LP to lower the current player's LP total to 100, as indicated by the semicolon), and an effect that occurs if that specific cost is paid (Winged Dragon of Ra's ATK and DEF increase by the amount of LP paid at summon time).

As for Winged Dragon of Ra's other effect:

  You can pay 1000 LP, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy that target.

This describes a separate optional effect with no specific timing but with a cost AND targeting (as indicated by the semicolon). The effect also destroys the target and does absolutely nothing else because no other text is a part of that effect, even if it would lower the player's LP total to 100.


Why would one want more than 40 cards in their deck? Assemble your favorite cards into a Deck that follows these rules:

  The Deck must be 40 to 60 cards.
  You can only have up to 3 copies of the same card in your Deck,
  Extra Deck and Side Deck combined.

  Also, some cards are...

Yugioh Rulebook, Pg2 , emphasis mine.

In YGO, I (and most people) normally have 40 cards in their decks. This is because I'd have more chances of drawing the card they want on their next turn. Therefore, why would I want any more?

Decks relying on "That Grass Looks Greener" want much more than 40 cards

One deck archetype that wants to have more than 40 cards are "lawnmower" decks, named after the key card That Grass Looks Greener.

  If you have more cards in your Deck than your opponent does: Send cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard so you have the same number of cards in the Deck as your opponent.

So if you have a 60 card deck and you play against an opponent that has a 40 card deck, you can expect to send around 20 cards to the graveyard. If your deck relies on archetypes that benefit from having cards in your graveyard (e.g. Zombie, Lightsworn, Infernoid), then that can put you at a huge advantage.

According to this Reddit post, decks based around "That Grass Looks Greener" (and decks designed to counter it by having 60 cards) were popular from February to May 2017 to the point where a number of top-level decks were 60 cards. Konami made the card Limited in the TCG to discourage this (although it's still Unlimited in the OCG). However, a lot of people seem to view it as a fad deck that would have lost its appeal over time even without a ban.


In two-headed giant, does Nightveil Specter exile cards from both heads? If Nightveil Specter dealt combat damage in a two-headed giant game, do I choose which player's top card to exile or do I exile both?

You only damage one player, so only one player will exile a card. You get to chose which player you damage in the Combat Damage Step.

810.7a Each team’s creatures attack the other team as a group [...]
810.7f As the combat damage step begins, the active team announces how each attacking creature will assign its combat damage. If an attacking creature would assign combat damage to the defending team, the active team chooses only one of the defending players for that creature to assign its combat damage to. Then the defending team announces how each blocking creature will assign its combat damage. See rule 510.1.


Does anyone know the official rules for Destruct 3? We've got our hands on an old Destruct 3 game that came without any rules.  We contacted the makers (Uncle Skunkle), but oddly enough, they wouldn't send us the rules without documentation of where we got the game. We've made up some rules of our own, but they're not entirely satisfying.  Anyone know the real rules, or where we can get them without any paperwork?

This might help. Although it's only a review, it does explain a lot about the scoring and building rules. There obviously are a few rules that are missing (ie. how the dice work).

I assume you do not have any kind of shop receipt for the game. You could suggest to them that you could send them a picture of the game to prove you actually have it. They could describe a specific setup for you to replicate so you can't just pick a picture off the web.


Does 'fight' involve combat? The text for Ulvenwald Tracker says:

  {1}{G}, {T} : Target creature you control fights another target creature. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)

Does this have anything to do with combat? Or is it just direct damage between two creatures? For example, can one of the creatures have defender? Or what if one of them is tapped?

I've been assuming it is more like the damage dealt by a Prodigal Pyromancer.

Also: are the two creatures then “tapped” until their next untap step? ie: could you use Ulenvald Tracker to make two creatures fight in your pre-combat step, then enter the combat phase with a creature who just “fought” untapped? Could you make two creatures fight who are both tapped?

The entirety of the ability is summarized in the italicized text: each creature deals damage equal to its power to the other. There are no special restrictions on "fight" beyond the normal rules for targeting and abilities on the stack (Ulvenwald Tracker can't make your Ravager of the Fells fight an opponent's Geist of Saint Traft, for instance, because the Tracker can't target a hexproof creature).

If one of those creatures isn't around when the ability resolves, no fighting will occur.

Here are the full comp rules for 'fight':

  701.10. Fight

  701.10a A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of
  those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.

  701.10b If a creature instructed to fight is no longer on the battlefield or is no longer a creature, no damage is dealt. If a
  creature is an illegal target for a resolving spell or ability that
  instructs it to fight, no damage is dealt.

  701.10c If a creature fights itself, it deals damage equal to its power to itself twice.

  701.10d The damage dealt when a creature fights isn't combat damage.

Here's some minutiae about how this relates to other rules:

Abilities that only affect the assignment of combat damage, like
first strike and trample, don't do anything.
Lifelink, deathtouch, and infect/wither do still apply, since they modify all
damage that a permanent deals.
Damage can still be prevented or
redirected normally, just like damage from a Lightning Bolt.
In the case of protection, a creature with protection from the source
setting up the fight can't be targeted by it; a creature with
protection from the other creature but not the fight effect (e.g. if
you use Ulvenwald Tracker to make a red creature fight a creature
with protection from red) can still be made to fight, but protection
will prevent the damage it receives.
Note how the rules I quoted don't say anything about tapped or untapped creatures. Tapped creatures can fight just fine. Fighting will not cause an untapped creature to become tapped.


Does the flanking provided by Slivers stack? If I was to play 2 Sidewinder Slivers would the 'All Slivers have flanking' ability stack causing creatures blocking my Slivers to get -2/-2 until the end of the turn or would it gain flanking twice but the second instance has no effect so creatures blocking my Slivers only get -1/-1 until the end of the turn?

Each instance of Flanking triggers separately. After the stack resolves, creatures blocking will have -2/-2 until end of turn.

The Rules:

  702.24. Flanking

  702.24a Flanking is a triggered ability that triggers during the declare blockers step. (See rule 509, "Declare Blockers Step.")
  "Flanking" means "Whenever this creature becomes blocked by a creature
  without flanking, the blocking creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn."

  702.24b If a creature has multiple instances of flanking, each triggers separately.


Fairness of Cowry Shells as Dice I just learned about the use of cowry shells as binary dice and find the idea enchanting. However, I'm concerned about the apparent "fairness" of the dice. Obviously, because there are multiple instances, they are not an equivalent to a single die with equal sides, (1d6 vs. 6*d2-1) as they'll have a curved probability distribution, rather than flat probability, and have an incredibly low chance of rolling 0. More than that though, it seems apparent that each shell would have subtle proportional variations depending on the lifestyle of the cowry it came from, and these would likely make each shell prefer one state or another, meaning each instance would be weighted. Also, cowry shells may just, in general, not be especially 50/50 in the first place the way coins are. (I'm OK with that, but the individual weighting bothers me) I can't seem to find any statistical examination of their balance or probability.

If I wanted to use cowry shells as dice in a home made game, what could I do to improve the apparent fairness of their application?

This has been a problem since the days when dice, hand-carved out of sheep's knucklebones, could never be considered mathematically fair. Historically, there have been two principal ways of improving a game:

Make sure that a particular number is not always good or always bad. In Craps, rolling a 7 is good for the shooter on the first roll, but bad thereafter; a slight unevenness making 7 more probable is not likely to materially affect the chances of winning, which it might with a simpler rule.
Where possible, make results comparative not absolute. To decide randomly who starts in a two-player game, it would be possible to roll two dice and choose based on even or odd; this is 50/50 if the dice are fair, but not otherwise, so it is rare. Each player rolling the dice and the higher result starting is common, giving even chances no matter what unevenness there may be.

I would also suggest using all the shells every roll if possible; it is annoying enough waiting for those players who carefully select the "high-rolling" or "low-rolling" dice each time, without the possibility that they might actually have a point.


Is not buying money the worst strategy in Dominion? From all posts read on Dominion (ie. this), I see a stress on money. I must say that I played only 14 times, but I consistently lose: I try all the times to build a balanced deck , with lot of actions (especially those that give other actions), also attacks. I never focus too much in buying Silver or Gold, but maybe that's the problem.

So, it's not buying Silver and Gold the biggest mistake in Dominion strategy?

I don't know about the biggest - you could buy curses instead - but yes, this is definitely a big mistake and one of the most common.

Buying only silver and gold (aka "big money") is actually a reasonably strong strategy. It's not amazing, it's pretty easy to beat, but it'll tend to win over beginner players and it's definitely way better than buying basically only kingdom cards.

You say you build balanced decks, with a lot of actions. That's not balanced. Money is one of the things that needs to be balanced; you need a decent amount of it along with the actions you get. (You also mention lots of attacks. While those can serve a purpose, making it harder for your opponents to buy provinces doesn't help much if you've already made it really hard for yourself.)

It might help to think a bit about the expected value of cards. Silver or gold in your hand is worth 2 or 3, clearly. An action that draws you three cards, in a deck with basically just copper and actions, is probably going to end up being worth only 1 or maybe 2 coin on average - you'll draw other actions and a little copper. In a deck with a ton of silver and a bit of gold it might be worth say 4 coin on average! And all that silver and gold you've bought is reliably worth 2 and 3 coin on average.

Another thing you can think about is what it'd take to get a province. Stuff your deck with silver and gold, and you'll get one with two gold and a silver, or one gold two silver and a copper; that's something that can happen fairly easily especially if you trash copper and estates. Stuff your deck with actions and you'll probably need a much more perfect combination. How often are you going to get two village-ish cards that give +1 card +2 actions, along with several actions that each give +2 coin?

And finally, silver only costs 3 and gold only costs six. Most of the time, an action that reliably nets you two coin will cost more than 3, especially when you keep in mind you can't play unlimited actions unless you also invest coin and turns and cards buying a lot of actions that grant +actions. Same idea applies to gold. So not only is the silver and gold often worth more to you, but you'll be able to buy it earlier and more frequently than the kingdom cards that'd be worth the same amount. Sure, you'd get there eventually, but the other players who bought silver and gold are going to get the provinces before you do.

So bottom line, yes, ignoring silver and gold is a huge mistake. Buy money - and only buy actions if you think they're better than the money would be.


Mtg Combo (Commander): Would it work? Rhys, the Redeemed Turn 1 (of combo starting): Rhys the Redeemed (Equipped: Helm of the Host). Host makes a Rhys copy with haste (at combat so this would be during main phase 2.)
Tap Rhys. Make a second Rhys copy. Tap first copy (with haste.)

Turn 2:
Rhys. 4 Rhys copies from previous turn. Rhys copy this turn.
Tap Rhys. (5 more.) Tap Rhys copy. (10 more.) Tap 2nd Rhys copy. (20 more.) Tap 3rd Rhys copy. (40 more.) Tap 4th Rhys copy. (80 more.) Tap 5th Rhys copy. (160 more.)

•Turn 2 Total: 161 Rhys, the Redeemed. + Any creature tokens already in play.

As for more information I run an elf deck that at the end of a turn playing 5 or more cards I usually have 40 mana left in my mana pool.

The 'combo'1 will work as you expect. The initial token is created without being legendary and all copies of that will share that feature.

From the Gatherer's rulings on Helm of Hosts:

  The token isn't legendary, and this exception is copiable. If something else copies the token later, that copy also won't be legendary...

1: Opinion time: I don't think I'd call it a combo on account of it not winning the game on the spot or going infinite and needing elfball-tier mana (a few more cards, like Altar of the Brood, would seal the deal but that's beyond the scope of this question).


What spaces are considered not 'in Arkham' For the action "All Cthonians and Dholes in Arkham are returned to the cup," does this include the outskirts and sky spaces?

Edit: since these creatures cannot fly, this question is more about whether such monsters in the outskirts would be returned, i.e. whether they are considered "in Arkham". Short of finding some rules reference, I would think the fact that gate closing affects monsters from the outskirts would make it likely removing creates "in Arkham" implies the outskirts as well.

From the Arkham Horror FAQ:

  The Sky is considered part of Arkham (since it is on the Arkham board)

And

  A monster that is arriving in Arkham is moved to the Outskirts if its arrival would exceed the monster limit.

So the sky is considered part of Arkham. The outskirts are never considered part of arkham.

(Also, it is impossible for Cthonians and Dholes to get to the sky)


Claim different routes with a single station in Ticket to Ride Europe I know that a station can only be used to serve as a connection over another player's route between the station-city and another city.

But can a single station be used to claim different routes for different destination tickets or must the same (one) route be used for all of your destination tickets?

The rules are a bit unclear, but my understanding is that the same route must be used for all of your destination ticket.

Each station allows you to claim a single route.
That route may be used to fulfill more than one destination ticket, but every ticket must use the same route.
From the rules,

A Train Station allows its owner to use one, and only one, of the routes belonging to another player, into (or out of) that city to help him connect the cities on his Destination Tickets.
If a player uses the same Station to help connect cities on several different Tickets, he must use the same route into the city with the Station for all of those Tickets. The Train Station owner does not need to decide which route he will use until the end of the game.

(Empahsis mine.)
For example, say you had the following three destination tickets:

Frankfurt – Smolensk (Complete save for Frankfurt – Berlin)
Amsterdam – Wilno (Complete save for Frankfurt – Berlin)
Essen – Kyiv (Complete save for Essen – Berlin)

With a station at Berlin, you could complete either the first two destination tickets or the third, but not all three (unless you also had a station at Essen or Frankfurt).

The design of the station minis helps calculate the final points. At the end of the game, move each of your stations from its city onto the route it is claiming (on top of the cars). Then that one route counts as yours for the purposes of completing tickets. You don't get to move the station again, so you can't claim multiple routes. (Credit to @Max for this tip.)


What exactly was so broken about Urza's Block? I've often heard it said that the Urza Block (Urza's Saga, Urza's Journey, Urza's Destiny) was the most powerful, broken block in Magic history, with decks able to win on turn 1 or 2. I also saw it stated (in some MaRo article) that something like 20 cards were eventually banned from that standard format in an attempt to restore balance. However, I've never seen a good, detailed explanation of what, exactly, went wrong, which cards were to blame, and how the uber-powerful decks of that era actually worked. Can anybody here offer an explanation or a link to an external source?

Preface: I've been drafting this for a few days now. I focused on the cards that were banned, because those were the most broken. I'm sure there were dozens of other combos not included here, and this is by no means giving the fullest extent of how the cards could be used to maximize their broken-ness.

The first step is to take a look at what cards were available at the time. Mirage had just rotated out, which leaves us with the Tempest block and of course Urza's block. This leaves us with some very powerful 0 and 1 mana artifacts: Lotus Petal, Mox Diamond, Ornithopter, and to a lesser extent, Spellbook.

Note that with Lotus Petal and Mox Diamond, you have yourself 2 mana available on your first turn without playing a land. (To be fair, both of those are part of Mirage, not Urza's.)Those mana can go into a Grim Monolith, which in turn gives you 3 mana when tapped. Make your land drop a Tolarian Academy and suddenly you have 6 mana available on your first turn, and you only needed four cards to do it. I think we can agree that 6 mana on the first turn is broken in an innumerable number of ways. This led the Academy to be the first to be banned.

Along with the Academy was Windfall. This was broken for a couple of reasons. First, consider a card like Divination, which has a card advantage of 1 for 3 mana at sorcery speed. (You draw two cards, but you had to spend 1 card to do it). When you also consider Azure Mage it becomes clear that in blue, 3 or 4 mana is appropriate for 1 in-hand card advantage. Now, consider how fast you blow through cards here: you dropped four cards (lotus, mox, grim, and academy) as well as any other 0 drop artifacts, and use a Windfall. You discard your 0 or 1 non-playable cards and pick up 7 more. Your opponent dumps all 7 of his and draws 7 more. You just gained 6 or 7 card advantage for 3 mana. That just isn't competitive.

The other aspect of Windfall is that your opponent is also playing combo. It was not uncommon for people to mull down to 4 to get their combo. While this will lower the card advantage you get from Windfall, it essentially wastes your opponent's mull! He now has to settle for whatever 4 or 5 crap cards are on the top of his deck. If you went first, then your opponent has not had an opportunity to play, but now is facing you with at least 6 cards on the battlefield, the ability to generate 6 or more mana a turn, and to top it all off, you just gave him a complete crap hand instead of the one he mulled to get. Bummer. So understandably, those were the first two to get banned.

In the next round of bans, you see Dream Halls get the axe. Now, without Academy and Windfall to pump up your early mana, this isn't as effective. It was costed such that you can't use it until turn 5, and you have to use two cards to do it instead of one. So since they were expecting you'd use this on turn 4 or 5, it would end up being very damaging. And under normal circumstances, it is. But there's one small problem. You discard that other card instead of paying the cost. This is supposed to make it so you can't use it. But Yawgmoth's Will made it so you could use it. If you Dream Halled two cards, you could cast the other two cards with Yawgmoth's Will. And with all the mana you have and card draw available, it's reasonable to pull this off.

Another one that was banned was Earthcraft. This card used to look like this:

  Creatures you control have: T: untap a target basic land.

However, it was decided that splicing text onto cards was a bad thing. So it was changed to

  Tap an untapped creature you control: untap a target basic land.

in the name of being easier to work with. Unfortunately, it had the side effect of making creatures with summoning sickness able to tap for mana, which is decidedly overpowered.

Fluctuator was banned because there's about 40ish legal cards with cycling, and they're all (Cycling 2). So they all basically let you loot them for free to burn through your deck. Cycling for free is broken. This combo didn't take much to come together.

Lotus Petal was banned for the combo listed out above, and I'm sure there were dozens of variants of it.

Recurring Nightmare was banned because three mana and a creature (probably 0 mana) was too little to return a creature from the graveyard to the battlefield, considering it goes back to your hand, not the graveyard (even if Yawgmoth's Will is active). It's even worse when the cards coming back are Great Whale, which yields infinite mana (although the infinite mana combo requires four lands on the board, and most games didn't last even that long!)

Time Spiral was the last of the second round to be banned from standard. It had the same problem windfall did, where you got to draw seven cards (including spells you've already played! How convenient!) and get the massive card advantage. Now this is 6 mana, not 3, and we know there's a gigantic difference between 3 and 6 (way way way more than twice as much). But as we've established, you can get 6 mana on your first turn... And to top it all off, you get to untap 6 lands. Umm, yes that's just a little too powerful.

The next big card to get the axe is Mind over Matter. This is simple: you discard (which we've established there's already massive card advantage here, which lessens the penalty...) and you get to untap an artifact (with academy, mana, or the mana artifacts themselves), creature (with earthcraft, mana, or Birds of Paradise), or land (mana). So you get even bigger mana amounts.

Memory Jar was so broken it was the only card to get an emergency ban. Basically you get to draw and play with 7 cards. As we've established your hand empties faster than a AK with a 14 round clip, you're going to get most of those cards out the turn you play it. And since 5 mana isn't all that much to get on turn 1, you might end up with this on turn 1, which when combined with another draw combo will give you access to 20 or more cards on turn 1. Broken? Yep. Unlike windfall, this doesn't kopper your opponents starting hand, as he'll get it back at the end of the turn. But you'll have another 4 or 5 permanents on the board, so what's he really going to do to you at this point anyway?

Like I said, these probably have even better ways to get the most out of them. But hopefully this gives an idea of exactly how these things were broken, and why Wizards reacted the way they did with all the bans. For what it's worth, this is the first genuine test of Wizards reacting to the fan base, and I would go so far as to say their biggest mistake up until that point and even to this day (needless to say they learned many lessons from it!)


When a creature comes back to the battlefield from the graveyard, does it trigger its abilities? I'm talking of course about abilities that trigger "when entering the battlefield". For instance the Channeler Initiate is returned from the graveyard, does it require to put 3 -1/-1 counters?

Yes, enters-the-battlefield abilities triggers regardless of a permanent's previous zone, unless explicitly stated.

Channeler Initiate will force you to put -1/-1 counters when coming into play, regardless of it being played from your hand, coming back from the graveyard, from exile, etc...

Here's the related bit of rules :

  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.


Collect cards for beginner deck i'm willing to dive into MtG

I just ordered Deck Builder's Toolkit from our local club, is that going to be enough for building at least average beginner deck? What my best options to expand my collection from this point?

You can do a lot worse than the Deckbuilders toolkit for starting out, you will be surprised as well how quickly a collection can start to grow even just buying the odd booster or as said above taking part in local drafts or events. Your best bet for good advice about this would be at your local games store or even better at your local Friday Night Magic. They will welcome a new player and have lots of advice to give, tips, point you in the right direction etc.


"Stay Away" how to handle case with 4 Infected cards Last night I had a game where I was infected by The Thing and drew a Panic! card (Forgetful) which states that I should discard 3 cards and draw 3 more. What happened was that after that Panic! card I had to discard my 3 not infected cards (since I am infected I can't discard the one I have) and I drew 3 Stay Away which happened to be infected cards so I was left with 4 infected cards, but the rules state that you can't have more than 3 in your hand in any given time.

What I thought of was that if a Panic! card doesn't say that it ends your turn you can draw again and continue as normal, but that is not also a viable solution to the problem, because the next card might still be Infected.

Has any of you encountered this situation? Can you give me an idea of what solution I may apply to this bug?

My suggestion/workaround is to show everybody that you drew 3 'infected' cards, discard them and draw 3 more cards instead whether you're infected or not. If it's infected cards - do it again.
And yes we actually encountered this situation and it kind of messed the game.


Warhammer 40k Unit Composition - Marines If I make my own chapter, lets just call them Flat Black, and they are all painted flat black, can I also include a hero from the Ultra Marines, painted blue, such as Magnus? Or a librarian that is painted in the blue UM colors?

Would it be legal if I followed the UM codex for my "Flat Black" chapter?

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.


Hostage Taker + Inspiring Statuary Hostage Taker reads:

  When Hostage Taker enters the battlefield, exile another target
  creature or artifact until Hostage Taker leaves the battlefield. You
  may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled, and you may spend
  mana as though it were mana of any type to cast that spell.

Inspiring Statuary reads:

  Nonartifact spells you cast have improvise.

Can I pay {X} to summon the Hostage Taker's exiled permanent using Improvise (tap a artifact permanent to pay {1} of its cost) up to {0} cost.

No.  Hostage Taker says mana may be spent as though it were any type.  Improvise does not generate mana, and therefore cannot be used to pay for any mana-type specific parts of the cost.  Improvise may still be used to pay for the generic mana portion of the cost (if any).


Can I Shatter a Lotus Petal, using mana from the Lotus Petal to pay for Shatter? I was just thinking about the differences between how Magic is played and how the rules describe its play. In particular, I see most people cast a spell this way:

Tap mana,
Put spell on stack, declare targets.

But the rules describe it happening in a specific order,

Put spell on stack, declare targets,
Pay for costs.

Which is backwards from the way I see most people play it (even though both are legal).

So, can I do the following?

Propose Shatter, putting it on the stack.
Declare its target as my Lotus Petal.
Sacrifice the Lotus Petal and tap a Mountain to pay for the Shatter.
The Shatter does not resolve because all of its targets are not legal, and it is put in the graveyard.

File this under “shenanigans that have no real point”, but I’m curious if this bizarre sequence is legal according to the rules.

I’m also curious if there is any reason why you might want to pay for a spell after declaring its targets, other than contrived scenarios (e.g. opponent has a Black Vise, and the Lotus Petal is the only artifact in play).

Yes, you can do this.

When casting a spell, declaring targets happens before paying costs:

  Casting Spells

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

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

      [...]

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

      601.2h The player pays the total cost in any order. Partial payments are not allowed. Unpayable costs can’t be paid.

And as you suggest, doing so will result in Shatter fizzling; going to the graveyard without resolving when it attempts to resolve. You might want to do this for a reason such as increasing your Storm count, or because you have other things that combine with having Shatter in your graveyard.

You also could choose to sacrifice Lotus Petal first, for example if you wanted to cast Argivian Find, targeting the Lotus Petal in your graveyard (again just to either increase Storm count, or because you need Lotus Petal in your hand for something, etc).

You seem to be mixing up "tapping lands" with "paying costs". These are 2 separate things. Tapping lands (or Lotus Petal, etc) adds mana to your mana pool. This can either be done any time you could activate any other ability, or it can be done during 601.2g while casting a spell.

However, paying the cost itself can only ever happen during 601.2h. You can't pay the cost for a spell before you begin the process of casting that spell.

In terms of the difference between tapping lands before you begin to cast the spell or during the casting of the spell, there is generally no difference. The rules allow for either, and I think as casually played, I've seen players do either. The difference is whether your opponent sees the card you are casting as they see you tapping your lands or not.

There are some cases where you need mana that isn't produced by a mana ability. For example, if you are casting Dark Ritual to cast a spell that costs 3 mana even though you only have 1 Swamp in play. In this case, you wouldn't be able to wait until you start casting the spell you want to cast, because you aren't allowed to cast Dark Ritual as part of that process.


Does an enchantment curse go to grave if the cursed player loses? In a multiplayer game, I enchanted someone else with Fraying Sanity. They milled out. Does Fraying Sanity go to the graveyard when that player loses, or does it still stay attached?

The Fraying Sanity is put into your graveyard when the player enchanted with it loses and leaves the game. From the Comprehensive rules:

  303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)


questions about shapesharer Shapesharer is a creature (shapeshifter) with changeling (this card is every creature type at all times) that, for 2U, states "Target Shapeshifter becomes a copy of target creature until your next turn."

This makes me wonder several things.

Say you have Coat of Arms in play. Coat of Arms says "each creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield that shares at least one creature type with it". So let's say you have two Shapesharer's in play. Shapesharer A gets +1/+1 because it shares the sliver type with Shapesharer B, it gets +1/+1 because it shares the elf type with Shapesharer B, +1/+1 because it shares dragon type, etc. So it seems two Shapesharer's in play with a Coat of Arms could make each one have infinite power and toughness? Of course if that's the case than it seems like Shapesharer's would each also simultaneously be Legends and kill each other.
Say you cast a creature and that creature has summoning sickness. It seems like Shapesharer could copy that creature and that the summoning sickness wouldn't copy over so you could use that creatures abilities on the turn it was cast, albeit with a different creature. Is that correct?
Does Shapesharer still retain the Changeling ability after it's copied another creature?

No.  Coat of Arms says "Each creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield that shares at least one creature type with it" — it counts the number of matching creatures, not matching creature types.  If Creature A and Creature B share more than one creature type, each one is still a single creature, and they (indirectly) grant each other only +1/+1 through Coat of Arms.  (Also note that Legend hasn't been a creature type since 2004, so Shapesharers don't automatically kill each other.)
Yes, assuming that the Shapesharer itself doesn't have summoning sickness at the time of the copy.  Summoning sickness is determined only by how long a creature has been under a player's control, and turning one creature into a copy of another does not change who controls what.
No (unless of course it's copying another changeling).


Does a run on empty archives add counter on Datasucker? I've got a Datasucker. Does a run on empty archives without ice counts as "successful run on a central server"? In other words, if the corp does not have an ice on archives (maybe empty, maybe without face-down cards) do I add counter on the Datasucker for a click?

Does a run on empty archives without ice counts as "successful run on a central server"?

Yes it does. The server is empty but it's available for running as usual.


When can I destroy a room? Only some of the room cards say "Destory this room (and other stuff happens)" on them. But when can I destroy a room? Does it have to be on my turn, or can I do it when heroes are in walking through another player's dungeon?

This "Detailed Play Sequence" helps clarify this.

Destroying a room isn't something you can just "do".  During the build and adventure phases you can take actions either through playing a spell or using a room's ability, and the cost for those actions might involve destroying a room.  This means that any time you can take an action, you might end up destroying a room.  This "Detailed Play Sequence" helps clarify this.

  You may play a Spell or Room Ability when another player is active,
  but they can react with their own Spells and Room Abilities, and those
  resolve before your effect.

  The Build phase ends when Rooms are revealed. Build effects ("When you
  build this Room...") and Level Up powers take place immediately, in XP
  order. No Spells or activated abilities may be played until the
  Adventure Phase begins.

Actions can be used on any player's turn during the build or adventure phases. If multiple players want to take an action at the same time, the current player always has their actions take priority, and then the rest are resolved in XP order.

In the build phase, you generally take actions when it is your turn to select a room.  At this point you are the current player, so nobody else can interrupt your action (except to counter it).  You are not allowed to use build phase actions after rooms are revealed, so you can't play a room and then immediately destroy it before the bait phase.  The only thing that happens after rooms are revealed is "Level Up" and "When you build this room" effects, followed immediately by the bait phase.

In the adventure phase, each time the heroes move to a different room, there is an opportunity for any player to use an action. The player that owns the dungeon the heroes are in is the current player, so their actions will have priority.


Do you need to buy a card when playing treasures in Dominion? So I ran into a situation where I had a single treasure, the Loan card.  I wanted to play the Loan card but I did not want to buy any cards.

So can you play treasure cards and not buy anything?

I believe I read in the rules that you play treasures first, then buy cards.  So I believe that means I can play treasures and not buy any cards.

Thanks.

Edit

I just re-read my question and I failed to mention that I want to make sure I can use the "powers" of the treasure cards even if I don't buy anything.  So in the example above I want to use the powers of the Loan card, but not buy any cards.

That's fine.  From the Dominion rules:

The cost of a card is in its lower left corner. The player may play some or all of the Treasure cards from his hand to his play area and add to their value the coins provided by Action cards played this turn. The player may then gain any card in the Supply of equal or lesser value. He takes the purchased card from its Supply pile and places it face-up on his Discard pile. He my not use the ability of the card when it is gained.

If the player has multiple Buys, he combines Treasure cards and any coins available from Action cards to pay for all of the purchases. For example, if Tyler has +1 Buy and 6 coins provided by two Gold cards, he can buy a Cellar costing 2, placing it face-up in his Discard pile. Then, he can buy a Smithy with the remaining 4 coins and place that face-up in his Discard pile. If he wants to use all 6 coins to buy one card, he can buy a Copper (for free) with his second Buy or not buy a second card. Players do not have to use any or all of their Buys.

(bolded for emphasis by me)

EDITED, to answer Chris' edit: Yes, it's fine to use Loan's "power" and then not buy anything.  As stated in the rules above, you play a Treasure card from your hand, in this case the Loan: at which point the Loan card's abilities kick in, and you carry out all the revealing, discarding and trashing.  Now you have (at least) 1 coin in your pool that you could spend on a Buy: but the rules make it clear that actually buying something is always optional, no matter how much cash or how many Buys you are entitled to!


Can a phase requiring two colored sets be completed with the same color? In Phase 10 can a phase requiring collecting x of one color and y of one color be completed using x+y of the same color?

E.G.
Can Candy Castle / Mountain Vista Phase 7 (4 of one color + 6 of one color) or Phase 8 (5 of one color + 5 of one color) be completed with 10 of the same color?

or

Can Cocoa Canyon Phase 3 (4 cards of one color + 5 cards of one color) be completed with 9 card of the same color?

Since the wording of the phases as started say "of one color" for both colors instead of the second part of the phase saying "of another color" or "of one other color" the answer is yes, it is allowed.


Can I respond to a draw from Gitaxan probe? If I resolve a Gitaxian Probe, can I crack a Lion Eye Diamond before I draw?

If you want to activate Lions Eye Diamond before drawing a card, you must do so before Gitaxian Probe resolves.

You can respond to another event, like your opponent playing a spell or activating an ability.

So no, there is no opportunity to respond to your spell once it has begun resolving. You will get priority after the spell resolves, and at that time you can activate your Lion's Eye Diamond.

See this question for more details:  Can a player respond while a spell is resolving?


Do you still pay 10x the dice when getting the chance card that takes you to the nearest utility if the property is mortgaged? The card does not say anything about whether or not the property is mortgaged.  Also, it does not say anything like "twice what is entitled" like the similar railroad card does.  I would go with you still have to pay, but I'm looking for backup to my opinion.

Here's what the card says:

  Advance token to nearest Utility. If unowned, you may buy it from the Bank. If owned, throw dice and pay owner a total ten times the amount thrown

Yes, you have to pay.  Consider what the card says:

  Advance token to nearest Utility. If unowned, you may buy it from the Bank. If owned, throw dice and pay owner a total ten times the amount thrown.

This has nothing to do with paying rent.

As you mentioned, there is another Chance card that sends you to a railroad:

  Advance token to the nearest Railroad and pay owner twice the rental to which he/she is otherwise entitled. If Railroad is unowned, you may buy it from the Bank.

This card refers to the amount to which the owner is otherwise entitled, namely rent.  If the property is mortgaged, that amount is zero.  The card you're asking about makes no such reference.


Protection from color vs hexproof If I have a prevent all damage from a green source and I am attacked with a creature who is black green and the opponent has paid for its hexproof ability, will I still be protected?

The damage is still prevented.

The scenario you describe seems to be one in which your opponent controls Reaper of the Wilds and you control either Circle of Protection: Green or Rune of Protection: Green. The rule describing Hexproof, 702.11b, says

  “Hexproof” on a permanent means “This permanent can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.”

The key word here is "target". Hexproof only prevents spells and abilities from targeting the creature, not from affecting them in general. Targets are described in rule 114, and rule 114.1d says

  An activated ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the “something” is a phrase that describes an object, player, or zone. The target(s) are chosen as the ability is activated; see rule 602.2b.

Now, if we look at the damage prevention cards, we see that Circle of Protection: Green says

  {1}: The next time a green source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

and Rune of Protection: Green says

  {W}: The next time a green source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

Neither of those uses the word "target", so neither of them targets the source they are affecting. This means that Reaper of the Wilds' Hexproof does not stop them from preventing the damage.


Suitable drafting rules for multi-set repacks? For fun we picked up a booster box of multi-set repacks at our LGS (really cheap). Our intention was drafting, but we found that since they are multi-set the cards lack the synergies when drafting from a single block, plus the odds of getting to of the same card are close to zero.

I am new to drafting, so curious if there is a better format to play with multi-set repacks? Maybe just constructed (6 boosters to build a deck from)? Maybe a specific variation of drafting?

Drafting with multi packs or with packs from all different blocks works just fine you just need to aim for certain archtypes (control, aggro, ect) as opposed to specific strategies (such as human tribal) and you'll have more success. In my experience the only rule you really need to have outside of regular draft rules is to ban the unsets. Sealed also works well. Same advice (archtype over specific strategy) applies though you have a bit more leeway since you can see everything you have from the get go.


In Forbidden Island, can a Navigator move an Explorer diagonally? My wife and I played a game of Forbidden Island last night.  She got the Navigator adventurer, and I was the Explorer.

The Navigator's special ability is that it can move any other player up to 2 adjacent tiles.  "Adjacent" usually means up/down/left/right, however the Explorer's special ability is that it can move diagonally too, so: Can the navigator move the explorer to adjacent diagonal tiles, or just the standard up/down/left/right?

(I hope the answer is 'yes', as we just managed to win assuming 'yes' to the above with just 2 tiles left when we got off Fools Landing!)

Good question!  And fortunately for you, the answer is "yes", as per these clarifications
by Matt Leacock, the designer of the game:

  The Navigator can move the Diver up to 2 adjacent tiles. The first
  tile may be missing. The second tile may not be missing because the
  Diver must end her turn on a tile.

  When the Navigator moves the Explorer to adjacent spaces, he may move
  him diagonally.

  The Navigator moves the Pilot to adjacent spaces like any other
  adventurer. (The Pilot can't take advantage of his special ability
  when the Navigator moves him.)


Splitting Movement and Support In the following example from the rulebook, Tyrell attacks Blackwater using two knights from the Reach with support from a knight in King's Landing, resulting in an initial combat strength of 7. If Tyrell instead attacked with one knight from the Reach and moved the other to King's Landing, does the second knight contribute to the support order there (is the combat strength still 7)?

The key idea here is that you first resolve your march order. Then, if you march one or more of yours units "into an area containing units from another House, combat ensues" (rules, page 17).

So, you must first move all your units to the areas that you want. Then if you did move into an area that contains units from another House, you resolve combat. This means that units moved into King's Landing would be able to support the combat as if they were there in the first place.


How does Necromantic Selection work with Adarkar Valkyrie? Ran into this situation, and we were not sure how to resolve it.

Player A has Adarkar Valkyrie on the battlefield, and an awesome creature, say Sun Titan. Adarkar Valkyrie has this ability:

  Tap: When target creature other than Adarkar Valkyrie dies this turn, return that card to the battlefield under your control.

Player B casts Necromantic Selection, which reads

  Destroy all creatures, then return a creature card put into a graveyard this way to the battlefield under your control. It's a black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types. Exile Necromantic Selection.

Player A responds to Player B casting Necromantic Selection by activating Adakar Valkyrie's ability, targeting the Sun Titan. Is it possible for Player B to get the Sun Titan instead of Player A?

Player B will have the Sun Titan. Adarkar Valkyrie creates a triggered ability on the creature targeted that will trigger when the creature dies. Necromantic Selection will destroy the creature and return it to the battlefield all during its resolution. Only after that does the triggered ability created by the Adarkar Valkyrie go onto the stack. By this time the Sun Titan is already on the battlefield and cannot be returned to the battlefield so the due to this section of rule 603.6:

  During resolution, these abilities look for the object in the zone that it moved to. If the object is unable to be found in the zone it went to, the part of the ability attempting to do something to the object will fail to do anything. The ability could be unable to find the object [...] because it left the zone before the ability resolved ...


What is the value of the Iron Throne track? I have only played the game once, but after that experience I do not see why anyone would bid on the Iron Throne track.
The main advantage it offers is to go first, but I never could see a use in it.  It always seems like it was best to go last, waiting to see opponents' actions.
Holding the throne token also did not seem useful. Ties are not very common, especially ties involving you in particular, and unlike Dice Town, there is no material reward a player can offer you for picking them.

In my case, playing House Baratheon, it was even less useful, as being last makes Stannis more valuable.

The game is so well designed and deep that it feels like I am missing some large advantage that the track offers.  What is its value?

Control of the Iron Throne grants you the decision in all (non-battle) ties, not just ties involving you.  This can be useful to try and balance other players in respect to your own position (weaken closer players, for example, or the ones with a stronger board position).

The ability to resolve ties can be quite important when bidding, which can happen in two primary places.  First, once the bid for the Iron Throne has resolved and the order is determined, the new holder of the Iron Throne now resolves ties in the bids for the Fiefdom (sword) and King's Court (raven) tracks.  This allows the holder of the Iron Throne to bid less than otherwise and still have a reasonable assurance of a decent placement.  The positioning of other houses can also be important at this point.  Second, the bidding to defeat wilding attacks: the holder of the Iron Throne determines who gets the benefits or penalties in case there is a tie for the high or low bidder.

Finally, although it is often beneficial to let others go first in order of play, it can also be beneficial to go before your opponents.  For example, your Raid order could remove another Raid order before it has the chance to remove your Support order.

All that said, while there are advantages, I usually bid harder for the King's Court track than any other, myself. I love the starred orders too much.


What happens to other land types (e.g. Legendary/Artifact) when some effects change the basic land types? Taking up a topic already addressed, for example, with the question:
  What happens when two global enchantments affect the same type of permanent (e.g.lands),
with this question I would like to add a little and simple clarification to this kind of situations.

If a Legendary Land - such as Hammerheim -  or an Artifact Land - as  Vault of Whispers - is enchanted by cards like Evil Presence or Phantasmal Terrain, it becomes a basic land.

But what happens to its other types?

In other words the land, now transformed by one of the two enchant land above, as well as being now a basic land:

still maintains his original other type, that is, it is still legendary or still an artifact (as in the second example); or
no longer maintains any other types, but it is only a non-basic land.

It might be a bit confusing, but 'legendary' and 'artifact' are not land subtypes, like Swamp and Mountain are. 'Legendary' is a supertype, and 'artifact' is a type.

  305.7. If an effect sets a land’s subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type.

Evil Presence and Phantasmal Terrain do not remove 'legendary' and 'artifact', they influence the subtype. Hammerheim and Vault of Whispers don't have a subtype, but they will lose their abilities:

  The enchanted land loses its existing land types and any abilities printed on it. It now has the land type Swamp and has the ability “Tap: Add Black.” Evil Presence doesn’t change the enchanted land’s name or whether it’s legendary, basic, or snow.

(from the rulings below Evil Presence)

So a Hammerheim enchanted with an Evil Presence will still be legendary but only able to tap for black mana; a Vault of Whispers enchanted with Phantasmal Terrain set to 'Mountain' will still be an artifact land but only be able to tap for red mana.


Is Leyline of Combustion triggered by attacks? If my opponent attacks me, does that trigger Leyline of Combustion to do damage to them? I'm new and need help with this rule. Thanks

No.

Attacking is not casting a spell or activating an ability. It is a separate thing completely. Also, targeting has a specific meaning in Magic; just because you are going after a player does not mean are targeting them.

See here for more details about what things deal with targeting.


Can I untap Nettle Drone in the untap step? I was playing the game with my dad when I dealt one damage with Nettle Drone. In my untap step, I untapped it. My dad thought this wasn't allowed because it says "Whenever you cast a colorless spell, untap nettle drone". I argued that the card doesn't say it doesn't untap in the untap step.

Who was correct?

You are correct. All permanents will always untap during the untap step UNLESS a continuous effect stops them from untapping. This continuous effect could come from

its own static ability (e.g. Basalt Monolith),
another object's static ability stops (e.g. Arena of the Ancients), or
a non-static ability (e.g. Frost Lynx).

Nettle Drone's triggered ability lets you untap it when you cast a colourless spell in addition to the normal conditions where it would untap (that is, during your untap step).


If I claim a monster token from the cup, do I pick at random? One of the Other World encounters says

  Pass a Luck (-1) check to claim a monster trophy from the cup (even if it is Endless)....

Does this mean I pick randomly?

Yes, I believe so. I don't think there are specific rules, but:

Every other interaction with the cup is drawing randomly.
Other encounters with rewards like this instead say "Draw a monster from the cup and take it as a monster trophy, even if it has the Endless ability." or even "Draw one monster trophy at random from the cup."

If this were meant to be different and let you hunt through for what you want, I assume it'd explicitly say so.


Does Illusory Gains make someone else's Commander my own forever? If I play my Illusory Gains on my opponent's commander, does their commander become mine indefinitely? I have not played this card and I am unsure as to how playing it on a commander works.

You control that player's commander until another creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control. At that point, Illusory Gains moves to that creature, and the owner regains control of their commander.


Can I borrow money from a player in Monopoly Deal game? My bank has no money and I asked another player to give me from their bank with the condition that I will give repay it later on. Is that allowed?

This is probably not allowed, but even if it was it would be unnecessary. From the Rules Card:

  If you have no cards in front of you to pay with, you don't pay at all!

So even if it were possible to borrow, why would you want to take on a debt when you could avoid paying by simply having no money in front of you?


What does The Saharan Republic's power mean? One of the starting powers for The Saharan Republic says

  You can make your maneuver at any point during your turn.

Does this mean they can attack, maneuver, and then continue to attack?


How can we use multiple Carcassonne expansions without the game taking forever? My wife and I were playing Carcassonne last night with several of the expansions and we found that the game was taking a ridiculously long time.  We had the base game, the River, Inns & Cathedrals, and Traders & Builders all in play at once.  I am hoping to find a way to minimize the tiles in play without sacrificing the variations created by the expansions.  Any suggestions?

The simplest way is to simply shuffle up the tiles, then pull about 60-150 of them for use. This will typically mean a 1-3 hour game, depending upon player speed and exact number of tiles. It also limits the needed table space. It does, however, also mean it is possible to not have any tiles turn up from a given expansion.

Also, don't use the River nor River II, nor the Count. The River I & 2 simply lengthen setup and increase think-time needed at start.... in addition to taking time to start, and adding 10+ tiles each. The count, by allowing reinforcement as it does, really adds to tactical think-times.

If using princess and dragon, you may want to hold out one volcano, and shuffle it into the play stack after generating the ones you're going to play with. This way, you know the dragon WILL show up, but might not be showing up twice. Same for Tower tiles from The Tower.


Why does BSG's "Assign Vice President" card not affect succession? In the Battlestar Galactica game, the quorum card "Assign Vice President" can be given to a player, and causes that player to be the only viable target for the "Administration" location that picks a new President.

Clearly, from the card, this is the only effect the card has, and it does not affect who becomes President if the current President is revealed to be a Cylon (or executed). It seems cooler thematically, however, for the Vice President to take the next spot in the succession.

Does anyone know why this wouldn't work? Is there something I'm missing where game balance would be affected by this rules tweak? It just kind of bugged me that the VP wouldn't take the Presidency.

(I realize this is slightly subjective in that we don't know Fantasy Flight's reasoning here, but I'm hoping some folks will have some insights I'm missing)

The only mechanical effect I can see to this tweak is that a Cylon president could control who gets the presidency after they reveal, say if they know who the other unrevealed Cylon is.

If you need thematic justification for the original rule, I seem to remember an episode of the show where Zarek (when he was VP) told Roslin that he didn't want to be president.


Donate at end of game I was just playing Dominion online, and I planned to Donate my curses at end of game.
The card says:

After this turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 5 cards.*

Since I had two buys, I used one to buy the last province, then the second one to buy donate. Yet, the game ended, without giving me the option to trash the two curses from my deck.
Is this a bug in the Dominion server implementation, or am I missing a fine print somewhere?
To me, the wording is pretty clear.

The game designer intends that "after this turn" effects do not happen when the game ends. The game ends at the end of your turn, so any other effects set up after that can't happen: nothing happens after the game ends. Likewise if you have five Possession effects stacked up for "after this turn" but the game ends, you of course do not play those turns.
References:

shuffle.it forums
Wiki


What energy type does poison use and does it stack? I am new to Pokemon but not TCGs in general.

I have a Skrelp (Psychic Type) which has a Spit Poison ability (also Psychic Energy) that it used on Honedge which has a resistance -20 to Psychic Energy. The Spit Poison ability applies one stack of poison to the target. So does poison use the caster's or the caster's ability energy type or is it energy agnostic?
Can poison be cast multiple times on the same target to create multiple stacks of poison?

Pokemon TCG is quite different than the game. There's no "poison" type like in the game. In TCG, poison is a status. So, even if the defending pokemon has psychic resistance, it doesn't cut the poison damage, even if the poison is afflicted by a psychic pokemon.*)
No it doesn't stack.

I suggest you to read the basic rulebook again, it's very clear on what poison do there. I learned almost everything from the rulebook. But, since I am an old pokemon player (last played 4-5 yrs ago), so I forgot what poison exactly do. But AFAIK, it damages the affected pokemon between turns.

*) This is different if Spit Poison has initial damage attached, for example, 30. So the initial damage will be 10 (30 original - 20 resistance), aside from the poison status damage.


Klondike Solitaire - what to do if 1 or 2 cards are left in the stock? As far as I understand it, in standard Klondike solitaire, you deal 3 cards at a time from the stock to the waste.  What if only 1 or 2 cards are left in the stock?

you deal out the cards up to three. If there are less than three you just deal out those cards. Use what you can. And then put them in the discard pile and start over.

If those are the only cards you have left including the rest of the discard pile then you might be in a lose scenario.


Does the mission to conquer 9 territories in one turn require them to be occupied? In Risk Legacy there is a mission to conquer 9 territories in one turn.

Do the territories need to be occupied by another player before you capture them to count towards this mission objective?

Based on the implications in the rules, in order to conquer a territory it needs to be occupied.

Conquering is only referred to on page 12 of the rules, which indicates that it is the action taken after successfully Attacking an occupied territory.

Occupying an empty territory is referred to as Expanding by the rulebook on page 10.


Bonus traps from Essen Spielmesse 2019, what are the rules for them? I was at the Essen Spielmesse 2019 and enjoyed the game Obscurio. I bought the game and at the booth they gave us some bonus traps to use in the game. However no rules were given with the traps and we have no idea how to use them. We could hazard a guess, but would love some official guidelines on how they should be played if they are pulled out of the bag.

Someone asked the same question on boardgamegeek, and someone found the rules on the publisher's website, they are:

Music hall (Music note):

Affects step 2 and 4
The wizards can only communicate by singing, the Grimoire is not affected by this token

Raving mad (Cards with the arrows around the outside and question mark on them):

Affects step 2
Take the loyalty card from each wizard and mix them facedown. Deal them to each Wizard. This token is then removed from the game and cannot be pulled again

Aphonia (Speech bubble with the X in it):

Affects step 2 and 4
The wizards can only communicate through gestures and mimes, they may not talk, sing, nor make any verbal noise of any kind. The Grimoire is not affected by this token.


Play before a base score: deciding the order I can read in the manual that the active player plays first whenever there's a decision about who first resolves an action.

But in this case, what if many players have MULTIPLE cards that can be played? That is with the description 'play before a base scores'

Would each player have to play all the cards he wishes to play? Or could he play one, wait for others to decide what to play and then play the next?

It happened to me with I think the Cthulu faction, there's a minion that lets you draw a madness card for extra power; if you have played several it makes a huge diference since waiting for other players is what decides how many madness cards you'd get

From the rule book : http://www.alderac.com/smashup/files/2012/06/AEG-SU-Rulebook.pdf

Page 6

  Me First! If more than one player wants to use a Special  ability,
  start with the current player and go  around the table clockwise until
  all players pass in  sequence (if you pass and another player uses a
  Special, you can then still choose to use a Special  of your own). If
  your Special allows you to play  extra cards, you must play those
  immediately or  not at all.

So each player may play one card until everyone is done.


Using Wizard on another player when draw deck is empty? Description of situation: A player's turn begins and they draw the last card from the deck and get a Wizard. The use the Wizard on the other player which forces them to discard their hand and redraw it. There are no more cards to draw. What happens?

The way my group played is that the player who has to redraw is automatically eliminated because they must first "discard" to get rid of their hand, but no card to draw means they will not have a card for the final showdown.

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


In Secret Hitler, what happens when exactly 50% of players vote "Ja!" In a game of Secret Hitler with an even number of players, what is the result of the election if exactly 50% of the players vote "Ja!"?

Does the government get to pass a policy, or does it count as a failed government?

The Kickstarter page says the following (emphasis mine):

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

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